Kaua He whakamā ki te korerō Māori | Don't be shy to speak Māori, 

Ahakoa he iti, he tāonga | No matter how little, treasure it 

It has been wonderful to see the recognition of those who led the petition to make te reo Māori an official language 50 years ago and once again illustrates that when we stand together, great things happen. For some, using another language is not an easy journey but for our young, they learn quickly and it has been gratifying to see our tamariki using te reo Māori within their writing and class so readily. The staff are enjoying being part of professional development with our Kāhui Ako | community of learning, each Tuesday afternoon when we participate in He Reo Manahua - an intermediate te reo course.  Also, each fortnight, Kahu collaborates with Sophie Smyth to select the next phrase that as a kura we will focus on and then Kahu goes to the classrooms to teach both kaiako and tamariki. Ka pai Kahu for being our teacher with this. It is a wonderful example of being a learner in action and reflects the concept of akomai, akoatu | learning to me, learning from me that is part of our R.E.A.L identity. 

The death of the Queen has also given us pause this week to acknowledge the great example of service, dedication to others, and strong faith that Queen Elizabeth modeled throughout her life. Our tamariki have had some excellent discussions within class, linking her life of commitment to the values that Te Atua - our heavenly father wishes for us all. Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth. 

Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day - as you would be aware New Zealand will mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II with a one-off public holiday on Monday 26, September 2022. This means of course that we will be closed on this day.

It has been a busy time for sport of late as with Covid levels changing many of the tournaments that have been on hold are happening again. I was so proud of all our swimmers last week at the Eastern Zone Swimming for not only the way they competed but for the fact that as a collective group they cheered every one of our competitors throughout the whole race. Traditionally this happens for the relays but such was the united feel for our group that they decided to do it for every single race. Tino pai rawa atu!

Our tamariki have also loved attending the Futsal Tournaments also this week - our juniors on Tuesday and seniors today. Ngā mihi nui ki a koe | huge gratitude to you, our wonderful whānau who have provided transport, supervision, and umpiring. - you truly are the taonga | treasure for making this commitment. With one more tournament to go this term, we ask the senior syndicate families to watch out for the floorball notice as this is scheduled for next week. 

We enjoyed seeing everyone at the Wellbeing Whānau Hui last week. We know our tamariki loved performing the role plays so that you could see restorative justice in action as well as sharing how we look out for one another at school so all are happy. Our grateful thanks to our tamariki and kaiako for working hard to present this evening. A special thanks to Francesca von Lanthen who worked tirelessly as the lead. Ka pai Francesca.

It was, of course, a great relief for many this week when the government ended so many restrictions for us regarding Covid 19 and as a result, some changes, such as the seniors no longer having to wear masks, were implemented here at school. However, as you will appreciate there are some that will continue to wear masks due to whānau being immune compromised and as a community I know we will all respect and support the individual's decision.

Finally, we are holding a Learning in Action Morning on Tuesday, September 27 from 9:30 - 11 am. We welcome you all to come along and join us for this so you can spend time seeing your child as a learner as well as engaging with them in their learning.

As I said above: 

Kaua He whakamā ki te korerō Māori | Don't be shy to speak Māori, 

Ahakoa he iti, he tāonga | No matter how little, treasure it 

Kia pai ō rā whakatā | Have a great weekend

Denise

Congratulations to our tamariki who celebrated their First Holy Communion recently. We have so proud of them for taking the next step in their faith journey. As Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35-51 May this spiritual food help them to walk every step with Jesus and always be inspired by the way of Christ. 

 

On Wednesday, September 14,  we celebrated the Feast of the Cross - the focus being to take time to honour the cross and reflect on the redeeming benefits of Jesus’ Passion and death. The cross is thus a sign both of Christ himself and of the faith of Christians. This feast day goes all the way back to the year 326. While on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Helen, the mother of the great Roman emperor Constantine, discovered the actual Cross on which Jesus was crucified. This has come to be referred to as the True Cross. Her son Constantine subsequently ordered a church to be built on the site where Helen had discovered the True Cross. This church came to be known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The construction of the Church took nine years, and it was dedicated on September 13, 335. A relic of the True Cross was processed into the Church the following day, leading to September 14 being the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Waste Audit

Te Maunga conducted a Waste Audit recently. We collected all the plastic packaging from our lunchboxes for a week. We discovered that we throw away lots of chip packets and cereal bar wrappers every day. Did you know that chip packets can be reused to make emergency blankets? We realised that some of our soft plastics can actually be recycled in special bins at supermarkets. These soft plastics are turned into new objects, like fence posts! We brainstormed how we could reduce our lunch waste. One way we could do this is by making our own cereal bars or snacks every so often. We made some Fruity Weetbix Slice and some Energy Bites this week. The snacks didn’t use many ingredients and were prepared in a very short time. If everyone did this at some point, we would reduce the amount of single-use plastic waste we produce.

Tree Of Life

In 1909, a famous painter from Austria, Gustav Klimt, created the artwork “The Tree of Life,” which represents wisdom, protection, strength, and beauty. The tree reaches up into the sky and down into the earth.  It has swirly branches which extend outwards and upwards, representing life’s journey and connections. We reflected on his work and created our own interpretations of “The Tree of Life.” We considered contrast and pattern in our designs. Here is our work in progress and some of our completed artwork.

Theatre Sports

We have been doing Theatre Sports with Susan Fogarty every Friday afternoon this term. This involves lots of fun exercises and improvisational drama games. We are also learning a script and performing it for each other. We will hold the Oral Presentation Cup Challenge very soon, where we will showcase how far we have come and perform our scripts for an audience.

Poetry Writing

We have been reading and studying poetry this term. We are able to identify the message a poet wants to communicate and analyse the figurative language they use, such as metaphors and idioms. We have also been creating some poetry of our own. We wrote poems about our home, planet Earth. Here are some samples of our work.

St. Anthony’s School was delighted to receive a glowing report (Te Āhuatanga Katorika Kaupapa Arotake me te Ahu Whakamua) from the Office of the Vicar for Education, Archdiocese of Wellington following our Catholic Review last term. 
The report highlights and commends St Anthony’s School for being authentically Catholic in delivering Catholic education with excellence within a wider supportive Catholic Faith community. Evidence of the School’s commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is also highly praised, with special mention to the dedication of the Principal and Board to build our cultural competency, knowledge and skills in te reo and Tikanga Māori.
It was noted that relationships between kaiako, ākonga, whānau, Board, and our wider faith community are a strength at St Anthony’s, while also recognising that we are continuing to build our relationship with local iwi and that Tikanga Māori is integrated into the school's Special Catholic Character
We, the Board believe this report accurately reflects the Catholic Special Character at St. Anthony’s which is flourishing under the committed leadership and vocation of the Principal, the dedication of the Deputy Principal and staff, the effective governance from the Board, and the support from the Parish Priest and
parishioners.
The School Board would like to acknowledge the amount of time and mahi invested in this review by all the staff, especially our principal Denise Johnson and Deputy Principal Francesca Von Lantham, and congratulate all concerned on an excellent report.

The full Catholic Special Character Review for Development Report will be uploaded to the school website shortly.

Please find a letter from Cardinal John, as well as a letter from the Bishops Conference, regarding the lifting of Covid restrictions for your attention.

Inspire Photography has let us know that due to recent illness in their team they are running a little late on the release of the galleries. They are working to get everything back on track as soon as possible.  We will send the viewing link out via Hero as soon as Inspire has the photos ready for viewing and ordering.

With the end of the term fast approaching it is time to start thinking about checking your child has a sunhat to wear in term 4.  As part of our school's sun protection policy students must wear a sunhat in term 1 and term 4. Our school hat is a navy bucket hat that provides protection to the eyes. We have size small and large hats available to purchase with the school crest on them from the office for $20.50. 

Registrations for the 2023 Weet-Bix Kids Tryathlon are now open.  We have created a school group should you want to join this.  A great way to get together on the day and a chance for St Anthony's to win prizes.   Just click on the link below to register as part of our school group.

Wellington 2022-2023 Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon
Kilbirnie Park, Kilbirnie
Sunday, 19 March 2023

https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=48064&G=161433