Newsletter Term 3 Week 1

Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Malo e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta

Dear Families

A warm welcome to Term 3 especially to families and new staff members who are joining our school community for the first time. We hope that you feel a sense of belonging and unity as you become part of the fabric of life at Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School. Our school family is certainly growing and it is wonderful to feel that sense of community spirit and family togetherness going from strength to strength!

On Monday at school Assembly and prayer time, we welcomed Jerremy Williams (Deputy Principal/Learning Community Moana Kaitiaki), Lainee Davies (Learning Community Awa Kaitiaki) and David Miller (Part-time Caretaker) along with our new students and their families. Our students performed a rousing school haka with much passion and wairua, acknowledging who we are as members of our catholic school and as people who share in the story of this Papakura/Takanini district!

School Enrolments for Year 0 – 8

You may notice enrolment advertising in the local Courier newspapers and St Anne’s and St Mary’s Parish Bulletins over the next two weeks. We have been given permission to extend our school enrolment levels to Year 8 in 2018 so we look forward to growing our school and welcoming older students to the Year 7/8 Learning Community. Please ensure you have enrolled all younger siblings who will be joining our school family in 2018 and 2019. This information will help us to be more accurate with our future planning.

Attendance Dues and Special Character Contribution

Term 3 invoices will be emailed to families on Monday 31st July 2017.
Please note: you will not receive an invoice if you have paid the full 2017 amount for your child’s Attendance Dues and Special Character Contribution.
We are using the emailing system so if you do not receive your invoice by Wednesday please contact the office – phone 296 9039
or email – office@holytrinity.school.nz

Receipts for Term 2 Attendance Dues and Special Character Contribution payments will be printed on Tuesday and can be collected from Reception during school hours.

DRS News

God – Te Atua

We begin this term with a focus on the God Strand for Religious Education. Students are learning about the grace and Trust holiness of God and how we can build the Kingdom of God (Te Rangatiratanga) in the way we treat others. It is a reminder that we are all made in God’s image and that we should love one another just as God loves us. Creation is a sign of God’s love and we are a sign of God’s love and it is up to us to spread God’s love and build his Kingdom here on earth.

Liturgy/Assembly on Monday

Next week, Learning Community Moana will be leading our school for Liturgy and Assembly in Taamaua (Hall). You are invited to join us as we begin another week of the term. The focus for the Liturgy is around the Gospel of Matthew – The Parable of the Mustard Seed. Jesus uses this parable to try and explain the Kingdom of God/Te Rangatiratanga. It’s about starting small and sure in order to grow great and strong. Like Mother Teresa once said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love”.

Ana Silva (DRS)

Term 3 Physical Education and Sports

Counties Manukau Sports

We have Counties Manukau Sport coming in to run skills and games for all our students on a Wednesday. They will be focussing on Basketball, Netball and Football (for Moana students) and Fundamental Skills (for Awa and Whenua students) and covering skills such as balancing, throwing, catching and dribbling.

School Cross Country

Students are currently practising for the School Cross Country event. We are training three days a week; Tuesday, Thursday and

Friday. Students need to bring named running shoes to protect their feet.

Eimear’s mum Nicky emailed in some information about a weekly Running Club that runs in Flatbush for any families and students that would like to get in some extra training: “If any families are interested, Barry Curtis Park in Flatbush (15 min drive away) hosts a Parkrun every Saturday at 8am. It is a free timed run and a lovely community of runners. Children under 11 need to run with an adult. It is a bit muddy at this time of the year but always fun!” https://www.parkrun.co.nz/barrycurtis/

Thank you for the information Nicky, what a great way to keep fit!

Bike Skills

For Learning Community Moana, we have a Pedal Power Bike Skills Day organised for Friday the 18th of August. Bikes and helmets will be available for all students. More information will be coming out later in the term.

Playground Markings

Mrs Rowe has done an excellent job of organising a company to come and paint the lines for the playground markings. We will be getting two courts marked and some other smaller games and activity markings. We do not have a confirmed date, but this should be happening in the next week or so. If you see her around, give her a big thank you for all her hard work.

PE Shed

Mrs Rowe and our new caretaker, David Miller, have been working extra hard to get our PE shed up and running. We have shelving going up on the walls and sports gear going in. This will clear some of the equipment out of Awa and Whenua and allow easier access for students at lunchtime.

Future Ferns Programme

Pulman Indoor Centre is running a Summer Ferns programme for any students interested in going along to learn skills for netball. This is not a netball competition but rather a chance for students to learn and practise their netball skills. See the attached flyer for more information or email Khushali Patel at the Papakura Netball Centre. (ndc2@papakuranetball.org.nz)

Have an active term!!

Jerremy Williams (Deputy Principal)

Curriculum Focus

Our Concept learning focus for Term 3 is Respect/Manaakitanga which integrates well with Religious Education, Science and Technology. The students will be able to independently use their learning to ‘live the Gospel values through their everyday actions and relationships in the local and global community’.

The essential questions that will help us to unpack the big ideas around the concept of Respect/Manaakitanga are:

Why show manaakitanga?
What does manaakitanga look like?

Maria Speechlay (Deputy Principal)

Parent Education Workshops

Following on from our Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences at the end of last term, we will be offering some fun, interactive sessions for our families on ways to support literacy and numeracy learning at home. We are planning to run some sessions on Thursday 10th August with a 9-10am time slot; 2-3pm time slot and 7-8pm evening time slot. Please add to your diary and we look forward to sharing some great strategies, games and activities for family learning at home. Further information will be distributed closer to the time.

Policies and Procedures

It is aways good practice at the beginning of each term to inform parents and community of the appropriate channel to share concerns or worries. Schools are required to have a Complaints Policy in place. The purpose is to provide clear guidelines for the school community in raising and resolving concerns and complaints.

These procedures enable us to:

maintain the best learning environment for our students
resolve matters of concern early, if possible
respond to feedback and concerns constructively
deal with complaints fairly, effectively, and promptly
take into account individual circumstances
maintain confidentiality
preserve school/community relationships and communication
monitor and record complaints and concerns about student safety.

Most complaints can be resolved informally by discussions with the people concerned.

Discuss the issue with the right person.
Work towards a resolution.

Absences

If your child is absent from school at any time, please phone the school office to leave a message or email the office: office@holytrinity.school.nz

New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference

A note from Bishop Patrick Dunn (Bishop of Auckland) …

The NZCBC has prepared a statement outlining principles and topics for Catholics to consider when they are deciding which party and candidate to vote for in the upcoming General Election.

The Bishops’ Election Statement, which is going out to churches this week, focuses on what we see as key considerations in shaping New Zealand’s future. In this statement, we are not giving preference to or offering opinions on political parties. We are, however candid on what we see as non-negotiables in a vision for our country, such as affordable housing, pro-life policies, care of our planet and embracing cultural diversity.

A web file of this Electoral Statement will be forwarded to all our school families early next week.

Coming Events

School Assembly and Prayer
Monday 31st July 8:50am (Learning Community Moana leading)

Counties Manukau Sports Coaching commences
Wednesdays for Term 3

School Assembly and Prayer
Monday 7th August 8:50am (Learning Community Awa leading)

Parent Education Workshops – Ways to support learning at home
Thursday 10th August – morning/afternoon and evening sessions

With God’s Blessings

Peta Lindstrom

Principal

Community Notices

It would be great to see you at the Cultural Night, July 29th from 6.30pm, St Mary’s School Hall, and please bring a friend. There will be a great line-up of talent representing many cultures. This is a St Mary’s Parish building fund fundraiser. Volunteers are still needed.

Also – another great fundraising event coming up.
Springtime Jazzband – Voxnova – and Silent Auction

The Shade House, Auckland Botanic Gardens, Auckland

Sun 22 Oct, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

Tickets $30, available early August.