FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Families

Last term we had our Catholic Special Character External Review. We have now received the confirmed report and it is our pleasure to share the summary with you.

Philip Mahoney (Manager, Catholic Education Services), wrote in his letter accompanying the report. “Congratulations to the Board of Trustees, staff and community on the fine standards of Catholic Special Character evident at our Lady Star of the Sea School Howick”

The report conclusion:

Our Lady Star of the Sea School has successfully worked through the past three years of transition with a new Principal and Senior Leadership Team, changes in Parish Priest, Board of Trustees members and staff. The proud history and the idea of “standing on the shoulders of those who went before” is a strength of the school and has not been lost in the changes.

The school’s leadership, committed staff, strong connection with the Parish and supportive families, provide a nurturing environment for children who love coming to school. They focus on the whole child, spiritually, emotionally, physically, culturally and academically. The students at Our Lady Star of the Sea School are encouraged to strive for excellence.

The senior students interviewed by the reviewers were living testament that the school is achieving what the community aspires to in their Vision Statement. The school provides many opportunities for each child to have a genuine and ongoing encounter with Christ, to grow in knowledge and understanding of Christ’s teaching and to live a life of Christian witness within the Catholic Church

At the end of this term we farewell two long serving, dedicated staff members   Mrs Sandra Taylor and Mrs Karen Vernon.  They have both contributed enormously to our students and our school. We wish them both good health and happiness in their future endeavours and many years of enjoyable retirement.

We also farewell and thank Mrs Cara Popping who has been teaching in Room One over the last two terms. We wish her all the best.

As part of our emergency planning and response work with Harrison Tew, from the beginning of Term 3 we are going to lock the back gates to our school from 9.30 a.m. – 2.15 pm each school day. This will help with ensuring that people who visit our school will come to the front entrance as our sign in tab is located at the front office. We are required to know who is onsite during the school day.

Thank you to all the families for your support over this term. We wish you a fun and relaxed holiday with your children.

We look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 23 July, ready for an exciting Term 3.

Ngā mihi nui

Sue Kubala

Acting Principal

DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES (DRS) REPORT

Holy Spirit may my heart be open to the Word of God,

may my heart be open to good,

may my heart be open to the beauty of God, every day

                                                                                                                ~Pope Francis

Half a year has gone. The shortest day is passed. We look towards the second half of the year in anticipation, in hope and with joy. Joy in the promise that spring will come, the cold weather will finish, that summer will arrive. It’s easy to wish away our lives, looking ahead to what might be or is to come. Schools are fabulous at doing this as we count the year away in terms, in weeks and in days. In the business of daily life it is easy to overlook the beauty in our lives, the everyday blessings be they big or small.  Over the break, point out to your child the many beautiful things that they experience every day, whether it be the whisper of the wind or a smile from the heart. See how that can bring JOY into their lives and yours.

Being Catholic is a way of life. It is inherent in everything we do – in our actions, our words, and in our relationships with others. We are called to love God and our neighbours as we do ourselves in our everyday lives.     
Again, thanks for your generosity with supporting the parish foodbank and the Jammies in June appeal. Your kindness has helped to bring JOY into someone else’s life.

Mea ana te atawhai haere mai i runga i te aroha me te awhi

Mercy invites us to love and to care

Prayer intention:

That each one of us has the courage to pause and reach out to someone in need,

be it physically, socially, emotionally or spiritually.

Detta Fairweather
DRS

BOT REPORT

Nau mai, haere mai.

Your Board of Trustees met for the second time this term last Tuesday evening.  We were pleased to receive a report from Jane McKay, Jan Botherway and Shanley Gamble (from the Ministry of the Education), on our Excellent English as a Second Language (ESOL) programme and a mid-year report on our students’ progress. The government has removed the requirement for our school to assess children’s progress against national standards in reading, writing and maths but has not developed an alternative reporting framework. In the absence of this our school has elected to report on student progress against curriculum levels and you would have seen this change in your children’s latest reports or will see it in your children’s next report (if your child was not due for a mid-year report). Your Board is very pleased with the progress that all our children are making this year.

In our last Board notes we let you know that we had given approval to the creation of a loose parts shed for our lower court near the sandspit subject to Catholic Schools Office approval. The Catholic Schools Office property manager, Michele Elsmore, visited our school last week to discuss our proposal and we are pleased to announce that we have received approval and are now arranging for construction to take place.

Finally, your Board has also re-advertised the principal’s position in the Gazette. The advertisement went live online on 15 June 2018 and appeared in the printed Gazette last Friday 29 June 2018. We have posted a copy of our advertisement on our website which you can access below

Our Lady Star of the Sea School Principal Advertisement (1)

Our next Board meeting will be held in the staffroom at 6:30p.m. on Tuesday 28 August 2018. You are all very welcome to attend. I will report on our meeting in my next Board report.

We wish you all a safe and happy holiday and look forward to seeing you all back in term three.

Atua e manaaki.

Stephen McKenzie

Chair on behalf of your Board of Trustees

Late to School

If you are held up and late for school please bring your child to the office first to sign in and then go to the classroom. After signing in, a slip is printed and the slip is required to be taken to the class teacher.

NEWS FROM THE CLASSROOM

Basketball

Whoosh! The ball swooshed straight into grasp of my red and sweaty hands. I  snatched the ball hard and started to dribble the solid ball up and down. My shoes made squeaking noises every time I stepped down. I approached the round hoop. Suddenly, the ball slipped out from my grasp. Quickly, I spun around and raced back to retrieve the ball.  But when I turned around, I noticed that the ball had already been stolen by the opposing team. I sprinted like lightning back to my own side to prevent the ball from getting inside our hoop. I ran up to the player to try steal the ball from his premises. I extended my hand towards the ball trying not to hit the player or else it would be a foul. Luckily, I managed to take the ball off him. I ran up to the circular hoop and did a fine lay-up, the ball whirled around the rim. Everyone was watching and waiting to see if the ball would fall or go in. The ball fell inside the hoop and everyone cheered! We had won the game!

by Wesley Lau and Aaron Santoso

NEWS FROM OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

WRITER’S QUIZ
We are very pleased to acknowledge the wonderful effort and results of our Writers Quiz teams at the annual Writers Quiz competition held at Baverstock Oaks School last Wednesday.

Twenty eight teams from local schools were tested on their knowledge of 16 books written by NZ authors.

Mrs Bell and Mrs McKay did a lot of work with the students this term, helping them form good questions, look for clues in the text and remember facts about each book read.

Both of our teams each had an excellent round where they scored a perfect 8/8 for the round.

Congratulations to the following students for representing our school with pride:

Raoul Mascarenhas, Simon Smith, Jordan Yang – placed 7th equal

Lucy Street, Joy Gao, Joshua Rhee – place 14th

Reserves:   Preston Tee, Wesley Lau

A huge thank you to Mrs Bell and Mrs McKay for their efforts preparing the team.

HPPA Choir Festival

A group of 56 Year 5 and 6 students represented us at the HPPA Choir Festival held at Somerville Intermediate on the 27th and 28th of June. Mrs Vernon worked very hard with these students to prepare them for the festival and they certainly showed their talents and skills on the night. It was lovely to see them expressing themselves through song and holding their parts in the massed choir sets. Thank you to Mrs Vernon for all her preparation work and congratulations to each and every student for representing Star of the Sea so well on the night.

It is everyone’s responsibility to keep our kid’s safe

Keep our children safe … and park safe.

Please play your part by:

• Always observe the parking restrictions near the school
• Always use the school patrol crossing
• Choose safety over convenience at all times
• Walk with your child, or join a Walking School Bus

Safety Belts Save Lives

Always buckle up, front and back.

Children need to be in an appropriate child restraint for their age and size                www.childrestraints.co.nz

 PTA NEWS

KNOWLEDGEATHON MONEY

Thank you to all those who have supported our current PTA fundraiser – ‘Knowledgeathon’.

If you have not already sent your Knowledgeathon money with your child or paid online could it be sent  immediately.

Monies can now be banked into our school bank account 12 3132 0058312 04.

Please write your child’s name and room number and ‘Athon’ as the references.

With thanks

PTA 

GALA

Our school Gala will be on Saturday 3 November 10 a.m. – 2p.m.   A general information sheet will come home with your child today outlining the weekly donations and other important information.

The donation containers will be open every Friday in Term 3 from 2.15 – 3.15 p.m. and also specific weekend dates in October and November.   please DO NOT take items to the school office or leave outside the container as they may get damaged by the weather.  Please watch for further information to be announced on school links and Facebook.

 SPORTS RESULTS  –  INTERSCHOOL

RUGBY

Star of the Sea  40  vs  Shelly Park 14  (under 35 kgs)

Star of the Sea  97  vs  Sunnyhills 0

NETBALL

J1 (Stars)

Star of the Sea 13  vs  Pigeon Mountain 1

Star of the Sea 18  vs  Howick Primary 2

J2 (Stars)

Star of the Sea 23  vs  Cockle Bay 0

FOOTBALL

Star of the Sea 0 vs Pigeon Mountain 1

Star of the Sea 1  vs  Wakaaranga  6

Star of the Sea 3   vs  Owairoa 2

GIRLS FOOTBALL

Star of the Sea vs Beachlands Primary School.

Beachlands won 4-1 but a brave effort by every player and a lot of learning to take to our next game.

Go Girls football!

REMINDERS

Friendly Reminders

Please be courteous to all when you are dropping your child off or picking them up after school.  We have been disappointed to hear that not everyone is showing respect to other parents. We all need to be good role models and at our school we do this through our shared values of Service, Respect, Courage, Resilience and Justice

If your child is absent from school for any reason you must either complete an online report an absence form or phone the office and leave a message or use the school website ‘Absence’ line. Please leave a specific reason for the absence i.e. if the child is sick please specify the sickness e.g. cold, vomiting etc. If the child is absent from school due to sickness for more than three days, a medical certificate is required. For any holiday or overseas travel please email our Acting Principal Mrs Sue Kubala at [email protected]

Car parking
Please be considerate when street parking near the school. We have received complaints from neighbours regarding parking across driveways.

Lunches
When ordering online please make sure your child’s order has the correct room number as  a few lunches have gone to incorrect rooms.

Lost Property
The lost property cupboard is by Room 1 entrance. You are welcome to check this at any time as it is open all day.

Uniform shop
Open every Thursday 8.30 – 9.00 a.m. and 2.30-3 p.m. (during school term)

Bizzybodz
Before and Afterschool care – 021837977 for bookings

New Lunch Menu Update – Tuckshop
For our updated Lunch Menu for the tuck shop. Please see ‘LUNCHES’ under the Parent Information tab on website.  There will no longer be SUSHI due to lack of orders.

HELPING HANDS

Helping Hands has been part of Our Lady Star of the Sea’s culture for quite some time.  It is where our school community comes together to help those in stressful situations i.e. a parent or grand parent being very ill, a family bereavement or a new born baby to the family.

We would like those in need to know we care!  If you would like to be a part of this wonderful group of caring people who are called upon once or twice a year to either make a meal, bake a cake, transport children to/from school or utilise your gardening skills please fill out the form (click the word ‘form’) and return to the office.   Please add your contact number.

As we all know – “we are in this together”.

If we can assist your family or if you hear of any family in our school community please let the office know.

Thank you

Helping Hands Team

ENTERTAINMENT BOOK

Support Our Lady Star of the Sea School and you’ll be rewarded!

We are raising funds for our School and you can help. Order the NEW 2018 | 2019 Entertainment Book or Entertainment Digital Membership and you will receive hundreds of valuable offers for everything you love to do, and you will also be supporting our School.

SUPPORT US NOW BY CLICKING HERE

COMMUNITY NOTICES 

SEASONS FOR GROWTH

Companion Training Workshop

Seasons for Growth is a peer support program which assists people of all ages to understand and manage the changes they experience when a significant loss occurs.  We are looking for volunteer Companions (adult facilitators) who would be willing to assist in the delivery of this program in schools and the community.

A 2-day Companion Workshop will be held on Tuesday 17^th and Wednesday, 18^th July, 2018

at               St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby

                    10.00 ~ 4.00pm   (morning tea will be provided)

REGISTRATION IS ESSENTIAL      by Friday, 13^th July     

To register or find out more about this program,

contact:     Delia  09-360 3027,    or         [email protected]

www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/religious-education/seasons-for-growth/

Supporting Your Child Following Separation and Divorce

This programme was developed to meet the needs of parents supporting children and young people through family change and loss.

It provides parents with an opportunity to  :-

• better understand the experience of separation and divorce from a child’s perspective

• explore ideas and strategies that they may wish to consider as they support their children transition through family change

Date                Saturday, 4^th August

Venue             Saint Columba Centre

40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby

10.00-3.00pm

REGISTRATION IS ESSENTIAL  by Wednesday, 1^st August      

To register or find out more about this program,

contact:    Delia    09-360 3027   or    [email protected]

www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/religious-education/seasons-for-growth/

DOVE RETREAT  27-29 JULY 

Come away to be refreshed, renewed & restored 

Dove Catholic Fellowship for Women National team is delighted to invite all women to a retreat weekend with special guest speakers Wilma Conroy and Anne Claessens.

Theme: “Harvest” Come and enjoy your personal harvest

Venue:  Willow Park Christian Camp, Eastern Beach, Auckland

To Register online (or download a Registration Form) visit www.dove.org.nz.
For further information contact Shona Williams 07 543 0101 or email [email protected]     OR   CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE FURTHER DETAILS AND BOOKING FORM

DOVE CATHOLIC FELLOWSHIP FOR WOMEN RETREAT 27 – 29 July 2018 www.dove.org.nz Willow Park Christian Camp, 1 Hostel Access Road, Eastern Beach, AucklandJuly 2018 Harvest Retreat 

      www.kidactive.co.nz

Pukekohe Raceway KIDS OBSTACLE DUATHLON

                           Tuesday 25^th September, 2018 

• Duathlon – Run, Bike & Obstacle Course Run
• Compete individually or in 2-person team
• Year 3 – 8 students

Enter online:  www.bsgevents.co.nz

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