Dear Families,

Welcome to our final newsletter of 2022 as we rapidly approach the end of our school year.

Parish Connect It was a joy to celebrate Mass with Fr John on the weekend following his return from his 3 month sabbatical in Rome. As part of his homily on Sunday Fr John shared his experience of being in Edinborough and London when the Queen passed away and how the strong faith of the Queen was front and centre in the celebration of her life of service… and we haven’t even got to any stories or learnings from Rome yet! I am very much looking forward to subsequent Sunday Mass homilies as Fr John shares his learning, stories and reflections related to his time in Rome with us.  This Sunday we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent. We will see the pink advent candle lit – the candle that symbolises joy as we get closer to the celebration of the Birth of Jesus at Christmas.
Please click here to see this Sunday’s Readings.

2022 Prizegiving Last night we celebrated our 2022 Prizegiving. I wish to thank Detta Fairweather and Karen Noble Campbell for their superb organisation and to all families who attended this special end of year event. Congratulations to those students who received an acknowledgment of their efforts this year. I am sure you will agree the musicians, singing and Nativity combined to make the occasion even more special. See the list of recipients published in the back of our 2022 magazine which will be coming home shortly.

Year 6 Leavers Masquerade Disco As part of the special events in the final weeks at school for our Year 6 leavers, last Friday our Student Council, alongside our Class Teachers, Team Lead and Deputy Principal Year 4 – 6 organised a Year 6 disco.  Our Year 6 leavers had a great time celebrating their time together as OLSOS students.

Interschool Athletics. On Monday of this week our Athletics Team represented us at the HPPA Interschool Athletics. Congraulations to all our competitors for the amazing behavior and sportsmanship demonstrated. Congratulations to those who competed strongly obtaining placings in the different events. See later in our newsletter for results and photos of the day.

Looking Back In the last fortnight, great additional, hands-on experiences have brought fun and colour to the learning experiences of our students. Last Wednesday students represented us in the Weetbix Triathlon. Our final, fabulous PTA Sausage Sizzle was also a big hit. Yesterday we hosted our Orientation Morning for families new to our school next year. It is with pride that our senior students spoke about their time at Our Lady Star of the Sea and showed families around our fabulous place.

Looking Ahead we have our Year 6 Leavers Evening on Monday 12th December for families of children who are graduating out of Year 6 this year. Our Junior Athletics fun day is on Tuesday. Our End of Year Mass at our Parish Church is at 11am on Wednesday 14th December. Team End of Year Outings are the following day, with School closing at midday on Friday 16th December. 

Staffing Update Further to the update in last fortnight’s newsletter, at the end of this year we also bid farewell to Kendall Evans. Kendall has worked at Our Lady Star of the Sea for the past four years. We wish her well as she takes time to enjoy being Mum to her young family.

End of Year Reports Next week you will be notified when your child/ren’s end of year report is available on the parent portal.

2023 Classes Next week you will also be notified via email of your child/ren’s classroom and class teacher for 2023. In the week before school reopens for 2023, (from January 25th 2023) class lists will be posted on the windows of each classroom. You are welcome to bring your child/ren up to school to reconnect with the environment and view these lists at that time.

To all families, wishing you a fabulous final week of school, a happy and holy Christmas and a glorious, safe and restful summer break.

Be safe and God bless.

Ngā mihi nui and cǐ zhì jìng lǐ,

Louise Campbell
Principal

Christmas is fast approaching. We are heading into the third week of Advent when the rose coloured candle, the candle of Joy is lit. This candle reminds us of the JOY and the excitement we feel as we move closer and closer to Christmas, the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Yet in our Catholic traditions, Christmas is more than one day. It is a season which starts with the vigil Mass on Christmas eve and goes through to the Feast of the Epiphany, traditionally January 6, when we mark the arrival of the three Kings. Christmas Day begins the story of God’s love for us all through the gift of Jesus. There are many ways we prepare for Christmas.  Please mark the timetables below into your family schedule.

Sacrament of Reconciliation Rite II for Christmas:

Thursday 15 September, 7pm at St Mark’s church.

Christmas Masses timetable for our parish:

Christmas Eve 6:30pm and Midnight

Christmas Day 9am

Our parish Saint Vincent de Paul group is calling for donations of $10 – $20 gift vouchers from KMart or the Warehouse. This collection is in place of the annual toy drive and will be included in the food parcels that are given out before Christmas. Please consider donating one or two vouchers as a family Advent action. Your child can give them to their class teacher. All voucher donations received at school will be brought forward during the offertory procession at our end of year Mass of thanksgiving.

This Sunday, the youth of the parish will lead the 5:30pm Mass. Afterwards the youth group will meet in the parish centre. Students who are 11 years old are welcome to join. The youth group has many fun activities planned for the summer of ‘23.

Our End of Year school Mass will be celebrated 11am Wednesday 14 December in our parish church. At this Mass we will acknowledge our student leavers and all those who have helped to ensure our school has had another successful year. You are all welcome to join.

Kia hari koa, ka uru tera wairua ki tena ki tena 

Be cheerful and happy, generating life in those around you

Prayer Intention: We pray that during the Advent season we prepare to receive Jesus and share His love with all we meet.

Season’s Greetings to all OLSOS friends and whanau,

I’m Sharon Yeh and I have the honour of being a parent representative on your Board.

On behalf of your Board, I would like to extend our best wishes to all the families moving on to other schools at the end of the school year. We also extend special thanks to the Staff for upholding the learning, nurturing and development of all our children and their continued dedication to supporting families throughout our community during the year.

Thank you to everyone who attended the School Prize Giving at Sancta Maria College last night.  It was wonderful to see families celebrating the achievements of our students in person, rather than via YouTube (which we did last year!).

You may be aware that the Boards’ Presiding Member, Vaughan Fraser is stepping down from the Chair position at the end of 2022.  On behalf of your Board, I would also like to reiterate the sentiment shared at last night’s Prize Giving, in showing gratitude and thanks to Vaughan for his service to the OLSOS school and community.

“Dear OLSOS community, this will be the last contribution I make as a Board member. It has been an incredible 4 years supporting the school through the Board role. I have had the honor to spend this time with a great group of people over 2 Boards (Board Members, Teachers, Support Staff, Admin, Students, Parents & wider community members). This role has allowed me to celebrate some great things while Chair (COLA Blessing, sports days, Galas, Student Achievements & end of year assemblies), as well as some wins for the school (strong ERO review that was celebrated by the Education Minister, the COLA has been completed & the new mud kitchen upgrade which will be done this Christmas break to name a few) as well. I have learned more from my fellow Board Members (past & Present) than I feel I have contributed as Board Chair, so thanks Team you are awesome. Thanks also to Louise Campbell for the support & guidance throughout my time. The Board is in a great space, so as I step out, I know it will continue to support and govern. Have a safe & great Holidays. Cheers Vaughan”.

Looking ahead to 2023, our school alongside our Parish will be celebrating our 175 year anniversary.  Fr Garin established the Parish and School in 1848, making Our Lady Star of the Sea School and Parish one of the oldest in New Zealand.   We are looking forward to this milestone and hope you will join us in the events planned for next year.

Wishing all our families a very safe and Happy Christmas!

Sharon Yeh

Interschool Athletics

It was wonderful to be able to attend the HPPA Interschool athletics on Monday after it was postponed in late November.
We took along 39 fabulous athletes who represented the school with pride. We were able to take away a number of certificates on the day which we are very proud of.

Results that gained a certificate:

Tamia Tavita Falesiu –
1st place 70m Champs 9 year old girls sprints
1st place 100m Champs 9 year old girls sprints
1st place 9 year old girls Long Jump

Callum Lee –
2nd place 70m Age 8 Year old boys sprints
2nd place 100m Age 8 year old boys sprints

Ruby Burnnand –
3rd place 11 year old girls Long Jump

James Baker –
1st place 9 year old boys High Jump

Isabella Dellabarca –
3rd place 70m Age 9 year old girls sprints

Stella Wakefield –
1st place 100m Age 9 year old girls sprints
3rd place 9 year old girls High Jump

Xavier Grant –
1st place 9 year old boys Softball Throw

Tyler Jina –
3rd place 9 year old boys Long Jump

Luke McLaughlin –
2nd place 70m Champs 10 year old boys sprints
2nd place 100m Champs 10 year old boys sprints

Luke Yu –
2nd place 70 m Champs 8 year old boys sprints

Isaiah Arthur –
3rd place 100m Champs 8 year old boys sprints

Ahlizah-Jae Mu –
3rd place 11 year old girls Softball Throw

Holly Li, Kara Chaytor, Isobella Evans, Tamia Tavita -Falesiu
3rd place 9 years and under girls relay

Congratulations to all our athletes and a special thanks to Mrs Harvey and the supporting parents who helped manage the team on the day. Thank you also to our amazing ex students Ben, Nico and Caleb who gave up their own time to support us with running events.

MUSIC LESSONS AT SCHOOL IN 2023

We are now accepting new enrolments for keyboard, guitar, and ukulele lessons at your school on THURSDAYS with for a Term 1 start (week commencing 7 February).

Term fees (based on a 10-week term): Individual lessons $400, Group lessons $175.

Complete our online enrolment form today at https://bit.ly/LEMSMusicLessons and begin your music journey with Lewis Eady Music School!

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.lewiseady.co.nz/music-school

Congratulations to five more students from Room 18 whose artwork has been published on ‘Poetry Box’ a NZ Poetry page for children.
Damon Wu, Leah Moukhtar, Annelise Nugraha, Cameron Lynch, and Zoe Mitchelmore illustrated ‘When we should plant’, a poem by Richard Langston.
Click here to see more.

Holiday Reading Challenge by Read NZ

Monday 12th December – Friday 13th January – for all children aged five and up

Here’s a great incentive to keep children reading over summer – lots of fun activities and the chance to win prizes!

Click here to find out more.

Bizzy Bodz Holiday programme

We are super excited to announce that our January school holiday programme based at Star of the Sea is now live and bookable for families via Aimy Plus.

Please see the link below to our Star of the Sea Holiday brochure.

Star of the Sea January 2023

Bizzy Bodz will be running a programme based at Star of the Sea School from 12pm-3pm on the last day of term 16th December 2022.

Before and aftercare will run as normal.

To book for the 12pm-3pm session on the last day of term, you can find this under “special day” via their Aimyplus profiles.

2023 stationery is now available online – myschool.co.nz