For a second year, the MHJC Chinese Day Event was held during the NZ Chinese Language Week, celebrating Chinese language and culture. The event raised students interest in learning Chinese and about the culture – in line with the school’s goal – to foster future global citizens.

As well as the fun activities MHJC won three  merit prizes at the 2017 Chinese Short Film Competition, a merit prize at the 2017 Chinese calligraphy competition and to top it off, 12 of our student authors had their stories published in the book ‘Flying Kiwis’!

Here is the full article published in the Eastern Courier:  https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/eastern-courier/98024170/describing-kiwi-identity-in-two-languages

Proud published MHJC young authors below. Back row (from left): Ezekiel Ng Shiu, Mrs Gao, Principal Morrison, Willie Lan, John Kenneth Astadan Front Row (from left): Elsa McCormick, Siya Kumar, Ruby Tasmania, Gursimran Kaur Randhawa, Crystal Su (Absent) Megan Strydom, Kabir Sikh, Jordan Wandsworth and Andrew Ma.

Hosted by popular television and movie personality, Pio Terei, Mission Heights Junior College parents and caregivers are invited to a not-to-be-missed free event in conjunction with Ormiston Junior College.

Pio tells us how resilient, confident children deflect trouble, resist pressure, handle stress and recover from setbacks and trauma. All children can be helped to tackle life’s ups and downs so they can grow with a ‘can-do’ attitude. Discover the key ingredients required to help children develop those sought-after qualities.

Mission Heights Junior College  held the 2017 Netsafe BYOD evening jointly with Mission Heights Primary School. This event saw a turnout of around 120 parents and students. Alex Jackman from MHJC and Jenny Keber from MHP shared with the audience various aspects of the schools’ digital citizenship and tips on cyber-safety at home. The event culminated in a series of breakout sessions where parents and students experienced first hand what the digital curriculum in the 2 schools entailed, from robotics to Reading Plus to Maths Buddy and Mathletics.

On Friday 8th September our Student Executive Council hosted a leadership conference with three other Junior Colleges. This was the first ever Junior Leaders Convention in New Zealand and was planned and executed entirely by Mission Heights Junior College’s (MHJC) executive council.

Earlier this year, six MHJC students travelled to the 23rd Student Leaders’ Convention in Singapore and returned buzzing with ideas and the self-belief that they could drive initiatives to make a real difference to our society. The event on Friday followed a similar format to the global conference and students from Albany Junior High School, Ormiston Junior College in Flat Bush and Hamilton’s Rototuna Junior High School traveled to MHJC to work collaboratively through five themes:
Education – critical thinking, relying on digital devices
Cultural preservation – why is it dying?
Technological restraints – robots, employment
Humanising mental health
Youth contribution and involvement

Last Monday  we hosted our first ever ‘Women’s Change Makers Breakfast’. The event was a sell-out and Assistant Principal and organiser, Kate Lambert, believes this is the first of many to come. “Our female students came away with many inspirational messages about the power of women and girls to be creators and change-makers.”

Eighteen year old, Alexia Hilbertidou is CEO of her company Girl Boss and is passionate in encouraging girls to consider the opportunities the STEM courses offer in sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics. Her key concerns are the lack of women in CEO roles globally and how the future of females in the workplace needs to ensure more women make it into growth areas.

Dr Pralene Maharaj’s story was very moving, when as a 26 year-old, part  way through her medical studies, she contracted Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare and debilitating disease. Her journey to many achievements and her recovery was truly inspirational.

Two-time Olympian, ex-New Zealand Hockey player and coach, Christine Archer, was an entertaining speaker sharing her strong  mantra of the four C’s: Courage, Commitment, Choice and Confidence – helping young women be the best they can be.

During the breakfast students were seated alongside additional table guests – all successful young women in careers of Publishing, Marketing, Agriculture, Design, Engineering, Infrastructure, Electronics and Bio Medicine.

MHJC students excelled in the recent NIWA Science Fair with an outstanding high level of awards.  The Fair is an annual event, celebrating the excellence in scientific and technological investigation carried out by Auckland Year 7 to Year 13 students.

Congratulations to all those from MHJC recognised for their hard work in 2017:

1. Double winner Joanne Ting won Highly Commended in Years 9 to 13 Secondary Consumer Science as well as First Prize in the Award for Best Project Using Flour.

2. First Place Winners in the category Years 9 and 10 Living World – Leane Te Boekhorst and Solana Carpenter with presenter Lynn Dunbar.

An excellent result from our Year 7 & year 8 boys Basketball Team! After six fast-paced games, MHJC beat rival Farm Cove by 6 points to reach the semi-finals. They then went on to defeat St Kentigern Boys 17-12. This saw our team placed third overall in yesterdays South Eastern Zone Tournament.
Captain Denzel Pereira stepped up to become top points scorer and both Harrison Shao and Leandro Arabelo scored valuable 3 pointers. Great effort from the entire team.