St Andrew's College, also known as StAC, in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, is a private, co-educational school that enrols from pre-school to secondary 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 The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. Although now a fully co-educational school, it was formerly an all-boys school. It became fully co-educational in 2001. The current rector of St Andrew's College is Christine Leighton.

History

St Andrew's College was founded by Rev. Alexander Thomas Thompson in 1917 in the Scottish Presbyterian tradition of the Christian faith. St Andrew's College gate column

The school began in a humble fashion with 19 boys and four teachers, driven by the determination of the Reverend Thompson, whose driving ambition was to ‘educate the sons of the Presbyterian and Scottish community of Canterbury.’ 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 A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

; as a result, the boarders have lived in local motels until the new boarding houses were opened at the start of 2013. Thompson and Rutherford houses have been demolished and replaced with new facilities while McGibbon House has been refurbished and strengthened. Boarding used to be available for year 7 and 8 students, but is no longer provided. St Andrew's College has four houses: Rutherford, MacGibbon, Thompson and Erwin. 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. In 2020, students of the school reported that a teacher tore down posters and verbally abused them for promoting the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement. The school conducted an investigation but did not publish the outcome.

Plans

The 22 February

severely damaged the school chapel and forced the closure of the school arts block and

Strowan Strowan is an affluent suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located approximately 5 km north-west of Christchurch's central business district. It had a population of 3,705 at the 2013 census. It is located between the suburbs of Merivale, C ...

house, which both sustained some structural damage, however, most of the schools buildings were relatively undamaged, and the arts block has since been repaired and strengthened. Strowan house has now re-opened, and a new chapel has been built which incorporates design features from the original chapel. In late 2014 Erwin house was demolished to make room for a second gymnasium. Recently the school has opened three new buildings including a fitness centre and a new library. The school expects to open a new theatre complex by March 2023.

Notable alumni

* Albert Anderson (born 1961), rugby union player *

Mark Abbott Mark Abbott (born 20 February 1991) is a New Zealand-born Japanese rugby union player who currently plays as a lock for Coca-Cola Red Sparks in Japan's Top League. Early career Born in Christchurch and raised in the small town of Darfield, ...

(born 1991), rugby union player * Andrew Bird (born 1967), Olympic coxswain *

Ben Blair Ben Austin Blair (born 26 March 1979 in Westport, New Zealand) is a former rugby union footballer. He played four tests for New Zealand. He scored 37 points on his All Blacks debut against Ireland A in 2001 at Ravenhill in Belfast; however, a ...

(born 1979), rugby union player *

John Britten John Kenton Britten (1 August 1950 – 5 September 1995) was a New Zealand mechanical engineer who designed a world-record-setting motorcycle with innovative features and materials. Biography John Britten was born to Bruce and Ruvae Britten in C ...

(1950–1995), inventor * Scott Cartwright (born 1954), rugby union player * Mark Chignell (born 1956), human factors researcher *

Rod Donald Rodney David Donald (10 October 1957 – 6 November 2005) was a New Zealand politician who co-led the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, along with Jeanette Fitzsimons. He lived in Christchurch with his partner Nicola Shirlaw, and their thre ...

(1957–2005), Member of Parliament * Joe Earl (born 1952), Olympic rower * Peter Gordon (1921–1991), Member of Parliament and cabinet minister * Eliza Grigg, alpine ski racer * Chris Harris (born 1969), cricketer * Hamish Hay (1927–2008), former Mayor of Christchurch *

Phil Keoghan Philip John Keoghan ( ; born 31 May 1967) is a New Zealand television personality, best known for hosting the American version of ''The Amazing Race'' on CBS, since its 2001 debut. He is the creator and host of ''No Opportunity Wasted'', whic ...

(born 1967), television presenter and host * Roy Kerr (born 1934), mathematician * Chris King (born 1981), rugby union player *

Richie Mo'unga Richard Fou'a Mo'unga (born 25 May 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a first five-eighth for in the Bunnings NPC, the in Super Rugby, and the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Early life Mo'unga was bo ...

(born 1994), rugby union player * Carl Nixon (born 1967), novelist, short story writer and playwright *

Gordon Ogilvie Gordon Bryant Ogilvie (8 May 1934 – 23 October 2017) was a New Zealand historian and biographer who wrote over 20 books, mainly about the people, places and institutions of the Canterbury region. He played a considerable role in uncovering the ...

(1934–2017), historian *

Tim Perry (rugby union) Timothy Grant Perry (born 1 August 1988) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player who played as a prop for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup, the and the Blues in the international Super Rugby competition. Despite many injuries across ...

(born 1988), rugby union player *

Jack Rumbold Sir Jack Seddon Rumbold (5 March 1920 – 9 December 2001) was a New Zealand first-class cricketer, Royal Navy officer, barrister and colonial administrator. A great-nephew of Richard Seddon, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rumbold wa ...

(1920–2001), cricketer and colonial legal administrator *Sir Ieremia Tabai (born 1950), first president of Kiribati (1979–1991), politician *

Philip Woollaston Philip Tosswill Edmond Woollaston (born 17 August 1944) is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for Nelson from 1981 to 1990 and Mayor of Nelson from 1992 to 1998. Early life and family Woollaston was born ...

(born 1944), politician; vintner * Hugh Wilson (born 1945), botanist * Richard Wilson (born 1953), rugby union player * Rodney Wilson (1945-2013), art historian and museum director * Alex Wyllie (born 1944), rugby union player * Telusa Veainu (born 1990), rugby union player

References

External links

St Andrew's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Andrew's College Presbyterian schools in New Zealand Boarding schools in New Zealand Educational institutions established in 1917 Secondary schools in Christchurch 1917 establishments in New Zealand