Kia ora

Last night allowed us to celebrate the successes of our tamariki and reflect on tō tātou haerenga mātauranga | our journey of understanding over this year as we have explored both the bi-cultural and multi-cultural heritage of our whānau.  It has been a journey of learning, resulting in some amazing art installations and as one of our students remarked, ‘I feel that it makes the school look more inclusive now'. Our diversity is our strength when we build connections with each other and 2022 has contributed significantly to this. Our grateful thanks to all whānau who have contributed to these wonderful projects over the year - without your help we would not have achieved all we have!

I wish to thank the many whānau who pitch in on a regular basis to help out with all the opportunities that our tamariki are offered - you are all stunning in the way that you front up and help out - from sport to working bees, school trips, to reading with our tamariki or answering the many calls we put out - as Sherry Anderson says 

“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.” You are all priceless!

Special thanks to last weekend’s Working Bee - what a team! Although small in number, they completed some important jobs such as securing our sunshade and completing the staining of the junior playground seating and back fence (doesn't it look fantastic?) nga mihi nui | many thanks.  

I felt a deep sense of appreciation last night as I watched our tamariki go forward for their prizes and listened to our graduates give their speeches. The learning and fun that they have all had this year has been significant and we are very proud of them all. Listening to the Year 8s, it is the journey that they have made since the age of 5 that is simply amazing and I know once again we are sending an excellent cohort of students off to college. We congratulate Nina Atkinson- Milin on her success with gaining the Year 9 scholarship to St Catherine’s College. Ka Pai Nina! We always love this time of year, as we hear of the successes that our past pupils are having at the colleges around Wellington and there have been quite a few so congratulations to you all. 

Our congratulations to Lesley Mitakas - our wonderful support teacher of Te Ākau and Te Awa on the graduation of her son George. As we explained to our tamariki yesterday and having experienced it myself there is nothing more exciting than your child achieving their dream as a young adult. ka pai te mahi | well done Lesley

Bazaar collection - thanks to all the awesome volunteers that have delivered the flyers. Now at 3 pm on Saturday ( tomorrow), we are gathering to sort and pack the white elephant donations so come along with your donations and/or to help us sort. 

Our School Board is an excellent team who works tirelessly for our school. We farewelled Vanessa Monahan, Lesi Bradley, and Andrew Pink from the board this year after some great years of service and I would like to extend my grateful thanks to all 3 for the work that they achieved whilst on the Board - you have been outstanding! We were fortunate to welcome David Crosbie onto the board, who has been a wonderful addition. We appreciate each of our board members brings a variety of expertise and knowledge to the job of governance which allows our school to be well-run. I thank them for the commitment and work that each one does for the good of our tamariki. 

And on a final note, last week we had Jay, our Fujifilm agent installing our new photocopier - as he was leaving he said, ‘by the way, this is a great school.  It's a really lovely atmosphere and the kids are confident and  happy.’ As you can imagine, it’s always lovely to receive feedback like that!

On behalf of all the team, I wish you all a happy and holy Christmas, and may your new year be thrilled with fun and laughter.

Meri Kirihimete

Denise

It was wonderful to gather with all the grandparents last week and our tamariki were so proud to be with them. We had a pōwhiri to welcome our 4 new students and their whānau and then to celebrate our grandparents. The message in the liturgy for our tamariki was simple - to respect - to listen to their elders and learn!

At first glance, it appears the Bible has little to say about the role of grandparents. In fact, the word grandparent only appears twice! However, if you look at phrases such as old age, children’s children, and generations, it provides a much fuller story. Two pieces of scripture guide grandparents

“O God from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.” —Psalm 71:17-18

• Grandparents are to recognize their grandchildren as a gift from God:

“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged.” —Proverbs 17:6

• Grandparents are to tell the story of God’s mighty work:

But bottom line is that our tamariki are called to respect their grandparents whilst the grandparents have been given a spiritual inheritance from the Lord and are to pass it on to future generations.

With us racing through the weeks of Advent, Christmas is nearly upon us...

Congratulations to our wonderful athletes that competed in the Regionals this week - you really are superb. 

Following an excellent result at Interzone, our girls went to represent us at the Regional athletics and they were fantastic. 

Our Year 6 relay team took second place -  Alice Mulhern, Brea Atkinson Milin,  Monica Paese, and Leanne Crosbie

The Year 4 long jump was won by Gila Crosbie

Then we have the results of our very talented Monica Paese 

1st in the 80m sprint

1st in the 150m sprint 

1st in the long jump, 

3rd equal in the high jump

What amazing athletes and we are so proud of you all!

Te Maunga have been using the Active Travel Action resource this year to complement our Inquiry learning. We have looked at issues like carbon emissions and calculated our own carbon footprint from using the car to get to and from school. We have also looked at our local environment and conducted a Walkability checklist from the shops in Strathmore to our school. 

The next step was to look at how we could exercise our ‘Citizenship Muscles’ so that we could help to promote a positive change in connection with this topic. Some children made posters about the benefits of active travel, others wrote letters to Wellington Council to highlight issues we have with our walking routes to school. Some tamariki chose very creative responses, such as creating digital books about the topic for younger classes, or making movies or composing raps to encourage the school community to use more active ways to travel.

We presented these ideas to the Senior Syndicate on Tuesday, 6th December. Take a look at some of the great work we have done!

A rap promoting Active Travel written by Issy & Isobel, performed by Issy & Freddie.

An email to Wellington Council - using our Citizenship muscles

Jamie & Kahu’s ‘What if ..’suggestion box to gather Student voice around Active Travel

Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete kia koutou | Greetings of the Christmas season to you

Message from the Chair on behalf of the St Anthony’s School Board

On Tuesday night, we had our last school board meeting of 2022 and I’ve been reflecting on what a continuing pleasure and privilege it is to be part of the St Anthony’s School Board and community.   

Firstly, well done to our outstanding tamariki at St Anthony’s; to the dedicated and inspired principal, Denise Johnson, and the wonderful hard-working teachers and staff, Francesca von Lanthem, Alison Reid, Penny Duncan, Sophie Smyth, Lesley Mitrakis, Holly Lousley, and Kirsten Bouras. It is their sustained efforts, along with our tamariki, that help ensure our tamariki celebrate their whakapapa, cultural identity, faith, and spirituality. Our tamariki are involved with the planning and decision-making on their school learning and activities. Their voices, amplified by the student school council, are sought - and we, the Board and staff, listen to them and value them. 

This year, despite the lingering presence of Covid-19, has been a BIG year for St Anthony’s.  Our school has produced several amazing creative art installations which are a true tribute to the collective work of students, staff, and whānau. Our tamariki have also achieved exceptionally well in a wide range of sports both as individual athletes and in teams. These achievements are not only result-based but also reflect their effective teamwork, good gamesmanship, and several students taking part in sports for the first time.

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our whānau for their aroha and support for our students. It is important to acknowledge our wonderful and supportive school community, particularly FOSA, who work incredibly hard throughout each year to deliver and support wonderful experiences for our tamariki and school, including school lunches, school trips, working bees, quiz and movie nights. 

Our end-of-year assessment results which demonstrate excellent student achievement are another source of pride for the students and staff and indeed all of us.

2022 Student Achievement

St Anthony’s students and teachers worked hard this year to achieve outstanding academic results in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics.   Our achievements showed sustained improvements over the 2022 year.

In summary, 89% of students are achieving ‘at’ or ‘above’ their expected curriculum level for Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. This is an increase from mid-year when we predicted that 85% (reading), 86% (writing), and 86% (mathematics) of students were expected to be achieving ‘at’ or ‘above.’ 

Looking ahead to 2023, the focus remains on ensuring all our students continue to progress academically, with teachers, students, and their whānau working together to ensure learning strategies meet the individual needs of each student.  

What’s the process for assessing achievement? Student achievement is assessed for students in Years 1-8 across Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. Throughout the year assessment data is collected by the teachers and put into our Overall Teacher Judgement (OTJ) Evidence Forms. This includes formal assessments such as PAT Maths and e-asttle reading and writing tests, diagnostic or interview style assessments such as JAM or Gloss maths tests, running records, and classroom observation comments. Together these help to form OTJs for each child.  The Leadership team follows up with individual teachers to ensure that our data is robust and consistent across the school. Information in this report shows the percentage of students at, above or below their curriculum levels in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. 

Want to know more about student achievement at St Anthony’s?  Please contact your child’s teacher or our principal, Denise Johnson.

Ngā mihi nui to Alison Reid, Year 7 and 8 teacher and Holly Lousley, teacher aide
At the end of this term, we say farewell with gratitude and aroha to Alison and Holly.

Alison joined us at the beginning of 2021 and we have been thrilled to have such a dedicated and creative teacher as part of the team. Our senior students have flourished under her care and the school has all benefitted from Alison’s musical skills. as she has supported our tamariki with their singing. We thank Alison for her tireless effort in the planning and organisation of PE and sport. Our tamariki are very fortunate to participate in every sporting opportunity and tournament offered and Alison has been instrumental in ensuring all preparation is done. Nga mihi Alison and we wish you and your young family all the very best.

Holly joined the St Anthony's staff at the beginning of this year and has been a wonderful asset in supporting teaching and learning across the schools. Holly works each day with individual children or small groups so that our tamariki can find success in their learning. When not with children, Holly has organised the library and gardened with small groups of children. Ka Pai Holly, we are grateful for all the work you have done for St Anthony's and wish you all the very best with your next adventure.

Health and PE consultation survey

A big thanks to all the families who participated in the health and physical education survey during October and November.  This survey tells us what parents and students feel should be emphasised in the delivery of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum and the results are used to plan for improved learning programmes for our students. Results from this survey are now being discussed with the Staff and School Board and we will provide a planning update in the new year.

2023 Teacher Only Days - April 24 and June 30 

Please mark your calendar for the first and second terms’ Teacher Only Days on Monday 24 April and Friday 30 June 2023.

School Board 

Our next school board meeting is in February 2023.  If you would like to contact the board, please email bot@stants.school.nz 

Ngā mihi nui 

We thank our amazing and dedicated Principal and staff and everyone in our school community who supported our tamariki and St Anthony’s School this year.  Your dedication and enthusiasm are highly valued and we look forward to 2023 with excitement.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa - Let us keep close together, not wide apart.  Enjoy the time spent with your loved ones this Christmas.

Meri Kirihimete

Mark Mulhern, Chair, St Anthony’s School Board

We have a small collection of lost property in the office.  This will be out on the deck this Friday 9th so if you are missing anything please come and check it out.

Our school's 2023 back-to-school student stationery lists have now been published on the OfficeMax MySchool website and are available for you to view here.

Please note while these are the lists of stationery each class require you can source these items from other providers.