New Faces for 2025

With students back at school next week, staff have been busy preparing for the school year ahead.
Yesterday, new teachers to MAGS received an official welcome with a whakatau in the Te Puna Wānanga. Following that, they spent the day in orientation sessions so they could hit the ground running next week.
Next Tuesday, new staff will have the chance to introduce themselves to their colleagues as all staff gather in the W.O.H Gibbs Room for a welcome and overview of plans for the year ahead.

Back row, from left: Sean Moon, Teaching Intern – PE and Health; James Coughlan, Teaching Intern – Social Science; Ethan Wai Poi, Teacher PE and Health; Dylan Thomas, Teacher PE and Health; Leon Bell, Teacher English.
Third row: Adam Taylor, Teaching Intern – Maths; Dale Dempsey, Teacher Maths; Finn Cahir, Teacher Science; Michael Tillett, Director of Cricket; Matty Poi, Teacher Technology; Michael Zhang, Teacher Technology; Tianqing Gong, Teacher Maths.
Second row: Jo Reddy, HoD Learner Support; Kaylee Kilpatrick, Teacher Science; Annabelle Nadeau-Germann, Teacher English; Katie Hadfield, Teacher English; Craig Neeve, Teacher Commerce; Fahimah Khan, Teacher Science; Sophie Nicholson, Teaching Intern – Science; Emma Newson, Teacher – PE and Health; David Marshall, Teaching Intern – Science.
Front row: Helen Geng, Teacher English Language; Rachel Hooker, Teacher Art/Technology; Natalie Green, Teacher Commerce; Mitchell Powlesland, Teacher – PE and Health; Hannah Brown, Teacher Social Science; Lisa Lobendhan, Teacher Maths; Aishah Bangi , Teacher English; Matt Tihi, Teaching Intern – English; Waana Araroa, Teacher Māori.

Back to School Next Week

Parents should have received a letter from Associate Principal Jo Williams this week with important back-to-school information.
If you can't see it in your inbox, please check your spam/junk folder.
You can read the letter here
The Starting at MAGS 2025 booklet, which was sent out in early December, also has comprehensive information to help students make a smooth start to the year. You can download it here
Parents and students should also subscribe to the MAGS App, so they can choose groups about which to receive Alert Notifications. General alerts and notifications are also sent out on the app.
Parents can instantly access Daily Notices, the Kamar portal, teachers’ contact details, and notify the School if your child is absent. When
notifying absences, you need to load your child’s Student ID Number. You should only need to do this once, and this helps us record absences more easily.
Parents and students can check the School Calendar and sync chosen events with your own Calendar. There are links to Sports, Maps, Newsletters and more …
You can find out more about the MAGS App here

BYOD Orientation Lessons

Year 9 students should not bring their devices until they are scheduled for their BYOD orientation lesson. They will find out when this lesson will be on their first day, Thursday, 30 January. These lessons start on Monday, 3 February.
New students in Years 10-13 should bring their device from their first day ­– Friday, 31 January – and come to ICT in L Block at interval or lunchtime or as directed by a teacher to access their logins and other BYOD information.
Students in English Language classes will be informed by their teachers as to when to bring their device.

Make Sure You Sign Up With Kindo

Make sure you are signed up for a Kindo account so you can keep on top of payments for things like sports and school trips.
MAGS is no longer taking payments directly into our school bank account. If you have an automatic payment already set up to our bank account, please cancel this as soon as possible and create an automatic payment to go directly into your Kindo Wallet. 
For more instructions on automatic payments, please click here
Any outstanding credit on your MAGS account will be added to your Kindo Wallet once a Kindo account has been created.
Please see this link for a copy of the document above to help you to sign up to Kindo, whether it is on your computer or using the app on your phone. There is also a Kindo tab on the MAGS website's Parent Portal that can be used to access or set up an account.
You can also click here to set up a Kindo account for MAGS payments.

Parents who have a Kindo account already through another school can use that for MAGS payments using the instructions here

Need assistance? The Kindo Helpdesk is open 8am to 4pm weekdays.
Freephone: 0508 4 KINDO (0508 454 636)
Email: [email protected]
Online Tutorials: support.mykindo.co.nz

Train Timetable Changes

After a month-long break for upgrades, the train network should be running again on Tuesday, January 28 but on a reduced frequency until Monday, February 3.
Western Line trains will run every 20 minutes all day, and every 30 minutes in the evening. Onehunga Line trains will run every 30 minutes all day. Parts of the Southern and Eastern lines will remain closed until Monday, 3 February: 
The Southern Line will be closed between Homai and Ōtāhuhu, and Pukekohe and Papakura. Trains will run every 20 minutes all day, and every 30 minutes in the evening, between Ōtāhuhu and Waitematā, and Papakura and Homai. 
The Eastern Line will be closed between Manukau and Ōtāhuhu. Trains will run every 20 minutes all day, and every 30 minutes in the evening, between Ōtāhuhu and Waitematā. 
The Rail Bus Southeast (RBSE) will run between Homai – Manukau – Puhinui – Papatoetoe – Middlemore – Ōtāhuhu.  
All train lines will be fully open and back to normal frequencies from Monday, February 3. 
Please note, there will be some timetable changes as the network gets ready for City Rail Link and trains return to Pukekohe station.

Champion Teams in 2010

The Rugby Union team of 2010 won the Auckland and New Zealand Championships, and the prestigious Moascar Cup.
In this image, 1st XV Captain Michael Fatialofa holds both trophies. He is joined in this photograph by Tera-Maria Amani, Premier Netball Captain, who holds the New Zealand Championship Netball Trophy.
This photo is part of Set 98, recently added to the Historical Images page on our website.
You can see more photos from MAGS' rich history here

Sports Update

Success at NZSS Athletics

The gold-winning Junior Girls 4x100m Relay team of, from left, Maddie Earley, Zara Bint, Peggy Taylor and Ella Hill.

At NZSS Athletics in Timaru in December, MAGS students won three individual golds and one relay gold in a haul of seven medals.
MAGS sent 13 athletes, with Maddie Earley winning the Junior Girls 100m and 200m double, and Jirah Esekia taking gold in the Senior Boys Discus. Maddie added a third gold to her collection as part of the Junior Girls 4x100m Relay, with Zara Bint, Peggy Taylor and Ella Hill.
Jirah Esekia claimed bronze in the Senior Boys Shot Put, while Peggy Taylor won bronze in the Junior Girls 400. There was also bronze for the Senior Mixed 4x400m team of Ty Gonzales, Nina Chalmers, Peggy Taylor and Benjie Fairclough. 
Jirah was also named in the NZSS Athletics Championship team.
Director of Sport (Administration & Facilities) Ms Revell said, "The weather in Timaru was either fiercely hot, or had a cold bite to the air. However, this didn’t deter our group of athletes. Each one of them competed with great pride and showcased their incredible talent and dedication to training in their event. "The results speak for themselves with MAGS achieving incredible success."

Top 8 Placings:
Kendra Scally-Tu’i – 4th Senior Girls 200m
Ty Gonzales – 5th Senior Boys 110m Hurdles
Ty Gonzales – 8th Senior Boys 300m Hurdles
Benjie Fairclough – 5th Senior Boys 300m Hurdles
Maddie Earley – 5th Junior Girls Long Jump
Zerun (Eric) Zhao – 7th Junior Boys 300m Hurdles
Zara Bint – 8th Junior Girls 100m

Other Placings:
Zenith Leilua – 18th Senior Girls Shot Put
Sahara Katene – ran Senor Girls 200m prelims 
Ella Hill – 16th Junior Girls High Jump
Zerun (Eric) Zhao – 30th – Junior Boys 200m
Zerun (Eric) Zhao – 17th Junior Boys 400m
Adam Gruebner – 31st Senior Boys 200m
Adam Gruebner – made semifinals for Senior Boys 100m (should have made finals, but some issues around progressions hampered this, which was unfortunate)
Senior Boys 4x100m Relay – 11th (Ty Gonzales, Adam Gruebner, Zerun (Eric) Zhao, Benjie Fairclough)

Ms Revell said, "Congratulations to our MAGS Athletics team for 2024. We are looking forward to growing this into 2025. For any questions around athletics, and how to get involved, please come and see Ms Revell in the Sports Office."