Burnside High School have an active group who participate in these events. This term we had Model NZ Parliament, Model European Union and NZ Model United Nations.

Three students represented Burnside High School at the NZ Model United Nations event in Wellington in the July School holidays. 

Congratulations to Joe Greenstreet 10SWRK, Aine O'Connor 10NRSS and Minjun Cho 10WJCN.

The article below was written by Sam Allen 11WZHY about the other two events.

The New Zealand Model Parliament took place on the 1st-3rd of September, and featured a strong delegation of Burnside students. Model Parliament allows students to engage with our NZ parliamentary system by allowing students to take the role of a Member of Parliament over the three day conference.

Over the three days we debated the “New Zealand Equitable Outcomes Bill”. This bill, as the name suggests, had an aim to increase the equity in outcomes of government policy. It was a wide ranging bill, including clauses on issues such as the voting age, tax thresholds, and marine protections. After much discussion amongst select committees (such as Finance and Expenditure, Social Services, and Governance), more than a few amendments, and an amazing time with some awesome people, we passed the bill at the third reading!

It was a privilege to be able to attend this event and I wish to extend my thanks to UN Youth for creating this amazing opportunity, and Mrs Pooch for organising the administration for the Burnside delegation.

The University of Canterbury’s Model European Union is an annual event hosted at UC for student to act as a delegate from a country in the European Union. This year’s event, held on the 28-29 August, had a central focus on increasing sustainability in the EU and the wider world.

Over the two days we collaborated to create a directive with environmentalism at the heart. In committees such as Foreign Affairs, Agriculture & Fisheries, and Energy, we worked through creating consensus for the amendments we wanted to pass, with some great speeches being delivered along the way. After some very lively plenary debates, the directive ended up passing, and it was awesome to see some of the younger BHS students gain their confidence in speaking over the event. It was also amazing to have a Q & A with Nina Obermaier, the head EU diplomat to NZ, as well as local MP Sarah Pallet. It was great to hear their insight into how we can generate change in an ever growing global society.

A massive thank you to the National Centre for Research on Europe for their generous funding and resources, to Dr. Serena Kelly and her team of students for all the hours that went into organising this. And of course a massive thank you to Mrs. Pooch for the effort she put in behind the scenes to allow the Burnside contingent to attend.

Sam Allen 11WZHY