Congratulations to our winners of the 2018 Chinese Bridge Speech Competition Auckland region! Nikhilesh Prasad (9W2) won the second prize and Arushi Suneel (10C1) won third prize.
This is the best result for our school in this prestigious annual competition. We had previously won merit prizes.
Although these two students are not currently studying Mandarin, they used their holidays to draft their speeches and used their spare time to practise strenuously. All their hard work has paid off!
Earlier this month, 12 Year 10 students from Mission Heights Junior College, flew to Singapore to participate in the Hwa Chong Institute’s 24th Young Leaders Convention. This year’s theme, Media – Connecting the Dots, investigated the role various aspects of the media play in our digitalised world. The annual convention also aims to forge strong bonds across international borders between future leaders.
Held in Singapore – the site of the heads of Government G8 Summit a week later – many of the students said the experience enabled them to discover new cultures, grasp new concepts, ideas, values and practices and learn how to put these into action.
Probably the most significant personal achievement for the group was the ability to exercise their leadership skills in a foreign and challenging environment. The convention allowed them to share their knowledge and experiences among their international peers as well as identify relevant issues occurring in the digitalised world.
The MHJC team were asked how this convention has affected or changed how they will conduct future group planning and mentoring. All agreed it has enriched the notion of “think global and act local” and they are excited about their own upcoming MHJC Student Leaders’ Convention in September. They now have a solid foundation and a framework to build on.
The students were able to forge strong friendships with other delegates and intend to stay connected. All came away from the convention with a myriad of new ideas and concepts to integrate at Mission Heights Junior College as well as fond memories of their visit to Singapore’s tourist attractions.
The MHJC team were asked how this convention has affected or changed how they will conduct future group planning and mentoring. All agreed it has enriched the notion of “think global and act local” and they are excited about their own upcoming MHJC Student Leaders’ Convention in September. They now have a solid foundation and a framework to build on.
The students were able to forge strong friendships with other delegates and intend to stay connected. All came away from the convention with a myriad of new ideas and concepts to integrate at Mission Heights Junior College as well as fond memories of their visit to Singapore’s tourist attractions.
For one MHJC student the week was even more memorable after receiving a very special award out of the 400 attendees:
“MHJC was honoured to receive the accolade of one of its students, Harjot Singh Dharni being voted the Best Delegate of the conference. The award is presented to one student who has best displayed qualities of enthusiasm, teamwork and passion for all the activities and contributed to the spirit of unity and collaboration. – MHJC Principal, Ian Morrison.
Caption: Harjot Singh Dharni receives his Best Delegate 2018 Certificate
There has been some publicity recently about safety concerns relating to parents dropping and picking up their children at local schools. While we appreciate the high number of our parents who ensure their and other children are safe during these busy times it is worth reminding everyone of some basic advice and road traffic laws. While we seek to educate and inform parents and students, at times the police may have to enforce road rules and we will cooperate with them should the need arise.
It is important for me to remind parents that students are expected to be at school at 8.15 and interestingly this is not a busy time for students to be dropped if they have to be.
Do’s
Dont’s
During one week earlier this term teachers provided me with photographic evidence of some parents transgressing road traffic laws and putting their and other children in danger. Examples are including in this list:
I would also advise that you work with your child regarding punctuality which is an important life-skill and indicates a high degree of self-management necessary for success. In most cases the excuse we are given for students being late to school is that they overslept or the traffic was heavy that morning. Tough love and an alarm clock in the first instance as well as sorting out what is needed the night before and leaving a few minutes early to arrive at 8.15 is my quick and easy advice.
Our Travelwise team will continue its positive work with students regarding exercising safe and healthy choices about travelling to and from school. It will also be working with the local police when necessary to ensure that everyone contributes to a safe environment for our students.
Growing greatness – Kia mana ake!
Tuesday 5 June, 2018 was an important day in the history of the seven schools that serve the Flat Bush Community. The Principals agreed to the day being an opportunity for the teaching and support staff to come together and share their journeys, innovative practice and inquiry. We started the day with an inspiring speaker – Kaila Colbin who spoke about the new educational landscape we are entering which fitted well with the rest of the day as we presented or attended presentations from every school which reflected the future-focused ethos we all share.
This was an important opportunity for us to learn more about how we all deliver the curriculum in exciting ways which engage the students in our care. Importantly an insight into our contributing schools’ programmes will help us to transition students into MHJC as well as support students as they transition to Ormiston Senior College.
We return to our schools with new learning, new connections and new commitment to our vision: “Growing greatness through innovative, constantly evolving personalised learning”.
Are you interested in participating in a week-long Outdoor Education trip that promises adventure and new experiences? Well then, this opportunity is for you!
OPC 2018 is a week long Outdoor Education trip taking place in Tongariro National Park.You will go caving, skiing/snowboarding, abseiling and so much more. It is an incredible opportunity to push beyond your comfort zone and experience all that the New Zealand winter has to offer.
When:
Depart Sunday, September 23rd (12:00 noon).
Return Friday, September 28th (after 18:00).
Where:
Hillary Outdoors Education Centre – http://www.hillaryoutdoors.co.nz/
Activities:
Some of the activities include:
Low-ropes course, high ropes course, team building games, abseiling, skiing/snowboarding, caving, tramping, overnight expedition. These activities will be taught and supervised by experienced, fully qualified instructors.
If you are interested in joining this awesome trip, please read the details in the email that has been sent to your school account, then ‘Turn In’ a letter of application with the below information to our OPC Google Classroom page (class code to join is jr1xg1d) by Wednesday, May 30th at 16:00.
Your application letter must include the following:
• Why you want to attend OPC 2018.
• What you will gain from OPC 2018.
• How active you are/your ability to partake in active endeavours.
• Parental approval/signature
Click below to see Programme and Activites:
Tongariro Activities Sample 5-Day Programme
Kind regards,
Mr Dino Gardi, PE and Health Teacher, Forest Whanau
dgardi@mhjc.school.nz
Our globally connected learners are currently at the Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore to contribute to the 24th Young Leaders Convention.
Harjot Singh Dharni; Kyle Anderson; Aditya Nair; Anav Ramsing; Paul Chan; Victoria Kree; Ayushi Narayan; Annie Man; Henrik Hout; Kashvi Vij; Aathif Mobin Basha; Kathleen Tieu and Ronak Lal (supported by Mrs Neelam Taneja and Mr Tashi Hishey) have enjoyed their adventures at Universal Studios, Sentosa Island, Garden by the Bay, and ‘ice-breaker’ + scenario challenges at Hwa Chong, with students from a host of other countries.
We wish the group safe travels as we look forward to their arrival back to Auckland airport at 10:25pm on Saturday evening. 🌏
On Wednesday 30th May 7M1 & 7M2 traveled to the Puhinui Stream to move and plant 1200 native trees, plants and shrubs as part of their learning about biodiversity. The plants were provided courtesy of the Auckland Council’s ‘Million Trees’ programme.
‘Million Trees’ is a programme for greening Auckland that will plant a million trees and shrubs, mostly native, across the region over three years. The programme will green our city, offset carbon emissions, protect our water quality by planting along rivers and coastlines and improve our living environment.
Students not only learned more about bio-diversity by taking part in this hands-on EOTC experience but by working as a 50+ person human chain – to transport the plants from the top of the reserve to the planting location – they demonstrated great teamwork and communication skills!
Ka Rawe Mountains Year 7’s, we are very proud of you and your service to our community!
Forgive the acronym, PBS stands for Pause, Breathe, Smile and as I have indicated in a previous blog, I accompanied four of our teachers to a training day in term 1. Following the training it is our intention to introduce important lessons and practices from the course to our daily practice. It is hoped that our students will feel greater sense of wellbeing as a result which in turn will strengthen relationships and promote a safe, kind and courteous learning environment.
We have already successfully introduced mindfulness classes during DEEP which students have enjoyed and indicated that they had felt calmer and more focused which has improved their learning. Teachers have also offered calming techniques during lunch time last year during exams when students were feeling anxious, again with very positive results.
We feel that students (and staff) increasingly need to be taught tools which will enable them to cope within an increasingly complex, digital and “noisy” world. The increasing number of reported cases of anxiety and depression have been widely reported and linked to our wired existence where we find it difficult to switch off and live in the moment. PBS or mindfulness techniques have been proven to have a positive impact on our ability to cope and indeed flourish. Relationships improve, thinking becomes clearer, concentration sharper and generally feelings of being in control of our lives strengthened. By focusing on the present moment mindfulness is able to enhance awareness and enrich the human experience
Mindfulness is not linked to any religion, it is not meditation and so students and parents should not feel threatened by the practices. Indeed I was first informed of the idea at a conference which showed the science behind the practice and a very interesting discussion with the head of Catholic schools in Tasmania who had been running a similar course for several years. However should anyone have any concerns I welcome open and constructive communication about this practice. I am aware that Baverstock Oaks School has already started to implement PBS practices into its daily classroom practice and also report very positive results.
Should you wish to research the PBS programme please visit:
https://mindfulnesseducation.nz/pbs-the-new-zealand-curriculum/
Examples of our plan include:
We firmly believe that PBS will help to equip our students to meet their personal challenges and opportunities of the future, and thank you in advance for your support as we roll out the plan.
Growing greatness – Kia mana ake
With acknowledgement to Andrew Fuller.
www.andrewfuller.com.au
Students in 8C2 have been “digging into” their Term 1 Community context. Now that tree planting season is upon us, the class was able to head into the community to plant 600 native trees at the local Silvana Reserve. The planting comes after students investigated habitats in the community and identified a need for additional regeneration. Students also identified that once mature, trees will provide seeds for birds and prevent erosion in the local stream.
Thank you to GeckoNZ and Auckland Council for supporting the day and for supplying the trees. 
