Youth Group member Toby Cammock-Elliott is now a national pipe band champion! Well done Toby!

Toby recenlty competed in the National Pipe Band Championships in Napier and Hastings on March 19th and 20th. The St Andrew's College A band which is made up of secondary students competed in Grade 2 (Grade 1 is the top adult Grade) and won their Grade (the only high school band to compete against adults). So they are the National champions in Grade 2.

Grade 1 was also won by a Christchurch band (the Canterbury Calledonian Society) and Grade 4 was won by an Invercargill Pipe Band so three of the four grades were won by South Island bands which was very exciting!

Toby practices every day (much to the delight or not of our neighbours) and the band practices together twice a week. In addition to that Toby and all of the band members have individual lessons with tutors. The College has two main bands A & B made up of 50 students.

Toby has been learning the pipes since he was about 8. The band play at assemblies, prizegivings, chapels, Old Collegian events, sports days, founders day and lots of other college events. Toby has played at City to Surf, he loves to busk, he has been hired for parties, he's appeared on 'What Now' and he played at his Grandpa's 80th birthday last weekend. He loves to improvise and often records himself playing alongside all sorts of music including rock music and anthem music!!

The band were due to compete in Scotland last year in the World Pipe Band championships but this was of course cancelled due to Covid. At the moment the band is hoping to compete again in 2023 by which time the international situation will hopefully have settled down. Toby will be in Year 13 by then.