Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Dear Families
Greetings from the triennial New Zealand Catholic Education Convention being held in Wellington this week. The theme of the Convention is Christ’s Call: to love, to be, to do – Ko tā te Karaiti Karanga: kia aroha, kia tūturu, kia ora. We have 3 Bishop’s Appointees attending from the Board of Trustees – Philip Cortesi, Anna Soo Choon and Apaula Fruean-Lautua plus Ana Silva, our Director of Religious Studies and myself. It has been amazing to participate in this wonderful event and to be together with our wider catholic education community!
The Kaumatua who welcomed us at the beginning of the Convention on Wednesday morning, spoke to us about Matariki being the season of reflection and looking back and how we often look up to the skies to see the stars. He shared with us that Mata Ariki means “Face of God” and that we don’t need to look up but to look to each other as the “Face of God”. We are Mata Ariki and have the “twinkles and sparkles” right in front of us every day, in our Learning Communities, in our staffroom, in our school community and in our parishes! The Kaumatua then challenged us to TO BE Mata Ariki to those whom we encounter each day! It has been a great mantra to keep before us as we live out the Convention theme of Christ’s Call: to love, to be, to do!
Staffing Update
It is with regret that we inform our school community of the resignation of Mrs Normita Tolentino from her teaching position in Learning Community Whenua due to family commitments. Normita has been working with us since the beginning of this year and has been a very welcome addition to our teaching team. Normita completes her teaching position with us at the end of this term. We thank Normita for all that she has contributed to our school community and wish her every blessing as she takes time to be with her family and in her new role in a different educational setting.
We are currently in the process of advertising for and appointing a teacher to this position in Learning Community Whenua.
We welcome Mr Stephen Rhodē, who has been appointed to the part-time Caretaker position here at school. Stephen has already made a significant contribution with the care taking and grounds maintenance tasks he has undertaken and we are grateful for the skill-set he has to offer in this role.
We also welcome Miss Vincet Lautua. Vincet will be joining staff as a Teacher Aide, working alongside us in Learning Community Whenua. Vincet is full of enthusiasm and energy for this role and we are very excited to have her as a member of the team.
Teacher Paid Union Meetings
You will be aware of the nationwide crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers.
While there are many more children coming into the school system, there are not enough new teachers being trained. Urgent and significant changes are needed to ensure that the teaching profession can attract the people it needs and to ensure class sizes do not start to increase.
On Monday 18th June, the teachers from our school will be attending a NZEI Te Riu Roa paid union meeting regarding the Kua Tae Te Wā – It’s Time campaign. The campaign aims to free teachers to teach and principals to lead, by getting the additional support and staff that schools need. The meetings will allow our teachers to discuss how the Ministry of Education has responded to changes that the union is seeking.
Our teaching staff are members of NZEI and legally entitled to attend this meeting. The teachers will be leaving school at 1:30pm on Monday 18th June, to attend their paid union meeting which starts at 2pm.
We strongly encourage parents to make arrangements to pick your child(ren) up from school by 1.00pm on Monday 18th June. Remaining students will be supervised in the Hall/Taamaua until the end of the normal school day 2:50pm.
We appreciate that this creates some inconvenience for families. However, I encourage you to support our teachers as they strive to achieve the changes which will safeguard quality education for all children and ensure we make teaching an attractive profession for graduates.
DRS News
Holy Communion
This Saturday, 16 June some of our students will be receiving their First Holy Communion at St Mary’s Parish Papakura at 5pm. We invite you to join these students and their families as they continue their path on their faith journey. We congratulate: Sophie, Camille, Destin, Georgina, Audrey, Freya, Aimee, Tayla, Elijah & Mya.
Christian Meditation
Our very own Peta Lindstrom, Ana Silva and Father Peter Murphy of St Mary’s, Parish Papakura, spoke at the New Zealand Catholic Education Convention in Wellington about the practice of Christian Meditation at our school. A beautiful prayer form that our students practise every day after lunch. A way of settling themselves in stillness and just being with God. A time where in the quiet each child finds solace and peace in being with and in the presence of Christ.
End of Term Mass
You are warmly invited to join us for our End of Term Mass to be held on Thursday 28 June at 9:30am. Our students from MacKillop Whanau/House grouping will be leading us in this special celebration led by Father Percy Kimble of St Anne’s Parish, Manurewa.
A big thank you to these boys who have been showing our school value of Manaakitia – Respect by picking up rubbish they have found at lunchtime! Ka mau te wehi! Awesome!
It is great to see the Gospel values in action.
Student Congratulations!
Congratulations to Mikaylar Taimalie from Learning Community Maunga who has been selected for the Counties Manukau U15 Girls Rugby Team. Mikaylar also has the opportunity to trial for the Regionals. An amazing achievement – we’re very proud of you Mikaylar and wish you all the best for the trials!
Matariki
During the next few weeks, students will be participating in Matariki activities as we prepare to celebrate the Matariki New Year.
Matariki is the Māori name for the small cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, in the Taurus constellation. In New Zealand it comes into view low on the north-eastern horizon, appearing in the tail of the Milky Way in the last days of May or in early June, just before dawn. This heralds the Māori New Year. It is a time to reflect upon the previous year and plan for the next. The common Maori translation of Matariki is “eyes of the god”.
Iwi have their own names for the seven Matariki stars, and the most common are: Uru-ā-rangi, Waipuna-ā-rangi, Waitā, Waitī, Matariki, Tupu-ā-rangi and Tupu-ā-nuku.
Source: The Maori Language Commission 2010
PTFA FUNDRAISER ACTIVITIES
The PTFA are very keen to get underway with activities to fundraise for EOTC (Education Outside the Classroom) opportunities for the students. A huge thanks to the PTFA for these initiatives which everyone is very much looking forward to.
The first fundraiser will be this coming Friday 22nd June with a MUFTI DAY for all – this will be a WINTER PYJAMAS THEME! Children will be able to wear their winter pyjamas, sleeping gear, dressing gowns and slippers to school for the day! There will also be a PIZZA LUNCH. Students can order slices of pizza for their lunch on this day. Order forms have been sent home through a LINC-ED email communication today. Please order by Tuesday 19th June.
The second fundraiser will be a DISCO for all students on Friday 29th June 6:30pm – 8:00pm in Taamaua/the school hall. This will be a fun night of dancing the night away! The PTFA will send out a further flyer with information on but would be very grateful for any extra folk who can help on the night so it is a successful family night for all.
Digital Reporting
on Student Progress and Achievement
Kaitiaki/Teachers are currently working on completing reporting information to share with family/whanau and students through the LINC-ED digital online reporting system. Parents will
receive an email alert to say that new information on their child’s progress and achievement will be available on LINC-ED through the parent portal. Kaitiaki will have written information on reading, writing and maths with comments on concept learning in the science/technology learning areas plus a general comment including the key competencies. This information will be shared on Friday 29th June so please do take the time to sit with your child/children and talk through with them their successes with learning goals, their progress and achievement with expected levels in relation to the New Zealand Curriculum and next steps with their learning. Mahi Tahi “Working Together” Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences will be held at school in the first week of Term 3, Thursday 26th July. These are always wonderful opportunities for families/whanau and students to sit together with kaitiaki to contribute to and share in learning conversations about what they’re doing, how well they’re going and what they can do to take next steps in their learning.
Visiting Schools
During the next fortnight, we will have Principals and Senior Leadership Team personnel visiting our school from Te Uho o te Nikau Primary School opening in Flat Bush 2019 and Matua Ngaru School opening in Kumeu 2019. It is a privilege to be able to share our own establishment story with these folk as they too follow in our footsteps of creating and building a school community in a new environment. We are looking forward to sharing with them about how we have developed approaches to personalised learning, how we foster creativity and curiosity, how we collaborate for innovative pedagogical learning approaches and how we engage with our community.
We also have 8 principals and staff from Catholic Schools in Cairns, Australia visiting on Friday 29th June. Some of these principals visited with us last year so it’s lovely to know that they are keen to return to see how we are progressing and developing and for us to be able to share innovative learning and collaborative practices with them and in particular what this looks like in a catholic educational setting.
You are invited to join with us as we welcome each group with a School Whakatau on their respective visit dates (refer to upcoming events).
Whenua
Here are some of the exciting learning that the children from Learning Community Whenua have been engaged in around our concept of Curiosity. Using play- based activities, we are learning about the process of inquiry to help us share our wonderings and observations. We love sharing about what we want to find out, identifying issues in our surroundings and finding solutions to solve them.
Awa
Learning Community Awa have been busy identifying and describing simple machines and how they work to make a job easier. This new learning has led us to start investigating the affects of gravity and friction and how they work in our everyday lives. Currently, the students are designing a prototype in order to meet a need in our school. They have been receiving support from the students in Maunga with planning and designing their prototype. Awa children are super excited to start testing their designs.
Learning Community Maunga
Persuasive writing
We have been combining our Concept learning with persuasive writing and are currently drafting letters to our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, asking her to ban plastic bags, which are impacting on our environment. Here are some snippets:
There are a lot of solutions to not have a polluted universe. So let’s go plogging which is when you jog and pick up rubbish. So can you do it for the world? Please ban the bag for us. I hope you can do something about the bag. If you do you will be the bomb! Thank you for your co-operation and I hope you do something that will make a difference. Stephen S
Plastic bags kill sea animals. Plastic bags kill marine life because the sea creatures think it’s food but when they realise it’s not, it’s too late and they die. Another reason on how plastic bags affect sea creatures is because they get stuck in them. When the sea creatures see a plastic bag they might go towards it and get trapped in it. Once they are in it, there is no escape and soon they won’t be able to breathe and they will sadly die. Joaquin M
Plastic bags are also destroying New Zealand’s clean green image. Do you want that on your shoulders? Almost all litter found, is plastic bags. It is destroying New Zealand’s image by getting entangled in bushes. To help stop this, plastic free is the way to be! Benny R
School Events
Matariki
Kia ara ake, kia tō a Matariki, kua haere ētahi mahi.
Matariki by its rising and setting, signalled the time to commence certain activities.
Ka puta Matariki, ka rere Whanui.
Matariki re-appears. Whanui starts its flight. Being the sign of the New Year!
Matariki is an important time to celebrate our beautiful environment and show respect to our land. It is also a time to plant new crops and remember our loved ones who have passed away
To mark this special event of Matariki we will be having a Manu Aute – Kite Flying Day on Wednesday, 27th June at school. The children will be given the opportunity at school to design, decorate and make their own kites, but we also would like to invite you as families to design, decorate and create your own kites. We will keep you posted on this upcoming event.
Sports
Counties Manukau Sport
Physical Education lessons have been continuing throughout the poor weather, with Counties Manukau Sport (CMS). Students have been learning football skills of dribbling and kicking – practicing these skills in game situations. We are very lucky to have CMS in at school.
Football
Adding to our Monday Counties Manukau Sport lessons has been Coach Liam from Papakura Football, who has been teaching the same skills on a Friday. Our sessions with Papakura Football will be ending this week. A big thank you to Liam for his time with us.
Students need to have their P.E. gear for their CMS and Football sessions.
Kids Safe With Dogs
On Wednesday Kids Safe With Dogs visited our school. Learning Communities Whenua and Awa were the lucky ones to have an opportunity to learn all about keeping themselves safe around dogs. The children enjoyed meeting Keira and Kai who were the two dogs that came along to help them learn more about how to interact with dogs safely. It was a worthwhile visit from Kids Safe With Dogs.
Hip Hop Lessons
Our Hip-hop lessons are going very well at school. Unfortunately, we missed a lesson last week due to the instructor sickness. The lesson will be caught up later in the term. Students are moving and grooving and learning lots of new dance skills. This was evident at our Trinity’s Got Talent showcase. It is great to see students moving and being active!
Strike Percussion
On Friday 29th of June, we have STRIKE Percussion ensemble group coming in to perform. The performance will be in the school hall – Taamaua. Students will get to see a professional musical performance with a range of percussion instruments. Check them out on facebook @StrikeNZ to see videos of them performing. There will be a cost of $3 per student for this event, please pay at the office as soon as possible.
Sancta Maria College Production
Our Year 5-8 students had the opportunity to go to the Manukau Vodafone Events Centre to see Sancta Maria College’s production of “Grease”. It was a fantastic showcase of singing, dancing and acting and definitely inspired a few would-be performers in our senior school. Below is a review of the show:
On Wednesday the 6th of June, Learning Community Maunga and all the Year Fives from Learning Community Moana went to the Vodafone Events Centre to watch Sancta Maria’s production of “Grease”. There were great actors, great singing and great dancing. The College had their own band playing the music and had been rehearsing for ages. We are very grateful that we were able to go and experience this great performance. By Dafydd H. – Learning Community Maunga.
Upcoming School Events
School Assembly and Prayer – Catholic Special Character Committee leading
Monday 18th June 8:50am in Taamaua/Hall
School Whakatau for Visiting Schools Personnel
Monday 18th June 9:00am in Taamaua/Hall
Teachers’ Paid Union Meeting – Children may be collected from 1:00pm
Monday 18th June 1:30pm teachers meeting offsite
Year 5/6 RIPPA RUGBY Day
Wednesday 20th June @ Bruce Pulman Park
Principals’ Paid Union Meeting
Thursday 21st June 1:30pm @ Hingaia School, Karaka
PTFA MUFTI DAY Fundraiser and Pizza Lunch
Friday 22nd June
School Assembly and Prayer – Learning Community Awa leading
Monday 25th June 8:50am in Taamaua/Hall
Matariki SCHOOL KITE DAY
Wednesday 27th June
Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting
Wednesday 27th June 6:00pm in the school staffroom
End of Term School Mass
Thursday 28th June 9:30am in Taamaua/Hall
STRIKE Percussion Group Performance
Friday 29th June 9:30am in Taamaua/Hall
School Whakatau for Visiting Australian Schools personnel
Friday 29th June 1:00pm in Taamaua/Hall
PTFA DISCO Fundraising Night
Friday 29th June 6:30pm – 8:00pm in Taamaua/Hall
Digital Reporting online published
Friday 29th June LINC-ED reporting published for family/whanau sharing
“Mahi Tahi Working Together” Parent/Teacher /Student CONFERENCES
Thursday 26th July @ school 1:30pm – 7:30pm
With God’s Blessings
Peta Lindstrom
Principal
Community Events
Marriage Encounter Weekend:
13th – 15th July 2018 at Mt Richmond Hotel, Mt Wellington, Auckland.
A special weekend encouraging married couples to focus on each other, their communication, priorities, lifestyle and relationship.
Phone 0800 ENCOUNTER (0800 362 686) for more information and BOOK NOW!
Brochures with additional information are available on request.
Choral Vigil Mass for the Nativity of St John the Baptist
Come celebrate the Vigil Mass Saturday 23 June at 7.30 pm here at the Cathedral of St Patrick & St Joseph, 43 Wyndham Street. With the Vocal Ensemble directed by James Tibbles. Validated parking will be available at the Wilson car parks on Durham Lane ($2) and Hobson Street ($4).
Please bring your ticket with you to validate in the Cathedral.
Cathedral of St Patrick & St Joseph Organ Series 2018 Saturdays @ 6
Our first Concert for the 2018 series is Wellington Organist Nicholas Sutcliffe. Saturday June 30 at 6 pm. The concert is FREE with a retiring collection. Validated parking will be available at the Wilson car parks on Durham Lane ($2) and Hobson Street ($4).
Please bring your ticket with you to validate in the Cathedral.
