Kia ora everyone, 

The week began well with everyone having an hour of skipping for the Heart Foundation - thanks to all those children who helped raise funds for this worthy cause.  Between the individual, pair, group skipping, and finally the races - we all had fun!

This week we have also paused to think and pray for the many refugees that there are in the world today - we know we are blessed with the peace we have in our part of the world and Refugee Week has been a good opportunity for our tamariki to learn more about the plight of others around the globe.  

It has been a long time since the last National Catholic Conference (2018) so it is wonderful to be a part of the gathering here in Wellington now - Catholic Education educates 65 000 tamariki throughout Aotearoa and many educationists, board members, priests, and bishops have gathered.
One of the keynotes - Tim Wilson (journalist, TV presenter, and now CEO of Maxim Institute) talked of his journey of failure, faith, and fortitude - a humorous but challenging piece. This was followed by Manuel Beazley (Vicar of Māori in the Auckland Diocese) who presented Authentically Māori, Authentically Catholic. Manuel talked of the arrival of Kupe and then the beginning of Bishop Pompallier’s mission in these waters as he successfully sought to build relationships with Māori, to learn from them, and share the teachings of the Catholic Church. It was a reciprocal relationship and as Manuel talked about Te Tiriti o Waitangi he challenged us all to do as Pompallier and the early Māori did - work for the good of the other.  So it has been a thought-provoking day of keynote speakers and workshops with two more days to come. 

Ka pai to some of our tamariki who created art pieces for the prayer space at the conference - they look great. 

Ka pai to all those who already purchased your tickets for Despicable Me 4 - the team are working hard fundraising for our next playground space so it is wonderful to have your support. If you haven’t already got your tickets please do so now as it helps the organisers immensely. 

Tuesday morning is our next Learning in Action time so feel free to pop into the classes between 9:30 and 11. We love seeing you all. 

Well, I am off for more learning and reflection so wishing you all a great day. 

Ngā manaakitanga.

Denise

Dates to remember:

Assembly: Tomorrow at 2:15 pm

Aquabots Build Day: We are hosting this day on Monday, feel free to pop in to see our two Year 7 & 8  teams building their aquabot. 

Learning in Action Morning: Tuesday, June 25 9:30 - 11 am

Despicable Me 4 - Wednesday, June 26

Mini Ball Year 5 & 6 - Thursday, June 27

Matariki Public Holiday - Friday, June 28

Regional Cross Country - Tuesday, July 2

Matariki whānau evening - Thursday, July 3 5:30 - 6:30 pm

Last Day of Term - Thursday, July 4

Kāhui Ako Teachers only Hui - Friday, July 5

As an extension to Matariki weekend, we will be hosting a whānau evening on Wednesday 3 July, 5.30-630pm.

We welcome you all to come along for a time of reflection, socialising, kai, and craft activities.

St Anthony had 3 guiding principles in his life and our tamariki had a wonderful time learning about these on his feast day last week. Through story and art the students learnt and created 

                       Courage: Have courage to face the ups and downs - the story of David and Goliath

            Aroha: Be concerned with the needs of others - the scripture verse 'Love one another as I have loved you' and St Anthony's words of wisdom

            Faith: Keep our feet solidly on the ground, fully trusting and depending on God - through the Parable of the Mustard Seed faith was explored

Ka pai to all our tamariki and teachers for collaboratively creating these art works - to our whānau please wander on our Learning in Action morning to see them!

Maths

McKenzy:

For maths we got given a question and the equation was 27x4. My strategy to work it out mentally was to double and half, except I halved the 4 to make it 2 and double the 27 to make it 54. So then to show my thinking I made 4 groups of 27 and then I added two 27s to make it 54  and did the same to the other two 27s. Then I connected both 54s to make it 108 and that was my answer.

Olive:

The maths technique that I used was rounding and compensating for the question: 27x4.  I started with the green and white blocks making four groups of 27. The white blocks represented ten and the green blocks represented ones. I rounded each 27 up to make a tidy number, 30, by adding 3 brown blocks to each of the four groups of 27.  Now, it was easier to times it by four because I know that if I times 4x10 by 3 I get the answer to 4x30. Four times thirty is 120. Now, since I added three to each at the start, I have to take away three from each group so I removed the brown blocks. 3x4=12, and 120-12=108!! So, we have our answer.

Rebecca:

I used partitioning to figure out the problem 4x27. I made four groups of 20 and four groups of seven and added them together. Altogether this equals 108.

Betty:

The question was 27x4 and I figured this out by using my place value partitioning. I split up the 27 and just did 20x4 which equals 80 then 7x4 which equals 28 then I added them together and got the answer 108. I used bundles of 10 to make 20 and 4 sticks to show 4, then a bundle of 7 and 4 sticks. Then I made the answer 108 with 10 groups of 10 and 1 group of 8.

I-Time

Charlie: My i-time project was a football shop because I really like football. I made it with a box and resene paint. I added fake flowers to the side to have decorations and I made some mini football shirts to hang across the entrance. I also added some mini football posters to the wall.You can move around the little employees and use the customers to play around in the shop.

Rebecca and Luna:

Our I time project is about different animal facts (tigers and wolves to be exact). We started  off wanting to figure out the differences between the two animals' brains but then decided on facts like their: habitat, prey appearance and a few fun facts. After we had found out all of the facts we had a new challenge, make a poster of their habitat. This of course took up most of our time, but in the end we had finished an amazing piece of art complete with facts.

Paige:

This is my I time project  that I did with my friend Marianne. It is about the life cycle of dolphins and frogs . We made them out of a wet bix box and put them in the two tissues boxes that we made. We made it into a zoo but only two types of animals. We made some food for them and we made a special set which is up top. We made a big sign that said do not climb and we made people that were the owners of the animals.And Marianne made some cretinous for the animals but only the oldest ones can jump out.

Tyler and Alex:

We have attempted to build a lego rubik's cube and well it's a bit of a fail. There are some good things and some bad things.The good things are that it spins and that it has colors. The bad things are that you can't actually solve it and it is very weak.So that was our attempt on building a lego rubik's cube.

Gila:

For my I-time project I made a dairy shop. I chose it because I love lollies and it would be easier to make since I have been to Betty’s dairy a lot of times. It was really fun to make!!  I used a box as the shop and then I cut out ‘shapes’ pictures and put them on shelves. I also added a light using cardboard and yellow felt. Finally I added posters to the walls like ‘buy one get one free’.

Betty:

I wanted to do a fashion runway because of how nice they look and I wanted to show you what it would look like if it was designed by me. Here it is! First, I just cut out the pieces that I needed to shape the runway, then I hot glued them all together and painted it purple with a hint of red. I then created the outfit by glueing random scrap pieces of fabric to a base dress. I painted up some posters then glued it on the front. Then boom I’m all done!

Over the last week, Te Maunga have revisited 4 different well-known traditional tales and used many different skills to transform these tales into something unique. 

During writing time, they have become actors, coders, creators, veterinarians, storytellers and authors. Out of this, in groups they have begun: completing case studies to diagnose an illness with a character; designing and writing the code for a traditional tale; writing their own version of the tale with a twist.

You may have also noticed that we finally got our street art up! This came out of some artwork we created at City Gallery as part of our Friday City Experience earlier this year. We love that it has added a bit of colour to our playground.

Tēnā koutou e te whānau

Your latest school board meeting was held on 18 June and we acknowledge and celebrate the following items:

Celebrating Sylvia Hull's Legacy: $10k Grant awarded to St. Anthony's

We are thrilled to announce that St. Anthony's School has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Sylvia Hull Trust. This grant will significantly enhance our educational resources and extracurricular activities available to our tamariki.

Sylvia Hull was a resident of Seatoun for most of her life. For many years, Sylvia served as the secretary of Seatoun Primary School, where her commitment to education and the well-being of students was evident to all. She was an active member of St. Christopher’s Church, where her warmth and dedication left a lasting impact. Sylvia left a bequest to the Church to provide grants that meet the Trust’s objectives for Mission.

The grant has been approved for the following resources:

1. STEM Science Kits: We will purchase a subscription for the  House of Science kits which are fully aligned with the NZ curriculum. These kits allow our students to explore science through interactive experiments and activities. The easy-to-use science resource kits cover a vast range of relevant topics and include at least five hands-on experiments that cater to children in years 0-8.
2. School Library Books: A portion of the grant will be used to expand our collection of library books, with a focus on picture books for our younger students.
3. Outdoor Chess Set and Chess Sets: To encourage strategic thinking and outdoor play, we will introduce an outdoor chess set and several indoor chess sets. These will be available for all students, promoting critical thinking and healthy competition. Lunchtime chess will be encouraged and we are exploring a chess tutor to provide lessons next term.
4. Swimming Transport: The grant will subsidise transportation costs incurred for Term 2’s school swimming lessons.

Ngā mihi nui, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Sylvia Hull Trust for their generous support.

Despicable Me 4- FoSA event Wednesday 26 June, 5.30 pm Roxy Cinema

Keeping your children safe online: 28 August 7pm

Save the date Tuesday 28 August 7pm for our next speaker event, John Parsons on cyber-safety. 

 

This is a practical presentation and workshop with the intention that you leave with skills and strategies to help you keep your children safe online and encourage them to be responsible citizens in the digital world.

This community whānau education event is open to everyone in our school and local communities.

Registrations open soon, spread the word and watch this space.

Chair of the Board changes - Thank you, Mark Mulhern, and welcome Oliver Meech

With much gratitude and faith, we recognise the contributions of our outgoing School Board Chair, Mark Mulhern for his exceptional leadership and dedication over the past years. Mark’s unwavering commitment to our school community has been instrumental in driving (and completing!) numerous initiatives including playground and property improvements. His collaborative spirit, strategic vision, and tireless efforts have set a strong foundation for future success. We sincerely thank Mark for his invaluable contributions and are delighted that Mark will stay on our school board as a proprietors’ representative member.

Just a reminder that you will need to have registered for this by Monday 24 June if your child is wanting to take part in these external assessments.

2024 ICAS

St Anthony's will again be offering the online external ICAS Assessments for 2024 to those in Years 4-8 who want to take up the challenge of competing in an international assessment that has been running for 40 years. Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision.

Entries are now open for the following assessments:

• Digital Technologies: sitting dates - 5-9 August 2024
• English: sitting dates - 12-16 August 2024
• Mathematics: sitting dates - 26-30 August 2024

The cost per assessment for English, Digitial Technologies, and Mathematics will be $21.50

So we can order the assessments and register please choose the subjects for your child via the response form link below and make payment to the school by Monday 24 June.

ICAS Registration Form

Payment should be by cash or online banking to School Account

12-3140-0322099-00 reference ICAS.

Please do not hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions.

This Friday 21 June we have pizza available to order.  An order form should have come home with your child today(Thursday) but if not then there will be some spares in the office.

We would like to thank you for your patience regarding the Attendance Dues invoicing and collection this year.  Due to issues with the new software system and illness in the team, we have not met our standards of service delivery for which we apologise.  The Cathconnect system parent portal should soon be up and running for you to check your outstanding invoices and balances . If you have any queries or concerns, please contact the Attendance Dues team, preferably through emailing dues@wn.catholic.org.nz  providing Child’s full name/Account number and brief details .

As we are expecting a large influx of queries, response times may vary, and we will get back to you as soon as we are able to.

Is your child excited for fun this school break? Hoop Kids Winter Camp promises basketball and smiles for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced players.

Why Hoop Kids Winter Camp?

• Daily Fun & Learning: Six hours of skills, teamwork, and confidence-building each day.
• Supportive Environment: Our coaches focus on positive growth, not pressure.
• For Every Kid: Open to Years 3 to 8, welcoming all abilities.

Camp Details:

• When: 15 - 17 July
• Time: 9am - 3pm
• Where: Ākau Tangi Sports Centre
• Cost: $160

Don’t let your child miss out on the fun and excitement at Hoop Kids Winter Camp!

Sign up now