No 14 23 October 2020

NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL

This newsletter reaches you at the end of our second week of Term 4. With daylight saving beginning over the recent holidays and the weather warming up, the change of seasons is welcome.  From Tuesday all students will be expected to be in full summer uniform (including black sandals and school sunhat).

Term Four’s Connected Curriculum Focus

We have continued to make adjustments to our local connected curriculum design as this year has progressed. Missing the equivalent of one term of face to face teaching and learning over the first three terms has required additional efforts and modifications in order for us to continue towards our ultimate understanding that we are called to live like Jesus to protect and nurture taonga (gifts) in our common home. We are focusing this term on shifting our innovative thinking from last term into a service focus to end our school year.

We have missed the opportunity to celebrate our Feast Day in August as we usually would due to lockdowns this year, and of course, our world-famous-in-East-Auckland Gala would have been held last Saturday had it not been for this crazy year. We still have our Feast Day Idol final and our House Tapawae Competition final to enjoy as well as the gifting and sharing of Feast Day mementos which the PTA have prepared. We also have an enduring need to come together as a community, which has been denied to us so many times this year.  Lockdown levels remaining under control, we are planning on working towards a School Celebration of Charism Day to celebrate all things OLSOS. During the day we will celebrate with a Mass, hold our Tapawae finals and our Star Idol finals and then look to host a Twilight Market that same evening, Friday 27th November, putting into practice some of the service elements of this term’s connected curriculum. Hold a place in your diary for this evening and we will give you more information as we prepare for a celebration of all things OLSOS.

October, Mary’s Month

October is the Month of Mary. Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday we gather as a school to pray a decade of the Rosary. Our children are very good at praying the second part of the Hail Mary in Te Reo. This may be something you can talk to your children about and have them help you to learn about the Rosary and pray using both English and Te Reo when you share a decade of the Rosary together.

Hail Mary, full of grace

The Lord is with you

Blessed are you among women

And blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus

E Hāta Maria, 

e te matua wahine o te Atua, 

inoi koe mō mātou 

mō te hunga hara, āianei, 

ā, a te haora 

o tō mātou matenga rawa.  Amene

Congratulations to our First Communicants

Last weekend was a very special weekend of celebrations for many young people in our Parish Community, including forty-nine children from our school. On Friday evening, 72 children were presented to Bishop Michael Gielen for Confirmation before making their First Communion spread across the weekend’s Masses. The Confirmation Ceremony on Friday was a beautiful opportunity for all who have been preparing for these two important sacraments of further initiation into our Catholic Church to be together and celebrate, especially as these events have had to be put off several times due to ongoing COVID restrictions.

We congratulate and pray for Venice Abasolo, Keira Barker, Sofija Brownhill, Sebastian Brownrigg, Cullen Chaytor, William Chen, Izabella Chetty, Lara Clifford, Toby Currie, Zoey D Souza, Damon Eu, Lilly Evans, Shannon Fernando, Eric Fraser, Andrea Galvez, Haydn Gedge, Chelsea Gedge, Noah Hillerby, Charlotte Hunter, Logan Jablonski, Justin Jung, Max Kelly, Selina Liu, Phoenix Lubich, Adam Lynch, Jevon Mascarenas, Ruby McKenzie, Luke McLaughlin, Keanu Milne, Anthonio Mitalauskas, Leah Moukhtar, Connor Moulynox-Hicks, Eva Moulynox-Hicks, Ahlizah-Jae Mu, Monica Naylor, Annelise Nugraha, Xian Omambac, Marcus Pang, Giovanni Rava, Alex Sentch, Anaiah Smith, Havanna Smith, Rafael Smith, Grace Tan, Aiden Vorster,  Valentina Yacoub, Chiron Yung, Arthur Yung and Max Zhang from our school, who were Confirmed and made their First Communion  last weekend.

The readings this Sunday, the 30th Sunday of ordinary time, remind us that all you need is love (a lovely connection to Bishop Michael’s message to those being Confirmed last week, as you will read in the Director of Religious Studies newsletter piece below).  We hear Jesus’ message to love our neighbour as we would love ourselves. Easily done when we happen to like those we encounter. Our challenge is to show love to those people we encounter who aren’t as lovable! Click here for this Sunday’s readings.

Kahui Ako Kapa Haka Festival

Last night we were treated to wonderful Kapa Haka items across our Kahui Ako schools and Early Childhood Centres. Kapa Haka groups from Sancta Maria College, Elim Christian College’s three campuses, St Marks Primary, Sancta Maria Primary, ourselves and a video link from Panmure Bridge Kindergarten, shared and performed in the Sancta College Auditorium. What a festival! The evening was a true celebration of Tikanga Maori with all in attendance thoroughly enjoying participating in the event. Thanks to our very own Across School Teacher, Andrea Begunk and Kara Luke from Sancta Maria Catholic Primary School for all of their organisation to make this night the special event that it was.

Congratulations – 30 Years of Service – Sue Yandell

Today we celebrated Sue Yandell’s 30 years of service at Our Lady Star of the Sea. We had a beautiful morning tea where the staff and board members joined together to acknowledge all of the wonderful work Sue does – all with a smile! Congratulations Sue!

With Thanks – Stephen McKenzie

We also acknowledged Stephen McKenzie at morning tea this morning. Stephen has been a member of our Board since June of 2016, taking on the role of Board Chair in July of 2017. We thanked him for his service and guidance in the governance of the school, presenting him with a taonga; a pounamu in the shape of an adze for wisdom, strength and mana.

Looking Back

Our Middle and Senior children are very fortunate to have begun their swimming lessons already this term. They are busing to Lloyd Elsmore pools for this experience each week which will continue for the next 6 weeks.  Our Senior students have furthered their understanding of innovation with a visit to Motat last week. We participated in the New Zealand Shakeout Day last Thursday ensuring we all know what to do should Auckland experience an earthquake. Classes have enjoyed the opportunity to experience Rugby League at the Have a Go sessions earlier this week. Our PTA supported the Student Council in the sausage sizzle on Wednesday this week which was very successful. The money raised from this sausage sizzle will support the Student Council in their 2020 legacy project, thanks to Nicole and the PTA team.

Looking Ahead

Friendship Fridays have once again become part of our week at OLSOS. You are invited to take advantage of the Information Centre being open from 2.30pm to 3.00pm to pick up some library books for the weekend as well as grabbing a coffee from the coffee van each Friday afternoon. We wish Blake Pennington the very best of luck as he represents our school at the Champion of Champions Gymnastics Competition next Thursday. We pray for good weather heading into next Friday 30th November as we enjoy our OLSOS Athletics Day (saving day the following Monday). Parents of 2021 Year 5 and 6 students will hear all about our camp in February 2021 on Kawau Island at the Camp Parent Meeting on Wednesday 4th November at 7pm, with our 2021 Road Patrol training sessions beginning on Friday 6th November. Please note in your calendar that we have a Teacher Only Day on Friday 13th November.

As you can see by the events that have happened over the past two weeks and that will happen over the next two weeks, it certainly feels like we are back to business as usual. Long may the lockdown levels remain as they are!

Wishing you all a happy and safe Labour Weekend. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday.

Ngā mihi nui and cǐ zhì jìng lǐ,

Louise Campbell
Principal

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Congratulations to the children who recently received the Sacraments of Confirmation and 1st Holy Communion. 

At the Confirmation liturgy Bishop Michael reinforced the importance of God’s love in our lives, reminding the children to always remember they are LOVED, and how this brings JOY to us all. Fr John reiterated this message at each of the masses over the weekend when the children received their 1st Holy Communion. It is a wonderful message for us all to hear and share. One way to keep this in the forefront of your child’s mind is to trace the sign of the cross on their forehead each night when you tuck them into bed, tell them how much you love them and remind them how much God loves them. 

 ‘No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead.’

Pope Francis – Fratteli Tutti Oct 2020

Donating to the parish food bank is one of the ways we can show others they are LOVED. Our parish food bank is in need of donations as the demand for food parcels in the community has increased since lockdown. Food items especially rice, pasta, canned veggies, breakfast food would be much appreciated. Donations can be left in the yellow collection box in the school office. 

Mea ana te atawhai haere mai i runga i te aroha me te awhi 

Mercy invites us to love and to care

During the month of October, the school continues to gather in the hall on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays to share a decade of the Rosary. Families are very welcome to join us at this time. 

November is the month we remember our loved ones who have died and gone to be with God. If you would like to have a family member’s name entered into the school’s Memorial Book please complete this form and return it to the school office. The Memorial Book will be included in our school and class liturgies at appropriate times to honour the memory of our loved ones. 

Prayer Intention:   We pray for all leaders that they be gifted with the Spirit Wisdom as they make decisions affecting others in their care.

Detta Fairweather

Deputy Principal / Director of Religious Studies

FROM THE BOT

Statements for Term 4 have been emailed.  If you have outstanding amounts due from previous terms, please discuss a payment plan with us. 

Contact in confidence:  Sue Yandell – [email protected]

OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA ENROLMENT 2021

We are currently accepting new enrolments for the 2021 academic year.  If you have a child, turning five years old from now until December 2021 and wish them to attend Our Lady Star of the Sea School please complete a provisional enrolment on our school website https://starofthesea.school.kiwi/index.php/enrolment and collect an enrolment pack from the school office.

There is limited availability in other year levels.

A MESSAGE FROM THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE DUES  FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Financial assistance is available to assist families who may need financial support with the payment of 2020 Attendance Dues for 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 on 09-360-3069 at the Catholic Diocese of Auckland for further information.
Application forms for this assistance are available from school and parish offices, or can be down-loaded from the Catholic Diocese of Auckland Website: https://www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/catholic-schools/covid-19-attendance-dues-assistance/

NEWS FROM THE CLASSROOM

Passion Projects – WOODWORK

Thanks to Mr Baird (our caretaker) who offered his expertise to our Woodwork Passion Project group in making ‘Wobble boards’.  The group consisted of Damon Eu Rm 15, Hannah Baek Rm 16, Ahlizah-Jae Mu, Isaac Howse Rm 14, Chiron Yung Rm 19 and Anson Lim Rm 23.  What a great result!

NEWS FROM OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

FAMOUS ALL BLACK RETURNS HOME

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to have a visit from a real life All Black. The playground was buzzing as Dalton Papali’i, an ex old boy came in with his cousin Symara Samuel, a current student at our school, to speak to the Year 5 and 6 students. Dalton shared his knowledge about achieving your dreams and what life is like as an All Black. He encouraged the students to have a dream and not be afraid to take risks and be courageous to try new things. Dalton then took the students out for a game of touch on the field which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Our thanks to Mrs McKay for organising this visit – even the staff were excited to see “our” All Black back on home turf.

JUNIOR PLAYGROUND UPGRADE

Antonio Mitalauskas Room 18 and William Chen Room 20 have been helping Mr Baird build a brand new Clatter Bridge for the junior playground. The old bridge broke last year but could not be repaired as it was no longer compliant so a new bridge had to be built.

                Antonio filing and sanding the ends of the planks to make them safe

William drilling holes in the planks to fit the bolts

William and Antonio fitting the planks to the chains

Final test before commissioning of the new bridge. A job well done!

COMPOSTING

SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS CLUSTER 

On Wednesday 14th October Karen Noble-Campbell and Lee Marten had the pleasure of attending the Sustainable Schools cluster meeting held at Anchorage Park School.  This meeting is held regularly for schools to share ideas and resources on how we can be more environmentally responsive.   At this meeting Our Lady Star of the Sea School was awarded a certificate for reducing our waste by 66% percent.  This equates to 17kg of rubbish a day that our school community is now diverting from the landfills.  We managed to do this through education and action.   We are now more careful about how we dispose of rubbish and we are using less, and recycling more paper.   The concept work that we have been doing this year around serving and living like Jesus to help us protect and nurture our common home has reinforced this message both at school and home.   We are very proud of everyone for the increased awareness of how to reduce waste in our school.  We are looking forward to continuing this great work next year.   

 Annaleise Farmer and Kyle Hui   –    Environmental Team leaders

ART COMPETITION – ‘Save the Puhinui’

NEWS FROM THE INFORMATION CENTRE

We’re so pleased we can welcome everyone back to Friendship Fridays each week. It’s great to see lots of people taking the opportunity to make use of our wonderful Information Centre and resources. 

Our Parent Choice collection is varied and interesting, with books about topics such as parenting, feelings, grief and health. Two books new to the collection this week are by well known Auckland psychologist Gwendoline Smith. They are down to earth, practical books which provide an understanding of how the human mind works with positive strategies to manage worry and anxiety and promote a healthier, happier life.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday 2.30 – 3.00pm.

UNIFORM SHOP

ORDERING UNIFORMS
The uniform shop is open Thursdays 8.15 – 8.45 a.m. and 2.30 – 3 p.m.  If you are requiring uniform please fill out the form on our website https://www.starofthesea.school.nz/school-uniform/ to request specific uniform items.  Payment enclosed must be cash or cheque. Eftpos is available at the office.  Payments online can be made to ASB:  12-3132-0058312-00.  Please clearly reference “uniform” and “student name”.  Your order will be delivered to your child’s class on Thursday afternoon.

AFTER SCHOOL TUTOR CLASSES TERM 4 2020

If you wish to sign up your child for an afterschool class for Term 4 please click on the link Admin Newsletter T4_2020 Tutor Classes and register.  Or you can email Melissa at [email protected]

COMMUNITY NEWS  (click flyers to enlarge)

https://www.times.co.nz/news/have-a-go-night-and-bbq-at-paparoa-park/

AUCKLAND GIRLS’ CHOIR

 The Auckland Girls’ Choir is looking for girls aged 10 to 17 to be part of the Choir. We warmly welcome girls from Our Lady Star of the Sea School to audition.

With a proud tradition spanning more than 20 years, the choir was established to provide accessible, enriching choral experiences for young girls from the greater Auckland region.  To date the choir has attracted girls from over 50 different schools, reflecting the rich ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the greater Auckland region.

No prior singing experience is needed, but a passion for music and a desire to learn. In the words of the choir founder,

“The Auckland Girls’ Choir isn’t just about teaching girls how to sing; it’s also about empowering them to be strong leaders” Leonie Lawson, Founder

Membership in the Auckland Girls’ Choir is via audition where vocal fluency, musicianship, and overall potential will be assessed.

Auditions for the 2021 intake will take place on:

• Saturday,   7^th November, 9am to 4pm and
• Saturday, 14^th November, 9am to 4pm

For more information about the auditions process please refer to the Audition Information Sheet and complete the Application Form Online or Download from  the Auckland Girls’ Choir website to apply.

If accepted into the Choir, girls are expected to attend weekly choir rehearsals that span the regular school year. Attendance at a separate weekend workshop in each of the four school terms is also required, as well as full commitment to all performance engagements.

For more information about the choir, history, values and operation please refer to our FAQ.

• Web :  https://www.akgirlschoir.co.nz/auditions
• Email: [email protected]  or  [email protected]

TERM DATES 2020

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