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Dear Parents and Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa
This morning’s Secondary School assembly focussed on the achievement of Middle School students in recent weeks. It was good to see a large number of parents in the Centennial Chapel supporting their children who received awards. This week’s entertainment was provided by the Jazz Orchestra with a number of young musicians already performing at an impressive level. Evident in the assembly was the dominance of pink, with most students supporting Bully Free New Zealand Week. Thank you to students who thought about the importance of well-being and inclusion for all and the way their actions can contribute to St Andrew’s College as a place of belonging.
Assembly Awards >
Assembly Flickr >
Yesterday, in a respite from drizzling rain, the Secondary School Cross Country was held. It is always good to watch the competitive runners. It is also heartening to see many other students prepared to give it a go, be part of the community and House spirit, and enjoy some exercise in the fresh air!
One of my highlights for this week was a visit from visiting architects and educators from Australasia attending the Learning Environments Conference in Ōtautahi. Thirty-one delegates spent two hours on our campus where I gave them a talk about the design and build of the national award-winning Centennial Chapel and the story behind the five years of February 2011 – October 2016. Principal of Preparatory School Jonathan Bierwirth then took them through a tour of the wonderful learning areas in the Preparatory School.
Also, this week, it was great to have a tour of the Gough Family Theatre and Performing Arts Centre to see the progress being made. This most impressive facility will be a great asset enjoyed by both students and staff from the start of next year.
The third highlight was a visit from fourteen five-year-olds from Mrs Wylie’s New Entrance class. The children had prepared some questions to ask me and enjoyed a look around my study – most citing the StAC bear wearing a tutu and the glass-blown birds on my wall as their favourite things! Each year a group of 12-13 Year 13 leavers are recognised for completing their entire schooling at St Andrew’s College. It seems incredible to think these current Year 1 students will be completing their schooling in 2035. I wonder what changes we will see in schools and society during that time!
Best wishes to all for a good weekend.
Kia maiea tō rā
Christine Leighton
Rector
On Sunday, the Term 2 Middle School Chapel Service is taking place at 5.00pm in the Centennial Chapel, which is one of three mandatory Sunday services for Year 9–11 students. We always appreciate it when parents can attend, and we warmly welcome your presence this Sunday.
Bright Star Director and Head of Drama and Dance, Laurence Wiseman, says he is proud of the story-telling and acting ability students were able to achieve in the performances of Bright Star. The situations were emotionally complex, but the actors managed to understand and convey these with a lot of hard work, and willingness to be vulnerable, pushing into the situations and making it believable and plausible. Sell-out audiences and standing ovations every night were fitting tributes for the cast and crew.
Bright Star celebrated our fantastic Year 13 students who have given a great deal of service to productions over the years. Mia Walker, Struan Gordon, Portia Bennie and Poppy Rumble all started productions in the Preparatory School and were joined by Jonah Cropp, Marco Leighs and Ethan Bonis in various productions in the Secondary School. Mia has clocked up an impressive six shows on stage, in addition to being part of the backstage crew with junior shows. Congratulations and thank you to these seven Year 13 students who will be missed on stage next year.
On Monday, students from Years 8–13 had the opportunity to attend an inspiring presentation delivered by Jake Bailey. Having battled an aggressive form of cancer at the young age of 18, Jake has made it his mission to empower young people with resilience. With a perfect blend of personal storytelling, infectious humour and solid research, Jake left a significant impact on the students.
The presentation encouraged students to reflect on Jake’s message and the invaluable four strategies he shared, serving as a reminder that resilience is a skill that can be nurtured and developed, regardless of the challenges they may face.
In this blog post Head of Well-being, Kerry Larby, delves into the reflections prompted by Jake’s presentation. Kerry outlines the four strategies Jake shared, highlighting their significance in his journey of resilience.
Thank you to all students and staff who were one of the 400 attendees at the first of the 2023 Eco-Action Nursery Trust planting days, contributing to the establishment of an urban native forest in Ōtautahi. The Eco-Action Project is an initiative with multiple aims: to green the red zone, provide food and habitat for native birds, further establish the green corridor linking the Port Hills to urban Christchurch, and to sequester carbon.
Schools and community groups put just under 5000 plants in the ground, covering an area of around 6000m2. Fulton Hogan managed the transport of plants from the main nursery to the planting site, the New Brighton Volunteer Fire Brigade filled the water tanks, and Christchurch City Council provided a sausage sizzle. The next planting is on Sunday 18 June, and everyone is welcome.
Last Sunday, 24 of our senior Te Reo Māori students went to Wellington for an inaugural Te Reo Māori field trip, experiencing different elements of Te Ao Māori and conducting research to be used in their internals throughout the year.
On the first day, the students had two sessions at Te Papa. The first was a guided Mana Māori tour and the the students were given time to explore all exhibitions and continue conducting research. On day two, the students were welcomed with a mihi whakatau by their hosts at Te Wharewaka o Pōneke. Following this, the students were given a walking tour, learning about Te Aro Pā, visited archaeological remains of two whare ponga (buildings) at the old pā site, and heard the story of the people who lived at the pā and their journey to Wellington.
Lastly, the students were given the experience of paddling a traditional waka, which included learning how to paddle and learning different calls used on the waka. The group also visited the National Library and was given two tours, including the He Tohu tour where they saw the Te Tiriti o Waitangi document.
This week is Road Safety Week and the Pre-school children have been learning about how to be safe when using the road. The children role-played safely crossing the road using signs borrowed from the Preparatory School Road Patrol, and cars they made from cardboard boxes. On Wednesday, the Pre-school held a Beep Beep Day, where the staff and children came dressed in yellow – the colour associated with road safety – and also made delicious fruit snacks in the shape of cars.
Yesterday presented the perfect day for the annual Secondary School College Cross Country. This was a Secondary School event, and the races were very competitive.
Winners
This week we celebrated Bully Free NZ Week alongside the Mental Health Foundation’s Pink Shirt Day. Both events aimed to raise awareness of the prevalence of bullying in our society. They also provided the College with an opportunity to reflect on how we continue to bring our whole school value of inclusivity to life. Student leaders have celebrated the week by raising awareness on two key foci: What constitutes bullying? and What does it mean to be an upstander? In the Middle School Assembly this morning, Heads of Well-being, Radha Vallabh and Elliot Graves presented a thought-provoking speech challenging students to celebrate diversity in its many forms. It was wonderful to see so many staff and students wearing pink in support of the day. Thank you also to the families who donated to the Mental Health Foundation to support this cause.
FOOTBALL
The 1st XI Boys team played Middleton Grange School this week, with the first 15 minutes a cagey affair. Multiple chances were created through our wings and centre-backs stepping through the first line and drawing defenders to free up other attackers. After having the bulk of our chances saved by the Middleton Grange keeper or missing the goal, the team came into halftime disappointed. In the second half, vice-captain Jackson Blake (Year 13) smashed a side volley into the back of the net from just inside the 18-yard box, followed by a second goal from vice-captain Callum Moores (Year 13) hitting a low drive from 25-yards out. At the final whistle, it was 2–0 to St Andrew’s, which takes the team to six points from three games.
The 1st XI Girls’ team had a bye this week.
NETBALL
The Premier 2 game against St Nicholas A was hard fought, with the team having a ‘never give up’ attitude. In the first quarter, St Andrew’s went down by two goals, however, the second and third quarter were even. With every team member showing great determination, the last quarter was won by six goals, to finish with a 49–45 win.
This week’s SuperNet game was against Christchurch Girls’ High School. We knew they would be tough opponents, so it was crucial to start well. St Andrew’s went up by five goals in the first quarter, however, by the end of the third quarter it was even. With the pressure on, the Senior A team worked together to secure a 34–30 win.
RUGBY
The 1st XV played Selwyn Combined on Saturday, starting well by scoring two well-constructed tries from forward dominance close to the line. Selwyn Combined then scored off a handling error and then was gifted a try through an intercept pass right on halftime.
St Andrew’s led 19–17 at the break after dominating the first half, but the late scoring of points lifted the visitors considerably. The second half contained a number of errors, and the home side missed some vital scoring opportunities while kicking away a lot of possession. The Selwyn Combined school rallied and fed off the mistakes to win the fixture 31–24.
BASKETBALL
On Tuesday evening, our Senior A Girls played St Margaret's College in the first game of the evening. Ophelia Powell (Year 12) and Lauren Whittaker (Year 13) spearheaded the offence, whilst a collective effort kept the firepower from St Margaret’s contained. St Andrew’s pulled away for an 80–49 home win.
Our Senior A Boys faced Hillmorton High School in a game with pool-seeding implications. A superb defensive start to the game saw St Andrew’s out to an early double-digit lead that they never relinquished. Behind a balanced contribution from all 12 team members, St Andrew’s cruised to a 102–46 win to finish top of their pool and secure a spot in the top eight of the 16-team bracket.
On Sunday it was a very cold start in Ellesmere for our team of trap shooters. Maggie Hood (Year 13) started the day with a ‘bang’, winning Skeet with the highest score of 24/25. Connor Higgs (Year 13) and Logan Gardner (Year 12) were tied with another student on 23/25 and after a shoot-out, Connor came second, and Logan came fourth. This also gave Maggie and Connor the win in the two-person skeet team contest.
Unfortunately, the club were starting to use new targets and they had not made the necessary adjustments to the clay throwers. As a result, the day was very stop-start with one trap completely taken out of action. Despite the disruption, the team performed exceptionally well. Mika Cescon (Year 10) came third in Junior Single Rise (16/20) and third in Junior Points Score. Harry Pitts (Year 10) continued his excellent shooting form to win the Junior Points Score outright with a score of 51/60. Kurt Lilly (Year 10) was in a shoot-off for Junior Single barrel (9/10) and finished second.
The senior students also shot well, with shoot-offs held in the dark at 6.00pm, making conditions extremely difficult. Connor Higgs came third in Senior Points Score and won Senior Single Barrel, with the only 10/10 on the day. Andrew Greig (Year 12) was in a shoot-off with a score of 9/10 and finished third. Connor Higgs was the second Highest Overall shooter on the day, narrowly missing out on the prize of a free entry into a Provincial Championship by just one point.
Shey Doerner-Corson (Year 10) placed second in the South Island Enduro Championships A 4 round series.
At the end of the holidays, Gemma and Georgia Lewis competed in the National Mounted Games Pairs Championship, with Gemma (Year 13) placing third in the U18 division and Georgia (Year 10) fourth in the U15 division.
Ophelia Powell (Year 12) has been named as one of the New Zealand HoopNation Junior Showcase ‘17U Rising Star’ following her recent play at their national tournament.
Iona Garrett (Year 10) competed in the Ashburton Splash South Island Swimming Championships last month in the 12–13 age group, placing first in 50m Backstroke, second in 200m Individual Medley and third in 100m Backstroke.
Manaia Butler (OC 2020), known for her swimming prowess as a student at St Andrew’s, has had an about turn, with her rowing talent unearthed at the University of Otago last year. At the University Championships in Whanganui last year, Manaia's crew came away with four gold medals. She has since been selected in the New Zealand Universities Women's 8, to race against Australia in July for a trans-Tasman test.
Isaac Leota (OC 2012 and current Preparatory School teacher) has been selected for the New Zealand Universities rugby team that will be touring Japan at the end of May. Also selected in the team are Sam Lester (2015) and Charlie Murray (2019). They will play two matches, one against Kansai RFU in Osaka on Wednesday 24 May, followed by a match against the Japan U20 side on Saturday 27 May.
Sam Lane (OC 2015) has once again been selected for the Black Sticks team for next month’s tour to Europe. The team will play Pro League games against Belgium and Argentina in Antwerp, and the Netherlands and Germany in Amsterdam. Sam is currently seventh in the Dutch First Division rankings with 16 goals in 22 games.
Good luck to all students who are representing the College over the weekend in sports and cultural activities including:
Please continue to report to the College any COVID-19 related student absence using the same process as for non-COVID-19 related absences.
Parent Guidelines >
Ākonga Absence and Ill-health
A polite reminder that any ākonga who are unwell should not attend school. For any absence, whether ill-health or otherwise, the College’s preferred platform for reporting this is via our online form below.
Recording a Student Absence >
If you are not able to report your child's absence using the online form, please report their absence via the relevant email address below. If you cannot get through to us via the form or email, please call our attendance line on +64 3 940 2031 (term time only).
The Ōtautahi Jazz Jam Spectacular is a wonderful concert combining jazz groups from around Christchurch secondary schools, and this year our Big Band and Jazz Orchestra will be performing on Saturday 20 May.
This week the Years 9–10 production was announced and later this year the students will be performing the full Disney version of The Little Mermaid. Students are welcome to audition for this show in the coming weeks. To have their name added to the team, students should email Dance and Drama Specialist Ginnie Thorner GTH@stac.school.nz
The silent auction for the Ceilidh is now live. Please register and view the Silent and Live auction items here, which are open to everyone.
REGISTER AND VIEW ONLINE AUCTION >
We still have a few tickets available for the Ceilidh. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate our Scottish heritage and help support the Pipe Band get to Scotland for the World Championships this August this year.
Date: Saturday 27 May, 7.00pm
Venue: St Andrew's College Gym 1
Tickets: $69.00 (drink on arrival and light supper)
During this technology-focused presentation, St Andrew’s College staff and members of the College wider community will discuss the topic of technology and adolescent well-being. They will present their ideas about the positive and negative impacts of technology use and will reflect on the approach St Andrew’s has adopted in response to research about technology, pornography, teaching and learning and social media.
The evening will conclude with a panel discussion where parents will have the opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback, and consider strategies they can adopt at home to promote positive technological use and prioritise well-being.
Date: Tuesday 20 June
Time: 6.30pm–8.00pm
Location: Centennial Chapel
Join us for a fun and entertaining evening with coaching legends Andy Ellis, Stephen Fleming, Marianne Delaney-Hoshek and Shane Bond, who will provide insight into their experiences and what it takes to be a high-performing athlete, both on and off the field. This event will end with a Q+A session open to all guests who attend. Raffles and auctions will be held throughout the evening. The proceeds from this fundraiser will support St Andrew’s College rugby and cricket.
Date: Friday 23 June, 6.30pm
Venue: St Andrew’s College Gym 1
Tickets: $75.00
The online sales for the following 2023 photographs are now available:
Details of how to order the photographs can be found on our website using the button below and you will need to log into StACNet using your St Andrew's College login.
If you have any questions relating to this service, please email photography@stac.school.nz.
ORDER PHOTOGRAPHS ONLINE >The Community Business Directory is on our website under Alumni & Community and represents over 100 parent businesses. Please take a look at how many businesses you can support locally.
The St Andrew's College Community Business Directory >
If you would still like to register your business, complete the following form.
Community Business Directory Registration >
For a full list of upcoming school events, please refer to the fixtures page on StACNet.
