Greetings, Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa, Mālō e lelei, Namaste, Ni Hao, Bula, Hola, Kumusta, Namaskārām,
Sat Shri Akaal, Vanakkam and Ayubowan
Dear Families
This weekend, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church!
Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and ten days after his ascension into heaven. Pentecost is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Jesus.
Then on the following Sunday 26th May, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. It is the day we celebrate the greatest mystery of all – 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.
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!
Principal’s Message
Last week at our Mothers’ Day Liturgy, Ollie’s Mum, Sarah, shared a lovely message to us all about what it it’s like to be a’mum’ and how much she loves being a ‘mum’ to her family.
Cairo’s Nana, Joe, also shared a beautiful message with us about what the te reo māori word for ‘grandchild’ is – mokopuna. Moko means my image or face and puna means stream, new life, new waters so Mokopuna means the image, reflection of who I am – my grandchild who is the reflection of our ancestors/tupuna, of our whānau/family and of me/ grandparent! This why our hearts are so full of love and joy for our grandchildren!
What a beautiful image to share with us and to help us learn about this life giving word mokopuna. Thank you Joe and Sarah for sharing such heartfelt learning with us – you touched our hearts too!
Staff News …
Welcome …
We extend a special welcome to Mrs Tua Feagaiga who joins our school Support Staff Team as a Learning Assistant. We are delighted to have Tua working with us as her family has been a big part of Holy Trinity whānau in recent years. We are blessed to have Tua sharing her knowledge and gifts and talents with us and the children. Thank you Tua for the warm way you engage with our tamariki, supporting them in their learning and social development! It’s great to have you on board.
Celebrations …
We celebrated Support Staff Week this week! Support Staff Week is a celebration to ‘awhi/praise and acknowledge’ all of our Learning Assistants, Office Administration Staff and Mr Stewart, our Caretaker for all the amazing work that they do in our school.
It is a privilege to work alongside our awesome colleagues, who have a deep care and concern for the children they work with AND for us, their colleagues who they support so readily in their various roles.
We extend GRATEFUL THANKS to our Learning Assistants … Venus Anand, Carolyn Harvey, Angela Aiesi, Thea Guadalupe, Rachel Farley, Bronwyn Sewell and Tua Feagaiga for all that they do to love and nurture our tamariki.
HUGE THANKS to our awesome Admin Team, Carmel Stewart and Jocelyn Ochoa who do a power of work behind the scenes (the big things and the little things that they do for us as staff, for the children and for the families) to ensure we are always fully operational and … humming!
To our special Mr Stewart, – Stephen, our Caretaker, we are grateful for the huge amount of work that he undertakes to ensure our grounds /environments are well maintained and that all is ‘ready to go!’
THANK YOU SUPPORT STAFF – Ka mau te wehi – you are amazing!
DRS Report
Mothers Day Liturgy
Last Friday, we had a beautiful liturgy in honour of all mothers and mother figures in our lives. It was wonderful to see our HTCPS whānau gather in Taamaua/school hall as tamariki and kaitiaki of Aubert Whānau led a beautiful celebration. We continue to ask God for special blessings and guidance upon our mums.
Holy Trinity Feast Day Celebrations
Friday 24th May
Next week we have a double celebration to honour our Feast Day of The Most Holy Trinity. Our Trinity celebration at school will be on Friday 24th May where we will have a whole school mufti day for all students and staff to come dressed in our whānau colours.
We will begin the day in Taamaua/school with a Trinity liturgy at 9:00am led by tamariki and kaitiaki of Patrick Dunn Whānau, you are all welcome to join us! Throughout the day, our tamariki will be working in their Whānau groups, taking part in activities about the Trinity and enjoying rewards from the PTFA from the Wheel-a-thon day from last term.
Finally, we end our day back in Taamaua/school at 1:00pm for our school’s annual ‘Trinity’s Got Talent’ show where our tamariki will be showcasing their God given gifts and talents. Again, we invite you to join us in cheering and supporting all our children who are taking part in showing us their talents!
Sunday 26th May
Our second celebration for our Feast Day is our School & Parish Mass on Trinity Sunday 26th May at St Mary’s Church Papakura at 10:30am. Father Michael O’Connor will be our celebrant. Students are to attend Mass in their school uniform and we ask that our families please bring a plate of food to share after Mass. We will have a hospitality team in the Parish hall to take your plate of food from you before Mass. If you would like to donate a grocery item to go towards our Mass offering, please send them with your child to the school office this coming week. We look forward to seeing you there!
Teaching and Learning News
Dog-wise Kiwi Kids Programme
Dog-wise Kiwi Kids programme is a dog safety programme presented by BARK NZ. This is BARKs flagship programme and since 2012 has been delivered to thousands of children in schools and early childhood facilities within New Zealand.
The programme describes and demonstrates safe ways to behave when around dogs and when approaching or being approached by a dog as well as what the warning signs are for different situations and environments.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of dog ownership in the western world. The likelihood of a child coming in contact with a dog in their community is more or less guaranteed. Owning and being around dogs has so many wonderful benefits and with the right knowledge, understanding and tools it can be a safe and positive experience for all.
The Dog-wise trainers will be visiting our school this coming Monday 20th May to present a dog safety awareness programme for our students.
Duffy Books in Homes
On Monday I had the great pleasure of presenting our ‘Duffy Champion Reader’ prizes to two very special people who encourage a love of reading in others.
Princess was nominated by her daughter, Lilac. Lilac wrote a lovely letter about how much her mum encourages her to read.
Patricia was nominated by her great-granddaughter, Sierra-Marie. Sierra-Marie created a fabulous book about how her great-grandmother (a former librarian) is always encouraging her and others to read. Patricia is incredibly passionate about books!
An honourable mention goes to Jane, whose daughter Sam nominated her with a very humorous powerpoint.
Congratulations Princess, Patricia and Jane, and thank you for inspiring others to read. And thank you to everyone who was nominated – we appreciate you encouraging our HTCPS tamariki to see reading as something that matters and that can change lives.
Also on Monday, I presented our latest Caught Being Good winners with their awards. Ka pai to these tamariki for continuing to show our school’s Gospel values.
Ms Kirstie Gill
Duffy Coordinator
Teaching and Learning News
Year 5/6 CAMP
Our Year 5/6 students are so excited as they slowly count down the days to get closer to the end of May. Our senior students will be having an education outside of the classroom Camp for three days and two nights on Wednesday 29 May to Friday 31 May at Camp Adair, Hunua. It’s an exciting opportunity for our tamariki to develop resilience, problem solving skills, self-discovery and to create lifelong memories and friendships. After Camp, they will be involved in a variety of fundraising activities to go towards Camp costs and your support at these fundraisers will be highly appreciated.
National Young Leaders Day
On Thursday 23 May, 16 of our student leaders will be attending the National Young Leaders Day (NYLD) held at Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau. It is the largest and longest running leadership event in NZ for primary and intermediate school students. These large scale annual events aim to develop students’ leadership and empower students to fulfil their dreams and to take the lead for their own personal choices. It will be a great day for our tamariki, joining with thousands of other student leaders from Auckland schools.
Learning Community News
Awa
This week, Awa learners have been learning about different ways to share our Curiosity about stories of Jesus through various visual art forms, including sculpture, drawing, collage, and painting. Learners have been enjoying the process while exploring basic techniques and strategies for each visual art form. They are creating art pieces based on stories of Jesus, such as Jesus Feeds the 5000, Jesus at the Temple, Jesus Meets Zacchaeus, and Noah’s Ark.
In Science, we explored the concepts of sinking and floating by using our scientific thinking to hypothesize, observe, experiment, and conclude our results. Next, learners will investigate the features of water as part of our curiosity linked to the science behind Noah’s Ark, the flood, and other faith stories.
In PE, learners had a great time using the stretchy cord to participate and work as a team, and bean bags to strengthen and improve their core balance.
Whenua
In Whenua, learners have enjoyed learning about the stories and parables that Jesus told his disciples and followers. They have been sharing their curiosity about each story by using “I Wonder” statements. They can express how these stories inspire curiosity and help us feel part of the church.
In science, they are learning how curiosity inspires us to think like scientists using the KWHLAQ inquiry framework and ask questions to enrich the taonga of our stories.
In maths, learners are excited to learn different strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems, with or without materials.
In visual art, learners enjoyed making Mother’s Day cards and writing beautiful messages and poems to all the mothers and mother figures in their lives.
Ngahere
In Ngahere, we have enjoyed listening to and sharing stories about the stars that are taonga to us. We have been learning about the process of scientific thinking and making connections between thinking like a scientist and our KWHLAQ inquiry. By identifying what we already know about the stars, we have been able to observe and ask questions about our curiosities from the stories shared. We are working towards building our research skills to find answers to our curiosity questions.
Maunga
This week, the students from Maunga were excited to have Omine and his incredible Craft Lab come to school. The students’ curiosity was sparked instantly with all the treasures Om brought out of his trailer.
Using our collaboration skills, the whole learning community worked together to make a huge flax skipping rope. First, we stripped the flax down to its fibers, then we wove them together bit by bit to create our awesome mat, just like Maui!
We went on a treasure hunt to find pencil-sized sticks (that had already lived their lives), stacked them in a tin, and cooked them on the fire. Later, we used these charcoal pencils to draw and write about how our day impacted the different aspects of our hauora. We also learned about using a flint to make a spark, which takes a really special technique.
The yummiest part of our day was roasting our bush donuts. We wrapped the dough around our sticks and roasted them over the fire, carefully turning our sticks so the donuts didn’t burn. Then we dipped them in butter and sugar. They were delicious.
Moana
Last Wednesday, Moana students went on a field trip connected to our concept of Curiosity – Science. We started with a slow journey down Great South Road towards Papakura, learning about some of the places and buildings significant to our local area. These included the original Presbyterian church, built in 1859 on the site of the present grey brick church, and the Papakura Anglican Church, built with stone from the Hunua Gorge. Bishop Averill laid the foundation stone on 30 September 1922 in memory of the men from his parish who fell in the Great War (1914-19).
At Kirks Bush, the students, thinking like scientists, mainly focused on the quality of the soil due to the removal of the original bush to build Great South Road. They completed a scavenger hunt to locate and identify different species of trees, insect life, plant, and fungi growth. They sketched flora and fauna and even attempted to measure the trees using a stick as a measuring tool. Great math learning!
After lunch, we visited Pukekiwiriki, a local place mentioned in the Papakura haka, often recited in our whakatau when welcoming new families and staff to our school. It was a lovely day of learning outdoors!
Fundamental Movement Skills – Gymnastics
Every Wednesday, our students walk over to the gymnastics center at Bruce Pullman Park to learn gymnastics movement skills. Initially, they were unsure of what to expect, including working on and using unfamiliar equipment. Now, they know positions such as pike, tuck, and straddle and are becoming more confident using the high beam and long trampoline. Thank you to the parents who support us at these sessions. It is greatly appreciated.
Celebrating Language Weeks
Gasav Ne Fäeag Rotuạm Ta – Rotuman Language Week
Noa’ia ‘e mauri gagaj ‘atakoa – Greetings everyone,
This week we celebrated Rotuman Language Week with the theme ‘Vetḁkia ‘os Fäega ma Ag fak hanua – Sustaining our Language and Culture.’
The focus was on the Four Pillars of wellbeing, including VETḀKI, which means doing something without stopping. The word VETḀKI isn’t used much anymore, so it’s important to bring it back for the revival of the language. VETḀKI is deeply connected to our language and culture. Even though we may be far from home, the language and culture shape who we are.
Faiakse’ea/thank you to the Raega family, and especially Isaiah, for always being willing to share resources to help us learn some basic Rotuman phrases.
Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa – Samoan Language Week
We look forward to celebrating Samoan Language on the 26th May – 1 June.
The 2024 theme for Samoa Language Week is ‘Tautua i le alofa, manuia le lumana’i – Serve in love for a blessed future’. We will send out more information on Hero to let you know of the activities planned to celebrate Samoan Language Week.
Pasifika Fono
Many thanks to our parents who braved the cold night to attend our fono on Thursday, May 16th. It was great to engage in discussions with our aiga about enhancing our Pasifika children’s learning experience at school. Everyone was really passionate about finding ways to empower our Pasifika students by connecting with their own experiences. It was really touching to hear our families sharing their thoughts and dreams. We’re excited about planning how to celebrate the upcoming language weeks together, showing how we can honour and preserve Pasifika languages and cultures.
It was also a great opportunity to share the English Language Learners Programme at Holy Trinity.
2024 Teacher Only Days
Please take note of the 2024 Teacher Only Days. School will be closed for students on Friday 7th June and Friday 15th November.
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 these days. sKids will be open and operating on this day on the school site. Please click on the link to make a booking for the day – https://www.skids.co.nz/
Sports News
Balance Bike Day for Year 0-2
The Balance Bike programme or otherwise known as the Free Wheelin’ programme has been developed and run by Counties Manukau Sports for children in Years 0-2 to further develop balance, coordination and most importantly, confidence, through the use of age appropriate games. We are so lucky as Counties Manukau Sports will be coming in on Thursday 29th May to run a Balance Bike Day for Learning Community Awa and Learning Community Whenua, our Year 0-2 students. More information will be shared with you closer to the day.
Year 5/6 North Counties Netball
We are taking a team to compete at the North Counties Netball held on Wednesday 12th June at the Papakura Netball Centre in Bruce Pulman Park. It promises to be a good day for our boys and girls taking part.
Hauora/WellBeing News
Awhi Team Peer Mediators
On Monday five of our amazing Awhi Team were presented with their silver badges and certificates. Janine, Luisa, Hadley, Anayah, and Isabella have all shown excellence/hiranga and achieved the basic and intermediate skills of a peer mediator. They are now working on extending their skills to achieve their gold badges.
In Learning Community Moana, our Year 5 and 6 learners had ‘a go’ at being peer mediators so they can understand the process. They found some parts tricky, like knowing the steps and keeping track of what the disputants were saying, but they recognised that peer mediation is great for several reasons, like putting control of the situation into the disputants’ hands, and the importance of the Awhi Team being neutral helpers.
I look forward to sharing with you what the other learning communities are doing regarding peer mediation in the coming weeks.
Ms Gill
Awhi Team Co-ordinator
Bullying-Free NZ
This week was Bullying-Free NZ week. It’s a significant week where we encourage each other to take a stand as well as reflect on our own words and actions. It is important for us to remember that we are all made in the image of God and should treat each other with compassion and respect.
Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social, 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.
Let’s work together to continue to always spread love and kindness to all those we encounter!
Property Update
For your information …
We have a number of Community groups using Taamaua, our school hall over the weekends. Most of the groups are associated to our parish so it’s lovely that we can extend hospitality to them by providing a venue for their activities. If you do drive past school and see a number of cars in the carpark it will be because they are part of these community groups.
We have Little Kickers, soccer; Tamil language class group, Couples for Christ groups, Parish Alpha programme groups and our Parish Samoan Youth group!
Welcome all to Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School!
A new Sports/PE Shed
The Catholic Diocese of Auckland (CDA) – the owners of our school property, are supporting us to finance a new PE shed to be located at the end of the LC Awa and Moana block near the field. This will mean children can easily access the playground equipment and PE sports gear for PE lessons. At the moment, a concrete pad has been laid and we are now waiting for the PE shed installation which shouldn’t be too far way from happening. THANK YOU CDA!
Upcoming School Events
School Whānau Time
Monday 20th May @ 9:00am-9:45am at school
Dog-wise Kiwi Kids Programme for Years 0-6 students
Monday 20th May @ school for all students
Fundamental /Movement Skills/Gym lessons for LC Moana/Year 5
Wednesday 22nd May @ 10am-11am Bruce Pulman Park Recreation Centre
Fundamental /Movement Skills/Gym lessons for LC Moana/Year 6
Wednesday 22nd May @ 11am-12:00 Bruce Pulman Park Recreation Centre
NYLD – National Young Leaders Day for senior student leaders group
Thursday 23rd May @ Due Drop Centre, Manukau
Holy Trinity School’s FEAST DAY and MUFTI DAY – whānau colours
Friday 24th May @ 9:00am Liturgy and celebrations in Taamaua/School Hall
PTFA Wheel-a-thon Whānau student treats 11am-1:00pm
FEAST DAY – Trinity’s Got Talent Show
Friday 24th May @ 1:00pm in Taamaua/School Hall
The Most Holy Trinity FEAST DAY – School and Parish Mass
Sunday 26th May @ 10:30am St Mary’s Parish, Papakura followed by School/Parish morning tea
Samoan Language Week
From Monday 26th May
School Gathering Liturgy and Assembly led by LC Moana/Ms Gill and LC Awa/Mrs Griffiths
Monday 26th May @ 8:50am in Taamaua/school hall
Priest Visits to Learning Communities
Wednesday 29th May @ 8:50am in Taamaua/school hall
CAMP 2024 – LC Moana Year 5/6 Team
Wednesday 29th May – Friday 31st May @ Camp Adair, Hunua
Balance Bike programme for Year 0-2 students
Thursday 30th May @ school
King’s Birthday PUBLIC HOLIDAY – school closed
Monday 3rd June
School Gathering Liturgy and Assembly led by Catholic Special Character Student Leaders
Tuesday 4th June @ 8:50am in Taamaua/school hall
Pedal Power Programme for Year 4 students
Wednesday 5th June @ school
Pedal Power Programme for Year 4 students
Thursday 6th June @ school
TEACHER/STAFF ONLY DAY – school closed for students
Friday 7th June
Term 2 Concludes at 2:50pm
Friday 5th July
Term 3 Commences at 8:50am
Monday 22nd July
Maths Text for Home Learning
