Ngā mihi nui | Thank you very much for the many hands who have helped bring our tamariki’s amazing mosaic art piece to fruition. It has been a significant project but one that we are all very proud of as we tell the story of Te Whakapapa o Hato Anatoni -  the story of who we are, where we come from, and how we are connected. The tamariki have learned about their cultural heritage and have developed, created, and mosaiced a symbol of their culture to represent themselves. Each and every child has excelled in creating this artwork.

My grateful thanks to Helen Revill, Eric Desiles, and the staff that have tirelessly worked on this project as well as Kristy Wilson and Steve O’Donovan who have helped with the installation which was no small task. 

It was wonderful for the senior syndicate to be back at the ASB competing in the Eastern Zone Netball Tournament. As expected our tamariki made us proud with their sportsmanship and ability to get on and play as a team. Ka pai everyone!

It has been lovely this week to see the return of some of our old boys and girls with their respective college principals- St Patrick’s and St Catherine’s.  They came to share with our senior students, life at their college. The good news is that both principals assured me that our old boys and girls were excelling at college and that St Anthony’s had prepared them well. It is always great to receive feedback like that. 

Ka pai to those parents who have joined the Friends of St Anthony’s (FOSA) group - it was great to have the first meeting to get underway after all the disruption of Covid. We are planning a Quiz night so watch out for the information that will be coming out shortly. There is always room for more, so if you would like to join us, come along to our next meeting on Wednesday, June 22. Our goal is to keep the meetings to within an hour!

Do make sure you gather with your child/children around the mosaic to learn our story of Te Whakapapa o Hato Anatoni.

Ngā manaakitanga.

Denise

As we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension this week, followed closely by the Feast of Pentecost we are challenged to consider. 

‘Go from this place Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. The Spirit will remind us of all we have achieved on our Christian journey. The Spirit will encourage us as we go about our daily work and leisure. The Spirit will be with us in all the months and years that lie ahead, a source of joy, a source of inspiration, a source of peace. God’s peace, a peace that passes all human understanding.’

All our tamariki are learning about Te Wairua Tapu | Holy Spirit who is here to guide us in our lives. But the Spirit cannot be seen unless we are the hands and voice of the Spirit. When we use the gifts of the Holy Spirit -  “wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2); as well as piety, the fruits of Te Wairua Tapu flourish - “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). We invite you this week to have a discussion with your whanau as to which fruits of the Holy Spirit are most evident in your home. 

Te Awa has created the fruits of Te Wairua Tapu as a visual reminder of what they will see, hear and feel when the Holy Spirit is in action. 

Te Moana Māori Myths and Legends

In Te Moana we have been learning about lots of different Māori myths and legends. This has been helping us to understand why we need to be kiatiaki as well as develop a deeper understanding of our New Zealand culture. 

Here is some of our artwork based on Te Ika a Maui:

Sphero

Sphero have also been helping us to learn about Māori myths and legends. We have been coding our way around the Maui and the Sun story as well as using sphero to find out more information about the Māori gods.

Holy Spirit Symbols

We have been learning about some symbols of the Holy Spirit. The symbols are cloud, dove, water, fire, wind and oil. We found these symbols in the bible and in the sacraments. In Baptism we light a candle to show fire and water is put on our heads. Oil is also used to welcome us to God’s family and gives us healing and strength in the Anointing of the Sick sacrament. Some different bible stories that show this are when Moses parted the sea, Noah’s Ark, The Ascension, Burning Bush, Pentecost, Jesus’ baptism and the Transfiguration. These symbols show us the love, peace and power of God. The Holy Spirit helps us in our hard days. The flame of the Holy Spirit guides you and lights us the path to heaven. All symbols help you to remember the Holy Spirit in your life. The clouds can be seen as a staircase to heaven.

Today we went to football with Kale. We played a real game. I was in non-bibs. I scored the first goal. Kale helped the yellow team. I scored a goal for the yellow team because I swapped teams. Lola didn't play the whole game. I scored the most goals. Paige scored one goal. I sored two hat tricks.

-Caleb, Year 1

Kia ora koutou

Tē tōia, tē haumatia | Nothing is achieved without a plan, workforce, and way of doing things

Centennial celebrations committee – we want you!

St Anthony’s School will soon be 100 years old! We are looking for volunteers to be part of a group who can help shape our 2023 celebrations.

The committee will:

•         Consider themes and opportunities for celebrating our school’s centenary
•         Invite ideas and participation from past and present school students and families as well as our parish
•         Agree on ways to support celebration events
•         Prepare a schedule of celebration events
•         Agree on how celebration events will be developed, supported, and managed.

The meetings will be held in person and online as needed.  

Why should you be part of this celebrations committee? 

•         It’s a fun way and fulfilling way to connect with and give back to our school and parish community
•         There are lots of different jobs, big and small, so no matter if you have a little or a lot of time, we can make this work for you
•         When you work alongside others, you get to know them better

Fun facts: Did you know that St Anthony’s School was opened in 1923? The Sisters of Mercy were invited to take charge of the school. The first teachers were Sister Euphrasia, Sister Stephanie, Sister Agnes, and Sister Eulalie. Mercy Sisters taught at St Anthony’s School until 1977...and on June 1 this year St Anthony's Church will be 70 years old. 

 Mosaic on the green wall

We are thrilled and impressed with the progress of our mosaic on the school wall.  Congratulations to our students, our parent helpers and staff, and Mrs. Revill for realising your vision…so inspiring to see this come alive.

 Friends of St Anthony’s (FOSA)

FOSA is a dedicated committee of parents who come together to support the aims of the School Board, through fundraising to supplement the school budget and, organising events to bring together the school community in social activities.

Congratulations to our new FOSA committee members who recently met for the first time this year and are planning exciting activities for 2022.  We are grateful for your support and enthusiasm!

 School Board elections 2022

In September, we will hold school board elections and it’s a great time now to start thinking about becoming a member of our school board.

Why join our school board?  You can make a positive difference for our children’s education. You can use your skills and experiences for the benefit of students.  You can support your community and help our school be successful for all our students.

To learn more about school boards and being a school board member, visit:

https://www.schoolboardelections.org.nz/becoming-a-board-member/

and the Kōrari programme workshops and online content designed to help people understand the role of school board member and inspire you to get involved:

https://www.schoolboardelections.org.nz/becoming-a-board-member/korari/

 Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive

This whakataukī acknowledges that everybody has something to offer, a piece of the puzzle, and by working together, we can all flourish.

Entertainment Books

We are selling digital subscriptions to the entertainment book again this year as a fundraiser for school. If you would like to support the school and get loads of discounts to restaurants, events and cafes around Wellington and NZ then follow the link below.

https://subscribe.entertainmentnz.com/fundraiser/1042q81

Friday Lunches

Subway order forms should come home with your child/ren today for tomorrow's lunch option.  Unfortunately for this lunch option, we can not accept online payment so please ensure that payment is in the Subway order envelope.

Huge thanks to our parent helper Jacinta Handscomb for getting this organised for the students.

Just a friendly reminder that full payment of the Attendance Dues for 2022 is due by 31 May 2022. If you are paying by regular instalments, payments should be set up to close the balance by 30th November 2022 or by arrangement with the Dues team. 

The Term 2 invoice will be emailed to all families shortly. Please check that the invoice has not gone to your Spam/Junk Inbox and that all your children are listed on the statement. 

Financial assistance is available to families experiencing financial hardship (loss of income/redundancy, family reasons, etc.). It is a condition of the assistance application that the family has an affordable regular payment in place.

If you have any questions, please contact us:

Phone: 0800 462 725       Email: dues@wn.catholic.org.nz         Text: 021 08907902

Tēnā koutou katoa

It is with pleasure that I invite you to register to attend one of our Open Day Tours which are to be held on Tuesday 14 June between 10.00am to 11.30am and from 12.30pm to 2.00pm, and again on Thursday 16 June at the same times.  

To make a booking please either email admin@stpats.school.nz with your request or to make a booking yourself visit the St Patrick's College website:

https://www.stpats.school.nz

On the front page of our website you will see a drop down menu labelled 'Enrol' and if you click on that and scroll down you will see a tab for Open Day.  

Open this section and click on the Blue button – book here.  

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

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

Open Day is a chance for parents to visit our College and learn about the opportunities and experiences that we offer across Years 9 to 13.

Mike Savali

TUMUAKI |RECTOR

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