Our Catholic Special Character
Our vision at Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School calls us to:
Learn, Love and Serve in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Underpinned by the cardinal virtues of:
Faith, Hope and Love
Our Whānau Patrons
We have four Whānau Patrons which are significant people that helped to shape our Catholic story here in Aotearoa, New Zealand. They are people who lived and worked alongside the people of Aotearoa and have dedicated their lives in service to God. Our Whānau patrons are inspiring people with experiences that we hope to empower our tamariki with.
Pompallier Whānau (Purple)
Traveling from France to New Zealand, Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier was the first bishop of Aotearoa New Zealand. He brought many priests and worked to establish many Catholic missions in New Zealand. He taught about God and coverted many people to the Catholic faith, especially the Maori people. The Maori people were very special to Bishop Pompallier and he even learned to converse in Te Reo as well. He understood and recognised the need to protect the maori way of life – te reo and tikanga maori. To this day, we’ve had many bishops continue the work of Bishop Pomapllier and many people travel up north to Motuti where the remains of Bishop Pompallier rests.
Patrick Dunn Whānau (Gold)
Bishop Patrick Dunn is our only living patron and the 11th Bishop of the Auckland Diocese. Bishop Pat is intimately a part of our Holy Trinity school story as he was instrumental in the naming of our school and was present during the blessing of the grounds and buildings and attended the official opening ceremony of our school in 2017. Born in London, Bishop Pat came to New Zealand and was ordained a priest at 26 years old and appointed as an auxiliary bishop at the age of 44. Bishop Pat was the previous Bishop of Auckand and is known for his gentle nature and knowledge of the Catholic history of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Aubert Whānau (Green)
Venerable Suzanne Aubert, a courageous woman of faith who travelled from France to work with Maori people and small communities and learned to converse in Te Reo. She founded the Sisters of Compassion that worked diligently to care for the poor, the sick and the underprividleged, especially the families who had little to no opportunities to build a life. To this day, the Sisters of Compassion are still actively working for the people of New Zealand and the Pacific and are based in Wellington.
Mackillop Whānau (Red)
St Mary of the Cross Mackillop was born in Australia in 1842. She co-founded the Sisters of St Jospeph because she saw a need for education in the isolated and rural country areas in Australia – where children did not have the opportunity to attend school or learn about Jesus. Mary, a woman of constant faith, travelled to New Zealand and continued her mission to establish schools for children of underprivileged families. She always reminded others to show active compassion by seeing a need and doing something about it! To this day, the Sisters of St Joseph continue to work with the people of New Zealand and respond to the needs of today.