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

Welcome to our first newsletter of Term 3 in 2026. As you will read in this news-filled newsletter, it has started with a flurry of activity!
It certainly feels like we are in the depths of winter with cold temperatures, however, like me, you may have noticed the sun rising slightly earlier each morning, and the daffodils beginning to grow – sure signs we are heading steadily for spring.

Parish Connect On Monday of this week we celebrated Fr Terry’s 60th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood. A beautiful liturgy lead by our Liturgy Team, featuring the pages of the book that each class contributed to, which was gifted to him as a taonga, a keep-sake, demonstrating our appreciation for him and all he does in and for our school. We love you Fr Terry!

On Sunday at 6 p.m. the next Alpha programme begins at our Parish. Everyone who does the course comes out of it spiritually enriched. For regular Church-goers it is a great opportunity to revisit what they believe. For some, who are considering joining the Church it is the next step.
It is still not too late to sign up. Just go to the Alpha page where you can learn more and/or sign up.

Please follow this link for this Sunday’s readings to read and discuss as a family.

Book Week What a week we have had this week, celebrating all things book-related! The book fair in the Information Centre has been well combed through by one and all, with families purchasing some very special books for home use. We have had Sally Sutton and Des Hunt presenting to our classes as visiting authors, inspiring our next generation of authors. Teachers have loved pulling a different class number out of a hat each morning tea to find out which class they will be visiting to share their favourite books throughout the week. There have been lunchtime competitions, wandering storytellers in the playground and break times and arts and crafts during lunchtime too! Our Book week culminated in the book character parade held this morning, with many great costumes arriving at school representing children’s favourite book characters, thanks to Miss Morgan Soletski and Mrs Rebecca Sentch. All of this Book Week fun has been made possible by the hard work of Mrs Bronwyn Bell – Bronwyn works tirelessly in our Information Centre and this wonderful week of all things literature is testament to her hard work and organisational skills – thanks Mrs Bell!!

Matariki Sleepover On the last day of term 2, our Kapa Haka Rōpu and students on our Māori role had a brilliant Matariki celebration with a shared meal, Matariki Treasure Hunt and other Matariki related activities such as artwork, string games, poi making and flax weaving. Those who stayed the night enjoyed a movie and sleep in the hall, with a hearty breakfast to start the day on Saturday morning before they were picked up to enjoy the start of the holidays. This wonderful event could not have been possible without the support of our Kapa Haka tutor, Matua Hone and his whānau, Mrs Robertson, Mrs Sentch, Mrs Noble Campbell, Bronson and Nadia Pou-Edwards and all the parents who contributed food for the shared kai and stayed on for the meal and to enjoy the Matariki activity fun – we are so grateful! Please enjoy these images of the night.

Grandparents Day Last Friday we celebrated Grandparents Day with a special liturgy led by Room 4 followed by the opportunity for grandparents to spend time in classrooms with their grandchildren, after which they shared lunch. This very special opportunity was well attended by many grandparents, some who made special efforts to be here from as far away as China! Please enjoy these beautiful photos that captured the special day.

HPPA Dance Festival Last night, the staff of Our Lady Star of the Sea hosted the Howick Pakuranga Principal’s Association Dance Festival. What an incredible night of dance from across 14 schools! Mrs Noble Campbell has worked for months coordinating this huge event, attended by an audience of around 650. This incredible effort, supported by our whole staff as ushers, car park attendants, ticket takers, and as MC for the event demonstrates our schools commitment in support of the wider community. Karen, and staff – you are all incredible!
Our Rock and Roll Dance Group and Surplis Stars performed at the Dance Festival, and both groups did us proud. With thanks to the choreography skills of Isla Frankle, Roseanne D’Silva and Erika Yeh who put together a fabulous Rock and Roll dance, and to Amaara Surplus for her choreography of a contemporary dance reflecting a variety of shape and movement – these performances would not have been as polished without the ongoing support of Mrs Karen Noble Campbell who supported both groups in practicing leading up the the event – well done dancers, and Mrs Noble Campbell – you are all stars!

Updated Strategic Plan Thanks to your voice at our Community Dreaming Day and subsequent consultation period back in March/April, we have updated our three strategic goals. Our goals remain closely connected to our vision: Confidently LIVING with Jesus as our guide, Confidently LEARNING with Jesus as our guide, Confidently SERVING with Jesus as our guide. However, within each goal, you will see a sharpened focus; LIVING connected to growing our students wellbeing as children of God with a Catholic lens of encountering Christ, LEARNING connected to growing our rich curriculum to ensure our students succeed as children of God, with a Catholic lens of growing in knowledge, and SERVING connected to growing our student’s faith within our Catholic community to serve God’s world, with a Catholic lens of christian witness.We have also updated our three year ‘roadmap’ of activity that sits beneath our three strategic goals, so that the activity we undertake to bring these goals to life over the next three years, is as connected to the voice of our community as possible.
The updated goals, alongside our revised Mission forms the front page of our Strategic and Annual plan which you will see in more detail on our website by following this link. 2026 Annual Plan 2026-2029 Strategic Plan    You will also see the three updated ‘roadmap’ pages in the subsequent three pages of our Strategic and Annual plan. Thank you, thank you, thank you for contributing so strongly to our strategic direction!
Next step: updating our Graduate and Learner Profile – more to come on this soon!

Parent, Teacher, Student Conferences With a 92.4% attendance rate at our conferences last week, it is easy to see our home/school partnerships alive and well – many thanks for coming along to engage with our teaching staff to discuss the learning journey of your child/ren. Working together, both home and school, supports our students in the very best way possible.
Further consultation At our Mid Year Parent Teacher Student conferences, 40% of you visited Room 2 to find out more about reporting, have your say on our Health Curriculum and on our communication, either before or after your parent interview. We are so grateful for the additional voice.
Reporting Information: we supported families to further their understanding of the new reporting system that has been brought online by the Ministry of Education – explaining what each progress descriptor means, the aim for ‘proficient’ by the end of the year, the different meanings of ‘consolidating’ depending on the time of year (mid year: on track, end of year: not quite done enough to be proficient), the variety of data sources when making a progress descriptor judgement, the place and importance of moderation so teachers are aligned in their selection of progress descriptors, and sharing information about content in reading, writing and maths at each year level that typifies a ‘proficient’ child.
Bi-annual Health Consultation We shared our Health and Mental Health Curriculum Statements.

Parents were informed of the three overarching health concepts in the New Zealand Curriculum and the 9 topics within these concepts and could see how the complexity within each builds across year levels. Parents heard that we are required to teach all 9 topics and we requested families tell us the three most important to them – this information will assist us in understanding which curriculum areas to develop deeply, and with emphasis. Families blind posted their top three into voting boxes.
Outcomes – top 5 topics as identified by families:
1. Interpersonal Skills (Relationships with other People) x54
2. Personal Growth and Development (Personal health and Physical Development) x33
3. Regular Physical Activity (Personal health and Physical Development) x 30
4. Personal Identity (Personal health and Physical Development) x 27
5. Relationships (Relationships with other People) x 22
Communication We also shared the different ways we communicate with our community and the different purposes for each communication tool. We sought feedback from our families on the quality and quantity of communication with a request for any further ideas. Of the 9 written submissions, all were positive about the level of communication. There were no common patterns in the feedback suggestions, with one off comments related to it being tricky to go back and find the info (ie, remembering which tool it has came from, calendar or events email etc), appreciation of digital reminders as paper notices and posters get lost in the school bag, personal preference for the website as hub and seesaw as the major use. Orally, a huge variety of ‘go to’ preferences, from the website, to the fortnightly newsletter, to the weekly events email, and seesaw, which reinforces that we need to keep using the variety of tools as not all tools suit all people.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school through your attendance at these information sharing and voice gathering opportunities – we really do value your input!

Looking Ahead Next week, the PTAs Knowledge-athon testing is undertaken, keep practicing!!! Monday 3rd August at 7pm is our next PTA meeting – all welcome. Our school Cross Country is next Wednesday with the PTA Hot Dog lunch on Thursday. Friday 7th August is our next Teacher Only Day, school is closed for instruction with Bizzy Bodz offering support to families who require it.
The following week, we look forward to seeing how our Cross Country team go at the HPPA Cross Country and we celebrate our Feast Day on Friday 14th August with Mass at 11am at our Parish Church – all welcome. This is followed by Star Idol in the afternoon – a lot to look forward to!

I wish you a safe and blessed fortnight ahead, until we next share news and updates from our beautiful school in our next school newsletter.

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

Louise Campbell
Tumuaki/Principal

Encounter with Christ:
We are just over half way through the Year of Saint Francis. Pope Leo XIV  declared 2026 as the Jubilee Year of St. Francis to mark the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death. St Francis’s messages of peace, poverty and harmony with God and creation are especially significant in today’s divided world. Catholic Christians are called to celebrate the Saint’s life and to spread the Franciscan message. This is very relevant today in our troubled world. 

A message from Father Terry – The next Parish Alpha course starts on Sunday, 2 August at 6 p.m.Alpha is a gentle introduction to the Christian faith with other people who are also exploring their spirituality. Read more about it on the Parish Website, where you can also sign up.  There will be a Mandarin group and a daytime group is there is a call for it. BYO friend.

Growth in Knowledge:

The Religious Education focus for this term is ‘Being Church’. Our Year 1 & 2 students will develop an understanding that they are part of God’s family and recognise that the Church has rituals, symbols and holy things. Year 3 & 4 students will grow in understanding of what a Sacrament is and what they do. Year 5 & 6 students will develop an understanding of the 9 principles of Catholic Social Teaching and that they come from Jesus’ teaching. They will explore and show how they can live these teachings.

Over the next few weeks in preparation for our school Feast Day Mass, we will unpack different parts of the Mass and ways we as parishioners can participate fully. For example, through silence before Mass starts. This is the time to prepare ourselves and to bring to mind the people or the things we wish to offer at Mass. During the Eucharistic Prayer, when the priest holds up the blessed Sacrament and the Chalice. This is the time to look at and focus on the gift we receive through the Body and Blood of Christ. Unpacking the different signs, symbols and actions that take place during the ritual of the Mass helps our young learners to understand the importance of being present at Mass each week.  

Christian Witness:
Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, focusses on Care for Our Common Home. His letter to us is a wonderful reminder that the Earth is a beautiful gift from God, and it is our job to look after it. Our school Enviro Team, supported by Miss Marten and Miss Bentley, are working hard to promote sustainable actions such as promoting rubbish free lunches, composting waste, the worm farm, recycling cans for kai and walking or wheels Wednesdays. Through each of these simple activities we are putting our faith into action, promoting the care for our common home and protecting God’s creation for future generations. Something which is important for us all. 

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

There are plenty of community messages to explore! Click the arrows to view all notices.