Newsletter Term 1 Week 3

Friday 24th February 2017

Dear Families

On Tuesday evening, our school staff and Establishment Board of Trustees members attended the Dedication Mass held at Christ the King Church in Owairaka. As a new school, joining the wider catholic community, we were welcomed and greeted with a karanga, much warmth and good wishes. It was certainly a privilege and honour to share the Holy Trinity charism, vision and values of our school with the many people gathered there. The wairua/spirit of the occasion was deeply felt by those in attendance.

Another special event celebrated at the Dedication Mass, is the acknowledgement of numerous staff from across all Auckland Catholic Schools who have succeeded in their religious and theological studies throughout the past year. We congratulate our very own staff members … we are very proud of you!

Julie Kippen recipient of Classroom Level Endorsement

Maria Speechlay recipient Leadership Level Endorsement

Ana Silva recipient Leadership Level Endorsement

Thank you to family members who were able to join with us for our Beginning of the Year Mass yesterday. Fr Mike Wooller, celebrated Mass for us and reminded us of the importance of working and being together as “one”. Fr Mike shared a lovely story about the strength of a bundle of sticks bound together, compared to one stick and what we could achieve through binding together strongly as “one” school family. Ask your child/children to retell and share Fr Mike’s story with you! We thank Mrs Ana Silva (DRS) for organising our very first celebration of the Eucharist on our school site.

Lenten Journey

Next Wednesday 1st March , we commence the 6 week period in the Church’s season known as Lent. Lent, precedes the season of Easter. It is a time of reflecting, fasting (going without sustenance) and alms giving in preparation for our Easter Day observance. During these 40 days, we ponder what it means to “give up, take up and lift up.” Using prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we deepen our relationship with Christ and discern where God is working in our lives.

A great suggestion for families this Lent, could be to begin a family practice of saying an evening prayer together before bed-time.

A Family Prayer for Lent

Lord, please help us to be a family of prayer, of fasting and of giving to others this Lenten season. Remind us to pray to You when it gets hard to do the things you ask of us. To Thank You, To Love You, To Hear from You each and every day in Lent. Amen

DRS – Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday 1st March, our school will be travelling to St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Papakura to celebrate the beginning of Lent together. We will be travelling by bus. Our students will be participating in the Ash Wednesday Liturgy led by Fr Peter Murphy at 11:30am at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School. You are welcome to join us on this special day as we begin our Lenten journey.

Beginner’s Bible and Family/Whanau Books

Last week our students learnt about the importance of prayer and the different ways of praying. One way of praying is through the stories in the scriptures and we encourage our young learners to familiarise themselves with the stories from the Bible. We now have available for purchase at the office, Beginner’s Bible for $25. It is a great way for our students to get to know the Bible and the wonderful stories it holds.

You can also purchase from the office a copy of the Family/Whanau Book which gives you an overview of what each year level is learning in Religious Education Curriculum for each Strand and Module. It’s a fantastic resource for the family as it outlines what your child is learning at school and how you can help support their learning at home. The Family/Whanau Book is $12. Eftpos is available.

Parish Priests Visit

Last week, on Wednesday, our school had the pleasure of having our St Mary’s Parish Priests visit our Learning Communities. Our students were very excited to meet Fr Peter and Fr Maliu and we look forward to having them visit us throughout the term.

Learning Communities

Learning Community Moana (Year 4/5/6) were absolutely delighted to be able to shift into their learning space on the top floor this week. The students have had a great opportunity to use and develop their self -managing, problem solving and negotiating skills as they set up their area into an effective learning and working space!

sKids, Before/After School Care programme has also been relocated to the top floor learning space which is situated closest to the Administration Area.

Road Safety Programme

Constable Michelle Hunt visited all three Learning Communities this week. She discussed with the students “What are the indications to recognise in a reversing car?” Asking questions like: “Can you hear the engine?” “Do you see the reversing lights?” “Do you hear the reversing sound?” “Is there a driver in the car?” Appropriate areas for pedestrians to walk and appropriate areas for cars to drive and park was another focus topic. Constable Hunt shared that it was better to turn left onto Airfield road when dropping students off at school. Our time with Constable Hunt was very informative and a great way to begin building on the positive relationship we have with our local Police Community.

Community Open Morning and LINC-ED Training for Families

We look forward to our family/whanau spending time with us on Thursday 9th March from 8:50am – 10:30am. Now that we have settled into our new learning environment, we’re keen to show off and share our learning with you. You are invited to stay for prayer in each of the Learning Communities and then to participate in a LINC-ED workshop facilitated by Nico van der Merwe and Maria Speechlay. LINC-ED is the Student Management System we are using at Holy Trinity School.

It is an online forum where students’ progress and achievement reporting, learning goals, reflections and evidence can be shared on a regular basis with students themselves and family/whanau.
Parents can access their child’s information through a parent portal. You will receive timely information about your child’s learning, be able to view their progress, goals and ways in which you can help at home
Parents can also receive online notices providing information about Learning Communities and the school as a whole.

Open Morning for Parishioners

On Sunday 12th March from 11:00am – 1:00pm, we will be extending an invitation to parishioners from St Mary’s Parish, Papakura and St Anne’s Parish, Manurewa to come along, view and admire our new school buildings and to share in a little more of the Holy Trinity Charism.