Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Dear Families
Last week, we enjoyed working alongside the Review Team from the Catholic Schools Office who were onsite as part of our first Catholic Special Character Review external audit. We were delighted to able able to share with them “who we are” and “how we are” as a new and growing faith community here in the heart of Takanini. The Review Team spent much time in the Learning Communities, participating in and observing Prayer/karakia times and Religious Education lessons. They also spent time talking with our children, our staff, our families, our Parish Priests, our Board of Trustees members, our PTFA members and our Senior Leadership Team. THANK YOU to the group of parents who gathered together to speak with the Review team and who were able to share so enthusiastically about our Holy Trinity school family whānau.
This was a very special and joyful time for our school as we shared and demonstrated how we live out the goals of Catholic education … by providing opportunities for each of us to encounter the Living Christ, by growing in knowledge and understanding of Christ’s teaching and by being Christian witnesses.
We can look forward with great confidence to the written school report that the Review Team will provide for our school community.
A Call from Pope Francis
Pope Francis calls every single person – “every family, every faithful, every religious community” today Friday 20th March 2020 to a Families World Day of Prayer.
At his weekly audience of 18 March 2020, Pope Francis invited the whole world of people to recite the Rosary with the Mysteries of Light. And Pope Francis assures us that he too, will be praying together with us.
This is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the world.
“We are led to the luminous and transfigured face of Jesus Christ and His Heart by Mary, Mother of God, health of the sick, to whom we turn with the prayer of the Rosary, under the loving gaze of Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Holy Family and of our families. And we ask him to take special care of our family, our families, especially the sick and the people who are taking care of them: doctors, nurses, and volunteers, who risk their lives in this service.”
For the Rosary of the Mysteries of Light, click here
http://www.usccb.org/…/a-
Therefore, People of God, People of the World, gather your family, your friends at work, your school communities, your community groups for a time of Families World Time of Prayer.
Let Christ who is the Light for the Nation be our “mystical Light” that will lead our hearts, mind and soul into His Mystical Body.
Let us call upon the Angels and the Saints of Heaven to “sing” together with us at this time of anxiety and uncertainty. Let us call upon the Holy Family of God to protect us and to guide us.
Source: Pastoral Office, Catholic Diocese of Auckland
DRS Report
Episcopal Ordination Mass
On Saturday 7 March, we attended the Episcopal Mass for the ordination of our new Auxiliary Bishop, Michael Gielen. It was a phenomenal Mass with the different communities within Auckland playing a part in welcoming Bishop Michael into his special role as Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland. A huge thank you to all our families and students who came along to witness such a remarkable event. Bishop Michael spoke of his religious life’s journey and how his waka has now arrived in the harbours of Tamaki Makaurau. In his own word,s Bishop Michael shared a very special message for us all.
“I have good news. Whether you are 7 or 70, Jesus loves you. Jesus will never leave you alone. Jesus has amazing things in mind for you whatever your age is. If you trust him and ask him into your life.”
We continue to pray for both Bishop Patrick Dunn and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Gielen as they minister to the people of Auckland. Our Bishops are indeed God’s special taonga for us all.
St Patrick’s Mufti Day
This week on Tuesday 17 March, our school celebrated St Patrick’s Day with a mufti theme of ‘green’. We collected gold coin donations which resulted in $214.00 that will go towards Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. We thank you for your generosity and the ongoing support that you continue to show our school.
Our Whānau Patrons
Each of our four whānau patrons have been chosen for our school as people who have lived and are living extraordinary lives here in Aotearoa, New Zealand. They are people who have lived and worked alongside all peoples of New Zealand. They dedicated their lives to the service of God and have been wonderful faithful servants in teaching New Zealand people about God’s love for us all.
The colours for our whānau groups were inspired by the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. green for Ordinary Time, purple for Lent and Advent, gold for Easter and Christmas and red for special days like Pentecost.
Venerable Suzanne Aubert (GREEN)
Suzanne was born in France and travelled to Aotearoa many years ago. She worked with the Maori people and communities and helped to establish a Catholic mission in a little river village called Jerusalem, near Whanganui. She founded the Sisters of Compassion and together they looked after the poor, the sick and the underprivileged, those children and families who had very little and very few opportunities. Mother Suzanne Aubert’s Sisters still do this work to this very day!
We continue to pray for Mother Aubert who is currently in the process of becoming New Zealand’s first saint!
Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop (RED)
Mary was born in Australia in 1842. She co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph because she saw a need for education in the isolated and rural country areas in Australia – where the children did not have the opportunity to go to school and did not know about Jesus. Mary travelled to Aotearoa, New Zealand and established schools for the children here, in our country.
Mary was a woman of great faith, who taught many people about the compassionate, loving heart of God. Mary MacKillop taught us to never see a need without doing something about it. Mary MacKillop’s Sisters still work with all people here in New Zealand to this very day!
We can pray to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop because she is a model of hope for us all!
Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier (PURPLE)
Bishop Pompallier was the very first Catholic Bishop of Aotearoa New Zealand. He travelled from France to New Zealand and brought many priests with him so that together, they could establish Catholic missions in New Zealand. He told many people about God and converted people, especially the Maori people to the Catholic faith. That means that many people came to believe in God and to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and live Christian lives.
The Maori people were very special to Bishop Pompallier and he understood the need to recognise and protect the Maori way of life (Te reo and Tikanga). Bishop Pompallier was present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and advised Governor Hobson to add in the importance of religious freedom in Aotearoa – this means we protect the faith of all people living in New Zealand.
Bishop Pompallier is very important to New Zealand’s Catholic story. Today, our priests in Aotearoa, New Zealand continue Bishop Pompallier’s work and mission to teach people about God and to have faith in God’s love and mercy.
Bishop Patrick Dunn (GOLD)
Bishop Patrick Dunn is our ONLY living whānau patron so he is extra special to us. Bishop Pat is very special to our Holy Trinity story as he was instrumental in naming our school and has been present at all of our special occasions – blessing our grounds, our buildings, our cross, our puriri tree to mark our official opening, our staff, our families and our children!
He is the Bishop of Auckland and so like a shepherd looking after his sheep – he leads all the Catholic people in the Auckland Diocese. He works alongside Fr Brian, Fr Peter, Fr James, Fr Kerry and Fr Rob and many other priests and religious brothers who bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to us all – they teach us and are a wonderful example to us of learning, loving and serving in God’s name.
Each time Bishop Pat has been to our school, he has worn a very big cross around his neck which belonged to Bishop Pompallier – it is very old and is a taonga given to each Bishop of Auckland as a reminder of the precious work that they do to help people know and love God.
Bishop Pat has graced us with many blessings in God’s name. Our school is special to him and he prays for us everyday. He has been a big part of our school journey and we are BLESSED and lucky that he agreed to be our whānau patron – we are the only school to have Bishop Pat as a Patron!
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- Venerable Suzanne Aubert
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- Bishop Patrick Dunn
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- Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier
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- St Mary of the Cross Mackillop
Health, Safety and Well Being Information
Talking to Children about Covid-19
This is a great resource that you may like to share with your children at home to help calm any anxieties they may have about the Covid-19 virus.
Click on this link
Guidance-for-parents-to-talk-with-their-children-re-COVID-19
The link will also take you to Dr Michelle Dickinson (Nanogirl) great informational video for kids about COVID-19.
SchoolTV Podcast
This resource was also shared by the New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO) and may be helpful for learning together at home. It is a podcast from SchoolTV which addresses how parents can share and communicate with children during the Covid-19 outbreak and manage fear and anxiety for children. It is a balanced and helpful parent guide to supporting parents in this challenging time. SchoolTV has offered this advice free to all networks because of the unusual times we are in.
https://schooltv.me/wellbeing_
The information contained in this podcast supports the NZ Ministry of Education approach of staying calm and informed and helps parents in their role of assuring their children.
Teaching about Germs!
Here is an experiment to do at home that helps children to learn about germs! It’s a little experiment where you add pepper to a bowl of water. (pretend the pepper is the germs)
- Ask your child to put a finger into the water and when they take their finger out, the pepper (germs) is on their finger.
- Ask another child to place their finger in dishwashing soap and put that finger into the water.
- Notice the way the pepper moves away from the soap and your finger is clean.
- This is why we should wash our hands regularly, it keeps the germs away!
NO Gatherings at School
We are receiving good guidance and information from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health on a daily basis. In following this advice, we have made decisions in regards to school assemblies, school-wide liturgies, gathering for Whānau time etc.
Therefore there will be:
NO School Assemblies for the rest of this term
NO Whānau time for the rest of this term
NO HOLY WEEK liturgies
NO School Masses
NO opportunities to gather as a school community
NO inter-school sports activities
Good hygiene is a priority at our school, and we are reinforcing this regularly with all students and staff. We know that practising good hygiene is still the best thing we can all do to prevent illness. We are continuing with hygiene practices of washing hands regularly, good coughing and sneezing etiquette and regularly disinfecting hard services ensuring that all staff and children who are feeling unwell, stay at home.
Emergency Drills
To ensure our staff and students are prepared for any unplanned and unforeseen hazard or circumstance, we will have planned drills to ensure our students know what to do in an event of a fire, lock-down and earth quake. The drills are a necessary practice so that in an event that something does occur, students will know exactly what to do to maximise their own safety and the safety of others.
When your child does come home from participating in a drill, have a conversation about why safety is important in an event of any emergency; what are the key things they should do to keep calm in any event. Your help from home in following up any planned drill will be very much appreciated. If you have any queries please feel free to contact Andrew Malele amalele@holytrinity.school.nz
Hauora
A huge thank you to all our tamariki that participated in the ‘Bike Week Challenge’. It was great to see the amount of learners who were active and rode their bikes, scooters or walked to school.
Learning Community News
Learning Community Moana
It’s been a few weeks since we had our Learning Community Retreat, but it is a good practice to reflect on such events and the importance such an experience has had on our lives. Mya, Charlita, Lucas and Hao were asked to reflect on the occasion with a ‘Q and A’ session.
How did you feel about the day?
Mya: It was good, it was nice to have some reverent time, some time away from school.
Charlita: It was fun. We got to see in and out of the Franciscan Friary. The space outside was huge.
Lucas: It was fun and a good source of learning.
Hao: I was nervous, not sure why. Was creeped out to start with, with the venue. It looked old and haunted. But I was excited though.
How did it help with your spiritual journey?
Mya: It was nice to learn some new things – the liturgy was great. Splitting into our Whānau groups to do some activities was nice. It allowed us to work just amongst us seniors and to bond with each other that we wouldn’t normally do at school.
Charlita: I understood the chosen Gospel reading even more. The theme of the Retreat was clearer. I felt my relationship with God grew closer.
Lucas: It was good to see the inside of the chapel and to pray. It has strengthened my relationship with God.
Hao: It helped my spirituality. It allowed time that I normally don’t have with God. My relationship with God has improved.
Would you recommend a Retreat to anyone?
Mya: Yes, I will recommend it to everyone. It’s a time of reverence, but also a time to have silence and share that silence with other people.
Charlita: Yes. It is a great experience for all. It is a chance to be closer to God, especially for those going through hard times.
Lucas: Yes. So that they too can get the chance to be closer to God.
Hao: Yes. It is a good place to learn about God. You get a better relationship with God. The place is a great place to pray and spend time with God.
Learning Community Maunga
In the past week, we have been exploring our taonga through the perspective of cultural practices and rituals.
This has been a great way for students to describe taonga from their own culture and that this is similar and different to another culture. It has been a useful exercise in teaching respect for one another and helping us to understand other cultural practices more easily.
Within our literacy programme, we have looked at various different stories and articles which describe taonga and treasures in various ways. Through this work students are realising that taonga are not just physical items that they can touch and feel, but also intangible items such as dance, song and processes including how special feasts are cooked i.e hangi.
Next week all students will have the opportunity to participate in digital ignition workshops.
Digital Ignition | Māpura Matihiko
Digital Ignition/Māpura Matihiko is a fully subsidized, face-to-face digital technology education programme that delivers fun and engaging workshops to students in Years 3 to 8.
Partnering with the Ministry of Education, they are supporting the introduction of the new Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko curriculum content into schools and kura as it is established in 2020.’
For more information on learning the facilitators may cover with us during this time, refer to the link below:
http://www.digitalignition.co.nz/workshops.html
Learning Community Ngahere
Ngahere Pukapuka
The Catholic Special Character Team from the Diocese spent a morning with us during morning prayer and Religious Education. Children from Ngahere whare pukapuka delighted the visitors by enacting Mary’s visitation to her cousin Elizabeth.
We have also done many comparisons of the food Jesus ate to our food, the games Jesus played to the games we play, the clothes Jesus wore to the clothes we wear, where Jesus grew up to where we are growing up, the prayer Jesus could have prayed to the way we pray. The children are able to recite, with actions, Jesus’ prayer about loving God with Heart, soul and mind.
As part of our Taonga learning, tamariki have shared their whakapapa and can locate on a map where their whānau originally came from. They are learning the New Zealand anthem as our Taonga that connects us to this land and are gaining confidence in matching the actions to the words of the anthem.
Ngahere Taamaua
This term we are sharing our individual genealogy/whakapapa, building on relationships between our teachers Mrs. Davies, Mrs. Chung and each other. We have also concentrated on establishing and retaining our school’s whanau relationship of Tuakana/Teina with Ngahere Whare Pukapuka. The best part has been that we have integrated these areas with Religious Education where we have been sharing our learning experiences about Prayer, Jesus and Lent with our younger brothers and sisters in Ngahere Whare Pukapuka. As you can see in the photos, together we had a taste of foods Jesus would have eaten.
The teachers have tried to capture most of these moments with photos, which are displayed in our Learning Community, so please come in and look at them. We have had fun exploring through drama, art, music, mathematics, writing and Physical Education and look forward to continuing this learning for the rest of the term.
Learning Community Awa
Yesterday we did an experiment. The things we needed were pepper, soap and water. We pretended the water was someone’s hand, the pepper was the germs and soap was soap. Miss Gaynor poured the pepper into the water. We dipped our fingers into the water, I noticed my finger was covered in pepper, the germs. We then looked at Miss Gaynor’s finger, it was covered in soap. She dipped her finger into the pepper water and the pepper spread to the sides. We learnt that soap kills germs SO we always need to wash our hands!
By Ethan Clarito
Yesterday afternoon we did an experiment. We used pepper soap and water. We mixed the pepper into the water. I was the first to dip my finger into the water. We pretended the water was our hands and the pepper was germs. Miss Gaynor dipped her finger in soap and placed it into the water. All the germs spread away. I was amazed.
By Jana De Vera
Playground Progress!
Our Junior Adventure Playground installation is almost complete! We have one more major task to do in concreting and adjusting the kerbing perimeter so we can add in the cushion fall. Our contractors will be working on site this coming week to have the playground ready for use as soon as possible. Great news for our little ones! Thanks to the PTFA, Board of Trustees and to other generous donors who have contributed to the fundraising and sponsoring of our playground.
Sports News
Year 5/6 Sports
On Tuesday the 12th of March, two teams of students from Years 5 & 6 took part in the annual North Counties Sports Day at Bruce Pulman Park. One team participated in cricket and played seven rounds which was a long enough time to practice their batting and bowling skills. The other team participated in Touch games, managed by a wonderful parent helper, Luci Penaia. Over the course of the day they improved and ended up winning 3 out of their 6 games which was a great result. Thank you to all students for your effort and participation on the day and to our parent helper, Luci Penaia.
With regards to CO-VID-19, sports in general across all sporting codes have been cancelled until further notice.
While we do have bookings and plans to have events for the North Counties Year 5 & 6 and Year 7 & 8 groups, we are unsure as to when we will resume our normal playing schedule. Updates will be provided to parents in due course.
PTFA News
Dear Whānau
It is with absolute disappointment that we inform you of the CANCELLATION of the PTFA CAR BOOT FAIR that was to be held on Saturday 28th March. This day has been cancelled due to the current situation with COVOID-19 and associated health concerns.
We are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported the organisation and preparation especially the hardworking members of the PTFA Committee.
We are also grateful to all families that donated fantastic items – your generosity will not go to waste and items will be stored and used for a later event.
A decision will be made later in the year as to when there is a possibility of rescheduling the Car Boot Fair.
THANK YOU once again for being the great community you are, the generous support and we look forward to holding the Car Boot Fair at a later stage.
Ginny Harman
Chairperson
Whānau House Winners!
Congratulations to MacKillop Whānau who won the Whānau House points competition for the number of donated items brought into school for the Lucky Dip and Sweets Stall. It was a close competition with Aubert Whānau not far behind on the points board.
Thank you to the PTFA, who rewarded MacKillop Whānau members with an ice-block!
Book Club
Upcoming School Events
Digital Ignition Workshops for Year 4-8 students
Monday 23rd/Tuesday 24th March at school
Year 7/8 vaccinations
Tuesday 24th March at school
Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting
Wednesday 25th March 6:00pm in the Staffroom
Community Dinner Service
Tuesday 31st March 5:30pm @ the Anglican Church Hall, Papakura
Digital Ignition Workshops for Year 4-8 students
Wednesday 1st April at school
Upcoming Community Events
Community Event Postponements
St Mary’s School GALA which was to be held this coming Sunday 22nd March 2020 has been postponed until further notice.
BMX Have a Go Day
Kumon Tutoring
ARTZ on SHOW SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMME
