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 ( ...

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 (born 1991), rugby union player *

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(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 *

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(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 Athol John "Joe" Earl (born 1 October 1952) is a former New Zealand rower who won two Olympic medals. Earl was born in 1952 in Christchurch and grew up on a farm in Hawarden in North Canterbury. He received his education at St. Andrew's Colle ...

(born 1952), Olympic rower * Peter Gordon (1921–1991), Member of Parliament and cabinet minister * Eliza Grigg, alpine ski racer * Chris Harris (born 1969), cricketer *

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(1927–2008), former Mayor of Christchurch *

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(born 1934), mathematician * Chris King (born 1981), rugby union player *

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(born 1994), rugby union player *

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(born 1967), novelist, short story writer and playwright *

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(1934–2017), historian *

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(born 1988), rugby union player *

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(1920–2001), cricketer and colonial legal administrator *Sir

Ieremia Tabai Ieremia Tienang Tabai (modern spelling: Tabwai; born 16 December 1949) is an I-Kiribati politician who served as the first Beretitenti President of the Republic of Kiribati, after being the youngest ever Chief minister of the Commonwealth of ...

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(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 Alexander John "Grizz" Wyllie (born 30 August 1944) is a New Zealand rugby union former player and coach. Playing career Wyllie began his rugby career playing for Glenmark Rugby Club, in North Canterbury. During his first-class career he playe ...

(born 1944), rugby union player *

Telusa Veainu Koloti Telusa Pelaki Veainu (born 26 December 1990) is a rugby union player. He plays at fullback or on the wing for Stade Français. He was born and raised in New Zealand, but he represents internationally. He is known for his speed, elusive ...

(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