Here's a challenge for us all...  Am I 'this' or 'what mark will I leave on the world this week?'

Kia ora koutou,

As Omicron continues to have its challenges and we move through the various phases please be assured that we are monitoring and actioning protocols as we are advised by the Ministry of Education. The senior students have excelled at wearing their masks in class so make sure you congratulate your tamariki on this as it is not always easy. We are keeping the classrooms well ventilated so please ensure that your child has their polo fleece with them each day, as some days are cooler than others. 

Capital Coast Health reached out to us to gain an idea as to whether or not we would be interested in a ‘pop up’ for the opportunity to vaccinate your tamariki aged 5-11 years with the child (paediatric) version of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, here at school. Thanks to the vast number of you that responded to our 10-second survey and as a result I have indicated our interest. I will let you know how we progress from here. 

I have been spending time in He Atawhai (Year 1 - 4) and just love watching the amount of engagement and self-directed learning that is happening. We knew we were running a successful learning philosophy when on the last day of the school year, we had students opting into writing stories and it is good to see that in 2022 that engagement continues. However, we realise that for you, our whānau that the rules under Red result in you not being able to pop in and see the learning in action. Please know that we look forward to inviting you all back into the school once we have returned to ‘normality.’ Thankfully Seesaw posts provide some insight into your child’s learning as well as checking out our Instagram and Facebook pages so please check out these to see some learning in action. 

Each year as we consider the Te Tiriti o Waitangi and explore the concepts of Partnership, Participation, and Protection we link the ideas to the class treaties that our ākonga create. These become the guiding principles in the classrooms.  I have shared Te Ākau’s and Te Awa’s for you here to enjoy. 

The Year 5 - 8s have had a busy time over the past fortnight going to the beach each afternoon for the Beach Safety Unit. The warm-ups, the drills, and the repetition of the safety rules will hopefully be a lesson for their life on how to keep safe in and around the water. We extend our grateful thanks to the number of parents that joined us each afternoon - it means that the programme can happen and our tamariki are safer because of it. 

A busy time of physical education for our seniors as Beach Safety has been followed by them all learning how to ride a bike safely with Pedal Ready as their tutors. We hope you enjoy their insights below of both activities below. I was thrilled to hear back from all the tutors how impressed they were with the respect that all our ākonga showed throughout the sessions. When I commented that it was our first value so we expected nothing less, they went on to clarify how impressed they were with the respect and care that was shown to one another as well. The tutors commented that it was unusual to see respect shown across the board.  Ka Pai Te Aroha - we are proud to receive such feedback!

I was reading an article recently and although it is Australian research I thought it would be good to share with you all so you could consider how your child would rate among the data…

The most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that while 73% of 4-8-year-olds eat sufficient fruit serves (1.5 servings), just 3.3% eat sufficient vegetable serves (4.5 servings). In the 12-13-year-old age bracket, this figure was slightly lower, with 68% eating the recommended two servings of fruit and just 1.4% eating the recommended five veggie serves.

“Research has also shown that providing healthy meals at schools leads to better educational outcomes,” Dr Mantzioris told The Educator.

“Perhaps more importantly what they have found is that children that eat a healthier diet, aligned with national dietary guidelines have better mental health, which of course would be linked to better overall success at school both academically and in the soft skills that would be attained.”

Research has also shown that the benefits of good nutrition can extend to preventing health issues later in life, too. We love seeing healthy inclusions in the lunch boxes and thank you for your efforts with this as we do notice the difference that nutritious food makes for your tamariki!

Ka Pai to all our whānau for sending in some coins so our tamariki can support the people of Tonga. We spelled the T for Tonga and in doing so raised $75 - thank you one and all. 

Tomorrow we will be sending home photos of the mood boards that our tamariki have created of the signs and symbols that they believe reflect their various cultures. These ‘mood’ boards are important ‘data’ to help develop the visual representation for our school and now it is time for your feedback.  Please take time to share your thoughts on what our tamariki believe represents their culture. Eg. There may be an important symbol/image that reflects your culture that your child may not yet understand/or has not added to the mood board but which is important to include. Please watch out for this form in their bags!

On Saturday, the Board is leading our working bee (see below for the details) and we would love your support with this. 

Ka kite koe i reira|See you there

Denise

What Is Ash Wednesday and What Happens? 

March 2 is Ash Wednesday - it is always 46 days before Easter Sunday and marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent is traditionally a 40-day fast — a reference to the time Jesus spent being tempted in the desert — that seeks to prepare the heart of the believer for the solemn remembrance of Jesus’ death. It concludes and is followed by a joyous Easter Sunday celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

Ash Wednesday is a penitent service that uses ash to mark the sign of the cross on the believer’s forehead, symbolizing our need for salvation. The Catholic church usually uses the ashes of Palm Sunday branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday service. As part of our Shrove Tuesday learning we will have the burning of the ashes liturgy so if you have any palms from last year please send them in. Then on Ash Wednesday, we will have a school liturgy when Fr Bill will share the ashes with us all. There will be a morning and evening mass for you to attend on that day. 

And so Lent begins - as a kura we will be focusing on the 3 aspects of Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting. We now see fasting as 'fasting from a bad habit' as if we fast from it, after 40 days we will have lost that bad habit and become a better person. As a whānau we invite you to discuss ways in which you can have a 'change of heart' by fasting from something that breaks the peace in your home. I have included a link for you to consider together - 

Movin’ March in St. Anthony’s!

We’re proud to be a Movin’ March school and this month we’re looking forward to seeing whānau and students walking or wheeling to or from school.  Walking, biking and scooting is a great way to improve well-being, kick start learning for the day and it’s also great for the planet!  This is also a great opportunity for the Seniors to put their bike riding skills to good use after their work with Pedal Ready! 

We will be issuing each child with a WOW Passport and recording stamping their walk or wheel trips each day. All Passport cards will go in the draw to win one of 12 x $400 MYRIDE vouchers! Join Mrs. J on our Walking School Bus on Monday, March 7th and every Monday in March. The meeting point is 8 am at the seat opposite Strathmore Shops. 

Whānau can enter a photo of their journey to school and be in to WIN 1 of 5 x adult or child Micro Scooters! Greater Wellington is also giving away family passes to Staglands Wildlife Reserve  or Zealandia. WOW… that’s 15 prizes to be won!  Go to the Movin’ March Facebook page and share your photo in the comments under the weekly theme post.  Winners announced by 8th April.

We are looking forward to everyone in our school community getting involved and improving their fitness and wellbeing in a fun, planet-friendly way! 

The last couple of weeks we have been going down to Seatoun Beach to learn beach safety. We do this to learn how to swim in the sea properly without getting hurt. On our last day we had to swim in the sea when it was really rough. We have lots of fun with the relays at the start.

Something challenging was swimming through all the waves. It's hard to swim in big waves because it pushes you and knocks you down. There were pretty big waves, it even knocked some of the parents over! It was still very fun. The relays when you had to duck dive under needed some courage as it was quite cold and we were just going under the water with no time to stand in the water and get used to it. I like getting challenged. It pushes me out of my comfort zone. 

I most enjoyed it when we got into groups. It was cool being with different parents every time, then we could learn something new every time! It was fun seeing who could hold the longest starfish float. It's also fun practising our duck dives, especially when we got to duck dive under the waves!

I was really proud when I held the longest starfish float on my back for a minute 5 seconds. I also was very proud when I got the duck dive right. People sometimes go head first or belly first, but I went in hands first and did a proper duck dive!

My next steps are to swim longer than 40 metres in the sea. Also to hold a longer starfish float on my back. I'm going to push myself harder until I'm the best swimmer I can be.

By Alice Mulhern

BEACH SAFETY

In February 2022, we went to Seatoun Beach to do our beach safety for four weeks. We usually went down there every day if it was nice. The last day we went down there it was super windy but they still wanted to go down so we could be in rough water. When we got in the water the current was massive. When we got out we saw how much it had pulled as it had pulled us at least five metres away from our stuff.

I had a lot of successes like floating on my front and on my back. It was tough to float on the last day because there were some big and massive waves. I also had success with my duck dives and relays.

What challenged me was that it was warmer out of the water. On the second to last day, it was pretty cold and it was hard being in the cold water.

What I most enjoyed was doing the floating, duck diving to get starfish and bodysurfing and doing the 20 metre swim one time on my front and then on my back.   

My next step would be to hold my breath for two minutes.  

By Cobie Smith

In February we went down to the beach to do beach safety. On our last day, it was very windy and knocked people off their feet. I could not believe how far we had drifted from the towels. The current pulled us very far so when we got out of the water we had to walk a long way back down the beach to get back to the stuff.

My successes were that I could float on my back for a long time and that I could hold my breath for longer than I could before.

The challenges for me were that the current was so strong that it pulled me down the beach. I’m able to swim but the current was strong so I got out of the water and went back to the rest of the group. I felt a bit rattled and tired but I carried on with my swimming.

I enjoyed the relay the most because I can run quite fast and I was very good at it. I also enjoyed floating on my back because I could do it for a long time.

My next steps are swimming 60 metres and swimming faster.

By Thomas Monahan

In February we went to Seaton beach. In swimming, I improved my duck diving by going to the beach with my sister and practising. Then I got good at duck diving and I found it easy to do.

My challenge was doing a duck dive and coming out of the water because when I was coming out of the water something was pulling me back and it was tiring. My duck dive was so hard to do because I didn’t put my hand in the right spot so I went belly first.

The most thing I enjoyed was some playtime at the beach and the release we did all together, and everyone was included. Also, I was happy to see other parents helping out.

My next step is to keep practising my backstroke and turn my head to see if there’s anyone behind me or not so I don’t bump into other people.

By Leanne Crosbie

The safety rules that everyone learnt are:-

1. Know your limits.

2. Check for hazards

3. If in doubt stay out.

4. Check the depth.

5. Don’t go out of your depth.

6. Don’t swim alone.

7. Don’t swim at night.

8. Swim between the flags.

9. Watch out for rips and dips.

10. Be sun smart.

Working Bee, Saturday, February 26 from 2 - 5 pm

In case you’re wondering what a working bee is, this is an occasion where a group of volunteers comes together to do work for a common purpose.  In our school, it’s a great opportunity to get to know other whānau and serve the school through an hour or two of your time (and some physical effort!).

The goal of our first working bee of 2022 is to clear the trees and growth behind the library as well as to beautify the back fence and picnic tables by painting them (oil with a stain) now they have been water blasted.  You’ll need to wear old clothes and we’ll supply the stain and paintbrushes for the latter task. 

Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai | Many hands make light work.

Les Marsh passed away at 101 and spent his life commiting his fervent passion to always share the good news of Jesus. There are countless people who have been counseled, encouraged, or introduced to the Lord on an individual personal level by him. And he would say, "to God be the glory!" 

As he said, 

“Well, here am I, just on 100 years, and just about all of them have been spent on preaching and teaching the Scriptures - because there is no other way, Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me. 

Without Christ, you’ve got nothing. With Christ, you have everything.”

So perhaps his journey may inspire you as a family over the time of Lent to read a bible story each day.

On Tuesday, Te Moana and Te Maunga participated in the Pedal Ready session all morning. They learned (or were reminded of) all the basics to caring for your bike, how to check its safety and then various bike skills. This was Grade 1

Then Wednesday and Thursday, Te Maunga completed Grade 2 which is when they go out onto the road and learn fully how to ride safely. Many are confident that they can be on the road safely but in fact, there are many points that they do not realise and Pedal Ready allows them to gain the right experience as two explain... 

I feel like I was most successful in learning about intersections. I learned how to stop and give way to cars and other vehicles. I also learned how to get into ‘pedal ready’ position after I stop so I don’t have to worry about it when I start riding again. I enjoyed having really good teachers.

Parvati Mogan

Please take time to read through the attached information regarding sessions the Parish will be holding both via zoom and in person for you to be a part of the synod process. It would be great if you could join us.

This Friday we have Subway as the lunch option.  Subway order forms should have come home this week but if not we have spares in the office.  Please note that we can not do online banking for this lunch option so please put the cash for your order into the Subway envelope.

Many thanks to our wonderful parent helper Jacinta Handscomb and the Year 6 helpers for organising lunches this week for the children.

YES WE ARE OPEN AGAIN

Capital Trout Centre Open Day Sunday 6th March 2022

Children must have a licence to fish for trout and free licences/tickets are available from Monday 21st February 2022 at the following stores.:

Capital Fishing , 49 Ghuznee Street (off Cuba Mall)

Hutt Valley Hunting & Fishing, 8 Te Puni Street, Petone

ADULTS MUST WEAR A MASK

The Centre is located behind the WCC Administration buildings on the way to the Wellington City Council Southern Landfill, on Landfill Road, Happy Valley, Wellington and is open to the public on specific days.

Children do not have to bring any gear as Club members will assist children to catch a trout on fly fishing tackle.

As the Centre is manned and maintained by volunteers we rely on donations to cover our expenses of purchasing the fish from the hatcheries, fish food and general maintenance.

We are also available for private family bookings  (e g Birthdays) or other social groups

Contact: Strato 387 7878 (wk)   386 3740 (hm)

email: strato.cotsilinis@gmail.com

Strato Cotsilinis

ph +64 4 3877878

email: strato.cotsilinis@gmail.com