Mission Heights Junior College

Yesterday, some of our Year 10 students (and staff) across the school had the opportunity to participate in Kiwi Bubble Soccer.
This tied into a number of their learning contexts, helping them improve their teamwork, effective communication, and other important interpersonal skills.
It was also an opportunity to experience a different type of movement that focusses on play; showing that physical activity can indeed be fun!

Principal's Memo - 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 (emailed home last week)
Kia ora koutou

There have been many announcements made recently relating to education which may have caused some discussion and/or debate in the community. So I thought I would reach out to you and explain what plans MHJC has as we navigate these changes. I have also included a brief update on our progress towards achieving the targets set by the government relating to
attendance and achievement.

Curriculum Reviews:
The Ministry has signalled a move to a more “knowledge rich” curriculum with a focus on knowledge and skills. We will continue to provide the foundations for our students to succeed at senior college while ensuring the content is delivered in a way which will engage and interest our students, see connections between subjects and have authentic, real world outcomes.

Assessment:
The Ministry has introduced a new SMART assessment tool for reading, writing and mathematics. We chose to continue with e-asTTle this year to ensure that the new assessment tool can be used with confidence in 2027. This gives us another year to be able to use comparative data to inform our planning and teaching and to integrate the new descriptors into our assessment model.

Reporting:
We will continue to provide a holistic report to parents which provides progress and achievement data across all subjects; engagement data which includes attendance, punctuality, involvement and excellence in our extra curricular activities, and has a special element about how our students are living our values.

By 2027 we will be using new progress descriptors for all subjects but only for English and Maths in 2026. We are using this year as an opportunity to align the new curriculum with our assessment model and the new reporting statements.

New Qualifications:
Much discussion in the media has focused on the replacement of NCEA by the Foundational Skills Award in Year 11, New Zealand Certificate of Education (NZCE) in Year 12 and New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education (NZACE) in Year 13. While these changes are more applicable to senior colleges, we have started consultation with Ormiston Senior College about how we can best prepare students for the new Year 11 qualification which will have a strong focus on literacy and numeracy. Currently there is very little information about what this qualification will look like but we are confident that our students will be well prepared as we have provided specialist subject teaching from Year 7-10 since the school was opened. We will continue to offer students in 2026 the opportunity to gain their co-requisites in reading, writing and mathematics. These are required in order to achieve Level 2 or Level 3 qualifications (many of our Year 10
students wrote these earlier this term). This may change in 2027 depending on whether senior colleges will only be able to offer co-requisites in Year 11 and not in Year 10. We will also continue to offer NCEA Achievement Standards this year but stop in 2027.

National Targets:
Literacy and Numeracy.
We are well on track to reach the targets of 80% of our Year 7 and 8 students being at or above curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics by 2030. Given the high percentage of students whose first language is not English, this is a significant achievement. All our teachers are receiving PD in writing which is our focus for the year as this is an area which lags behind other data at MHJC and across all schools.
Attendance.
We are also tracking very well towards the target of 80% of our students attending 90% of the school year. Our data for Term 1 was 76% and while in Term 2 we may have more seasonal illnesses we hope to stay in the mid 70s.
My thanks to all our parents who prioritise attendance and punctuality and I also urge parents not to plan overseas travel during term time as this is our biggest cause of unjustified absence.

Professional Development:
It is obvious that the amount and pace of change would place a heavy load on our teachers. We will be supporting them by providing Professional Development after school and time will also be provided by the Ministry for teacher only days. We thank you for your understanding in advance for the inconvenience these days may cause which we have minimised following feedback from last year and your understanding of the pressure the education sector is under at the moment.

Conclusion:
I hope this brief summary might help parents understand a little better what changes are coming our way and what our plans are.
Meantime I am pleased to say that our commitment to achieving our goals and vision of growing greatness through innovative, constantly evolving, personalised learning continues to shine through despite these changes. I am sure that our community will join me in thanking our staff for their individual and collective efforts. This is a team effort and your support is invaluable.

Kia mana ake - growing greatness!

A few reminders for our school community . . .

Friday 29th May 2026 - Teacher Only Day
As previously communicated please note school will be closed to all students on Friday 29th May 2026 for Teacher Only Day.

Monday 1st June 2026 - King's Birthday
School will be closed on Monday 1st June for King's Birthday.

Yesterday, MHJC hosted our annual Mathex competition in the gym. This event has students participating from our feeder primary schools and from across all 4 of our whānau.
Congratulations to all students who took part! It was a great day to celebrate our maths success. 🎲🧮

On the occasion of Eid al-Adha, we extend our warm wishes to all students, staff, and whānau who are celebrating.

Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, is one of the most important celebrations in Islam. It remembers the story of Prophet Ibrahim, who showed great faith, trust, and willingness to make a sacrifice. Today, Muslims around the world mark this occasion through prayer, spending time with family, sharing food, and helping those in need.

Eid al-Adha reminds us of values that are important in every community — kindness, gratitude, generosity, compassion, and caring for others. These are values we can all practise in our everyday actions, whether at school, at home, or in the wider community.

May this Eid bring peace, joy, and blessings to everyone celebrating.

Eid Mubarak!

MHJC would like to thank one of our sponsors who is helping send out athletes to AIMS this year . . .

We Love Tutoring is a local tutoring service that can help students achieve. Contact details can be found below to set up tutoring services for local children.

Yesterday was the Year 8 Girls SEZ Football Tournament. A team of 12 Year 8 Girls from across the school attended the day tournament at Lloyd Elsmore.
The girls had an incredible day out, winning 2 of their 4 games and placing 5th out of 9 teams. This is an amazing SEZ football result for MHJC!

Congratulations to this happy, hardworking, and eager group of girls! You've made us proud! ⚽️

On Friday, MHJC participated in Pink Shirt Day with other schools around the motu.
This day was about celebrating kindness, diversity and inclusion. It was wonderful seeing so many staff and students taking part in this important day.
We are already looking forward to Pink Shirt Day 2027, to continue to paint our school in a 'sea of pink' to celebrate kindness!

Get ready to paint the school pink!
Tomorrow, we’re standing together to celebrate kindness, diversity, and inclusion. Our Executive Council is turning up the energy to help us raise vital funds for the Mental Health Foundation.

🎨 What’s Happening?
Bring a gold coin donation and visit the Executive Council in front of the Kapua after lunch-eating to get involved:

- Pink Hair Spray: Rock a bold new look!
- Face Painting: Get your pink spark on with fun designs.

📍 Where Does Your Donation Go?
Every dollar counts! The Mental Health Foundation works tirelessly to reduce the impact of bullying and the harm it causes across Aotearoa.

Your contribution helps:

🚀 Deliver innovative programmes that lift mental wellbeing.
🏫 Provide free tools for schools and workplaces to build positive environments and prevent bullying before it starts.
🌈 Support rainbow rangatahi (youth) all across the country.
✊ Grow the Upstander movement—empowering everyone to speak up and stand together.

"Kōrero Mai, Kōrero Atu, Mauri Tū, Mauri Ora – Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying!"

Grab your pinkest shirt, bring your gold coins, and let’s make tomorrow a day to remember. See you there! 🌸✨

Noa’ia ‘e mauri gagaj ‘atakoa

Happy Rotuma Language Week

The 2026 theme for Rotuma Language Week is "Ȧf'ȧk, putua, a'pumuạ'ȧk ma rak'ȧk 'os fäega ma 'os ag fak Rotuma, la se maoen 'e 'os tore" - Treasure, nurture and teach our Rotuman language and culture so it may live on through generations.

Our Māori and Pasifika council have created language videos and quizzes which will be sent throughout the week for our school to learn and enjoy.

Faiåkse’ea