Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei,  Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta

Dear Families

We extend a very warm welcome to all our families and school community as we commence our third year of operation. We especially welcome our new families who have joined with us. We welcome you all into this lovely caring, catholic community. We encourage you to share in your child/children’s education and faith journey by participating, supporting and working in partnership with school. This will ensure that our children will have every opportunity to grow and develop as young christians, citizens and learners.

Yesterday morning, we gathered together for a Whakatau – calling on and welcoming new families to join with us as whanau, sharing our Papakura and School Hakas, our School Trinity karakia, sharing of mihi and waiata … to acknowledge our school as a place of God and faith; we acknowledged all our tangata whenua and people who support us in partnership and we acknowledged all of our Holy Trinity family members. We prayed together asking God, our loving Father to be with us in all that we endeavour to do throughout 2019. Our new families were presented with a prayer kete, containing our school candle to be lit each prayer time at home and a copy of our school karakia and Trinity prayers to be prayed as a family. Lighting of our prayer candles reminds us that Jesus is present with us, that Jesus is the Light of Christ and that Jesus wants us to let our light shine too! When we do this, we become Christ-like to all those we meet, work, learn and play with.

A special thank you to Mr Joseph Stephens (Dad to Norma and Luisa) who spoke on behalf of the new families and staff. We enjoyed listening to Mr Stephen’s wise words as he encouraged us to be one in God’s family and to care for and learn well with each other this year.

Welcome to New Staff 2019

We are thrilled to be able to welcome new staff to our teaching and support staff teams for 2019. Most of the staff has been working together these past two weeks in preparation for the school year and we have enjoyed having time together – to get to know one another, building relationships, sharing school culture and practices, learning together and preparing for the teaching and learning programmes. On behalf of the Holy Trinity School Community we welcome:

Mrs Cheryl Iosefo, Learning Community Maunga Kaitiaki – Years 6/7/8 (Term 1 position Thurs/Fri))

Mrs Mel Notley, Learning Community Maunga Kaitiaki – Years 6/7/8 (Mon/Tues/Wed)

Mr Quenten Brown, Learning Community Moana Kaitiaki – Years 4/5/6

Miss Alana Gaynor, Learning Community Awa Kaitiaki – Years 2/3

Mrs Susan Champion, Learning Community Whenua Kaitiaki – Years 0/1

Mrs Mavis Chung, Learning Community Whenua Kaitiaki – Years 0/1

Mrs Viv Smith, Office Administrator – Wed/Thurs/Fri – Reception Area

Mr Allan Quarterman, Caretaker – Mon/Wed/Fri

We look forward to the gifts and talents, love and care, strengths, knowledge and expertise that each of our new staff members will bring to our Holy Trinity whānau. Below we have photos of Mrs Champion, Mr Brown, Mrs Smith, Mrs Chung, Miss Gaynor and Mrs Iosefo. We’ll capture Mrs Notley and Mr Quarterman’s photos for our next newsletter!

Staffing

Our staffing is confirmed for 2019 and the Learning Communities kaitiaki/teachers and Support Staff have been organised as …

Manutaki/Senior Leadership Team: Miss Peta Lindstrom, Principal; Mrs Maria Speechlay, Deputy Principal; Mr Jerremy Williams, Deputy Principal and Mrs Ana Silva, DRS Director of Religious Studies

Learning Community Whenua Years 0/1
Mrs Lainee Davies, Mrs Mavis Chung and Mrs Susan Champion
Miss Vincet Lautua and Miss Angela Aiesi – Teacher Aides

Learning Community Awa Years 2/3
Mrs Maria Speechlay, Mrs Lynn Rhodé, Miss Alana Gaynor and Mrs Kirstie Thorpe (release teacher)
Mrs Amila Wijesuriya – Teacher Aide

Learning Community Moana Years 4/5
Mrs Ana Silva and Mr Quenten Brown

Learning Community Maunga (Years 6/7/8)
Mr Jerremy Williams, Mrs Mel Notley and Mrs Cheryl Iosefo

ESOL Programme and Library
Mrs Carolyn Harvey – Teacher Aide

Office Administrators
Mrs Jennifer Quarterman – Mon/Tues/Wed 8:30am – 4:00pm Thurs 8:30am – 12:00
Mrs Vivien Smith – Wed/Thurs/Fri 8:30am – 4:00pm

Caretaker
Mr Allan Quarterman – Mon/Wed/Fri 8:00am – 1:00pm

DRS Report

Beginning of Year Mass

CCOn Friday 15th February, our school will be celebrating this new year together with a Mass in Taamaua (School Hall) at 9:00am.  Our celebrant for this special Mass is Father Peter Murphy of St Mary’s Parish Papakura. We would like to invite all our whānau and friends to come along and join with us on this day.

Parish Sacramental Programmes

If you are interested in signing your child up for the Sacramental programmes, the registration forms are available at the Parish Offices.  Please contact your Parish.

St Anne’s Manurewa – (09) 266 5826

St Mary’s Papakura – (09) 298 5134

Curriculum Learning

Concept Learning

images (1)Our Concept learning for Term 1 is Tūrangawaewae which integrates well with Social Studies, Health and Physical Education and The Arts/Music. Our curriculum goal is for the students to confidently use their learning to be the best they can be as they learn, love and serve.

The essential questions that will help us to unpack the big ideas around the concept of Tūrangawaewae are:

What is tūrangawaewae?
What shapes who we are?
How does tūrangawaewae affect how we grow?

At home please talk to your child/children about the places and people that help them to belong and what culture is part of their tūrangawaewae.

Music Tuition Lessons at School

Picture1New Zealand Modern School of Music will again be offering music tuition for students on site at school. This is at a cost to the parents.

Guitar or ukulele lessons – Tuesdays with Jenni Smith
Keyboard lessons – Wednesdays with Leanne Stewart.

If you wish to take up this opportunity please contact the tutors:

Guitar and Ukulele Lessons with NZ Modern School of Music – Teacher Jenni Smith. 
Jenni Smith is a very talented musician/singer songwriter offering solo and buddy in-school lessons on Tuesdays. Quality, creative and fun music tuition!
$17 for solo 20 min lesson or $12 for buddy lessons.
For more information and to register, contact: Jenni Smith mobile 02108498129 email jenni_smith6@outlook.com Website: www.nzmsmcounties.co.nz
Piano and Keyboard lessons with NZ Modern School of Music – Teacher Leanne Stewart. Do you want your children to learn to read music and play the piano or keyboard?
Leanne Stewart is offering solo in-school lessons on Wednesdays. Quality, creative and fun music tuition! $19 for solo 20 minute lesson. For more information and to register please contact Leanne Stewart.
Mobile: 0211640996 Email: leannepstewart@outlook.com Website: www.nzmsmcounties.co.nz

PTFA

PTFA – Parents, Teachers and Friends Association

PTFA 1The PTFA Team are holding their first meeting for 2019 on Thursday 14th February 7:00pm in the school staffroom. Last year was the inaugural year for the PTFA and they undertook their role with much enthusiasm and with many ideas! They have been wonderful at supporting the Board of Trustees and Staff by planning, organising and running activities and events that promote school community “Unity and Friendship” and also encourage opportunities for fundraising. This is a great group to be involved with so please do come along and be part of all the fun. All are welcome!

Reminders!

School Bell Times

8:50am      School commences
8:50am      Morning Block
10:30am    First Break
11:00am    Middle Block
1:00pm      Second Break
1:40pm      Afternoon Block
2:50pm     School concludes

2019 School Dates

Term One – Thursday 31st January to Friday 12th April
Term Two – Monday 29th April to Friday 5th July
Term Three – Monday 22nd July to Friday 27th September
Term Four – Monday 14th October to Monday 16th December

Uniform and Stationery

Thank you for the way you have helped the children prepare for their school year. They look very smart in their uniforms and most children now have the required school stationery. Please ensure all uniform clothing is named clearly, so lost items can be returned. With this summer heat, it is very important that children have the correct summer uniform … short sleeved shirt/blouse, navy shorts, tartan skort, black open-toed school sandals (NO socks and shoes) and  a navy bucket, school monogrammed sun-hat. Hair is to be tied up with navy/blue, red or black ties/ribbons only and stud earrings to be worn rather than hoop earrings for health and safety purposes. NZ Uniforms are the stockists of the school uniform: 20/5 Lambie Drive, Manukau ph: 09 950 6747All stationery is purchased online from OfficeMax MySchool – myschool.co.nz – Holy Trinity – then click on appropriate Learning Community to order the stationery pack for your child. OR freephone 0800 724 440

Health and Safety Reminders

Vistab

If children are late to school or need to leave/return during the day for an appointment, please come through to the Reception Area to sign in/out using the Vistab electronic system before entering the Learning Communities. The screen is easy to use and is set up on the front desk. This is a Health and Safety measure that allows us to know where children are at all times.

Traffic

As our school roll is increasing, more traffic is noticeable in the car-parking area. All designated parking spaces are now available so please only park in these designated, marked carparks. The Bus Bay may be used for pick up and drop off but do take care with pedestrians and moving vehicles in close proximity. You may like to leave “pick up” for your child until after 3:00pm once the first wave of traffic congestion has passed!

Sun sense!

With hot summer days upon us, we are encouraging the children to bring their own water bottles to school so that they can hydrate during their school day. Water is the only drink permitted at school. School sun-hats must be worn whilst outside and are part of the school uniform. Children with no sun-hats will only be allowed to play in shaded areas during break times. Due to various allergies and reactions to sunscreen, children are encouraged to bring their own sunscreen from home for use at school.

Foods

Great to see the healthy food options that children have for their morning tea and lunches! Please note lollies, chewing gum, bubble gum and chocolate are not permitted as food items at school.

Litter and Recycling

We are strongly encouraging the children to bring home their litter from morning tea and lunches. This supports the school with recycling and also informs you of foods eaten or untouched! As our first step in contributing to the caring of God’s creation, we have no rubbish bins placed outside so individual’s food and drink rubbish needs to come home.

Newsletters/Communication

School newsletters will be distributed electronically every fortnight commencing this Friday 1st February. Families will be sent an email alert with the school newsletter available through the browser or by clicking on the button to open up the newsletter. This should ensure that the formatting of text and images remains the same. Our internal student management system for most  communications is through LINC-ED. You will receive an email alert for community notices and also when student’s learning has been published to be shared with you. Please check that you are signed in and able to access the LINC-ED parent portal. All student reporting is completed and published electronically on this site. Call in to the school office if you require any assistance with set-up of Linc-Ed.

Attendance Dues 2019

Attendance Dues for 2019 invoices will be sent electronically to families over the next two weeks.

This year, the Board of Trustees has approved that there will be a family donation of $50 per family to support supplementary costs of resourcing such as bus transport to our Parishes for School Masses etc.

Please note that there are 3 options for payment.

  1. Full amount paid by Internet Banking to ASB school account – details on the invoice
  2. Automatic Payment to be set up via internet banking to ASB school account
  3. Payment can be made at the school office – cash or Eftpos

Please see Jennifer Quarterman (Office Administrator) or Peta Lindstrom (Principal) in the strictest confidence if you have any concerns or questions regarding the payment of Attendance Dues.

The Auckland Common Fund Ltd Hardship Scheme is available to help with the payment of attendance dues where families face financial hardship. It is a means of helping parents and caregivers who have a real and just need. Please contact Peta Lindstrom (Principal) if you require further information  in regards to the scheme.

Property Update

Our school fields are now in operation! The Catholic Diocese of Auckland Property Team, along with contractors have been working on the development of the fields for the past two years so it is wonderful for the students to finally have use of this great open space. We will be purchasing rugby and soccer goalposts for the fields during Term 1.

The back gate access from Kuaka Drive is not available for school use at the moment. This back area of land has been sold by the Diocese and contractors are currently working in this area with big machinery etc. Therefore due to health and safety reasons, this pathway entrance/exit to school is out of bounds until further notice.

A school playground proposal is being finalised and we now have a Working Action Team of BoT and PTFA members who are underway with seeking funding grants from various Boards, Trusts and Foundations. We are looking forward to the playground becoming a reality in 2019. Our thanks go to the team who is truly committed to advancing this development on our behalf!

In 2017, Bishop Pat prayed these words with us … “May our school be a place of great discovery, adventure and creativity. May it be a place where Christ is at the centre of the Holy Trinity family – a place where we learn, love and serve in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen”

As we begin our 2019 school journey, let us strive together to be this school … this place of Christ … learning and loving and serving in the Holy Trinity’s name!

With God’s Blessings

Peta Lindstrom
Principal

 

Upcoming School Events

School Assembly and Prayer – Mrs Speechlay and Mr Brown to lead with students from Learning Communities Awa and Moana
Monday 4th February 9:00am in Taamaua/Hall

Treaty of Waitangi Day – National Holiday
Wednesday 6th February – school is closed

School Assembly and Prayer – Mrs Chung and Mrs Davies to lead with students from Learning Community Whenua 
Monday 11th February 9:00am in Taamaua/Hall

PTFA Meeting
Thursday 14th February 7:00pm in the Staffroom

Beginning of Year School Mass
Friday 15th February 9:00am on school site Taamaua/Hall with Fr Peter Murphy presiding

Community Events

Gymsport and Recreation Centre Programmes Term 1 2019 begins Monday 4th February – 12th April.

Contact the Centre on 09 295 0020 gymsport@pulmanpark.com or website www.pulmanpark.com

 

Click edit button to change this text.