Kia ora

Well, it has been a very busy and productive few weeks ranging from Beach Clean Ups, some of our tamariki taking the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our Holy Week Drama, the Cupcake Competition, and today our Wacky Shoes Whānau breakfast. Ka pai to our wonderful tamariki for working so hard on all these events, over and above the rest of the learning! 

Ngā mihi nui to our wonderful tamariki who worked hard to clean along the foreshore last week in support of the Our Seas Our Future initiative - our young ones are extremely committed to looking after our fish and marine life which is fantastic. The rubbish audit of the beachfront (from Falkirk Street along and in Churchill Park) revealed approximately 5 kgs of plastic and paper rubbish, a few bottles and cans as well as a few items of clothing. 

We have had a number of our children recently excelling in various ways:-

• Those who excelled with the Sacraments. Congratulations to Olive Redmayne, Paige Smith, Charlotte Smith, Rebecca Koepl, Pippa Caudal, and Alexander Meech who completed the Sacrament of Reconciliation last Sunday. Reconciliation is a Sacrament begun by Jesus Christ in his love and mercy to offer us forgiveness for the times we have sinned and turned away from God. Every time we sin, we hurt ourselves, other people, and God. In Reconciliation, we acknowledge our sins before God and the Church. We express our sorrow in a meaningful way and receive the forgiveness of Jesus and his Church. 
• Shout out to Charlie Smith for receiving an honorary mention for her awesome foil pearl technique from the Seaweek Colouring Competition (only one of 5 throughout the country!)
• to Alice for receiving the honour of running out after the haka to present the game ball to the kicker in the Women’s Super Rugby Aupiki Poua vs Matatū

And all our tamariki excelled with the most amazing cupcakes they presented in the theme of Holy Week or Easter. Their ideas and creativity were simply uplifting so thanks to all the whānau who helped them with this.

Check out more on FB

Special thanks to Fareen who came in and helped the juniors to ice and decorate extra ones as well - they loved it!

Thanks too to our seniors who also helped with the learning and fun.

And finally, we have ended the week with our Whānau Breakfast and Wacky Shoes to complete our Movin' March effort. 

Thanks to Sam Cripps for leading this initiative!

Wishing you all a happy and Holy Easter break - may it be one of peace and rest. We look forward to seeing you next Wednesday for our final weeks of term. 

Ngā manaakitanga

Denise

The events of Holy Week and Jesus’ Resurrection as told visually on Charlie's  cupcakes 

Reflection by GPBS

You have seen the best: Jesus acknowledged, Jesus and his followers welcomed, sinister authority ignored.

We go from here as those who seek always to do our best and to bring out the best in others.

 You will have chances to welcome Jesus. Take them!

You have seen the worst: Jesus betrayed, ignored by his friends, falsely accused, humiliated, beaten up, and killed.

We go from here as those who face up to the worst and work tirelessly to overcome the worst with love.

You will have chances to overcome the worst.

Take those chances!

Easter Services held in our Parish:
Holy Thursday
St Anthony’s:   7 pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Good Friday:    29th March  (no morning Mass)

St Anthony’s: 10 am  Good Friday Procession starts and finishes at St George’s 44  Ferry St, Seatoun

St Patrick’s:   10 am   Stations of the Cross from St Patrick’s Church, Kilbirnie to
                                All Saints 90 Hamilton Rd, Hataitai

Holy Cross:    2.30 pm Start at the top of Wexford Hill (weather permitting) and
                     processing to Holy Cross Church for the beginning of the service at 3 pm

Holy Cross Church 3 pm Passion of the Lord
Collection for support of Holy Places will be taken up at this service

Saturday Easter Vigil:  30th March
St Patrick’s: 7 pm
Please bring your own candle and ensure it has a protector to prevent wax falling on your hands, clothing or the floor.

Easter Sunday:     31st March
Holy Cross:       8:30am
St Patrick’s:      10:30am

Rhyming Couplets

In Te Moana we have been reading Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes. We drew inspiration from these to create our own poems based on traditional stories. Our challenge was to use rhyming couplets as well as incorporate a twist!

The Three Billy Goats REVENGE

The goat walks across the bridge, “Trot trot trot” 

The troll waits underneath, “Clip clop clop”

The goat is not quite large enough

To fill the troll’s big tummy

Trolly whispers, “Hmm, no,no, this one smells quite funny”

And soon after that one left 

A new one comes, which seems quite deft.

This one is bigger,

Heavier, you see,

But Trolly murmurs, “No, not for me!” 

A short time after

Another cones, which is quite faster

Trolly takes this as a sign

That the goat is big enough this time

He climbs right up onto the bridge

And is disappointed

This one’s quite a midge

But only to find it’s just far away

The goat tries to escape, but no not today!

With one sharp ‘slash’

Of Trolly’s nails

The third goats skin, it goes quite pale

Trolly eats his share and leaves

With a full stock and rolled up sleeves.

He takes the poor goats hide with him

To sew up into a present for his kin

He tales it off to his mother

But goat’s good friends, little did he know

We’re ready to take off his ugly face with a single blow

When the door went “ding dong!”

They pilled up, every single one!

They all climbed up to the top

Readied their sword, and one, two, three CHOP!

Trolly’s head fell to the floor

Then with a triumphant roar

They all together, slammed the door

They hoisted up the goat’s skin (one, two, three)

These goats are really quite smart, you see

They put his DNA in a giant machine

(While doing all this they ate ice cream)

They made the third goat come back to like

And undid all this trouble and strike!

That, my friends

It’s the end!

Of the story of the Three Billy Goat’s revenge!

-Olive

Princess and the Pea

In a castle far away

A young prince wants to find a princess today!

Someone knocks on the wooden old door

A maid opens, almost slipping on the wet floor

A young girl drenched in the rain

“I need a play to stay!’’ she says in pain

She slowly enters the living room

Catching a handsome prince giving his hair a groom

The prince sees her and screams in shock!

You interrupted my brushing of my beautiful locks!

She looks at him with a confused face

While the maid takes her to a room without a trace

Though she says she's a princess 

No one believes her for the way she dress

The Queen has an idea

Out of  no where

“Get 20 MATRESSES’’  She orders

They place them on a bed with the tallest borders.

She places one pea in the middle

The queen says “if she’s a real princess she’ll wriggle and fiddle

The “princess” climbs the tall ladder

Her face brightens, she couldn’t be happier

She tucks in the sheets

Resting her dainty feet

She slowly starts to doze off

But, there’s a bump? It doesn’t seem soft

She wriggles and fiddles, side to side

It’s 7am now, breakfast time!

She enters the kitchen, torn from the bed

She’s strutting with knots in her head

The Queen says “yes you passed the test!”

You tested me because I’m “not” a princess?

She pulls out a crown

Even the maid bowed down

She runs through the door

She’s there no more

She finds another chad

Who wasn’t as bad

They kiss under the tree

And smile with glee

They giggle with laughter

Now that’s a real happily ever after…

-Betty

Billy, goat and gruff 

Billy goat and gruff

All of them thought they were tough

Some of them wanted to eat

So they wanted to try and cheat

But the monster knew 

The water was blue 

Billy was keen 

He wanted to keep clean!

The monster let out a smirk

He started to twerk

Billy goat and gruff found a chance

They went to the bridge and took a chance

Billy and Goat fell

They died, you could tell

“Off with your hear” the monster roared back

He got hit in the head with a big whack

And while crawling with his feet

He gets his spoon and starts to eat

- McKenzy

The gaps between the poupou in a whare are usually decorated with tukutuku panels. There are lots of different designs which represent different things. For example the Roimata design shows slow drops or tears. Kaokao follows the arm and chest of a body to represent strength.

Here are our designs based on Te Taniwha o te Whanganui-a-tara.

Kia ora e te whānau

Easter is a time for reflection, renewal, and hope.  Our prayer is that you find joy and peace during this special time. We would like to say ngā mihi nui to all parents and helpers for your hard work, dedication, and commitment to our school community and for a wonderful first term.

Thank you also to our principal and staff for your enthusiasm, energy, and tireless efforts to support and inspire our ākonga (students) pastorally and academically.  Our tamariki have had a positive and fulfilling start to the school year and are looking forward to Easter, the term holidays, and returning to St Anthony’s for an awesome term 2.

Easter is a celebration of new beginnings, and we encourage you as a whānau to take the opportunity to reflect on the past term and focus on what you can do together to support your children’s positive change and growth.

“Thank you Eastern Suburbs Sports Trust for your support”

Working Bee Saturday 27 April 2pm to 4pm

Working Bees are held at St Anthony’s once a term.  What is a working bee? It’s an event which involves our school families coming together to complete projects that enhance the environment in which our children can learn, play, and grow.  The tasks could include gardening, painting, cleaning, and tidying up the school grounds.

Working Bees are a great opportunity for families and children to meet in a different social setting, as well as contributing to improvements and care of the school. Each Working Bee finishes with a BBQ to thank our lovely volunteers.

Our next working bee is on Saturday 27 April from 2 pm to 4 pm with refreshments and a sausage sizzle  afterwards.  Please note this date in your calendars and watch out for more details in the coming weeks.

Fantastic FOSA!

A big thank you to our Friends of St Anthony’s (FOSA) committee for their organising of the Easter Cupcake challenge and the Hot Cross Bun fundraisers.  These have both been most successful events in which our tamariki have thrived - Ka pai to you all!

Kua ara te Karaiti, Waiata me te koa | He is risen, Let us sing with joyful sound

Entertainment Books

Once again we are promoting the digital entertainment book as a fundraiser for St Anthony's. Buy a membership and St Anthony's receives 20% of the purchase. 

Order your membership online today 

And until the end of April you will get upgraded to a multi-city membership when you join.

Or look out for the posters around the school which have a QR code link to our St Anthony's order page.

Friday Lunches

We need a few extra parents to help deliver our Friday lunches to the classes.  This is super easy and only involves a couple of hours on a Friday once a term.  It is just collating the orders and money and then picking up the order to bring back to school.

If you can help please let Sian know  sian.kelly7@gmail.com

Hot Cross Bun and Cupcake Fundraiser

Many thanks to all those who supported these wonderful fundraisers.  There are still a few outstanding payments for hot cross buns and cupcakes to come in so it would be wonderful if these could be paid for over the coming weekend so we can finalise the totals raised.  If you are unsure if you have paid, please get in touch and we can double-check for you.

When you return, you can now complete a digital New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) before you fly back into New Zealand – replacing the need to fill out a paper declaration card on the plane. 

Everyone coming into New Zealand needs to complete an NZTD. You’ll answer questions about your trip and what’s in your bags. You can complete it at a time that suits you, on the NZTD website or by downloading the NZTD app, and submit it 24 hours before your trip back to New Zealand.

Download the NZTD app today!