Kia Ora one and all,

Day 8 of Isolation and be assured we are all thinking of our tamariki and you, their whānau at home, especially through those wet days on the weekend. Wasn’t it good to see the sun again! 

No longer rushing up and down our driveway, I have reconnected with our neighbours and have had some very interesting chats over the fence - I hope you are also able to do this. 

A huge thanks to you all for the promptness you all showed in collecting the resource bags and supporting the children with establishing themselves at home with their learning. We are conscious that many of you are also managing your own personal workload so know that last week was a very challenging time for you all so thank you. 

We delayed sending out this newsletter last week as we wanted to share some of the work that the children have been doing as part of their distance learning journey. They truly have been remarkable in how they have adapted and He Atawahi enjoyed catching up with everyone on Google Meet last week. 

As a staff we have had a number of meetings online, to reflect on the learning of last week and to plan for Term 2. We are currently working on which platform to use so that Te Aroha can also meet up online in the new term and will update you later next week about this. 

I will shortly be sending you a survey so we can gather your feedback as to how ‘distance learning’ went in your household last week which the teachers will then use over the holidays to help refine what we are doing. It is also time to complete the review of one of our procedures - Recognition of Cultural Diversity. We would appreciate you also reading through this and adding your comments. Both the survey details and review will be sent to you via Linc Ed.

Just a reminder that at this stage - Key dates are:-

26 March        Alert Level 4 commenced

28 March        School holidays begin

10 – 14 April  Easter including the Tuesday after Easter

15 April           Term 2 begins (through distance learning)

22 April           Current date for ending of lockdown period

27 April           ANZAC Day observed

As teachers and whānau we all know the importance of routine for children so to that end we teachers had determined that the learning for each day will be uploaded at 9 am. We hope this helped create some structure for the day last week. I have also shared in this newsletter a suggested timetable from the MOE - obviously here at St Anthony’s the learning would begin at 9. 

Next Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday. We hope you are able to take time as a family to spend some time in prayer and reflection as we remember the great sacrifice that Christ made for us all. There are some great links on the Spiritual article below. 

Take care and stay safe.

Ngā manaakitanga

Denise

What strange times we find ourselves in.

On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Denise for her leadership and strength during this time. It is a very challenging and emotional period for everyone, and the Board hopes you and your families stay safe over the coming weeks. Thank you to our amazing teachers and staff for supporting our children and whānau during the COVID-19 lockdown and the early start to the 2020 term one school holidays. I’m sure we all have a renewed appreciation for the teaching profession. Our online lessons have been a great success and again our gratitude to the staff for the huge effort of putting together the resources and keeping us in touch via the Seesaw and Google platforms.

We are thrilled to say that we have engaged the design services of Mark Newdick, a well known and respected landscape architect. Mark will help us make the best use of our senior school playground space to deliver what our children want ….“hanging, swinging, climbing play equipment for lots of different games including off the ground tag”. Mark will also ensure that our new playground meets all health and safety requirements in a somewhat challenging space. Mark has designed playgrounds and play spaces for many schools in NZ and overseas including Kahurangi School and Northland School. Mark’s designs will be available for discussion with our school community in due course.

There are vacancies on the Board of Trustees (BOT) for parent representatives and we will be sending out information about the trustee by-elections shortly. The BoT is the Crown entity responsible for the governance and the control of the management of the school, and are accountable for the school’s performance. We strongly encourage all parents and school whānau to get involved and make a difference. There is good information about what it means to be a parent representative on the Board of Trustees published on the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) website. Please feel free to contact me if you would like further information or would like to nominate yourself or another person (with their permission) at vlhawkey@yahoo.com

This prayer made a lot of sense to many of us during these trying times. It may also work for you.

Wishing you all the best for the school holidays and COVID-19 Lock-down.

Vanessa Monahan

Prayer for patience and understanding
Dear Lord, please help me.
I lay before you my tiredness and ask for new energy.
I lay before you my frustration and ask for more patience.
I lay before you my resentment and ask for peace.
I lay before you my judgement and ask for inspired understanding.
I lay before you my anger and long to be forgiving.

Please help me, dear Lord.

This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday where Jesus entered Jerusalem. He was greeted joyfully and treated like a king. Palms and cloaks were laid down for his donkey to walk on and the people shouted “Hosanna!” During Holy Week we see how people’s attitudes towards Jesus changed, how they went from celebrating him to wanting him crucified. It is during this time we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us, because of this Holy Week and Easter is the most significant time in the church’s calendar. 

The children have been busy working on creating a response to the Stations of the Cross. Using photos from around our church as prompts they have used their toys, siblings and drawing skills to recreate these scenes. They have then sent them to their teachers who are going to turn these into a video. This video will be shared with you all so that we can have a remote Easter Liturgy together.

Below are some photos of wreaths that some children made in response to Palm Sunday:

On Monday 23 March, Cardinal John Dew, posted on Facebook a reflection on isolation in the face of the pandemic: (https://www.facebook.com/CardinalJohnDew/)

Pandemic

What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.

And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.

— Lynn Ungar 3/11/20 (from Gratefulness.org – Living Gratefully in the Time of Coronavirus

If you or your community are looking for spiritual and prayer opportunities while in isolation go to:

• https://www.nlo.org.nz/news-and-events/media-releases/celebrate-mass-online/ for links to live streamed Masses. The National Liturgy Office will keep this information updated across the Diocese.  
• http://www.tuimotu.org/ Tui Motu-Interislanders has advised as of 24 March that they are unable to send out the April copy of Tui Motu. Their website has a selection of back copies with a wide range of interesting articles.
• https://www.facebook.com/TuiMotuInterIslands/ Tui Motu are providing short daily reflections and a few videos and ‘memes’ to make you smile.
• https://bustedhalo.com/ministry-resources/lectio-divina-beginners-guide; https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-what-how-why-of-prayer/praying-with-scripture/ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKYEOc3ik9k for guidance on the close reading of Scripture.
• https://catholicclimatemovement.global/ The Global Catholic Climate Movement invites you to join their weekly Online Lenten Prayer Service, that includes reading, reflections, and intercessions.
• https://caritas.org.nz/system/files/2020%20LRP%20English.pdf for a copy of Caritas’ Lenten Reflection Programme that was running in parishes until the government announced the cancellation of small group gatherings.
• https://cathnews.co.nz/2020/03/22/lay-led-sunday-reflection-launches-in-nz/ Pray Today New Zealand is a lay led service of the Word using the Sunday readings.
• The link will take you to the April edition of Welcom.

  https://www.wn.catholic.org.nz/adw_welcom/welcom-april-2020-issue-381/ 

  The Archdiocese of Wellington website is adding resources almost daily for people of all ages including children – so there is plenty to choose from https://www.wn.catholic.org.nz/ and https://www.wn.catholic.org.nz/adw_community/resources-for-an-unusual-time/
• NZ Catholic has provided a free online copy of their publication https://indd.adobe.com/view/888733fa-9004-4e70-9b91-df418a9f5d2a
• Shine TV will be televising Mass on a regular basis and this will be welcomed by those who do not have a computer. Details will be made available when they come to hand. (Please spread this message to any elderly Catholics that you know)

Just a reminder that:-

Fr Ephrem will be streaming Mass every morning from the prayer room in the presbytery via his facebook page. 

We have started into a new phase of New Zealand’s response to COVID-19 and it is very different than anything most of us have ever experienced.  
 
You will understand the importance of routine for your family. If your routine has been shaken up, like you’re now working from home, it’s good to structure your time. Routines are reassuring, and promote health and physical wellbeing. The below timetable (targeted at children) could be something your household adapts to use over the next weeks. A school holiday version will likely look a little different, but some form of routine will still be important as we go through the lockdown period.
 
Daily Schedule

Some good news to support you either working at home and/or studying at home - Spark, Vodafone, Vocus/Slingshot, 2Degrees and Trustpower have all advised they have removed their data caps and the possibility of any extra charges based on usage.

Distance Learning

It is with great sadness that we received the news of school closures on Monday afternoon – we will miss seeing all of your faces over the next few weeks, and will be hoping for the best for everyone. In these challenging times, however, comes a great opportunity for us to try out and explore new ways of learning. We are excited to be planning for distance learning over the next few weeks, which means your child can engage in learning at home – whether this is through the use of the learning packs which you all kindly collected, or online tools such as Seesaw and Google Classroom.

We have loved seeing what learning our tamariki have been up to so far and are very impressed with those who are independently completing the activities that have been set for your class! These tasks will be set each morning at 9 am during term time so make sure to log in and see what we have for learning for the day. We will be trying out lots of exciting ideas after our Easter holidays when we begin our focus on True Colours - Ngā Muramura Whakapono: What Colours My Life? It is important to both stay connected with others during this time, and spread positivity – what good things are you saying to your family each day?

We have had lots of positive feedback from you all so far and hope that you continue to enjoy distance learning. Here are a few:-

‘I like that we have lots of time to work on our own work and we can do it at our own pace.’ Izzy 

‘I really enjoyed it because you could do it in whatever order you want.’ Nina

‘What I like about distance learning is that I get to spend more time with my family even though we do work.’ Isabella

‘I like that you can chat with people on google hangouts.’ Rueben

 Here are some examples of Seesaw posts uploaded last week, working on using Te Reo to talk about the weather. These pictures were also uploaded with voice recordings, where students gave their Te Reo language a go and recorded themselves telling us the weather forecast for the day!

 

Over the past few days, the students have begun their distance learning at home.  They have been involved in a range of tasks including Reading, Writing, Maths and Inquiry and also physical activity.  The children in Te Awa Īta and Te Awa Wēta have been given a skipping rope to take home so they can keep active during the lockdown period.  On Wednesday, March 25 (the first day of distance learning) the students were asked to complete the following fun task:

Tom Adams got straight to it! 

Great work, young man! Tom even managed some backwards skipping!  Keep up to good work, Tom!

We will be posting more physical activity online for the students to engage with, in Term 2!

Here is a photo of Sophia (5) who has shared her extracurricular activities with her teacher by posting on Seesaw.  Sophia has continued her keyboard lessons with Danielle through Dynamite Music.  Well done Sophia!

A special thanks to Danielle and the team at Dynamite Music who have worked to ensure that our tamariki can continue learning online!

With our move to distance learning, we would like to encourage all our whānau to discuss internet safety with your children - of all ages. You should agree with your children what they can do online including sites they can visit and appropriate behaviours including:

• reviewing and approving games and apps before they are downloaded
• reviewing privacy settings of sites and applications
• checking children’s profiles and what they are posting online
• check the sites your child is accessing
• reminding children that anything that is posted online will be permanently on the internet
• taking the time to understand what sites they are visiting and who they are talking with and check in regularly
• some social media sites have age restrictions to join, check these before letting your child use them or join them
• monitoring a child’s use of the internet and consider having them use it in an open, common area of the house
• making sure your children know to report any activity they don’t feel comfortable with to you straight away.

There is a unique opportunity during the lockdown of families going out together, albeit it close to home, but if your child is going out on their own it’s still important to check where they are going.

• Netsafe continues to be available to provide us with support for online safety. They have information for parents and caregivers and have pulled together their top tips for online safety during the lockdown.  To report an incident To Netsafe - https://www.netsafe.org.nz/reportanincident/
• If you think a child in your care is the victim of online exploitation or abuse, report it to Police - if you or a child are in danger or a crime is being committed, call 111 or visit your nearest Police Station immediately.

If we all work together to make sure children are safe online, we can make the internet a great tool for people of all ages.

FYI as well - The latest message from our IT providers)

Some students have suggested Roblox www.roblox.com as a great place for learning to code and make games.

 Our advice: NOT in an unsupervised school setting.

 If you’re a parent then you can set up the account to have lots of protection, but keep the points below in mind.

 What is Roblox?

Roblox is an online gaming “studio” where students can create their own games using immersive 3D worlds, share those games with others, and play against people across the world. They can chat online to the people they are playing against (or with), and purchase additional items/clothes to look cool.

 Why you don’t go there?

I think its best summed up by Family Zone www.familyzone.com

“The lack of moderation (despite language filters) in the chat feature and uploaded user content leaves children at risk of exposure to a worrying range of inappropriate adult content, bullying and abuse.”

Kia Kaha, Kia Maia, Kia Manawanui  

Ngā mihi nui
Gil and The Aiscorp Team

Reference

https://www.familyzone.com/anz/families/blog/roblox-parents-review

https://cathnews.co.nz/2020/03/30/compassion-soup-kitchen-food-servce/

Wellington Basketball was introduced to an innovative mobile app called HomeCourt in 2019 at the Jr NBA Global Championships.

Now the world is locked in at home for the foreseeable future, HomeCourt and their artificial intelligence platform is a great tool for all Basketball communities to join and give it a go. This product is now partnered by the NBA, adding further weight to its innovation.HomeCourt is FREE until the 30 April. Wellington Basketball and HomeCourt created a special discount code you can use after that time.

Learn more here: https://www.wellingtonbasketball.co.nz/homecourt

This discount code is for everyone. Wellington Basketball make no money from this as it fits under our "Value Add" service line to the community. 

Feel free to share it around and we hope you try it for yourself. Carry on staying healthy and demonstrably optimistic in these times.

Wellington Basketball

Entertainment Books

We are promoting the Entertainment Book again this year.  The good news is that it is a digital membership only this year so no hard copy will come home.

If you would like to support us by purchasing a digital membership then follow the link below. Our school receives 20% from each sale.

St Anthony's Entertainment Book Fundraiser

Thanks once again for your support.

FOSA