St Paul's Collegiate School entered a team into the NZ Cyber Security Challenge during the school holidays. Congratulations to Liam Stiles, Ryan Ingram, Oscar Walsdorf, Sean Lester, Jasper Ludbrook and Mr Mika, who competed against 400 aspiring cyber experts online in the first round of the competition. They made the second round, being in the top 150 contenders, and had to 'capture the flag' by hacking into various sites and completing different challenges. Although they didn't make a top placing, it was an excellent learning experience for these lads. If the we know of someone who is hacked, we'll be coming to you for support.

Roy Zhu (Year 12) recently represented New Zealand at Australia’s Model UN National Conference held 3-8 July. The conference is recognised by the government as Australia’s premier Model UN Conference, organised by United Nations Youth.

New Zealand was invited to bring six of the country's most promising high school students to represent New Zealand on a global stage in Australia. The six selected New Zealand students to the conference were amongst 100 of the brightest and most engaged students from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. It was an incredible week of discussion and debate in the Queensland Parliament House and Queensland University in Brisbane. Roy was one of the few youth who delivered a speech representing their country in Queensland Parliament’s Chamber. He was also the only student to be selected from the Waikato region.

The event is Australia’s largest annual residential youth conference. During the conference, student delegates represented a UN member state and engaged with global issues from this perspective. But the National Conference is about much more than the Model United Nations. Delegates heard from a range of fascinating international experts, participated in workshops and interactive problem-solving scenarios and had the chance to offer their own opinions on a range of topics. 

The delegation had been selected through a competitive process. Accordingly, successful applicants have demonstrated excellent leadership skills and a desire to create a positive future world. National Conference alumni have gone on to hold leadership positions in a variety of organisations, companies, and government departments.