In today’s ANI Guild we have the following:
● Pink to make you think!
● Talofa Lava!
● The Jump Battle
● Our Rainbow Community
● Adventure Awaits! WPC Students Explore the Waitakere Ranges Ruled By The Students
● Science Roadshow
● Kids Lit Quiz
● Cross Country Challenges
● School Tours
● Maungawhau Active Day
● ANI Beekeeping
● ANI Roadshow
● HappANIngs
Pink to make you think!
Wondering what’s happening on the 15th of May? It’s New Zealand Pink Shirt Day! What’s the meaning of this day? Well, back in September 2007, in a place called Berwick, Nova Scotia. Two high school students, David Shepard and Travis Price, decided to create a protest to stand up for a kid who got bullied for wearing a pink shirt.
First, they went to a store and bought 50 pink shirts. Afterwards, they got online and emailed everybody they knew and gave them a pink shirt.
The day after, lots of people came to school wearing a pink shirt. This made a big impact on how students felt and thought.
Lots of students then wore a pink shirt to school to show their support against homophobic bullying. It started in Canada and began to spread around the world, becoming an international celebration.
New Zealand has been celebrating this day ever since 2009.
Travis Price has once said, “To make every day a Pink shirt day, it’s only a little thing…asking people how their day is and ask people if they need someone to talk to.”
So be sure to make every day a Pink Shirt Day for everyone!
Written by: Lucy N
Edited by: Caleb E and Charlee V
Illustrated by: Romee T and Charlee V
Talofa Lava!
ANI is a school full of cultural spirit. This week we have Samoan Language week, in most classes there are boards decorated with information about Samoa and its culture to look at.
We are learning about the Samoan history and culture. A group of students at ANI performed dances and traditions during assembly to represent their culture with pride. They explained how Samoan language week begins on the 31st of May and lasts until the 6th of June, 2026. We celebrate Samoan Language Week to celebrate, preserve and promote their culture. It was established in New Zealand, as it highlights the heritage of about 145,000 Samoan people living here. To prevent language loss and allow more appreciation to their culture.
In the Samoan Language Week Assembly, the Samoan Cultural Group conducted an “Ava Ceremony” which is one of the most solemn and significant traditional rituals in Samoan culture. In this ceremony, they make an ava drink by pounding the dried roots of the ava plant and mixing them with water in a carved wooden bowl called a tānoa. It was a great experience for all of the students, staff and parents because not everyone had seen it before.
They also performed the Sasa, Siva Ipu Popo and Taualanga. Many girls and boys performed, even with students out of ANI. However, it was a wonderful and enjoyable experience of our school to have a Samoan Language Week, so everyone could express themselves and learn about the culture of Samoa.
Written By: Kavisha K, Flora L, Riya S
Edited By: Mason H, Yeheni
The Jump Battle
New Zealand’s first-ever skipping tournament is called “2026 Auckland Interschool Jump Rope Championships.” It is set on Saturday, the 27th of June and will be held at “Remuera Primary School” in Auckland.
The jump rope challenge is when students compete against each other in a skipping competition to get the prize. Auckland Normal Intermediate is part of the other schools competing in the tournament, as Ms Bello decided to volunteer and get students together as a team in a club called “The jump rope challenge” it began on the 22nd of May, Friday. The club is still going strong as more than 10 students have signed up and come every Friday for some practise. Skipping is an amazing sport, and we are grateful to those who are participating in representing our school in the competition!
4 students are going through to the final competition and are excited to represent our school!
Written by: Riya S and Olivia W
Edited by: Riya and Yeheni
Our Rainbow Community
The LGBTQIA+ community are a group of people who can choose to identify as a different gender, are attracted to their own gender, or identify as non-binary (not identifying with any gender). This is only a glimpse of the beginning of 240-720 million people in the world. So what does LGBTQIA stand for?
L, stands for lesbian; two girls attracted to each other, G, stands for gay; two boys attracted to each other, B; bisexual, someone attracted to both genders, T, stands for Transgender; an umbrella term for those who don’t identify with their birth gender, (very commonly used for trans men or women that were born the opposite gender) Q, stands for queer or questioning; someone whose sexual orientation or gender is anything out of tradition and questioning is someone who is still figuring out what their identity is. There’s I, intersex; a birth gender that has different chromosomes to male or females, A, the aro ace spectrum; ranging from no romantic or sexual attraction to rarely feeling attraction (grey aro ace) to experiencing attraction only once you’ve made a strong bond.
The LQBTQIA community has always received hate (known as homophobia) because people find them disgusting. In late 1969, a high school teacher got enough of the hate and decided to stand up for people who were just being themselves. In the late 70s to early 80s, homosexuals and transgenders fought for their freedom after fights for feminism and equality came to be in the early 70s. In Aotearoa, Pride month is from the 1st of February till the 28th of February, and worldwide, Pride Month is through the entirety of June.
Respecting LGBT individuals is fundamental to upholding universal human rights, dignity, and equality. Everyone deserves to live authentically without fear of discrimination, violence, or prejudice. The LGBTQIA+ community has gone through so much in the past for it to just be legal to love who they love. Homosexuals used to go to jail for being at pride parades, showing affection in same sex relationships or being mid transition. Here are a few core reasons why embracing respect and inclusivity matters.
First of all, every person is inherently entitled to basic rights and freedoms, regardless of their sexual orientation. Second, acceptance creates safe environments that drastically reduce rates of isolation, depression, and anxiety, particularly among LGBTQ youth. Also because societies thrive when diversity is celebrated. Inclusion helps all individuals to contribute their unique perspectives, talents, and potential. And last but not least, respecting others is a cornerstone of a kind and empathetic society. It simply acknowledges everyone’s personal journey and that their identities are just as valid as people who aren’t a part of the Rainbow community.
In conclusion, LGBTQ should not be judged or mistreated due to their interests and beliefs. We are all humans in the end so we should celebrate our differences and diversity. Not only in cultures, but in all special ways. We at ANI are particularly excited to head into pride week next week!
Written by: Riya, Jackie, Mya, Sophie and Yeheni
Edited by: Riya, Mya, Sophie and Yeheni
Illustration by: Charlee
Adventure Awaits! WPC Students Explore the Waitakere Ranges
On Friday, the 15th of May, the William Pike Challenge (WPC) students embarked on an exciting journey through the Waitakere Ranges. Everyone was super pumped, not only to miss part of the school day, but also to spend it walking through the beautiful Waitakere Ranges.
The specific walk we chose to take was The Arataki Loop Track, which is made up of 3 separate tracks: The Beveridge track, the pipeline road, and the slip track. The entire walk was 6km and usually takes around 2 hours to walk.
The day started off in the library, where Mr Pocock briefed the students on what the exciting day would look like. They then split up into groups and drove down to the Arataki Visitors Centre, where their adventure began. Four students were then picked to be ‘chief navigators’, who led the group around the track. The walk started off a bit rocky with the navigators leading us the wrong way, but soon we were back on track and going fast.
30 minutes in, the brave adventurers stopped for a quick snack and rest before heading back onto the track. With the leaders walking faster every minute, everyone behind them scrambled to catch up and not get left behind. Although people were getting tired, the amazing views made the entire walk worth going on. All in all, everyone enjoyed their amazing, peaceful walk in the beautiful Watakiri ranges.
Written By: Scarlett M
Edited by: Soleil B
Science Roadshow
In Term 2, week 6, we got the chance to participate in the Science Roadshow! It was such a great experience where we got to learn lots of new things. Students went all the way over to Cornwall-Park District school, where the ‘Science Roadshow’ was held. We have learnt various topics – biology, chemistry, physics and botany with some fun experiments!
First up, we looked at some experiments led by the Science Roadshow hosts. Biology was up first – what makes us a living creature! Well, the answer was – MRS GREN! That stands for:
M – Movement
R – Respiration
S – Sensitivity
G – Growth
R – Reproduction
E – Excretion
N – Nutrition
It was so interesting to find out that plants can also do all of these things!
Next up was the highlight of all the students who went to the Roadshow – it was the experiments we got to participate in ourselves! The Cornwall-Park students volunteered to explain to us how things worked. It ended up being not just fun, but also a great learning experience!
After an eventful period of interacting with various displays, we sat back down in the main hui space to listen to the hosts talk about one more category. The presenters showed us some more experiments, in the second section of the show, ‘Kitchen Science’, which were all incredible.
During the Roadshow, our year eight students also had an eventful reunion with ANI’s science teacher from 2025, Ms Smick, who was now working at a new school. Thank you so much to Ms Rampersad, who organised everything and to the hosts who gave our students an amazing time to remember!
Written by: Grace, Nicole
Edited by: Soleil
Illustrations by: Charlee
Kids' Lit Quiz
On Wednesday, the 6th of May, two of our very own ANI teams were sent to compete in a literacy quiz at St Cuthbert’s College. With 27 schools and 54 teams competing, there was a tough competition. Team B (Nina, Ayla, Tingting, Noa) was seated at the middle of the wall and Team A (Grace, Charlotte W, Kayla and Hannah) was seated in the corner of the wall. Wayne Mills was the main host as well as the very person who started this event long ago.
Our two teams spent the entirety of term 2 training and preparing for this exciting event! Every Tuesday, they would get together and study various literacy subjects, ranging from Greek myths, children’s literature to classic novels. Our hard-working teams had an influx of knowledge and were readily prepared for any question thrown their way.
What is Kids’ Lit Quiz?
Kids’ Lit Quiz is an international literacy Quiz competition about all sorts of distinct books. The countries involved in this tournament are Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the USA. You aren’t made aware of the categories until the day of the quiz, so you just have to research mostly every topic. The topics included in this year’s quiz were:
Balloons, Barns, Birds, Bridges, Cats, Deers, Deities, Finances, Gates and Urban myths.
There were some difficult questions that definitely challenged us all, but we had lots of fun and made lots of new friends.
ANI team A placed 17th, and ANI team B came 11th. A big shout-out to everyone who participated and worked hard on the day!
Now it’s your turn— try to answer some of the questions from the quiz: (Answers at the bottom)
Balloons
What was Winnie the Pooh trying to reach when he flew up on the balloon?
Barns:
What girl detective has a day of the week for a name and has the last name Barnes
Birds:
What is the representative bird in the Hunger Games?
Bridges:
Finish the sentence: Hey kids, wanna buy a…
Cats:
What children’s book has a famous line My cat likes to hide in…
Deers
What is the book by Dr Suess, the big …….. Moose
Deities:
Which Māori god is this?
Finances
What is Donald Duck’s Uncle called?
Gates:
Who guards the gates of the underworld?
Urban myths:
What animal is supposedly kept as a pet in New York, and when they get too big, they are flushed into the sewers?
Answers:
Balloons – Honey
Barns – Friday Barnes
Birds – Mocking Jay
Bridges – Bridge
Cats – Boxes
Deers – The Big-hearted Moose
Deities – Tāwhirimātea
Finances – Scrooge McDuck
Gates – Cerberus (The 3-headed dog)
Urban Myths – Alligators
Written By: Grace W, Ayla M, Nina F
Cross Country Challenges
Now it’s time to sweat! During one of our previous assemblies, Mr Rice announced a cross-country challenge where every week you can participate to get house points and lollies for the winners. In this challenge, you have to take a photo of you doing an exercise to get extra points, or you could go for a run in your free time to gain extra points, too (more points if your parents are included in the photo!). After the exercise, you have to take a picture of yourself and upload it onto Hero, where Mr Rice checks what you’ve uploaded and gives you points. If a teacher uploads a photo of themselves doing an exercise, their class gets 10 points. Mr Rice also hides a secret word on top of Mt Eden (Maungawhau), and if you find it, you will receive 10 points for your class. At the end of this comp, whoever gets the most points gets a special prize, a golden boot trophy!!
So far, many teachers have already uploaded their ‘sweaty’ photos onto the daily notices! And also the amazing, hard-working students who did an amazing exercise were also chosen by the teachers to be on the daily notices. Many students have already uploaded their photos, some have taken them after a sport, after a jog or even after a hike!
Room 11 is currently hot on the photos, and room 24 is closely following with the PE challenges.
Congratulations to all the teams! Cross country next Friday will definitely be easier with all the endurance training you’ve completed!
ARTICLE BY: Yarish G, Declan S, Mya P, Kavisha K, and Mason H
EDITED BY: Kavisha K, Mason H, and Declan S
School Tours
You’ve probably seen groups of children with their parents guided by ANI teachers and student leaders walking around the school. But who are these people? Those are the people considering coming to ANI in 2027. These tours are held several times a year to give prospective students and their families a real feel for the school environment. The visitors get to experience the energy and warmth of the ANI community firsthand. They have the opportunity to ask questions, observe classes in action, and see the wide range of things that ANI has to offer.
The morning started with student leaders greeting children and parents and showing them into the MPS for a briefing on what the tour would look like and some important facts about ANI. During the briefing, families learned about the school’s sports programs, extracurricular activities and many more. The leadership team highlighted student achievements, unique learning spaces, and the supportive culture that sets ANI apart from other intermediates. Many parents appreciated hearing directly from current students, who shared personal stories about their experiences and what they love most about the school. Mr Pocock, Mr Boniface, Miss Triana, and Mr Rungan introduced themselves, then talked about what life at ANI would look like. After that, it was time for the tour of ANI. In most student leaders’ opinions, the tour is the best part of the Open Day because they get to showcase how cool and awesome the school is, and they get to promote it and convince new students to come to ANI.
The tour groups had around 10 people in them, with 4 student leaders and one member of SLT (senior leadership team). Each group walked a different part of the school so as not to bump into other groups. Each group went into a few of the classrooms and most of the SPEC classes, and they also went to some of the important parts of the school, like the school pool, the shade sail, and of course, the Tuc Shop. After all the groups had gone around ANI, they all met back in the MPS for a quick Q&A session about the school and its opportunities, which was answered by the student leaders and some members of the SLT. All in all, the school tours are a great way for new families to see how great ANI is and convince them to come for 2027.
Written By: Scarlett M, Reese T, Sophie M , and Yeheni S
Edited By: Declan S, Yarish G, Samantha L
Illustrations by: Romee T
Maungawhau Active Day
Maungawhau is a primary school in Mount Eden, with roughly over 110 years of experience in Aotearoa. The cross-country and Active Day fundraiser in Maungawhau Primary was on the 29th of May, 2026. Many ANI students went to Maungawhau to help and support, as well as showing Rangatiratanga!
ANI students helped juniors (Year 0-2), middles (Year 3-4) and seniors (Year 5-6) with running and staying on track. They also helped with setting up equipment and encouraging students. A lot of students in ANI graduated from Maungawhau school and went back to help. A total of 54 students signed up (not including Mr Rice and Mr Markham).
Cross Country is a day for students to run around their school and near the school. For Maungawhau school, room 1-5 ran 1 lap, year 2 and year 3 girls and boys ran 2 laps, and year 4-6 girls and boys ran 3 laps.
In the same day, there was an amazing event called Active Day. An active day is when students try various activities and games. It’s a great opportunity to try new sports and build partnerships with each other.
Written by: Jackie, Agness
Edited by: Caleb, Nina
ANI Beekeeping 🐝
Beekeeping is one of the best things to do in ANI. We have found many diseases within the bee community. There are over 20,000 species of bees worldwide. They collect pollen and nectar and then return to the hive. Then the bees mix the pollen and nectar into a honey which ani beekeeper collects in every summer.
Bee’s worst enemy, varroa destructor mite.
List of bee diseases:💀
Some bee diseases include Nosema disease the week’s. American Foulbrood, the deadliest disease. Deformed wing virus. The one we saw at the beehive. Varroa destructor mites that hijack a bee. Black queen cell, which infects a queen pupae and dies. The small hive beetle that kills the larvae ( baby bees/ bee eggs ). Same as Sacbrood virus, but infects. Stonebrood that soil and infected pollen that turns the larvae into hard stone-like mummies. And finally, Chalkbrood, a larva that gets spores and they infect.
American Foulbrood / AFB: ☠️
American Foulbrood / AFB is one of the world’s deadliest diseases in beekeeping. They are formed by spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. Highly destructive that affects colonies worldwide. When a larva dies it spares through their hive without knowing. To find it, check the cap if it is ok and if they’re healthy, if the cap is sunken dark and greasy. Then your hive is done. The only option is, burning the hive with gassing and cuddling the bees.
Led by Miss Redshaw & Beekeeper leader Caleb
ANI Roadshow
In week 5 all of the student leaders, sports captains and some talented performers, went down to some local primary schools to promote ANI, and hopefully convince the students to go to ANI next year.
Well, not long ago, ANI hosted a roadshow for year 6 primary students. It was an amazing opportunity to let year 6 students see what we do at ANI as a school. The kids had a blast, and we hope that we convinced them to come to ANI! We went to 8 schools in total, and it was a great success.
First up, the student leaders introduced themselves and talked about what ANI is as a school – our values, the houses we have, SPEC, our events and clubs, EOTC and trips we have, service and badges, opportunities we offer and the leadership roles we have! The year 6 students had to listen very closely, because at the end of the roadshow we had a quiz! But, before that, we got the sports captains to talk about the sports and activities we do around the school. But, the most interesting part about the roadshow was definitely the performances we had! Kapa Haka, Samoan Dance group, our solo violinist and our Bollywood dance group! We are so grateful to have these wonderful students perform for the primary schools.
At the end of the roadshow, we did an interactive activity and gave the 10 and 11-year-olds a quiz about what they learned about ANI. They were eager to answer these questions, and we were happy to give some awards to our listeners.
Written by: Nicole
Edited by: Soleil
HappANIngs
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