Kia ora e hoa

It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Francesca von Lanthen as our Deputy Principal. As you know, Francesca has been in this role as acting Deputy Principal and we have been impressed with her expertise and professionalism. Francesca’s wisdom and pragmatism are assets for our leadership team and I look forward to continuing working together to ensure that St Anthony’s thrives as a centre of excellence and learning.

We have been so delighted with everyone’s effort with the Readathon - some amazing reading has happened which is impressive! Young ones completed 12 - 35 hours of extra reading, using a range of different texts while the seniors ranged from 20 up to a whopping 76 hours of focus!  We loved seeing that students played scrabble, read maps, novels, comics, magazines, and even their sacramental programme as a way of reading mileage so well done to all our wonderful children. 

Each teacher has selected one or two readers that Excelled in terms of maintaining their reading log (over a very disrupted Lockdown period) and/or for the sheer volume that was read. These children will be acknowledged at our assembly which is to be held before the end of the term. The children did their part too in gaining sponsorship for this extra effort and we raised a total of $2525.00. Well done all!

We congratulate the following:-
The winner for the most raised individually was: Sophia Bradley $200
The class with the largest average raised was Te Maunga and they will enjoy a pizza lunch for their upcoming R.E.A.L day. 

It has been wonderful to see all the classes nearly to the point of gaining their R.E.A.L days. To remind you of the system, each time an individual/ or class behaves in a way that is Respectful, Excelling, Aware or as a Learner beyond the norm they are awarded a point (represented by a small ball). Once 60 points are collected by the class, they come over to me with their full jar of balls to exchange it for a ping pong ball. Once there are 20 of the ping pong balls in the containers displayed in the office then the class has earnt a R.E.A.L day. The students determine what is the specific activity that they want to indulge in for two hours and this is also supported by the choice to wear mufti, having a shared lunch activity or similar choice as well. So when your child says that they have earned their R.E.A.L day, please celebrate this achievement with them as it has been a collective class effort to achieve it!

We are thrilled to see the safety aspect of the senior playground underway over this past week and of course our Mouse House which I am sure you will all hear about once the bark is in place and the students can play in it. As mentioned in the Board news below, we are planning to move the bark. We are doing some today as the weather lifts and then tomorrow - Saturday. We would love to see you all so we can make quick work of it. 

Over the past week, the Year 3 - 8 students have sat Reading and Mathematics tests, and from the data I have seen so far, our children have made progress. So congratulate yourselves as your commitment to your child’s learning over Lockdown has supported their progress. 

Over the past week, I have had the privilege of meeting with Paul Prestidge from Miramar Uniting Church and Chris Dodds, Vicar for  St Aidans. They are part of the ecumenical team who have created the wonderful initiative Mid Winter Christmas: 12 Days of Light in the Darkness. There are daily ideas for family fun and then the ultimate goal to light up our front windows just as Christ lights up our world. Please see below for further details and I ask you to take the time to look at the website as there are some great ideas.  I look forward to all our families participating in this wonderful initiative as it brightens people's lives, especially with these winter days.

Stay warm and dry and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning. 

Until then

Ngā manaakitanga

Denise