| St. Andrew's College | |
|---|---|
| Strowan House in August 2011
Fides et Patria
"My Faith and my Country" |
|
| Location | |
| Papanui Road, Merivale, Christchurch |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private, fully reg. (Years 1-13) |
| Established | 1917 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 318 |
| Rector | Christine Leighton[1] |
| School roll | 1325 |
| Socio-economic decile | 10 |
| Website | stac.school.nz |
St. Andrew's College Christchurch, New Zealand is a private, co-educational school that enrolls from Pre School-Year 13. It was founded in 1917 and it is the only independent, co-educational primary and secondary school in New Zealand's South Island. Although now a fully co-educational school, it was formerly an all-boys school. It became fully co-educational in 2001.[2] St Andrew's, (known as StAC for short), is currently headed by Rector Christine Leighton.
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StAC had three boarding houses for the 165 boarders of years 9 to 13: MacGibbon (years 9 to 11) and Rutherford (years 11 to 13) for boys, and Thompson (years 9 to 13) for girls. Boarding facilities were damaged in the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake; as a result, boarders will live in motels until additional boarding facilities are finished by the fourth quarter of the 2012 school year. Thompson and Rutherford houses have subsequently been demolished. Boarding used to be available for year 7 and 8 students, but is no longer provided.
St Andrew's has a wide range of activities available to the students, including hockey, ice hockey, rugby, cricket, kapahaka, glee, football, netball, fencing, canoe polo, basketball, stage band or jazz band, chess, theatre sports, debating, rowing, string ensemble, concert band and Pipe band. The pipe band is regarded as one of the best juvenile/college pipe bands in New Zealand, if not the best. The band is currently run by Richard Hawke (piping) Ian Steel (midsection) and Scott Mitchell (side section) with other tutors in the grade 4 band. The band won the aggregate, street march, juvenile, set and various other cups at the 2006 nationals. The pipe band has also won grade 2 at the New Zealand Nationals [3] and received 3rd place in the Juvenile grade at the world championships in Glasgow in 2007.
In addition to the Pipe Band, the St Andrew's College Stage Band has had great success over the past few years, particularly in the Southern Jam Youth Festival, which is held annually in Blenheim. The band first competed in 2003, winning the festival with the Best Big Band Award. In 2004 they were stripped of their victory but came back on top in 2005, winning the festival again, as well as picking up several awards for including Best Vocals and Best Drummer. In 2006, the band picked up 1st place, also gaining Best Bass and Drums. Thomas Eves won Best Trumpet and Best Musician. In 2008 and 2009 the band received gold awards yet again, and both years came a close second in the competition. The Band has also recently recorded another album. It is also worth note that the St Andrew's College Concert Band was awarded a gold award at the Canterbury Schools Concert Band Competition (2007) and a silver award in 2009.
The Theatre Sports team is one of the most valued parts of the College, with the Senior Team coming 2nd in 2005 and 2006 at the Court Theatre Competition. After a narrow loss in 2005's Junior Court Theatre competition, the Junior team took out the title in 2006. The team was also successful in 2007, coming second in a Court Theatre competition. In 2009 the senior team came a close second to Cashmere High in their competition.
At the 2007 Junior Debating Press Cup Tournament held in Christchurch the St Andrew's College A & B teams came in with first and second placements. Numerous awards were presented to team members including best speaker awards and recommendations for the Canterbury Junior team. The following year the team enjoyed similar success, with two students selected to represent Canterbury at a national level. In 2010, the Junior A team placed fourth, while the 2011 Junior A team placed second.
The College has a strong rowing programme and a full-time director of rowing. Senior women's and men's teams have won silver and gold medals in the National Secondary School Championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
St Andrews also has facilities outside Christchurch, such the Alisatir Sidey mountain lodge, located at Castle Hill in the Canterbury high country, allowing students to enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities including abseiling, tramping, skiing and snowcaving. The college also leases the St Andrews College farm, located near Cave in South Canterbury, which is used to provide students studying agriculture with hands-on experience in farming.
One of the college's sporting highlights of the last few years was the winning of the Rankin Cup in 2001 and 2002. Since then the College has seen its boys' hockey 1st XI remain in the Rankin Cup and in 2006 the team won the local competition. The Rankin Cup victories of 2001/02 are considered as the College's greatest ever sporting achievements.
On 31 October 2008, the students and teachers of St Andrew's College set a world record for the largest school mass dance with a recital of the YMCA.
The February 22, 2011 Canterbury earthquake severely damaged the school chapel and forced the closure of the school arts block which sustained some structural damage, however most of the schools buildings were relatively undamaged.