Arts News Term 1, Week 5 2026

What’s happening in the Arts?

There are plenty of arts activities taking place for anyone interested. Most clubs are now up and running and we have hundreds of girls participating. Some students attend one group, others attend numerous groups. We have a lot on offer this year, covering many creative and artistic activities and interests.

Speech and Drama lessons and Itinerant music lessons have commenced, Music, Dance and Drama groups are underway, and Theatre Sports, Art club, Creative writing, Tech and textile clubs have all started. Debating attracted a record number of students and already has groups competing in Inter-school competitions. Some of these groups will have the opportunity to showcase their talents in the end of term Twilight performance. 

Senior school students are now busy rehearsing for the production of Les Misérables. Whilst performers are honing their dramatic and musical skills, staff are busy behind the scenes arranging sponsorship, marketing and publicity for this joint production with Christ’s College.

REVISED CO-CURRICULAR ARTS TIMETABLE 

The Senior Arts Council has also started up. Qiaoyu Guan, Head of Junior School arts met with some of our younger students.

Qiaoyu met up with the Year 6 Arts & Cultural Leaders: Isabella Spence, Sissy Evans and Skyla Trenberth

At St Margaret’s College, leadership in Year 6 is about more than wearing a badge, it’s about stepping up, being a role model, and making a positive difference in the Junior School. Every Year 6 student takes on a leadership role, building real-life skills through student-led initiatives like House Fun Day and other school events. 

What inspired you to become an Arts & Cultural Leader?

For Isabella, Sissy, and Skyla, being Arts & Cultural Leaders means sharing their passion for the Arts while developing leadership skills such as confidence, and responsibility for their future.

If you could star in any musical or movie, what would it be?

Sissy would love to play Lavender in Matilda and enjoyed being part of Cats at the Isaac Theatre Royal. Isabella enjoys dancing onstage at the Isaac Theatre Royal and would love to be a part of Wicked or Matilda. Skyla is passionate about music and would like to play a worker in Willy Wonka.

What is your favourite song?

Sissy and Isabella both love Taylor Swift’s song, Marjorie. Skyla enjoys all of Ed Sheeran’s songs. 

What’s a favourite arts moment you’ve had at school so far?

Sissy’s favourite moments include acting onstage and Speech & Drama, Isabella especially enjoys acting, dance, and music, and Skyla has loved music and performing arts. Being part of the Arts has been a highlight for all of them, and these experiences have shaped their confidence, creativity, and passion for the Arts. All of these girls have made their moment matter in the Arts! 

What would you say to a student who is nervous about joining an arts group?

Sissy has a passion for drama and acting. She believes that acting is fun and reminds younger students that if you make a mistake on stage, no one even knows because they don’t have the script! Isabella is looking forward to helping younger girls grow in confidence through acting, while Skyla hopes to inspire younger students to pursue their love for the Arts.

If you could create one new arts event or activity for junior school, what would it be?

This year, these girls are looking forward to introducing fun opportunities for students to make their moment matter, from dance lessons and colouring sessions to Junior School talent shows. 

Together, they are excited to bring their energy and positivity to all Junior School Arts activities. 

We are so excited to see Skyla, Isabella, and Sissy grow as leaders!

MUSIC

Strike Percussion - Exhilarating, funny and inspirational!

Yr 3-9 students are in for a very rhythmic treat this month. Strike Percussion is visiting SMC on 18 March and will display their high energy, interactive hour long show, Strike to schools, which draws on styles from around the world and introduces a broad range of modern percussion. 

For over 25 years, Strike have been New Zealand’s premiere percussion ensemble. They tour throughout the world presenting their unique and exhilarating performances and have performed with artists as diverse as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Elton John, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Hayley Westenra and Kora. Highlights include performances at the Shanghai International Festival of The Arts, Mexico’s Cervantino Festival, the European PASIC Festival in Paris, International Percussion Festival of Seoul, Taiwan International Percussion Festival and the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final. 

In demand as educators throughout the world they have conducted their groundbreaking ensemble class programme at some of the world’s most prestigious music institutions in the U.K, France, Korea, Singapore and Australia. Since 1998 Strike have performed the hugely popular shows to over a million children throughout Aotearoa. We look forward to welcoming them to SMC.

Save the date for the Twilight Concert on March 31st 4.30pm, where we celebrate the talents and skills of our Co-Curricular groups across many artistic disciplines.

PASIFIKA GROUP

Come and support the girls down at North Hagley Park on Saturday 14 March for the combined SMC and Christ’s College Polyfest group as they perform for the first time at this festival. Tickets are available on the door for only $5 (children under 12 are free).

They are an enthusiastic, passionate, talented and hardworking group of students from both schools. Come and enjoy the music, the amazing performances, the food and the atmosphere!

We will be hosting a Fiafia night on the 9th of March at 6pm at the Christs College Old Gym. This is a celebration of the students in the Polyfest group and is also an opportunity for them to receive final feedback before their performance at Polyfest. 

Staff, students and whānau of students in the group are invited to this event and it would be great to see many of you there to support our girls (especially if you can't make it to Polyfest!)

DRAMA

Senior School Drama Curriculum Workshops and trip to The Court Theatre

Over 30 of our Year 12 and 13 NCEA Drama and IB Theatre Arts students will take part in a week of intensive workshops with some of the country’s most sought-after theatre practitioners. We are delighted to welcome Kathleen Burns, director of The Importance of Being Earnest, currently playing at The Court Theatre. Kathleen will work with our Level 3 Drama class, exploring selected excerpts from the text and approaches to characterisation.

Following this, our Year 11, 12, and 13 Drama and Theatre Arts students will attend the schools’ matinee performance of The Importance of Being Earnest at The Court Theatre on Thursday 12 March.

The Level 2 Drama class will welcome Kira Josephson to explore ‘Actor Training: Intimacy 101’. Kira is a U.S.-trained actor, choreographer, and intimacy director based in New Zealand. A graduate of the Orange County High School of the Arts and Stephens College, she works regularly with The Court Theatre and has completed advanced training with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and Theatrical Intimacy Education.

We are incredibly grateful to Kathleen and Kira for sharing their time and expertise with our students. How grateful we are!

Treading the Boards with the Bard…Shakespeare Showcase

Around 30 Middle School (Yr 9/10) and Senior students will be participating in this year’s Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival competition. Girls will be presenting scenes from Romeo and Juliet, The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream taking on both solo and ensemble roles. 

Setting the stage for this, there will be a Shakespeare Showcase held the week prior in the Charles Luney Auditorium. See poster for details. All are welcome to attend as the girls prepare for the competition.

DEBATING

Canterbury Schools Debating Competition is underway with the first senior round taking place on Thursday last week at St Andrew's College.  SMC had 8 teams debating and had 5 wins and three losses.

The junior competition kicks off this week at SMC with potentially 8x Year 10 teams taking part. Year 9s are away at camp, so they will get their first debate in Round 2 on 19 March.

NZSDC senior regionals tournaments take place all around the country this weekend, with the Canterbury competition taking place at the University of Canterbury over Saturday and Sunday.

Good luck to the 7x SMC teams participating! We are excited for this epic weekend of debating, where our debaters will participate in 6 rounds over the 2 days, learning new skills and putting them straight into practice! There will be fierce competition across the 42 teams from 13 different schools and we’re so excited to see everyone become amazing debaters.

2026 Arts Awards! 

2026 Awards Criteria for Senior Honours, Senior Pockets and Middle School Awards will be released on School Bridge next week. The committee reviews the criteria every year in order to determine they are fit for purpose. Please take note of the following clarifications and ensure you are only referring to the 2026 version when you apply for Awards this year. 

The Director of Co-curricular Arts will hold a meeting for both Senior and Middle School Students to allow students to ask questions and seek clarification for different scenarios prior to the Combined Honours Awards process beginning at the end of this term. 

Service

We have been reviewing service requirements across the school and have found that the amount needed for Honours in the Arts is challenging to manage for both staff and students. 

We have adjusted the service hours to the following: 

Senior Pockets: 10 Service Points

Senior Honours: 20 Service Points

Middle School Arts Badge: 10 Service Points

Middle School Colours: 15 Service Points

Service hours should be collected throughout the year and not as an afterthought close to the submission date. You must be mindful that a request for service hours does not create more work for staff or tutors, rather it arises naturally with the aim of making a positive difference to co-curricular arts.

Middle School Arts Awards Clarifications:

You can earn one Arts Badge over Middle School. Colours can be earned more than once.

A co-curricular performance group that meets every week for 1 rehearsal = 5 points over the whole year. The 5 points include two performances, e.g. Twilight and associated Showcase. Any performances surplus to this would fall under “Event Specific Performances” and would be at the discretion of your teacher/tutor.

Where a performance group meets more than once per week and is required to perform on a regular basis, they will be allocated 10 points. The 10 points includes four performances. 

Senior School Honours and Pockets Clarification: 

A co-curricular performance group that meets every week for 1 rehearsal = 5 points over the whole year. The 5 points include two performances; e.g. Twilight and associated Showcase OR Assembly. Any performances surplus to this would fall under “Event Specific Performances” and would be at the discretion of your teacher/tutor. 

Where a performance group meets more than once per week and is required to perform on a regular basis, they will be allocated 10 points. The 10 points includes four performances. 

Dance example below for reference: 

OPPORTUNITIES

National Concerto Competition

Catch New Zealand's top young instrumentalists in concert with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Judd at the National Concerto Competition THIS SATURDAY.

The competition is open to musicians 25 years and under and the Final will present a showcase of young Kiwi talent. With performers already making waves nationally and internationally, this is a rare chance to hear the next generation of world-class soloists in full flight.  The evening will be capped off with piano duet performances by Michael Houston and Sarah Watkins, while the adjudicators consider the awarding of prizes.

Who will win the career-launching $10,000 first prize? The very talented school students or the University student, all at different stages of their musical journeys:

15 year old Hayden Chiu - "Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22" - Henryk Wieniawski

14 year old  Ryan Yeh - "Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello" - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

21 year old Lorna Zhang - "Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77" - Dmitri Shostakovich

Tickets for the 58th Competition Final are now available to school students and their families and offered at $5 plus booking fee only. Special seats have also been reserved for students, to enable a great view of the action at the front of the stalls.

The Final takes place on Saturday 7th March 2026, 7.00 p.m. in the Douglas Lilburn Auditorium, Christchurch Town Hall.

https://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/event/2400643BA64E1F03?did=student

Come and support our young musicians of the future!

Bronwyn Bijl Scholarship

A warm reminder from The Piano - Bronwyn Bijl Scholarship closes on Sunday 1 March - students aged 16-26 can apply. Receive up to $5000 towards a project at The Piano, including the use of their spaces and mentoring from The Piano team. Anyone who applies will also be considered for the Next Generation Support, or Emerging Artist support so it's well worth applying. Open to individuals or groups. 

CSO Instruments in focus…something for the whole family?

Join Christchurch Symphony Orchestra musicians who are running a great selection of instrumental workshops with their musicians this year.  They are all very hands-on interactive sessions where the students can spend time with other people who enjoy playing the same instrument, pick up some tips and play as a big ensemble. Designed to support musical growth, confidence, and connection. Guaranteed to be great fun and very motivating!

$25 per person. Suitable for all ages and levels.

Held in CSO’s Ron Ball Studio, Christchurch Town Hall.

The Christchurch Youth Orchestra is off to a great start under new conductor Grant Bartley.

There are some vacancies in upper and lower strings and anyone interested is encouraged to audition.

Rehearsals are held on a Tuesday evening from 7pm - 9pm at Avonhead School. 

 Students can register interest and get all audition information by using the QR code or following this link. Join the CYO

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

Fiafia night 9 March/ Polyfest - 14 Mar

Strike to schools - 18 Mar

Shakespeare Showcase - 21 Mar

Sheilah Winn Festival - 28 Mar

Twilight Concert - 31 Mar

Orchestral Extravaganza - 29 Apr

Les Misérables production - 12-16 May