Academic Successes – August 2026

Brain Bee

Samuel Hu (Year 11) was third equal in the South Island in Round 1 of the New Zealand Brain Bee, an international neuroscience competition. Samuel along with Angela Yang and Louis O’Neill (both Year 11) qualified for Round 2 of the competition.

Chess

The St Andrew’s A Chess team, Alex Manson (captain), Luke Manson (both Year 13), Aleksey Koulanov (Year 12) and Anthony Song (Year 11), were second in the top division at the Canterbury Regionals Interschools Competition and qualified for the National Chess Championships.

Creative Writing

Jessica Whitehead (Year 8) received the Young Poet Award for the Maya Lyubenova International Haiku Competition 2026 (Bulgaria) and was published in the Fifth Sakura Haiku Challenge Digital Anthology for the Sakura Cherry Blossom Haiku Challenge. Jessica, along with Xinrui (Sophia) Xu and Isabelle Gibbs (both Year 3), had their poems published inthe NZ Poetry Box Bird Challenge. Claire Zhao (Year 8) received the prestigious Osaka Governor’s Award in the 7th Star Haiku Contest 2026.

South Island Ethics Olympiad

The Senior Ethics Olympiad team delivered an outstanding performance to place first in the South Island Ethics Olympiad competition. The team demonstrated a strong understanding of ethical theory, critical thinking, and structured reasoning across the competition, and progressed to the World Ethics Olympiad on 23 July, where they represented both the College and the South Island against schools from around the globe.

da Vinci Decathlon

Three St Andrew’s College teams from Years 9–11 competed in the da Vinci Decathlon hosted by Christ’s College, an academically rigorous competition which challenges teams of eight across ten disciplines. The Year 11 team placed second overall, with the Year 9 team placing third. The Year 10 team recorded first placings in three of the disciplines.

Kids’ Lit Quiz

Two Preparatory School teams competed at the Canterbury Kids’ Lit Quiz Regional Heat, which featured 44 teams and 100 literature-based questions. Team One, comprising Alfred Lash (Year 8), Henry Streeter (Year 7), Georgia Blyde and Freya Gibbs (both Year 6), placed joint sixth, achieving top scores in two rounds.

Mathematics

Anthony Song, Hongran (Mickey) Zhao, Dexuan (Derek) Kon and Brian Han (all Year 11) were third equal out of 20 teams in the Year 11 CMA Casio Calculator Competition.

NZQA Top Scholar

Cohnor Walsh (Year 13) travelled to Wellington where he was recognised for his Top Scholar in Technology Scholarship in 2025, supported by Principal of Secondary School, Evert van Florenstein, and Teacher in Charge of Technology, Phil Adams. Cohnor received his award from Kevin Jenkins, Chairman of NZQA, and had the opportunity to meet and speak with Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, and Minister of Education, Erica Stanford.

World Scholar’s Cup

Eliska Menclova (Year 11) won six medals at the World Scholar’s Cup across debating, collaborative writing, Scholar’s Bowl, and overall team performance, with her team qualifying for the Global Round, to be held in Christchurch later this year.