Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta, Namaskārām,
Sat Shri Akaal, Vanakkam and Ayubowan
Dear Families
Ko ni sa sa kidavaki tiko ki na ka 4 ni wasewase ni vuli! Welcome to Term 4!
Sa nuitaka ni da na marautaka vata tiko na macawa ni vosa vaka Viti – We’re looking forward to a happy term together!
This year’s theme for Macawa ni Vosa Vakaviti – Fijian Language Week is “Me vakabulabulataki, vakamareqeti, ka vakaqaqacotaki na vosa vakaviti” which means, Nurture, Preserve and Sustain the Fijian language.
We are so grateful to our Fijian families for sharing your beautiful language, culture and identity with us this week – with a special thanks to Mrs Tirisa Watt (EJ’s grandma) for the amazing display of Fijian artefacts and masi tapa cloth in our Reception area.
How lovely and exciting it was to welcome our students, families and staff back to school this Monday for our last school term. It is hard to believe we are almost at the end of another school year!
On Monday, we welcomed our very newest students and their families with a spirited Whakatau – we extend a BIG Holy Trinity welcome to Regina, Jake, Angelo, Sarah, Georgina, Ezekiel, Mateo and Xhaiden and their respective families. We hope it won’t take too long before you feel a special part of our Holy Trinity School.
Term 4 is a busy time with many activities, especially all of the end of the year community events. Please take note of each of these special events so you are able to spend time with us celebrating as a Holy Trinity School Community, giving thanks and praise for all we have been gifted this year through our learning ka ako, loving ka aroha and serving ka manaaki, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Principal’s Message
Mrs Silva has shared with us in her DRS Report about the beautiful prayer of the Rosary. During this month of October, it would be wonderful if, as a family, you could also make time to pray a decade of the Rosary together – one Our Father, ten Hail Marys and one Glory Be. The gentle repetition of the words of the Rosary, help us to enter into the silence of our hearts, where Christ’s spirit dwells.
Here is the Hail Mary in Māori:
Awe, e Maria, e kī ana koe i te karatia,
kei a koe te Ariki,
E whakapaingia an koe i roto i ngā wahine
ā e whakapaingia ana hoki a Hehu te hua o tōu kōpu.
E Hāta Maria, e te matua wahine o te Atua
inoi koe mō mātou mō te hunga hara äianei,
a te haora o tō mātou matenga rawa.
Āmene.
Staffing Update
At the end of last term, we farewelled Mrs Martha Ligmate who had been working as part of the teaching team in LC Whenua throughout Term 3. We extend our grateful thanks and appreciation to Martha for the time she worked with us in Term 3.
Ms Rochelle Drollét and Mrs Kay Hey join Mrs Susan Champion and Mrs Michaela Griffiths as the teaching team in Learning Community Whenua for Term 4. Rochelle is currently working in LC Whenua and now takes on further teaching days. Kay has worked at our school previously, teaching across the learning communities so we are very pleased to be able to have both Rochelle and Kay as experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated kaitiaki join the awesome LC Whenua kaitiaki team for Term 4.
This term, you may also notice Mr Marcelino Arcenas assisting us with light caretaking duties at school during the late afternoons on a Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. We are thankful for Marcelino’s ‘hands of service’ as he works to support our fabulous Caretaker, Mr Stewart, in ensuring our school grounds, gardens and environment are always tidy, clean and well tended!
DRS Report
Month of the Rosary
We come back to school in the month of October which is the month in which the prayers of the Rosary are strongly encouraged to be prayed and reflected on.
This month, our school gathers on different days to say the Rosary of the different Mysteries as well as stopping at midday to pray together the Angelus prayer.
The purpose of the Rosary is to help keep in memory significant events in the history of our salvation. There are twenty mysteries reflected upon in the Rosary, and these are divided into the five Joyful Mysteries (said on Monday and Saturday), the five Luminous Mysteries (said on Thursday), the five Sorrowful Mysteries (said on Tuesday and Friday), and the five Glorious Mysteries (said on Wednesday and Sunday). We continue to say the Rosary in our own Learning Community prayers and we encourage our students to say the Rosary at home with their whānau.
Teacher Only Day Monday 13th November 2023
School will be closed for students on Monday 13th November 2023.
Teachers and Support Staff will be involved in a professional development and learning day about the newly released New Zealand Curriculum Refresh. The Ministry of Education has granted this time/day to schools to allow teachers to work with the new document – to understand why changes have been made and to plan for the implication for our current Holy Trinity localised curriculum teaching and learning programme.
Please make alternative arrangements for your child/ren for this day – Monday 13th November 2023.
General Election
This is your chance to have a say on the issues that affect you, your whānau and your community.
You can vote in the general election at our school’s hall/Taamaua on Saturday 14th October 9am – 7pm.
Term 4 Special Events and Activities
Please save the date for these ‘end of Term 4’ celebrations events and activities. These are all family/whānau events and we are delighted to warmly welcome our school families and wider school community to be part of each special event and activity where we celebrate who we are as a catholic school – rejoicing in our catholic faith, our students achievements and our school’s achievements from throughout 2023.
Wednesday 1st November
Whole School All Saints Liturgy
Thursday 2nd November
Whole School All Souls Liturgy
Whānau Active Play AND Whole School Athletics Day
Wednesday 21st November
Orientation Morning for 2024 New Families and Students 9am @ school
Wednesday 29th November
Year 6/7/8 Leavers and Families Mass @ St Mary’s Church, Papakura 6:30pm with a shared finger food supper and presentations to follow at HTCPS in Taamaua/School Hall
Monday 4th December
Liturgy and Assembly for Other Leavers and Service/Leadership Awards 9:00am @ school
Thursday 7th December
Cultural Groups Celebrations Performances – all Year 3-8 students 5:00-6:30pm @ school
Friday 8th December
Praise-giving Awards Afternoon 12:30pm @ school in Taamaua/School Hall
Tuesday 12th December
End of Year School Mass/Acknowledgement of Leavers 9:15am @ school
followed by ‘School Helpers’ morning tea
Thursday 13th December
Family Picnic and Nativity Liturgy celebrations performed by Year 0/1/2 students 5:00pm – 7:00pm @ school
PTFA News
Thanks to those who could come to Tuesday’s PTFA meeting!
Some highlights from the meeting:-
- Wave Rave – We are looking forward to the Wave Rave at Massey Park Pools on Friday 27th October 7:00pm-8:30pm
- The Sacred Space/Prayer Garden construction starts 4th December 2023 – YAY!
- School Wheel-a-thon booked for the Friday 5th April 2024
Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone and we look forward to seeing you all at the next PTFA meeting.
Ngā mihi,
Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School
Parent, Teacher & Friends Association
Water Safety Skills for Life Programme
Ni sa bula everyone,
This term, Holy Trinity will be traveling to Massey Park Pools in Papakura to participate in the Water Skills for Life programme.
The Water Skills for Life programme aims to equip our children with essential skills for staying safe in, on, and around water, ensuring a lifetime of enjoyment. Qualified and certified instructors will conduct these water safety lessons.
It’s important to note that these lessons are not focused on teaching your child how to swim but rather on educating them about how to maintain safety in aquatic environments, both for themselves and others.
We expect every student to participate in this water skills programme. We will encourage their involvement and help learners to connect the skills learned across the curriculum as well as our school values, which are:
Excellence – Hiranga, Resilience – Ngāwari
Unity – Kotahitanga, Integrity – Ngākau Pono
Compassion – Arohanui, Respect – Manaakitia
Students will take part in this programme during Week 2, 16th-20th October or Week 3, 24th-27th October and will travel in groups by bus from school to Massey Park Pools for lessons and then return back to school.
Students are organised into groups for the purposes of participating in this programme. See table below. It is important that you read additional notices from Learning Communities on Hero, which will provide information regarding groups in detail.
Water Skills for Life Programme October 16th-20th Years 3-6
Times:
10-11:00am LC Awa Year 3 and LC Moana Group 2A
11-12:00pm LC Moana Group 2B
12- 1:00pm LC Maunga 2C
1- 2:00pm LC Maunga 2D
Water Skills for Life Programme October 24th-27th Years 0-2 and Years 7-8
Times:
10-11:00am LC Whenua Group 3A
11-12:00pm LC Whenua and LC Awa Group 3B
12- 1:00pm LC Awa Group 3C
1- 2:00pm LC Ngahere Group 3D
Students should bring their swimsuits to school every day. They should also bring a towel and a bag that is big enough for all their wet gear to go in. Caps and goggles are not required, but wearing goggles can make swimming more comfortable because of the chlorine in the water.
Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email or drop by for a visit at the school.
Ni sa moce,
Maria Speechlay
Deputy Principal/Tumuaki Kaitiriwā
Learning Community News
Learning Community Whenua
Whenua learners have made a great start to a new term. We have 7 new children join us this term who are doing a fantastic job learning the daily routines, making friends and exploring the whole learning community.
As part of The Arts curriculum learning, the tamariki have been having a great time sharing dance moves and sharing their cultural moves with their peers.
The children have been showing respect and reverence during the Angelus prayer at 12:00 and praying the Rosary with the whole school in the hall after lunch.
We have been sharing ideas about strengthening community and the sharing of food is a way LC Whenua children would like to strengthen community within the school. The Whenua children will be hosting breakfast club in Week 5. This is a great initiative to inspire others to reach out to help those in need.
In RE (Religious Education), we are learning about Jesus and how to be a disciple.
Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35.)
Learning Community Awa
Awa is off to a wonderful start! Kaitiaki have been overjoyed to learn of the children’s exciting vacation adventures. We started the term by reminding students about routines and our summer uniform.
When the children returned to school after the holidays, they were invited to prepare and tell a cultural narrative. We have enjoyed witnessing the effort and creativity that has gone into the stories, not to mention how these stories will encourage ‘mana’ in themselves and others to strengthen community. To honour our Mother Mary, we will be praying the Rosary during the month of October. You are welcome to send your child along with their Rosary beads to utilise during our given prayer time provided they can keep these safe.
Thank you in advance to the parents who will be assisting the kaitiaki for swimming in Weeks 2 and 3.
Learning Community Moana
Moana has had a wonderful start to term 4. This week we got to work in our school garden. We have planted sunflowers and strawberries, we are extremely excited to see these grow!
We have also been learning about how messages are shared through different text types. We have read stories such as ‘The Talents’ and ‘Rangi & Papa’ and we watched ‘Encanto’, all these text types shared the importance of using our gifts and talents to strengthen the community. We have reflected on what our gifts and talents are and how we can use them to inspire mana in our community.
Learning Community Maunga
| In Maunga learners were inspired by the innovative ideas we shared in Term 3. Many used the holiday break to turn their prototypes into interactive games. These games are one way of responding to a need which inspires others to work together during independent time in Maunga. We are continuing to strengthen community and strive to inspire ourselves and each other as we work through the events marked out in Term 4.
We give thanks for the month of October which has reminded us of our obligation to strengthen our relationship with God through the Rosary. On Friday, students had the opportunity to be a part of a cricket session, ‘SuperSmash Awareness’ programme, run by Northern Districts. This free session covered key fundamental movements through active play such as catching, striking, throwing and moving. It also allowed students to develop individual play and team work skills.The students were highly engaged throughout, showing resilience by giving it a go no matter how difficult it was to actually hit the ball with the bat! Playing non-stop cricket at the end challenged their speed and accuracy which they absolutely loved. |
Learning Community Ngahere
Ngahere students are aware that this is a very busy term and we have made a good start this week. They are learning about the Mysteries of the Rosary and have started praying the Rosary as part of our morning routine.
This term we are focussing on ‘INSPIRE’ through Social Science and the Arts curriculum. Our tamariki are learning the ways they can inspire their and others’ mana to strengthen their communities. Students will be reviewing their learning and past experiences to inform their next steps that build strong relationships in our communities. We believe “Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua” is important.
Sports News
Sports Camp 2023
In the last week of Term 3, twenty of our Year 7/8 tamariki along with twenty St Mary’s, Papakura students created a ‘St Trinity’ team that participated at the John Walker Field of Dreams Sports Camp held at Camp Adair in Hunua along with students from other schools. What an awesome week it was, jam-packed with a variety of sports competitions and medal ceremonies! We are so proud of our students in the way they demonstrated resilience and building relationships and trust on and off the field. We are especially proud that not only did every student receive a medal or more, St Trinity was awarded the trophy for ‘BEST and FAIREST’ team in the competition. Below are the medals that we won as a team of St Trinity:
2 Bronze and 1 Silver for badminton
Bronze for cross country
Gold for single boys tennis
Bronze for boys doubles tennis
Silver for girls KiwiTag
Silver for girls basketball
Gold for boys archery
Bronze for girls futsal
Bronze for girls archery
Bronze for girls and boys tug-o-war
We are most proud of winning the trophy for ‘BEST and FAIREST’ team for the Sports Camp 2023.
A huge thank you goes out to all our adult helpers who rotated throughout the week to help our teachers to supervise and ensure that our students were safe at the campground.
Special thanks and acknowledgements to: Mr Zoran Levkovski, Mr Dan & Mrs Santana Winter, Mrs Louise Pisalbon, Mr Lloyd Benliro, Mr Tim Silva, Mrs Grace Moate and Mr Paul Speechlay.
We also want to thank our staff Miss Lindstrom, Mrs Kaur, Mrs Speechlay and Mrs Silva for making the camp possible.
Hauora/WellBeing News
Peer Mediation Programme
I have appreciated and enjoyed being a peer mediator. As a peer mediator, I find that having this job is a VERY big privilege, as you can use the skills from your training in the real world and when you’re all grown up. In my opinion, I think being a peer mediator has lots of benefits, such as when you’re asking both sides from the disputants, you practise actively listening. I think that the Peer Mediation process can take some time, but it’s worth it. The peer mediation process is fantastic because you get to talk it out and each of the disputants/parties get to say their part of the story, which is the fair thing to do. By Jan
As a peer mediator I have to respect others while solving conflicts. My main duty is to support the rest of the team by getting their papers ready, getting the vests ready, and finding another partner if no one is here. Peer mediation has a process, and rules that the two parties have to agree or else peer mediators have to take the two parties to a duty teacher. It is also Term 4 and I feel that I would like to enrol again for peer mediation next year because I think this could help me have skills not just at school but in the world. I feel positive because we are trying to support peer mediation and support others to try it. By Luisa
My journey of being a peer mediator has been really interesting and intoxicating. On the day that we began training to become a mediator, I learnt many new things. I also felt like I got to know the other mediators better. Going on duty has also been really thrilling. We may not solve many conflicts in one break time, which is hopefully a good thing because more conflicts means more chaos going on in our class. Overall, the main reason why I really enjoy being a peer mediator is because I feel proud of myself for being able to help people around our school. By Liliana
Book Club News
Ni sa bula,
The second-to-last issue of the Book Club catalogue for 2023 is out now. It’s a good opportunity to start stocking up for Christmas gifts and summer holiday reading. You can order online at https://scholastic.co.nz/
School Term Dates for 2024
Term One 11 weeks Thursday 1st February – Friday 12th April
Term Two 10 weeks Monday 29th April – Friday 5th July
Term Three 10 weeks Monday 22nd July – Friday 25th September
Term Four 9 weeks Monday 14th October – Tuesday 17th December
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 2024 :
Term 1 – Week 2 Tuesday 6th February Waitangi Day
Term 1 – Week 9/Week 10 Friday 29th March to Tuesday 2nd April EASTER
Term 2 – Week 6 Monday 3rd June King’s Birthday
Term 2 – Week 9 Friday 28th June Matariki
Term 4 – Week 3 Monday 28th October Labour Day
Term 4 School Uniforms
Students are expected to be in the correct school uniform from Week 3 of Term 4, Tuesday 24th October (after Labour Day weekend). This includes the short sleeved blouse or shirt, open toed black school sandals and the school sunhat. Please name all items of clothing so that they can be returned to the children immediately when found.
Our School uniform is only available for purchase from NZ Uniforms on 20/5 Lambie Drive, Manukau.
All students are required to wear the correct school uniform for summer as listed below.
Girls Uniform
Tartan skort
Blue short sleeved monogrammed blouse (summer)
Black open toed school sandals (summer)
Navy bucket sun-hat monogrammed
Navy monogrammed school polar fleece OR school jacket
Boys Uniform
Navy shorts
Blue short sleeved monogrammed shirt (summer)
Black open toed school sandals (summer)
Navy bucket sun-hat monogrammed
Navy monogrammed school polar fleece OR school jacket
Upcoming School Events
NZ General Elections – Polling /Voting Venue @ Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School
Saturday 14th October in Taamaua/school hall
Water Safety Skills Lessons for all students
Monday 16th – Friday 20th October and Monday 23rd – Friday 27th October @ Massey Park Pools, Papakura
Year 7&8 Immunisation Programme
Monday 16th October at school
Labour Day Weekend/Public Holiday – school closed
Monday 23rd October
Gathering School Liturgy and Assembly – led by Mrs Biggar and Mrs Chung
Tuesday 24th October @ 9:15am in Taamaua/school hall
Monthly School Board Meeting
Wednesday 25th October 2023 @ 7pm in the school staffroom
PTFA Wave Rave @ Massey Park Pools, Papakura
Friday 27th October 2023 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Whole School All Saints Liturgy led by Patrick Dunn Whānau
Wednesday 1st November @ 9:15am in Taamaua/school hall
Whole School All Souls Liturgy led by MacKillop Whānau
Thursday 2nd November @ 9:15am in Taamaua/school hall
followed by a Whānau Active Play AND Whole School Athletics Day
Thursday 2nd November at school
Orientation Morning for 2024 New Families and Students
Wednesday 21st November @ 9:00am at school
Year 6/7/8 Leavers and Families Mass @ St Mary’s Church, Papakura 6:30pm
with a shared finger food supper and presentations to follow at HTCPS in Taamaua/School Hall
Wednesday 29th November @ 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Liturgy and Assembly for Other Leavers and Service/Leadership Awards
Monday 4th December @ 9:15am in Taamaua/school hall
Cultural Groups Celebration Performances – all Year 3-8 students
Thursday 7th December 5:00-6:30pm @ school
Praise-giving Awards Afternoon
Friday 8th December 12:30pm @ school in Taamaua/school hall
End of Year School Mass/Acknowledgement of Leavers
Tuesday 12th December 9:15am @ school followed by ‘School Helpers’ morning tea
Family Picnic and Nativity Liturgy celebrations performed by Year 0/1/2 students
Thursday 14th December 5:00pm-7:00pm at school
Term 4 Concludes for the 2023 year at 1:00pm
Monday 18th December
After School Tuition
Upcoming Community Events
VollyFest Event
Volleyball NZ and Manukau Auckland Volleyball Association (MAVA) are bringing VolleyFest to the community!
Enter your team now for a fun evening of volleyball at Bruce Pulman Park.
Find out more about VolleyFest in the “What is Volleyfest” attachment.
View flyer for additional details.
