Kia Ora Families,

Welcome to our penultimate newsletter for Term 2, where we share news and celebrate the learning of our akonga. This newsletter will arrive in your inbox on Friday night as many of you will be enjoying our PTA disco in the hall. I wish to thank our PTA and the volunteers who have made a great school event such as this possible for our children.

Parish Connect This Sunday at 5.30pm is our Parish Family Mass where many of our young learners are fulfilling the various ministries during the Mass. At our last Family Mass three weeks ago, it was great to see school families in attendance, supporting our young Mass participants. This is a great opportunity to gather as a community of Catholics, sharing Mass together. It will be wonderful to see as many of our families there as possible .

Please follow this link to this Sunday’s readings.

Celebrating our 175th Jubilee as Parish and School As we head towards the extended weekend of celebrations between Friday 11th August and Tuesday 15th August, the 175th steering committee has been hard at work preparing further for the celebrations, a list of which you will find by following the link on our website ‘Celebrating 175 years of Catholic Education‘.  Next week we are looking forward to a team of volunteers who will begin the process of working through our school and parish archives to create a visual and digital timeline. This timeline will be on display in our hall on Friday 11th August when our children will have an ‘old fashioned’ day at school and in the evening where families are invited along to our hall for drinks and snacks to kick the weekend off in style! We are currently working on a commemorative teatowel design which will be for sale to mark this special year of celebrations. Our fabulous PTA are also working on a commemorative badge which will be a gift on our Feast Day on Tuesday 15th August for each of our children as a memento to mark this special year. 

Staffing News
At the end of this term we will be farewelling Mrs Ushanthi Leaver as full time classroom teacher in room 16. Ushanthi has worked at Our Lady Star of the Sea for the past 18 months and has made the tough decision to leave full time teaching for now. We have been so grateful for her energy and expertise and will miss her greatly. As a Mum with a young family, we wish her all of God’s love and blessings as she takes a step back from full time teaching to focus on home based needs.
It is my pleasure to introduce Mrs Ailsa Thorpe who will be taking over from Mrs Leaver beginning in Term 3. I know you will make her feel most welcome as she joins the Our Lady Star of the Sea family as a full time classroom teacher.
Here is a message from Ailsa:
Kia Ora. My name is Ailsa Thorpe and I am very excited to be the new classroom teacher of Room 16, following in the footsteps of the amazing Mrs Leaver. I have been teaching at Monte Cecilia Catholic School for the past 10 years and am looking forward to a new journey at Our Lady Star of the Sea. I have two daughters- Scarlett who is 5, and Adeline who is 2, with my husband Marcel. I have been so warmly welcomed into the Star of the Sea community, and look forward to meeting you all next term. 

Looking Back Our staff undertook much learning at our recent Teacher Only Day after Kings Birthday Monday. Alongside our Community of Learning (Kahui Ako) partner schools of Sancta Maria College, Sancta Maria Catholic Primary, St Marks Catholic School, Elim Christian College and KingsGate, expert speakers delivered key messages about growing resilience and wellbeing in our young learners. Our knitting club continues to meet on Wednesdays and will do so until the end of the term. We have a growing number of knitted squares that one of our expert Parish Grandmothers is busily sewing up into blankets for Middlemore hosptial; our Christian Witness Outreach activity for Term 2. It is great to sit with our young knitters (and old!) and hear our children explain that we are Jesus people, supporting those in need as this is what Jesus called us to do. Last Friday, it was great to see our school transformed into the Jarmie Army, with children and staff alike wearing their pajamas to school, we raised $670.00 to help purchase pajamas for those in need. This week has seen our teams take trips around significant local sites that are important to our local area as part of developing their understanding of our local stories as they build their connected curriculum learning this term. We are particularly proud of our two Chess Teams who placed strongly at the recent inter-schools Chess competition with particular mention of Team A who placed in the top 5 out of 50 competing teams – well done Team!!

Looking Ahead Next week we are excited to welcome the External Evaluation Team from the Catholic Diocese of Auckland who will be spending a few days reviewing our Catholic Special Character. This is a great chance for us to share all of the elements that makes Our Lady Star of the Sea the special Catholic school that it is. Read further details about events related to this that families are welcome to attend in our Director of Religious Studies section of this newsletter. On Thursday night next week Our Lady Star of the Sea is hosting the HPPA Dance Festival which is held at Somerville Intermediate. We have two dance squads performing alongside dancers from 14 other local schools. You will need to be particularly gentle with our whole staff next Friday as everyone is involved on Thursday evening fulfilling roles ranging from parking wardens to ticket sellers, ushers, back stage coordinators and compere. This is our contribution to the wider life of our local school district; another example of the dedication and effort of the staff of our school – we are so lucky to have such committed staff and I thank each and every one of them for all they do for our learners and our community.
Our last week of term is Book Week, a much anticipated event in our school calendar. There will be a book fair where families can purchase books for home as well as inspirational author visits, activities across the week, and, of course, our much loved book character dress up day and morning parade which will be on the last day of this term. See later in this newsletter for more details about what is planned for this exciting week.

Wishing you all a happy and safe fortnight ahead after which we will share more school news in our next fortnightly newsletter.

Ngā mihi nui, Tōfa soifua and cǐ zhì jìng lǐ,

Louise Campbell
Principal

Over 20 Mission Sisters taught in Howick between 1904 and 1924. Reverend Mother M St Claudia recorded “ As His Lordship, Bishop Cleary has opened a Convent at Howick, our Sisters will no longer be required there. The sisters feel keenly leaving Howick where they had worked so devotedly for so many years, but God knows best.” Bishop Cleary invited the Sisters of Mercy to open a Diocesan Orphanage in Granger Road Howick in 1925.

This week we welcome Mrs Christine Smith and Mrs Vicky Trainor from the Catholic Diocese who will be undertaking a Catholic Character External Evaluation. This will be the first time members of the Auckland Catholic Diocese engage in the work we are doing as a trial school for the new Religious Education curriculum. They will be looking at this work along with the ways we uphold our Catholic Special Character. We will be welcoming our visitors with a special liturgy at 8:45 am on Tuesday 20 June. You are welcome to join us for this as well as attend the parent meeting at 8:30am on Wednesday 21 June. Thank you to those of you who have taken the time to complete the whānau survey already.

You may still complete the survey now if you have not had the chance to yet. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GrOgp9zqrh1Gzmvy2hKJJcx6r37DUuMrgzI-CMVWaHw/edit

Next week our staff will be involved in planning the RE theme for Term 3. The focus will be the Good News theme. We thank the Board for their support of our staff as leading the way with the trial of the new RE curriculum by providing release to unpack and plan the Good News theme for term 3. 

Reminders …
         … Family Mass, Sunday 18 June, 5:30pm in the parish church. Families from our school will be leading different ministries including the music
         … the Sacramental programme continues for those children currently enrolled
         … the Alpha programme has begun with options for both English and Mandarin speakers. More information is on the parish website  https://howickcatholic.org.nz/alpha-course
         … Buddy class Masses continue on Wednesdays in the Chapel. All welcome.

Ko te aroha o te Atua kua whiwhi whanau a tatou Katoa
The tender mercy of God has given us one another

Prayer Intention: For the courage to be an upstander and put our faith into action. 

Hi Everyone,

Your Board met on Tuesday the 30th of May.
Family Mass and Sacramental Programme Your board were delighted to see many of our families at the first family Mass celebrated in our parish church. It was wonderful to see our students participating in music, reading, and altar serving. Family Masses will take place every third Sunday at 5.30pm during term time. The next one is this Sunday, June 18th. We invite you to come along and celebrate with us.
We also remind you that the sacramental programme will resume for those children who are currently enrolled.

175th Anniversary Celebration Your board would like to remind families that our church and school will celebrate 175 years of history and service this August. This is significant and a series of activities to mark this occasion have been planned from Friday, August 11th to Tuesday, August 15th. You can find more details about these events on the school website.
We hope you can join us for this memorable celebration.

Strategic Plan and Kahui Ako Memorandum of Understanding The Board has recently received a detailed update on the activity so far this year that has been undertaken to work towards our strategic plan goals for the years 2023-2025. The plan outlines our vision, mission, values, goals, and actions for the next three years. It also reflects our commitment to providing quality Catholic education for our students.
The Board has also endorsed the refreshed Memorandum of Understanding 2023 for the South-Eastern Christian Kahui Ako. This is a collaborative network of schools that aims to improve student achievement and well-being through shared leadership and professional learning. The key strategic focus of the Kahui Ako are numeracy and literacy, building resilience, well being and culturally effective pedagogies.

Emergency Management Plan We are pleased to inform you that our school has received a letter of appraisal from Harrison Tew Consultants for having a comprehensive emergency management plan. This plan covers various scenarios such as fire, earthquake, lockdown, evacuation, and reunification. It also includes regular drills and training for staff and students.

Diocesan Evaluation We would like to thank all the parents who completed the whanau survey as part of the diocesan evaluation process. We appreciate your feedback and support for this important process.
This is an external review that assesses how well our school is delivering Catholic education in accordance with the diocesan guidelines. The evaluation team will visit our school on June 20th and 21st to observe classes, interview staff and students, and review documents. As part of the External review your Board has completed the Pre-Evaluation Survey.

Shade Sails and Welcome Signage We are happy to report that the shade sails have been installed over the new mud kitchen in the playground. This will provide some protection from the sun and rain for our students who enjoy playing in this area.
We are also planning to add welcome signage in this playground space, in Te Reo Maori, Mandarin, and Samoan. This will reflect our school’s diversity and inclusiveness. We will keep you posted on this project.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school.

Your Board

Book Week is coming in Week 10!
26 – 30th June

‘I’ve got a story to tell …’

Scholastic Book Fair in Room 2
Monday – Friday morning 8.20 – 9am
Monday – Thursday afternoon 2.30 – 3pm
Cash or Eftpos/credit card
Every purchase goes into a LUCKY PRIZE DRAW!

Introducing our special Book Week guests: 

• On Tuesday Anne Kayes will speak to middle and senior students. Anne is the author of the wonderful Tui Street tales series. We can’t wait to hear about her new book Tui Street legends. Students will also have the opportunity to buy her books later in the week.
• On Wednesday John Carr will speak to all of our students. John has written many stories for journals and school readers. He is also a cartoonist and comedian. We loved his visit a few years ago and can’t wait to welcome him back!
• On Wednesday we will also welcome Sancta Maria College students who will retell The story of Tamaki Makaurau through dance and drama.
• On Friday the New Zealand Playhouse group will entertain us with a dramatic retelling of Treasure Island.

Story Walk (Hikoi Korero) using two amazing Scholastic picture books.

Children can wander along our wonderful boardwalk through the bush and read Colour the stars by Dawn MacMillan or play around our new playground and read Lion guards the cake by Ruth Paul.

Competitions, Kahoots, buddy reading – it’s going to be a fun week!

Book character costume parade
Friday 30th June 9am in the hall.
This is always one of our favourite days, you don’t want to miss it! Friends and family are welcome to come along and watch.
Start thinking about costume ideas now and check out these websites for some  costume inspiration.

109 easy last minute Book Day costume ideas

75 simple book costume ideas

Girls Football Competition

During the month of May and early June twenty of our Year 5 and 6 girls took part in a two day football competition. For some of the girls this was their first time playing and competing. All the girls represented the school with pride and increased their skills and talents throughout the competition.  While no points were collected after each game it was good to see the girls getting involved and doing their best. Special thanks to Mrs Sentch who managed the girls and the event and to the many parents who supported both on the sideline or with transport.

Interschool Chess

On Tuesday 13th June eight of our students headed to Pt View School to take part in the NZCF HPPA Chess competition.

There were over 50 teams present on the day and it was very full-on requiring the students to manage themselves throughout the day. Our players stood out as being respectful, well behaved and eager to do their best.

Both teams did exceptionally well. Team A placed in the top 5 teams and Team B placed mid way.

We are very proud of their efforts.

Term 3 Our Lady Star of the Sea School Year 3 – 6 Basketball Session Info:

Week 1 (18th Jul) – Week 10 (19th Sep);
Tuesday 7:30 am – 8:30 am;
Term Fee: $112.50 (10 sessions);
New Players Enrolment steps:

New Players: Please click the enrol link: https://forms.gle/c3jfuHq1LrYsZgxq9. Fill up the form, choose the school programme – Our Lady Star of the Sea School;
Each player will need to pay $112.50 to enrol in Term 3, Please transfer the money to our bank account: 02-0108-0531348-000 (Reference – “Child’s Full Name + OLS”, example James Smith OLS);
Once we receive your payment, you will receive a confirmation email.

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Term 2 July Holiday Programme

Our holiday programmes are back up and running for the July School Holiday period. We’re only allowing 35 students per day but are offering 2 sites to choose from: Remuera (King’s School) and Glendowie (Glendowie College).

The holiday programme will include individual and team basketball development, as well as other fun youth development activities.

If you wish to register, please fill out the forms below and submit your payment to secure your spot…

REMUERA: https://forms.gle/XSEWdWjEWRgSxX7r8

GLENDOWIE: https://forms.gle/sEFwXCvLRaQ5ywXp6

Please let us know if you have any questions, please email [email protected]

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This notice has come from Sancta Maria Primary.