School Newsletter 10th November 2023

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 has been such a busy week here at school with so many exciting things happening especially all the activity on the field as we begin the construction of our school sacred space/prayer garden! It was very special to be able to share with our tamariki and kaitiaki on Monday, that at long last the prayer garden was underway! THANK YOU to our PTFA who have worked so tirelessly over these past 3 years to organise and run school community events to help raise the funds necessary for the design and installation of the prayer garden – we are DELIGHTED. Thank you also to our school Board who have contributed the extra funds required to bring the sacred space/prayer garden to fruition. This is a lovely way to end our school year, knowing we have all worked together to create a beautiful visual sign in our environment that reflects who we are as a school faith community.  We look forward to sharing the prayer garden’s construction journey with you!

7 Sacraments Artworks

THANK YOU to Learning Community Whenua and Learning Community Awa’s kaitiaki and tamariki for creating the beautiful ‘stained glass’ windows artworks representing the 7 sacraments. The original ones were so stunning, we have had them reproduced as outdoor artworks and they are now proudly displayed on the front entrance walls of Taamaua/our school hall.

The 7 sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist (First Holy Communion) – these are known as the initiation sacraments, followed by the sacraments of healing; Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick and lastly the sacraments of service; Matrimony and Holy Orders.

Through our Catholic faith, we believe the sacraments are a gift from God, given through the Church as an outpouring of God’s love. Through the sacraments, God justifies and sanctifies us, the people – meaning God saves us and makes us holy.

We, as Catholics believe that the sacraments point to and are channels of God’s grace. They work as an effective means of communication between God and us, God’s people!

Thank you Mrs Champion, Mrs Griffiths, Ms Drollét, Mrs Hay, Mrs Malgas, Mrs Clarivette and Mrs Cortez for helping our students to create such a beautiful gift of faith for our school to enjoy and learn from!

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.

sKids will be open for the day and have provided a booking link – https://enrolmy.com/skids-sknz2/activity/770-Holy_Trinity_Teacher_Only_Day_Monday_13th_November_2023

DRS Report

All Saints Day/All Souls Day

Last week, we welcomed the month of November with special liturgies held on the first two days. We are grateful to all our whānau who joined us for our liturgies on All Saints Day and All Souls Day held on the 1st and 2nd of November. Our students and kaitiaki of Patrick Dunn Whānau and Mackillop Whānau planned and led our liturgies. We continue to live out the Gospel values in our actions and interaction as we are reminded that we are all made in the image and likeness of God and therefore, we are all called to be a saint. We also continue to pray for our loved ones who have died in our school and Parish community.

Reconciliation

On Tuesday 21 November, our senior students will be having Reconciliation in Taamaua/school hall at 1:45pm. Reconciliation is one of the seven sacraments of the Church – this is a special healing sacrament that our students will participate in with the priests, in order to prepare themselves for the beginning of Advent.

Year 6/7/8 Leavers Mass

On Wednesday 29 November, we will be celebrating all our senior student leavers from Year 6, 7 and 8 with a special evening Mass held at St Mary’s Church in Papakura at 6:30pm. Father Nathaniel Brazil will be the celebrant for the Mass and we encourage all our senior students to attend this special Mass wearing their cultural clothing or formal attire and to be prepared for their different roles in the Mass. We look forward to celebrating all our wonderful leavers!

Diwali Celebrations!

Today, the 10th November, we celebrated Diwali with great enthusiasm. A huge thanks to the parents who donated Indian sweets and those who assisted with creating a festive look of adorning Diya Thali at the school entrance and rangoli patterns around the school. We could not have done it better without you! Children across the school had the opportunity to experience Indian culture by painting diyas and then taking the colourful diyas home. The celebration came to an end with children and staff enjoying Indian sweets provided by the Patria, Singh and Uthamaputhiran families. A very special thanks to them and May Goddess Laxmi bless the families abundantly.

Thank you also to Mrs Fernandes, Mrs Kaur, Mrs Davies and Mrs Chung for co-ordinating and making the Diwali celebrations special for our school community!

Orientation Morning for 2024 New Students and Families

2023 Attendance Dues

Final 2023 statements have been sent out to all families. All Attendance Dues for 2023 must be paid in full by the 1 December 2023

Please note that there are 3 options for payment: 

1. Full amount paid by Internet Banking to ASB school Account – details are on the statement.
2. Automatic payment to be set up via internet banking to ASB school account.
3. Payment can be made at the school office  – cash or EFTPOS

Families that have an AP please note that 2023 payments must be completed by 1 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.  

PTFA News

This is a reminder that we’re currently taking orders for Calendar Art.

Student News …

Travelwise Celebration

On the 8th of November, the studnet Hauora team went to Rainbow’s End for a Travelwise event. Throughout the year, we have held up signs at school to remind parents and drivers to slow down and look for the children. We also have taught the juniors how to ride a bike or scooter and set up a little fun course for them to ride through. After all this, we’ve received an amazing opportunity to go to Rainbow’s End as a THANK YOU for our good Travelwise work.

During the Awards Ceremony, our school’s Travelwise Hauora Team won a Bronze certificate! After the ceremony, we went on many fun rides such as the Log Flume, Gold Rush, The Spectra, and FamilyKkarts. We had lots of fun the whole day and were able to connect with our peers and strengthen our relationships. To sum it all up, because of our contribution to Travelwise, we got an invitation to Rainbow’s End and had an amazing day there.

Congratulations to Jasleen, Annika, Faustina, Sitaleki, Skylar and Summer who are our wonderful 2023 Travelwise Team.

Healthy Lunches

Healthy Packed Lunches: whether squeezing it in before the school run in the morning or before bed on busy midweek evenings, preparing your child’s lunchbox can seem like just another thing on the list to do. It is important for children to have the right food at lunch time. Lots of our children have a wide variety of healthy packed lunches which is brilliant! Please always remember to include fruit and vegetables each day. 

“PLEASE SAY NO TO THE PACKET FOOD!”

From the Hauora Team

School Uniforms

As part of our school expectations, all tamariki are expected to wear the correct school uniform. Please ensure that all clothing is  properly named and if for some reason they are not wearing the correct uniform,  a written note or email from yourselves would suffice to inform their kaitiaki. 

Students are not allowed to wear make-up or nail polish.  For health and safety reasons, students can only wear studs as earrings.

• Plain gold/silver single ear studs in lobe and watches are permitted to be worn
• Culturally or religiously appropriate jewellery can be worn under the shirts

Summer Uniform (as shown in the photo): blue short sleeve shirt/blouse, navy shorts for boys and tartan skort for girls, black open-toed school sandals & school sun hat.

From the Hauora Team

Learning Community News

Learning Community Whenua

As part of our Inquiry into “Strengthening Community”,  the Whenua children came up with the idea of hosting a Breakfast Club. From Monday to Friday this week, we have hosted children from all learning communities who have joined us for breakfast.  What a great turnout we’ve had! The tamariki  from all learning communities gathered together, said karakia and chatted while they eat. This is a GREAT way to “inspire mana” and a fantastic way to “strengthen community” within our school. Well done Whenua!

Learning Community Awa

In Learning Community AWA, the children continue to “inspire mana” through the raps and songs on holiness they created and shared amongst themselves. This is one of the ways they “strengthen community” through their gifts, talents and skills.

As a way to integrate active play, learners have started using animal movements during transitions from one learning area to another. This ensures our tamariki are keeping active all the time and developing their directional language as well as their midlines and balance to help develop foundational skills in P.E. 

Learning Community Moana

We have been learning about different messages of holiness and the way these messages can be shared in different ways. We have worked collaboratively to brainstorm how these messages of holiness help us to look after the “Whenua” that God has given us. We have planned and practiced how we can share our messages through an art form. We are looking forward to presenting our art to the rest of LC Moana so we can “inspire mana” in each other and “strengthen our community”.

Learning Community Maunga

In LC Maunga we have had a fun and fabulous time with all the different learning experiences so far.  As a way of “inspiring and strengthening mana” we have shared stories from our past which have been passed down through the generations. These stories are represented to demonstrate their Turangawaewae-Who I am and how we connect to the many cultures in LC Maunga. Through the narration of a story, the oral significance reminds us of how a piece of tradition was shared among families before pen and paper or modern technology.

We acknowledge the resilience it takes to stand in front of an audience and deliver a story that captures our imagination, lifts mana and strengthens community. Kia kaha! Many learners are using the Arts through drama, dance and music to engage with others and inspire one another to present their stories in this way. We are proud of their efforts.

For the past year, every morning our flag monitors have been making sure the flag is hoisted in the morning and taken down at the end of the day. Thank you Evelyn Henderson, Lucien Chang and Bella Harman, our amazing Year 6 students, for always making sure this happens.  As these students will be moving on to College next year, nominations were open for new flag monitors for next year.  Interested students had to explain why they felt they would be great flag monitors, e.g. being on time, and attending school regularly.!

Congratulations to our flag monitors for 2024; Izzy Porter, Saxon Cooper and Mateo Tiongco!

Learning Community Ngahere

In LC Ngahere, students are busy exploring their cultural stories and sharing with us. Students are evaluating and synthesizing the way their “cultural stories inspire and strengthen the communities”. Students have generated ideas to share their stories with the community through different forms of The Arts. We encourage our whānau to share their past stories with our tamariki to inspire them to share these stories with their peers proudly and strengthen the classroom community by celebrating the diverse cultures.

Hauora/WellBeing News

Peer Mediation Programme

On Tuesday 7 November, Christina from the Peace Foundation came to school to meet our current and apprentice peer mediators. The Awhi Team enjoyed playing the cooperation game where they learned the importance of working collaboratively to achieve a goal, and that there are different ways to collaborate. They also discussed the qualities of a champion peer mediator. The Awhi Team practised the mediation process which was a big help, especially for our apprentice mediators.

Currently our apprentice mediators are following around our experienced mediators in the playground to get some on-the-job training before their training day in Term 1 of next year.

Congratulations to Ms Kirstie Gill who has been recognised by the Peace Foundation as a ‘top notch’ Peer Mediation School Co-ordinator. Well Done Kirstie! Ka mau te wehi – we are very proud of you!

“Switch to Water Challenge”!

Upcoming St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College Events

Transition Events

Information from the College …

We are really looking forward to meeting you again at our upcoming Transition events.  A reminder that the dates are as follows:

Meet and Greet for solo ākonga November 15 4:30-5:30pm

Year 8 2024 November 16 6-7:30pm
Year 7 2024 November 16 –  6-7:30pm
Year 9 2024 November 30  – 6:7:30pm

All of these events will take place at St Joseph’s School, 94 Seddon Street, Pukekohe.  For all events ākonga/students will have a short program of activities and will meet some of their teachers/kaiako.  Parents and caregivers will receive some important information regarding the beginning of the school year in February 2024.

Please can you follow the link to register your attendance at the relevant event: TRANSITION EVENT REGISTRATION

Enrolments for Year 7 Students in 2025

Caretaker Vacancy

Upcoming School Events

Teacher Only Day – school closed for students
Monday 13th November

Inter-school Athletics Year 7&8 students
Wednesday 15th November

Orientation Morning for 2024 New Families and Students
Tuesday 21st November @ 9:00am at school 

Weetbyx Tryathalon
Wednesday 22nd November

School Board Monthly Meeting
Wednesday 22nd November @ 6:00pm in the school staffroom

Music Tuition Concert
Wednesday 22nd November @ 6:00pm in Taamaua/school hall

Year 6/7/8 Leavers and Families Mass @ St Mary’s Church, Papakura  6:30pm
with a shared finger food supper and presentations to follow at HTCPS in Taamaua/School Hall
Wednesday 29th November @ 6:30pm – 9:00pm 

Liturgy and Assembly for Other Leavers and Service/Leadership Awards 
Monday 4th December @ 9:15am in Taamaua/school hall

Cultural Groups Celebration Performances – all Year 3-8 students
Wednesday 6th December 5:00-6:30pm @ school

Praise-giving Awards Afternoon
Friday 8th December 12:30pm @ school in Taamaua/school hall

End of Year School Mass/Acknowledgement of Leavers
Tuesday 12th December 9:15am @ school followed by ‘School Helpers’ morning tea

Family Picnic and Nativity Liturgy celebrations performed by Year 0/1/2 students
Thursday 14th December 5:00pm-7:00pm at school

Term 4 Concludes for the 2023 year at 1:00pm
Monday 18th December

Upcoming Community Events

Kuraconnect Turbo Touch Programme

When Christmas Comes to Town – Auckland

You can also check us out on Facebook by searching New Stage Productions.