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Dear Parents and Caregivers
Kia ora koutou katoa.
Although this has been a short week, there has been plenty going on. The Year 10 whānau evening and the Te Waka Departure ceremony was a special event and I thank staff who presented to whānau and the Te Waka kaiako who facilitated shared time for whānau and Year 10 rangatahi.
Over the weekend, our 52 Production students enjoyed three days together at Living Springs. It is with great anticipation that we will head into Term 2 and the opening of Ngā Toi and the Gough Family Theatre, celebrated with the opening night of Legally Blonde. Tickets have been selling fast for the production, so if you have not yet booked, I recommend you do this now!
This morning, I have had the joy of sharing in the Junior Easter Fun activities. It is always a delight to visit the Junior department and to see learning in action. There was lots of concentration on the faces of all enjoying their creative activities.
As we finish today for our traditional Easter break, it is appropriate that our chapel service for Middle School and Senior College, delivered by Assistant Chaplain Ben Hughes, reflected upon the significance of Easter, both as a religious event and a time to reflect upon the sacrifices made by many to give us the lives we enjoy today. College Chaplain, Rev. Paul Morrow, acknowledged the generosity shown by tutor groups to the charity we support, So They Can. After the service, the Prefects wished students a Happy Easter with an Easter treat.
Congratulations also to the students who went on the production camp who raised over $300 from Jack Flanagan (Year 13) generously sacrificing a wax of his legs for a good cause.
I wish all our families a blessed few days of special time together, and relaxation. It has been a very busy term, and I am sure that like our students and staff you will be looking forward to some respite from busy routines.
Ngā mihi o te Aranga
Christine Leighton
Rector
On Tuesday night, the Year 10 Te Waka Departure evening was held. This evening involved parents meeting with their child’s Te Waka teacher and a special moment between parents and their children, sharing letters of thanks and gratitude with each other. It was a fantastic night reminiscing on the students’ childhoods and talking about strategies to aid our rangatahi in moving forward for the future. It was wonderful to witness the special moments between parents and children. Thank you to all the students, parents and staff for the time and effort they put into making this wonderful occasion happen.
The cast, musicians and staff involved in the Senior College Production of Legally Blonde: The Musical went to Living Springs for their annual four-day camp. This is hugely productive, allowing the time for rehearsals, sitzprobe, and time to connect with each other, watch the sunrise, go for a swim and even roll down the hills. One of the benefits this year was mapping out the actual stage size in the new Gough Family Theatre, which is much larger than what has been used during the last two years during its build.
This year the show is Legally Blonde, which is high energy with a lot of dance numbers. The cast worked very hard, and the show is in great shape. Of particular mention is the leadership shown by the Year 13 students on the camp, which finished with one of the best camp concerts in recent years. We hope you have your tickets!
FLICKR >
On Monday night, at our first StACTalk of the year, we had Conrad Goodhew, locally renowned Sports Nutritionist, come to talk with parents and students about how to fuel your body for performance.
He shared great practical tips to improve young people’s energy levels and better prepare them for the rigours of their daily academic, social, and sporting needs. He backed up these tips with both great scientific rationale and from his practical experience working with high performance teams and individuals.
Our next StACTalk will focus on the benefits of sleep, with guess speaker Dr Kelly Dale, who is a sleep physiologist and sleep researcher. This next session will be held in Term 2, on Tuesday 21 May. Registrations will open next term.
Class 9A would like to say a big mihi to Countdown Northlands and The Warehouse Northlands who both donated Easter baskets to their tutor group. 9A raffled off the Easter baskets for So They Can and raised $410.00. Thank you all who supported 9A with their fundraiser.
Last Friday, six St Andrew’s Year 13 students attended a Career Experience Day at Trimble in Christchurch. Students had the opportunity to see and talk to people that are working in the fields of Surveying, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, Mathematics and other related fields. Students heard about career outcomes in these fields, as well as trying out some of the latest GPS and robotic equipment.
Two of our newest students, Lola Henderson and Zoey Chua (both Year 1) were very excited to watch the Preparatory School Orchestra practice last week. They came with their lunch and sat and watched with beautiful manners for the whole lunchtime. Music teacher Ros Emeleus may have some future musicians here!
Students in Years 7 and 8 were invited to design a poster for this year’s Preparatory School production of The Aurora Stone. Last week the designers met Heads of Art, Lily Hart and Oscar Reed, who talked to the group about strong design principles, including layout, image and font. The group are now refining their concepts which will be briefed into the Communications Department to create the final design.
The Junior Department welcomed Easter with a bright and joyful celebration this morning, with the children embracing the opportunity to invite special friends from the Pre-school to join the fun. Some very lucky Year 13 students also took part in the festivities. The children were kept busy making Easter bunnies, cute little chicks, themed door hangers, marbled eggs and baskets. Creativity and inclusivity were at the heart of this special morning.
FLICKR >
The final results for Summer Tournament, including those who finished over the weekend, are summarised below. A full selection of photos is also now available in the Combined Summer Tournament Flickr and in the individual sports code Flickrs for competitions held in Christchurch.
Summer Tournament Week Final Results >Combined Summer Tournament Flickr >
Mixed Touch Flickr >WATER POLO FLICKR >
This year we had our Senior A Boys’ team and Senior Girls’ team competing in the championships. The Boys’ team played some very good water polo and made it to the semi-finals against a very good St Bede’s College team. Unfortunately, St Bede’s were too good for the boys on the day and the team ended up finishing fourth in the South Island in a shootout. The Girls’ team had a rough tournament with some heavy losses, but to their credit they kept fighting and finished eighth in the South Island.
The rowing squad have wrapped up an excellent week on the water for all of our rowers. With six A finals and 8 B finals competed in, the rowers showed maturity through the ups of success and the downs of disappointment which we are all very proud of. Our Maadi Cup U18 8 reaching the Maadi Cup final for only the fifth time in College history, placing sixth, was a memorable moment for our squad from the Saturday racing programme. The 46 rowers that went away, led by Captain of Rowing Sam Gamble (Year 13), represented the College with passion throughout the week. This was shown in the annual Maadi Cup parade with a banner and chants that represents connectiveness between our squad. The entire rowing programme would also like to deeply thank our outgoing Director of Rowing, Guy Williams, and his wife, Boys’ U18 coach Rachel Williams, for the work they have put in to develop the StAC rowing over the last five years; they have left the programme in a strong place. The final medal tally in the A finals was two Gold, one Silver.
FLICKR >The 2024 New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships, Mount Maunganui, is the pinnacle event of the season with approximately 1500 athletes involved. Amelie Clark (Year 11) competed against 70 athletes in her age division and achieved the finals in all her events.
Alexander Black (Year 12) umpired at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Softball Championships last week and was appointed as part of the umpiring team for the Division 1 Girls’ Championship grand final.
The Preliminary day for Canterbury Secondary Schools Athletics was held on Tuesday at Ngā Puna Wai with around 40 St Andrew’s students competing. Sophie Lampe (Year 10) was our only athlete in a final and she comfortably won the U15 Girls’ 3000m by just over 90 seconds, lapping the majority of the field. Highlights were Melenaite Havea (Year 11) qualifying top in both her events, along with Jaden Hu (Year 13), Sophie Paterson, Makenzie Disher (both Year 10), Oliver Jackways and Jock Sidey both (Year 11) qualifying in multiple events. The U15 Boys’ relay team were the only 4x100 relay who had to run, and they comfortably qualified. A group of 19 athletes qualified for the finals being held today and join another nine who already had events go straight into Thursday finals.
FLICKR >
Yesterday, 14 students braved the conditions to compete in the Canterbury Interschools Dressage Championships. While St Andrew’s did not place overall as a team, the girls achieved some excellent individual results including:
Our golfers competed at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Golf Championships at McLeans Island Golf Course on Monday. It was the largest event held in years, with well over 100 students competing. A highlight of the day was Zihui (Alisia) Ren (Year 13) winning the overall female best gross with a score of 76 and our A team placed fourth overall.
Four rowing students have secured representative trials, with Charles Butterfield and Jack Pitts (both Year 13) invited to attend the New Zealand U19 trials at Lake Karāpiro in April, and William Tavendale and Logan Gardner (both Year 13) invited to attend the U18 South Island trials at Lake Ruataniwha, also in April.
A large group of ākonga and recent leavers have just been named in regional representative teams.
Under 16: Alanna Brook (Year 11), Lucy Cliff (Year 10), Makenzie Disher (Year 10), Hannah Radford (Year 10), Ava Jones (Year 11), Maniah Taefu (Year 10), Jai Curtis (Year 10), Oliver Kirk (Year 10), Kai Sloane (Year 9), Iosefo (Sefo) Tito (Year 9);
Under 18: Niamh Chamberlain (Year 13), Orla Motley (Year 12), Ophelia Powell (Year 13), Rafferty Powell (Year 13), Marcus Isitt (Year 13), Logan Righton (Year 12), Bronson Curtis (Year 12), Sam Jenkins (Coach - OC 2020);
Under 20: Ella Sharpe (Year 13), Carter Rhodes (Year 13), Kavanah Lene (OC 2023), Lauren Whittaker (OC 2023), Mitch Corkery (OC 2023), Torin Ward (OC2023).
Lucy Margison (Year 10) and Tave Stuart (Year 12) are in a dance team who were the entertainment at the opening game for the Canterbury Rams last night. The girls did really well and were both excited and nervous dancing for such a big crowd.
At the Dean's Hui on Wednesday, a group of Year 9 students were given a token of gratitude (a chocolate fish) for being nominated by staff for embodying the positive dispositions we strive to instil in our students at St Andrew’s. Each of these students had multiple nominations from various areas – Keer (Tessa) Meng, Jessica Armstrong, Charlie Heinz, Violet McInnes, Danica Minson, Jack Wilkins, George Levings, Marshall Coles, Jack Foley, Thomas Ambury, Monty Crawford and Anna McOscar.
The 1st XI started day two against St Bede’s College with a 200 run lead. St Bede’s knuckled down and proved hard to dismiss in the first hour. However, the introduction of Tom Turner (Year 13) to the bowling crease proved to be too much for the St Bede’s batsman, as he chipped away with his off-spinners and picked up 7/57 off 25 overs for St Andrew’s to dismiss St Bede’s for 168 and win the game outright.
In other games, Lucas Jemmett (Year 9) batted well to bring the team home against North West for his 80 n.o. Ryan Bond (Year 11) also batted extremely well making 75 n.o. against Shirley Boys’ High School.
Iaera (Year 4) and Nayana Abrahamson (Year 2) both had success at The Balmoral Club Championship Day last weekend. Iaera won Most Points U10 and won the Championship Sailors Hornpipe. Nayana won Most Points 6 and Under and was runner up Most Points U8.
On Wednesday, 10 Preparatory School students competed in the Canterbury Primary Swimming Sports Championships at the Selwyn Aquatic Centre. From the group of 10, there were 17 Canterbury Primary Swimming Certificates awarded, and all of the swimmers achieving a top 10 finish.
There was an array of outstanding results, golds for the Open Mixed Medley Year 7–8 (Kaia Hartstonge (Year 8), Yunze Li (Year 7), Cong (Zilong) Chen (Year 8) and Hudson Blyde (Year 8)), Kelicia Rui En Purcell in the Year 7 Breaststroke, Yunze Li Year 7 Freestyle, Cong (Zilong) Chen 100m Backstroke, and Bozan Wang Year 6 Breaststroke. Arizona Wallace as one of the only Year 5 swimmers in the Year 5–6 Mixed Medley and the team finishing second and then awarded first due to disqualification, which consisted of Bozan Wang, Chloe Wang and Hunter Lane (all Year 6). Kaia Hartstonge narrowly missed a podium finish for Butterfly, however, placed second in the Year 8 Freestyle; Yunze Li, placed in the top 3 for all her events, including the relay.
The Preparatory School Team 1 achieved second place in the Canterbury Kids' Lit Quiz Canterbury Regional Final on Wednesday 20 March. As defending champions, team members Harry Sibson, Emmett Lawler, Edward Garbutt and Xiaofeng (Alina) Deng (all Year 8) gave an excellent performance, scoring 85 points, losing out to The Cathedral Grammar School by only one point. Team 2, comprising Louis Hyland-Cook, Hudson Blyde, Jonathan Armstrong (all Year 8) and Emma Zhang (Year 7), also performed well, placing joint ninth out of 30 teams with 71 points.
A group of 15 Preparatory School dancers took part in the Ballet Academy Annual Performance Awards last weekend, learning, mastering and performing a new dance before an external examiner (and audience) in just four weeks. The examiner was very pleased with the quality seen on the stage, and the gorgeous costumes. They were supported by four Secondary School dancers, who performed demonstration items to inspire the young dancers.
FLICKR >Kalisa Zhang (Year 9) been selected to represent New Zealand at the 2024 Australian Gymnastics Championships being held in May on the Gold Coast. She also received the Stage 3–4 Rhythmic Gymnast of the Year in 2023 from the Canterbury Gymsport Trust.
Saxon Morgan (OC 2018) achieved a career-best at the World Triathlon Cup in Hong Kong last Sunday with his 10th place finish, which takes his world ranking from 110th to 102nd.
Luca Vinnell (Head Boy 2019) has been awarded the Helen Goodwin Doctoral Scholarship and is starting his research career, looking at the immune system’s connection to Parkinson’s disease.
Good luck to all students who are representing the College over the weekend in sports and cultural activities.
Get ready to be tickled pink! Our dazzling production of Legally Blonde is a high-energy, heartfelt production that will leave you cheering for girl power. Follow Elle Woods, the ultimate fashionista, as she trades her designer handbags for law books and takes Harvard Law School by storm. With catchy tunes, hilarious antics, and a dash of romance, this show celebrates empowerment, friendship, and the colour pink. So, grab your shades, slip into those stilettos, and join us for a legal drama where fashion is always in session! Recommended 13+ (a few sexual references).
When: Sunday 12 May – Saturday 18 May, 7.00pm (Sunday Theatre Opening event for donors only, no Wednesday show)
Where: St Andrew's College, Ngā Toi – Performing Arts Centre and Gough Family Theatre
Tickets: Adults $35.00 | Students $17.50
Year 10 Exchange applications are now open, with two exchanges on offer to Sydney, Australia – one to Presbyterian Ladies’ College (female students only) and the other to Barker College (co-ed).
If your Year 10 child is interested in a four-week experience in a different country, this is a perfect short exchange for them. Dates for the exchange are not confirmed but have tentatively booked for Sunday 14 July – Saturday 10 August (one week of Term 2 holidays and three weeks of Term 3).
To participate in an exchange, the cost for flights, insurance and spending money needs to be covered.
Applications close on Friday 5 April. For more information, please contact Director of International Students and Exchanges, Palē Tauti, on PTU@stac.school.nz.
Dates and times for the Parent-Teacher Interviews (Years 9–13) this term are as follows:
Boarder Interviews: There will be no boarder interviews at the end of this term. This means that classes will finish at 3.20pm on Friday 12 April.
For any illness, students should stay home if unwell. Any student should also feel free to wear a mask if they wish to do so while at school.
For any absence, whether ill-health (including COVID-19) or otherwise, the College’s preferred platform for reporting this is via our online form which can be found at the button below:
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 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.
