A wonderful end to the week as Te Ākau celebrated a R.E.A.L day - they were so excited and had a wonderful time - very cute watching them all walk back from their time at the park. 

Thanks to Dynamic Music for their continued support - we love having Dannielle - Keyboard & Piano, Owen - guitar and Alexi on drums, giving group sessions (up to 4 in a group), and individual sessions. I know many of you are thrilled to have them offer music lessons during the school day rather than adding another thing to after-school activities. If you would like to enrol your child for 2022 or have a trial session please contact Dannielle danielle@dynamitemusic.co.nz or chat with her on Tuesday night as she supports the school band when they play for us at our Final Assembly and Prizegiving.

With the school year coming to the end we thank all of you who have helped make the year the success it has been - to those whanau who work tirelessly with activities such as transporting students, being parent help, helping with jobs around the school such as maintenance, security, school lunches, literacy, maths and gardening - we thank you. 

Special thanks to our board who commit themselves to the governance of the school- they are an amazing team who bring a wide range of skills to the task for which we are all immensely grateful. 

Finally to our amazing students who have made such progress despite another disrupted year- reading through all the reports it is a privilege to see how our tamariki have grown as learners, faced challenges, and succeeded! 

Finally, I extend my thanks to our wonderful staff - they are a great team to work with - always ready to pitch in and go the extra mile. A team of true professionals who show their love and commitment to our tamariki every single day.

We look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday, 5:30 pm for our Final Assembly and Prizegiving and then at our final Mass, 11 am on Wednesday which is then followed by our farewell to Helen and Amy. The school year will finish at 1 pm on Wednesday. 

We hope you can join us.

Finally please mark your calendar for December 24, 5 pm as we are working to hold Christmas Carols in the playground. I will send out more information once the plans are confirmed. 

Ngā manaakitanga

Denise

Faith News 

We are very excited that we can come together as a school community for our final mass of the school year in St. Anthony’s church next Wednesday, 15th December. You are invited to join us for an 11.00 start.

As we reach the end of our school year, please remember that we are taking part in ‘Christmas Food Parcel Appeal 2021’ for St. Vincent de Paul Society, Holy Trinity Parish. Any items that you can contribute would be much appreciated. 

Gospel

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said,

‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

“Make straight the way of the Lord” ’,

as the prophet Isaiah said.

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

John (1:6-8, 19-28)

Reflection

As we prepare our minds and hearts in the lead up to Christmas, take some time to create silence amidst the busyness of daily life. Ask the Lord to help you with making space for him and to be patient with you in this special time of waiting before Christmas.

Think of the people in your life who need help in preparing for Christ’s birth, or for welcoming and making space for His presence in their lives. 

Ask Jesus and Mary to give you holy boldness in your life, that you could be more like John the Baptist – the voice for God’s Word. 

Where can you take opportunities to speak Christ’s Word into the world and into the hearts and minds of those you come in contact with, using your own unique gifts?

He taonga rongonui te aroha ki te tangata | Goodwill towards others is a precious treasure

Tēnā koutou katoa, ngā mihi nui
It is the season of goodwill and tidings of great joy and we are almost at the end of the school year.  It’s been another unusual year (thank you Covid-19).  Despite another lockdown, we are fortunate that our small school with a strong spirit has much to celebrate. St Anthony’s is blessed with committed and capable teachers and fantastic teacher-to-student ratios and as a result, our tamariki have thrived.  We acknowledge with appreciation the huge effort to pivot from classroom teaching to at-home online learning and the easy transition for our tamariki to continue their learning.  We are grateful to our school whānau for supporting your tamariki with their learning at school and at home especially with the additional pressure and stresses of Covid and its uncertainties.

This combination of amazing kaiako (teachers) and supportive whānau (family) for our ākonga (students) provide the foundation for happy, active, and curious learners and this is demonstrated across the wider school curriculum.  Our end-of-year school results show significant improvements across our key student academic achievement indicators (reading, writing, and maths) and these improvements were evident across all classes. Our school is inclusive and our diverse cultural heritage is acknowledged and celebrated through classroom and school community activities. Music, arts, languages, computing, sciences, history, local and natural environments are part of the school curriculum and students can apply their lessons outside traditional classroom lessons. Events such as last week’s movie evenings and Matariki demonstrate the abilities and talents of our students and the opportunities that our school offers to students to extend their knowledge and skills across a wide range of interests.

Sports lessons, playground sports, physical activities such as dance lessons, after-school team sports, and our students attending Eastern zone sports days all make up a rich and varied physical education at St Anthony’s.

We thank our amazing and dedicated Principal and staff and everyone in our school community who supported our tamariki and our school this year.  Your presence, willingness, and enthusiasm are valued and appreciated.

Ngā mihi nui to Helen Revill and Amy Troy
At the end of this term, we say farewell with gratitude and aroha to Helen Revill and Amy Troy.

Amy (Miss Troy) leaves us to return to Ireland and be able again to be with her family and friends after a long absence.  During her time at St Anthony’s, Amy was our Year 3 and 4 teacher.  Amy’s passion for education was evident through her commitment to using the many digital platforms and innovative ways to encourage and support the learning.   Amy has led our Special Character for the past 3 terms, planning the masses and liturgies, and inspiring us with her wonderful faith news for the newsletter each fortnight. Amy has also been our ICT leader and we have been grateful for her expertise in this area. We thank you Amy for the love and commitment that you have shown our whānau and tamariki and wish you all the best.  

Helen (Mrs. Revill) has been one of our Year 7 and 8 teachers for the last 5 years and has made an enormous contribution to St Anthony’s tamariki and their experiences.  We are grateful for her dedication, commitment, and effort outside the teaching day to make so many events and activities at St Anthony’s a very special experience.  In addition to classroom teaching, her influence and contributions included art, the new school mural, school gardens, camp, Leavers’ Dinner, sewing, and school assemblies.  Helen was the staff representative on the Board for 4 years.  For all of this and more, we thank you Helen, and wish you all the best with your new adventures in the Far North. 

Strategic Plan 2022 to 2024 development

Thank you to the students, parents, board members, and staff who took part in a series of workshops about our school’s strategic plan.  The strategic plan confirms St Anthony’s vision, mission statement, and key strategic goals and these drive the annual goals and plans.  We are now in the final stages of its completion and we look forward to sharing this in the new year.

Meri Kirihimete

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We hope you all have the chance to spend some time with family and friends and return to us safe and sound next year.

May the Lord bless you and keep you; May the Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you. Amen

Calendars

Thanks to all the families who ordered a calendar this year.  They should have come home with your child/ren this week.  If you are still to pay please pop either pop the money to the office or into the FOSA account 12 3140 0317046 00 as soon as you can.  Big thanks to Rhys at FUJIFILM Business Innovation New Zealand Limited for printing these again for St Anthony's.

Te Moana Wēta have been busy learning about Geometric Shapes. They have been investigating nets of 3D shapes, measuring and constructing angles and finding the circumference of circles. We are able to construct and find the volume of rectangular prisms.

We integrated our Maths investigation with Visual Arts, and looked at how modern abstract artists used geometric shapes in their paintings. We took inspiration from Sonia Delaunay and the children created some bright, brilliant geometric art responses.

 

We made geometric art inspired by Sonia Delaunay. We were discovering how she explored relationships between colour and shapes. We used lots of different shapes and colours to make our art pop. She drew things but drew them in abstract. I decided to do triangles.

Charlotte

Budding Script Writers!

Te Moana Wēta have been channelling their creative energy and have written some fantastic scenes for their classmates to act out. They have focused on dialogue and stage directions, and have used bold print and italics to help the actors read the lines as we intended. . Here are some great examples!

The ‘Kangaroo and the Crocodile’ actors when they first meet.

A human trying to catch a fish in ‘Smart Fishy’

St Catherine’s College Sports Coordinator

We are seeking a motivated person with a passion for engaging teenage girls in
physical activity whilst also striving for excellence.  This is a permanent position for
20 hours per week (term time only) commencing 26 January 2022.
 
Good communication and organisation skills, IT skills and basic financial skills are
important.  Support of the Special Character of the College is essential.
 
For further information and a job description please contact Chris Perry, PA to
Principal on 939-8988.
 
Please forward covering letter, addressed to Katrina Kerr-Bell, Principal, including
the names of two referees to Chris Perry email chris.perry@scc.school.nz.

We have organised a Colouring in Competition for all kids to get involved this Christmas to shine a bit of light on our "Little Ray of Giving" Annual Charity Drive where it helps support local charities Ronald McDonald & Wellington City Mission leading up to Christmas.

It would be awesome if you could make this known to the kids and if they wish to enter the colouring competition, all entries submitted go in the draw to win a $100 warehouse Voucher. 

Entries close: 1pm, Monday 13th December 2021

️ Drop off your entries to Ray White Wellington City, Level 1, 77 Thorndon Quay, Thorndon or if you can't make it to the office scan and email to admin.debbiebane@raywhite.com

️ Download colouring-in page here: tinyurl.com/Colouring-InLittleRayOfGiving