“Throughout my time at St Anthony’s, especially in the senior block, I found it very hard to consistently get the marks I needed to be able to pass and be at the level all the other students were at. I was the one student that saw my marks and just stopped trying because they made me think I wasn’t good enough to continue learning at the pace of other kids. But having the teachers repeatedly check-up and make sure I was on top of everything no matter how much work it was helped so much.

All of the extracurricular activities I had to take at the time seemed very annoying but looking back now they are the reasons I am passing at the top of all my classes at college today. My intermediate years at St Anthony’s prepared me extremely well for the next years of my life, not only academically but also emotionally and physically too.

The more I think about it, the more I realise how much the extra time the teachers put into my learning really benefited my later school life. For example, doing extra maths each Thursday afternoon has really helped me pass my NCEA level one maths internal with high merit. I also found that doing reading responses in Years 7 and 8 really helped me get my head around having to find the deeper meaning in things and pull apart texts for English.

If I hadn’t had all this extra learning support throughout my years at St Anthony’s I personally don’t believe I would have had the courage to keep trying and passing at my work now.

The main thing St Anthony’s taught me was it’s not about how smart you are, it’s about the effort you put into your work which will lead you onto greater success in life. The teachers at St Ants helped me understand this and I have never been more grateful to anyone in my life.”

“St Anthony’s School was the right school for me because they always believed in me. They also never gave up on me. The teachers would always help me with school work.

St Anthony’s helped me to do my best and to never give up. I got to have the best time at this school because I gained so much confidence and so many other skills.

Thanks to St Anthony’s School they helped me during my time at school and during college and now I’m going to be Deputy Head Boy at St Patrick’s College.

Becoming Deputy Head Boy has made me think about my journey through all the ups and downs. I met so many people that I can call my friends and I always come back to see everyone.

Thanks St Anthony’s.”