School Newsletter 5th March 2021

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

Dear Families

We are very excited to be welcoming you back to school this coming Monday 8th March. Although we have only been apart for one week, we are looking forward to reconnecting with the children, our families and all of our staff. Expect to see BIG warm smiles and loving hearts, faces and words of encouragement as we all settle into being at school again.

On behalf of our staff, I want to express our appreciation to you our families – our mums and dads, our grandparents, our aunts and uncles and cousins for the wonderful way you have supported each of your children with their home learning during this past week. It is a privilege to see the family learning activities and experiences that you have shared across the Learning Walls. We have loved working with you in partnership to ensure “learning” has continued at home in a way that has best met the needs of your child and your family situation. We are proud of you!

We have much to be thankful for and so we pray …

Encouraging Spirit
For today, we give thanks
For loved ones in our home and school bubble, we give thanks
For help with home learning, we give thanks
For enough variety to keep us content, we give thanks
For all the life in our neighbourhood, we give thanks
For the land around us, we give thanks
For health and safety, we give thanks
For relief from tension, we give thanks
For whatever the new week will bring, we give thanks with full hearts!
Amen

(source: Ann Gilroy rsj in Lockdown reflections- adapted)

Health and Safety Plans Alert Level 2

Our Health and Safety plans are all in place for Alert Level 2 and please be assured that we will continue to do everything we can to keep our Holy Trinity whānau safe and well.

Sadly, we will not be able to celebrate Liturgies, Masses or Assemblies in Taamaua until we shift to Alert Level 1.

Student Information and Expectations ..

If you are feeling sick or unwell, do not come to school
To be at school between 8:30am and 3pm
To be careful to not breathe on or touch each other, as much as practicable e.g. to keep a respectful and safe distance from others with no hugging/kissing
To play in designated play areas as set out by Kaitiaki
To remember that there is no sharing of food or water bottles and to bring and use own water bottles
To place tissue and paper towels in bins straight away
To wash and dry hands every time after using the toilet
To wash hands frequently using sanitizer or soap and water
To cough and sneeze into elbow

Parent Information and Expectations …

• School is open. Children can attend school at Alert Level 2
  Keep child/ren at home if they are sick, are required to self isolate, are waiting for a Covid-19 test result or if they are vulnerable to illness

• At the beginning of the day … if family members come on site they MUST use the school QR contact tracing code AND if they enter the Reception area they MUST register details as required in the Reception Area, keep 2m apart from other people when outside and keep 1m apart when inside, use sanitizer as provided

• At the end of the day … family members are to remain in cars for pick up times as designated staff will bring children to the cars
  At the end of the day … if family members do come on site they MUST use the school QR contact tracing code AND if they enter the Reception area they MUST register details as required in the Reception Area and use sanitizer as provided

• To abide by drop off and pick up times as stated by the school: NOT before 8:30am and PICK UP BY 3:00pm each day

• MUST remain ONLY in Reception Area for entry and exit at beginning of the day – NO ENTRY into Learning Community Areas

• Continue with good coughing and sneezing into elbow etiquette

Face Coverings
Face coverings are another way we can help keep ourselves and others safe. Children and young people do not need to wear face coverings at school. If your child/ren wants to wear a face mask at school, that’s absolutely fine.

QR Code Posters
We’re continuing contact tracing by having QR code posters in our Reception Area, so please check in every time you come onsite. We’ll also keep a visitor register for anyone who doesn’t have the app, and also for anyone who comes onsite for a period of time.

DRS News

School Mass/Season of Lent

We were very lucky to have had the opportunity to welcome our new Parish priest from St Mary’s Parish, Papakura, who celebrated our first School Mass of the year, before we went into Lockdown Alert Level 3. Father Iosefa Euese was welcomed with a Whakatau followed by our School Mass centred on the Gospel of Matthew.

It is a reminder for us all that during this Season of Lent we need to seek God with all of our heart, mind and soul. Called upon by God to be servants to his people, may we be able to inspire others through our acts of faith to grow closer to God. Let us ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of humility, to seek God in the face of others and to see that all people are one whānau/family.

Christian Meditation

Christian Meditation is a very special prayer that is embedded in our school culture and very much a part of who we are. Every day after lunch, our school spends time in the silence of meditation. It’s a quiet time to still ourselves and to be in the presence of our Loving God. It is a time where we let ourselves go into the calm of God’s aroha/love and we let go of our worries and anxieties. Our children hear the 3 dings of the meditation bowl to remind themselves to sit up, to calm their breathing and to close their eyes as they become calm and still. We then pray in silence for 3-10minutes before ending our mediation time with a spoken prayer together. Father Peter Murphy, who has been a strong advocate of Christian Meditation at our school, has left his legacy of this wonderful meditative prayer for us to continue.

Feast of St Joseph

St Joseph is the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of our Saviour and second person of the Trinity, Jesus. Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph in his latest Apostolic letter, as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows. On December 8 2020, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis declared this day as the beginning of the Year of St Joseph which will end on the same feast day this year, 2021. As a special celebration for the Year of St Joseph, we will be having our whole school mufti day on St Joseph’s Feast Day, Friday 19 March. Our children and staff are encouraged to dress up as “workers” whom St Joseph is the patron saint of and to bring a gold coin donation to go towards Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is the NZ Catholic Bishops’ Agency for justice, peace and development. They are working on behalf of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference for a world free of poverty and injustice through community development, advocacy, education, and emergency relief.  More information around this special event will be shared closer to the time.

RE Books Coming Home

Due to the Lockdown this week, our students will now be bringing their Religious Education (RE) books home next week to share what they have been learning about in their Learning Communities. There will be a place for you to write a short comment of support, encouragement and affirmation around your child’s learning in Religious Education. We look forward to seeing our students back to school next week.

Changes to School Events

As we remain in Alert Level 2, it is important that we continue to follow the guidelines that keep our community safe and well. Therefore we need to make some changes to school events. Sadly we were not able to hold our Welcome to School Family Picnic or Ash Wednesday Liturgy. There will also be much disappointment for our senior students who have had their Year 5/6 and Year 7/8 summer sports days cancelled.

We will also shift our Mahi Tahi Student/Teacher/Parent Conferences to Thursday 25th March from 3pm – 6pm. At the Mahi Tahi Conferences, we are looking forward to the students sharing with you, their current learning goals, their next learning steps and their progress on the Holy Trinity School’s Toku Reo – learners’ profile! Teachers/Kaitiaki will also be sharing with you the expectations and routines for each of the Learning Communities. Please keep this date and time free so you are able to join us here at school to celebrate students’ home and school learning during this term.

Please be aware that whilst we are in Alert Level 2 there will be:
No community gatherings at school
No Assemblies in Taamaua
No Masses/Liturgies in Taamaua
No student Whānau time
No inter-school sports events and activities

Parish News

From St Anne’s Parish, Manurewa …

Greetings Parishioners,

Great news! Auckland will drop down to Alert Level 2 this Sunday at 6am. HOWEVER – There will be NO Sunday Masses this weekend, or AT ALL while we remain at Alert Level 2.

The weekday Mass schedule will resume this Monday March 8th, but numbers will be limited to 100 people. The weekday Mass schedule can be found within the weekly bulletin (attached to this email), page 2, top left. St Anne’s Parish Manurewa Sunday 7th March 

From St Mary’s Parish, Papakura …

Weekly Newsletter for 3rd Sunday of Lent St Mary’s Parish Papakura Newsletter Sunday 7th March

Home Learning Survey

Next week, we will be sending out a Home Learning Survey via google form for families to respond to. The feedback you share with us will help us to refine the way we are providing home learning experiences and activities for the children.  It’s important that you share with us the challenges and the successes of home learning! We believe home learning is a valuable part of the school programme and we want to be able to create positive connections between home and school that give many opportunities for families to contribute to the school’s local curriculum and the children’s teaching learning. Keep an eye out for the Home Learning google form coming home this week! Thank you.

Hauora – Health & Safety

As part of our commitment to the health and safety of all students, we will be practising emergency drills this coming week so that our students are prepared for any emergency that may arise at any given moment.

Have a conversation with your tamariki about why we practise emergency drills and share with them the importance of staying calm and alert, making sure that they don’t panic and that all attention is directed at their kaitiaki.

With recent earthquake activities around our beautiful country, it makes more sense than ever to prepare our students on what to do should an earthquake occur anywhere.

If you would like to support our efforts by practising these drills at home with your whānau, please check the following website for more information: https://getready.govt.nz/

Any queries or questions, please feel free to contact Andrew Malele – amalele@holytrinity.school.nz

Community Dental Service

Kia ora

For information about the Children’s Community Dental Service (Auckland Regional Dental Service) during COVID-19, please refer to our website: https://www.waitematadhb.govt.nz/home/ards/.

Our website will always contain the most up-to-date information for our service at each Alert Level.

Kind regards
The Children Community’s Dental Service

A Message from the Hauora/Well Being Team

Alert Level 3 Student Bubble at school

This week our school student bubble has been working hard to look after their hauora while at school.

This little bubble of students has worked on showing gratitude towards all that God has created for us. They looked after their wairua by reflecting on the way they help look after God’s creation.

Learners have used their team work skills to look after their tinana and whānau while creating obstacle courses and learning about coding with Bee-Bot devices!

Our school student bubble has done an amazing job at ensuring everyone’s hinengaro is looked after by spreading kindness, compassion and smiles.

Well done to our resilient little bubble!

Learning Community News

Learning Community Ngahere Year 7/8

During this Lenten Season, we are called to focus on three main things: to pray, fast and give. In the unpacking of these, Ngahere students have written ways of fasting inspired by Pope Francis’ call for us to look beyond the fasting of food.

Fast from anger and show kindness.
Fast from giving up and show resilience.
Fast from hatred and be compassionate.
Fast from excluding others and be inclusive.
Fast from fear and face your problems.
By Chris

Fast from foolishness and be wise.
Fast from selfishness and put others before yourself.
Fast from jealousy and show thankfulness and gratefulness.
Fast from bitterness and ask for forgiveness.
Fast from fear and be confident.
By Taimana

Fast from laziness and be helpful.
Fast from playing on devices and spend more time reading.
Fast from being mean and be kind.
By Sylvestru

Fast from ice cream and be healthy.
Fast from social media and be productive.
Fast from hurting siblings and be united.
Fast from being impatient and be patient.
Fast from selfishness and share.
By Ysabelle

Learning Community Moana Year 3/4

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

For the past few weeks, in Social Science, Learning Community Moana students have been learning about the history of Te Tiriti o Waitangi – The Treaty of Waitangi. There were great discussions about why the treaty was created, who signed it, when and why it was signed, and the difference between the te reo Māori and English versions. Next we will explore the principles of Te tiriti o Waitangi and the impact these have had on the ways people lived in the past and how they have shaped our common home.

Moana learners completed a Scavenger Hunt activity around the learning community to find information about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They answered questions on a puzzle piece relating to a fact card. The learners had fun assembling the Treaty of Waitangi puzzle as seen below. 

Learning Community Awa Year 1

Big Book Reading

In Learning Community Awa, we have been using our talents to express our Big Book stories in the form of visual arts. The tamariki have enjoyed themselves baking and decorating cakes after reading – The Fantastic cake.

Another group ‘made’ giant paper cupcakes, decorated them and stuffed them with paper cutouts – giving them a 3-D effect. This was also a great way to put into practice our Learning Community focus of re-use, reduce and recycle as part of us maintaining our wellbeing and being kaitiaki of our common home.

Here are more examples of other big book art, integrated across learning areas.

Scholastic Book Club

Issue 2 of the Scholastic Book Club is due in our school next week but you can start ordering online now. You can view the catalogue at https://mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz/Parent/BrowseCatalogue.aspx (make sure to choose Issue 2) and you can order from the same page.

2021 Teacher Only Days – School Closed

As part of the Primary Teachers Collective Agreement, there are days that schools can use for Teacher professional learning and development. This means that schools can close on a day to allow for all teachers to attend various professional development.

In 2021 – Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School will be closed:

Friday 28th May – South Auckland Catholic Schools Community of Learners Seminar Day
Friday 25th June – RE/Health Seminar “Having Life to the Full” Day 3
Monday 23rd August – RE/Health Seminar “Having Life to the Full” Day 4

One further date is still to be confirmed. Further notice of these dates will be given closer to the time.

Curriculum News

Music Tuition at School

NZ Modern School of Music is offering in-school drum and guitar lessons on Tuesdays with Music teacher, Torrance Kam.

Sports News

Student Congratulations!

A huge congratulations to King Toluta’u (Learning Community Maunga) who has been selected to represent the Cook Islands Nation at the 2021 Junior Oceania Tag Football Tournament this week. We wish you all the best King, for a successful tournament – we are proud of you!

Reminders

Policy and Procedures

It is always good practice 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.

If you are concerned about your child:
1. Meet with the Learning Community teacher/kaitiaki
2. If no resolution, meet with the Senior Leader/manutaki
3. If still unresolved, request a meeting with the Principal
4. If the concern remains unresolved, a formal complaint can be made

Our school policies and procedures are held online with SchoolDocs. Click here for the flowchart – Concerns Complaints Flowchart

School Enrolments

It is really important that we know of all younger brothers and sisters that are commencing schooling with us in 2021. If you have little ones at home, please contact the school office to make a time to meet with Miss Lindstrom so they can be assured of a placement at Holy Trinity for when they are ready to start in 2021. If you have any queries about enrolment, please contact the school office by email office@holytrinity.school.nz or by phone 09 296 9039.

School Enrolment Guidelines

For the purpose of managing our maximum roll, the following guidelines will be adhered to process enrolments:

2021:
Confirmed enrolments on the projected roll as of December 2020, will be accepted

All further enrolment applications may be registered on a ‘waiting list’

From December 2020:
All new enrolment applications for siblings of current students to start during 2021, will need to meet with the  Principal

All enrolment applications for 2022 must be submitted by 31 August 2021

Acceptance of these enrolment application will be dependent on the status of our existing maximum roll. Families will be notified of confirmation of enrolment acceptance by 30 September 2021 for the 2022 school year

Enrolments will be processed in the following order:

1. Siblings of current students
2. Siblings of former students
3. Students who are a child of an employee of the Board or a child of a member of the Board of Trustees
4. All other students

Provision will be made for unsuccessful applications to have their names recorded on a  ‘waiting list’

Attendance Dues Payment

Attendance Dues Statements for 2021 were sent to all families electronically in February.

Please note there are three options for payments for Attendance Dues and Catholic Special Character contribution : 

1. Full amount paid by internet banking to ASB School Account – details for payment are on the statement.
2. Automatic Payments set up by internet banking to ASB School Account.
3. Payments can be made at the school office – cash or eftpos.

Please see Paula Lewis (Office Administrator) or Peta Lindstrom (Principal) in the strictest confidence if you have any concerns or questions regarding the payment of Attendance Dues.

Upcoming School Events

School Liturgy and Assembly – led by Mrs Champion (PRE RECORDED)
Monday 8th March 8:50am in Learning Communities

Religious Education Books Go Home for sharing with whānau
From Monday 8th March

Footsteps Dance programme – for all classes
Friday 12th March 9:00am -11:45am in Taamaua/school hall

School Liturgy and Assembly – led by Learning Community Whenua
Monday 15th March 8:50am in Taamaua/school hall

Year 7/8 students Immunisation Programme
Thursday 18th March 11:00am -12:00 in Taamaua/school hall

St Joseph’s Feast Day – SCHOOL MUFTI DAY
Friday 19th March  – gold coin donation per student

St Joseph’s Feast Day Liturgy 
Friday 19th March 2:15pm in Taamaua/school hall

Footsteps Dance programme – for all classes
Friday 19th March 9:00am -11:45am in Taamaua/school hall

School Liturgy and Assembly – led by Learning Community Awa
Monday 22nd March 8:50am in Taamaua/school hall

Reconciliation Liturgy for Year 7/8 students with St Mary’s School Papakura
Tuesday 23rd March 10:30am @ St Mary’s School, Papakura 

PTFA AGM Meeting
Tuesday 23rd March 7:30pm in the school staffroom

Papakura Community Service Dinner – VOLUNTEERS needed!
Tuesday 23rd March 5:30 -7:00pm Crossroads Methodist Church, Broadway, Papakura

Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting
Wednesday 24th  March 6:00pm in the school staffroom

Mahi Tahi – Parent/Teacher/Student Conference Time 
Thursday 25th March 3:00pm – 6:00pm 

Footsteps Dance programme – for all classes
Friday 26th March 9:00am -11:45am in Taamaua/school hall

Term 1 Concludes
Friday 16th April

Upcoming Community Sports Events

Upcoming Community Events