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
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!
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. 
Mission Heights Junior College has just successfully completed a lock down drill this morning as part of the normal safety practice procedures.
Please take care travelling to school today.
School is open however we expect some staff and students to be delayed so do not worry if you are late.
Will update ASAP if any change.
Who would have thought Mission Heights Junior College could win The Volvo Ocean Race without leaving dry land!
Education Perfect, the world online educator, worked with race competitors Team Sun Hung Kai – Scallywag, to create their own competition event using lessons relating to the science and maths behind sailing as well as the core Sustainability Programme of Volvo Ocean Racing. The Education Perfect Volvo Ocean Race Challenge took place over ten days in March, and included participants from more than 250 schools around New Zealand.
MHJC Year 9 students, under the guidance of teacher Mrs Reshmika Lal, took to the contest like ducks to water, blitzing their competitors by adding to the school total of 558,259 points. The school took out both the Top Class (9W2) and overall Top School awards. This brilliant team performance doubled that of the second place finisher with 18 of the top 30 places also going to MHJC students.
For their efforts the team has won a $200 shared lunch along with a very special keepsake – an official photo of Sun-Hung Kai Scallywag that has been signed by the whole racing team! Students say it was the excitement of the racing and the involvement with an actual Volvo Ocean Racing crew made up of Australians, British, Dutch and Portuguese male and female sailors that inspired them to keep going and ultimately succeed.
Teacher Mrs Lal says it illustrates how Maths and Science can be engaging and exciting when put into the context chosen by Education Perfect. Head of Education Perfect, NZ, James Santure and his team (which includes former Mission Heights Junior College teacher, Trudi Wigg) are consistently impressed with the engagement in learning and commitment to achieving success shown by Mission Heights Junior College. Mr Santure says “It is just so inspiring to see such continued enthusiasm and dedication to Education Perfect competitions from students at Mission Heights Junior College. Academic success, including in the events we run in Maths, Science, Humanities English and Languages, is clearly a meaningful part of the culture of the school. This result bodes well for the World Series competitions to come this year – I’m sure we will see your name at or near the top of the leaderboard yet again!”
Team Sun-Hung Kai Scallywag joins Education Perfect in congratulating Mission Heights Junior College on this outstanding achievement.
Caption:The top three Education Perfect Volvo Ocean Race Challenge scorers. From left: Jasper Carpenter, Nikhilesh Prasad and Jahnavi Shah