Arts News Term 4, Week 2 2026

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! THE CAT’S OUT OF THE HAT!

Hold onto your hats! Stop right where you stand!

The biggest secret in all of the land...

Has popped out of nowhere - Ta-da! Peek-a-boo!

We have a huge surprise waiting for you!

You didn’t see it coming, you hadn’t a clue,

But oh, the THINKS we’re about to pursue!

We’re bursting with excitement, we’re shouting out loud:

We’re putting on SEUSSICAL, wild, bright, and proud!

THE MASTERMINDS BEHIND THE MAGIC

Every great jungle and Whoville, it’s true 

Needs a few brilliant leaders to steer the whole crew:

Ms Harrison & Ms Turner are taking the wheel,
As our Co-Directors, extra-extraordinaire!
They’ll direct every step with a rhyme and a flourish,
With imaginative stories to tickle and nourish.

Ms Woods takes the baton as Musical Director,
A maestro of melody, a cadence protector!
She’ll guide every note, every chorus and hum,
From the swell of a trumpet to the tap of a drum.

WHAT LIES AHEAD?

Get ready to journey through the Jungle of Nool,

From the top of the trees to a Who-sized plunge pool!

Horton will hear us, Clover will bloom,

And the Cat in the Hat will light up the room!

So brush off your feathers, tune up your chin,

The fun is about to officially begin.

Will you be a Wickersham? A Bird Girl? A Mayor?

There’s a place for us all in the Seuss-ified air!

"A person’s a person, no matter how small... and a show this fantastic has magic for all!"

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

In order to make decisions with your families before committing to the production, the draft rehearsal schedule is attached. It will be important, with a show of this size, that you are able to attend all rehearsals: 

Draft/Proposed Rehearsal Schedule

Auditions will be during Week Three/Four of Term One.

We look forward to creating magic with you next year. 

Ms Harrison, Ms Turner and Ms Woods

MUSIC

The Combined Orchestra performed three pieces at the Sedley Wells Orchestra Concert this week at Christ’s College. There was a medley of well-known symphonies, a couple of Puccini arias and even a pirate legend! It was a great way to start the evening concert off.

ADD PHOTOS - Amanda or Sarah to send if poss

DRAMA 

The 2026 Canterbury YOUTHFEST Regional Festival will be hosted at SMC in the Charles Luney Auditorium on Saturday 24 October. 

YOUTHFEST was trialled in the Massey region in 2025 by Amy Edwards and Karla Haronga and was a great success. 

The festival aims to foster local connections and to celebrate Theatre Aotearoa and our rangatahi. 

- Each participating kura will enter a performance between 5 - 25 minutes long. Performances will be New Zealand works, either devised, original scripts, or written by a New Zealand playwright (by arrangement with Playmarket NZ) 

- Performers must be aged between 12 and 18 years 

- Directors may be students or teachers 

- Technical requirements must be simple e.g. minimalistic set, lights up and out only. Schools may choose to use their current work to submit as the festival aligns with NZ curriculum work at all levels.

DEBATING

It was another super time for debating as we concluded the inter-school debating competition for 2026 last term, with our teams taking out the junior and senior finals in two phenomenal debates on political motions.

Y10s Zhea, Divya and Hera beat a Riccarton HS team arguing that they would stage a coup and roll their party's unpopular leader 9 weeks out from the election.

Y13s Kieva, Sneha and Orla successfully argued for a separate South Island government against a Papanui HS team.

Divya was named best speaker of the junior final, Kieva was a highly commended speaker, and Orla was best speaker of the senior final and senior competition overall.

This caps off a superb five years of debating for these Y13 girls, and we are so, so proud of them! We are also super excited about the talent coming through with the juniors, especially this prizewinning Year 10 team.

Thanks to the staff, parents and students who came to watch the finals last term. 

Y9s - Jody Ye, Julianna Sun, Emma Li

Y10s - Zhea, Divya, Hera

Y11s - Jolin Ye, Jess Gearry, Tessa Kerr

Y12s - Lena Abdinor, Susanna Tully, Chloe Marfell

Y13s - Kieva, Sneha, Orla

The annual Whiua te Kupu competition against Christ's College also took place at the end of term.  

CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY

Congratulations to Sofia Tivers for achieving first place in the Regional RoboCup Competition earlier this year.  She competed with her cousin Will in the Open Division of "On the Stage", where students create a performance for their robots, set to music, narration, and usually involving some storytelling.  Sofia's performance was based around the theme of supermarket shopping.  

WEARABLE ARTS AWARDS 

Congratulations/Ka rawe to Jordan Strydom, who co-designed and modelled her garment; Isla Brosnahan, co-designer; and Annabel Rodgers, designer and model, who each represented SMC at the Wearable Arts competition held in Rangiora at the end of last term.

Jordan and Isla's garment was in the Post Apocalyptic category for Years 7 and 8, and Annabel came third in her category of Cyber Organics.

It was inspiring to see so many amazing creations and to involve such positive and creative students. It is no mean feat modelling your design in front of a whole bunch of strangers-Tau kē kōrua!

SENIOR ARTS COUNCIL 

The Arts Celebration took place early this term. It was an unforgettable evening of captivating performances, tasty treats and immersive creative activities in order to celebrate and capture the Arts in 2026! 

Broadway Bound was the overall theme with hollywood icons and broadway stars dressed for the red carpet visible. 

Snr Arts Council need to elaborate on this and will send it to you directly, with…

ADD PHOTOS - Arts Council to send 

CELEBRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Briar Sharp auditioned and has been offered two solo plus group performances in Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park this year. This is a hugely popular event and will be a great production to be part of. 

Dubbed the nation’s favourite Christmas party, Coca‑Cola Christmas in the Park is a fabulous, fun-filled night of world-class entertainment and jaw-dropping fireworks, held each year in Christchurch and Auckland in front of a massive live audience.

Since the first concert in 1994, the show has grown to become New Zealand’s largest free annual Christmas celebration, a showcase for some of Aotearoa’s most popular performers and promising new stars, and a firm fixture on the Kiwi Christmas calendar.

Joining the new generation of performers will be one of Coca‑Cola Christmas in the Park’s most familiar faces, popular radio and TV personality, More FM breakfast host Simon Barnett, who will MC both shows with co-host Lana Searle. 

Coca‑Cola Christmas in the Park will be held at Hagley Park, Christchurch on Saturday 28 November 2026

Go and support Briar!

SMC had four National Finalists in the Great Talk Speech Competition, guided by Ruth Agnew. More than 170 students from across the country competed, and our amazing orators were the only South Island finalists. 

Charlotte Tan (Year 4) suggested we view sharks through a different lens, and maybe we won’t see them as the villains of the sea, but heroes. She was awarded Highly Commended. 

Years 5-13 had to make a new speech on a topic given by the organisers, and also compete in an impromptu speech round. Isla Ballantyne used the popular saying “live, laugh, love” to structure her speech on positive thinking, then gave an absolutely outstanding impromptu on “The Best Invention Ever” (judge Erin Simpson said it was “absolutely stunning”). She was awarded second place.

Year 9 Jody Ye explained The Concorde Fallacy in her speech about A Valuable Life Lesson, then explained the importance of asking “why” in the impromptu round, ending up Highly Commended. 

Jolin Ye, one of the youngest in the year 11-13 category, explained why Imagination is More Important Than Knowledge in her prepared speech, then spoke about courage in her impromptu, resulting in third place. 

All the SMC competitors have been invited to Parliament on 19 October, where MP Nancy Liu (also a Great Talk judge) will give them a tour, and they can participate in a mock debate. 

We are SO PROUD of these speakers! 

Speech & Drama Achievements 

Audrey Sun                         Grade 6 / Module 1     Honours PLUS

Sophie MacKenzie              Grade 6 / Module 1     Honours PLUS

Jolin Ye                               Grade 6 / Module 1      Honours PLUS

Jolin Ye                               Grade 6 / Module 2      Honours PLUS

Sophie Eccleton                  Grade 7 / Module 1      Honours PLUS

Sofia Tivers                         Grade 7 / Module 1      Honours

Grace Millar                         Grade 7 / Module 2      Honours PLUS

Juliet Young                         Grade 7 / Module 2      Honours PLUS

Isla Rea                               Grade 8 / Module 1      Honours PLUS

Claudia Lassen                   Advanced Associate Teaching - Theory Viva (Teaching Methods & Resources)                      Merit

Claudia Lassen                   Advanced Associate Teaching - Practical Teaching Module 2 (Cross Credit / Teaching Yr6 Oral Assessment)   Distinction

Madeleine Coughlan           Advanced Associate Teaching - Theory Viva (Shakespeare)                                                                                     Distinction

Madeleine Coughlan           Licentiate Teaching Diploma - Practical Teaching Module 3    (Cross Credit / Teaching Yr6 Oral Assessment)   Distinction

Well done to Dinie Bevers and all her students.

Speech NZ Examination Results: 

Initial:

Zaria Eves                    Honours 

Jiayu Zhang.                 Honours 

Siobhan Nguyen.          Merit Plus 

Gurbani Gill.                  Honours 

Anya Dwivedi                Honours 

Grade One: 

Diva Arun                       Honours Plus

Georgia Middelberg       Honours Plus 

Charlotte Tan.                 Honours Plus

Emily Hughes.                Honours Plus

Coco Geffen.                  Honours

Anna Chang.                  Honours Plus

Luana Xia.                      Honours Plus

Caroline Han.                 Honours Plus 

Grade Two:

Maddy Mackie.              Merit Plus

Amiria Baldwin-Smith    Honours

Chriselle Tok-Lee.          Honours 

Greta O’Sullivan.           Merit

Isla Ballantyne.              Honours 

Hazel Harris.                   Merit Plus

Congratulations to Ruth Agnew and her students.

Irish Dancing

Charlotte Harris, Yr 3, competed at the Irish Dance National Champs during the school holidays. She placed 2nd in the under 8s category. Well done, Charlotte. Keep dancing!

OPPORTUNITIES

Following a major redevelopment in 2025, Hagley Theatre School now offers professional-level training with strong connections to the performing arts sector, including professional theatre companies, festivals, tertiary institutions, and industry practitioners. Their goal is to provide students with both rigorous practical training and meaningful pathways into further study and careers in the arts.

HTS is excited to be travelling around Aotearoa to meet aspiring performers and introduce them to the One-Year Acting Training Course. Through the audition tour, they hope to connect with talented and passionate individuals who are looking to develop their craft and explore a future in the performing arts.

Hagley Theatre School takes a distinctive approach to actor training. The programme combines the theatre methodologies of Jacques Lecoq and Konstantin Stanislavski's Method of Physical Actions with voice training, puppetry, kapa haka, circus, popular theatre, ensemble practice, and theatre creation. A strong emphasis is placed on developing versatile, creative, and collaborative theatre-makers who are equipped to thrive in a constantly evolving industry.

The audition tour is an opportunity for prospective students to experience HTS training firsthand, meet the teaching team, ask questions about the programme, and audition for the 2027 intake.

Audition Dates

Auckland – 24 October

Wellington – 25 October

Christchurch – 31 October

To apply, visit the website and click "Apply Now":

www.hagleytheatreschool.nz

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

Term 4

YouthFest - 24 Oct

Lions Music Festival Christchurch  - 3 Nov

Middle School Arts Assembly - 10 Nov

Itinerant Music Concert - 18 Nov