Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Dear Families
Next Sunday 30th May, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. It is the day we celebrate the greatest mystery of all – the Holy Trinity! In our Churches next weekend, our parishes will also be celebrating this great Feast Day of the Holy Trinity.
God is so great that Jesus taught us to understand Him as three persons in one being who is God. As we try to understand this mystery, Jesus taught us the greatest lesson of all … GOD IS LOVE and that God wants us to be a part of this love. God has given us the responsibility to proclaim His love to everyone in the world and in this way we can help to make the world, the place God created it to be. We can do this by living and loving as God’s family and we show God we want to be in His family by the love and respect we show one another. (Abridged article by Fr Percy sm)
How blessed are we that our school community is named Holy Trinity! We give thanks to God for this beautiful name and for the gift of the Holy Trinity as a model for our school that we strive to live by each day … through the way we grow together in Learning Ka Ako, Loving Ka Aroha and Serving Ka Manaaki … we can be and are a part of God’s love!
School Closed FRIDAY 28th May 2021
School will be closed for students on Friday 28th May 2021. Teaching and Support Staff will be attending the South Auckland Community of Learning /Kāhui Ako Conference Day on this day. Teachers and Learning Assistants will be involved with professional development and learning, continuing their learning about innovative and collaborative practices for effective teaching and learning.
Our school staff will join with teaching staff and Learning Assistants from McAuley High School, De La Salle College, Mary MacKillop School, St Anne’s Primary Manurewa, St Mary’s Primary Papakura, St Joseph’s Primary Pukekohe, St John the Evangelist Primary Otara and Holy Cross Primary, Papatoetoe. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn and share alongside our other catholic school colleagues.
These TEACHER ONLY DAYS are part of the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement Contract where days are available for teachers to have professional development and learning during the school week.
Please make alternative arrangements for your child/ren on this day. SKIDs (Supervision Programme) held in Taamaua/school hall will be available on Friday 28th May from 7am -6pm. Please contact SKIDs personnel – holytrinity@skids.co.nz to make a booking if supervision is required.
DRS Report
TRINITY FEAST DAY CELEBRATION AT SCHOOL
Next week will be a very special week for our school. We are having a huge celebratory day at school on Thursday 27 May to commemorate our Feast Day. We will be having a whole school mufti day wearing our school colours of BLUE and RED. We’ll begin our day with a special liturgy on the Holy Trinity led by our Aubert Whānau in Taamaua/school hall at 9:00am. We invite you all to join us for this wonderful celebration at school. We will be ending our day with a performance of gifts and talents from our children for our annual Trinity’s Got Talent Show in Taamaua.
TRINITY SUNDAY MASS
Sunday 30 May is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity and our school will be leading a ministry Mass at St Mary’s Church in Papakura at 10:30am. All students and staff are expected to attend with students wearing their school uniform. We kindly ask that you bring a plate of finger food to share for morning tea after Mass in the Church hall. Our children will be taking parts in leading the singing for the Mass, saying prayers and greeting parishioners. We invite all our Holy Trinity families and friends to join us on this very special Trinity Sunday Mass.
Confirmation
Today we celebrate seven of our Holy Trinity students who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation at St Mary’s Church in Papakura at 7:00pm. Bishop Michael Gielen will be presiding this special Mass. We continue to pray for these children as they continue their faith journey.
Congratulations to: James Santos, Felix Ah Ling, Gabriel Benliro, Annie Yu, Albertus-Magnus Lautua, Summer Beza & Chris Yu.
Pentecost Sunday
Last Sunday, we celebrated the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, where Jesus ascended to heaven to be with his Father. This Sunday 23 May, we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost. We hear the story of the Holy Spirit/Te Wairua Tapu coming to the apostles to be their helper and guide. The Spirit gave them the courage and the gifts they needed to preach Jesus’ message to everyone they met. We pray that those same gifts fill our hearts so that through our words and deeds, we may be examples of Jesus’ love/aroha and peace to others.
Baptism
Father Iosefa Euese of St Mary’s Parish, Papakura has given his blessing and agreed to walk alongside our school, as we offer Baptism preparation class for our children and their whānau/families at school. This is a wonderful way for the family to support their child’s faith development by helping them to encounter Christ on a personal level as they begin their journey of faith through the Sacrament of Baptism. We have a Baptism Preparation class on Wednesday 16 June at 6:00pm at school. We encourage our families to get in touch with Mrs Silva if you’re interested in signing your child up for Baptism this year.
Mrs Silva – asilva@holytrinity.school.nz
Bishops’ Forum
The Bishops’ Forum will be held this coming week at St Anne’s Parish in Manurewa. Bishops Patrick and Michael invite everyone to meet with them to hear what is happening in the diocese through the 2021 Bishops’ Forums. If you have a question for the Bishop Pat or Michael, please email it to the Bishops’ Office bishop-secretary@cda.
Book Week!
The Book Character Parade we held today was a terrific end to a week all about appreciating the joys of reading! We had so much fun with the special activities we did this week, including listening to a story read by an astronaut on the International Space Station, guessing who the Secret Readers were, voting for our favourite artwork about a book, and visiting the Book Fair. Thank you to everyone who helped make this week a huge success.
Book Week Coordinators
THANK YOU Miss Gill, Mrs Rhodé and Mrs Harvey for the fabulous work and organisation that you have done to ensure we had a very happy, successful and enjoyable Book Week. The activities have been super fun and there has been so much great learning throughout the week both at school and at home. We are proud of you for all the extra effort and work you did to make this a GREAT BOOK WEEK!
Buddhist Temple Visit
Our experience of the Buddhist Temple in East Tamaki was a worldly experience, one that our learners, staff and parent volunteers very much enjoyed. It was fantastic to see the very similar values to our own Gospel values – and the mutual respect we had for each other. Many thanks to the Fo Guan Shan Temple for their amazing hospitality, and to our wonderful parent helpers for their much appreciated help on the day. Below is a recount of the day written by one of our senior students.
On Wednesday 12th May, we went to the Buddhist Temple. The temple was beautiful, it was like we were in a different country like China or Japan. To me it was like the 2020 film “Mulan’s” temple or the place where the Emperor lived. One of the activities that we did was to make origami lotus flowers. The reason we made lotus flowers was because even though it grows in muddy areas, it still looks beautiful and sweet-smelling. It means that even though we may be struggling in our lives, we can still be amazing! Another activity that we did was watch the story of the life of the Buddha. We all sat and watched this movie in a beautiful room filled with fairy lights and trees that were covered in twinkly lights. While we were watching, we learned that the Buddha was predicted to be a great person who would bring peace to the world. The last activity we did, was to sit in the garden, which reminded us of a maze. The grass that was in the garden was called mondo grass, which takes 7 years to grow, and it always bounces back even during hard weather. The Temple guides chose to show us the grass because even though we are going through hard times, we can always bounce back and be resilient.
We had morning tea, which was rice served with chickpeas, corn, carrots and broccoli. It tasted amazing! We then experienced meditation from another point of view, which was calming because we were told to relax our whole body. The NZ police then entertained us about a great skit around conscience and temptation which involved our own students. By then it was time to return to school. I was surprised at how fast the 2 hours went!
Abigail – Learning Community Ngahere
Home Learning – upload on HERO!
Here at Holy Trinity we value the learning done and continued at home. One way we can stay connected and have the ability to admire yours and your child’s efforts is by uploading their learning onto the ‘Learning Wall’ page on the HERO app.
By adding a post, you can upload an image (or a few images) or a video of your child’s learning with a few words. If you’re not entirely sure, feel free to come in and see your child’s kaitiaki or see the notice below.
“Learning to use HERO” Parent Workshops
NATIONAL YOUTH LEADERS CONFERENCE 2021
Next Wednesday the 26th May is the annual National Youth Leaders Day held at the Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau. Our Whanau leaders will be attending the event.
It is an opportunity as leaders to be enhanced and strengthened. The day will promote leadership qualities that will enhance the way they interact with others, and how they can uphold our Catholic and School Gospel values here at Holy Trinity, and in the way they present themselves to the wider community.
The objectives of NYLD are Inspiration, Connection, Student empowerment, Promoting positivity, Motivation and Education. We look forward to what should be an amazing experience.
Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa – Samoan Language Week
Tālofa lava! Afio mai!
This year’s theme for Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa – Samoa Language WeekSunday 30 May – Saturday 5 June 2021 is Poupou le lotoifale. Ola manuia le anofale which means strengthen the posts of your house, for all to thrive. When you’re building a foundation for a fale (house) it can’t have a weak foundation or posts. This is the same for the foundations of our families, schools and churches that play an important role in strengthening Gagana Samoa (the Samoan Language). Language is important for the foundations of our overall wellbeing.
Watch out for upcoming events to celebrate this important event for all our Samoan students, aiga and staff members!
Here are some helpful greetings and phrases and email sign-offs:
To start your emails/conversations :
- Tālofa lava (greetings), pronounced Tah-law-fah lah-vah
- O ā mai oe? (How are you? – Oh-ah mai oh-eh?)
Common phrases you can use throughout an email/conversations:
- Fa’afetai lava (thank you – Fah-ah-feh-tah-I lah-vah)
- Fa’amolemole (please – Fah-ah-moh-leh-moh-leh)
- Mālo Lava (well done – Mah-loh Lah-vah)
To end an email/conversations:
- Tōfa soifua (goodbye – Tore-fah-soy-foo-ah)
- Manuia Le Vaiaso/Aso (have a great week/day – Mah-nu-ear Leh Vai-ah-soh/Ah-soh)
Curriculum News
CURIOSITY Concept Learning 
Our Concept learning focus for mid Term 2 – mid Term 3 is Curiosity. The curriculum focus for Curiosity is Science and Technology. The students will be able to independently use their learning to “question, explore taonga as we live respectfully and share our common home.”
The essential questions that will help us to unpack the big ideas around the concept of Curiosity are:
Why be curious?
How is curiosity a taonga?
How can curiosity affect the way we nurture kaitiakitanga?
Ngāti Tamaoho Rangatahi Day
Ngāti Tamaoho Iwi organised a Rangatahi Day for Māori students who attend schools in the Ngāti Tamaoho area. The focus was to capture their voices as part of the educational strategic plan that Ngāti Tamaoho Iwi will launch in early June.
Aeva and Trey from Learning Community Ngahere represented Holy Trinity. They were able to meet and talk with other students from the local schools and also, had the opportunity to share ideas around their aspirations, learning and the curriculum.
Bullying-Free NZ Week
As a Catholic school, we strive to create and build an environment where everyone is welcome, safe and free from bullying. When we encourage respect, value opinions, celebrate difference, and promote positive relationships, it makes it difficult for bullying behaviour to thrive or be tolerated. To achieve this, it needs everyone – our school staff, our students, our Board, our parents, whānau and our communities – to support diversity, talk about bullying and to work together in unity/kotahitanga – one of our school’s Gospel values! This week has provided us the opportunity to highlight the work/mahi we do together with our students to strive to be a bullying free environment.
What is Bullying?
Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social (relational), four widely-accepted factors can be used to identify it:
- Bullying is deliberate – harming another person intentionally
- Bullying involves a misuse of power in a relationship
- Bullying is usually not a one-off – it is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated over time
- Bullying involves behaviour that can cause harm – it is not a normal part of growing up.
Bullying can happen anywhere, in person or online (cyberbullying), at any time, and can be verbal, physical or social (relational). It can be obvious or hidden.
Kids who bully use their power — such as physical strength, knowing something embarrassing, or popularity — to control or harm others. Bullying is when one student (or a group of students) keeps picking on another student again and again to make them feel bad. They say or do things to upset them, make fun of them, stop them from joining in, or keep hitting or punching them.
What is not bullying?
Bullying is a word often used to describe behaviour that is not actually bullying — not all verbal or physical aggression is bullying. For example:
- a one-off fight or argument, or difference of opinion between friends where there is no power imbalance and they can sort it out between themselves
- not liking someone or a single act of social rejection
- one-off acts of meanness or spite
- isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence
- using sexist or racist terms but doesn’t mean to cause harm
- theft: taking someone else’s things once is theft but not necessarily bullying.
These other behaviours may be just as upsetting and serious, but may need to be dealt with in a different way. You will need to use your judgment to decide whether or not a specific incident is bullying.
Restorative Chats
At Holy Trinity, we work hard to model, display and work through Restorative Chat processes when children suffer upsets with each other. This takes time but is a very healing process that enables all involved to feel that their voice has been heard and that injustices and wrongs have been made right and restored. Please pop in and see us if you would like to know more about how we work with the children in this way!
PTFA (Parents Teachers and Friends Association)
Help the PTFA plan the school Disco!
We are all geared up to hold a Disco this term, and we would love your ideas and offers of help! Come long to the next meeting on Tuesday 25th May at 7:30pm in the School Staffroom if you’d like to get involved. We’ll also be giving an update on the success of the Fun Run.
Thanks!
Laura Cooper and Michelle Porter
Co-Chairpersons
Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School
Parent, Teacher & Friends Association
Reminders!
School Enrolments
It is really important that we know of all younger brothers and sisters that are commencing schooling with us in 2021 and in 2022. If you have little ones at home, please contact the school office to make a time to meet with Miss Lindstrom so they can be assured of a placement at Holy Trinity for when they are ready to start in 2021 or in 2022. If you have any queries about enrolment, please contact the school office by email office@holytrinity.school.nz or by phone 09 296 9039.
School Enrolment Guidelines
For the purpose of managing our maximum roll, the following guidelines will be adhered to process enrolments:
2021:
Confirmed enrolments on the projected roll as of December 2020, will be accepted
All further enrolment applications may be registered on a ‘waiting list’
From December 2020:
All new enrolment applications for siblings of current students to start during 2021, will need to meet with the Principal
All enrolment applications for 2022 must be submitted by 31 August 2021
Acceptance of these enrolment application will be dependent on the status of our existing maximum roll. Families will be notified of confirmation of enrolment acceptance by 30 September 2021 for the 2022 school year
Enrolments will be processed in the following order:
- Siblings of current students
- Siblings of former students
- Students who are a child of an employee of the Board or a child of a member of the Board of Trustees
- All other students
Provision will be made for unsuccessful applications to have their names recorded on a ‘waiting list’
2021 Teacher Only Days – School Closed
As part of the Primary Teachers Collective Agreement, there are days that schools can use for Teacher professional learning and development. This means that schools can close on a day to allow for all teachers to attend various professional development.
In 2021 – Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School will be closed:
Friday 28th May – South Auckland Catholic Schools Community of Learners Seminar Day
Friday 25th June – RE/Health Seminar “Having Life to the Full” Day 3
Monday 23rd August – RE/Health Seminar “Having Life to the Full” Day 4
One further date is still to be confirmed. Further notice of these dates will be given closer to the time.
Upcoming School Events
Papakura Community Service Dinner – VOLUNTEERS needed!
Tuesday 25th May 5:45 – 6:45pm Crossroads Methodist Church, 25 Broadway, Papakura
PTFA Meeting
Tuesday 25th May 7:30pm in the staffroom
NYLD National Young Leaders Day
Wednesday 26th May
School Board Monthly Meeting
Wednesday 26th May 6:00pm in the staffroom
Holy Trinity Feast Day – Liturgy and activities
Thursday 27th May Liturgy 9:00am in Taamaua/School Hall
SCHOOL CLOSED for students
Friday 28th May
Trinity Sunday Parish & School Mass
Sunday 30th May 10:30am @ St Mary’s Parish, Papakura
School Liturgy and Assembly – led by Learning Community Moana
Monday 31st May 8:50am in Taamaua/school hall
Samoan Language Week
Monday 31st May – Friday 4th June
Year 5/6 Winter Sports Day
Wednesday 2nd June @ Bruce Pulman Park Complex
“Learning to use HERO” Parent Workshops
Thursday 3rd June 8:30am-9:00am, 3:00pm-3:30pm and 6:00pm-6:30pm @ school
Friday 4th June 8:30am-9:00am and 3:00pm-3:30pm @ school
School Closed Queen’s Birthday Weekend
Monday 7th June
Term 3 Concludes
Friday 9th July
Upcoming Community Events
Family Sports and Games Day
School Holiday Camp
