Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta
Dear Families
Another term has passed us by and winter is well and truly here. It is hard to believe we are half way through another year.
A special welcome to all the new families who have joined our Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School family during this past term. We hope your time with our school will be a blessed one for you and your children, as together we live out our vision of “Learn, Love and Serve, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.
Board of Trustees
For all those who have joined our school family this past term, the following people make up the Board of Trustees of our school. Over time, we look forward to getting to know you and welcome your involvement in the school.
Parent Elected Representatives: Tony Nawisielski, Brad Rudsits, David Kenyon, Joanna Petrie, Vavae Nuia
Bishop’s Appointees: Philip Cortesi (elected Chairperson), Father Peter Murphy (Parish Priest St Mary’s Papakura), Anna Soo Choon, Apaula Fruean-Lautua
Staff Elected Representative: Ana Silva
Principal: Peta Lindstrom
This Board took office in June last year, for a 2 year tenure, following on from the Establishment Board. Usually, a Board’s term of office would be for 3 years. Next year we will be having Board of Trustees elections right across the country and our school will fall into the national 3 year cycle.
As a Board of Trustees, we are ultimately responsible for the school’s performance and required to set the direction for the school and monitor the progress towards achieving the goals set. This is documented in the school’s Strategic Plan, available on the school’s website.
The Board’s governance determines:
the “what”- designing the school’s future
the “ends”- outcomes to be achieved
the “policies” – the statements of what is expected
The Principal’s management determines:
the “how”- designing how to get there
the “means”- strategies to achieve the desired outcomes
the “procedures”- steps to be taken to meet the expectations
In fulfilling these respective roles, we must never lose sight of our prime responsibility, which is the achievement of our children and as a Catholic school, providing the best Catholic education we can. Our Catholic Special Character provides the framework around which the teaching and learning is built.
Catholic Education Convention
Three weeks ago, the Bishop’s Appointees on our school Board, along with our Principal, Peta Lindstrom and our Director of Religious Studies, Ana Silva, attended the triennial N.Z. Catholic Education Convention, which was held in Wellington. Several hundred participants from all over the country joined together to celebrate Catholic education and reflect on what our Catholic schools are all about. It was a wonderful experience and a privilege to be able to attend.
This year’s theme was around “Christ’s Call: to love, to be, to do- Ko ta te Karaiti Karanga: Kia aroha, kia tuturu, kia ora”- which was aligned very closely to our school’s vision, which was very affirming of what we are doing as a Catholic school community. Through listening to keynote speakers and attending a range of workshops, we were constantly challenged by the question: How do we respond to this call from Christ?”
As a Catholic school community, we too, should be asking ourselves this question and what it means for us and our school.
Staffing
This week we say a big thank you to Mrs Normita Tolentino, who, for family reasons, has resigned from her teaching position in Learning Community Whenua. Mrs Tolentino has made a significant contribution to the learning of our young children during her time with us, which has been much appreciated. We wish her the very best in her future endeavours.
Community Consultation
Part of a school’s on-going development and progress, is the consultation with the community. The education of our children is a team effort and we appreciate the input from our school whanau, so together we can meet their needs.
Thank you to all those parents/caregivers who attended the recent Family Learning Workshops and to those who responded to our Catholic Character survey. Early next term, you will receive a summary of the feedback from this survey and the resulting proposed action.
Coming up next term, will be consultation around the school’s Health Curriculum. This is a legislative requirement and we will look forward to your input. There will also be consultation with our Maori and Pasifika families and what your aspirations are for your children. This is a government priority. Of course, we also want to know about the aspirations all our parents have for their children.
Property and Outdoor Environment
While we might get frustrated that we have no school fields to play on yet, we need to remind ourselves how blessed we are to have the outdoor space we do have, especially the size of the sealed areas. Last Friday, the school had a group of educators from Catholic schools in Cairns, Australia who were amazed by the outdoor area we have for the children to play in- it certainly isn’t the case in many schools.
Work on our fields has temporarily stopped because of the winter weather. Work is scheduled to resume in October, so hopefully by the beginning of the new school year, the fields will be available for the children.
As mentioned in the last Board of Trustees newsletter, the school has been fortunate to have had an adventure playground donated to us by the Auckland Council, who no longer have a need for it. Our thanks to Tony Nawisielski who has put in considerable time in getting this playground equipment on site and preparing it for re-installation. We are just waiting for the plans of the underground services before we can start to erect the playground- we do not want to be cutting into pipes and cabling! We will let parents know when we are going to start installing the playground, as we will be in need of some willing hands!
Kuaka Drive
With work around the Kuaka Drive back entrance to the school having ceased, as from the beginning of next term that pedestrian access into the school will be open for our families to use. You will see the field has be roped off as it is out of bounds for any use.
We are hoping that people who live in Kuaka Drive and surrounding streets will use this safe entrance into the school, which hopefully, will reduce the traffic congestion in the school carpark, especially at the end of the school day. Walking to school, even for a short distance is good for the children’s health and well-being. There will be more about this in the school’s newsletter at the beginning of the term.
PTFA
Parent, Teacher and Friends Association
Now that our school is well into its second year of its establishment phase, we are well on the way in establishing a PTFA – another arm of the partnership between home and school.
We have a group of enthusiastic parents who are keen to see the committee up and running. A big THANK YOU goes to this group for the fund raisers they have organised over the last 2-3 weeks- Winter Mufti Day, Pizza Lunch and last Friday evening’s Disco. A great effort!
The Annual General Meeting of the PTFA is to be held on Thursday 2 August at 7.00pm in the school staffroom. At this meeting office holders will be elected and the PTFA Constitution adopted. We look forward to seeing you join us as we begin another exciting part of our school’s journey.
NZEI – N.Z. Educational Institute (Teachers Union)
I am sure all our families are aware of the nationwide increasing problem in recruiting and retaining teachers. In Auckland, particularly, the situation is at crisis point.
There are not enough teachers being trained to meet the increasing demand of school aged children. Urgent and significant changes are needed. So far, there have been two paid union meetings for teachers and one for principals, which our staff have attended. The issues are around recruitment and retention of staff, workload, Special Education, and staff well- being. While the increase of pay is not the only issue, it is significant in trying to attract new people to enter the teaching profession and stay in it. It is a challenge for the union working with the Ministry of Education around the negotiating table. We will keep you informed of developments.
Our Board of Trustees is very appreciative of the great work our principal and staff do and the many hours they put in to providing the best Catholic education they can for the children. We are supportive of their endeavours in trying to get some positive changes in regard to their conditions of work, workload and salaries, in the hope that teaching becomes a more attractive career option, resulting in continued positive outcomes for our children. As a community, we ask that you are understanding of the current situation and supportive of any action that the teachers’ union may find itself having to take.
May the God of our journey, bless us all as together we continue to Learn, Love and Serve in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Warm wishes and God’s blessings
Philip Cortesi
Chairperson
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