Tālofa, Kia Ora, Ni Hao, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Malo e lelei, Kia Orana, and Bula Vinaka Whānau,

Term 3 has definitely started with a bang hasn’t it. What a week Week 2 was! So many things to celebrate. The holidays seem but a blur…

My thanks to you all for supporting the students in getting back into school mode and to those of you that attended our conferences last night. It was great to hear so many positive comments about the huge amount of work our teachers and students have put in to make this reporting process simpler and easier for everyone to understand.

Everyone will be pleased to welcome Mrs Campbell back next week. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Acting Principal and thank you all for your support of me while I carried out this role. We have a great school with a hugely supportive teaching staff and community and it is a privilege to be a part of it. I am sure Mrs Campbell will be so proud of us all. 

This Sunday in the gospel, as we continue to traverse Ordinary time, Jesus’s disciples ask Jesus how to pray. Jesus goes on to teach the disciples how to say the Lord’s prayer. He explains to His disciples that God will not desert you nor turn away when you ask for things. God is our constant companion. We all need to develop a relationship with Him that will empower us to be the best we can be. Spending time in conversational prayer and treating Jesus like our friend who supports us when we are troubled, worried or nervous about something or celebrates with us when we are successful helps us develop that kind of relationship with Jesus. This week’s family challenge is to spend time, as a family, in conversational prayer with our Lord. Come to know him as your best friend who loves you, faults and all.  Follow this link to read and discuss the messages within your family.

Book Week 

What a hit this was. Our Parade on Monday was fantastic. What an array of costumes! Thank you to all the parents that supported by helping your child come up with a creative costume to wear. Thanks too to those parents and community members who made it along to the parade – it was great to have you there. 

Mrs Bell and her team have once again done a great job of organising Book Week. The children have been involved in many activities during the week including our visiting author, Mrs Leonie Agnew, a bookmark competition, pop up lunch time libraries and teacher reading swaps to other classes to read books. Thank you to the parents who have visited and purchased books from the Book Fair. We hope you enjoy reading these with your children.

This week we have had the Curriculum Insights team in school conducting assessments with some selected Year 3 and 6 students. The primary goal of Curriculum Insights is to track student progress in the New Zealand Curriculum and provide dependable information to policymakers, curriculum specialists, and educators. Our students and teachers were asked to share their opinions and knowledge in the Arts and Technology curriculums. The assessments aim to provide valuable insights into student achievement and identify trends in educational performance, ultimately informing improvements in teaching and learning.

Cross Country: We were so lucky with the weather this week which allowed us to run our annual cross country event. It is always a pleasure to see the faces of the students as they aim to complete the course and better themselves. Running is not for everyone but taking part in corporate events is. Our House Leaders did an awesome job of leading their Houses in their chants and managing the students to ensure they made it to their race on time. The behaviour of the students and the support given to all students by each other was admirable. We are very proud of all of our students. Special thanks to Mrs Thorpe for organising the day. We look forward to seeing how our top senior runners do at the Interschool Cross country which will be held early in August.

Over the last two weeks our senior boys have competed in an HPPA interschool football competition. They were ably coached and supported on the days by Mrs Elder and Mr Campbell. The boys played well as a team on both days, reflecting our school values and showing personal responsibility and self management. We are very proud to announce that the team came third in their pool which placed them amongst the top ten schools. Our sincere thanks to the parents who supported with transport and cheered the boys on from the sideline.

Grandparents Liturgy: Once again it was lovely to see so many grandparents and people who act as grandparents attend our liturgy celebrating the Feast of Sts Anne and Joachim today and then taking the time to tour the school, visit the Book Fair and visit classrooms with their grandchildren. Grandparents play a very special part in our lives and offer time, wisdom and understanding to grandchildren. Thank you to those ‘grandparents’ who were able to join us for this special occasion.

Looking forward: There will be a Family Mass at our parish church this Sunday at 5.30pm. Class photos will be taken on Tuesday 29 July. At the same time individual photos will be taken and also some of the teams. On Wednesday 30 July the rest of the sports teams, leadership responsibilities and family sibling photos will be taken. You should have received a form to indicate if you would like a sibling photo. Only students who return a form will have their family/sibling photos taken. Please ensure on both days all students are wearing correct, clean school uniform inclusive of a school jersey. 

There is a Board meeting on the 29th of July at 6.30pm in the staffroom. If you are considering standing for the Board you may like to pop along and see what it is all about. There will be a mufti day on Friday 1st August. This will be to create a supply of chocolate for our Chocolate Trailer at the Twilight Market. Students can wear their home clothes in return for a King Size block of chocolate or a gold coin which will be used to buy chocolate. The HPPA Cross Country will be happening on the 5th of August in the afternoon and our Senior Choir will be attending the Kids Sing Festival at Holy Trinity Cathedral also on the 5th of August. Our first ICAS exam will be happening on the 7th of August.

Have a safe and happy fortnight. Stay warm and enjoy the sun whenever it appears.

Arohanui, Tōfa soifua, ‘Ofa lahi atu, Zhù hǎo, Cordialement, Loloma levu, Fakaue lahi, 안부 인사를 전합니다 

Karen Noble-Campbell
Acting Tumuaki/Principal

                                                                          JUBILEE YEAR OF HOPE
Christian hope has its origin in the hope of the chosen people of God and the hope of Abraham. ‘Hoping against hope, he believed, and so became the Father of many nations.’       (CCC 1819, Romans 4:18)

A special cross has been created for our school, using the cross from the Jubilee Year of Hope’s logo as inspiration. Each class will host the cross and use it as a focal point for their morning prayer over the year. Before the cross moves to another room, the class will write on the taonga either a small prayer, a thought or words of hope. We thank Bob Yandell for creating this taonga for us.                                                                     

Encounter with Christ:
Around 38 of our young learners will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Friday 7th August and their First Holy Communion over the weekend of the 8/9th of August. Please keep them in your prayers. We congratulate these young ones as they reach another milestone in their faith journey.
A great celebration for them and for our parish school community.

The Feast of Sts Anne and Joachim, Our Lady’s parents, was celebrated today. The Church remembers it as the feast of grandparents.  Many of our school grandparents joined us today for a liturgy, followed by spending time in the classrooms with their grandchildren, creating memories and sharing the joy of learning. Thank you to everyone who made this day so special. 

Growth in Knowledge:
The Religious Education focus this term is Te Rongopai – Good News. The aim of this theme is for Young people to 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, within the Catholic Tradition and for human society today. The whānau page for this term’s learning with suggestions of ways to help your child and home have been sent home via Seesaw. Please continue to spark conversations with your child/children about their RE learning and the taonga of our faith. 

Christian Witness:
A big shout out goes to our Liturgy team who have been helping the staff in the Parish Office, based at school, by folding the parish newsletters every week. A simple gesture of service which has been hugely helpful.

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

Nominations are now open for FIVE parent representatives on our school Board.  All eligible voters have been emailed a nomination form and cover letter.  If you have not received an email, you can check with the school office that your name is on the electoral roll.  Nominations close 12noon on Wednesday 6th August.  Further nomination forms are available at the school office.

Statements have been emailed last week.  Term 3 payments are due by 1st September.  If you wish to apply for assistance or speak in confidence regarding your account and payments, please contact Sue Yandell on [email protected]

Welcome back! We hope you all had a restful and fun break.

A big thank you to our amazing volunteers who helped make Book Week such a success – we couldn’t have done it without you!

We’ve now kicked off the Math-a-thon – we hope your children are enjoying the challenge and gaining some great learning along the way. Payment can be made directly into the Parent Committee Bank Account – Star of the Sea PTA 12-3011-0760201-001

Hotdog Lunch – 19 August
Orders open 1 August on our website: www.olsos-pta.co.nz
Final day to order: 17 August – don’t miss out!

Santa Parade
We’re on the lookout for helpers to support our walking float in the Howick Santa Parade. If you can assist with planning, costumes or banner painting, please get in touch at [email protected].

Next PTA Meeting – New Date! 11th August, 7pm in the staff room
Everyone is welcome – come along and get involved!

Thanks as always for supporting our school community!

Sibling/Family Photos – Wednesday 30 July

If you have siblings not attending our school and you would like them to be included in the sibling photo, please bring them at 8.30am. Please ensure that you bring your completed form on the day.

SENIOR TEAM PRODUCTION

Music success:

We are excited to share the recent success of a very talented Year 6 student, Bayan. Bayan has a talent for playing the cello. Earlier in the year Bayan was selected to play his cello at Merkin Hall in America. From this performance Bayan was selected as the only student from New Zealand to attend the prestigious Heifetz International Music Institute Summer Programme in the United States. 

Bayan successfully completed a solo performance on July 5 and a quartet performance on July 12. 

On his return to New Zealand Bayan competed in the South Auckland Performing Arts Competition Society (SAPACS) held on July 19, and won the overall championship in the 9-10 age group in the Primary School String Championship, and the SAPACS 2025 Instrumental Competition Trophy.

We are very proud of Bayan and his success and look forward to hearing his talent when he plays for us at the Star of the Sea Idol on the 15th of August. Congratulations Bayan.

Wishing Georjia all the best:

Georjia, a very talented Year 5 BMX rider, has headed off to Denmark to represent New Zealand in the World BMX championships. Georjia has a skill and talent that is to be admired. She puts in hours of training and shows huge dedication to the sport. Georjia will be riding against 72 other riders from all over the World including countries like Estonia, Slovakia and Latvia. ​​

We will watch Georjia’s progress with interest and update our community on her success as it comes to hand. 

Cross Country

A big congratulations to all students who ran in our Cross Country event on Wednesday. God definitely answered our prayers as we awoke to a frosty morning which turned into a lovely sunny day. All of our children competed with resilience, courage and determination and we are very proud of each and every one of them. Thank you to all whanau who came to support.

Well done to the following children who placed in the top 3 in their year level: 

Book Week

What a wonderful week we’ve had celebrating books and authors!

The thought and creativity that went into book character costumes was amazing and we had so much fun at the parade on Monday.

We loved all the fun activities, quizzes, competitions and the visit by author Leonie Agnew. The beautiful sunshine was perfect for our pop up libraries around the school every lunchtime, which the student librarians organised.

Thanks so much to everyone who came along to the Scholastic Book Fair and made a purchase. Your support means we will earn reward points to buy more books for the school.

Thank you also to the amazing team of parent helpers who helped with book sales.

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Safety at the School Gate

We understand that the traffic congestion outside schools in the morning and afternoon peak times is very frustrating. Not only that, but illegal parking puts our children at risk.

While the current Safety at the School Gate programme has short term impact when Parking Officers are present, we need to create long term behaviour change that improves the safety for all road users.

This video reminds parents of the “Nice Karen” way to behave at the school gate to avoid getting a fine. Karen shows some good driver behaviours we’d like to see more of at school pick up and drop off times.

To make school zones safer, don’t:

• park across driveways
• let kids run across the road
• stop in the middle of the road
• park on yellow lines
• be rude to AT parking officers.

Let’s make our roads safer one nice drop-off at a time.

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