Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta, Namaskārām,
Sat Shri Akaal, Vanakkam and Ayubowan
Dear Families
It was so fantastic to have so many of our Dads, Grandads, Uncles, Brothers, Cousins and Father figures who are all special people in our lives, join us for Fathers’ Day Liturgy this afternoon! We almost ran out of space and chairs so a great turnout from the special men in our lives! Students from Pompaliier and MacKillop Whānau helped to lead our liturgy by sharing prayers, readings from the Gospel, stories of what makes our Dads so fabulous and lively singing from the children. THANK YOU to all our Dads and father figures for being the wonderful people you are, for all you do for our families, our school and our community. THANK YOU for being our number one champions, for supporting us, for caring for us and especially for loving us.
A special prayer for our Dads and Father figures – “May the Lord favour you with Blessing upon Blessing and make your efforts successful” Psalm 90:17
HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY!
We also had a beautiful prayer liturgy on Monday led by children from Learning Communities Whenua and Awa. Through song, prayers, Gospel readings and stunning artworks, the children shared with us about their learning of the Seven Sacraments of the Church. “Living a sacramental life means taking part in the Sacraments of the Church and it means using sacramentals to help us understand that our everyday life can be sanctified. God’s grace and presence can be found in the ordinary and also in the most significant aspects of our lives” (from Tõ Tātou Whakapono Our Faith – RE Curriculum). The seven sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage and Holy Orders.
Teacher Only Day Monday 13th November 2023
School will be closed for students on Monday 13th November 2023.
Teachers and Support Staff will be involved in a professional development and learning day about the newly released New Zealand Curriculum Refresh. The Ministry of Education has granted this time/day to schools to allow teachers to work with the new document – to understand why changes have been made and to plan for the implication for our current Holy Trinity localised curriculum teaching and learning programme.
Please make alternative arrangements for your child/ren for this day – Monday 13th November 2023.
DRS Report
Fathers’ Day Liturgy
A huge thank you to all our families and whānau who came along to celebrate all our wonderful dads and father figures in our lives. We continue to pray for God’s blessings and guidance upon all fathers in our world today as they celebrate their special day this coming Sunday. May you enjoy your Sunday surrounded by families and loved ones.
Social Justice Week/Can Drive & Mufti Day
Next week, we celebrate Social Justice Week and Tongan Language Week!
Social Justice Week is a reminder for us all to serve others and to stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Christ. The theme for Social Justice Week is “Imagine Peace for All”! So, to celebrate Social Justice Week, we are running our annual Can Drive for Christmas next week where our children and staff bring a can of food throughout the week. At the end of the week, all food cans will be collected and taken to St Vincent de Paul to be shared across the different Auckland families who are in need of food for this coming Christmas.
This is one of the many ways our children are participating in their mission to serve others as we are all made in the image and likeness of God and so we are all Christlike and holy. To end the week, we will be having a mufti day where we encourage all our Tongan students to come dressed in their traditional Tongan clothes and everyone else can come dressed in Red and White, our Tongan colours. It will be a very fun filled week where ‘reaching out’ and serving others is really highlighted.
Religious Education Books Coming Home
Please whānau, keep an eye out for your child’s RE books coming home to you next week. Teachers from each Learning Community will decide what day they will send their books home but we are really keen to read your whānau comment. These comments can be written in your own language if you prefer but it is about positive affirmation of the wonderful learning your child is bringing home to share.
Our School / Parish Mass
On Sunday 10 September, our school will be having a Mass at St Mary’s Church in Papakura at 10:30am. Our students will be actively involved in different roles through greetings, readings, prayers, offertory and Word procession. We encourage all our staff and families to come a little bit early to the Mass to ensure that we have seats and for our students who are doing something for the Mass, to have time for practice before Mass commences.
Parish Bulletins
St Anne’s Parish Bulletin #32 – Sunday 3rd September 2023
Term 3 Reporting to Parents
Term 3 digital reporting will be available to families from Monday 18th September on HERO through each student’s individual learning pages. You will be able to read about the progress and achievement your child/ren are making with their learning goals – found on ‘My Learning Wall’ page and to share learning from their Religious Education and Technology learning – found on their 2023 ‘Learning Community’ page.
Celebrating Language Weeks
Tongan Language – Uike Lea Faka-Tonga 2023
The theme for Tongan Language Week is, “E tu’uloa ‘a e Lea faka-Tongá ‘o ka lea’aki ‘i ‘api, siasí (lotú), mo e nofo-‘a-kāingá” which translates to “The Tongan Language will flourish when spoken at home, church, and in the wider community.”
The word “TU’ULOA” in the theme means to help something important keep growing and getting better over time. This year’s theme is about understanding how important the Tongan Language is. It’s not just about knowing the language, but also using it in different places like at home, in church, and with everyone around. When you’re proud of your language and use it, you feel more connected to your Tongan identity and it makes that connection stronger.
Tongan Fāmili Gathering
To celebrate Tongan Language Week, we would like to invite our Tongan Fāmili to a Community Gathering meeting on Wednesday 6th of September at 3.00pm – 4.00pm in Learning Community Awa.
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week is from September 11th-17th. 
The theme this year is “Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori,” which means making the language stronger. This is a chance for us to celebrate the Māori language together. During the week, you can learn, participate, and embrace the language that’s a big part of our country’s identity. Currently, we subscribe to Wai Ako which is a programme that is helping our learners and staff learn key te reo phrases through waiata – with correct pronunciation. Please feel free to ask your child to share te reo Māori phrases they have learned each week!
Let’s stand together and make te reo Māori even stronger. Join us on this amazing journey during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
Māori Whānau Hui
Wednesday 13th September 2023 at 3.00-4.00pm in Learning Community Awa
Come along for afternoon tea for all of our Maori whānau and join us for kai time and korero!
We want to share some kapa haka information and show you the Wai Ako programme that is helping us all to learn te reo Māori phrases. Also, our students will teach us how to play Whano Whano, a fun challenging game traditionally used by Māori to train for leg strength and to predict an opponent’s movements for defence.
Hei te Rāapa – See you on Wednesday! 
Learning Community News
Learning Community Whenua
Strengthening Community through shared prayer
In Whenua we have been very creative in integrating our RE learning with our concept of Innovation and have come up with the idea of strengthening community within our school
The learners in Whenua have been very innovative in creating prayers in small groups – prayers for themselves, others and prayers of thanksgiving.
They then came up with an innovative idea to create prayer cards for each learning community which could be used during morning prayer. They have used different salutations to address T’he Holy Trinity’ and have created specific prayers for each learning community taking into consideration the age and what’s happening in each learning community.
Then they used chromebooks to type the prayers, print them, decorate them, laminate them, put them together in a creative way and present them to the different learning communities during Assembly. The kaitiaki are very pleased with the Innovative idea and way in which Whenua tamariki have gone ahead with this fantastic way of strengthening community within our school.
Ka pai Whenua!
Learning Community Awa
In LC AWA, our students are integrating innovations with RE through the various ways we share our knowledge of the seven sacraments. Some students created mobile displays of the seven sacraments and created stained glass window effects of the sacramental symbols, while others created a map where they could interact with the bee bots by answering questions about the sacramental journey that they will share with other LCs to grow whanaungatanga and strengthen communities. This connects with the sacrament of Baptism where we are welcome into God’s family. We are learning the welcome phrases/greetings in Te Reo as an introduction to Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.
We have begun korero paki (story telling) for oral language, which the children enjoy and are challenged to retell the story in their own words using only pictures.
Our students are learning more about positional language in Maths as we incorporate Healthy Active Learning through play.
Learning Community Maunga
On Tuesday 22 August, some of our learners participated in the St Anne’s Shield Sports Day at Bruce Pulman Park. Our Year 5 / 6 netball and soccer teams both showed excellence/hiranga and resilience/ngāwari by trying their best, showing sportsmanship, and keeping their chins up even when they didn’t win. Our soccer team did particularly well and came 3rd overall.
On Monday 28 August, 10 LC Maunga learners participated in the Caritas Challenge, a yearly fundraising event put on by Caritas to help young people develop feelings of solidarity and act like Jesus towards those who are in need or suffer from injustice. Our learners tested out their prototype shelters created with Fijian people in mind; people who often lose their homes after natural disasters and can’t afford to replace them. Our 10 learners enjoyed the experience and learned that the prototype shelters are comfortable when placed inside a learning community, but not so great outside in the wind and cold! This activity also helped them understand how they can take actions that will strengthen whanaungatanga not just here in New Zealand, but overseas as well.
Next week, 4 Year 6 Maunga students will be taking part in the Mathex competition to be held at Papakura Normal School. For this the students will need to answer a range of twenty maths questions in thirty minutes. It is both mentally and physically challenging. We wish Lucien Chang, Kiean Platon, Padre Luma and Andrea Vergara all the best.
Learning Community Ngahere
In Ngahere, learners have been preparing and presenting their Oral Language Speeches to students in LC Maunga and their own peers in our LC. They have also been busy working alongside their kaitiaki to design their prototypes for their technology activity. They have been using the ‘Design Thinking Process’ to help them with their research. (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test). Some students are researching and designing a habitat for endangered lizards.
Students from Expo Group – Electricity, are looking forward to designing a prototype to help to reduce the consumption of electricity in our daily lives. Students are researching to gather information they need to design a solar cooker to heat their food. After finishing with their prototype students will be testing their prototype for two weeks to gather data to form conclusions.
Our Natural Disaster Management Group is putting their efforts into designing sustainable and reusable grocery bags to reduce the use of other options available. Students will be recycling their old clothes and fabric they have in their home. We have asked our students to bring their old clothes to school to make their own grocery bags. Innovation starting from their kitchens and homes, then they will be going out to share their learning to inspire others to strengthen the community.
Sports News: A group of Year 7 and 8 boys will be taking part in the Inter-school Basketball Tournament at the Bruce Pulman Arena on Tuesday 5th September from 9.30am – 1..50pm.
Mathex: On Monday 4th September, 2023, two teams of four students from LC Ngahereare participating in the Mathex competition. These teams are from Year 7 and year 8. Mathex is a mathematics problem solving competition which lasts for 30 minutes. We wish all our learners participating in this competition all the best!
Sports News
St Anne’s Sports Shield Tournament
On Tuesday 22 August, we took three teams from our senior students to participate in the annual St Anne’s Shield event held at Bruce Pulman Park. It was an awesome day watching our tamariki demonstrate resilience/ngāwari and positive sportsmanship on and off the court and field. We had a Year 6 netball team, a Year 8 netball team and our Year 5/6 soccer mixed team who competed in the A Grade and placed 3rd overall. It was a successful event and we would like to acknowledge and thank our coaches for their hard work: Leah-Jane Smith, Angela Aiesi and Laura Ahern. We also want to thank all our parents who came along and cheered on our tamariki!
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- Year 5/6 Soccer A (3rd place)
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- Year 6 Netball
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- Year 8 Netball
Hākinakina Wāhine Day
Our Year 7/8 girls are participating in an upcoming event for all young women in the Counties Manukau area on 14 September. This promises to be an awesome opportunity for all our young women to give different sports ‘a go’ and have time with experts who specialize in their own respective sports! Twenty of our young students are lucky to be enjoying this wonderful sporting opportunity.
Sports Camp
“Sports Camp the John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Trust ” has created an exciting opportunity for some our Year 7 and 8 students this year. This opportunity is offered to schools in the Papakura area and will be held at Camp Adair (Hunua) from Monday 18th to Friday 22nd September 2023. It promises to be a high energy, sports activities based week that we believe many of our senior students will thoroughly enjoy. We will be combining with senior students from St Mary’s School, Papakura to create a team of 40 students. This is a great opportunity to create connections with senior students from St Mary’s School, as well as encouraging our students to engage in a range of different sports within a competitive framework.
Hauora/WellBeing News
‘Caught Being Good’ Awards
On Monday 28 August we caught up on our ‘Caught Being Good’ awards. Look at all these amazing tamariki who have been living out the school’s Gospel values and following in Jesus’s footsteps!
Peer Mediation Programme
We continue to learn about the peer mediation process here at Holy Trinity School. Part of the peer mediation process is learning about and practising active listening. Active listening creates a space where people feel heard and valued and are comfortable speaking. You can help your child practise active listening by encouraging them to use some of the phrases (shown in the image) when having discussions at home. You can learn more about active listening by watching these videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
In other news, on Monday at our school assembly, the Awhi Team members were presented with their Peer Mediation badges. They are very proud to be Awhi Team members, helping others by being peacemakers like Jesus.
Be in the moment!
Using our senses is a great way to be in the moment and pay attention to what is happening around us. Slow down and appreciate all aspects of life!
Whānau Challenge: Cut up your favourite fruit. Use your sense of sight to look at your fruit and notice the colours, the shape of the fruit and its size. Take a moment to take a deep breath and smell the sweetness of the fruit. When eating the fruit notice the taste and texture of it.
You can try this with other everyday activities such as brushing your teeth or hair. Use your senses to be more present.
Upcoming Events
Exciting News: NZ Playhouse Theatre Group Coming to our School
On Thursday, September 7th in Taamaua, we have a special treat in store. The NZ Playhouse Theatre Group is set to visit our school and present their fantastic Treasure Island show.
We have had them performing at school in past years. Both the children and staff thoroughly enjoyed their performances. We can’t wait to experience another thrilling show from them.
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- NZ Playhouse Theatre Group when they visited HTCPS in 2022
PTFA News
PTFA Pizza Lunch
The PTFA is organising a Pizza Lunch for all children next Friday the 8th of September. Please look out for an order form coming home on Monday with the children and place your orders at the Office.Laura Cooper and Michelle Porter
Co-Chairpersons
Other PTFA News …
- Total profit from the Matariki Dsco was $1,326.73
- Sacred space update, the construction of the prayer garden is likely to happen this year – which is very exciting!
- Pizza Friday 8th September
- Potential Wheel-a-thon 2024 – Friday 5th April TBC –planning for next year. Mark your calendars!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone and we look forward to seeing you all at the next PTFA meeting!
Attendance Dues Payments
Attendance Dues for Term 3 2023 are now due. Statements have been sent to all families – please disregard if you have already paid in full.
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 for payment are on the statement.
- Automatic Payment to be set up via internet banking to ASB school account
- Payment can be made at the school office – cash or Eftpos
For those families paying by Automatic Payment (AP), please note that 2023 payments must all be completed by 1st December 2023.
Please see Carmel Stewart (Office Administrator) or Peta Lindstrom (Principal) in the strictest confidence if you have any concerns or questions regarding the payment of Attendance Dues.
Financial Assistance is available for payment of Attendance Dues.
Reminders!
Online Bullying advice for Parents from Netsafe …
Online bullying (also known as cyberbullying) is when a person uses digital technology to send, post or publish content with the intention to harm another person or a group. This behaviour is often aggressive, is repeated and involves some kind of power imbalance between the people involved.
What to do if your child is being bullied …
- Stay calm: Your child needs to be able to talk to you and know that you’ll be level headed, thoughtful and helpful in your response.
- Evaluate the situation: It’s important to know exactly what’s going on before you can work out what to do next. Is it a few off hand remarks, or is it something more serious?
- Understand how your child is being affected: If your child is upset about a situation, let them know that you understand and it’s OK to be upset.
- Don’t take away the technology: Taking away your child’s laptop or mobile phone can alienate them from their most important support network – their peers.
- Work through a plan together: If you need help about what you can do next email help@netsafe.org.nz or call 0508 NETSAFE 0508 638 723 seven days a week.
Social Media …
Teach your child how to use the features available on most social networking sites including blocking and unfriending people and reporting content. You should also show them how to update privacy settings on social media – if you’re not sure how, visit the safety centres of the social media platforms they use.
Kapowai Boulevard Gate Access
We will be opening the Kapowai Boulevard back gate entrance and exit access to/from school at 2:30pm in the afternoons. We hope this is helpful to our families who are parking on Kapowai Boulevard roadway. Please use this gate to walk in to school to collect your child and also to exit school. We do not want children and families using the front school entrance driveway to walk through to Kapowai Boulevard especially at that busy, congested time of school pick up in the afternoon. The back school gate is better to use for Kapowai Boulevard – thank you for your understanding and consideration.
Student Phones
We do not encourage students to have their personal phones at school. There are a few exceptions only. This is for students who are using public transport or walking to and from school – having a phone with them at this time is a good safety measure. However, there is no other reason for a child to bring their phone to school. If a student is bringing their phone to school, then it must be handed into the school office each morning and collected at the end of the school day. Our Office Admin Team will be contacting families to confirm the need to have phones at school for these children. Thank you for supporting us with this request.
sKids Holiday Programme
Bookings are now open for the sKids upcoming September-October Holidays Discovery programme – a few weeks of captivating and unforgettable experiences for children!
Please click on the link for a detailed overview of the holiday programme – September-October Holidays Discovery Planner – Holy Trinity (1). The programme includes a variety of activities, workshops, and events that cater to different age groups and interests. From creative arts and sports to interactive learning sessions, our aim is to offer a well-rounded experience that allows children to explore their passions and engage in meaningful learning even outside the classroom.
Thank you for your continuous support and commitment to providing our children with exceptional learning experiences. We are looking forward to a successful and engaging holiday programme that will leave a positive impact on everyone involved.
School Term Dates for 2024
Term One 11 weeks Thursday 1st February – Friday 12th April
Term Two 10 weeks Monday 29th April – Friday 5th July
Term Three 10 weeks Monday 22nd July – Friday 25th September
Term Four 9 weeks Monday 14th October – Tuesday 17th December
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 2024 :
Term 1 – Week 2 Tuesday 6th February Waitangi Day
Term 1 – Week 9/Week 10 Friday 29th March to Tuesday 2nd April EASTER
Term 2 – Week 6 Monday 3rd June King’s Birthday
Term 2 – Week 9 Friday 28th June Matariki
Term 4 – Week 3 Monday 28th October Labour Day
Upcoming School Events
Tongan Language Week
Monday 4th – Friday 8th September
Social Justice Week and CAN DRIVE
Monday 4th – Friday 8th September
Students’ Religious Education Books Going Home for whānau comments
Monday 4th – Friday 8th September
Mathew Competition for Year 6-8 Students
Monday 4th September @ 5:00pm-8:00pm Papakura Normal School
Inter-school Basketball Day Year 7&8 Students
Tuesday 5th September @ Bruce Pulman Park
Tongan Families Get Together at school
Wednesday 6th September @ 3:00pm-4:00pm in the school staffroom
NZ Playhouse Theatre Group – Treasure Island Performance
Thursday 7th September @11:30am in Taamaua/school hall
Holy Trinity Netball Teams 2023 Prizegiving
Thursday 7th September @16:00pm-7:00pm in Taamaua/school hall
Mufti Day – a ‘CAN’ donation
Friday 8th September
School/Parish Mass – all Holy Trinity students and families invited to attend
Sunday 1oth September 10:30am @ St Mary’s Parish Church, Papakura
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori
Monday 11th – Friday 15th September
Gathering School Liturgy/Assembly – led by Learning Communities Maunga
Monday 11th September @ 9:15am in Taamaua/school hall
Māori Whānau Get Together at school
Wednesday 13th September @ 3:00pm-4:00pm in the school staffroom
Year 7&8 Wāhine Hākinakina Event
Thursday 14th September @ Manukau Tennis Centre, 1 Te Irirangi Drive Manukau City
Year 7&8 SPORTS Camp (nominated 20 students)
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd September @ Camp Adair, Hunua
HERO Digital Reporting to Families
From Monday 18th on HERO
Term 3 Concludes at 2:50pm
Friday 22nd September
Term 4 Commences at 8:50am
Monday 9th October
SH1 Papakura to Drury Community Information Day
We invite you to join a community information day on Saturday 9 September.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is hosting a community day where you can find out more about construction progress and staging on the Papakura to Drury project and view their design plans.
We will be at the event to provide more information and answer questions on the Pukekohe project and the South Frequent Transit Network (FTN) bus routes.
- View Future Transport Connections in Pukekohe, Paerata and south Drury map – Click here.
- View the South FTN (bus) Routes Map
Other project teams working in the Drury area will also be available at the information day including:
• SH22 Drury upgrade project and Waihoehoe Road upgrade project
• KiwiRail — for Southern Stations and Electrification to Pukekohe
Come and meet members from these teams and have your questions answered.
Event Details
Saturday 9 September, 10am-1pm
Drury Hall
10 Tui Street
Drury, 2113
Please drop in at a time that suits your during these hours.
We hope to see you there,
Te Tupu Ngātahi Supporting Growth Team
- Freephone: 0800 GROW AKL (0800 4769 255)
- Email: info@supportinggrowth.nz
- For more information visit: findoutmore-supportinggrowth.
nz
Upcoming Community Events
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