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

Welcome to our final newsletter of Term 3 2024. Last week was a very busy week for our school where we enjoyed the Junior Production (see more later in the newsletter) as well as Ti Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Maori Language Week. The theme for Te Wiki 2024 is ‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’. It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of the Maori language. It also reflects the commitment New Zealanders have to embracing and learning te reo Māori long into the future. Throughout the week, we enjoyed varied activities in support of the elevation of our country’s first official language.

Parish Connect Alongside our fellow parishioners we are very much looking forward to the outcomes of the Parish Centre Renovation project that has been recently launched in our Parish. If you have not had the chance to view the appeal brochure, these are available in the foyer of the Church as well as from our school office. A very worthy project that we will all receive the benefit of. I encourage you to take the time to see what the project will mean for our Parish and to support the project if you are in a position to do so. 

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

Junior Production – In the Beginning I think the best way I can describe the Junior Production last week is EPIC – grand in scale and in character!! We were treated, over two evenings and a matinee performance to the most incredible, heartfelt, joy-filled retelling of the Bible story of how God made the world in 7 days. Our pounamu iti (our small treasures) from New Entrants to Year 3 blew us all away by their confidence, skill, acting and dancing prowess. The way our children performed, and the way the lead characters remembered all of their lines was faultless and a true measure of the love, care, commitment and support of our Junior Team. Lee Marten as Team Lead, alongside her lead teaching and part time teaching team; Ailsa Thorpe, Alice Shin, Brooke Crowe, Shelley Arnott, Detta Fairweather, Linda Priestley, Raneen Kettoola and Kendall Evans worked tirelessly to ensure this expression of our Catholic Special Character and the Arts Curriculum came to life in such a vivid and sumptuous way. Family members of staff, school families, admin and academic support staff as well as our fabulous Caretaker all rolled their sleeves up and supported this mammoth effort with set design and building and costume creation. The accompanying music, lighting and sound was second to none. This production will live long in the hearts of those lucky enough to have seen it and in the hearts of our performers – as we said at the end of each performance – this is the stuff that our children will remember for life! Mahi whakamaiharo, fantastic work to all involved.

Auckland Primary Principal’s Association Rehu Tai Festival of Oral Language finals At Mercy Day Liturgy on Tuesday morning we blessed Lucian before he attended the APPA Speech Competition that evening. As you may recall from our last newsletter, Lucian represented our school at the HPPA Speech Competition alongside representatives from our other local primary schools and won that competition in the traditional speech category. This qualified him to compete in the APPA Rehu Tai Festival of Oral Language Competition. At the APPA competition, it was great to listen to 35 speeches from across Auckland in the categories of Flash Talk, Traditional Speech, Spoken Word and Rap. Lucian represented Our Lady Star of the Sea and the HPPA in the Traditional Speech Competition and took out first place! Congratulations to Lucian! Once again, we are so proud at such a wonderful achievement.

Twilight Market update As we draw ever-closer to our Twilight Market on Friday 1st November, our class collections have started to come in – thank you to those who have already supported us with sending in items to school. Your class teacher will have used Seesaw to remind you of what your class is to bring along before the Twilight Market in the last two days, just in time for some fun in the holidays to get your items together.
Thank you also to those who have already returned their sold raffle tickets. We have extra books flying out of the office as families are excited by the prospect of winning a ride to school in a police car for the family who sells the most tickets!
Thank you in advance for your support in making the Twilight Market a success.
Early next term we will send out a helper sign up sheet so that families are able to roster themselves in for a short part of the Market to run their class stalls. Watch this space!

Looking Back Well done to Cavan for representing us strongly at yesterdays HPPA Mandarin Speech Competition and look forward to our McAuley House Assembly on the last day of term, Friday 27th September.

Looking Ahead We look forward to the start of next term, where we will be transitioning to our summer uniform. See later in this newsletter for further details.  Term 4 begins on Monday 14th October. Our Parents Committee AGM is on at 7pm that evening – come along for wine and cheese!

2025 Enrolments At this time of the school year we begin looking ahead to next year. We would like to remind parents who would like to enrol their children turning 5 in 2025, to please complete the provisional online enrolment form on our website and collect an enrolment pack from our school office. This will help us to ensure we are well prepared to accommodate all enrolments for 2025.
If, for some reason you are moving out of the area and will not be sending your child back to Our Lady Star of the Sea next year, knowing this would also assist us as we start to think about cohort numbers and class configurations for next year too.

Wishing you all a happy, safe and blessed fortnight ahead until our next newsletter is published.

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

Louise Campbell
Principal

Religious Education Curriculum

This term our focus has been on the theme of Te Atua God. The children have developed an understanding of what the Church teaches about God in terms of the nature and persons of the Trinity, and God’s relationship with humanity and all of creation. Please encourage your child to talk about their learning from this term.

Next term we will be learning about The Good News of God. Learners will develop an understanding of the Bible as a library of books with a range of origins, authorship, genre, style and purpose. They will be able to retell many of the narratives and concepts, and will develop an understanding of the significance of these texts, as part of God’s revelation.  

In Years 1 & 2 the children will be introduced to the key stories about Jesus and will develop an understanding of the context of these Bible stories. The Year 3 & 4 children will explore what Jesus teaches us through stories and will recognise that Jesus had messages which help us know what to do and how to be happy. In Years 5 & 6 children will gain an understanding of the basic context of the Old Testament, and that Jews, Muslims and Christians share these stories. They will also learn key stories from the old testament which teach us how to be in good relationships. We look forward to the learning that will take place next term. 

Mercy Day

On Tuesday, September 24th, we celebrated Mercy Day with a special liturgy led by Room 8. This marked the day when Catherine McAuley opened the House of Mercy in Ireland, dedicating it to Our Lady of Mercy. Throughout the day, each class chose and participated in an act of mercy. It was truly heartwarming to see students carrying out these acts of service and helping our community.

Month of the Rosary

October is the month of the Rosary, a simple and powerful prayer we say together with Our Lady. The Rosary tells the story of Jesus’ life in four parts:

• The Joyful Mysteries focus on His birth and early life.
• The Sorrowful Mysteries focus on His suffering and death.
• The Glorious Mysteries celebrate His resurrection and the promise of heaven.
• The Luminous Mysteries focus on His ministry on earth.

Many Catholics have memories of saying the Rosary as a family during their childhood. Gifting children with memories of family prayer time is a beautiful thing. It is a strong sign of faith and hope. Throughout October we will gather in the school hall on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday mornings, to pray together one decade of the Rosary. All are welcome. Your children could lead your family prayer time at home in a similar way. 

Buddy Class Mass

We would like to extend our gratitude to Fr. John and Fr. Terry for celebrating Mass with our buddy classes this term. The children have enjoyed coming together to give thanks and celebrate the Eucharist. This special time allows them to actively participate in the Mass and deepen their connection to their Faith.

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

Your Board met on Tuesday 24th September.

At Tuesday’s meeting the Board endorsed the Term 3 update of activity towards our Annual Plan Goals, the Learning Support Update Report and comprehensive Camp Bentzon 2025 planning and documentation.

Highlights of the meeting included updates on the generous funds of $1650 raised from the Caritas Challenge to support the Holy Trinity Primary School in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, discussion on the importance that Catholic Educators play in the role of facilitating discipleship outside the RE curriculum and how the school embraces the tikanga elements of Pono, Tika and Aroha in its values underpinning Mana and Tapu.

Special thanks through Karen to Lee Marten, the Junior Team and all those involved in the Junior Production of In The Beginning. It was a magnificent production highlighting Catholic Special character and the arts. The board also thanks Father John for his endorsement of the school at the weekend’s Sunday Mass.

Regards
Vernon Chun
Proprietors Representative

News from the Parents Committee

A very big thank you for the support at the Junior Production. Even though the weather was chilly and rainy our volunteers had fun and many families still took the opportunity to have a bite to eat before an incredible show.

We invite all parents and caregivers to our AGM on the 14th of October at 7pm. Over Cheese and Wine, we will discuss our activities over the past year, funds raised, and how the funds are used to support the school. We’ll also review officer roles. If you are interested in a position or would like more information about officer roles, please contact the Parents Committee on [email protected] or your class rep. Have a wonderful and safe break!

Spellathon 

Thank you so much for supporting our Spellathon held during this term.

We are very proud to share with you a photo of the beautiful new portable speaker system that has been purchased using the funds raised. This system will be well utilised for large school events including our next Colour Run.

Twilight Market News

As we draw ever-closer to our Twilight Market on Friday 1st November, we begin our collective preparations. 

On Monday each family should have received an envelope containing x4 raffle tickets. The 1st prize is an amazing $1,000 in cash, with 2nd – 5th prizes $100 in cash. Please sell these tickets over the holiday break and return the money & stubs (the smaller part of the ticket) in the 1st week of Term 4. After you have returned the money & stubs from your first x4 tickets and you wish to sell more, please see the ladies in the office.

We have awesome food lined up and fantastic entertainment including carnival rides for the kids and those young at heart. We will also have stalls selling items such as lucky dips, jolly jars, cakes, sweets, hampers and more! 

This year class collections will look a little different – You will have seen a hard copy as well as a reminder on Seesaw, details of what your class is doing to prepare for the big event. Class stalls will be run by the families of the children in the class.

Our classes will also be creating items to sell at the Twilight Market through their technological practices connected curriculum learning – what better way to learn than with a real-life context such as the Twilight Market to prepare for! These items will also be sold at the class stalls on the night.

We are really looking forward to a fabulous night of food and entertainment for and by the children and cannot wait to see what comes in from our families over the weeks leading up to the Twilight Market night to make the evening a success – get your creative juices flowing!!!

Your support is greatly appreciated.

Term 4 is summer uniform – short sleeve shirts and blouses; sandals with no socks; sunhat.   There will be a 2 week transition time as the weather continues to warm up.  All students must be in summer uniform and wearing their sunhat after Labour Weekend, Tuesday 29 October.

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KEYBOARD LESSONS WITH LEWIS EADY – TERM 4

We currently have availability for group keyboard lessons with tutor Edward.

Lessons take place on Thursdays during the school day, which means no after-school pick-up/drop-off hassle! 

Fees (based on a 10-week term) are $185 for group lessons.

The first step is to complete our enrolment form – click here or head to our website www.lewiseady.co.nz/music-school.

Email: [email protected]

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Auckland Athletics

Auckland Athletics recently held their prize giving ceremony for the Cross Country and Road racing season. Jensen and Anya both earned 2nd place overall in their respective age groups, competing against all Auckland athletics clubs. Additionally, Jensen took home the title of Road Running Champion for his age group. Congratulations Jensen and Anya – we are very proud of your achievements.

HPPA Mandarin Speeches

We are very proud of Cavan who represented our school in the HPPA Mandarin speeches on Thursday. Cavan presented himself with pride and delivered his speech, in Mandarin, confidently.
While Cavan didn’t place in the first three we are still incredibly proud of him and thank him for representing us so well.

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.

We love to use our library space to showcase children’s work from around the school.

Room 21 artwork inspired by NZ photographer Adam Popovic

Room 19 artwork inspired by artist Jackson Pollock

Poetry by Emily Hunter 

Descriptive writing by Chloe Ly and Nathan Feng 

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Summer Hockey is here!

Entries close Wednesday 23^rd October.

Macleans College is excited to host Summer six-a-side hockey for Primary -School and Intermediate School aged students.
Ideal for school teams, a group of friends or hockey teams who are looking for a social hockey competition over summer!

Grades

Intermediate School Grade
For players who attend intermediate school in 2024. Mixed teams (boys and girls)

Primary School Grade
For players who are in year 5 or 6 in primary school in 2024. Mixed teams (boys and girls)

Competition Dates
Term 4 2024: Wednesdays, starting 30th October – 11th December (7 weeks of competition)

Game times between 4pm and 6pm
Venue: Macleans College Hockey turf (Oliver Road)

$300 per team (min 6 in a team, max 10)

The nitty gritties

– 6- a -side mixed teams (team size max 10 players)
– Playing on 1/3 of a turf
– Games will consist of two 15-minute halves

To REGISTER a team please fill out the form below, we will send you a confirmation email.

Entry fees to be paid to ASB 12-3089-0341410-00

Registration Link : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScundsN_rtEyQvRVG5bWt8MlE03tdvy4f5tcxOsaui6j1QyEw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Use SUMMER HOCKEY and your team’s name as reference

For more information, please contact Margie or Liz at [email protected]

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