Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta, Namaskārām,
Sat Shri Akaal, Vanakkam and Ayubowan
Dear Families
Term 3 has certainly been a busy term for Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School! As you read through the newsletter, you will be able to note all the various activities and events students have been involved in both at school and within our wider school community in just this week alone! It’s also been great to see such wonderful engagement with our whānau at the different events – and even better that it is our whānau and students leading these times of unity and community!
The recent onsite visit by our Evaluation Partner, Amanda Douglas from the Education Review Office (ERO) is also a highlight of this term with initial feedback very positive and encouraging of the school’s strengths and improvement pathways. Amanda will be working with us again in Term 4 to complete this current review cycle with the collaborative writing of our school report which will then be shared with our school community.
Our school Gospel value of hiranga/excellence is a very apt way to describe our busy school term, celebrating the many ways we have demonstrated excellence across all aspects of school life.
Hiranga/Excellence
Hiranga/excellence is an understanding that we never go anywhere alone as we are always supported by our whānau and kaitiaki, guiding and leading us towards excellence, in a community that is acknowledging of this excellence!
Inspired by the parable of the three talents (Matthew 25: 14 – 30), we are reminded that we must constantly work with and improve on the gifts God has given us. The servant with five talents increased his by 100%, as did the servant with two talents. In each case, their original assets were doubled. If the servant with one talent had worked, his reward would have been the same.
We must be learning, growing and carrying out our responsibilities and developing the resources God entrusts to us. Excellence is a reflection of God’s blessings
Thank you to our School Board, our PTFA, our priest, Fr Mathew, our staff (teaching and support staff) and to our whānau, who together guide and lead us to achieving excellence. We hope to be like the servants in the parable and use our ‘talents’ to improve on the many blessings that God has given us!
DRS Report
Sunday Parish Mass
As we come to the end of another busy term, we are inviting all our school whānau to attend our school Parish Mass this Sunday 22 September at St Mary’s Church, Papakura at 10:30am. All students are to wear their school uniform and to sit with their families unless they have a particular role in the Mass. We kindly ask that families bring a plate of finger food to share with our parishioners after Mass. Please come a little bit early so that you are able to have a seat in the church. We look forward to seeing you this Sunday.
Parish Bulletins …
Please click on the links to access this weekend’s parish bulletins for St Mary’s Parish, Papakura and St Anne’s Parish, Manurewa.
St Anne’s Parish Bulletin #35 – Sunday 22nd September 2024 St Mary’s Parish Bulletin 22nd September 2024
PTFA News
Thank you to our hardworking PTFA team for organising a great Pizza Lunch on Friday. It was just what we all needed after the wet, miserable weather in the morning!
Ngā mihi nui,
HTCPS PTFA
Celebrating Language Weeks
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori/Māori Language Week
‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’
Our students had an exciting week filled with activities celebrating Te Reo Māori. They participated in a school-wide bingo game designed to expand their Te Reo vocabulary by introducing new words. Students also entered a competition where they created eye-catching Kupu Māori posters featuring te reo words they were learning throughout the week. The whole school came together to share their new waiata, with each learning community proudly performing. The highlight of the week was the inter-whānau haka competition, where we congratulate Pompallier whānau for their incredible energy and wairua in an outstanding haka performance!
Kia kaha Te Reo Māori!
Term 3 Reporting to Parents
Term 3 digital reporting will be available to families from Monday 23rd 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 studies – found on their 2024 ‘Learning Community’ page.
Learning Community News
Learning Community Kohanga
In RE we are focusing on the Gospel value stories about Respect, Compassion, and Unity. The students have shown a strong understanding of these Gospel values, which are evident in every aspect of school life. In an effort to further their spiritual journey, we are continuing to learn about the remaining school Gospel values that help us to become better Christians.
In Maths, we are learning to write numbers from 1 – 20 and to practice counting forwards and backwards from 1 – 20. Using a variety of teaching materials builds students’ eagerness to learn more about numbers.
In Reading, we are still concentrating on our goal which is ‘to look at the picture to get clues and to point to the words as I read’ as the students find it very helpful to keep them on track while reading.
Learning Community Kohanga also participated in one of the many school activities and one of these was Craft Lab Outdoor Education Day, where they have the chance to explore the gifts of nature that God has given to us. The children also cooked their own doughnuts over the fire that made them feel enthusiastic and they also had the chance to showcase their talents in making artworks using charcoal sticks. The second school activity they participated in this week was the celebration of the Māori Language Week – Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, wherein they had the chance to watch and experience the School Haka Competition.
Learning Community Awa
Over the past two weeks, we focused on presenting our design creations and being an audience for others. Learners demonstrated manaakitanga/respect—both as performers and as an audience, empowering their own and others’ mission to follow Jesus.
During Hungerball Game time, Awa learners improved their foot-eye coordination and balance as they kicked the ball, proudly sharing their achievements when scoring goals.
As part of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week celebrations, Awa shared our greeting video with LC Whenua and the whole school. We also created headbands featuring māori patterns and designs to wear for the school whānau competition.
Learners had an exciting end to the week by exploring nature through Craft Lab. They were encouraged to appreciate the natural world created and gifted to us by God. Through various activities, they strengthened their connection to nature and enhanced their hauora/well-being. Learners linked this experience to their previous Health and PE lessons of the four pou of Hauora: tinana (physical well-being), hinengaro (mental well-being), whānau (social well-being), and wairua (spiritual well-being), and to the hauora boxes they had created. Highlights included the nature scavenger hunt, using flint stones, charcoal painting, and, most of all … roasting and eating doughnuts!
We want to thank all our amazing parents/whānau for supporting our tamariki throughout this day. Ngā mihi nui, whānau!
Learning Community Whenua
Learning Community Whenua had a fantastic week, sharing and presenting our creations and prototypes in both RE and Technology. Our tamariki proudly presented their creations, which help preserve stories as taonga due to their meaningful messages. In Technology, they showcased their recycled musical instruments as part of our commitment to Laudato Si’—Pope Francis’ encyclical on “taking care of our common home.” Through these presentations, the students inspired others to turn rubbish into something new, useful, and creative.
LC Whenua thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Māori Language Week – Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori . Our learners were excited and beaming with pride as they learned the waiata “Tū Tira Mai” and shared it with Awa learners and in front of the whole school in Tamaaua. They performed their waiata with joy and pride clearly visible on their faces. They also enthusiastically participated in various te reo activities throughout the week.
On Thursday, our tamariki had a wonderful time with Craft Lab, learning about outdoor activities that support our hauora. They experienced firsthand how to nurture their tinana (physical well-being), wairua (spiritual well-being), whānau (social well-being), and hinengaro (mental well-being) through a variety of activities. A highlight for many was cooking scrumptious cinnamon sugar-coated doughnuts over the fire, which they rated 10/10! Building their own beaver huts was another favourite, with some even asking if they could eat lunch inside their creations. Their learning and enjoyment were beautifully captured in their charcoal pencil drawings, made from twigs they collected and burned over the fire.
Great job, tamariki mā! Special thanks to our awesome parent/whānau helpers, who eagerly supported and worked alongside us, making a significant contribution to the success of the day for our Whenua learners.
God bless you all!
Learning Community Maunga
Learning Community Maunga celebrated Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori sharing our waiata ‘He Honore’ and our action song ‘Nga Waka’ to the school. We have been learning the phrase Ko wai õ hoa? Who are your friends?, as part of our Wai Ako daily programme to learn te reo māori. LC Maunga had the opportunity for some of our learners to share their Wai Ako learning with Learning Community Moana and learners from LC Ngahere shared their learning of the colours in māori with us. We are also enjoying reading our te reo māori storybooks in our learning community.
In Religious Education, our learners were excited to present their faith story song to Learning Community Awa and Learning Community Whenua. It was a great learning experience to showcase their creativity and presentation skills using the elements of music.
LC Maunga has been learning different ways to present their data using charts and graphs in Maths. We have been focusing on interpreting information and making statements about our graphs. Our learners are excited to share their statistical investigations and what they have been learning in groups.
In Literacy, Maunga has been busy creating their digital power-points and voice recordings for their storytelling of our kōrero paki story ‘Tulevai and the Sea’. We have also been writing persuasive letters from the perspective of the characters in our kōrero paki story for writing.
Our learners have been focusing on dribbling and kicking the ball with accuracy while playing Hungerball. It has been wonderful to see their ball and hand-eye coordination skills develop and improve over the term and to be actively participating during our P.E. sessions.
Learning Community Moana
We have used two problem-solving processes (KWHLAQ and the Design Thinking Process) to begin and complete tasks in LC Moana. Firstly, we have been designing and creating a prototype of a time capsule to store our taonga – a letter to our future self to be read in two years. In Religious Education we have been inspired by our faith stories, like the school Gospel values, and other stories shared by Jesus when he preached to the multitudes in the New Testament. To support this learning, we wrote songs to include specific verses and used words from the faith stories to help empower mission in ourselves and others. There have been amazing results, and learners have presented reflective messages about God and mission. Also in Technology, we are designing and preparing to make our prototypes for musical instruments to play alongside our faith song; we hope to have these prototypes created before the end of term.
Many learners have contributed to our Hauora/Well-Being Wall by sharing their gifts and talents in visual art, with drawings of our Peer Mediation characters of Kiwi, Kuri, Ruru, Mako and Pupurangi. Learners are encouraged to take ownership of their emotions and use these visual prompts to manage their behaviour in a positive way through self-management or asking for help from peers or their kaitiaki. Other characters (from Inside Out) have also been introduced to our Hauora Wall – Joy, Sad, Disgust, and Angry – to appeal to learners who have not yet identified with the Peer Mediation characters. There has been an updated ‘Te Mauri Ora’ wharenui added, with the inclusion of Ranginui and Papatuanuku. The wharenui has been created to represent our wellbeing. The pou are our learners’ interpretation of whānau, spirituality, and some of the cultural identities represented in LC Moana such as NZ Māori, Filipino, Indian, Asian, and Pasifika. Other learners have identified what makes them who they are with a self-portrait with images that enhance their hauora-health and wellbeing. All learning is displayed in our learning community which you are invited to view!
Finally, we are very proud to report that Holy Trinity has once again done very well in the annual Kaitiaki2share competition run by Caritas Aotearoa. A huge congratulations to Liliana Chang, who was one of the 10 finalists nationwide. Liliana received $50, plus a tree has been planted in her honour in the South Auckland region. Cooper Pihema, Aidan Singh, and Celyn Rogayan were finalists and have also had a tree planted in their honour. We also had learners acknowledged as notable entries: Elijah Bautista; Isabella Porter and Emmanuella Ofori-Anyinam; Jan Silver Manalo; Keira Vibal, Alicia Soriano, and Zia Sarath; and Lupea Kaloni, Korah Walker, and Jane Tatui.
To see our learners’ entries, please go to https://www.caritas.org.nz/kaitiaki2share
Sports News
Whole School Athletics Day
Save the date! We have our whole school athletics day on Friday 18 October – Week 1 Term 4. We encourage all our tamariki and kaitiaki to wear their whānau colours on this day. We invite all our whānau to come along and be part of our day as our tamariki participate in different activities around running, jumping and throwing.
North Counties Inter-school Touch Tournament
Our school, along with Papakura Normal school will be co-hosting the North Counties Touch Tournament held at Bruce Pulman Park on Wednesday 28 October. We will be taking one Year 5/6 boys team to compete in the tournament and we hope they will enjoy the day participating in this event!
North Counties & Central East Girls Cricket Festival Day
On Wednesday 30 October, some of our Year 5/6 girls will be attending and participating in the Cricket Festival Day held at Bruce Pulman Park. Such an exciting start to Term 4 with many sports opportunities for our senior students.
2025 School Dates
The School Board has approved the school term dates for 2025 as:
Term One 10 weeks Monday 3rd February – Friday 11th April
Term Two 9 weeks Monday 28th April – Friday 27th June
Term Three 10 weeks Monday 14th July – Friday 19th September
Term Four 10 weeks Monday 6th October – Tuesday 16th December
2025 PUBLIC HOLIDAYS:
Term 1 – Thursday 6th February – Waitangi Day
Easter Holidays: Good Friday 18th April, Easter Monday 21st April, Easter Tuesday 22nd April
Anzac Day Friday 25th April
Term 2 – Monday 2rd June – King’s Birthday
Term 2 – Friday 20th June – Matariki
Term 4 – Monday 27th October – Labour Day
Christmas/Summer holidays begin from Wednesday 17th December 2025
Term 4 School Uniforms
School Summer Uniform
Students are expected to be in the correct school uniform from Week 3 of Term 4, Tuesday 29th October (after Labour Day weekend). This includes the short sleeved blouse or shirt, open toed black school sandals and the school sunhat. Please name all items of clothing so that they can be returned to the children immediately when found.
Our School uniform is only available for purchase from NZ Uniforms on 20/5 Lambie Drive, Manukau.
All students are required to wear the correct school uniform for summer as listed below.
Girls Uniform
Tartan skort
Blue short sleeved monogrammed blouse (summer)
Black open toed school sandals (summer)
Navy bucket sun-hat monogrammed
Navy monogrammed school jersey, polar fleece OR school jacket
Boys Uniform
Navy shorts
Blue short sleeved monogrammed shirt (summer)
Black open toed school sandals (summer)
Navy bucket sun-hat monogrammed
Navy monogrammed school jersey, polar fleece OR school jacket
Reminders!
2024 School Leavers
If you are leaving our school at the end of this year due to a change of circumstances (other than our Year 6 students), please email the school office as soon as possible – office@holytrinity.school.nz. We are currently managing our school roll numbers and this much needed information will help us to make decisions in regards to enrolments for 2025 placements. Thank you.
Staff/Teacher Only Day in Term 4
School will be closed for students on Friday 15th November – Term 4
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 Friday 15th November.
Upcoming School Events
Combined School and Parish Mass
Sunday 22nd September @ 10:30am St Mary’s Parish Church Papakura
School Whānau Time 9:00am – 9:45am
Monday 23rd September in Learning Communities
Monthly PTFA Meeting
Tuesday 24th September @ 7:00pm in the staffroom
Monthly School Board Meeting
Wednesday 25th September @ 7:00pm in the staffroom
PTFA Wave Rave at Massey Park Pools
Friday 27th September @ Massey Park Pools, Papakura from 6:00pm
Term 3 Concludes at 2:50pm
Friday 27th September
Term 4 Commences at 8:50am
Monday 14th October
School Whakatau/Welcome and Liturgy/Assembly – led by the Senior Leadership Team
Monday 14th October @ 9:15am in Taamaua/school hall
Whātuia te Wairoa /Weaving Well-Being Programme for Year 5/6 students
Tuesday 15th October onsite
School-wide Athletics Day
Friday 18th October onsite
Upcoming Community Events
Hawkins Theatre – Alice in Wonderland Performance
We are excited that our Youth Theatre production of Alice In Wonderland will be coming to the Hawkins Theatre stage for the Spring holidays and is featuring one of your talented students; Lilac Encina
The children have worked really hard to bring something special to the community and we always keep our ticket prices reasonable so that families can enjoy the experience of coming to the theatre together for a professional feeling show.
Tickets can be purchased from our box office at Hawkins Monday to Friday 9-3, via our website or directly though Eventfinda.
https://www.hawkinstheatre.co.nz/theatre-events/hawkins-youth-theatre-presents-alice-wonderland/
