No 18 8 November 2019

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Families,

Welcome to our second newsletter of Term 4.

It is quite delightful that there seems to be a real change in the weather bringing us warm, still days… here’s hoping this continues into the summer holiday period!

The month of November began with All Saints Day (which we celebrated on Friday with a beautiful Mass) and then All Souls Day the next day. November is the month that we remember all those who have gone before us. At our Mass on Friday, at Assembly on Monday and throughout November we will have our special book of remembrance on display, containing the names of loved ones who we pray for especially in November. Take a look later in our newsletter under our Director of Religious Studies section for details of how you can add the name of a loved one to this book, so we can add them to our prayers.

On Sunday we were delighted to support 12 children from our school community in their Baptism at 5.30pm Mass up at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish. The Mass was a lovely celebration, welcoming these students into the family of the Church as they received the first of four Sacraments of Initiation. We pray for them as they journey further in their relationship with God. Congratulations to Odin Chen and his little brother Elon, Isabella Cullen, Emily Hunter, Jack Hunter, Tyler Jina and his little brother Cooper, Kayden Ng, Zoe Ng, Chloe Ting, Elise Ting and Leila Hifo.

Follow this link to see the readings for this Sunday’s Mass.

ESOL Audit

Last Thursday the Ministry of Education audited our English Speakers of Other Languages Programme. The auditor spent the day working with our ESOL teacher Jane McKay and Detta Fairweather, discussing the programme we offer and viewing the evidence of the superb work that is done in our ESOL room. The verbal feedback was filled with nothing but praise for the programme, the relationships between teachers and students and systems in place to support our learners. We are delighted with the verbal feedback and look forward to sharing the written report once it arrives. I would like to congratulate Jane McKay and Jan Botherway for the fabulous work they do for our ESOL learners and for the hard work in preparation for such a successful audit. I would also like to thank Detta Fairweather for her support of the programme and her support on the day.

School Athletics

Yesterday we held our school Athletics Day. The sun shone and all events went smoothly. It was great to see so many smiling faces and happy students. Competition levels were high as students battled it out for the top spots. Thank you to all the parents who came and supported the teachers and students on the day. I would like to thank Kendall Evans for her organisation and the team for all of their hard work.

Staffing Update

As we approach the middle of our last term, we have set ourselves up for a successful end to our academic year and also have our sights set on preparation for 2020, which includes staffing. To this end, I would like to let you know that we will bid farewell to several teachers at the end of this year. We will bid farewell to Mrs Ruth Holt, and her amazing 23 years of service, Mrs Jill McClenaghan, having been with us for 5 years, Mrs Leanne Newlyn for 3 years and Mrs Shirley Johnston for 3 years. All four teachers have given tirelessly of themselves to our school community, enriching our community as a result, and have decided the time has come for new adventures. I know over the remaining 5 1/2 weeks of school this year you will join me in thanking them for their wonderful service to our community and wish them all of God’s blessings on their respective journeys.

The recruitment process has been undertaken to fulfil these positions and I am pleased to let you know that we are currently fully staffed for next year.

The Board of Trustees is currently undergoing the recruitment process for a new Deputy Principal to replace Mrs Sue Kubala, with Mrs Karen Noble Campbell doing a wonderful job acting in the role of Deputy Principal in the meantime. I hope to be able to share with you news of an appointment in upcoming newsletters.

Repaint Preparation Begins

Over the Christmas holidays, the Board of Trustees is going to begin the process of repainting. This will involve a colour change with the Board working extensively on a plan to ensure that the repaint is undertaken in a way that will transition to the new colour scheme in as seamless a way as possible over the next few years. You will soon notice a couple of test spots around our school, where new paint colours will be trialled.

ERO Review

We are very much looking forward to sharing with the Education Review Team from ERO’s Hamilton office, the journey of our school over the past 5 years since their last visit. Three reviewers will be with us for the week from Monday 18th November. They will be speaking with all stakeholders as part of their review as well as looking at our school systems and classroom programmes. They would like to speak with a group of parents as part of their review which will take place on Wednesday 20th November at 8.30am for those who wish to take part.

School Events in the Last Two Weeks

The last two weeks have been very busy ones with lots of additional activities and experiences for our learners. We were proud of our J1 netball team, Paige Beagley, Pania Henare, Leila Hifo, Tayla Kay, Kiarna Makoare, Amelia McKenzie, Siobhan O’Rourke,  who were presented the HPPA netball cup at assembly on Monday by the organisers from Baverstock Oaks Primary. Well done girls! We were also proud to congratulate Billy Jean and Layla who were presented with a certificate from the Fred Hollows foundation for the first annual Fred Hollows Humanity Awards.  The Humanity Awards celebrate outstanding young people in our communities who strive to make the world around them better.  A child who embodies the values of compassion, integrity and kindness.

Our Senior children and Middle children have begun their swimming lessons at Lloyd Elsmore Pool with our Juniors beginning at Lagoon Pool and Leisure Centre in just over a week. We have also had the first of several trips to Kelmarna Community Gardens in Herne Bay for our Middle team students as part of their curriculum focus on Action and Future this term.

There is plenty more on the go over the next 5 1/2 weeks which remain in our school year. Please continue to encourage your children to wear their correct summer school uniform (including hats) with pride and remind them, as we do, to drink lots of water as the days heat up.

Wishing you all a very happy, safe and blessed fortnight ahead.

Ngā mihi nui
Louise Campbell
Principal

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

November is the month of the Holy Souls.  Catholics around the world remember and pray for those who have died and are now in the arms of Jesus. During this month, our school Memorial book will be included in school and class liturgies, at appropriate times, to honour the memory of our loved ones.  Families who would like to have names entered into the school Memorial Book are welcome to click on the link below, complete the form and return it to the school office. https://www.starofthesea.school.nz/memorial-garden/ 

Through our school wide concept focus this term, students will come to understand …

‘the future is in our hands and, as our Catholic faith guides us, we can play our part to protect and enhance the world we live in to bring joy to others.’ 

Each class is unpacking this in different ways. Through the Religious Education programme, students will explore their responsibilities as Catholic christians and members of the Church. 

Over 60 of our young students are involved in the Sacramental Programme this year.  Congratulations to all involved. We look forward to celebrating the journey with you. Please keep these students in your prayers. Ultimately these children will receive the Sacraments of Initiation, but they will also gain a deeper understanding  of how they can be active members of the Church, today, and in the future. We are very fortunate to live in a country where it is okay to talk about our faith, to openly go to mass, to share prayer, to be active followers of Jesus. These are actions we should not take for granted. 

There are many opportunities for us all to be active followers of Jesus.  By supporting Caritas Gifts we can make a difference and bring joy to others. Caritas gifts allow you to make a donation on behalf of someone in your family or among your friends. It’s a way that you, as a gift giver, and the recipient can make a difference in the lives of someone who is struggling to overcome poverty. 

Click on the link for more info https://caritas.org.nz/get-involved/caritas-gifts

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 those who are not able to openly express their faith in Jesus our Lord, and give thanks that we may do so.

Detta Fairweather
DRS

BOT NEWS

Hello families, Kia whanau, Malo e lelei, Ni Hao, Talofa

I would like to start with a huge ‘WOW’ & thanks to all the students, Teachers, Support Staff & families that came to Athletics day, it is so good to see the sportsmanship & support that the OLSOS community shows each other.  What a fantastic day.

Please remember that as the heat & sun grows heading into summer that our children need to be covered, hydrated & sun blocked

Ma te atua koutou e manaaki, o koutou whanau

Vaughan Fraser

BOT Chairperson

PTA NEWS

• Sausage Sizzle    –     Thursday 21 November

• Year 5 & 6 :  PTA End of Year Fun Evening

• Art Calendars

Buying a House ?

If you are organising a home loan with ASB Bank, please let them know you are a friend of Our Lady Star of the Sea School.  For each home loan over $250,000, ASB will donate $500 to our school.

 

INFORMATION CENTRE

Super Smash Reading Challenge

Instead of Summer Reading bags this year, our big summer promotion is the Super Smash Reading Challenge.

It brings together two favourite Kiwi summer pastimes: cricket and reading.

Read NZ Te Pou Muramura (formerly NZ Book Council) has joined forces with New Zealand Cricket’s T20 summer tournament to get kids reading more books over the holidays.

The Super Smash Reading Challenge is a new interactive website. Primary and intermediate-aged children are invited to register for free and choose their local cricket team to ‘play’ for.

Players log the books they read over the summer, along with a star rating and short review. A leader board keeps track of the Super Smash teams as they move up and down the rankings accordingly.

Paper Plus gift cards are up for grabs every day of the T20 tournament. There are lots of other spot prizes on offer, including books and signed sports gear from NZC, along with double passes to games.

Find out more by clicking on the following links:

https://reading-challenge.org.nz/

https://www.read-nz.org/new-zealand-book-scene/nzbc-stories-details/kia-ora-and-welcome-to-the-super-smash-reading-challenge?pageNum=2

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT OUTSIDE SCHOOL

TOITOI JOURNAL 

Congratulations to our four Room 17 students who have had their art work accepted to be published in the Toitoi Journal 18 Term 1 2020.    Toitoi received over 1000 submissions for this journal and were absolutely delighted to inform us that they were publishing four of the amazing artworks we sent in. 

 

They are:

• Maui goes fishing – Ka haere a Maui ki te hi ika – by Toby Currie
• Maui is angry – Te pukuriri a Maui – by Ruby Burnnand 
• Maui jumps up – Ka peke ake a Maui! – by Ryan Tam
• Maui the trickster spies on his mother – Ka kimi a Maui i ana a Mama – by Emily Lazarte-Simic

Well done on achieving such a high standard of work.  The work is currently displayed in the information centre and the office hallway.

MY SON PINOCCHIO

Congratulations to Jade Howse (Year 5), Elise Wall and Rod Allen (Year 6) who have been accepted into the cast of ‘My Son Pinocchio’ production to be held at ASB Waterfront Theatre in December. This is a huge achievement, as over 250 children and young adults from all over Auckland auditioned to be part of the cast and only 126 were selected.  Well done on this wonderful achievement!

 

 

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