Yesterday I was told a story of a young girl who told her grandmother that she enjoyed watering the garden because it meant she had a chance to look at the beautiful flowers.
I reflected on this comment and how it pertains to how we can and should be nurturing our children. I translate this metaphor to giving young people not just our time but quality time which provides them with a feeling that someone genuinely cares for their progress and wellbeing. With this important need satisfied our young can grow and thrive.
As parents and teachers it is a useful reminder of our obligations.
Congratulations to our former student Dylan Townsend who was the recipient of the prestigious Waka Huia o Whakatupuranga Award. This award goes to a student who has consistently reached the highest levels of academic achievement, service and leadership.
This award was made for the first time at the Ormiston Senior College Awards Ceremony. Congratulations to Rashmeen Sandhu who graduated from MHJC and is the first recipient of a scholarship worth $6000 to be used for tertiary study. The money is contributed by 6 schools located in the Flat Bush area – Baverstock Oaks School, Mission Heights Primary and Junior College, Ormiston Primary, Junior College and Senior College. Rashmeen plans to enter the field of medicine and we are very proud of our former student who continues to grow her greatness – kia mana ake!
Much has been written about the new government’s proposed changes to education including the proposed abolition of National Standards reporting. The school will however report at the year end to our Year 7 and 8 families. Once we have been clarity for 2018 we will inform the community accordingly.
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 wonthree 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’!
Proud published MHJC young authors below. Back row (from left): Ezekiel NgShiu, Mrs Gao, Principal Morrison, Willie Lan, John Kenneth Astadan Front Row (from left): Elsa McCormick, SiyaKumar, Ruby Tasmania, GursimranKaurRandhawa, Crystal Su (Absent) Megan Strydom, Kabir Sikh, Jordan Wandsworth and Andrew Ma.
From the 10th of December bus timetables will be changing in the East Auckland area. These new routes and timetables will be available on the Auckland Transport Journey Planner from the 16th of November. Please check the link above for full details.
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.
WHEN: Wednesday 1 November 2017 6.30pm Doors open 7pm – 8.30pm WHERE: Ormiston Junior College 285 Ormiston Rd, Flat Bush
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.
Many thanks to all students, parents/caregivers and staff who responded to the bi-annual survey. Detailed feedback has been discussed with the Board of Trustees and I can share some elements of this with the community.
I was pleased with the general high levels of satisfaction expressed by every group who responded. While there were several areas which we can improve on there is an obviously high level of confidence in what we are doing to achieve the school’s vision which is gratifying to see. We have also closed gaps in some areas which were indicated in the 2015 survey including changes to the DEEP programme which have been positively reported on by students as were the important areas of high quality teaching and staff being approachable. Perhaps as a result of moving to BYOD, the use of digital texts showed the highest improvement from 2015.
While I cannot respond to every comment made in the survey the Senior Leadership team and I will continue to review our practice using your feedback however some quick responses may be pertinent:
I will be investigating ways in which we can enhance our programme for gifted and talented students and am pleased to say that a new appointment to improve communications to the school and wider community has already been made. Some comments about the state of the fields and grounds were already being acted upon and we have negotiated a maintenance contract for the school fields and have appointed a full time caretaker who has started to work on the gardens. As the school reaches its first 10 years of existence next year it will also qualify for 10 Year property funding which may help us to embark on large scale property improvements as well as ensure buildings are safe and promote high quality learning.
Your constructive comments and positive affirmation of our efforts were very much appreciated. I would urge parents and caregivers to maintain the close connection so many enjoy with our teachers and Senior Leaders to ensure that on-going reflection can guide us to continual improvement. Let us pause though for a moment and reflect on the superb progress achieved by a school still relatively young in years. This has been achieved by the strong partnership between home and school – thank you.
I have received several requests from parents to take their children out of school to go on holiday during term time. I wanted to state to the community that I am not permitted to approve any leave requests except under exceptional circumstances on compassionate grounds.
I need to be consistent and fair and so another reminder may be timely before end of year holidays are planned.
Your understanding of the Ministry of Education’s policy is appreciated.
Sincerely
Ian Morrison
Principal
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