NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Families,
This newsletter finds us over half way through the final term of 2020, with our sights firmly set on end of year activities, and planning for 2021.
The Feast of Christ the King This Sunday sees the end of our Church year with the celebration of the Feast of Christ the King. This feast day is celebrated annually before the beginning of the new Church year with the season of Advent, the four weeks prior to the celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. The Feast of Christ the King gives us pause to consider our Lord as king, however, in a very different context to our usual thoughts about kingship. Kings at the time of Jesus held the ultimate power and authority over people; to be a king was to be powerful. Jesus came, born in a stable. He lived simply among his people. Jesus represents kingship that turns our worldly idea of leadership upside down. Jesus’ kingship is just and peaceful, his authority is based on the rule of truth, love and mercy. As our school vision says, we are called to confidently live, learn and serve with Jesus (Christ the King) as our guide. Click here for this Sunday’s readings.
Twilight Market Friday 27th November
We are very much looking forward to our Twilight Market next Friday night from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Come along to enjoy the entertainment (our very own orchestra will be performing as well as members of the Sancta Maria College orchestra. Our children will sell their creations made as a result of our connected curriculum Taonga concept as well as offering service elements explored this term, in order to raise money for the missions. There will be food to purchase; hot chips, sausage sizzle, a food truck or two, and the coffee van. There will be rides, a bouncy castle, and games (the chocolate trailer amongst others) Come and join us on this evening, where we will be able to gather to celebrate our children’s learning and our wonderful community.
Looking Back
Our busy term has not stopped! Over the last fortnight, we have had our year 6 students learn about Safe Boating at Lloyd Elsmore Pools, swimming lessons are in full swing across all our year levels, our school leaders have attended the National Young Leaders Day (scroll down for more on this), our successful athletes represented our school at the Interschool Athletics today (more details on this soon). Our teachers have been engaged in end of year curriculum review and working to ensure consistency in reading, writing and mathematics levels across the school as they prepare to report student outcomes to parents, while our academic support staff have engaged in professional learning and development to support learners with additional needs.
Looking Ahead
Swimming lessons continue into next week across the school. We have our Orientation Morning for families new to OLSOS on Thursday morning. We are very much looking forward to the celebration of all things OLSOS on Friday 27th November, where, during our school day, we will hold our much anticipated house Tapawae finals, celebrate Mass together at 11.15am (all welcome) and enjoy our STAR Idol finals in the afternoon. We will then be all set to enjoy an evening together as community at our Twilight Market – we are looking forward to seeing you all there! The following week we look forward to our Junior Athletics, Quickhit Girls Cricket, with end of year reports being available to the community through our school portal on Friday 4th December.
Staffing Update As shared in last fortnight’s newsletter, we farewell our beloved Jane McKay, who is retiring at the end of this year. At Jane’s request, we will farewell her as part of our end of year Mass on Friday 11th December. All are welcome to attend at 11 am at Star of the Sea Parish in Picton St.
Wishing you all a happy, safe and blessed fortnight between now and when we share all the happenings at OLSOS in our next fortnightly newsletter.
Ngā mihi nui and cǐ zhì jìng lǐ,
Louise Campbell
Principal
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES
2021 Sacramental Programme enrolments open Saturday 21 November. Children in Year 3 or above in 2020 are eligible to enrol. Enrolment forms will be available from the school website, the parish church and the parish website.
Please note the following dates into your calendar for 2021 if you are intending to enrol your child.
Reconciliation Sessions
Parent Meeting Thursday 25 February 4, 11 March
Children’s sessions Sunday 28 February 7, 14 March
Friday 19 March – 1st Reconciliation
Confirmation Sessions
Parent Meeting Thursday 6, 13, 20 May
1st Session Sunday 9, 16 23 May (Pentecost Sunday)
1st Holy Communion Sessions
Parent Meeting Thursday 10, 17, 24 June
1st Session Sunday 13, 20, 27 June
Celebration of the Sacraments
Thursday 5 August – Rehearsal in the parish church
Confirmation – Friday 6 August
1st Holy Communion – Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August 2021
School Mass of Celebration
This year has been a very different year for us all. Next Friday, 27 November at 11:15am, Father John will lead us in a Mass of Celebration. There is much to celebrate! You are all welcome to join us.
Advent
At this time of the year we are waiting. We wait for warmer weather. We wait for the holidays. We wait for family time. Waiting is not something we are generally very good at today as many things, like texts, emails, tweets and social media give us an instantaneous response. Gone are the days of waiting for a letter in the post to bring us news from family and friends. Waiting takes patience. Waiting takes time. When we wait we prepare ourselves, thinking about what is to come, often with great anticipation and expectation.
Next weekend, Sunday 29 November, is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is the season of waiting, of preparation. There are many things to do at home during this season while we are waiting.
Things like…
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… the list is endless. Each one of these activities helps to build the anticipation and excitement of welcoming Jesus at Christmas time.
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL
Each year the parish St Vincent de Paul group ask for donations of gift wrapped Christmas presents for children of families in need. This year they are going to do things differently. They are asking us to donate vouchers from The Warehouse or Kmart in denominations of $10, $20 or $30. This will allow families in need the opportunity to choose the most suitable gifts for their children. Please put these vouchers in an envelope marked SVDP in the drop box at the Parish Centre or at the school office.
Many thanks for the continued donations to the parish foodbank via the donations box in the school foyer. As a Catholic christian community, your donations are acts of kindness which witness the face of Christ to others.
Thank you for your continued amazing support and generosity. May God bless you for your willingness to help those in need.
PRAYER: For all those who have died we pray …
Detta Fairweather
Deputy Principal / Director of Religious Studies
School Magazine
Our annual school magazine is currently in the final stages of compilation. Each family will receive one copy of the magazine as part of the payment made through your General Purpose donation. Extra copies will be available at $15.00 each. We are offering the opportunity for business card size advertising for your company. If you would like to advertise in the school newsletter, or know of a company who may be interested, please contact the school office – [email protected]. Each business card size advertisement will be $60.00.
NEWS FROM THE CLASSROOM
Athletics Day
Bang! My heart started to race as I heard the bangers for the 10 year old boys clap for the 60 meter race. I was up next, my stomach set on fire. On your mark, get set…BANG! I ran as fast as I could, my eyes were set on the finish line. I stretched my leg out over the line taking my last step of the race. Waiting nervously I got given a yellow card which had the writing first place on it, I jumped with joy. I had just ran the first race now onto the second race which was 100 meters. This race was way longer than the last one but I was ready. I was a little bit less nervous because the 60 meter ended in me getting first so I had more courage for my 100 meter race. On your mark, get set, BANG! I ran at the speed of light passing the 60 meter line, still running, I started to pant but I kept on going. All I was thinking about was getting to the end. Once again I stretched my leg out and took my last step. I stood there waiting with my fingers crossed. Then I was given the same card with the same writing “first place” on it. I just had to wait till the end of the day to run my final races. After a long day of sweating my way through all events it was finally time for my last races of the day. First up my 60 meter race. I was tired but there was no turning back now.
By Micah McGrail
Overall School Athletics day results :
| 7 YEAR GIRLS | 7 YEAR BOYS |
| 1. Tamia Tavita-Falesiu | 1. Dylan Tan |
| 2. Isobella Evans | 2. Jett McGrail |
| 3. Stella Wakefield | 3. Eric Xue |
| 8 YEAR GIRLS | 8 YEAR BOYS |
| 1. Emily Lazark-Simic | 1. Luke McLaughlin |
| 2. Annelise Nugaha | 2. Matthew Bastian |
| 2. Paige Iremia | 3. Rafael Smith |
| 3. Danielle Smeath | |
| 9 YEAR GIRLS | 9 YEAR BOYS |
| 1. Athena Luo | 1. Varun Koripa |
| 2. Izabella Chetty | 2. Locky Davis Kerr |
| 3. Sammie Bongiovanni | 3. Austin Cai |
| 10 YEAR GIRLS | 10 YEAR BOYS |
| 1. Ava Marie Spencer | 1. Zion Bidois |
| 2. Anaiah Smith | 2. Liam Martin |
| 3. Winnie Zhou | 3. Ryan Smeath |
| 11 YEAR OLD GIRLS | 11 YEAR OLD BOYS |
| 1. Taylor Kay | 1. Luke Presig |
| 2. Keana So | 2. Hugo Dougall |
| 3. Anaya Morris | 2. David Li |
| 3. Sean Armstrong |
NEWS FROM OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
National Young Leaders Day
On Thursday a group of 23 Senior Leaders and Mrs Noble-Campbell were lucky enough to be a part of National Young Leaders Day (NYLD). This day is where all the school leaders come together to listen to inspirational speakers talking about what is important to remember as a leader. It was held at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau.
This year we were lucky enough to listen to and experience the wisdom of William Pike, Riley Hathaway, Suzy Cato, Okirano Tilaia and Stan Walker.
Each speaker left the students with messages to help them on their leadership journey such as “Step out of your comfort zone and be brave and courageous” “Set yourself goals and take small steps to achieve them” “Never let other people get in your way of achieving your dream” “Ask people for help on your journey” “Don’t take the easy route and give up” “Don’t be afraid to be different” “Be still and patient – good things take time” “Be strong in the face of challenge” and “Do and be whoever you want yourself to be”.
The day went by in a flash. Nimah even participated in a competition and won! Everything was wrapped up in true concert style with a live performance by Stan Walker.
Our grateful thanks go to the parents who helped us with transport and to Jin and Genevieve for helping us out with supervision. It was a great day out and an honour to represent our school as its leader.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT OUTSIDE SCHOOL
SCHOOL FEES
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.
If you are planning not to return to OLSOS in 2021 we would appreciate you letting us know as we are currently planning for classes and accepting enrolments across all year levels in preparation for next year. Your assistance will enable us to offer places to families who may otherwise miss out. Thank you in advance for your support.
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 INFORMATION CENTRE
2020 Favourites
At this time of year, it’s always interesting to look back and see which authors have been most popular with our students.
Here are the top 10 favourites:
- Geronimo Stilton
- Danielle McDonald
- Meredith Costain
- Aaron Blabey
- Jeff Kinney
- David Walliams
- Dav Pilkey
- Zack Zombie
- Liz Pichon
- Roald Dahl
UNIFORM SHOP
- BOY’S SHORT SLEEVE SHIRTS/SHORTS and GIRL’S BLOUSES URGENTLY
- UNIFORM ‘BUY BACK’ – we’re planning on doing uniform buy back on the optional Parent-Teacher interview evening, Tuesday 8th December from 2.30-4.30pm. Please note that the uniform shop will not be open for sales at this time, we’ll just be doing buy-back over this period.
- STOCK TAKE on Monday 14 December 2020. Uniform shop will CLOSED on Thursday 17 December so last uniform shopping date for the year will be Thursday 10th December.
- 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.
SCHOOL BUSES
School buses will run as normal on all routes until the last day of school. Buses will collect children on the last day of school at 12 noon.
COMMUNITY NEWS
Auckland Council organises free play and recreation events in local parks and would like to ask parents for feedback about what kind of events your family enjoys. Please follow this link to fill in a short survey, which you can translate online into Chinese or Korean if you prefer. Thank you very much from Auckland Council’s Active Recreation team!
(click flyers to enlarge)
TERM DATES 2020
Term 4 Monday 12 October to Friday 18 December (12 noon)
TERM DATES 2021
Term 2 Monday 3 May – Friday 9 July (7 June Queen’s Birthday)
Term 3 Monday 26 July – Friday 1 October
Term 4 Monday 18 October – Wednesday 15 December 2021 (finish date to be confirmed)
