Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Greetings to all our school families, and a special welcome to new families who have joined us this past term.
As another term draws to a close, we give thanks to our Lord for all those people who together make Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School such a special place of growing and learning- our school principal, Peta Lindstrom, our amazing and hard working staff, both teachers and learning assistants, office administrators and caretaker, our Board and PTFA, our parish priests and all our families. It is heart-warming to see the ever growing partnership with our Holy Trinity whānau and community. We do it all for our wonderful children- creating a special environment, grounded in our Catholic faith, where they can achieve to their very best and grow in the school values which are such an important part of life-long learning. THANK YOU one and all, especially our children.
On behalf of the Board, THANK YOU to our families for the way in which you continue to patiently and considerately follow the school protocols that have been put in place to meet Health and Safety requirements. While our community is blessed to be COVID-free at this present time, we only need to listen to the daily news and realise it is not far away. Be assured that all our families, here and overseas, continue to be kept in prayer, and if the school, including the Board, can support or help you in some way, please come and have a chat with us.
Goals of a Catholic School
As a Board of a Catholic school, one of our key responsibilities is to ensure that the Catholic education in our school is about communicating Christ and helping to form Christ in others. The following excerpt from The Catholic Education for School Age Children, (N.Z Catholic Bishops’ Conference 2014), gives us a clear focus of what this responsibility means in practice.
- First and foremost every Catholic educational institution is a place to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming truth
- Facilitating that encounter is an essential function of the Catholic school in helping children to develop a knowledge and understanding of Christ’s teaching.
- The encounter with Christ and a growing knowledge and understanding of his teaching, leads to a life of Christian witness.
This progression from encounter, to growth and knowledge and to Christian witness is the framework of the disciple’s journey.
In the everyday life of Holy Trinity School, we see this journey alive in word and action, and as part of this journey we see in children receiving the Sacraments. CONGRATULATIONS to the six children who recently made their First Communion at St Mary’s Church and the thirteen children who were recently baptised- a wonderful encounter and witness to others.
School Board Membership
Over the last term, there have been a couple of changes to our School Board membership. With the departure of Father Peter Murphy, the parish priest in Papakura who was on our Board, we were blessed to have Father Iosefa Euese join us. Sadly, his stay has been a short one. The Bishop of Auckland asked if he would go to the Panmure parish, as they were without a priest. For the short time Father Iosefa was with us, his enthusiasm and commitment to working with our school and Board was much appreciated. He very much saw Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School as an integral part of the Papakura Parish.
Krissy Bishop, one of our elected parent representatives, resigned from the Board for family reasons. During the time Krissy was with us, she made a significant contribution to the work of the Board, especially in Te Ao Māori.
THANK YOU Krissy for being part of the Board team, and hopefully through your work with the marae in kaitaikitanga we will benefit from your knowledge and wisdom.
We have co-opted Melissa Hennessy into this vacancy for the next twelve months at which time there will be another round of Board elections. Melissa has three children at our school, Trey, Eli and Ezra. Melissa has be an active participant in the various hui we have held, and is keen to be involved in the on-going development of the school. We look forward to the contribution Melissa will make to the work of the Board.
Staffing
As you will have read in last Friday’s school newsletter, Quenten Brown leaves us, as he relocates his family to Christchurch. Quenten has made a significant contribution to the school in his two and a half years with us, both teaching in the senior school and in his role as sports co-ordinator, organising both school and inter-school sporting events- a big responsibility which he has admirably filled. The Board thanks you Quenten for your excellent work and for being a special part of the Holy Trinity family. We wish you and your family every blessing as you move to Christchurch and settle into the next part of your teaching journey.
It is also with regret, that the Board has accepted the resignation of Paula Lewis, who has only been with us since the commencement of this year as one of our office administrators. Paula is relocating to Tokoroa for family reasons. The Board thanks you Paula for the great work you have done over the past few months. With so many aspects to working in a school office, great skill in multi-tasking is required. This you have done so well and to a high standard. Your work has been much appreciated.
Quenten, Paula and your families, the Board wishes you many blessings as you relocate to your new homes and the adventures that lie before you. You will both be missed.
School Roll and Enrolments
One of the responsibilities of the Board, is to manage the school roll, as stated in our Integration Agreement, an individual agreement which is required of all Catholic Schools. Currently we have a maximum roll of 300- this is the maximum number we can accommodate in the buildings we have at present. At this stage the Catholic Diocese of Auckland has informed us that there is no available funding at this time to provide additional school accommodation, which means we cannot lift our maximum roll beyond 300. This is not ideal, especially in a population growth area, which means we have very specific processes and procedures in place to manage the school roll in order that we do not exceed our 300 limit.
All enrolment applications for 2022, MUST be submitted by 31 August 2021. Acceptance of these enrolments will be dependent on the status of our existing maximum roll. Families will be notified of confirmation of enrolment acceptance by 30 September 2021. Unsuccessful applicants will have their names placed on the school’s waiting list.
For all enquiries about enrolments, please contact the school office by email: office@holytrinity.school.nz
OR phone (09) 296 9039
Catholic Secondary College in Drury
St Ignatius of Loyola, the Catholic secondary college being built in Drury, is scheduled to open at the beginning of 2024. This will cater for students from Year 7 to Year 13, which Holy Trinity will feed into, along with St Mary’s School, Papakura and St Joseph’s School, Pukekohe.
This means that at the end of the 2023 school year, our school will decapitate and become a Year 1-6 contributing primary school. We will no longer have any Year 7 and Year 8 students.
We will keep you informed of this new school’s progress as information comes to hand.
PTFA – Parents, Teachers and Friends Association
A big THANK YOU to our hard working and enthusiastic PTFA, for the very successful disco held recently. It was very well organised, attended and enjoyed by all. A grand profit of $1, 600 was made, which will go towards the proposed Sacred Space in the outdoor environment. This project is in its very early stages, with the school beginning to work with landscapers in the development of initial ideas. We will keep you well informed of the project as it develops.
School Carpark and Airfield Road
The issue of school parking and the problem of Airfield Road continues to be work in progress, but there has been a great improvement on the part of our families, in the interests of keeping everyone safe.
THANK YOU for the way you are driving into the school carpark and doing a full circuit before entering the bus bay “drop off/pick up” area. Waiting until reaching this area for children to get in or out of cars means that everyone is kept safe.
It is also encouraging to see an increasing number of people parking their vehicles in the neighbouring side streets and walking around to school to drop off and pick up their children.
Auckland Transport personnel, as part of the school’s Travelwise programme, are working closely with the school to look at ways in which the traffic and parking can be managed in the safest way possible.
Thank you to the staff team who, in great numbers, are out in the carpark and pick up and drop off area at home time, to ensure the children are kept safe as they wait for their parents to come and pick them up.
THANK YOU again for your patience and understanding as we continue to work with the on- going parking and traffic issues.
Concluding Prayer
We thank you Lord for this term and all that we have experienced through learning, loving and serving.
Continue to give us strength and courage as we witness our faith.
May we always be conscious of you in our lives.
We thank you for our classmates, all our staff, parents and whānau and our school community who care for us.
Keep us safe in whatever we do in this term break and bring us back refreshed and ready for the new term ahead.
Amen.
Warm wishes and God’s Blessings,
Philip Cortesi
(Presider of the Board)
