FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Families

I attended National Young Leaders Day recently with our student leaders.The theme of the day was:

Me Whakaro Rangatira
Think Like a Leader

Our students heard inspirational stories from a number of different people about how they have lived their lives, how they kept going when they felt like giving up, how they supported others and had been supported to achieve their goals and how we can all be just like them.

The speakers emphasised to the students that they too can, ‘Think like a Leader’ – Do the right thing and others will follow. Let’s lead by example.  

At school we encourage all our students to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, our Leader.

A few of our students have been entering the college area and playing outside the classrooms. The college students are being distracted from their learning.

Our students are also asked not to play on the college confidence course. This course has been designed specifically for older students. The college are concerned about the health and safety of the younger students.

The Sancta Maria campus is a very busy place and we wish to keep everyone safe.

Ngā mihi nui

Sue Kubala
Acting Principal

DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES (DRS) REPORT

Last weekend we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost. Pentecost is the time to celebrate all of the different places we come from, the different languages we speak, the different foods we eat, the different things we do.  But most of all Pentecost is the time to celebrate that although we come from different places and might speak or do things differently we are one big family who believes in God.

Gracious God, you sent your Spirit to be among us,
we pray the gifts of the Spirit helps us
to be a shining light
in our school and community

A number of our children are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation and 1st Holy Communion. Please keep them in your prayers.

Jammies in June
Our parish will be collecting new pyjamas for children under the age of 15 for KidzFirst.  Donations of pyjamas can be either dropped in the foyer of the church or here at the school office. Thank you for your support.

Parish Foodbank
Winter is upon us and many families are in need of support. The parish foodbank is running short of tinned food – fruit, vegetables and spaghetti. Donations for the foodbank will be collected at each of the buddy class masses this term.

Children in Years 2 – 6 are sharing some of their Religious Education tasks through the  Seesaw app.  Please discuss their work with them.

Manaakitia te katoa
Share your gifts with others

Prayer Intention:
Spirit of God, help us to respond generously to the needs of others in thoughts, words and deeds.

Detta Fairweather
DRS

NEWS FROM THE CLASSROOM

NEWS FROM INFORMATION CENTRE

Book Week 2018

We are pleased to announce our theme for Book Week this year is Grandparents.

Throughout the week children will be involved in lots of fun literacy activities celebrating these wonderful people.

A highlight will be an invitation for grandparents and significant other loved ones to attend our Favourite Book Character Parade on Wednesday 20th June. They are also welcome to spend time in classes with children and look through the Scholastic book fair.

We can’t wait!

Check out the next newsletter for a full schedule of Book Week events.

Simultaneous Storytime

An amazing number of children crowded into the Information Centre on Wednesday at lunchtime to take part in the National Simultaneous Storytime. Everyone was excited to join thousands of children around New Zealand and Australia reading the same book at the same time.

This year’s book was Hickory dickory dash by Tony Wilson and Laura Wood.

It was great to be involved in this fun event which is held annually to promote the value of reading and literacy to children.

Thank you Room 23

Well done to Room 23 – by buying Kellogg’s products at New World they were able to obtain lots of great new books for the Information Centre.

Thank you so much!

Information Centre open every Friday morning 8:30am

Make the most of this opportunity on a Friday morning to pop into the Information Centre and browse through our Parent Choice Collection.

You are welcome to borrow from our comprehensive collection covering a range of topics such as health, building resilience, relationships and growing great families.

Some of our titles include:

Rushing woman’s syndrome by Dr Libby Weaver
Getting your little darlings to behave by Sue Cowley
The complete secrets of happy children by Steve Biddulph

We’d love to see you!

NEWS FROM OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

NATIONAL YOUNG LEADER’S DAY

National Young Leaders Day (NYLD) was on the 9th of May.  NYLD was held at the Vodafone event centre . NYLD is a day when all school leaders come together to hear inspirational people that are leaders in their lives. NYLD teaches you how to be a leader and to reach your goals in life and never give up.      

There were many inspirational speakers but two that stood out for us were Amanda Wilson and Riley Hathaway.

Amanda is a horse trainer. She has dealt with many wild horses and has  tamed them. She had a rough life as a kid, her family were very poor and couldn’t afford expensive things such as a house to live in. Amanda’s quote is “ It’s okay to be different “. We really liked her quote as we are all different in our own way.

Riley Hathaway talked to us about her journey. Riley was always afraid of the sea. Her dad is an underwater photographer. Riley learnt to face her fears when doing a school project about sea life. She has her own website called Young Ocean Explorers. Riley’s quote is ”Face your fears and you will  succeed.”

The day was amazing for all that attended. We will use what we learnt in our own lives and remember to tell others that we are all different in our own ways, face your fears and never give up on your goals.

We would like to thank all of the inspiring people that talked to us as well as the event organizers Liz and Christian for organizing the show for all of the leaders. Our thanks to go to the parents who transported us to and from the event and Mr Earl and Ms Gribble for staying for the day. Thanks too to Mrs Kubala for giving up her day to look after us.

By Sarah Everett and Ella-Grace Wilkinson

SCIENCE ROAD SHOW

The 9th of May was an exciting day for our senior team. We headed down to Elim College in two groups to take part in the science roadshow. We learnt a lot about the difference between living and non-living things and watched some exciting fire and ice experiments. Around the room was over 60 fun hands on experiments to have a go at. We learnt about centrifugal forces, sound waves, optical illusions, the various parts of maps, how our bodies work, all about reflection and refraction and so much more. The presenters were very engaging and our brains were full as we got back on the bus to go back to school. Thank you to all the parents who joined us for this amazing experience and helped supervise the students – we hope you learned as much as us!

FOOTBALL FIELD DAY

On the 8th of May 56 keen Year 5 and 6 students walked to Meadowlands Reserve to participate in the Howick Pakuranga Principals Association Football Field Day. The weather was fine, the temperature was warm and the spirits of the children were high.

This day was purely a “have a go” day but none the less the students played their hearts out and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  It was great to see good team spirit and our school values being portrayed on and off the pitch.  Our grateful thanks go out to the parents that supported us as managers on the day and to Mrs Newlyn who organised all the finer details for the day.

EASTERN ZONE CHESS TOURNAMENT

On Thursday 24^th May, 12 year 5 & 6 students took part in the annual Chess Tournament held at Point View School.

Four of our players were new to competing.  Each student gave their very best on the day with all players winning at least 3 of their 6 games.  The team consisted of Joshua Bain, Jason Cooper, Joy Gao, Wesley Lau, Emily Ong, Joshua Rhee, Aaron Santoso, Bryan Shi, Kingston Smith, Preston Smith, Preston Tee, Jordan Yang and Austin Yao. Our thanks to Father Terry and Mr Damian Cooper for assisting us on the day and coaching us to be so successful.

SCHOOL FEES

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE DUES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Financial assistance is available to assist families who may need financial support with the payment of attendance dues for preference students attending Catholic schools in Auckland Diocese, both primary and secondary.

Families facing financial difficulties can contact their school office, their Parish Priest or the Revenue Manager at the Catholic Diocese of Auckland for further information.

Application forms for the Hardship Scheme are available from school and parish offices, or can be down-loaded from the Catholic Diocese of Auckland Website :

www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/catholic-schools/

(go to Catholic Schools in Auckland / Attendance Dues and Special Character Contributions).

School Fees Term 2.  Statements have been emailed  and payment is due 20.06.2018.     If you have not commenced payments for the year, please contact Sue Yandell in confidence to discuss your account.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT OUTSIDE SCHOOL

Kate Sung (Room 21) has achieved 2 bronze medals in the competition, representing New Zealand for her age division, defeating many representatives in the Oceania Region. She has successfully won a bronze medal in Kata (performing) , and a bronze medal in Kumite (sparring). Kate has done exceptionally well, and she will work hard to compete in the upcoming major event, New Zealand Nationals 2018.

SPORTS RESULTS

INTERSCHOOL NETBALL

Games were played Thursday 24 May at Our Lady Star of the School with the following results :

J1  Star of the Sea School vs Sunnyhills                    won       15-1

J2 Star of the Sea School  VS Howick Primary         lost        2-5

REMINDERS

Friendly Reminders Term 2

Please be courteous to all when you are dropping your child off or picking them up after school.  We have been disappointed to hear that not everyone is showing respect to other parents. We all need to be good role models and at our school we do this through our shared values of Service, Respect, Courage, Resilience and Justice

If your child is absent from school for any reason you must either complete an online report an absence form or phone the office and leave a message or use the school website ‘Absence’ line. Please leave a specific reason for the absence i.e. if the child is sick please specify the sickness e.g. cold, vomiting etc. If the child is absent from school due to sickness for more than three days, a medical certificate is required. For any holiday or overseas travel please email our Acting Principal Mrs Sue Kubala at [email protected]

Car parking
Please be considerate when street parking near the school. We have received complaints from neighbours regarding parking across driveways.

Lunches
When ordering online please make sure your child’s order has the correct room number as  a few lunches have gone to incorrect rooms.

Lost Property
The lost property cupboard is by Room 1 entrance. You are welcome to check this at any time as it is open all day.

Uniform shop
Open every Thursday 8.30 – 9.00 a.m. and 2.30-3 p.m. (during school term)

Bizzybodz
Before and Afterschool care – 021837977 for bookings

New Lunch Menu Update – Tuckshop
For our updated Lunch Menu for the tuck shop. Please see ‘LUNCHES’ under the Parent Information tab on website.  There will no longer be SUSHI due to lack of orders.

HELPING HANDS

Helping Hands has been part of Our Lady Star of the Sea’s culture for quite some time.  It is where our school community comes together to help those in stressful situations i.e. a parent or grand parent being very ill, a family bereavement or a new born baby to the family.

We would like those in need to know we care!  If you would like to be a part of this wonderful group of caring people who are called upon once or twice a year to either make a meal, bake a cake, transport children to/from school or utilise your gardening skills please fill out the form (click the word ‘form’) and return to the office.   Please add your contact number.

As we all know – “we are in this together”.

If we can assist your family or if you hear of any family in our school community please let the office know.

Thank you

Helping Hands Team

ENTERTAINMENT BOOK

Support Our Lady Star of the Sea School and you’ll be rewarded!

We are raising funds for our School and you can help. Order the NEW 2018 | 2019 Entertainment Book or Entertainment Digital Membership and you will receive hundreds of valuable offers for everything you love to do, and you will also be supporting our School.

SUPPORT US NOW BY CLICKING HERE

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Sowers Trust works with young people and families in Howick Ward (Pakuranga to Flatbush), Beachlands, Maraetai and parts of Otara.

We provide prevention and early to mid intervention programmes for young people.  This includes youth development programmes and mentoring and support for the whole family.

Outcomes from some of our programmes include young people that have a greater sense of belonging,  feel safe, have developed resiliency and are making positive choices.

DE PAUL HOUSE EVENTS

for further information click the link below   …..

DE PAUL HOUSE EVENTS (2)