IN THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER
Click on any of the sections below to scroll directly to it
NEWS FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Kia Ora and Bula Vinaka Whānau,
Welcome to our first newsletter of Term 4, our final term of the year.
It is great to see so many of our children arriving to school wearing their summer uniform. The end of the two week transition from winter to summer uniform concludes today, so on Tuesday (after we enjoy an additional day off with Labour Day Monday), all children should be wearing their summer uniform, including hat and sandals.
The first week of our term started with the celebration of Fijian Language Week. This year’s theme for Macawa ni Vosa Vakaviti – Fijian Language Week was Me vakabulabulataki, vakamareqeti, ka vakaqaqacotaki na vosa vakaviti, which means, Nurture, Preserve and Sustain the Fijian language. We were treated to videos from our Pacific families sharing some words and phrases in the Fijian language. The Dang family led our Rosary on Friday of last week with the sign of the cross in Fijian, connecting our faith and the celebration of the Fijian language and culture.
Parish Connect
At our Parish Family Mass at 5.30pm on Sunday of last week, it was wonderful to see school families expressing their faith in their attendance and participation in the Mass. From greeters, alter servers, readers, the offertory procession, musicians and in the congregation, we put into practice the teaching of our faith – we are the Church, we gather as community, we receive spiritual fuel for the week ahead and, as Father John prompts us at the end of Mass, we are sent out to love and serve the Lord.
Our next Family Mass is on Sunday 19th November at 5.30pm. Please put this date in your diary.
Please follow this link to this Sunday’s readings.
SECKA Combined Board Meeting Last Tuesday evening Board Members from our 6 South East Christian Kahui Ako schools (ourselves, Sancta Maria College, ELIM, Sancta Maria Primary, St Marks Primary and Kingsgate) came together to hear more about the work that is being undertaken across the schools to further support and develop programmes for the benefit of our learners. Attendees heard about the four work streams Literacy, Numeracy, Bi Culturally Embedded Practices and Resilience Capabilities and the work that the Across School Teacher Team are undertaking to bring life to these key areas. Mr. David Wu and Mrs. Alina Hooper attended on our behalf and will feedback to the Board at our next meeting.
Mufti Day for Khazimula Children’s Home in Howick, South Africa Last Friday our Mufti Day to raise money to provide a much needed water tank for Khazimula Children’s Home located in Howick in South Africa, made $603.20. It was great that so many of our children were able to articulate the reason for this Christian Outreach initiative, sharing their understanding that God calls us to see a need and take action to support those less fortunate than ourselves. As Khazimula Children’s Home is located in Howick, South Africa, with a family connection to members of our school/parish community, this Christian Outreach initiative is dear to our hearts. Special thanks to Jordy Melville for taking on our 2023 mission of standing tall and being proud and acting on his sense of Christian Outreach by washing cars over his school holidays and raising $120 to add to the funds we are raising for the water tank for Khazimula. We are proud of you Jordy!
Mathex On Tuesday of this week four students represented Our Lady Star of the Sea at the fast paced and challenging HPPA Mathex competition held at Sunnyhills Primary. I wish to congratulate Linson, Minjae, Julian and Austin on their efforts, obtaining 9th place out of 21 teams. See later in this newsletter for further details and photos.
Choir Yesterday Gemma, a gifted music tutor from Lewis Eady took our first choir session in preparation for our end of year festivities. 35 interested and capable children joined which is great to see. These choir sessions will continue through this term and we all look forward to hearing the fruits of their labour at our end of year prizegiving as well as at the turning on of the Christmas lights at Stockade Hill in late November.
Field of Dreams Swimming Lessons These swimming lessons are underway for our Year 3 to 6 students in preparation for the summer season where we are hoping the weather will enable us all to spend more time outside near the water! Junior swimming will commence later in the term.
Shake Out Drill Yesterday we participated in the national Shake Out earthquake drill. This drill is part of our health and safety processes at school which was followed by a full evacuation practice. Both the earthquake drill and evacuation were undertaken calmly and efficiently, a necessary part of keeping us all prepared in the case of a natural disaster.
We are most excited that next Saturday, October 28th from 10am to 2pm is our annual school Gala – I cannot thank those who have donated items and volunteered to help on the day enough for their contributions toward making this day special for our community. Our organising team have done such a great job which will all come to fruition on Saturday. We look forward to seeing you at the Gala next Saturday for some community fun!
Looking Ahead Next Thursday is our School Athletics Day which will be a great day for all. The following Monday, Andrew Chin, who writes most of the music we sing in liturgy, prayer and Mass at school, is working alongside classes for the day. He will also work with our choir and put on a concert in the afternoon. All are welcome to attend the concert which will take place in the hall from 1.20pm. We look forward to celebrating Mass for All Saints Day with Fr John at school on Wednesday 1st November in our school hall at 11.15am, again, all are welcome to join us.
Wishing you all of God’s blessings for a safe and happy fortnight ahead. We look forward to sharing more news and school happenings in our next newsletter in two weeks’ time.
Ngā mihi nui, Tōfa soifua, ‘Alu ā, cǐ zhì jìng lǐ and Vinaka vaka levu,
Louise Campbell
Principal
NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES
From 1980 onwards the school has been staffed entirely by lay teachers. Kevin Saunders
became the first lay Principal and he held the position for the next 20 years. In 1982 Star of the Sea became an integrated school. In 1987 on the Granger Road site, four existing classrooms were upgraded and in 1988, two new classrooms and a library were added. Two further classrooms and a resource room were placed on site for the 1991 school year. The growth in Howick made it untenable for the school to remain on its traditional site. To meet the growing needs of the community, the Diocese secured land in Northpark, Howick and a plan for Our Lady Star of the Sea primary school in Oakridge Way, Northpark commenced.
Prayer is an important part of our lives at home and at school. Through prayer we come to a deeper understanding of both ourselves and God. We do not pray for God’s sake, we pray for our own sake, so that our relationship with God may be more full. The school day begins in prayer each day, either in class or together as a whole school. Parents and whānau are strongly encouraged to join us when they can. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the remainder of October we will gather as a school to pray together one decade of the Rosary. For our young learners to see you join them for prayer, in class or when the school gathers, is really important as it reinforces to them the importance of prayer for us all. Please make a point of joining your child at either class prayer or whole school prayer before the end of the year.
Throughout the month of November, Catholics around the world remember and pray for those who have died, and are now in the arms of Jesus. If you would like to have the name of someone special to you recorded in our school memorial book, please complete the form on our school website and send it through to the office.
Our parish is looking to restart a children’s liturgy programme next year during the Sunday morning Mass. If you are interested in finding out more please contact Linda Lehrke 021 1534946
Mea ana te atawhai haere mai i runga i te aroha me te awhi
Mercy invites us to love and to care
Prayer Intention: We pray for peace in our minds, in our hearts and in our world.
ATTENDANCE DUES
Statements were recently sent out detailing amounts due by the end of the year. Attendance Dues for the first 3 terms should now be paid in full. If you have outstanding amounts owing and have not been in contact with Sue Yandell this year, please make a time to meet and discuss a payment plan for the remainder of the year.
Assistance is available for families who are experiencing financial strain.
NEWS FROM THE CLASSROOM
Shakeout Earthquake Drill
On Thursday, Star of the Sea joined the nation and participated in a Shakeout Earthquake drill and classroom evacuation drill. Congratulations to everyone for acting so responsibly. It might be a good idea to follow up with a discussion at home about how to keep your family safe in the event of an earthquake, fire or emergency at home.
NEWS FROM OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Mathex Competition
‘On Tuesday 17th October, we represented our school at the Mathex competition. As we entered we were surprised by the amount of teams present across the HPPA. Each of us played a different role in our team: Runner, 2 human calculators and a double checker. This was the first experience at a Mathex competition for two of our members.
There were 25 questions we had to attempt in 30 minutes. The questions were challenging!
We managed to accurately answer 21 of the questions which resulted in our runner getting very hot and tired running the answers up to the marking desk!
Out of 21 teams present we came a respectable 9th place. We are pleased we answered more questions than we did last year.
Overall it was a very fun, challenging and interesting experience’.
by Linson, Minjae, Julian and Austin
Travelwise
Next week, we begin our Click and Walk campaign which will take place for 3 weeks. We are asking caregivers to not park on Oakridge Way in the morning. Instead they can park on Orangewood Dr and walk their children into school (older students can walk independently!). On Orangewood Dr, there will be members of the Travelwise team who will clip a card that the students will be given. All completed cards can be taken to Mrs Elder in Room 23 and will go into a draw for a prize. The benefit of this campaign is to make Oakridge Way less congested with cars and therefore safer. The students will also benefit as they are walking which supports their fitness!
NEWS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT TEAM
Last week the Environmental team completed a clean up of our local playground area – North Park. This was an initiative that came from the team. Some members of the team walk through this park regularly and are disappointed to see rubbish littering the natural space. Thanks to their efforts we left the park looking great. Thanks for caring for our local environment team!
Thank you to everyone for keeping lunches rubbish free. Your efforts are educating the next generation and greatly improving our school environment.
DID YOU KNOW
Did you know that we have x3 buses that service Our Lady Star of the Sea School.
Bus 1 – Students who require transport to and from Sancta Maria College (in the morning and the afternoon). This bus costs the students $1 per trip.
Operator – Howick and Eastern buses
Bus 2 – Students who live in the Whitford, Beachlands, Maraetai area (available in the morning and the afternoon). This service is provided by the Ministry of Education
Operator – Howick and Eastern buses
For more accurate route information, please contact Howick and Eastern Buses on 09 273 3660.
Bus 3 – 439 – services the Howick area (after school only)
Operator – Go Bus
The 439 bus is for students who live in or around the Howick, Botany Road area. You need to have an AT Hop Card to board the bus and money needs to be loaded on via your own AT account. Many of our students use this bus on a regular basis and families say it is much easier than doing the pick up at school.
Route: Our Lady Star of the Sea School, (R) Oakridge Way, (R) Orangewood Drive, 1st exit Whitford Road, 2nd exit Cook Street, 3rd exit Minerva Terrace, 2nd exit Paparoa Road, 1st exit Litten Road, Via (L) Granger Road, Via Selwyn Road, 2nd exit Picton Street, 1st exit Wellington Street, (L) Elliott Street, (R) Moore Street, (R) Union Road, (L) Wood Avenue, (L) Andrew Road, (R) Kyeemagh Street, (R) Kurnell Drive, (L) Botany Road to 170 Botany Road (Stop 2192).
For more accurate route information, please contact Go Bus on 0800 462 871.
Catching the bus is a fun experience for children as they form friendships with fellow passengers and the older students help and support the younger ones.
NEWS FROM THE GALA TEAM
KEY DATES
TERM DATES
Term 1 Starts | Tuesday, 31 January 2023 |
Term 1 Finishes | Thursday, 6 April 2023 |
Term 2 Starts | Monday, 24 April 2023 |
Term 2 Finishes | Friday, 30 June 2023 |
Term 3 Starts | Monday, 17 July 2023 |
Term 3 Finishes | Friday, 22 September 2023 |
Term 4 Starts | Monday, 9 October 2023 |
Term 4 Finishes | Friday, 15 December 2023 |
TEACHER ONLY DAY | Monday, 13 November 2023 |
COMMUNITY NOTICES
PARISH COORDINATOR
The Parish of St Luke’s in Flat Bush is on the hunt for a Parish Coordinator to join the team.
As one of the largest growing parishes in Auckland, we wish to employ a person for 25-30 hours a week as the parish coordinator. This role is to assist the Parish Priest to ensure that the pastoral and administrative needs of the parish are met.
The role provides pastoral assistance and is responsible for the coordination of the Parish Education Programs
(RCIA, RCIC, Baptism program, sacramental program & children’s liturgy) and assisting with Sunday Masses. Ideally the applicant would have a good grasp of social media. Applicants should be active Catholics and able to partake in the full sacramental life of the church, with theological formation (preferred).
Good communication, strong planning and organization skills are essential. Applicants must have the right to work in NZ and have a NZ drivers licence. For more information, please contact the Parish Priest, Fr Craig Dunford by email [email protected]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Leave A Comment