Kā mihi o te wā Rēneti ki a koutou katoa!
Lenten greetings to you all!
Last Wednesday we participated in the Ash Wednesday Mass and the children received the ashes on their foreheads. Those at camp received them that night. The saying, “Turn from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” when receiving the ashes, are moving words. When I asked the children what it meant, they definitely understood the first part but cracking open ‘faithful to the Gospel’ was somewhat harder for them. A good way to help with this at home is that life as we live it now has many distractions from what is truly important. Jesus replied to what is the most important commandment, “to love God and love your neighbour.” He spent the majority of his time teaching, feeding, healing, and helping people. Let’s turn away from those things distracting us this Lent and help our elderly, help our parents, help our children, show care for one another, and be the best version of ourselves as possible.
Hopefully, your child has a goal this Lent for improving:
– Charity (giving more – usually time to help others)
– Abstaining (giving up something that distracts us often-could be gaming, poor food choices, wasting money)
– Prayer (usually increasing regularity with this, maybe adding a morning or evening pray of thanks)
Ask your child what they are doing for Lent, if they aren’t sorted, help them to make some goals for the next five weeks. Maybe you role model something too!!!
Learning in Rooms 1 and 2 / Ako ki roto i te Rūma 1 me Rūma 2
In Rooms 1 and 2 we have been learning about Jesus’ family and how they looked after him.
Ash Wednesday / Wenerei Pukarehu
Rooms 5 and 7 – Shrove (Pancake) Tuesday mixed with hospitality teaching. Students learnt how to make pancakes and ask and make hot drinks for one another today (in te reo Māori). For the record, it was decaffeinated coffee.
Rūma 5 and 7 – Ko te Tūrei Panikeke me te whakaako manaakitaka. I ako kā tamariki ki te hanga panikeke, ki te pātai, me te hanga ētahi inu wera mā ō rātou hoa (i te reo Māori). Hai whakamārama, ko te kawhe kore kāwhine te kawhe.
Quail Island Trip tomorrow (Rooms 5 and 7) / Tiripi Ōtamahua āpōpō (Rūma 5&7)
Changes: Leaving at 8.30am, non uniform, ETA to St Annes at 2.50pm.
Please bring:
-swimwear and a towel
-hat/sunscreen
-heaps of food and water
-good footwear
Senior Camp / Hopuni Pakeke
Our Year 7/8 camp was held at Hanmer Springs last week. Whilst the adults’ bodies were there, their hearts were in Christchurch after they heard of the fire. I know I was fielding calls regarding power/internet/communications at St Annes and how to fix things as the power going down hit our aging server. This whilst supervising a mountain biking group was somewhat challenging! Here are some of the awesome things they experienced at camp:
– An amazing race!
– Mountain Biking (5 students learnt to bike for the first time and one of these got to an intermediate trail by the end of the few hours)
– An Outdoor Puzzle Hunt involving fun challenges and mapping
– Tree climbing (HUGE trees)
– A massive 3 hours at the hot pools for hydroslides, slides, lazy rivers and losing to Mr Wichman at manu competitions
– Many versions of spot light!
– Amazing food
– Fun yarns with friends in bunkrooms
Please see our pictures on our school Facebook page. Thanks to Dean Isherwood for organising everything for this camp and then not even being able to attend it! He was called up for a New Zealand Surf Boat team to race in Australia at the same time (see below for more information). It is not often we represent our country and at the highest level in a sport as an athlete and coach. He is amazing at what he does and we are glad both the camp and his team had success!!!!
Surf Boat Championships / Whakataetae Pōti Whakaheke Ngaru
In December last year, the New Brighton Open Women’s Surf Boat crew, swept (steered and coached) by Dean Isherwood, were selected at the New Zealand Surf Boat Trial to represent New Zealand, alongside the Open Men’s crew from Piha, for the Trans-Tasman Surf Boat Challenge (TTSBC) in Lorne, Victoria. The TTSBC is run alongside the Australian Surf Rowers League (ASRL) each year. The best crews from all over Australia battle it out to be crowned the top crew for their division in the ASRL. The ASRL is the biggest surf boat event in the world. The New Brighton crew, the Oar Blacks, won one of the three tests against their Australian opponents. The crew rowed incredibly well, and all races were tightly contested. Many surfboat critics were shocked to learn how young the crew was. All four rowers are all only 20. The Australian crew are considerably older and far more experienced. All have won multiple Australian titles and represented Australia on a number of occasions in the past 12 years! The New Brighton crew also managed to get through the elimination round of the ASRL. They won their Quarter Final, so progressed through to the Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, they drew a very tough Semi and finished fourth, so just missed the cut for the final. The crew are now building towards winning the New Zealand Open Womens and U23 Surf Boat titles next month.
School Term Absence Policy / Here Tamō Wāhaka Kura
For any holiday during term time, you need to advise the office in writing of the dates. Please be aware that Parents/Caregivers need to seek approval from the board for all planned absences that exceed 20 consecutive school days during school term time. The board meets twice per term.
Policies / Kā Here
A reminder, if you are interested and would like to take part in our termly reviews of policies, or are interested in any, they can be found here. Please follow the link and then have a look around!
Skool Loop App / Taupāka Skool Loop
If you are reading this in our paper version, you really are missing out! Please download the app above. Notifications are sent to you to remind you about important things and more importantly if there was an emergency. You can read newsletters and see the pictures in a bigger and better way, and the best thing (for me even), is if my child is sick, I click on the Absentee button, fill it in and then the school knows and you won’t get annoying texts or calls in the middle of work.
Warriors Visit / Te Toro a Kā Tamatoa
Big thanks to Wayde Egan, Edward Kosi, Rocco Berry and Marata Niukore from the New Zealand Warriors for coming to school and talking about giving and being your best everyday! All the best for the upcoming season!
E rere atu ana te mihi ki a Wayde Egan rātou ko Edward Kosi, ko Rocco Berry, ko Marata Niukore o Kā Tamatoa Aotearoa i te haere mai ki te kura hai kōrero pā ana ki te whakapau kaha o tō arotahi me tō korou i ia rā, i ia rā! Kia pai te wāhaka rīki e haere mai ana!
St John’s Visit / Te Toro a Hato Hone
Thanks St John for our First Aid training before camp! Always a good thing to be prepared.
E rere atu ana te mihi ki Hato Hone i te whakangungu whakaora ohotata i mua i te hopuni! He mea pai te whakareri.
UPCOMING EVENTS / KĀ TAIOPEKA E HAERE MAI ANA
If you have any questions, please email or talk to the person whose email address follows the reminder. If there is no email address, it is just something to be aware of.
WEEK 4 / WIKI WHĀ
Friday 23 February – Ōtamahua trip (Quail Island) Rooms 5 and 7. Leaving 8.30am. Please bring swimwear and a towel + hat and sunscreen (non uniform trip). josh@stannes.co.nz
Saturday 24 February – Senior Mass 6pm-7pm Rooms 5,6,7,8 are expected to attend and represent the school. This is only once a term. Tidy dress please. We will sit together at the front-right looking in. clara@stannes.co.nz
WEEK 5 / WIKI RIMA
Monday 26 February – First Communion Parents’ Meeting 7pm @ St Mary’s New Brighton 116 Lonsdale Street, New Brighton, Christchurch 8083 janette@christchurcheast.org.nz
Tuesday 27 February – PALS training day (selected year 7&8 students) dean@stannes.co.nz
Tuesday 27 February – Teachers Catholic professional development (some may be unavailable afterschool on this day)
Tuesday 27 February to Thursday 29 February – Dallas away at a conference (Dean Isherwood is acting principal. If he is unavailable Clara Fleming or Jo Smart)
WEEK 6 /WIKI ONO
Tuesday 5 March – Bishop Michael visiting St Anne’s School
Tuesday 5 March – Teachers Catholic professional development (some may be unavailable afterschool on this day)
Sunday 10 March – Junior Mass 10.30am-11.30am Rooms 1,2,3,4 are expected to attend and represent the school. This is only once a term. Tidy dress please. We will sit together at the front right looking in. clara@stannes.co.nz
WEEK 7 / WIKI WHITU
Wednesday 13 March to Thursday 14 March – Dallas away at a meeting and professional development (Clara Fleming is acting principal. If she is unavailable, Jo Smart).
WEEK 8 / WIKI WARU
No notices at present
WEEK 9 / WIKI IWA
Monday 25 March and Tuesday 26 March – Teachers spelling professional development (some staff will be unavailable during the day and afterschool on this day)
Friday 29 March – Good Friday – No School
WEEK 10 / WIKI TEKAU
Monday 1 April – Easter Monday – No School
Tuesday 2 April – Easter Tuesday – No School
WEEK 11 / WIKI TEKAU MĀ TAHI
Friday 12 April – Last day of term 2.50pm finish
TERM 2 / WĀHAKA RUA
Monday 29 April – First day of term two 9am start
Te Atua te aro’a!
Kia manuia,
Dallas Wichman
Tumuaki / Principal / Pū ‘Āpi’i Ma’ata