Welcome back to Term 3!

It has been so lovely to be back at St Anthony’s this term after my time away overseas. I was living and teaching in London and of course, fitting in as many holidays away to Europe as I could. As hard as it was to leave a European summer in return for a Wellington winter, it is very nice to be back home. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing and catching up with everyone - thank you so much for the warm welcome back!  This term, I am Acting Principal as Denise Johnson is away on sabbatical, she will be back in Term 4. 

The tamariki have settled into the new term very well and have enjoyed getting straight back into their learning. We loved having the ‘Electric Futures’ Science Kit over the past two weeks and conducting electrical circuit experiments and discussing the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy. 

Camp is now only a few weeks away, which is very exciting for Te Maunga. Thank you to everyone who has supported them in their fundraising efforts over the past few months. We are looking forward to the school disco tomorrow night from 5-7pm, the proceeds from this will also go towards Te Maunga’s camp fundraising. Thank you to everyone who has already bought tickets and ordered pizza, if you haven’t done so but do want to come along please complete the Google Form on Hero.

Next week we look forward to our Pōwhiri and Grandparents Mass on Wednesday 30th July. This will take place in the church at 9:30am. 

A reminder that next Friday there is a Teacher Only Day as staff will be attending the annual Kāhui Ako Midwinter Hui. 

Ngā mihi nui,

Francesca

• School Disco, Friday 25 July, 5-7pm
• Board Meeting, Tuesday 29 July, 6-8pm
• Pōwhiri/Grandparents Mass, Wednesday 30 July 9:30am
• Year 7/8 PSW Handball Tournament, Thursday 31 July
• Teacher Only Day, Friday 1 August
• ICAS Digital Technology, Week 4

This term in R.E we are focusing on Te Rongopai Good News which focuses on Sacred Scripture. Tamariki are learning that the bible is filled with Good News for all. Here is a family quiz you can do together to support in-class learning:

A reminder that nominations will soon be open for the election of 3 parent representatives to the school board. All eligible voters will receive a nomination form. Use this form to nominate yourself or someone in your community. You will also receive a nomination cover letter calling for nominations. Information on who is not eligible to be a board member is provided with this notice and the nomination form.

If you need more nomination forms, contact the school office.

Nominations close at noon on Wednesday, 13 August 2025.

You may provide a signed candidate statement and photograph with your nomination.

Please see the notice on Hero for more details.

This term, we are exploring narrative writing and Te Moana were set a challenge of writing a 10 sentence story. For each sentence, they had the following challenges:

Sentence 1 – Use a precise colour word (e.g. crimson, emerald, silver) to describe something important.

Sentence 2 – Include the name of a city from a different country.

Sentence 3 – Introduce a character with a name and a personality trait (e.g. cheerful Ella, quiet Marcus).

Sentence 4 – Write a six-word sentence that creates mystery or tension.

Sentence 5 – Mention a planet and how it connects to the story.

Sentence 6 – Include a line of realistic dialogue that shows emotion.

Sentence 7 – Use one of these powerful verbs: zoom, scramble, twirl, sneak, pounce.

Sentence 8 – Ask a thought-provoking or dramatic question.

Sentence 9 – Describe a character’s emotion and body language.

Sentence 10 – End the story with a surprising twist or powerful final image.

Here is Veadpotnin’s story:

1. Once upon a time, there was a silver necklace owned by the queen.
2. In the noisy city of Barcelona,  everyone talked about the queen’s beautiful shiny necklace.
3. The humble queen never usually likes big shiny things, but she did love this diamond necklace.
4. But someone stole it from her!
5. She wanted her guards to search all over Earth to find it.
6. “Your highness, we can’t find the person who stole the necklace,’ said 1 guard.
7. All the guards scrambled around and kept searching.
8. “Surely one of the citizens wouldn’t steal my necklace, would they?” the queen thought.
9. The queen started sobbing because it was that shiny necklace that made the moon shine each night.
10. She never imagined it was the king that stole it….

Here is Paige’s 10 sentence story:

1. There was a golden, crispy old piece of paper on the pavement. 
2. Everyone in California was having a quiet, peaceful day.
3. Lonely Bella was walking home by herself when she noticed the piece of paper and picked it up.
4. It was a riddle with words!
5. It read ‘Here on planet Earth, you will find a map to get to Mars you need a tap!
6. “Is this true?” she yelled with both excitement and worry.
7. She zoomed to her house as fast as she could.
8. “Is my my bathroom tap?” she whispered.
9. Nervously, she stepped into her bathroom and turned the tap on.
10. She got sucked down the drain like  a black hole, and suddenly appeared on a red planet- Mars!!

For Art, we have been learning about Leonardo de Vinci being a curious observer. Here is a reflection from Sakora:

We have been talking about Leonardo de Vinci. He liked to draw things different angles. Last week in Art, we practiced ‘mirror writing’. We wrote our names backwards because Leonardo da Vinci wrote backwards so people would not take his ideas and if you wanted to read it you would have to read it through a mirror. Leonardo De Vinci liked to draw pictures to understand how things worked like feet and body motion, as he was a scientist and engineer. Leonardo was the person who drew the famous Mona Lisa and he also drew the famous Last Supper painting.

Yesterday we were given small objects to closely observe. We started by drawing the outline carefully, then taking a closer look at the details inside. We finished by shading. Then we drew the object from a different angle. I did a car from the side and the front.

St. Catherine's College 75th Jubilee

 

St. Catherine’s College Kilbirnie is celebrating its 75th Jubilee over Labour Weekend, 24–26 October 2025. The long weekend will be an opportunity for past students and teaching staff to connect and share memories of their days at the College. Tickets are now on sale at https://www.trybooking.com/nz/WYU for three functions during the Jubilee weekend:

• Friday 24 October 2025 Cocktail Party 5:30 to 8:30pm - $40
• Saturday 25 October 2025 Jubilee Festival Noon to 3.00pm - $30
• Sunday 26 October 2025 Liturgy & Lunch 11:30 to 2:00pm - $20

Please email sccjubilee2025@gmail.com if you have any questions. We look forward to the holy trinity community joining our celebrations.

 

 

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Thank you again.

Kind regards

Wendy Goldswain

on behalf of the SCC Jubilee organising committee