Tēnā koutou whānau,

What an Amazing Week!
We’ve had the best week ever with the arrival of our hive of bees! They are absolutely fascinating to watch, and we encourage you to pop in and see them in action. The hive will be with us until the middle of next week, and our tamariki are thoroughly enjoying observing the different stages of the bees’ lifecycle, as well as watching the hive grow and change each day. We’ve all learned so much already! Enjoy Te Moana’s insights on the Bees. 

Save the Date – Learning in Action: June 5
We warmly invite you to join us for our Learning in Action on Thursday, June 5, from 9 - 11 am. Come and see your children engaged in their learning during the school day. This is a great opportunity to experience the rich and dynamic learning environment we offer.
Please feel free to bring along any friends or whānau who may be considering St Anthony’s for their tamariki– we’d love to welcome them too!

We hope you have noted that Friday, May 30, is our next planned Teacher Only Day as we join with Holy Cross and St Patrick’s for the next Ministry of Education Professional Learning Day. Our focus is to continue to explore and deepen our understanding of the New Zealand Curriculum - Mathematics and Statistics. 

Finally, congratulations to our tamariki - Chiara and Ben, who, along with the other tamariki in our parish, received the Sacrament of Confirmation last Sunday.I was also present at a Confirmation that day, though mine was in Christchurch. Bishop Michael’s message to the confirmands was powerful: he reminded them that from that moment on, each of them would have their own special angel standing at their shoulder for the rest of their lives.

He connected this message to a powerful story from Church history—of Pope Leo the Great. When Attila the Hun approached Rome intending to invade, Pope Leo went out to meet him and raised his hand to halt the advance. According to legend, Attila saw two mighty angels standing one on each of Pope Leo’s shoulders, and behind them, a host of heavenly beings. Struck with awe, Attila turned his army around and chose not to attack the city.

May our tamariki always remember that they, too, are never alone—God’s grace and protection walk with them always.

Ngā manaakitanga

Te Moana have been loving learning about bees with our most recent science kit, ‘What’s the buzz?’ On Wednesday, we were so excited to have a beehive delivered to our school!

On Wednesday, we were looking at bees. We learned that there are only three types of bees: the queen bee, the male bee, and the worker bee. The queen bee lays eggs, which develop into larvae and then pupae. The first queen pupae to hatch becomes the next queen bee- Paige Smith

The beehive scared me at first with all of them flying so close to the glass, and I even had to inspect the dead bees, but I got used to it.  I’ll never get used to that awful smell. We inspected the male bee, the worker bee, and the queen bee. Our principal, Ms. Johnson, placed some information pages near the beehive. The beehive has male pupae, egg mass, worker pupae, queen larvae, queen pupae, and male larvae.- Pippa Caudel

Yesterday, so to say, Wednesday the 21st of May, we got a bee’s nest! This bee's nest contains “Bombus Terrestris” bumble bees. They seem very good at laying eggs and making pupae. The queen larvae looks like a big doughnut. The bees are constantly moving, and there seems to be a lot happening in the nest. I’m excited to see how it grows over the week as they are working very busily.

After examining bees and watching them work in their hive, Te Moana wrote some descriptive paragraphs about them. 

Check out Benedict and Sam’s amazing work!

BEES

By Sam Tye

The garden is a beautiful valley of life-you can see life everywhere you look. You can see little things moving from yellow flowers to blue flowers… BEES!!! Flying black and yellow ants are getting pollen for their hive. The hive is like a giant acorn of worker bees making the pollen from the flowers into hexagons after hexagons. Deep inside the hive, the royal bee sleeps - the Queen bee - the one bee to rule them all! Laying millions of tiny eggs so more bees can work busily and diligently in the hive. I can understand why they’re so attracted to sweet-smelling flowers. The beauty of hardworking, fuzzy bees leaves me feeling buzzed!

Beautiful Bees

By Benedict Koepl

The garden is alive. Bees buzzing all around the place. The worker bees are darting from one beautiful flower to another so fast they’re only little blurs. The hive is dangling off a branch of a great oak tree. The sound of buzzing bees is so loud it's like a herd of motorbikes speeding along the highway. Male bees are like little black and yellow bodyguards serving the Queen bee as much as they can. The Queen bee has the hardest job ever! She has to lay all the eggs and keep every bee on the right track. The bees look like mini aliens that fly around the place. They have little hairy legs to pick up dusty, yellow pollen, and together they fly off- a black and yellow air force squad.

Kia ora e te whānau

As we settle into Term 2 and feel the cooler shift in the air, it’s a great time to share some updates from the Board.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koe e te kaiako, Miss Smyth! Congratulations Miss Smyth!

We’re thrilled to congratulate Miss Sophie Smyth on being awarded a Blake Inspire scholarship. Sophie will be taking part in the upcoming five-day professional development programme in Auckland during the September school holidays, run by Blake Inspire for Teachers. This programme focuses on environmental education and leadership development, covering mātauranga Māori and key environmental issues such as climate change, freshwater quality, biodiversity, and ocean health. 

Ka mau te wehi, Miss Smyth—what a fantastic learning and teaching opportunity. 

Introducing Silke Köpl

We are pleased to welcome Silke Köpl as a co-opted member of the Board, filling a vacant position.  Silke, along with her husband Florian, chose St Anthony’s School for their children, Rebecca and Benedict, drawn by our high standard of teaching, small class sizes, and the strong sense of community that supports all learners.  Their youngest child Jason is not yet at school.

Earlier this year, Silke managed St Anthony’s Bazaar and played a key role in making it such a successful event. 

As the parent and whānau representative on the Board, Silke is available to support parents and caregivers. You can reach Silke by emailing bot@stants.school.nz 

Road Safety Week 
Last week, our school took part in Road Safety Week 2025, a national initiative led by Brake NZ. Building on the momentum from Movin’ March, tamariki have been learning about how to stay safe on and around roads, with a special focus on looking out for people walking and biking. The theme this year, “Be a Road Safety Hero”, encourages everyone to play their part in keeping our streets safe. 

Science kits – what a buzz!

Our classrooms have been buzzing—literally! We’ve been exploring the incredible world of bees through the House of Science project kits.  Ngā mihi nui to the Sylvia Hull Trust, which enabled us to subscribe for these hands-on kits, which are packed with engaging, high-quality resources that bring science to life for our tamariki. The current focus on bees has captured our students’ curiosity and imagination, sparking conversations and (lots of) questions. We’re very grateful for this opportunity to elevate our science learning in such a fun and meaningful way.

Reminder

At St Anthony’s School Seatoun, we are committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all members of our school community. We encourage open communication and welcome concerns or complaints raised by parents, caregivers, and whānau. Our Concerns and Complaints Policy outlines a clear and fair process for addressing issues, ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity and that matters are resolved constructively. 

For more information, please refer to the policy on SchoolDocs (the link is here on our school website) or contact the school office.

Speaker Event Coming Soon

We’re currently planning a special speaker event so... Save the Date for Wednesday, June 18.  Details will be shared soon, and we’re looking forward to offering an engaging and inspiring experience for our school community.

Ngā mihi nui – noho ora mai.

Jesus issues a new commandment: “Love one another.” Most commandments tell us precisely what to do, or not to do. “Love one another is not so explicit. It does not establish guidelines or set protocol. It calls us into a kind of relationship. It makes us responsible for one another.

In that sense, the love command calls us into community. We are commanded to do one thing only, to care for one another as Jesus cares for us. And if we do that one thing, it will be the only thing we need to do.

Question for Reflection

• Make a list of ten ways you can be obedient to the love command before sundown today. Hang onto the list and see how many of them you can put into practice.

Action Response

Get ready for the new Jerusalem! Live as a citizen of the holy city right now, even if that makes you seem like a Martian to your family and friends. Denounce prejudice. Repair division. Be generous in the face of poverty. Deny the impulse for greed. Be compassion and consolation to those around you.

Kids’ Corner

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 35)

Love one another! That’s what Jesus came to tell us. But it’s hard to love those who don’t like us or those who hurt us in some way. What should we do then? What would Jesus want us to do? We can find the answer every time we look at the crucifix. Right before Jesus died on the Cross, he said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23: 34).

Forgiveness means that we don’t try to get even with those who hurt us. It doesn’t mean we can’t protect ourselves, but it does mean that we try to make peace whenever we can.

Lord, forgive my faults. Help me forgive others, too.

Save the Date: Catholic Schools’ Day

We celebrate Catholic Schools’ Day next Thursday, May 29, and welcome you to join us at 2:30 for a time of sharing about what our tamariki have created and shared during the day. 

We're building on the great progress we made last year and are over halfway through our Phase 2 area. We're also dealing with some chilly weather. Rats and mice will be keen to come into your warm home, so make sure you set your traps!

Our project update

In the last quarter, we made 80 more hectares rat-free. These areas join Miramar Peninsula, Rongotai, Lyall Bay, Kilbirnie, and Hataitai in our rat-free biosecurity phase which totals 1,492 ha.

This map shows part of our Phase 2 project area. Green areas are rat-free, orange is being cleared of the last rats, yellow is where we are starting work, and blue is the next area we’ll enter. Along the western edge of Phase 2 our trained volunteers also work to prevent reinvasion.

Kia ora,

My name is Molly Kelly, and I’m writing from FastForward Musical Theatre. We’re excited to offer a School Holiday Program where participants work together to stage a full Broadway Jr. musical (approximately 60 minutes) in just one week!

The program runs:

• Monday to Thursday: 9am – 5pm in Khandallah

• Friday: 9am – 9pm in Lower Hutt (with 3 performances!)

Our upcoming production is Madagascar Jr., and we currently have 15 spaces available.

You can find the registration form HERE.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or would like further details about this opportunity.

Ngā mihi nui,

Molly Kelly
FastForward Musical Theatre
021 908 852