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Regulus

Values and Culture

33

Students rise

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary

Awards continue to be a popular

programme at St Andrew’s. All

Year 10s complete the Bronze level as

part of the Te Waka programme, and a

large number of Year 11 students have

only their adventurous journey left

to do to earn their Silver Award, and

several others are aiming for Gold.

Among those who have completed the

journey are Year 12 student Robbie

Thomson who has earned his Silver

Award, and Eliza Grigg (Year 13) and

Hannah Oakley (Year 13), who received

their Gold Award after completing

the programme when they were in

Year 12 – no mean feat considering

the large time commitment required.

Governor-General, Lt Gen. The Rt Hon.

Sir Jerry Mateparae presented Eliza

and Hannah with their certificates at

Government House in Wellington.

Nine Year 13s – Sarah Croft, Sophie

Gualter, Patrick Hall, Ella Harris,

Benjamin James, Zachary Kenworthy,

Rachel Miller, Rose Oakley and Samuel

Williams – also received their awards

this year. Sir Mateparae presented

the students their certificates at a

ceremony hosted by St Andrew’s

College in early November.

It was a giant leap out of her comfort zone, but Meike van Roij says it was well worth

the effort. The Year 9 student recently won season four of TV2’s

Operation Hero

adventure show.

The 10-episode series featured six 12 to 14-year-olds who travelled New Zealand

taking part in different challenges designed around the deeds of real life heroes,

including two episodes inspired by heroic 12-year-olds, one from the 1950s, and

12-year-old cousins Will White and Sergio Schuler who saved a man caught in a rip

in the surf at Bowentown Beach in Bay of Plenty.

In a speech to the Preparatory School after the show, Meike shared what she learnt

about what it means to be a hero and how to be a leader among friends. She says

of her experience: “

Operation Hero

was great. I learnt so many new skills like how

to become a better team player and I also learnt that sometimes taking one for the

team is a great thing. I think a hero is a person who puts others before themselves

and who listens to other ideas.”

For winning

Operation Hero

, Meike received a family trip to Auckland and a jump

off the Sky Tower. However, Meike has opted to ‘cash in’ her prize and donate the

money to Treasure House, a children’s orphanage in Fiji.

to DOE

Hannah Oakley and Eliza Grigg with their

Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards.

(From left) Head of Values and Culture Hamish Bell, Ella Harris, Zachary Kenworthy, Eliza Grigg,

Benjamin James, Sophie Gualter, Sam Williams, Rose Oakley, Patrick Hall, Rachel Miller and

Hannah Oakley. Absent: Sarah Croft.

Meike van Roij (Year 9)

Achieving the Gold Award is a

significant achievement, especially

while still at school, and is recognised

worldwide, with 140 countries

offering the award programme. While

completing the award to Gold level

requires a great deal of commitment,

the sense of personal satisfaction

and the opportunities that come from

completing the award far outweigh

the work involved. Having 11 Gold

recipients in one year is a record for

St Andrew’s College.

inspire

Heroic

acts

gold challenge