Kia ora, Talofa, and welcome to Week 2 of Term 2. It was with pleasure that we welcomed our new tamariki and their whānau yesterday with a Pōwhiri and Mass. It is wonderful to have you as part of the St Anthony’s whānau. Our wish for you all is many happy years of fun and learning. It was especially gratifying to formally welcome Alison Reid onto the staff as Te Moana Wēta’s hub teacher. Alison tells us a little about herself further in the newsletter

Next week, we begin our journey with our Evaluation Partner, Mary Elys. As you will be aware ERO has changed their model and while we began the process of an ERO visit in 2020, COVID19 halted the process and so now we are beginning under the new model. As ERO explains: 

“ERO is shifting to a more developmental approach to evaluation, supporting each school’s improvement over time.

An ERO evaluation partner will work alongside our school, building a professional relationship over time.

ERO’s evaluation role will connect with each school’s strategic planning and reporting cycle as part of an ongoing improvement journey. ERO is supporting schools to build and sustain high-quality evaluation as part of their planning for improvement focus.

Consideration of a school within its wider network and community is woven throughout the new Operating Model, which will also identify an opportunity to undertake evaluations at a community level.

More information is available on the ERO website: New Schools Operating Model | Education Review Office (ero.govt.nz).

Te Maunga was privileged to experience a session with the “I Am Hope” initiative recently and you can read their thoughts on this further in the newsletter. The mission of I AM HOPE aims to promote positive attitudinal societal change around mental health throughout New Zealand, and fund private care and counseling for young people stuck-in-the-mud on waiting lists. They offer hope and a voice to young people in our country through various projects including school tours, practical courses such as a barber and barista course, allowing people to share their own journeys through their podcast series 'HopeCast' and much more. Because of Te Maunga’s experience we have decided to support “I AM HOPE’s’ initiative of Gumboot Day on May 28. We will be using the resources of Bully Free NZ and linking these into the Gumboot Resources for all of Week 4. On Friday, May 28 we ask everyone to wear gumboots to school as a show of support for mental health. For those who don’t have gumboots, we invite you to create a badge/necklace of gumboots instead.

On Monday, May 24 we are holding our ‘Learning in Action” morning for whānau from 9 - 10 am. We invite you to come along and participate. There will be other times over the year as we know this time will not suit everyone. 

We wish all of our children the very best of luck as they compete in the Junior Tough Girl or Boy Competition on May 26 & 27. They have been training hard and we look forward to hearing how they go. All the best girls! And I look forward to hearing how many of you ran 'right through the mud' this time!

Finally please mark in your calendar June 8th for an important meeting about our tamariki's safety online - please see further details below. 

Have a wonderful weekend

Ngā manaakitanga

Denise

Future Important Dates:

• Week 3 Road Safety Week
• May 19 Year 5-8 Eastern Zones Netball Tournament 
• Friday, May 21, 2:15 - 3:50 pm Te Awa will be presenting the Assembly
• May 24, Learning in Action morning
• Week 4 Supporting positive attitudinal change for young people’s mental health
• Monday, May 24, Learning in Action morning 9 - 10 am
• Friday, May 28 Gumboot Day 
• Tuesday, June 8, 7 pm - 8:30 pm Kids Online Safety Presentation 
• Friday, July 9 Teacher only day for the Kāhui Ako’s Winter Hui - last day of term is Thursday for the children

Playground blessing

What a beautiful sunny morning we had last Wednesday to celebrate the official blessing and opening of our senior school playground.  After a shared breakfast, we gathered outside, and Billy, our Senior Boy Leader welcomed everyone. We then listened to the prayers read by Glenys, Sophia, and Dannielle  Father Bill Warwick then blessed all those who will play on and in this playground. The children all got to have a go with the aspergillum (google it) which from the look of sheer glee on the children’s faces appeared to be a lot of fun.  

Mrs. Johnson said that this playground was a long time in the making, from dismantling the old playground because of health and safety compliance 5 years ago to the multiple fundraising efforts and the final selection of playground design.  Judging by the comments from our tamariki, they are enjoying climbing, swinging, traversing, and playing tag off the ground (the Number#1 request for the new playground).  They contributed ideas, were consulted on the design, and also chose the colour scheme which is bright, cheerful, and very inviting.  Mrs. Johnson thanked all the school community who have over the last 5 years contributed to our new playground.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koe | Our gratitude to you

A special vote thanks to Mark Mulhern who was our project manager for the playground and spent many hours working with our contractors to see this playground completed.  Our grateful thanks too to Miriama Williams and Vanessa Monahan who researched and worked tirelessly to find out the best options for our tamariki. Ka pai to you all. 

We also thank the Lion Foundation for their generous grant of $6000 which was instrumental in our ability to complete this project.

We thank our school community, whānau and tamariki who were involved in fundraising for this playground including our school bazaars, cake stalls, movie nights, bowling club nights, quiz nights, and raffles.

Lastly, we thank all the parents, children, and whānau who worked very hard during our working bees over the last 2 years and are now experts in moving bark chips.  

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takitini.

Success is due not to the work of one but the work of many.

Board meetings

A reminder to everyone that you are very welcome and encouraged to attend the School Board meetings each term.  If possible, please let the school office (e: office@stants.school.nz) know in advance if you are going to be there so we can organise a bigger room if this is required.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 18 May from 6pm.

Kia Ora! I am delighted to be part of the teaching team at St. Anthony’s. I moved to New Zealand in 2019 from Ireland with my Kiwi husband and our two young boys, James and Tom. We have been enjoying all that this wonderful country has to offer and can often be found hiking around the beautiful trails of the Miramar peninsula or looking in rockpools. I have enjoyed teaching for many years in Dublin, and am looking forward to lots of learning and creativity with Year 6 in St. Anthony’s.

I Am Hope

In Term 1, we had people called ‘I Am Hope’ come and talk to us about raising self-esteem and not keep your feelings bottled up. As they explained it is like holding a ball underwater. The longer you hold it under the water the harder it is going to hit you when it comes up. They told us their stories like how they couldn’t pursue their dreams because they were not brave enough. I thought that it took courage. 

I found it very awe-inspiring how they decided to do something about it. It definitely taught me about not being afraid to ask for help and not be stoic. They also told me how to support someone if they are going through something or they are depressed.

Tommaso Esposito Year 8

Last term some wonderful people who were working with a company called ‘I AM HOPE’, came and visited the Te Maunga class… 

By some people, specifically, I mean three. They introduced themselves as Tye, Hailey, and Kai. Kai was their photographer, and Tye and Hailey were there to talk to us about their own real experiences with ‘I AM HOPE’. 

Each of the two individually told and explained to our class about what they had gone through in their lives in the past, and how ‘I AM HOPE’ reached out a hand to pull them out of the dark figurative holes that they felt as if they were in. They talked to us about their problems, their life situations, and overall just how they were feeling at the time. They also told us how they dealt with it, and how they discovered ‘I AM HOPE’ in the first place. 

It probably took each of them about thirty minutes to talk to us about everything that they wanted to say, but that was fine because they had a lot to share and get off their chests! They just wanted to show us that they were not afraid to share their feelings and also they wanted to spread the word about the amazing ‘I AM HOPE’.  

Tye’s story was about how he had felt distant from his family, and how he just wanted to prove to them that was really trying to impress them and trying to reach his goals and dreams. He wanted to show them that he was worth being a part of the family and worth all the special relationships, especially the one towards his dad.

As for Hailey, her story included how she had to ‘raise’ her sisters in the spotlight of her parents almost because they were never around. But when they were, they would just fight. She grew up in this life and clearly wasn’t too happy with it. 

Both stories were very overwhelming and powerful and made everyone listening think and realise that they didn’t have to be afraid to ask for help, and that there was always someone to turn to, even if they weren’t in a bad state at the time. 

At the end of the session, Tye, Hailey, and Kai gave everyone in the class a very special wrist band, with the words ‘I AM HOPE’ on it, and the website that they could go to to find help. 

I really enjoyed their visit and would definitely like to see them again. I am so glad that people are taking scenarios and problems like this seriously, and that they are grabbing more and more attention to the facts. They are letting a lot of people know about this so that everyone knows that lots of people go through this and that they are NOT alone. 

So spread the word! If you need help or know someone else that might then google ‘I AM HOPE’! 

Mia Adams 

Year 8

St Patrick's College

The Open Day tours for those interested in enrolling their son at St Patrick’s College for 2022 will be held on Tuesday 15 June between 9.30 to 11.00am and from 12.00pm to 1.30pm and again on Thursday 17 June between 9.30 to 11.00am and from 12.00pm to 1.30pm.  To make a booking please visit the St Patrick's College website:

https://www.stpats.school.nz

On the front page of our website you will see 'Open Day'.  

Open this section and select "Open Day Booking Form"  (an online booking form).

Enter your details and make your selection regarding day/time.

A reminder email will be sent closer to your booked day.

St Mary's College

Win big for your school!  

You could win $2,000 of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) equipment for your favourite school, as well as a visit to the school from The Hits Drive Team, all thanks to Genesis.

Over the course of 10 exciting America's Cup races, Genesis captured the energy from Emirates Team New Zealand's biggest supporters. They generated an incredible 185,141 hours of free power and we it gave back to over 600 Genesis-powered schools.

The good news is Genesis isn't done giving back. They want to give another Kiwi school the chance to win an amazing STEM package and a mega celebration hosted by The Hits Drive Team - Stace, Mike and Anika.

Entries close Friday 14 May - T&Cs apply

Just click this link to enter https://www.thehits.co.nz/win/nationwide/win-big-for-your-favourite-school-all-thanks-to-genesis/

Come along to this online safety information presentation on June 8th, 7 pm-8.30 pm.  Entry is just a gold coin donation for the Wellington Soup Kitchen. 

FOSA Lunches

Friday lunches start up again this week (May 14th) with Pizza.  Order forms should come home with your children today or they can be found via the link on our school website under the Friends of St Anthony's section.

Lunch Helpers Needed

So that we can provide our school families with the option of purchasing lunches from school every second Friday we do need some more parent helpers.  It is not a hard job and you would only have to do it once a term and we would show you what you need to do.  It's also a great way to meet other parents and really help out the school. 

If you have a couple of hours free on a Friday morning (even Term weeks) then please let Debbie Johnson know via email at debanded65@outlook.com.  Debbie is our fantastic lunch coordinator and she would love to hear from you.

Just a reminder that Flu vaccinations are now available for all ages for this year.  Just call your GP for more details and help keep our community and especially our students healthy through the coming winter months.

In the Wings

Got a budding performer or a child who needs a boost in confidence? Check out our Drama classes running Weds afternoons in Hataitai.  Trial classes available. www.inthewings.co.nz or katie@inthewings.co.nz