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

Welcome to our third newsletter of Term 3 in 2026. This newsletter is arriving in your in-box just as our PTA Disco is kicking off for the evening. We are so grateful to our PTA and wider parent community for the support to host such fun and memorable events for our children – I hope you all are having a great time!

Parish Connect We had a wonderful celebration over the weekend as members of our school and parish community celebrated their Confirmation with Bishop Steve on Friday night, and then their First Communion throughout the weekend Masses. Congratulations to Samara Abeykoon, Cara Lin, Hailey Ke, Aidan Law, Jana Boix, Sebastian Briones, Ele Chan, Jayden Sundram, Tyler Cameron-Smith, Bailey Mori, Scarlett Thorpe, Aria Beeston, Thea Beeston, Zoe Wood, Mia Song, Bernice Wong, Esme Davies, Caitlyn Li, Logan O’Callaghan, Jensen O’Meara, Anya O’Meara, Ariel Zhang, Chloe Zhang, Lemuel Ashok, Olivia Davies, Aleisha Li, Penelope Gomes, Olivia Beazley, Eli Baird, Jian Kim, Rupert Chiong, Florence Winata and Lyana Arevalo.

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

Launching Our Updated Learner Profile
We are thrilled to share with you our updated Learner Profile, typifying the values, dispositions and skills that we are all working on at home and school to develop well rounded young learners. With thanks to our entire community whose voice has helped us shape up this revised version. Previously we had two profiles, a learner and a graduate, one for our younger learners and one for our older learners.
Thanks to your voice, we have simplified the profile into a single table, supported by an explanation of the contents and its use. You will find the language has been refined so that it is easier for our students to understand, and we hope that it will be easier as a family to talk with your children about the different areas of the profile and to highlight areas of success and need for further work with your children, (we also agreed, it is a handy tool for us adults to use as a prompt too!!).
Here are the images of the revised Learner Profile.

Next year we will be using this document to shape individual goals for our students to work on both at home and school.
Thank you once again for your help and support in creating a document that we aim to be a practial visual to put on the fridge to refer to at home, as well as for us to reference and work on here at school

Speech Competitions Congratulations to Jake Jinomon who represented our school so well at the HPPA Speech Competition last week. Congratulations also to Cara McGuire for doing such a fabulous job of representing us at the ACPPA Proclaiming the Word Competition. You both made us so proud!

Parenting Place Talk – Kind, Firm, Calm Parenting Last Tuesday evening Jenny Hale from The Parenting Place gave an affirming parenting talk based on her book Kind, Firm Calm: Simple Strategies to Transform Your Parenting. Jenny’s tips and strategies were well received by the parents who attended.  Here are some links she shared which may be of further support to all of our STAR whānau.
Firm But Fair
Lets Rehearse How To Make a Hard Thing Easier
Raising Capable And Confident Kids Who Contribute
Parenting With Mana
Intentional Affection Why Hugs Matter

HPPA Gymnastics Competition Huge congratulations to our young gymnasts who competed in the HPPA zone gymnastics competition last week. We had some truly outstanding results. Read about our place winners further in this newsletter. Our team was so well prepared by our staff who trained them through many lunchtime practices. Thanks to Mrs Denise Bailey, Mrs Karen Noble Campbell, Mrs Ailsa Thorpe, Miss Laura Bentley and Mrs Rebecca Sentch for preparing our team so well.

Year 4, 5 and 6 Motat Trips This week our senior school made the journey out to Motat to learn more about forces, movement and simple machines to enhance their Science concept learning. These educational experiences really bring learning alive and provide the opportunity for practical, hands on learning where connections to topics and concepts are readily made.

Health and Safety – Lockdown Training Last week we hosted a successful lockdown practice. We were guided by Harrison Tew who are experts in their field, supporting schools to be well prepared in the unlikely event of needing to go into lockdown. The children did such a great job and responded with sensible heads and calm dispositions throughout our practice.

Twilight Market Update Last week we were thrilled with the amount of chocolate, and money to purchase chocolate that came from our mufti day – the chocolate trailer will be in high demand at the market thats for sure! Read later in the newsletter for an update on our planning. Use this link to sign up to help on the night – many hands make light work – we are looking forward to a great community event and fundraiser with your support!

Celebrating One of Our Own Many of you will have seen the wonderful article entitled Educator In Action featuring our amazing Deputy Principal Karen Noble Campbell recently published in the Eastern Times. Karen is a true servant leader. Her skill as an educator and leader is second to none, and we are so grateful to her for all she does in our school. If you haven’t already, read the article here. We love you Karen and are so proud of you!

Celebrating Birthdays at OLSOS Our Lady Star of the Sea is a great place to be when its your birthday. At the Monday morning assembly anyone who has a birthday that week stands up and we all sing and cheer for them. On the day of a child’s birthday, (or the Monday if their birthday was over the weekend), a happy birthday message is shared over our speaker system. Children are made to feel special all day on their special day! Lately, I have noticed that some families are sending wee goodie bags and food items in to class on their child’s birthday. This pressures other families, who may not be in a financial position to do the same and causes issues with food allergies etc. Please allow us to celebrate birthdays in the special way we do, without the added complexity of goodie bags and food from home. If you wish to celebrate with goodie bags at a child’s party, that is up to you, but please refrain from sending these to school. 

Looking Ahead 
Next week we look forward to celebrating Fathers Day with a liturgy at 8.45am in our school hall on Friday 4th September. All fathers, and father-type figures in our students’ lives are welcome to come along, with a cup of tea and biscuits in the staffroom afterwards.
On Monday 7th September our choir will be joining the Kids Sing Festival at the Auckland Town Hall. We are very much looking forward to this mass-choir festival, where schools from around Auckland join together in song.
Looking Further Ahead
Our Lady Star of the Sea Art Festival In Week 9 we are looking forward to holding our Arts Exhibition where the children will be able to share their artistic talents.  It will be open to the public on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th of September from 3-7pm in the school hall.  We look forward to seeing you all there.

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:
Friday 4th September, at 9am, we will gather in the school hall to celebrate all the men in our lives who are like Fathers to us. You are all welcome to attend. To all the Dad’s, Grandads, Godfathers, and big brothers, we are thankful of the love and care, fun and laughter, courage and kindness you share with us. Your love gives us a little glimpse of how God the Father feels about us, His children. 

Members of our school community will be leading this Sunday’s 5:30pm Family Mass in our parish Church. We thank them for taking on the various Ministries through the Mass, and encourage you all to make this Mass your family Mass this weekend.

Growth in Knowledge:
Earlier this term, teachers shared the Being Church theme whānau page with you.Now that we are halfway through this learning focus, it is a great time to revisit that page with your child and use it to start conversations at home.
Here is what our tamariki are learning:
– New Entrant to Year 2: Focussing on belonging in our Catholic community. Knowing how and why you belong is important for everyone.
– Years 3 and 4: Exploring the Sacraments. This connects nicely for families who recently completed the parish Sacramental programme and for families whose children will be involved next year.
– Years 5 and 6: Learning about Catholic Social Teaching  (CST)principles. The upcoming Social Justice Week will be a springboard for rich conversations around CST in action.
Your conversations at home help deepen this faith learning.

Christian Witness:
                                                                                         Social justice Week   Sunday, 6 – Saturday, 12 September
This year begins a three-year journey exploring what it means to truly belong — to God, to one another, and to creation — starting with the first and most important thread: we belong to God, made on purpose, fully known, and unconditionally loved.
Pope Leo XIV reminds us that every person carries a dignity that is not earned and not given by others but woven into us by the God who made us. In Aotearoa New Zealand, this truth echoes in the idea of tūrangawaewae — a place to stand, a place to belong. Wherever we come from, whoever we are, we are held by a God who knows our name and calls us home.

For more information visit the Caritas website.

“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.

Administration Assistant Wanted

Marriage & Family Life Ministry is seeking a part-time Administration Assistant (16 hours per week) to support its work serving marriage and family life. Based at the Pompallier Diocesan Centre. For details and to apply, visit: www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/staff-vacancies. Applications close Friday 4 September.