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Dear Parents and Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa.
The start of Term 3 is now in full swing, and we look forward to a busy term with winter sports, music events, Year 10 camps, social activities and celebrations, and school prelim examinations. There is much to pack into ten weeks.
The two-week break saw a number of staff supporting teams in various sports tournaments and competitions, and several teachers attended professional learning days or conferences.
Of particular note were the success of the Year 9 and 10 netball teams in the South Island tournament. Our Year 10 team took second place and the silver medal against a strong Columba College side (Dunedin) and the Year 9 team finished unbeaten to become the South Island champions. A fantastic display of St Andrew’s netball talent.
The clay target shooting team won two titles at the South Island Championships in Dunedin and at the New Zealand Secondary School Rogaine Championships the StAC Knights team was crowned the New Zealand Mixed Team champions.
A number of students represented Canterbury at National tournaments in U17 Basketball, Hockey and Netball. Four students also performed at the Court Theatre production of Disney’s Frozen Jr which had sell-out performances to enthusiastic audiences during the second week of the break.
The Preparatory School sports trip to Brisbane and the Gold Coast was a great success. 32 students played basketball, football and rugby against three independent schools – see further details below.
Thank you to parents who participated in the Secondary School Parent-Tutor conferences. This is an important touchpoint for parents and tutors halfway through the year.
This weekend is a busy one on campus. Tonight around 135 Old Collegians are gathering for the Annual Dinner in Strowan House. Each year at this event three Old Collegians are recognised. This year’s recipients are:
Tomorrow is the annual Rugby Reunion with 1st XV players from 1953–2013 in attendance, with the highly anticipated game of St Andrew’s College vs. Christ’s College at home at 2.45pm.
Tomorrow night is the Senior College Formal with approximately 550 students gathering at Te Pae for this much-awaited social event.
Ngā mihi mahana.
Christine Leighton
Rector
On the last day of Term 2, our shooters travelled to Dunedin for the South Island Secondary Schools' Clay Target Championships. Our skeet shooters were the first to shoot on Saturday 1 July, before the winds started to pick up and cause the targets to be blown in an unpredictable way. Maggie Hood (Year 13) made it look too easy and shot 24/25 to retain her title as South Island Ladies Skeet Champion. Connor Higgs (Year 13) shot 22/25 so, together, they won the two-person skeet team event. This is a title which Maggie had already won in 2019 with brother Ollie Hood (OC 2020). Kurt Lilly (Year 10) and Logan Gardner (Year 12) narrowly missed out on a third place in the shoot-offs.
Logan Gardner shot 19/20 in Single Rise and finished fifth overall in the Fish and Game Trophy Championship. In Points Score, the St Andrew’s team of Logan Gardner, Mitchell Twentyman (Year 11), Kurt Lilly, Konnor Chamberlain (Year 11) and Connor Higgs came second whilst Maggie Hood, Lucie Hood (Year 11) and Addison Williams (Year 12) came third in the Ladies team event. Maggie went on to finish third in Ladies Single Barrel and Mikaere Cescon (Year 10) came third in Junior Single Barrel.
Nine members of the team shot again on Sunday in even worse conditions, in a fun shoot put on by Dunedin Clay Target Club, trying their hand at Trench, Ball Trap and Double Rise. St Andrew’s dominated the event with Logan Gardner being the Highest Overall shooter on the day.
FLICKR >The South Island Secondary Schools Road Cycling championships were held at Ruapuna Raceway at the start of the holidays. Cohnor Walsh (Year 10) came fourth in both the U16 Boys’ Time Trial on the Saturday and the Road Race on the Sunday. Sophie Lampe (Year 9) came fourth in her first Road Race in the U15 Girls’ Road Race.
On the last Sunday of the holidays, the South Island Secondary Schools Cyclocross championships were held at the KartSport Canterbury Racetrack in Halswell. St Andrew’s had three students participating, Abigail Scott-Douglas (Year 10) in the U15 Girls’, William Pringle (Year 10) in the U16 Boys’ and Cooper Pringle (Year 9) in the U15 Boys’ race. Abigail won her category to be crowned South Island champion and William came a close second in his category.
The South Island Secondary Schools Junior Netball Tournament was held in Christchurch on Monday 3 – Wednesday 5 July. The St Andrew’s 10A team beat Otago Girls’ High School, Southland Girls’ High School and Wakatipu High School comfortably in the pool games, and then went on to beat Rangiora High School and Christchurch Girls’ High School to make the quarterfinals against Marian College, who they also beat 36–26. They then won their semi-final game 27–18 against St Margaret’s College to qualify for the final against Columba Girls’ High School from Dunedin. This was a hard-fought game for the team, who went down 30–21, claiming second place for Year 10 in the South Island.
In the Year 9 pool play competition, the St Andrew’s 9A team comfortably beat Timaru Girls’ High School, Avonside Girls’ High School and Wakatipu High School, and then on the Tuesday beat St Margaret’s College, Central Southland College and then Mount Aspiring College in the quarter final. This put them into the semi-finals against Ashburton College, which they beat easily 41–24. The final was against St Hilda’s Collegiate School in what looked to be a close match. In the end, St Andrew’s was too good and won the tournament 44–20 to become the South Island champions.
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The South Island Secondary Schools Orienteering Championship was held in Nelson on Saturday 8 – Sunday 9 July. In the Sprint race at Founders Heritage Park, Elliot Graves (Year 12) found locating some of the stations quite difficult and finished well down in the field. On the Sunday, Elliot Graves (Year 11) and Luke Skinner (Year 12) fared a lot better on the Long Course at Rabbit Island, with Elliot coming in first in his grade and Luke second.
At the New Zealand Secondary Schools Orienteering Championships in Marlborough on Thursday 13 – 14 July, Ethan Griffin (Year 11) and Elliot Graves (Year 12) competed in the Long Course in the Hills above the Cloudy Bay Business Park. Both boys won winning their respective Divisions 2 titles. On the Friday, Ethan competed in the Sprint race and came a very credible 13th in New Zealand.
At the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rogaine Championships in Blenheim on Tuesday 11 July, the StAC Knights team of Elliot Graves, Luke Skinner (both Year 12), Freddy Todhunter (Year 13) and Ethan Griffin (Year 11) competed in the Senior Mixed category. The three-hour event saw teams amass as many points as they could. At the end of the race, the team scored 1840 points out of a possible 2100 points, crowning them New Zealand champions.
At the Tanner Cup Boys Hockey Tournament, the St Andrew’s U15 Boys’ hockey team placed seventh out of 16 teams. The team won their pool easily, beating Whangarei Boys’ High School 2–0. In the quarter final against Westlake Boys’ High School unfortunately a goal was disallowed and saw a 1–2 loss. The team then lost to Otago Boys’ High School 2–3, then beat Tauranga Boys’ High School in a play-off for seventh place, 2–1.
In the second week of the holidays, 32 students and SIX staff travelled to Queensland, Australia for a sports tour. The students played basketball, football and rugby against Anglican Church Grammar, The Southport School and John Paul College. In between games they also visited Australia Zoo, theme parks, Surfers Paradise and the Kurrawa Surf Club. One of the many highlights was watching the students perform the school haka to each of the teams, prepared during the year by teacher Mary Leota and Matua Steve. The teams were competitive and demonstrated excellent fair play.
Our first Year 10 Winter camp was held this week with not a lot of snow on the hills. Students had to march long and high to touch snow at the top of Mt Cheeseman ski field. They got a windy summit reward for their hard mahi. Abseiling through the intimidating-looking ‘Sky Hole’ with stunning views of the Craigieburns was way more fun than skiing!
FLICKR >This week the Girls’ 1st and 2nd XI hockey teams played St Cuthbert’s College as part of their South Island tour. The 1st XI took a quarter to warm up and Henrietta Nation (Year 12) scored the first goal of the game with a quick reply from St Cuthberts to make the halftime score 1–1. Rylee McBride (Year 11) scored the second goal in the third quarter and St Cuthberts came back strong in the final quarter, scoring two goals. St Andrew’s finished the game with two exciting attacking penalty corners but were unable to score and the final score was 3–2 to St Cuthberts.
The 2nd XI girls went one goal up early in the game but having only two substitutes meant that the whole team had to work hard to compete for the entirety of the game. With a few unlucky misses on goal, the final score was 2–1 to St Cuthberts.
FLICKR >
The Boys’ 1st XI team played against Rangiora High School this week. A high press led to numerous chances wasted, but a goal from Jackson Blake (Year 13) saw the team 1–0 up at the break. A lack of stamina led to a flurry of goals coming in a short space of time and a few mistakes by St Andrew’s, resulting in a 2–4 loss.
The Girls’ 1st XI team had a bye this week.
The Senior A netball team played Marian College A in the championship round of SuperNet. The first quarter was close, with St Andrew’s up by three goals. The pressure was on to ensure that all turnover ball was converted into goals. In each of the remaining quarters, the team worked together to slowly increase the gap between scores. The final result was 48–25 to St Andrew’s.
Lauren Whittaker (Year 13) was the only New Zealander invited to attend the NBA Basketball Without Borders in Las Vegas in the last week of the school holidays.
Kavanah Lene (Year 13) is one of 40 students worldwide (and just five from New Zealand) to be selected for the NBA Academy taking place in Atlanta Georgia later this year.
Maddie Morrow, Karereatua Williams (both OC 2022), Lauren Whittaker, Kavanah Lene (both Year 13), Ophelia Powell (Year 12) and Coach, Cam Wilson are members of the Checkers basketball club team who won the Canterbury Women’s competition on Saturday 8 July.
Maddie Morrow, Karereatua Williams (both OC 2022), Lauren Whittaker, Kavanah Lene (both Year 13), and Coach, Cam Wilson have signed with Mainland Pouākai for 2023, the professional league basketball team representing the Upper South region in the GJ Gardner Homes Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa competition.
Cheryl Teng (Year 9) was second in the Concerto Movement Performance 12 Years and Over for violin, as well as the Most Promising Award, at the Hutt Valley Performing Arts Competitions in Lower Hutt during the holidays.
Sea-am Thompson (Year 12) placed third equal in The Big Sing NZCF-SOUNZ Choral Composition Competition.
At the recent South Island Cross Country Championships which were raced at the Old Ascot Golf Course, Christchurch on Saturday 15 July, Abigail Scott-Douglas (Year 10) came third in the U16 Girls’ race. In the U16 Boys’ race, Kupa Rule (Year 10) ran an impressive race to win by 12 seconds and become the South Island Champion for 2023.
Gemma Lewis (Year 13) has been selected for the New Zealand Dressage Talent ID Squad as part of the High Performance Programme.
At the recent Dressage New Zealand Awards Dinner held in Christchurch, Gemma was awarded National Champion Young Rider (U21), Champion Small Tour and Reserve Champion Pony Rider as part of the National AMS Pony and Young Rider Series.
1st XV Captain, Lucas Te Rangi (Year 13) was selected into the recent New Zealand U18 Māori Camp.
Tave Stuart (Year 11) recently competed in the South Island Ballet Awards 2023, reaching the semi-final. Tave also did well in Christchurch competitions, receiving the following results:
At the recent Highland Dancing New Zealand Championships in Tauranga, Siara Clarke (Year 12) won the 2023 Overall New Zealand Champion of Champions U18 title. Siara won four individual New Zealand Championship titles in the Highland Reel, Irish Reel, Irish Jig single time, and Irish Jig Double time U18, and also won Best Presentation and Interpretation over the 10 events.
At the same competition, Charlize Blakely (Year 11) achieved an overall ninth U16 national ranking. Sarah McCarthy (Year 8) was the winner of the South Auckland Championship Highland Reel and the Runner Up Champion 12–14 years. Iaera Abrahamson (Year 3) was the Runner Up U8 Champion.
Makenzie Disher (Year 9) won the recent episode of the TV show Brain Busters. This competition involves competing against other children in mathematics, memory, and spelling challenges under pressure.
Gabriella Kenton-Smith (Year 13) was selected to represent New Zealand in international laser class sailing at the recent 2023 ILCA 6 Youth and Men's World Championships that were held in Marina Dziwnow, Dziwnow, Poland. The regatta was held from Saturday 1 – Sunday 9 July in choppy and windy conditions. Gabrielle raced in 12 races to amass 434 points and finish a very credible 95th in the world.
The New Zealand Secondary Schools netball team travelled to Australia on Tuesday 27 June until Monday 3 July, where they were involved in the U19 Australian camp, providing some vital international play which has been missing in the past three years due to the global pandemic. Sienna Stowers-Smith (Year 13) was the only player from the Mainland region to be selected in the team and one of only three from the South Island. The team played five matches against their Australian counterparts and won three, with Sienna starting in all five of the games.
Findley Curtis (Year 10) has been selected for the New Zealand U15 Sevens team and will take part in the Heritage Cup in France, from Sunday 27 August to Monday 11 September. Twenty nations from around the world will compete in this youth world sevens competition and this will be an amazing experience for him.
Holly Maraki (Year 12) (U18 Black) and Sienna Stowers-Smith (Year 13) (U18 Red) were part of the Canterbury U18 teams who played in the Celebration Box Netball NZ U18 Championships in Hamilton on Monday 10 – Thursday 13 July. The Canterbury U18 teams had a tough time with the U18 Red team finishing in 14th place and the U18 Black team in 19th place.
At the Vantage National U18 Girls Hockey Tournament in Auckland on Saturday 2 – Saturday 8 July, Henrietta Nation (Year 12) and Penelope Taulafo (Year 13) were members of the Canterbury U18A Girls team who won a tight-fought final against North Harbour to be crowned champions. Holly Gilray, Nikkita McIntyre, and Alissa Tamaki (all Year 13) were in the U18B team that competed in the same tournament, coming a respectable sixth.
At the Vantage National U18 Boys Hockey Tournament in Dunedin on Saturday 2 – Saturday 8 July, Joel Rogers, Luke Slee (both Year 13) were part of the U18A team who finished ninth, and Liam Hall (Year 11), Benjamin Harford, Jackson Hodgkinson, Finnian Bierwirth, Alex Rippin were part of the U18B team who finished 12th.
At the AON U17 Basketball Nationals, both Canterbury teams won silver and coach Aled Jones led his team to gold.
At the recent Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) competition, a number of students were members of Canterbury teams.
Canterbury Basketball Association Club Championships – Ophelia Powell (Year 12), Kavanah Lene (Year 13), Lauren Whittaker (Year 13), Karereatua Williams, Maddie Morrow (both OC 2022) and Coach Cam Wilson are the CBA Club Champions for 2023.
Grounds and Maintenance team member, Sally-James Houlahan, has been selected for the Canterbury rugby team.
Football Co-ordinator, Juan Chang is the Head Coach of the Samoa Women's U20 national team. He led them to a bronze medal in the OFC U19 Women's Championship in Fiji during the holiday break. This was Juan’s first time coaching a national team at an international competition.
Good luck to all students who are representing the College over the weekend in sports and cultural activities.
It is timely to remind parents of the process if the College is closed because of snow. A decision will be made by 6.30am on the day, and parents contacted via text, email and via the StAC App. The update will be on the home page of the College website and parents should check this in the first instance, especially in the case of delays in text/emails from the telecommunication companies. An update will also be put on the College’s Facebook page (which is public so anyone can view it).
Should it snow during the school day, parents will be contacted with a similar process to collect students, as appropriate.
We acknowledge that a number of our families live in areas where snow may be more prevalent than in town, and we understand when families choose not to bring their students into school through dangerous driving conditions. In this case, please contact the Absence line as per usual.
Monday 21 August (Week 6 of Term 3) is a Teacher-Only Day set aside for staff to work on preparation for the new NCEA Level 1 programme to be implemented from the start of 2024. On that day, we will also be running a number of ‘advance’ Prelim examinations: Level 1 Mathematics, Level 2 English, Level 3 Biology. These examinations are compulsory for enrolled students, will be run formally (SAC entitlements will be provided as normal), and will provide the derived grades for NCEA and more information will be provided separately in a few weeks’ time. It will not be possible to run these particular examinations at any other time than on this day. More information can be found in this week’s NCEA Newsletter.
Join us for an informative, free evening focused on how we can support our students with academic anxiety through this high-pressure time in their life. We know that teens experience stress due to the normal pressures of secondary school, but during academic assessment, this stress can increase.
Our guest speakers at this StACTalks session will include:
After the presentation there will be time to have a drink and talk to fellow parents, followed by a panel discussion where parents are free to ask questions and provide feedback.
Date: Tuesday 1 August
Time: 6.30pm–8.00pm
Location: Centennial Chapel
Two scholarships have been generously sponsored by an Old Collegian and are available for Year 11–12 students. The objective of these scholarships is to encourage personal discovery through experiential learning and develop leadership potential in young adults. Both scholarships provide 80% funding, with the remaining 20% and travel funded by the recipient.
Spirit of Adventure Scholarship (Year 11) – One scholarship provides support for one Year 11 student to participate in a 10-day sailing on the Spirit of Adventure (choice of dates). Further information on the sailing can be found on the Spirit of Adventure website by clicking here. Please also see further information on the College website by clicking here.
Outward Bound Scholarship (Year 12) – The Outward Bound scholarship provides support for one Year 12 student to experience an Outward Bound Mind, Body and Soul course from 5–25 January 2024. Further information on this course can be found on the Outward Bound website by clicking here. Please also see further information on the College website by clicking here.
All Year 11 and 12 students will be emailed a link to the online application forms, which open Monday 24 July and close Monday 14 August 2023. Please note only students can access and complete these forms. For further information, please contact Assistant Head of Secondary School (Academic), Helaina Coote, on HCE@stac.school.nz.
With international borders open and the movement of people across borders back to normal, we have the privilege of having international students join us once again at St Andrew’s College to enrich their learning journey. We are looking for families who are willing to host international students in their homes in the following three capacities:
For more information, please contact Director of International Students and Exchanges, Pale Tauti at PTU@stac.school.nz.
In support of the Boarders’ Assembly on Friday 4 August, the student Agriculture Committee will once again be holding Gumboot Day to support and raise money for youth mental health. Students are encouraged to wear (clean) gumboots to school and text BOOTS to 469 to donate $3.00. Thank you for your support.
Experience the thrilling sounds of StAC Attack 2023! A St Andrew’s College Pipe Band event at the prestigious Christchurch Town Hall – James Hay Theatre, this highly anticipated showcase guarantees an unforgettable evening of traditional Scottish entertainment and an opportunity to see our A Band in action before they travel to Scotland to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships in August. Immerse yourself in the rich harmonics of the bagpipes, the infectious beat of the drums, and the flair of the Highland dancers as they take the stage. With talented St Andrew's College students from Years 4–13 showcasing their skills, StAC Attack promises to be an action-packed performance.
With special guests New Zealand Champion Pipe Band – Canterbury Caledonian Society.
When: Sunday 30 July, 5.00pm–7.00pm
Where: In the Christchurch Town Hall – James Hay Theatre
Tickets: Adults $49 | Children $29
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 >
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).
For a full list of upcoming school events, please refer to the fixtures page on StACNet.
