Kia ora everyone,

The days have flown this week as Francesca von Lanthen and myself, along with 55 other staff from our 13 Catholic schools in our Kāhui Ako spent two days touring Wellington for the Mana Whenua Historical Tour of Te Ūpoko o Te Ika-a-Maui. Our focus was learning about the historical sites and history of Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington from the perspective of the people of Te Āti Awa. We began in Tapu Te Ranga | Island Bay, and traveled around the peninsula, through the city, Petone, and even as far out as the Wainuiomata coastline. We went to places that we had never been to before (even in Seatoun) and learned much about the early Pā sites and the history of Māori arriving in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. We look forward to using this valuable experience in our teaching and learning for 2024. 

What an amazing community you all are - we are thrilled to have gathered so many presents for the St Vincent de Paul. Thank you for recognising that some whānau are not as fortunate as yourselves and we thank you as tamariki throughout Wellington will benefit this Christmas due to efforts from people such as you! Ka Pai.

Preparations for the end of another successful year are well underway, especially for our graduates. Please note the following dates:-

• Oral Presentation Cup Final: this afternoon. Everyone is welcome
• Tuesday, December 5: Regional Athletics where we have 6 tamariki representing us
• Thursday, December 7 Principal Day out with the Year 8s and then the Leavers’ Dinner that night - thanks to all the Year 7 parents who are working hard on this
• Feast of Immaculate Conception, Friday, December 8 - a chance to think about Mary’s absolute faith
• Tuesday, December 12, Final Assembly 5:30 - 7 pm: Please ensure your child/ren has had something to eat
• Wednesday, December 13, 9:30: End of Year Mass 
• Thursday, December 14: the Last day of school which finishes at 1 pm. We plan to have a picnic at the beach from 11 am on. 

Have a wonderful weekend

Denise

Tena koutou katoa, greetings to all

It’s almost the end of our school year at St Anthony’s and we have much to recognise, celebrate and be grateful for in 2023.

2023 academic success in reading, writing, and mathematics

The end-of-year academic results are in.  Congratulations to our students and teachers for this year’s achievements with 88% of St Anthony’s tamariki at all levels working ‘at’ or ‘above’ their expected curriculum level for reading; 82% of students are working ‘at’ or ‘above’ their expected curriculum level for writing; and 90% of students are achieving ‘at’ or ‘above’ their expected curriculum level in mathematics.  

These results demonstrate the comprehensive education provided by St Anthony's School which is made possible by the effectiveness of our teachers and their care for each student, the amazing support from parents and our school community, and the commitment of our students to their own academic progress and success.

As we celebrate these fantastic results in reading, writing, and mathematics, we recognise these achievements are a solid foundation for continued academic growth and improvement in 2024.  

Whāia te mātauranga hei oranga mō koutou | Seek after learning for the sake of your wellbeing

Guest Speaker: Marco Mollo on Nutrition, movement and healthy tamariki

Ngā mihi nui to everyone who joined us last week for our free community event on nutrition, movement, and nurturing healthy tamariki!   Special appreciation goes out to our fantastic presenter, Marco Mollo, whose expertise and passion were evident.

The room was buzzing with positive energy and shared enthusiasm. We hope you departed with newfound insights and actionable tips to use immediately.  Marco's presentation is available on our school website: https://www.stants.school.nz/events

A heartfelt shout-out to New World Miramar for their generous sponsorship of this free community event.  We appreciate your support.

Watch out for our 2024 speakers programme of community events at St Anthony's School, Seatoun.  Topics include tamariki, technology and digital resilience

Bubble Art

How to make Bubble Art

You will need:

• Dish soap
• Food colouring
• Water
• Cup
• Paper
• Straw

Method:

1. First take your cup of liquid. 
2. Mix it with your straw. 
3. Put your straw in the cup and blow. Let the bubbles overflow onto your paper. 
4. Wait for it to dry and tada! You have bubble art!

-Mya Hsieh

Two weeks ago we created bubble art! Miss Smyth mixed the mixture then we blew it out with a straw. It was hard because if you blew too hard it would make the mixture explode around the paper. Some people managed to get the bubble effect though. The colours we used were red, blue, black, purple, yellow, dark green and light green. When I did the bubble art for the first time it was cool and the colour that I used was purple. My second try didn’t turn out so well but it was excellent!

- Sakora Walker

Reimagined Self Portrait

We noticed that we had a lot of scrap coloured paper in Te Awa so to use it up we reimagined our self-portraits from the beginning of the year. Our challenge was to only use the paper to add the details with no pencil allowed!

Christmas Baking

To start our Christmas celebrations, Te Awa has been baking some gingerbread. We used this to help us understand the different ways we can measure things - we used scales to measure some of the ingredients as well as teaspoons and tablespoons.

Te Maunga’s Recent Friday City Experience

On one of our recent trips to the city, we had a lot of fun making human pyramids, doing wheelbarrow and piggy back races, and playing tag games at Pukeahu Memorial. We also created some fun scavenger hunts for the other year group to play on our next trip to town. We look forward to these! 

It was awesome to be able to chill out and have fun as a group before the year ends.

Year 7s

Year 8s

Te Maunga's senior students have organised a canned food drive for the St Vincent De Paul charity, as part of one of their A.R.I.S.E projects. The aim of this initiative is to give support to those who are less fortunate than us and contribute towards the betterment of our community. We kindly request tamariki to participate in this cause by bringing in a canned food item that will be donated to the food drive.

This summer, Wellington City Libraries is inviting kids, teens and adults on a Summer Reading Adventure! From the 1st of December 2023 – 31 st of January 2024, you’ll be able to log your reading, write, draw or film book reviews, and complete activities and challenges to earn rewards like collectible badges, free books, ice-cream vouchers, and go in the draw to win one of our fabulous Grand Prizes.
Visit the library website today at wcl.govt.nz/summer reading to pre-register for the Summer Reading Adventure, or visit any of our libraries from the 1st of December to pick up your Adventurer’s Guide and get started.

We have organised a Colouring in Competition for all kids to get involved this Christmas to shine a bit of light on our "Little Ray of Giving" Annual Charity Drive where it helps support local charities Ronald McDonald House leading up to Christmas.

It's a lucky draw so everyone has a chance to win, with x3 age categories and a $100 Warehouse Voucher for each age group.

 Entries Closes 4pm, 14th December 2023 ️ Open to Wellington Residents Only

️ Drop off your entries to Ray White Wellington City, Level 1, 77 Thorndon Quay, Thorndon or if you can't make it to the office scan and email to reception.wellingtoncity@raywhite.com

Download your entry form here https://tinyurl.com/XmasColouring23 

TAKE YOUR CHILD TROUT FISHING

WHERE   CAPITAL TROUT CENTRE -(Landfill Road, Owhiro Bay)

WHEN -Sunday 3^rd December 2023

A fishing experience for children aged 2 to 11 years. You must have a Capital Trout Center licence/registration FREE licences/registration forms will be available from 20^th November from Capital Fishing, 49 Ghuznee Street (off Cuba Mall)  or Hutt Valley Hunting & Fishing, 8 Te Puni Street, Petone

This is manned by volunteers from the Wellington Flyfishers Club and is funded by your donations

Your donation is appreciated. For further information, contact Strato Cotsilinis  386 3740

Wellington Music Centre

Enrolments for 2024 open on 1 December

BIGAIR GYMS popular December Drop & Shop Holiday Programme is back, running Mon 18^th – Wed 20th December 2023! Full day and half day sessions are available. This is a wonderful opportunity for kids to keep active, while you get those final pre-Christmas preparations done! BIGAIR GYMS January Holiday Programme is also running Mon 8^th – 26^th Jan 2024. Bookings are open online now at www.bigairgym.co.nz

 

Please contact us with any inquiries:

Bigair Gym Owhiro Bay: ph. 383 8779, e. wgtn@bigairgym.co.nz at 14 Landfill Road, Owhiro Bay.

Bigair Gym Tawa: ph. 232 3508, e. office@bigairgym.co.nz at 10b Surrey Street, Tawa.