Academic successes

Boost Economics Competition

Three Year 13 students, Lachlan Odlin, Annika MacDonald and Jedd Bright, were fourth in the finals of the UC hosted Boost Economics Competition This national competition is designed to promote economic growth in Waitaha Canterbury. Year 13 students, Thomas MacLean and Finlay Fairweather-Logie also qualified for the finals.

Brain Busters

Two St Andrew’s students have won episodes of the TVNZ Show Brain Busters, which aims to test the smarts and stamina of students in Years 8– 9. Anthony Song (Year 8) was the Season 4 Episode 47 champion, answering nine out of ten questions correctly in the final round to win $297. Makenzie Disher (Year 9) also won the episode of Brain Busters she appeared on.

The following students had their stories longlisted in the National Flash Fiction Day international flash fiction competition 2023 and were invited to read their stories at Tūranga on National Flash Fiction Day:

• Milla Hooker (Year 10), Cold White World;

• Ellie Zhou (Year 10), 38 am and Homeland;

• Charles McCully (Year 11), Seagulls and the Disc;

• Dixel Vallabh (Year 12), The Part Time Life;

• Chelsea Jenkins (Year 13), Till she tastes air

da Vinci Decathlon

Future Problem Solving

RuoLin (Lauren) Li (Year 9) was selected to participate in the Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI) competition at the University of Massachusetts, USA, with over 2000 students from around the world.

Kids’ Lit Quiz

The team of Matilda Atkins, Zoe Bostock (both Year 8), Emmett Lawler and Harry Sibson (both Year 7) put in an amazing performance to gain fifth place in the National Finals of the Kids’ Lit Quiz held in Wellington. They represented the Christchurch region and competed against 16 other schools, facing five intense rounds of very tough questions.

Anthony Song (Year 8)

Chess

At the Canterbury Interschool Chess Competition, the Secondary A team finished second overall.

Digital Technology

Chelsea Jenkins and Kotori Mori (both Year 13) won first place in programming challenges at the annual Canterbury Girls’ Programming Workshop at the University of Canterbury.

Creative Writing

Scarlett Oulsnam (Year 9), Ellie Zhou, Hannah Papali'i Taimalelagi Malietoa, Cohnor Walsh, Harvey Croft and Spencer Hair (all Year 10) each had a poem selected for publication in Toitoi 32.

Matthew Kenyon (Year 10) was awarded a Special Commendation in the Never Such Innocence International Poetry Competition for his poem, War in Ukraine

The Junior da Vinci Decathlon team of Christian Li, Alyssa Huang, Eileen Jiang, Hanxi (Cicy) Chen, RuoLin (Lauren) Li, Piper Stone, Lachlan Hackston and Ary Son (all Year 9), won second place in the Year 9 competition. Hosted by Christ’s College, this inaugural Australasian event is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of secondary school students competing across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics, code-breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography, and legacy.

Debating

Luke Wylie (Year 13) represented Canterbury at the 2023 New Zealand Schools’ Debating Championships, who came second to Wellington in the national final. Luke was selected as a reserve in the New Zealand debating team, placing him as a top-six debater in New Zealand.

Ethics Olympiad

Five Year 13 students, Yi Xi (Sophia) Zhang, Bidhya Chhetri, Freddy Todhunter, Emily Ung and Luke Wylie, were highly commended by international judges in the global Senior Ethics Olympiad, a global competition that promotes respectful, supportive, and rigorous discussion around current ethical issues.

Mathematics

Hansen Hong (Year 11) sat the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education examination at the end of 2022 and gained the High Achievement Award in New Zealand with a score of 97% A+ for Mathematics, Grade A in Physics, and Grade B in Chemistry.

Thriving Minds Conference

St Andrew’s College hosted the Thriving Minds Conference, when 170 students from St Andrew’s and other Canterbury schools were privileged to hear lectures based on epistemology, the science of happiness, and social physics. The students also participated in the House Debate based on love as a commodity product, and learnt more about the Oxbridge Interview process. Former Deputy Principal of Preparatory School, David Farmer, was welcomed back as a guest for the day.

VEX Robotics

At the Canterbury Challenge VEX VRC, three of the four teams in the finals were from St Andrew’s College. An alliance including Oliver Cooper (Year 11) and Alex and Luke Manson (both Year 10) with an Ao Tawhiti robot, won the final, making them Canterbury champions.