A South Auckland school has done parents and teachers proud by topping the junior division in a national competition.
Flatbush based Mission Heights Primary School students Sartaj Bedi, Krishin Rama, He-Min Lee, Alistar Johnson, Khushi Koli, and Jessie Huang will represent New Zealand at the ‘International Future Problem Solving Conference’ to be held at the University of Indiana, Bloomington (US) in June this year.
Principal Veena Vohra said that the six students formed the School’s TEACH (Technology, English And Cultural Helpers) Team at the 2011 National Future Problem Solving and Community Problem Solving Finals held in Henderson in October last year.
“They worked hard for 18 months to encourage a stronger home, school and community partnership. They organised a display, attended a 45-minute interview about their project and talked to the public about their ‘Community Problem Solving Fair.’ We are proud of their achievements,” she said.
The students formed the Group as a part of their Community Problem Solving Project and identified the growing community and possible disconnect between the school and the community after brainstorming a range of potential problems within the wider community, she said.
“The Team met and surveyed the school’s community to get a better understanding of what the school and the students could do to promote community partnership and input into the school’s personalised learning programmes, where students were leading as teachers,” Mrs Vohra said.
The institution earned distinction two years ago when the students of its Mission Heights Junior College received accolades for their award-winning performance at the Future Problem Solving Programme held at the University of Wisconsin, US (Indian Newslink, July 15, 2010).
Future Problem Solving New Zealand director Robyn Boswell said more than 2000 students from the US, Asia Pacific, South Africa and other parts of the world would attend the Bloomington conference, providing an opportunity for the youngsters to interact and compete with each other.
The late Ellis Paul Torrance, US psychologist and researcher in creativity established the Programme to encourage students to develop problem solving skills, which, according to him, ‘were more powerful than packages of knowledge, which may become redundant in our rapidly changing world.’
“Students develop positive views of the future, learn to work in teams and grapple with many of the world’s most significant issues,” Ms Boswell said.
According to Mrs Vohra, a number of community groups including SeniorNet, Netsafe and Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) assisted the school and the team in their programme.
“These organisations share the common goal of empowering communities and enabling them to establish themselves in 21st Century New Zealand,” she said.
