Phone: 03 326 5315
Fax: 03 326 7790
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ourladystar.school.nz
Our Lady Star of the Sea School
45 Colenso Street, Sumner
Christchurch 8081
Our Lady Star of the Sea
Newsletter
“Through Faith We Shine”
I roto I te whakapono tiaho matou
Term Four No. 2 – 23rd October 2014
Kia ora Katou
Thank you to all of our children for their efforts at yesterday’s Athletics Day. It was
wonderful to see fierce competition but also great encouragement and sportsmanship
on display throughout the day. It gives me great joy to see young people who
genuinely care about one another and encourage each person to strive to do their best.
As always a big thank you to Jane Robertson for your organisation of another
wonderful sporting event. Thank you to the staff and in particular the parent
volunteers for assisting throughout the day.
Congratulations to Harry Withers and Kahu Cawood for making the Bays Cluster
Speech Finals. You were both outstanding and well done to Harry who finished in first
place in the Year 5/6 category.
On a sadder note Mrs. Madgwick and Mrs. Wilkinson are leaving the school at the end
of this term. Both Sarah and Gill have given outstanding service to the school over a
number of years and both will be sadly missed. We wish them both all the very best for
the future and of course we will send them off in style, later in the term. The Year 3/4
position has been advertised as a fulltime position and applications close tomorrow.
Interviews will occur over the next couple of weeks and we hope to announce the new
teacher by the middle of the term.
There will be four classes in 2015 and the Board has decided to fund the additional
teacher Mrs. Cooper for the duration of 2015. Mrs. Cooper was a supernumerary
teacher, which basically means the Ministry funded her for a period of 12 months only.
Staff entitlement works on the role of the school and the system can be rather complex
to explain but if the school can increase its role to approximately 75 students then we
would qualify for an additional Ministry funded teacher. I know staff and children are
happy that we are retaining Mrs. Cooper for another year.
God Bless and enjoy the long weekend!
John Kane
Upcoming dates 2014
27 Oct
Labour Day - holiday
31 Oct
Kids Lip Sync
7 Nov
Golf Day
11 Nov
Athletics Zones
14 Nov
Show Day - holiday
School Dates 2015
Term One: 2 Feb – 2 Apr
Term Two: 20 Apr – 3 July
Term Three: 20 July – 25 Sept
Term Four: 12 Oct – 17 Dec
There will be 2 x Teacher only days in
addition to these dates.
Principal
Mission Statement
“We will live out our Catholic faith and achieve personal excellence by being actively involved,
globally aware, dynamic thinkers, self-motivated and effective communicators.”
Our Lady Star of the Sea
23 October 2014
Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its
own interests and concerns, there is no longer room
for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no
longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer
felt,
and
the
desire
to
do
goodfades.http://vatican.va/evangelii-gaudium/en/index.html
Congratulations to Macklan Robertson and Frances
Dougherty who have made the Under 11’s
Canterbury Touch team and Cass Robertson who has
made the Under 13’s team!
Congratulations to Rio who passed her recent Jazz
exam with" Honours with Distinction" a fantastic
result for so much hard work all year.
Principal’s Awards
Stevi Hokianga
For demonstrating
the Special
Character of the
school.
Rio Simpson
For demonstrating
the Special
Character of the
school.
Sumner Market
We have a cake stall booked on the 2nd November at
the Sumner market. We are doing it to fundraise for
our school camp in Wellington. We would be really
grateful if anyone would bake and donate a cake,
cookies, muffins etc. We would come and
collect it or it could be delivered to us at the market
just before 10am. We could be contacted on 0275
191 685. Thank you so much. We are all really
excited about the trip.
from Luke.
Kahu Cawood
For representing the
school in the Bays
Cluster Speech
Competition.
Principal’s Awards
Harry Withers
For winning the
Year 5/6 section in
the Bays Cluster
Speech
Competition.
For doing a fantastic job compering the Bays
Cluster Speech Competition.
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Our Lady Star of the Sea
23 October 2014
Class Awards
Class Awards
Emma Ryan
Elijah Fawcett
Achievement
Achievement
For a dynamite job
in reading!
Exceptional thinking
in Science badge
work.
Órla Gain
Stevi Hokianga
Values – STAR
Values – STAR
For always thinking
and showing
Respect.
Thoughtful
awareness of the
needs of other
people in the world.
Georgie Powell
Alejandro Ballard
Achievement
Competencies
Great understanding
in problem solving.
For using
Information
Technology to
communicate with
the class while
overseas.
Joel Fulford
Kahu Cawood
Competencies
Achievement
Staying focused in
class activities.
Excellent ICAS
results.
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Our Lady Star of the Sea
23 October 2014
Kid‟s Lipsync-Friday 31st October-1.30pm Start in School Hall
$3 coin donation per child in aide of the Niall Mellon Educate.
“Mellon Educate was set up in 2013 and was borne from the Niall Mellon Township Trust (NMTT) which was established in South Africa in
2002 by businessman and philanthropist Niall Mellon, following a holiday to South Africa. Niall witnessed firsthand the appalling conditions
people were living in, in the township close to Cape Town. He decided he want to make a difference and set up the NMTT to build low
cost quality social housing. By using a model which involved volunteers from many countries including Ireland, UK, USA, Australia and
South Africa(almost 20,000 over a 10 year period) along with the local workforce in excess of 23,000 homes were built and 115,000
townships inhabitants now have a proper house which they can call a home.
Due in a large part to the work of NMTT the housing policy in South Africa has changed and the central government now provides a
grant which local building firms can use in order to supply the much needed housing within the townships. As this situation developed,
Niall decided to turn his attention to education, as it has long been recognised that the greatest opportunity to escape poverty is
through education. To date Mellon Educate has built two schools in Nairobi, Kenya catering for almost 3,500 primary school children,
refurbished and built eight new classrooms for a school outside Cape Town and built a nursery, crèche and drop in centre for orphans in
the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
In May through representations made by the directors of Mellon Educate the Kenyan government has agreed to provide the funding for
the charity to build three more schools within the slums of Nairobi worth almost $3 million dollars. Construction of these schools, which will
all be built at the same time, will begin within the next four months. The volunteering aspect of the charity is also continuing with
approximately 200 volunteers due to travel to the Eastern Cape in November to upgrade a primary school classrooms, hygiene facilities
and a playground.
Our Lady Star of the Sea School, became aware of the organisation this year, with a focus of 'globalisation' in
term 3 and lead by Molly Dougherty, Social Justice Leader, we began to think how we could help make a
change.
On the 17th June we organised a very exciting and successful 'International Day’. The children put a great amount of thought into their
costumes and shared lunch that symbolised our knowledge of Globalisation. The senior girls put a huge amount of time and effort into
organising the day which started with watching the Niall Mellon School Building Blitz DVD in the hall, a very moving clip on the most
recent school that has been build. We then collection of money and gave out hardhat pins.
Midday they enjoyed a shared lunch, offering food from their chosen country, the back to class for a mini inquiry into their chosen
country and Japanese lesson. Finally a whole school game of post the country into the correct flag treasure hunt!! At the end of the day,
the senior girls judged a parade to choose the best costumes. House points were awarded to the best boy/girl outfit from each class.
Although the amount raised will not be significant; what is, is the knowledge the children have gained with regard to the importance of
building a future for the poor by education so that they can move out of poverty. We should always remember the words of the great
Nelson Mandela “Education is the greatest weapon we can use to change the world” and through the actions of Lady Star of the Sea
school, her teachers and students that change is being facilitated.
This term, with our theme of “Identity” in mind, we are continuing in our commitment to
social justice, by organising a „Kid‟s Lipsync‟. This event will take place in the school hall at
1.30pm next Friday 31st October. For just $3 dollars, the children will again receive a pin,
but also an afternoon of entertainment and also the opportunity to shine on stage. We
hope that we will be able to support the on-going building projects in Africa with the
proceeds.
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Our Lady Star of the Sea
23 October 2014
Athletics Day Wednesday 22nd October 2014, held at van Asch
School grounds.
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