School Newsletter Week 5 Term 1 2018

Mahi Tahi “Working Together”
Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

Conferences will be held Wednesday 7th March from 1:30pm – 7:30pm. This is an opportunity for Teachers/Kaitiaki and your child/ren to share their learning maps, recent assessments, results and identified learning strengths and areas of need with you. We would like students to be present too so they can share in and contribute to this learning conversation about their learning goals and also in how they are settling into school life at Holy Trinity. Conference times will be for 15 minutes. School online procedures for booking times have been sent home on LINC-ED or please call into the office and use the school ipad to book your time.

Paid Union Meetings for Teachers – source NZEI

You may be aware of the nationwide crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers. Children need teachers with enough time to teach so they can give each child the attention they deserve, and children need talented and inspiring people to be attracted to teaching.
Teachers at our school are joining an NZEI Te Riu Roa campaign, called Kua Tae Te Wā – It’s Time to address these issues. Our goal is to free teachers to teach, and principals to lead, by getting the additional support and staff that schools need. And we’ll attract more people to teaching by respecting and paying them as the professionals they are. NZEI Te Riu Roa members at our school have been invited to Paid Union Meetings in March so that we can plan and discuss the campaign and the upcoming collective agreement negotiations. The meeting schedule has been planned so that teachers and principals across the country can work out the best meetings for them to attend, including the option of groups of teachers attending meetings at different times. This is to help reduce disruption to teaching programmes, children and parents. Our children deserve the best education in the world, and New Zealand can afford to provide it. It’s just a matter of priorities. Thanks for your co-operation in this important matter.

Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School staff will be attending the local meeting to be held on Tuesday 20th March. School will remain OPEN. Further information for school organisation will be distributed closer to the time.

Policy and Procedures

It is always good practice at the beginning of each year 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.

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

School policies and procedures are held online with SchoolDocs. We will advise you of the username and password through LINC-ED internal communication, to enable access to these. There will be an opportunity to participate in the review schedule each term as is relevant.

Priest Visit

Father Kerry Prendeville from St Anne’s Manurewa visited our Learning Communities on Thursday 1 March.  He helped the students in Learning Community Moana unpack our Vision Statement of ‘Learn/Ka Ako, Love/Ka Aroha and Serve/Ka Manaaki in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’  It is important to learn Reading, Writing and Maths but it is also very important to learn about ourselves and others.  This is how we build strong relationships with each other.  We talked about learning more about God so that in turn we may become closer to him.

When our knowledge about God, ourselves and others grow, so too will our love.  We looked at some of the parables in the Gospel, especially around the Good Samaritan which highlights the act of love through service.  The parables has a strong message for us to serve others in love and compassion and our Vision statement is indeed very powerful with the Trinity being a part of our learning, loving and serving.

Lenten Prayer

E te Atua, help us to show compassion for the suffering of all those in need.
Give us the faith and courage to challenge injustice.
Help us to uphold human dignity – just as Jesus did.
May we see each person in the way that you see them, loving God
Created in your image and of great worth to you.       Amen

 Whenua

Learning Community Whenua have had another fantastic week of fun and learning. At the beginning of the week, some children have planted spinach and basil seeds. We are all now looking after them so well as the seeds have started to sprout. On Wednesday, everyone was so excited to learn a new skill from coach Ti of Counties Manukau Sports. Then Thursday, we had a very special visitor from St. Anne’s parish who was a magnificent story teller, Fr. Kerry Prendeville.

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