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

Welcome to our fourth newsletter of 2025. It is hard to believe we are only two weeks away from the school holidays already!

Next term, I will be away from school on Sabbatical. This 10 week sabbatical will begin on the first day of Term 2, Monday 28th April, and will extend for the 9 weeks of Term 2 and the first week of Term 3. For the study component of my sabbatical, I will be investigating current research and practice in  supporting children who have experienced trauma. While I am away, the school will be in the capable hands of our fabulous Deputy Principal, Karen Noble-Campbell, who will work in the role of Acting Principal. In order to enable her to undertake this role our team leaders and DRS will be spending portions of time released from classroom duties. I look forward to this time of study and rejuvenation and to coming back and reflecting my learning in our school systems and practices. Please pray for me while I am away and I will see you all once again when I return in late July.

Parish Connect
An update on the Parish Centre upgrade project: The parish renovation appeal, initially targeting $350,000, has surpassed expectations, reaching $391,000 thanks to generous donations, bequests, and the sale of a small land parcel. However, revised cost estimates, now at $385,000 plus a $50,000 contingency, reflect the complexities of updating a 60-year-old building to meet modern standards. The project has moved through planning stages, including council approvals and tender processes, with construction anticipated to begin by May 2025.
During renovations, the parish office will relocate to our school, and access to the carpark outside the parish centre will be restricted. The project aims to create a modern, functional space for the parish, acknowledging the building’s long history and vital role in the community. The parish still needs financial support for the project and is also seeking sponsors for remaining kitchen items, be in touch with the Parish office if you are able to help with this

Please  follow this link to view this Sunday’s readings.

Parents Committee Colour Run
What an amazing evening had by all who attended the Parents Committee Colour Run two Fridays ago. Lara, Praveena, Olivia and the organising team did such an amazing job in organising and running the event. It was a great first run of the secure payment system built into the new Parents Committee Website too – a tool that the community will get a lot of use out of in the future. To all families who attended and fund-raised, many thanks for your support! At our assembly on Monday we acknowledged these people for their fundraising efforts with some fun prizes: Top individual fundraisers Charlize Rm 7, Leticia Rm 7, Logan Rm 5; Top Family Fundraisers Zoe Rm 5 & Zac Rm 21; Top Fundraising Class Room 7.

Gala/Twilight Market Survey Outcomes Many thanks to the 121 families who responded to the recent Gala/Twilight Market survey. It is great to know that 95% of respondents wanted an event to go ahead. It was close, with 45% of ‘yes’ voters voting to host a Gala and 55% voting for a Twilight Market, so, we will move forward with planning and preparing a Twilight Market later in the year. Thank you to those who stated, up front, that they are able to help in key roles. Shortly, those who said they could help as a member of the core organising team will be invited to a meeting and from there, Stall Leads and later, stall helpers will be contacted. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who participated in the survey and who offered to help – what a community!

Curriculum Insights: great interest in the new Maths Curriculum at our recent Parent Interviews
At last Thursday’s Parent Teacher Student conferences, many families (over 100) made the most of the opportunity to come along to the Information Centre to learn more about the new Maths curriculum and take a look at the resources that are being deployed school wide. Those in attendance learnt about the framework behind the new curriculum; ‘understand’ ‘know’ ‘do’. They learnt that the ‘Understand’ element of the curriculum remains the same from Year 1 all the way through to Year 10 as this is connected to the purpose statement, the ‘why’ we learn maths. They also discovered that children are still learning in the areas of Number, Algebra, Measurement, Geometry, Statistics and Probability, the ‘know’ component of the curriculum, however the content of each of these areas is different compared to our old curriculum. They also found out that while learning in these areas, students are also developing skills in Investigation, Representing, Connecting, Generalising and Explaining and Justifying their findings, the ‘do’ elements of the curriculum. Families heard how lessons are made up of explicit teaching, communication, rich tasks and are designed to have students engage positively with the subject. Lessons are being delivered with a balance of whole class work, collaborative learning, workshops in small groups with the teacher as well as independent tasks undertaken in a workbook. There was an opportunity to see how the mathematical language within each learning area develops and becomes more sophisticated as the year levels progress through Phase 1 (Year 1 to 3) and Phase 2 (Year 4 to 6).
Families also heard that, with a change from our old curriculum levels, the former way of sharing learning at reporting time, eg, level 1B, 1P, 1A, beginning, proficient, advanced, is language that can no longer be applied to this new curriculum and its phases. This means that our reporting will change. We know that the Ministry of Education is looking for a new platform of data gathering and assessment tools, however this will not be available until at least the end of this year. We are currently working on the design of a new ‘interim’ report which we will utilise this year to share your child’s progress and achievement, however we need to remember, that the content of this new curriculum is quite different from our previous curriculum, making it difficult to compare last year’s progress and achievement to this year. We will be sharing more about how we will report against the new curriculum in upcoming newsletters.

A message from our school office: If you need to get a message to your child during the day, please call the office before 12.30pm, that way our office staff can pass on the message to the teacher at lunchtime, without disrupting lessons with additional phone calls in the afternoon while teachers are delivering their teaching and learning programme. This is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Looking Back Last Monday our Enviro leaders and Student Council went out to the Botanic Gardens to participate in their ‘Eye on Nature’ programme with a view to bring their learnings back into our school community. Our senior classes have all been out to  visit the Chelsea Sugar Factory as part of their ‘Matter’ Science learning this term. Our Cricket Team did themselves and us proud as they improved out of sight over the course of their two day competition in the last couple of weeks, coming away with several wins from their tough competition. Our swimmers represented our school well at the HPPA Zone Swimming Sports on Wednesday of this week. Today, our Enviro Team hosted 18 visitors from the Howick Board who are interested in learning more about the enviro initiatives that our school are undertaking. As part of this day, the local Board members got to look around our school and see our Enviro Team engaged in the Pest Cadet programme.

Looking Ahead We have a busy time in the last two weeks of term, looking forward to the Cultural Festival with our proud Pacific group performing on Wednesday evening at Sancta Maria College. Our Liturgy Team are leading the Stations of the Cross at our Parish Church at 7pm on Friday 4th April, all are welcome to participate and support our young learners in this ministry of service and prayer in our parish community. We have our house assembly in the morning of the last day of term and we join together as a school, in preparation for the celebration of Easter which occurs in the school holidays this year, at a Passion Play at 1.15pm on Friday 11th April to end our term, again, all are welcome to join us in the hall for this solemn liturgy.

Wishing you all a happy, safe and blessed fortnight ahead, before we share more news in our next newsletter.

Ngā mihi nui, Tōfa soifua, ‘Alu ā, cǐ zhì jìng lǐ, Koe Kia, and Vinaka vaka levu,

Louise Campbell
Principal

                                                                          JUBILEE YEAR OF HOPE

Pope Francis writes “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring. Hope, he said, comes from Christ, and Christians deepen their hope through prayer, the sacraments and growing in virtue. The Auckland Diocese website has a number of resources available for you to explore and find out more. 

Lent
During Lent we are encouraged to ‘Pray, Share and Fast.’ Often the fasting we do is of no benefit to anyone else and can make us grumpy. Not ideal! Here is a  different approach to fasting that doesn’t involve chocolates or treats, which others will benefit from as well as ourselves.
1. Fast from anger and hatred. Give our family an extra dose of love each day.
2. Fast from judging others. Before making any judgments, recall how Jesus overlooks our faults.
3. Fast from discouragement. Hold on to Jesus’ promise that He has a perfect plan for our life.
4. Fast from complaining. When we find ourselves about to complain, close our eyes and recall some of the little moments of joy Jesus has given us.
5. Fast from resentment or bitterness. Work on forgiving those who may have hurt us.
6. Fast from spending too much money. Try to reduce our spending by ten percent and give those savings to the poor.

We are midway through the season of Lent. Often our Lenten promises get lost along the way a bit like New Year’s resolutions.  Now that we are halfway through Lent it is a great time to reflect on what you are doing, not to be discouraged but encouraged; not to be hope-less but hopeful. There is still time to refocus and step it up. The story of the Prodigal Son gives us an insight to the boundless love and mercy God has for us. One of the suggestions above may well be a helpful prompt.  

Lenten Challenge  – update
Our School Wide Lenten focus of supporting the parish Foodbank continues. To date we have fed around 47 families. God bless you all for your generosity and the way you are teaching your children how the simple act of sharing a can of food each week is a way to walk in the footsteps of Christ.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me.” (Matthew 25:40).

Stations of the Cross Experience.  
Next Friday, April 4, at 7pm, in our parish church, the Liturgy Team and House Captains have been invited to lead the parish in praying the Stations of the Cross.  Father John extends an invitation to each and everyone of you and your families to join them. Think of this as an extra spiritual exercise that we can stick to during Lent. 

You and your family are always welcome to spend time at the outdoor Stations of the Cross. The stations start at the sabbath space, meander through the nature trail and follow along the boardwalk behind the information centre.  On the afternoon of Friday 11 April the school will gather together in the school hall, to celebrate a special liturgy focussing on the last week of Christ’s life on earth. You are very welcome to join us.

Religious Education work
Towards the end of the term your child’s RE book will come home, giving you the opportunity for them to share with you what their learning through the God theme has been this term. Sharing their workbook along with Seesaw posts shared, should provide your family with many discussion points. Please complete the reflection page with your child and return the books to school promptly.

A message  from Father Terry …
At the end of next month we are starting our next Alpha programme. This has been a great blessing for many people in the past, helping them gently reflect on their spiritual lives and their relationship with God. Some of you have been to Alpha before; go tell your friends about it and invite them all to come. Some of you have been thinking about it, but haven’t got around to it. In today’s busy world that is easy.

Alpha starts with a dinner on 27 April. This is your personal invitation. Bring a friend. If you want more information, or think about it more, go to our website here or send me an email.
God bless you,
Terry

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

News from the Parent Committee

Thank you to everyone who supported our recent Colour Run! The weather was perfect and the smiles enormous. We had a fantastic time and are thrilled to share that we raised over $2,000. A special shoutout to our amazing volunteers who sold food, managed first aid, and enthusiastically helped with the colour — we couldn’t have done it without you!

Congratulations to Room 7 for raising the most funds and winning a well-deserved class pizza lunch!

Looking ahead to Term 2, we have a disco and a hotdog lunch planned. Orders for the hotdog lunch will be managed through our new website.

We are looking for someone to help us manage our website. Updating the content with small changes before each event. Please reach out if you can assist with this.

Please join us at our next meeting in the staff room at 7pm on Monday, 31st March to share ideas and help grow our school community.

Thank you for your ongoing support! If you have any questions please reach out to us at [email protected]

Just a quick reminder that Term 1 fees were due on March 10th. Also, please note that all donation payments received before March 31st will be issued tax receipts in the first week of April. Thank you!

Saint Patrick’s Day

Room 8 had so much fun making special St. Patrick’s Day hats and learning about who Saint Patrick was. We discovered that he taught people about God and used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.

This day is important to us because it reminds us to be kind and helpful and to celebrate our faith.

HPPA CRICKET

Our Cricket team had another fun day out at the HPPA cricket tournament on the 20th March. We played three games and are pleased to announce that we won two of the three. The best bit was that we played the top team and scored 50% of their runs which was amazing given that many other teams were beaten, scoring only 10 or 20% of their runs. The improvement across the whole team was highly impressive, the skills in the field and with the bat improved immensely. The most pleasing bit was that the students reflected Star of the Sea values the whole time and other teams commented that it was a pleasure to play against us. We are pleased to share that we came 4th in our pool.

Thanks so much to Coach Paul Campbell who gave up his lunchtimes to support the students. While we didn’t make the finals it was a great season for OLSOS cricket. Thanks to the supporters that turned up to cheer us on and to Laura Shaw for helping us out with transport.

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HPPA SWIMMING

On the 26th March, a group of Year 5 and 6 students went to the HPPA swimming zones at LLoyd Elsmore pools. A big congratulations to all who swam. There was great sportsmanship, perseverance and resilience from all in a very competitive swimming day. 

We thank Mrs Bailey who managed the team at the event and Mrs Alexa O’Meara who gave her time to help out with the event. 

Congratulations to the following swimmers who placed in their events: 

Liam Yu- 2nd place Year 5 Boys championship Freestyle, 2nd place Year 5 Boys Backstroke
Nastasia McLay- 3rd place Year 5 Girls championship Freestyle
Harper Berry- 3rd place Year 6 Girls championship Freestyle
Year 5 A relay- 1st place
Year 5 B relay- 3rd place
Year 6 A relay- 3rd place
Year 6 B relay- 3rd place  

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CHELSEA SUGAR FACTORY 

Last Friday Room 20 and 21 went on the first trip to the Chelsea Sugar Factory.  During the term we have been learning about matter and how it changes, so we wanted to find out how sugar is made and then turned it into lots of other sugary treats.  Our first stop was exploring the sugar factory.  We went on the cutest pink train you have ever seen.  It took us into the sugar mountain where we saw tonnes of raw sugar being scooped up and put onto a conveyor belt.  We then followed it into the factory and saw how it is turned into lots of other types of items that are sold in the supermarket.  We even got to taste them all.  Molasses was NOT our favourite! After the factory tour we went into the kitchen and got to make our very own chocolate chip cookies.  They were delicious!  We even got to take them home to our families along with our very own cookbook.  Last of all we had lunch outside on the playground.  The Chelsea Sugar Factory has the most beautiful view of Auckland city and the harbour bridge.  After lunch we got to explore the interactive zone where we got to make a digital cake on the screen.  We had to be careful not to mix our cake too quickly otherwise the flour went everywhere.  It was one of the best trips we have been on.

From Freya and Shyla –  Room 21

This year, we were given the fantastic opportunity to be a part of the judging process for the NZ Children’s Book Awards.

We were supplied with four entries from the picture book category to read and give feedback on. The judges wanted to know what our students thought of features such as appeal, storyline, language and illustrations. 

We can’t wait to see which books make it through as a finalist announced in June and then which book will win the best picture book of the year in August. 

Patrick & George
“The story was very heartwarming. It showed us about facing challenges, helping to build courage, collaboration, being a good listener and a good friend.”

On Monday, the Student Council and Environmental Team attended an ‘Eye on Nature’ day at Auckland Botanic Gardens, hosted by the Beautification Trust. We explored the forest, learnt about pests and bees and connected with nature. We came away with an appreciation for bees, the importance of pest control, including moth pods, and learnt that the wellbeing of our environment is linked to our own wellbeing.

“Ko au te taiao, ko te taiao ko au” – “I am the environment, and the environment is me,”
This whakataukī reminds us how connected we are to nature and it is our responsibility as kaitiaki and stewards of God’s creation to care for our environment. 

We have many ideas of things we can do at school or at home to promote a healthy environment and look after our wellbeing.

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Tuesday After School Art Class

Drawing, Oil pastel, Sketching, Painting…

Classroom – Room 3

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This inspiring and well-crafted film suited for Children and Families, which follows a boy (Walter) discovering hope through Jesus’ story, features the beautiful original song “Live Like That” by Kristin Chenoweth—a perfect reflection of love and redemption.

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