Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Dear Families
What a big week it has been for us here at school … with the Education Review Office reviewers working alongside us, professional learning and development for our teachers/kaitiaki around collaborative practices and with our students working hard to complete their individual learning maps. The learning maps will be shared with you at the School Picnic/Mahi Tahi Evening on Thursday 5th March. Whew – much accomplished and we are only in our third week of school!
Thank you to the whānau who spent some time sharing about our school with ERO this week. This was very much appreciated by the ERO Team and by ourselves. The ERO Team had a great week with us and will report back to the Board of Trustees within the next month. This report will then be shared with our school community.
When Father Peter, spoke at our School Mass last Friday, he shared a simple message with us … “God is Love and as disciples of Christ, we need to be open to God’s love. We are all called to share God’s love. So at school, we all need to be able to experience God’s love so that we can hear God’s love in our own hearts and then we can share it with many others!”
As we move into this Season of Lent, let us open our hearts and minds to God’s Love in our own lives and strive hard to share God’s Love generously and joyfully with others. We can reflect … how is Christ present to others through our own words and actions? Pope Francis asks us to use this Lenten season to strengthen our prayer life, our outreach of alms-giving (sharing with others) and of fasting (going without). Here is a lovely Lenten prayer to pray together as a family …
Open our hearts to you word, O Lord, that we may be renewed
Open our hands to receive and to give, that we may be replenished
Open our minds to the silence of Your presence, that we may be refreshed – Amen
School Closed MONDAY 2nd March 2020
School will be closed for students on MONDAY 2nd MARCH. Teaching and Support Staff will be on site for this day ONLY. Teachers will be involved with professional development and learning, continuing with their Religious Education Study paper.
These TEACHER ONLY DAYS are part of the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement Contract where days are available for teachers to have professional development and learning during the school week.
In 2020 – Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School will be closed:
Monday 2nd March and Friday 29th May … with another date still to be confirmed.
Please make alternative arrangements for your child/ren on this day. SKIDS (Before/After School Care Provider), has advised that they will run a full day’s programme at school in Taamaua/Hall. It is up to parents to organise this arrangement with SKIDS. Contact numbers are Rose and Luke King, 021 2899939 or 0800 546 475.
Catholic Special Character External Review
We will be participating in our first Catholic Special Character Review in mid March. Our reviewers are Mr Phil Mahoney and Mrs Christine Smith from Catholic Education Services. Phil is the Catholic Education Services Manager and Christine is here, in her role as Review and Development Officer. They will be joining us on Wednesday 11th March to Thursday 12th March.
Together with Board members, staff, whānau and students, we can look forward to celebrating our journey of establishment as a new school community, with the Catholic Office Review Team!
DRS Report
Beginning of Year Mass
Last week on Friday 14 February, we celebrated St Valentine’s Day with a whole school Mass on the theme of ‘Aroha is Taonga’. We gathered as a school to give thanks for God’s aroha for us, in our simple ordinary lives. Our busy world is filled with lots of things to do and it’s important to take some time aside just to be in the presence of our God who loves us without measure.
Ash Wednesday
You are invited to join our school community as we gather together in Taamaua (school hall) for our Ash Wednesday Liturgy which will be led by Father Peter Murphy of St Mary’s Parish, Papakura. This is a special time of the year which marks the beginning of our Lenten journey. Our children will be learning about the Season of Lent in their Learning Communities in the next few weeks and we encourage you to ask your children to share this learning with you at home.
Dedication Mass
On Tuesday evening, our school staff and members of the Board of Trustees gathered with all staff from Catholic Schools in the Auckland Diocese to celebrate Mass together and to be commissioned by Bishop Pat Dunn, as staff and teachers of faith for the 2020 year. It is always a beautiful uplifting Mass to participate in! We congratulate Maria Speechlay, Ana Silva and Mavis Chung, members of our school staff who were acknowledged for their achievement in reaching “Endorsement for Leadership Level” in Catholic schooling. Well Done – we are very proud of you all!
Ordination of Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland
Our school community has been invited to attend the ordination of Father Michael Gielen as Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland to be held on Saturday 7 March at 11:00am at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau. We would love for our families and whānau to join us in witnessing this momentous occasion. Further information will be coming out next week so families can indicate their attendance.
Monday Morning Liturgies
As a Catholic school we always come together as a school faith community to begin our week with a Liturgy on Monday mornings in Taamaua (school hall). Our children are always ready to enter our sacred space on Monday mornings as soon as the bell rings. We begin our week with a Liturgy led by different Learning Communities before the school assembly takes place. It’s a special way of reminding and recommitting ourselves to being the disciples of Jesus Christ in our school and wider community. We are inviting all our whānau to come along and join us for Monday Liturgies in Taamaua as soon as the beginning of the day bell rings. This is a wonderful opportunity to take a short time in prayer, that can begin your week on a positive note!
Learning Community Moana Student Retreat
On Friday 6 March, our senior students in Learning Community Moana (Years 6-8) will be participating in a special Retreat that will be facilitated by Father Pat Breeze, a Marist priest who has a wealth of experience working with and alongside our youth. The Retreat will be held at St Francis Retreat Centre located in Hillsborough. It will be an experience of spiritual journey for our senior students as they take this time away from school, to reflect on their journey as a learner, as a leader and as a young man or woman of faith.
Family Picnic/Mahi Tahi Evening
We are looking forward to meeting everyone on Thursday, 5th of March at 5.00pm as we gather for a Family Picnic dinner here at school. There will be an opportunity for you to meet the staff who will share learning community information and also a time for Mahi Tahi Conferences about your child’s/children’s learning maps and learning goals.
PTFA – Parents, Teachers and Friends Association
Meeting: Monday 24th February 7:00pm in the school staffroom – ALL WELCOME!
✧ YOU ARE ALL INVITED ✧
Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School
Parent, Teacher & Friends Association
Proudly announces our …
CAR BOOT FAIR
Saturday 28th March 2020 9am-1pm
There will be …
Car Boot Sale on school field
Cultural food stalls on courtyard
Fair rides & entertainment
Raffles
Bake sale
Tell your friends & family!
This is an event for the whole community!
☆ HELP ☆
If you have any local business connections or are personally able to donate goods/services or vouchers for our raffles on the day
or can assist in any other way please contact us directly on email below or phone Ginny 021-2146476
We will be asking for baked goods from our school community – watch this space, more information to follow!
We will also be collecting new, packaged & unopened small kids toys or stationary for our lucky dip – announcement to follow!
If you would like to book a site for the car boot sale ($25 per site) or, for more information please email: ptfa@holytrinty.school.nz
Let’s make this an event to remember!
All proceeds from this event will be going directly to our school, to fund the Junior Adventure Playground Project.
Ginny Harman
PTFA Chairperson
Attendance Dues 2020
Attendance Dues for 2020 invoices will be sent electronically to families next week.
Please note that there are 3 options for payment of the Attendance Dues and Catholic Special Character Contribution
- Full amount paid by Internet Banking to ASB school account – details on the invoice
- Automatic Payment to be set up via internet banking to ASB school account
- Payment can be made at the school office – cash or Eftpos
Please see Jennifer Quarterman (Office Administrator) or Peta Lindstrom (Principal) in the strictest confidence if you have any concerns or questions regarding the payment of Attendance Dues.
Learning Community News
Learning Communities Moana and Maunga
Nau mai, haere mai and a warm welcome to our new families that have joined our community for the first time this year. We’re blessed by your choice of school and look forward to accompanying both you and your child on their journey of faith and learning.
A few things to take note of:
- Uniform – it is the summer uniform with open toe black sandals that is to be worn this term. We’re finding students with jackets and jumpers, with socks and shoes. The heat is unbearable and if students are not dressed appropriately, we end up with piles of unclaimed jackets and shoes.
- PE uniform – students have set times for physical education and fitness. For both Learning Communities, students will need their PE uniform from Tuesday to Friday for fitness and physical education.
- Notices for upcoming sporting events have been distributed. If you could sign and return those slips as soon as you can, that would be very much appreciated. Key dates are below:
- Tuesday 10th March – Year 5/6 Summer Sports Day
- Tuesday 17th March – Year 7/8 Summer Sports Day
- If your child is involved with the day and you would like to be involved as well – dust off your trainers and email Mr. Brown: qbrown@holytrinity.school.nz We really appreciate our parents who come along and the ability to take our tamariki to all these amazing opportunities. Without you, we could only take a few of the many who put their hands up to participate.
Our senior students are the leaders of our school and we expect them to be positive role models for our younger students. Our Learning Community treaties are reflective of our school Gospel Values and we encourage our students to show these Gospel Values in their words, actions and interactions with others.
Any other queries or questions, please feel free to walk in and korero with our friendly kaitiaki.
Learning Community Moana
Learning Community Maunga
This week, Learning Community Maunga have been sharing their taonga (treasures) from home. We have been really lucky to see the different taonga from our students and their whānau. Some shared special memories of their grandparents and the gifts that their grandparents have shared with them. Some brought special artefacts that have been gifted or passed down in their families and some shared valuable cultural treasures. We are learning so much about each other which is a wonderful thing to celebrate. You are welcome to come into our Learning Community and have a look in our green room where we are displaying out Taonga from Home. Special thanks to our families and whānau for working alongside our students in with their home learning this week. Fa’afetai tele lava. Thank you very much!
Learning Community News
Learning Community Ngahere-Pukapuka
In Ngahere Whare pukapuka, the tamariki have been unpacking this term’s concept of Taonga ( treasures that come in many different forms, and shape who we are and how we flourish and blossom in our world). They have been bringing in family photos (their Taonga), and sharing stories with the learning community. It has been great to see children sharing their learning with their whānau as well.
Other Taonga ideas that they have come up with are the following;
- Jesus is Taonga
- Mary Is Taonga
- Weddings are Taonga
- Families are Taonga
- Mums and Dads are Taonga
- People are Taonga
- Fruit, vegetables, flowers, animals and plants are Taonga, because God made them.
Learning Community Ngahere-Taamaua
In Ngahere Taamua, the students have been learning about this term’s concept of Taonga (treasures that shape who we are and how we flourish and blossom in our world) and exploring different Taonga connected to our school. As you can see in our photos the students decided that our Gospel values are Taonga and they have demonstrated and written about how we put them into practice. Our Charism and Triquetra is Taonga among many other examples. They have also been sharing their Taonga stories with the learning community. It has been great to see students so excited and sharing all their learning with their whānau as well.
Learning Community Whenua
Whenua has had a great start to the year, with 24 amazing Holy Trinity learners ready to learn, love and serve. They have discussed the Gospel value of unity/kotahitanga, showing their understanding in Whenua by working together as a team and supporting each and every one. When discussing the Gospel value of respect/manaakitia, they agreed that some ways they could show their understanding every day is by having and showing good manners and listening to each other.
Whenua has also been exploring the concept of what taonga is, how taonga are treasures that come in many different forms and shape who we are and how we flourish and blossom in our world. Here is some awesome writing:
My taonga is my family. My friends are a taonga. Our ancestors are a taonga. Generations are a taonga. Everyone is a treasure.
By: Janine Amposta
A taonga is a gift and God is a treasure too. Jesus is special to the earth because Jesus is God’s son.
By: Ella Yu
God made some trees and trees make our garden so nice. That is a taonga. Taonga means treasure.
By: Iana Baring
Learning Community Awa
In Awa we identified the Treaty of Waitangi as being an important taonga, a special treasure that cannot easily be replaced. We learned that the Treaty of Waitangi was a document that was signed in 1840 between Maori and the British with a list of promises to help them get along.
We then listened to a story called “The Treehouse Treaty” by Wiremu Grace and how the characters in the story disagreed about some of the rules in the treehouse. They wrote a treaty to help them get along and everyone was clear about what they could and couldn’t do.
This inspired us to create our own treaty in Awa! We came up with ideas of what we thought were important actions to help us get along in our learning community. After a lot of thought and discussion, we came up with our final important promises that we thought would help us to learn, love and serve in Awa. We displayed this as part of our classroom display, a Waka (to represent the water of an awa-river) and we even signed our names on the paddles.
Bike Month
The month of February is Auckland Transport’s ‘Bike Month’. The school Hauora/Well Being team is working alongside Auckland Transport to promote active ways to get to school.
It has been great to see children riding their bike/scooter to and from school this week. Let’s keep it going for the whole month!
If school isn’t within riding distance, an option could be to park in the neighbouring streets so that children are able to use their wheels and ride the short distance to school.
Bikes and scooters can be parked in the bike shed for the day.
The school Hauora/Well Being team is planning a “Wheels Day at School” later in the year!
Whānau House points will be awarded to students who ride their bikes or scooters to school.
Looking forward to seeing all our active tamariki!
Thanks,
Alana Gaynor
(Hauora Team Leader)
Playground Update
It sees to have been a very long time coming but the exciting news is that … our junior playground is going to be built and installed at school in the next two weeks!! Once again, we extend our thanks to the Board of Trustees and the PTFA for their commitment to raising funds and seeking grants to ensure we have a wonderful asset for the children to enjoy. Park Supplies Playgrounds are the suppliers and their personnel will be on site endeavouring to have all in place ready for the children to use this term.
Upcoming Community School Events
Please mark this date on your calendar Thursday, 5th of March where we invite you to come with your family and have a picnic dinner here at school. There will be an opportunity for you to meet the staff who will share learning community information and time for mahi tahi about learning maps and learning goals.
BIKE and SCOOTER to School MONTH CONTINUES!
School Gathering Prayer and Assembly
Monday 24th February 8:50am in Taamaua/Hall – led by Learning Community Ngahere-Taamaua
PTFA Meeting
Monday 24th February 7:00pm in the Staffroom
Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting
Tuesday 25th February 6:00pm in the Board Room
Ash Wednesday Year Liturgy
Wednesday 26th February 11:00am on school site Taamaua/Hall with Fr Peter Murphy
Counties Manukau Health Gardasil 9/Boostrix Talk (for Year 7/Year 8)
Thursday 27th February
SCHOOL CLOSED
Monday 2nd March – TEACHER ONLY DAY
School Gathering Prayer and Assembly
Tuesday 3rd March 8:50am in Taamaua/Hall – led by Learning Community Whenua
Papakura Community Dinner
Tuesday 3rd March 5:30pm (volunteers to help serve dinner to those in need- Anglican Church Hall, Papakura)
FAMILY PICNIC and MAHI TAHI EVENING
Thursday 5th March from 5:00pm
Retreat Day for Learning Community Moana (Years 6/7/8)
Friday 6th March 9:00am-3:00pm @ Franciscan Retreat Centre, Hillsborough
Episcopal Ordination of Auxiliary Bishop – Fr Michael Gielen
Saturday 7th March 11:00am @ Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau
Parenting Workshop Opportunity
This is a wonderful opportunity to attend a workshop, for parents, to be presented by Kathryn Berkett. The workshop is “Understanding Children’s Behaviour”. Kathyrn is an excellent presenter and has a fantastic background in neuroscience and brain development. She will offer great ideas about how we can help our children to operate in a way that will support them throughout their lives. Last year, our school Senior Leadership Team attended a two day conference where Kathryn was the guest speaker. We found her workshop hugely enlightening and extremely helpful to us in our own understandings of how we can best support our children and young people here at school.
It will be a very worthwhile workshop to attend – details are on this flyer or the attached link.
Flyer Parent evening UnderstandingBehaviour
Upcoming Event
