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

Happy Tonga Language Week! The Tongan flag proudly flew alongside our New Zealand flag this week in honour of Tonga Language Week. The theme this week is ‘Ko ‘etau lea, ko e fe’unu mahu‘inga ia ki he mo’ui ‘a e Tonga – Our language is a vital strand of our Tongan culture.

Parish Update We are sad to be saying farewell to the Parish Office Staff who have been operating out of Room 3 for the past four months. Linda and Diana have become a real part of the fabric of our parish school family over their time with us and we will miss them very much. We wish them all the very best as they transition back to operating out of the newly renovated Parish Centre.

Follow this link to read and discuss the messages of this Sunday’s Mass readings within your family.

Feast Day Fun Last Friday we celebrated the Feast Day of our Patron Saint, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. Our staff decorated the school before the children arrived in the morning, setting the scene for a special day. Buddy time spent learning about Mary was followed by the hotly contested Tapu ae final won by Garin house. The whole school then bused to a very special Mass at our Parish Church in Picton St. After lunch we enjoyed the finals of our STAR Idol annual talent quest. This is a very special day in our school and Church calendar and one that our children will remember as a great day of celebration. Please enjoy the photos that are included above.

HPPA Zone Speech Competition Last week a member of our school community won the HPPA Speech Competition for the second year in a row! Congratulations to Tevin who did a mighty job and will now represent the HPPA Zone at the Auckland wide competition next week. You go with all our well wishes and blessings Tevin – good luck!

HPPA Zone Gymnastics Competition Our school gymnasts did us proud at Day 2 of the three day Zone Gymnastics Competition. Our Zone, the HPPA (Howick Pakuranga Principals Association) has 42 primary schools in it, so often, competitions such as this are run over several days to accommodate all of the schools who wish to participate. Those students from Our Lady Star of the Sea who qualified in the top 8 alongside participants from the other two days of competition will go on to represent us at the Champion of Champions Competition later in the term. See later in the newsletter for more details and photos from our day of competition.

Looking ahead: 
Next Tuesday 26 August – most of our staff will be attending a paid union meeting in the afternoon. To support our staff’s participation, we will be running an alternative programme. You may wish to pick up your child/ren at 12:30 pm. We appreciate your understanding and support in helping us meet Ministry of Education requirements for continuous instruction while also respecting our staff’s right to participate in this important meeting. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Have a safe and happy fortnight ahead until the next opportunity we have to share all of the great happenings at our special school.

‘Ofa lahi atu, Arohanui, Zhù hǎo, Tōfa soifua, Cordialement, Loloma levu, Fakaue lahi, 안부 인사를 전합니다 , salamat po

Louise Campbell
Tumuaki/Principal

                                                                          JUBILEE YEAR OF HOPE

Hope is trusting in what God has promised us in creation
in the prophets but especially in Jesus Christ,
even though we do not yet see it. (YOUCAT, 308) 

Our school Pilgrims of Hope Cross has begun spending time in classrooms. If your family would like to host this  special taonga at some point please contact me to arrange. [email protected]

Encounter with Christ:

Prayer is an important aspect of our faith. Morning prayer is a special time each day, where time is taken to reinforce the importance of prayer in our faith life. Over the past 18 months, our staff have been involved in professional development around the use and facilitation of contemplative and meditative prayer practices with children. Recently Sister Jill McLoughlin led a refresher course for our staff.  This was well received by all.  Contemplative and meditative prayer is being offered in classes, providing children with a range of prayer experiences to deepen their relationship with Christ. 

Growth and Development: 

Our school house Proclaiming the Word competition took place today with Junia-Rose Pereira, Nemara Fernando, Jensen O’Meara, Rach Chun, Ethan Wang, Jordy Melville, Harper Berry, and Zoe Carinan competing against each other. Congratulations to  Junia-Rose Pereira who will represent our school at the Catholic Schools Proclaiming the Word competition in September. 

Christian Witness:

Noah Prinsloo helped to deliver the knitting club’s blankets to Kidz First Children’s Hospital. We received a card from the team in thanks for the ‘beautifully knitted blankets that will help to keep our tamariki warm.’  

The Parish Centre renovations are finished. Bishop Steve will celebrate the 9am Mass with us, and then will bless and officially reopen the Parish Centre. You are all invited to attend. With the centre reopening, our Parish Foodbank will be up and running again. Currently the cupboards are empty and they are desperately seeking donations of food and toiletries to restock the shelves.  A donation to the foodbank is a simple act of Christian Witness your children will learn from. Hopefully none of us are ever put in the situation of having to rely on food parcels to survive, but if we do, knowing that our parish family will support us is a blessing.

We have received a request for donations of stretch material, cotton, fur fabric, poly fleece, polyfil stuffing, batting, cushions or pillows. These items are used by a community group that makes clothing and toys for Kidz First and Middlemore Hospital Breast Cancer patients. Donations can be placed in the yellow boxes in the school foyer. Thank you.

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

It has been another busy week at school!

Math-a-thon
If you haven’t yet returned your child’s Math-a-thon money, please do so as soon as possible – payments can be made directly into the Parent Committee bank account – Star of the Sea PTA 12-3011-0760201-01. Thank you for supporting this learning-based fundraiser!

Hotdog Lunch
The hotdog lunch was a hit – thanks to our amazing team of volunteers who helped make it happen! We really appreciate your time and energy.

Senior Production – 9 & 11 September
We’re looking for a few extra hands to help sell pizza and lollies before the evening shows. If you’re available, we’d love your help!

Howick Santa Parade
We’re still on the lookout for helpers to bring our walking float to life! If you can assist with organising, costumes, or painting, please get in touch at [email protected].

Next PTA Meeting – 1 st September, 7pm in the staff room
All welcome – come along and get involved in our school community!

Thanks again for your continued support!

Room 8

Last week on our trip to the Stardome, we learnt that Māori people used the stars in the past to guide them on long journeys. They looked at star patterns and the rising and setting of certain stars to help them navigate their waka safely across the ocean.

Back at school, we spent time talking more about what the stars meant to Māori people and created our own artwork to show how they used the night sky for direction and guidance.

This learning helped us see the night sky in a new way, and we can’t wait to keep exploring the stories the stars can tell.

Room 5 at Stardome

HPPA Speech Competition

A huge congratulations to Tevin from R23 who competed in the recent HPPA speech competition with his speech entitled Whenua. Tevin took out the competition coming 1st against nine other winners from local schools. In his speech Tevin spoke about his connection to the land (whenua) and his love of the land and what it offers us.

We are incredibly proud of Tevin and wish him well as he goes on to represent Zone 2 of the Howick area at the wider Auckland competition where he will be up against all the other winners of the regional competition. We will keep Tevin in our prayers and pray that God brings him courage and lots of luck on August 27th. Kia kaha Tevin!

SENIOR TEAM PRODUCTION –

TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE AT THE SCHOOL OFFICE

********************************************

********************************************