Academic successes – August 2025

Creative Writing

A record 14 stories from St Andrew’s students were longlisted in this year’s National Flash Fiction Day International Writing Competition, in which Samuel Hu (Year 10) was awarded first equal for his short story, Fool's Gold, Thomas Palmer (Year 12) placed second for his story, The Weight, and Cooper Harris (Year 13) received a Commended award for his piece, She doesn’t get the music I listen to. Kangwoo Moon and Hudson Blyde (both Year 9) were also shortlisted, and read their stories, Temperature of Heaven and The Gun Fires.

A number of Preparatory School students achieved success in creative writing endeavours:

• Claire Zhao (Year 7) won the March essay competition for the Scottish Book Trust 50-Word Fiction Competition in 5–11 year age group;

• Jessica Whitehead (Year 7): Scottish Book Trust winner, 50-Word Fiction;

• Vitek Mencl (Year 7): Young Poets Network United Kingdom, Couplet Competition Ages 11–17;

• Anqi (Angie) Qin (Year 7); Ismay Bi (Year 3); Georgia Blyde (Year 5); Ava Blyde (Year 4); and Claire Zhao (Year 7) – Published online on New Zealand Poetry Box.

Brain Bee

Hanxi (Cicy) Chen (Year 11) won second place at the 2025 South Island Brain Bee Final.

da Vinci Decathlon

A group of twenty-four students from three different year levels represented St Andrew’s College at the da Vinci Decathlon – competing in teams of eight across nine diverse disciplines: engineering, mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography, and legacy. The Year 9 team achieved first place, with the Years 10 and 11 teams both securing second place in their divisions. St Andrew’s College was the top-performing school in the competition.

Debating

Head Prefect, Kate Simcock (Year 13), competed in the 37th New Zealand Schools’ National Debating Championships as a member of the Canterbury team, which won four of their seven rounds, including a win against Wellington Gold, who later went into the finals. They narrowly missed the semi-finals by a couple of speaker points.

Mathematics

Twenty teams of four competed in the annual Year 12 Mathematics Competition, held by the Canterbury Mathematics Association at Burnside High School. Teams of four worked in pairs to complete as many alternate questions as they could within a 20-minute timeframe. The St Andrew’s teams were first and third going into the final. Both teams streaked ahead, but while all other teams were stumped by a single question, StAC A (Alex Manson, Luke Manson, Joshua Exon and Hannah Withers) raced through and finished with over five minutes remaining on the clock to take the win.

Ngā Manu Kōrero Speech Competitions

Metua Cranwell (Year 12) and Lucia Thorne (Year 9) represented St Andrew’s at the annual Ngā Manu Kōrero regional speech competitions, which showcased te reo Māori and oratory excellence, delivered by articulate rangatahi from across Waitaha. Metua Cranwell placed third overall in both the Senior Māori Impromptu and Senior Māori Prepared Speech sections.

Science Badge

Elina Wang (Year 8) was awarded a Gold Star Badge after completing her fifteenth Science Badge.

University of Otago Visit

Dr Vanessa Stedman, a General Practitioner and Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago, provided Daniel Officer (Year 13) and Vin Schelp (Year 12) with an insightful tour of the university’s medical Simulation Centre. Both students are aspiring to become medical doctors, and this visit offered them a valuable glimpse into the medical field. During the tour, the students had the opportunity to experience a simulated medical emergency, including managing an asthma attack, practising blood draws, and maintaining an open airway.