I am extremely pleased to announce that every family at MHJC will be receiving a copy of the first edition of “Kia mana ake”, in the last week of term. This is an outstanding publication which captures so much of what makes MHJC a special place for our students.
Please enjoy this early “Christmas present” from and on behalf of the Board of Trustees.
Growing Greatness – Kia mana ake
Auckland Regional Public Health Services advises that pertussis (whooping cough) is in the community and the number of cases in schools has increased over the last two months. Pertussis is a highly infectious disease and can cause serious illness for some people. In the last 12 months, 1 in 6 cases has needed hospital treatment.
Vaccination is free and offers the best protection against this disease – research shows vaccination is safe and effective. Four and 11 year olds are both eligible for a free booster dose – see your GP promptly to book this in. Children who have missed any doses are also able to get free immunisations, please check with your doctor if you are unsure of your child’s vaccination history.
If your child has symptoms of pertussis please keep them at home away from school. Pertussis starts like a cold with a runny nose, cough, and fever and is spread by coughing. After 7-10 days the cough becomes more severe and prolonged coughing spasms occur that may end with a whoop, dry retching or vomiting.
Pertussis in schools can be disruptive as students have to catch up on weeks of school work after falling ill and teachers need to work harder to support them. Pertussis disrupts families who need to make arrangements for childcare and doctors’ visits when their children are diagnosed.
If you or your children are experiencing symptoms or you want more information visit your doctor or call Healthline for advice on 0800-611 116.
If any of your school staff are pregnant or have a baby at home please ensure they receive the following messages from Auckland Regional Public Health.
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a serious disease in children under 12 months old. For every 100 infants under 12 months old who are infected, around 70 will be hospitalised, seven will require intensive care and there is a small, but very real risk of permanent medical complications or death.
A team of Mission Heights Junior College Year 10 students have collaborated this year to produce an innovative project, earning the group a Merit Award in the 2017 Transpower Neighbourhood Engineers Awards and $750.00 for the school. Jamini Patel, Lia Arroyo, Camryn Chetty and Vanisha Rajan created ‘Robo-ish’ a robot programmed to sense and pickup litter and place it in rubbish bins.
The robot stays within a specific vicinity, using claws to move in a random order automatically sensing rubbish on its way, then finding its way to the bins. The project team was so determined to learn the new software of coding the robot and used certain codes to ensure the robot does the required job.
The students have used a small-scale robot (MBOT) currently being used for learning about robotics at the school and programmed it to achieve their goals. Special guests Craig Stephens, Consultant for Goodman Property and Sarah Kelly, Civil Engineer, Calibre presented the cheque from Transpower on behalf of Futureintech at the MHJC Champions Assembly this week. Congratulations Team Robo-ish! From left: Craig Stephens, Basil Taha, Teacher Maths & Technology, Jamini Patel, Lia Arroyo, Vanisha Rajan and Camryn Chetty and Sarah Kelly.
A wonderful opportunity for our Year 9 and 10 students to show off their entrepreneurial skills!
On Thursday, 16th November, National Adviser for Spanish, Señor Cristóbal Gutiérrez visited MIssion Heights Junior College. It was his first visit to the school since taking office in February this year. He met with staff and language teachers Ms Martin and Mrs Gao. Señor Cristóbal Gutiérrez discussed with Ms Martin a student trip to Spain and the valuable learning opportunities for the class. The goal is to make this trip a reality at the end of 2018 or early 2019. Señor Gutiérrez also brought valuable resources to share with teachers who are delighted he will provide ongoing support for our school’s Spanish teaching and learning programme.
Last Saturday two of our cricketers, Benson Ireland and Tannin (Ross) Khurana scored centuries against Kings’ College which is an amazing achievement saying much for their batting ability and powers of concentration. What is particularly pleasing is that when I congratulated them they both felt proud of their achievement but would have felt even better had the team won (the boys fell short by 8 runs in a high scoring game).
Cricket, like many sports helps young people to develop character and I am so proud of these boys as their attitude reflects what we promote at MHJC – individuals are encouraged to strive for excellence but also contribute their time and talent for the benefit of others.
Growing greatness – Kia mana ake!
Great to see so many students cycling to school, rewarded with hot chocolate as part of Enviro Week.
7C2 making models of the solar system.
Students from 7F2 learning about the laws of motion by building “blow karts”.
A huge congratulations to former MHJC student Dylan Townsend for receiving the People’s Choice award in this years prestigious ASB Brightsparks Award announced last night.
Dylan has built a device that essentially records the impact or dangerous moves that an athlete’s head is exposed to during impact sports like rugby or American football. For the full story from case studies to development click here to view Dylan’s video http://www.brightsparks.org.nz/concussion-conundrum/
