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Dear Parents and Caregivers
Kia ora koutou.
Yesterday afternoon’s service in our Centennial Chapel was a significant time for many of our students and recent Old Collegians as we supported Connor’s family and friends in remembering a talented and much-loved young man. I am incredibly grateful for Rev. Paul Morrow, teachers and staff at St Andrew’s College who give such care to our students, particularly in challenging times. Our heartfelt sympathies and prayers remain with the Higgs family and friends.
Cultural Week
At the end of our celebration of StAC culture this week, our Cultural Captains, Xanthe Pearce and Jenna Howell (Year 13), masterminded a magnificent Cultural Assembly this morning. A packed assembly enjoyed items including a violin duet of Flower of Scotland; an intro item of I Will Survive with great singing, dancing, and jazz band; Morning Comment “What is culture” from Xanthe and Jenna; a Soul Band item Runaway, and even a speed portrait competition won by none other than the Year 9 Cantamath team (who won second place in last night’s Christchurch competition).
I was very touched when the choirs dedicated a special item to me – a beautiful arrangement of My Favourite Things from The Sound of Music (someone obviously knew my love for this musical).
Rector’s Assembly Address > Morning Comment (Xanthe Pearce and Jenna Howell) > Assembly Awards > YouTube > Flickr >
Earlier this week, Film Fest was enjoyed in the Gough Family Theatre – what a great place to watch the eight finalists. Congratulations to the overall winner, Knock Knock. See details below. Other activities in a busy week have included 32 students involved with the Thriving Minds Conferences hosted at St Andrew’s, and the Senior A netball final against St Margaret’s College who came second in Christchurch with a final score of 25–30 after an excellent, highly competitive game. Three of our Girls’ Senior A teams have made the Christchurch Schools winter sports finals, netball, basketball, and 1st XI football. The winter season will wrap up next week, with Winter Tournament Week to follow.
Cantamath
Last night at the Cantamath competition, our Year 8 team of Cong (Zilong) Chen, Benjamin Yu, Emmett Lawler and Baizhen (Tony) Chen won the final by a considerable margin. Congratulations! Other results are listed below – overall a strong representation from our eight teams.
New Zealand Schools’ Poetry Winner
Today is National Poetry Day, and this morning we were able to celebrate with the announcement that Chantelle Xiong has won first prize in the National Schools’ Poetry competition. This is the first time that StAC has won this competition, with several top 10 placings over the years. Congratulations to Chantelle and also to Meg Simpson (Year 13) who won a top 10 placing this year. Outstanding results!
OCA Annual Dinner
Last Friday night, I attended the Old Collegians’ Annual Dinner, with 160 attendees. The annual awards for 2024 were presented to three very impressive recipients.
For more details, please click here.
Best wishes to all, especially the sports teams with finals this weekend.
Ngā mihi mahana
Christine Leighton
Rector
Cultural Week was once again a huge success. Students started the week off enjoying hot chocolates and the Barbershop performing outside of Senior College, which brightened everyone's morning as they came in. A ‘bring a friend to dance’ event where students got to try and learn a dance, was followed by the opportunity to watch a mini Theatresports competition. Students also gathered to watch videos of past productions and sing along to all their favourite songs. Today’s Cultural Assembly was followed by a House Art Competition during Friday Quad, which was won by Thompson House. Overall, lots of students got the chance to get involved and try an aspect of culture that they may not have previously had the chance
flickr >
Last Friday, in association with the Secondary School Boarders’ Assembly, the annual St Andrew’s College Gumboot Friday was held. This saw many students across the College trading in their black school shoes for a pair of gumboots. Gumboot Friday raises money for the I Am Hope Foundation, which provides financial assistance to young people requiring support with their mental health. During Boarder’s Assembly, the StAC Unplugged policy was briefly paused to allow everyone to text BOOTS to 469, which automatically donates $3.00 towards Gumboot Friday. This function is still available for anyone wishing to donate. At lunchtime, the Agriculture Committee hosted a sausage sizzle, raising a total of $658.30.
Last Friday, Year 10 French students spent a day with their peers from Lincoln High School at the annual French Day. Based at Hagley Park, they started off with a pain au chocolat, before separating into groups for a range of activities including a quiz and a model-building competition. Lunch was a filled croissant and a piece of mille-feuilles. The two outdoor activities, a treasure hunt in the Botanic Gardens and pétanque, saw some incredibly competitive play. The members of the pétanque club were helpful, teaching the students the rules of the game, as well as giving a few tips on where to land the boules. One of the club members, who is French, called in briefly to meet the students early in the day. Students were fortunate, as he is a baker, and he returned before the end of the day to surprise them with boxes of baking. With the day being filled with food, sport, and creative activities all with a French theme, there was something for everyone to enjoy.
Julie Arliss, who is based at Oxford University, facilitated two philosophy conferences at St Andrew’s College this week; a senior-level conference on Tuesday and a junior-level conference on Wednesday. The topics covered captivated our students and the 260 other students from wider Canterbury-based schools, with two schools travelling form as far afield as Auckland. The highlights included Xavier Dickason (OC 2020) debating against Julie Arliss for the two house debates, and the ‘live from Oxford University’ lecture from Dr Andrew Pinsent on Science and Miracles. St Andrew’s very much values its connection with Julie Arliss, contributing to a number of global education initiatives and is currently the only New Zealand school hosting Thriving Minds conferences.
FLICKR >
RUGBY
This weekend St Andrew’s College will have four teams playing in rugby grand finals: the Under 55kg Saltires, U15 Bravehearts, Thistle XV, and 2nd XV team. Well done to all other players who have worked hard and played with fantastic spirit for the Thistle across the season.
FOOTBALL
The Boys’ 1st XI put up a valiant effort in their cup semi-final against Burnside High School, but ultimately lost 0–2, ending their cup run. Despite creating opportunities, they couldn't break through Burnside's strong defence. The team is now focusing on the New Zealand Secondary Schools Malcolm Cowie Tournament in Whangārei during Winter Tournament Week, determined to bounce back and make a strong showing on the national stage.
HOCKEY
The Boys’ 1st XI played well to achieve a solid win against Shirley Boys’ High School last Friday night. The team had to deal with a number of players who were sick or unavailable, and clawed back a 0–2 deficit at half time to win 3–2.
Despite a strong start in the Girls’ second ever semi-final clash against St Margaret’s College, St Margaret’s scored three goals that sealed their victory 3–0. The St Andrew’s girls showed resilience and fought hard until the final whistle. However, they struggled to break through the well-organised defence and were unable to convert chances into goals. While the result was not what was hoped for, the team can hold their heads high, having shown great teamwork and sportsmanship.
It has been a busy hockey season, with a number of teams playing for top 3 spots during finals week this Friday:
The Thistles narrowly lost on Wednesday night to finish second in their grade to Rangi Ruru Girls’ School. A big thanks to all the coaches, managers, parents, and supporters for all their support this season.
BASKETBALL
On Tuesday, both our Senior Boys’ and Senior Girls’ teams played in their respective semi-finals; having secured top four finishes in the premier competition in Christchurch.
Our Senior Girls played against familiar foes, Rangiora High School, in a home semi-final. Our Year 13 seniors of Molly-Belle Morrow, Niamh Chamberlain, Ophelia Powell, Rafferty Powell, and Ella Sharpe were all recognised for their contributions prior to their last home game. After a slow start, the team had a superb second quarter and took a 20-point lead into the half. Fuelled by twins Ophelia and Rafferty Powell, our girls won 84–43 to secure a fifth consecutive Whelan Trophy final spot.
Our Senior Boys travelled to Christ's College to take on the #1-ranked team in our region. Although the boys kept it close early, behind Bronson Curtis (Year 12) and Carter Rhodes (Year 13), Christ's pulled away in the second quarter to win 121–75, finishing on the podium for the fourth time in five years.
Saturday’s game against Belfast A was the last game in this round. The girls started well, up by 11 goals by the end of the first quarter. The team played hard increasing the goal difference each quarter to end with a final score of 58–36 to St Andrew’s, placing the team fifth overall.
The SuperNet final against St Margaret’s College was a fiercely contested match, with both teams showing determination to win. The game was a display of skill and tenacity, with each side scoring goal for goal. By the end of the first two quarters, St Andrew’s held a narrow lead, up by just one goal. However, St Margaret’s fought back fiercely in the third quarter, managing to edge ahead by one goal. Despite a relentless effort and unwavering spirit, the final score was 30–25 in favour of St Margaret’s College.
FLICKR >Today, Chantelle Xiong (Year 13) has been announced as the winner of the 2024 National Schools Poetry Award on National Poetry Day (Friday 23 August). Chantelle won the award with her poem But i wish /., which explores diasporic identity. Head Prefect, Meg Simpson, was also shortlisted as one of the 10 finalists with her poem, 11.47am on Thursday.
The National Schools Poetry Award is run by Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML). This prestigious award recognises the very best Year 12 and 13 poets in the country. As part of her prize, Chantelle will be travelling to Wellington to take part in a poetry masterclass with the other finalists.
Chantelle and Meg’s poems, the complete judge’s report, and all the shortlisted poems are available to read on the National Schools Poetry Award website.
On Wednesday night, St Andrew’s College had eight teams competing at the annual Cantamath Competition at the Wolfbrook Arena. Cantamath sees teams of students from across Canterbury Schools competing to correctly answer 20 mathematics problems. First to compete was the Year 7 team, consisting of Yule Ding, Chloe Sha, James Zuo and Zhenan (Jayden) Lai. The team scored a respectable 70 points out of a possible 100 and came 10th out of 80 teams. Next up was the Year 8 team of Cong (Zilong) Chen, Benjamin Yu, Emmett Lawler and Baizhen (Tony) Chen. The team came away with a coveted ‘golden ticket’ and a first place win in a record time of just over 14 minutes.
In the Year 9 and Year 10 competitions, the St Andrew’s teams very quickly went into the lead. StAC 1 and StAC 2 were often tied in first place for the majority of the competition. It was only when all teams got stuck on a hard question, that other schools caught up. Unfortunately for St Andrew's, Lincoln High School was the first to get past the hard question in the Year 9 Competition and they went on to win. StAC 1 and 2 finished shortly afterwards to take second and third place.
In the Year 10 competition, it was StAC 1 and 2 against Burnside High School 1 and 2 throughout the whole competition, with most other schools unable to match their speed and ability. In a nail-biting finish, Burnside 1 finished first, StAC 1 second, Burnside 2 third and StAC 2 fourth.
Oliver Wilton (Year 9) won the U14 Men’s New Zealand Junior Freeride Tour event at Treble Cone last weekend, out of a field of 42 age competitors. Two more competitions in the series are coming up, at the Remarkables and Mt Olympus with the top rankings from all three events giving an overall national champion title, which Ollie won last year.
The annual Film Fest was a resounding success on Tuesday night, celebrating the incredible talents of our student filmmakers. A big shoutout to Rector, Christine Leighton, for her memorable appearance in the opening intro video, a delightful homage to The Breakfast Club and the 80’s theme of the evening. Louis Tappin (Year 10) won Best Junior Film once again with his poignant period war short film, paying homage to the Christmas Truce. The highlight of the evening was the winning film, Knock Knock, by Shaun Cooper and Flynn Rhodes (both Year 13). This short horror film about the perils of social media fads swept the awards, taking home five accolades and their hard work and creativity truly shone through.
Alexandra Hirschfeld (Year 13) gained her Centre Umpire badge, becoming an official white skirt umpire, and Melenaite Havea (Year 11) passed her Zone Theory exam with 90%; this is the second highest umpiring examination available.
Seven skiers headed south to Wānaka for the South Island Secondary School Snowsport Championships, which were held at the Cardona Alpine Resort on Saturday 17 August. The day was perfect for racing with clear blue skies, and an excellent course on which the competitors had two timed runs. The team results were determined by the three fastest combined runs in each team.
Lucas Paterson (Year 13) and Maggie McConnochie (Year 10) are currently in Scotland competing in various Highland Games events. Both students are having a great time and have delivered some amazing performances so far. On Saturday 17 August, at the Glenfinnan Highland Gathering, Maggie won the Piobaireachd and March, Strathspey, and Reel events, earning a week's tuition and accommodation at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. Lucas has also had strong performances in the Open events, competing admirably against adult competitors.
On Sunday 18 August, at the Crieff Highland Games, Maggie was the runner-up in the March, Strathspey, and Reel event and placed third in the Jig. During the Argyllshire Gathering in Oban on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 August, Maggie qualified for the final of the prestigious MacGregor Memorial Piobaireachd Competition, a significant achievement given the high calibre of the 32 international competitors, placing fifth in the Intermediate March, Strathspey, and Reel event. Lucas also performed well in his heat.
Lucas and Maggie are now traveling to Glenisla to compete today and will be in Lonach on Saturday. Next week, they will continue to Inverness and Birnam before returning to New Zealand.
On Tuesday, 35 St Andrew’s College Preparatory School students took part in the annual ISSA Schools Ski Race at Porter Heights, racing to defend the College’s 2023 titles.
On Tuesday, the Preparatory School welcomed Huntley School for a sports exchange, the first stop of their winter sport tour. The games were well contested and thank you to the players, coaches, supporters, and referees for their contribution to a successful exchange.
On Thursday, the Preparatory School welcomed St George’s School from Whanganui for the first sports exchange between the two schools.
The Year 5–6 Girls’ and Boys’ A basketball teams recently represented the College at the Canterbury Indoor Basketball Tournament, held in Rolleston. Both teams showcased impressive talent and sportsmanship in a highly competitive environment, facing off against some of the best young basketball teams in the region.
The Girls' team had an outstanding performance, securing a place in the top 8. The Boys’ A team also had a commendable showing, playing with energy and focus. Their competitive spirit was evident in each game, and although they faced some challenges, they represented the College with pride and integrity.
FLICKR >
Georgia Gregg (Year 7) danced at the Temuka South Canterbury Competition last weekend. She was the winner of the South Canterbury Championships Highland Reel U12, winner of the South Canterbury Championships Highland Fling U14, winner of the Most Points U12 and runner up Most Points of the Competition.
A number of students have been named in representative rugby teams:
On Friday 16 August, the College hosted 160 guests at the OCA Annual Dinner where the achievements of Old Collegians were celebrated, including Professor Roy Kerr (OC 1950), Dr Jonathan Ogilvie (OC 1979) and Britney-Lee Nicholson (OC 2017).
This event also marked Rector Christine Leighton’s 18th and final OCA Annual Dinner. She was honoured for her 17 years as Patron of the Old Collegians Association by OCA President Sam Crosbie (OC 2009).
flickr >
Kiara Bercelli (OC 2022), who currently plays for UC Sampdoria in Italy (St Andrew’s first female alumna to play professional football), has been selected for the U20 New Zealand squad for the upcoming U20 FIFA World Cup in Colombia next month.
Sophia Lazor (OC 2021) won the National Tertiary Futsal Championship in Wellington, playing for the University of Auckland team against University of Canterbury, who they defeated in the final.
Quinn Ojala (OC 2018) from Inati Restaurant in Christchurch was awarded the Silver Fern Farms Outstanding Emerging Chef at the 2024 Canterbury Hospitality Awards.
Good luck to all students who are representing the College over the weekend in sports and cultural activities, including:
The second session will be held Wednesday 28 August and is in person. These will start at 1.45pm and finish at 6.00pm.
Please note that school will finish for the Secondary School students at 1.00pm on Wednesday 28 August to accommodate the interviews. Students will be able to stay on site until the normal school finishing time.
When: Tuesday 27 August, 6.30pm–8.00pm
Where: Gough Family Theatre
At this time of year at St Andrew’s College, we see an increase in stress levels of students as they head into examinations and finalise their internal assessments. Stressed students can behave in even more peculiar ways than normal; increasing procrastination and avoidance, mood levels fluctuate even more, relationship issues arise, and more…! As a response, we wanted to spend an evening together with Year 7–13 parents, sharing the best tools and tips to encourage supportive positive communications with our teens, so we can better influence and guide them through these times. Hear from the College’s Psychologist, Kate Scott, and Julie Forman, leader of the extremely popular ‘Tuning into Teens’ parent group run here at the College, and other guidance staff, who have been working with teens for 100 years collectively, about their best hacks for listening to and communicating with adolescents.
Q&A: We would also like the content of the evening to be guided by you, so please send us any specific questions around this topic with your ticket registration, and we will address them throughout the evening.
Registrations >
The St Andrew’s College annual Dance Revue is back! Containing an eclectic range of dance styles including Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, Musical Theatre and Contemporary, this fast-paced evening of dance will have something for all to enjoy. Performances will come from St Andrew’s College Ballet Academy, StAC Dance, soloists, and groups. Come celebrate dance!
When: Friday 13 September, 7.00pm–8.30pm | Saturday 14 September, 7.00pm–8.30pm (two shows)
Where: Gough Family Theatre – Ngā Toi Performing Arts Centre
Tickets: $15.00
Join us for the StAC Ag Show on Thursday 26 September. Students at all year levels can enter a number of fun events, such as baking, art, flower arrangements, and Lego creations, with placings from first to third place receiving a ribbon, and all first-place winners will also receive a prize. Some incredible grand prizes are up for grabs including an animal care package from Rangiora Vet Centre for the animal categories, a Willowbank Family pass for the plant and food categories, and a Willowbank Family pass for the art and photography categories.
There is something for everyone at this A&P Show-inspired event. Come along to Gym 1 to experience all the art, baking and other pet entries as well as the petting zoo – get set for a day of agricultural fun!
The Year 12 Agribusiness students will be selling their food and animal products at the show, including deer velvet dog treats, rocky road, and lolly packs. Eftpos will be available, and a pre-order form will be sent out a week before the show.
Entries: Cost: $3.00 per category entered (viewing the entries on the day is free). Entries close 4.00pm Friday 20 September. To enter your child/ren into the StAC Agricultural Show, please complete the relevant entry form/s below:
Complete Pre-school Entry Form here >
Complete Preparatory Entry Form here >
Complete Secondary School Entry Form here >
The online sales for the following 2024 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
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.
