BOARD OF TRUSTEES NEWSLETTER- DECEMBER 2017
Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Dear Families
It is hard to believe that our foundation year has gone by so quickly – Waitangi Day, when we had our family gathering before the first day of school which was 7 February, seems like yesterday.
As this first year draws to a close, we can all look back and take pride in what has been achieved together as a school community, where we “Live, Love and Serve in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
While education and teaching in the 21st century present an increasing number of challenges, it is also an exciting time as we have the opportunity and the facilities to provide the best Catholic education we can for our children. THANK YOU to Miss Peta Lindstrom, our principal, our senior leadership team and the staff teaching in the Learning Communities, for an excellent first year. The time and effort you have put into your work with the children and the life of the school as a whole is acknowledged and much appreciated. It has not been without its challenges, the re-cabling for one, and your patience and perseverance as you have continued your work has been appreciated.
Staffing
A special THANK YOU to Mrs Tanya Rowe and Mrs Julie Kippen who leave us to take up other teaching opportunities. The contribution they have made to the school and the children’s education in this foundation year, has been much appreciated. A big THANK YOU also goes to Mr David Miller, who has been working in a part time relieving caretaking role this year and has done an amazing job. We wish these staff members well in their future endeavours.
The Board is pleased to say that we are fully staffed to commence the 2018 school year.
Parish Priests
We have been blessed to have had Fr Peter Murphy, St Mary’s Papakura and Fr Mike Wooller, St Anne’s Manurewa, working in partnership, providing wonderful support in the development of our school’s Catholic Special Character. THANK YOU to you both.
Sadly, we bid farewell to Fr Mike who is moving back to Napier to continue his mission there. We are very appreciative of his outstanding contribution to the life of our school in its foundation year. We wish him well as he embarks on another chapter of his journey.
Education Review Office
During the course of the past 18 months, we have had several visits from the Education Review Office, as part of the on-going process of the “New Schools Readiness Review”. The terms of reference for such a review are to provide assurance to the community that the school is well placed to provide for students and is operating in accordance with school’s vision. I can confidently say that we received big ticks on both counts!
The reviewers have been very encouraging, positive and supportive as we have moved through the school’s establishment phase. A report from the Education Review Office will be made public early in 2018.
Strategic Plan
One of the major tasks that our new Board of Trustees has been focusing on, is our school’s Strategic Plan, which sets our direction moving forward. As part of this process, we held a community meeting in November, which was well attended by parents and caregivers. At that meeting, it was encouraging to see our people acknowledging what the school was doing well and sharing ideas around what they want to see for their children’s education as we look ahead- THANK YOU!
Some of the suggestions from the community meeting include:
- A review of the school’s mission statement to make it more succinct and less wordy
- An outdoor school grotto/chapel – established as a prayer space
- Continue to develop LincEd for our online communication with parents about their children’s progress and achievement and school happenings
- Second Language Learning classes for children e.g. Maori, Mandarin
- More culturally diverse activities
- Establishment of a PTA and other community groups
- An adventure playground
- Playing fields – (this is work in progress and will start in the new year – there is a lot of preparation required – it will probably be 2019 before we have fields suitable for school use).
- A Catholic secondary school for our children to move onto – (this is in the hands of the Catholic Diocese, but will still be a few years in becoming a reality)
While many of these ideas have been put into our Strategic Plan for the next 3 years, others which are bigger projects may take longer to achieve.
A copy of the Strategic Plan will be available for our school community in the new year.
Again, many thanks for all your in-put. It is needed and appreciated.
Speed Limit- Airfield Road
This was one of the items brought up at our community meeting and is an issue which we are all concerned about. Unfortunately, due to the process involved to get change, it is not a “quick fix”. There are number of criteria that have to be met in order for any change to the speed limit to be made. A submission expressing our concerns was made to the Papakura Local Board who was very supportive. While such decisions cannot be made by the Local Board, it has supported us by referring our submission on to Auckland Transport. We will keep you informed of further developments.
Remedial Cabling Project
Thank you to everyone for their patience during the re-cabling. Scarbro Construction and the electricians have been mindful of the school being in operation and have managed this project very well. Thank you to Miss Lindstrom and the school staff- it has been stressful and there has been disruption, but you have been amazing and kept the school moving ahead and have not let it become an obstacle to achieving great things with our children.
The re-cabling work is scheduled to be completed before Christmas, so we will be able to get off to a great start in 2018.
Again, I take this opportunity to thank Peta, our principal, all the staff, priests, parents and caregivers, my fellow Board of Trustee members and especially the children, for a wonderful and successful first year in establishing Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School. We are a TEAM and remember, Together Everyone Achieves More. Together we are one and it is as one we move forward.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I wish you all a blessed, holy and safe Christmas. May God bless you all and continue to keep you in His care during this special time, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord.
Blessings
Philip Cortesi
Chairperson, Board of Trustees
