Kia Ora, Ni Hao Malo e lelei and Bula Vinaka Whānau,

Welcome to our third newsletter of Term 1. The year has begun well and classes are very much settled into routine with excellent classroom programmes established and being delivered by our amazing, committed teachers.
Thank you to families who are conscious and supportive of the fact that our teachers are in preparation before 8.30am each morning and to those children who arrive before 8.15am who are sitting outside classrooms. Bizzy Bodz run a great before school programme from our school hall for families that need to drop their children to school earlier than 8.15am so please take advantage of this, where your children have the freedom to enjoy their time arriving early before school under the supervision of the Bizzy Bodz crew. Children are welcome to play on the court area between 8.15am and 8.30, however families need to understand that there is no teacher supervision at this time.
Thank you also to families who are caring for our neighbours in the way they are parking carefully (not across driveways) and dropping children on the curbside to cross safely at the pedestrian crossings.

Parish Connect
Last Sunday was our first Parish Children’s Liturgy of the Word at 9 am Mass. It was lovely to see a number of our students in attendance heading to the parish centre just before the readings were read at Church, to break open the Gospel readings and help our children develop their understanding of the meaning within through fun activities. Once Father’s homily was complete, the children made their way back into Mass to celebrate the rest of Mass with their families.
Children’s Liturgy of the Word will be at each first and third Sunday of the month at the 9 am Sunday Mass during term time. It would be great to see many school families in attendance to celebrate Mass and learn together at the Children’s Liturgy of the Word.

We ask for prayers for the 55 children enrolled in the Parish Sacramental Programme for this year as they start their preparation to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Holy Communion. Parents had their first Parent Session last week and the children had their first class at the start of 5.30 pm Mass last Sunday.

Please follow this link to view this Sunday’s readings.

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences and Parent Consultation in the Information Centre
Last Thursday’s Goal Setting Parent, Teacher, and Student Conferences were well attended. Our Teaching staff appreciated the opportunity to further build relationships with families, hear more about their students and establish goals for the first half of this year. It was great to hear feedback from our parents as to how these conferences went, how well our teachers know their learners after 5 weeks (19 school days) of school and how their children have settled into the year. Thank you to our families for taking the time to attend these valuable meetings.

We had around 70 families attend the Parent Consultation in the Information Centre, earning 100 house points each for their children! Families had the opportunity to learn more about the background to Te Mataiaho, the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum as it currently stands as well as giving voice to our Mental Wellbeing Statement which we are looking to adopt as part of our journey in teaching our students about mental wellbeing through Sir John Kirwin’s Mitey Programme.
There was overwhelming support for the statement in its current form. I have included the statement here so families who were not able to attend the parent consultation in the Information Centre on Thursday can read the statement and email their thoughts.

Our Lady Star of the Sea School Mental Wellbeing Statement

At Our Lady Star of the Sea School; a community of people made in the image and likeness of God; we recognize that healthy mental wellbeing supports us to reach our potential. 

Mental wellbeing at Our Lady Star of the Sea is grounded in having a sense of identity and the conscious awareness of what we feel and think so as to act positively towards ourselves and others, and having the strategies to overcome challenges.

We are committed to creating an environment where every member of our school community feels valued, appreciated, supported, successful and uplifted by those around them through mana enhancing relationships.  Mental wellbeing is enhanced when we live out our values of Manaaki, Tika, Ngāwari, Māia and Āwhina.

Together, we aim to create a school culture where mental wellbeing is a shared responsibility and each individual feels empowered to prioritize and care for their own mental health while supporting the mental health of others.

Please email me directly [email protected] if you have any further thoughts.

Parents Committee
Our staffroom was buzzing on Monday evening with parents who attended our first Parents Committee meeting of the year. Wine and cheese flowed, thanks to the wonderful Parents Committee organising team. Great discussion was had regarding our upcoming Colour Run due to take place the evening of Friday 5th April. Mark this date in your diary now. More information to come.

Attendance message from the Ministry of Education
If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss a whole year of school by 16 years of age.
As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside your school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school. As we enter 2024, every day of school matters.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent for a day or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.

If you’re struggling at home with getting your child to school, talk to us! Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance by having:
·      School staff who have strong relationships with students and whānau.
·      A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who they are, where they come from and who they want to be.
·      A school community that does everything to make sure students are at school, and they are participating, and progressing in their education.

Staffing Update 
Last week I introduced Mrs Gabriela Bailey as our new teacher in Room 17 from Monday to Wednesday. Please read a bit about Mrs Bailey below as she introduces herself and settles into our learning community.
Hola, malo e lelei, kia ora, and hello to you all. My name is Gabriela Bailey and I am one of the new teachers in Room 17. I have the great privilege to be co-teaching alongside the wonderful and highly experienced Mrs Karen Waters. The beautiful children of Room 17 have welcomed me with open arms and hearts, I am thankful for that. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this incredible, caring and supportive learning community. Prior to joining Our Lady Star of the Sea, I taught at Otahuhu Intermediate School for 9 years. I have two daughters who attend the school, Nayra and Malia and my son Elijah will be joining us next term. I look forward to meeting more of you throughout the year. God Bless!

We welcome Miss Kendall Evans back on staff for one day a week in our New Entrant/Transition class. Kendall is a past teacher at our school and we are thrilled to have her back at school working alongside our young learners. 

Looking Back: Our Year 1 to 3 students have had a great time over the last two Thursdays experiencing Cricket Coaching with a coach from Auckland Cricket. Last week our senior boys represented us in the HPPA Cricket competition (read more later in our

newsletter). On Tuesday seniors from Sancta Maria College came to speak with our Year 6’s about what life in an intermediate/secondary school looks like and feels like as part of preparing our seniors for their transition into intermediate next year.

Looking Ahead: We look forward to our senior boys representing us at the HPPA Cricket tournament once again next week. We are very much looking forward to the HPPA cultural festival on Wednesday 20th March where our Pacific Group will be performing.

Wishing you all a happy, safe and blessed fortnight ahead until we next communicate via our school newsletter.

Ngā mihi nui, Tōfa soifua, ‘Alu ā, cǐ zhì jìng lǐ and Vinaka vaka levu,

Louise Campbell
Principal

As we continue our journey through the season of Lent, it’s like walking along a path with signposts guiding us towards Easter. Lent is a special time when we reflect on Jesus’s journey and think about how we can grow closer to God. Each week, we can think about different ways to do this, like helping others, praying, or giving up something we enjoy for a while. As we travel through Lent, let’s remember that the destination isn’t just Easter Sunday, but a stronger connection with God and the joy of new beginnings.

Christian Witness – Putting our Faith into Action.
Over the next two weeks there are a number of opportunities for our young learners to put their faith into action.  The Liturgy Team and Student Council will attend the upcoming Caritas Justice Chat.  The aim of these sessions is to inspire and support students to become active leaders of social justice, peace and change in their schools and to use the principles of Catholic social teaching in the process. This will be the launching point for our Caritas Challenge this year.

Our school Lenten Challenge of FLOOD the FOODBANK with AROHA continues through Lent. Thank you for your continued generosity. The liturgy team has been collecting the donations from the classrooms and are excited to share that we have fed a total of 29 families so far. There are so many people in our immediate community and the wider area that are in desperate need of support. Donating items to the parish foodbank is a simple way of showing your children how to put their faith into action.

Children’s Liturgy of the word will be offered  at our Parish Church on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month in term time. It is open to primary school aged children. Just before being seated for the scripture readings at Mass, the children will be invited by Father John or Father Terry to take the Children’s Lectionary and Candle with them to the Parish Centre. They will return to the Church and their families after the Homily and in time for the Preparation of the Offertory Gifts part of the Mass. This is a great opportunity for the children to hear the Gospel message appropriate to their age and consider how to practice it in their own lives.

On Wednesday 13th March, our Senior students will be involved in an onsite retreat day focused on the history and charism of our School and Place. The students will spend time during the day working through different activities to explore and grow their relationship with God.

“We are a Christ centred community
fostering belonging (whanaungatanga)
and outreach
through selfless giving (manaakitanga)
in Mary’s Way”.

Thank you to those who have already paid their Term 1 fees.  A reminder that Term 1 is due by 10 March.  If you wish to set up a payment plan, please contact Sue Yandell in confidence.

Any 2024 donations paid prior to 31 March will be included in the receipts for the financial year 01.04.2023 – 31.03.2024 which will be processed and emailed home in early April.

Swimming Report 

On Wednesday 21st February, the senior school went to Lloyd Elsmore pools to race in the senior school competition. Everyone got to choose between participating in a competitive or non-competitive race (or races) by swimming either freestyle, backstroke or breaststroke. But really there were two main events; the “House Relays” and the big “Swim- Off”…

The house relays were swam in the break between the competitive and non-competitive races. The house captains had to choose people from the competitive races to take part. Since all houses wanted to win, the house captains chose their best swimmers to represent their houses. In the end Maher placed first in the relays, with Garin placing second, McAuley third and Barbier last.

After that, the two best swimmers had a race ‘head to head’.  The race was really close… but guess who won, no one. It was a complete tie. When we spoke to Cavan and Tiffany after the event, they were both very extremely happy that they had the opportunity to race against each other with Cavan initially feeling confident that he was going to win and Tiffany feeling a bit nervous about the whole occasion. Tiffany said that “The thought of the race was very scary until it began” and Cavan said “It was really tiring.”

Congratulations to all who participated on the day and we look forward to some selected students representing the school at the HPPA events in April.

Harper Williams and Nathan Feng – Maher House Captains

HPPA Cricket

Our Year 5 and 6 cricket team of Jack, Charlie, Zac, Tevin, Mya, Carla, Alex and Samuel had a great day 1 of our pool competition last Thursday. We played 4 games. We won 2 and lost 2. We are looking forward to Day 2 of our competition where we hope to continue to improve our game play and enjoy the company of each other once again. Thanks to coach Dave Grant who gave up his time to help us out with training for the competition and supporting us on game days. It was also great to have support from families on the sideline.

Parent Committee Meeting

On Monday the Parent Committee hosted a cheese and wine evening. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet some of our parents. The agenda was, get to know more about the parent committee, how we raise funds and how the funds are used.
We are excited about our next event! Star of the Sea’s first colour run! The colour run will be held on Friday 5 th April at 5pm. It promises to be lots of colourful messy fun! Awesome prizes up for grabs.

After the run sausage sizzle and ice blocks will be on sale. Sign Up details will be out soon.
Our next meeting will be on Monday 8th April, we would love to have you along.

We are once again looking forward to having a wonderful community Gala in early October this year.  There is much preparation to make a gala successful and we are looking for a small Core Team to start preparing the logistics.  If you would like to show service to the school, at the same time having fun, and would be able to become involved in this year’s gala organisation, please contact the office or email Louise.  Any questions you have before committing to the team, we would be pleased to chat to you.

Sacred Heart College

Enrolment Applications for Year 7 and Year 9 for 2025 are now open

An education at Sacred Heart College provides a foundation of faith and aspiration to succeed at the highest level in personal and professional life. Places are available in Years 7 and 9 in 2025, with Boarding available from Year 9. Applications are prioritised in accordance with our Enrolment Scheme. Scholarships are available.
Applications for enrolment close Friday 5 April 2024. Apply online here. Visit www.sacredheart.school.nz for more information, or email [email protected].nz

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St Mary’s College

A friendly reminder that enrolments close on Friday 15 March. Please visit www.stmaryak.school.nz for enrolment information and online application form.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Enrolments Officer: [email protected]

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