Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Dear Families
As another year draws to a close, we can all look back and take pride in what has been achieved together as a school community, where we “Learn, Love and Serve in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
Education and teaching in the 21st century presents an increasing number of challenges. Holy Trinity is blessed to have a very committed principal and staff who provide an excellent Catholic education for your children- a BIG THANK YOU from the Board of Trustees for the time and effort you put into your work with the children and into the life of the school as a whole. It is much appreciated, especially by the children, whose love of school is very evident when you see them engaged in their daily activities and learning.
Staffing
It was with much regret, but with understanding, that the Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of Jerremy Williams, one of our deputy principals, who is leaving us at the end of the year and moving to a position much closer to home in West Auckland. Jerremy has been in his role as deputy principal and kaitiaki in Learning Community Maunga, for the past two years. During this time Jerremy has made an outstanding contribution to the development of our school, especially in this establishment phase and to the children’s education, particularly in Years 6, 7 and 8.
The Board of Trustees sincerely thanks you Jerremy, for all you have given to Holy Trinity during your time with us. You have been a highly valued member of the team. and we wish you and your family the very best as you continue your teaching journey.
Board of Trustees
This year, the national elections for Boards of Trustees were held and we were blessed with a good number of parents putting their names forward for election. As a result, we have an excellent Board who work hard, alongside the principal and staff to provide the very best Catholic learning environment they can for your children.
It is with regret, that we are losing one of our new Board members, Sel Seluone, who is leaving us at the end of this year. Sel’s wife, Joanne, has won a principal’s position in Tauranga and the family will be relocating in the new year. We congratulate Joanne on her new appointment.
We say a big thank you to you Sel, for the excellent contribution you have made to the work of the Board over the past six months. You have become a highly valued member of our Board and we have very much appreciated the knowledge and skills you have shared with the team. We wish you, Joanne and the family well, as you make this big move and look forward to the new experiences the next stage of your family’s journey, holds for you.
THANK YOU to our Families and School Community
The Board of Trustees would also like to express its appreciation to all our school whānau for your on-going support and involvement in the life of the school. This year, we have had a big focus on consulting with our community as we look ahead to the next stage of our school’s development. The many ideas and thoughts you have shared through the various surveys, meetings, and informal gatherings has been much appreciated and has helped us with the further development of the school’s Strategic Plan.
Children’s Adventure Playground
It’s on its way!!
Our much needed children’s adventure playground, has been a long time in coming for a number of reasons, mainly around the funding required. Funding of such projects does not come from the Ministry of Education or the Catholic Diocese. To finance such projects we rely on locally raised funds and/or grants from community organisations.
Unfortunately, our funding application to TransPower was unsuccessful. There were 79 applications from various community groups, with only 18 being approved. We have had feedback that our application was very well put together- a big thank you goes to Nicky Welch who put the application together for us. It was a matter of so many applications and limited funding to allocate to the organisations. It has been suggested we reapply to TransPower, which we are in the process of doing.
However, the application process takes some months and in consultation with staff and the PTFA, (Parents, Teachers, Friends Association), we have decided we need to go ahead, as I am sure you will all agree, the children need the playground, particularly as our numbers continue to grow!
Our wonderful PTFA have the playground as one of their major fundraising targets and has already contributed $14,000 towards this project as a result of the very successful School Fun Run held back in April this year. AGAIN, we say a big thank you to the PTFA for the time and energy that was put into this event.
The Board of Trustees had earmarked $10,000 of its funds to go towards the playground. With the significant PTFA contribution, this gives us $24,000 towards the $60,000 project. In consultation with the PTFA, as a contingency plan, the Board has decided to cover the cost of the balance of $36,000 required, so we can move forward with the playground now.
This contingency of $36,000 will need to come back into the Board of Trustees operating funds. The PTFA has agreed to this and will reimburse the Board over time through various fund raising events. However, we will continue to apply for grants from community organisations for the playground and in the event of us being successful, the $36,000 contingency will paid through such a grant and the PTFA can focus on other projects.
We have given the “go ahead” to Park Supplies to construct and install the playground and thank them for their patience and especially for holding true to the original quote which is over 12 months old!
We are hoping that the playground will be fully installed for the children to use when they return to school at the beginning of February 2020.
Philip Cortesi Ginny Harman
Chairperson Board of Trustees Chairperson PTFA
Catholic Secondary School in Drury
As you will be aware from previous communications over the past few weeks, the Ministry of Education and the Catholic Diocese of Auckland are in the process of entering negotiations to establish a Year 7-13 Catholic secondary school in Drury, to be known as St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College.
It is proposed that the school would open in 2023 with Years 7, 8 and 9 students and then grow all year levels progressively until 2028. The school would provide Catholic secondary education for young people in Takanini, Papakura and Franklin Counties area.
Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School will be a contributing school to this new Catholic secondary school. This means that preference students attending Holy Trinity will be given FIRST priority of enrolment at the new school.
As the proposed new school will be starting at Year 7, the Proprietor proposes to decapitate three existing Year 1-8 Catholic primary schools which will feed into the new secondary school and make them Year 1-6 schools. Holy Trinity is one of those schools. This will mean that with the proposed opening of the new school being 2023, Holy Trinity would cease to have Years 7-8 students from the end of the 2022 school year.
You will have received an electronic survey to complete via Google forms a couple of weeks ago, asking for your thoughts. Thank you to all those who responded to the survey, and your very positive feedback. The Board is responding to the Ministry of Education and the Catholic Diocese accordingly. We will continue to keep our community well informed as we get more information regarding the development of the proposed new school.
Government’s Donation Scheme for Decile 1-7 Schools
From our recent school survey and information in the news media, you will be aware that the Government is giving Decile 1-7 schools, (Holy Trinity is Decile 3), the option for Boards of Trustees to choose to receive a payment of $150 per student per year instead of the school seeking an annual donation from parents.
Thank you to all those who responded to the survey- 55 families responded, with almost 100% agreeing to our school going into the scheme.
The Board of Trustees have therefore have formally responded to the Ministry of Education accordingly and we have had confirmation of our acceptance into this scheme for the 2020 school year. We will no longer be asking for the $50 per family voluntary annual donation.
As a Catholic school it is important to note two points:
- The Attendance Dues that you pay for your child(ren) to attend a Catholic school are NOT donations, but are compulsory as part of the Integration Agreement. This money goes to the Catholic Diocese of Auckland.
- Although schools who opt into the scheme are not able to seek additional donations from parents, the Proprietor of Integrated Schools retains the right to seek donations. For us, this means that the Bishop of Auckland, as the proprietor of our school, will still be seeking donations such as the Catholic Special Character contribution.
Conclusion
Again, I take this opportunity to thank Peta, our principal, all the staff, priests. parents and caregivers, my fellow Board of Trustee members and especially the children, for another wonderful year of learning, loving and serving together.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I wish you all a blessed, holy and safe Christmas and holiday season. May God bless you all and continue to keep you in His care during this special time as we celebrate the birth of our Lord.
Blessings
Philip Cortesi
Chairperson
Board of Trustees.
