![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/7ae71abbbf69fb11f76a12c1622a7395.jpg?20230515) ![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/f35a56d99d9d4ede8f702bdae5ae9eab.jpg?20240627) |
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/f097db40ad4d9c5f22971811bdfa98a2.jpg?20240612) Tēnā koutou, e te whānau o Mount Albert Grammar School.
With tomorrow’s Matariki holiday signalling an opportunity for reflection and looking to the future, the timing could not have been better for today’s official opening of the new Murray Nairn Building.
This magnificent facility is both a nod to the past as well as providing an outstanding environment to support the learning of current and future generations of MAGS students.
The building honours the legacy of Murray Nairn – the third Headmaster of MAGS. But joined to this building is our whare wananga – ‘Te Puna Wananga’ – which also acknowledges the place of Te Ao Māori in the MAGS of today. It was special to welcome members of Murray’s family back into school today to join us in this celebration and assist local Member of Parliament, the Hon Melissa Lee, in opening the building.
Wonderful words from Albertian Peter Thorp, pictured at top – Head Prefect of MAGS during Murray’s tenure – provided a firsthand connection to the MAGS of that time.
Nothing stays the same for very long in the world – and MAGS is no different. Our school places great value on our heritage and tradition, and the people that have gone before. But we are not afraid to embrace the future and all it holds for our young people.
Thank you to all who have brought this building to life – The Murray Nairn Building, a perfect symbol of tradition and change. Happy Matariki and enjoy the long weekend.
Patrick Drumm
Headmaster
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Click here for the Calendar
Friday, June 28
Matariki holiday
Wednesday, July 3
Night at the Classics music concert, Raye Freedman Arts Centre, 7pm
Thursday, July 4
Three-Way Conferences. No classes.
Friday, July 5
Three-Way Conferences. No classes.
End of Term 2
Photo Essays
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/b3549e7dd9525138f786a19b88d300a9.jpg?20240625) Rugby Boys 1st XV v St Paul's
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Trials and Registrations
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Fixtures and Results
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Our Lion Fund programme aims to provide financial support to allow every MAGS student to access the breadth of opportunities we offer at our school.
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Murray Nairn Building Officially Opened |
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/4bbb42d2adfc95934f4c9532ce474d46.jpg?20240627) Local MP Melissa Lee officially opened the Murray Nairn Building and was joined by members of Murray's family, grandson David Hillier, daughter Wendy Innes and her husband John.
Our new Murray Nairn Building was officially opened today, with local MP Melissa Lee doing the honours in a ceremony attended by invited guests, including members of Murray's family. Ms Lee unveiled the plaque commemorating the official opening and was guest speaker at the event, which celebrated our third Headmaster (1954-1969). Mr Drumm welcomed guests and paid tribute to the work of ASC Architects and project managers Southbase Construction as well as Damien Strogen, of the Ministry of Education, who have supported the project all the way.
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/19dd8b93c87d5099f1fbf7573409e0d6.jpg?20240627) He said Murray would have enjoyed the "Tradition and Change" elements of the new building: the focus on excellent teaching spaces while incorporating a whare wananga for Te Puna o Wairaka. MAGS Foundation Chair Peter Thorp, who was Head Boy in 1968 during Murray's tenure, gave an insight into a headmaster who was always immaculately groomed and often clad in his academic robes and whom the students called 'Nero'. Mr Thorp said Murray, pictured right, was a man who was ambitious for the school, whether it be in its student achievements or his drive to get rid of prefab classrooms, which was successful for a time. He added that Murray had strong values and a sense of fairness and decency; he sought and earned the respect of students. The event wrapped up with a performance by the Centennial Choir before guests retired for refreshments. The Murray Nairn Building will be the new home of the Social Sciences Department as well as housing a revamped Library and being a base for Te Puna o Wairaka. It will not only provide MAGS with state-of-the-art teaching facilities but also mean some prefab classrooms can be removed to claw back green space for sports fields. ![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/cd45da6531f04283faadbb71bd1afea9.jpg?20240627) |
Centennial Choir Selected for Finale |
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/0cba939990422c3a83b776d76e8d06af.jpg?20240627) Congratulations to the Centennial Choir and director Terence Maskell for being selected to perform at the prestigious Big Sing Finale, which brings together the best secondary school choirs from across the country. The Centennial Choir were one of three MAGS choirs who performed at the Big Sing Auckland Regionals last week, the others being the newly formed Melodica and our girls choir Gloriana. The Big Sing Finale 2024 will be held at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre from August 29-31. The Centennial Choir also made the Finale last year and won a Gold Award as well as the Tour Time Cup for Best Performance of a piece of Choral Art Music.
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Record Donations for Blood Donor Drive |
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/c252a948577367e700741f577552da5d.jpg?20240624) ![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/a2199231df101645eb193c22d87d12cc.jpg?20240626) Last Thursday, we held the annual Mount Albert Grammar School Blood Donor Day. Nurse Claire Bown said, "It was great to have the NZ Blood Service here at MAGS helping our students to be part of the incredible work that they do. "We had an incredibly successful blood drive this year, with a total of 88 units of blood collected. This is an amazing number of donations and is the highest we have collected in our time of doing the Blood Donor Drive here at MAGS – an outstanding achievement." She added, "To put this number into perspective, these 88 units of blood will go on to help improve 264 fellow Kiwis' lives around the country. From one blood donation (470ml) this will be split into red cells, platelets, and plasma; these are the three lives you are saving with each donation." The NZ Blood service have again commended our students and staff on their generosity in donating, and the impeccable behaviour observed on the day. They passed on that our students are always a pleasure to work with. Mrs Brown said, "The tireless work of members from the Health Committee, some of whom are pictured above, with spreading the word, recruitment of donors leading up to the day as well as their help on the day itself contributed immensely to the drive’s success – thank you for all your continued hard work. "To everyone that was able to donate, thank you. You have made a lifesaving contribution."
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Stunning Images in Photo Competition |
Student Attendance Records |
Parents know and understand that schools are required to maintain attendance records for students. It is also important to know and understand that it is the Ministry of Education that sets and provides the specific guidelines and requirements, for all schools, regarding recording student attendance. Please note the following extract outlining the requirement for documentation with regard to Medical and/or Dental appointments: ![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/f4382c230596ecad10ded05b212b6e6c.png?20240627) Examples of appropriate documentation may be: a copy of a text message or email appointment confirmation; an official appointment card; a medical certificate. Thank you for your assistance to maintain accurate attendance records.
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Premier Team Lists Updated |
Greg Cave, our Archivist, has updated the premier sports teams lists. These now cover the years 1997 to 2023 and can be found here The team lists for the first 75 years can be found in the 1997 school history Tradition and Change. Mr Cave is also regularly adding photographs to the “100 Years of Photos” here |
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![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/ea83ec599c2f5d199f61db3f88e8ae96.jpg?20240620) Tickets for Night at the Classics are on sale through iticket here ![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/f50d19be569c7535b9f8c9ca713cfd82.png?20240627) |
Underwater Hockey Qualify for Nationals |
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/45a077b27d0588970f78cd9056de4568.jpg?20240627) ![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/9553f24fc879840bed888fa53bd38493.jpg?20240627) Last weekend the MAGS Senior Open Underwater Hockey team travelled to Tauranga for the Northern Zone tournament, with help from Mr Robertson and Mrs Kemp This tournament is a qualifier for nationals and features Auckland teams that play against each other on Tuesdays as well as teams from the Tauranga/Rotorua region. MAGS' first game was against Mahurangi, who entered a composite team who would drop to the bottom of the rankings at the end of the round robin. Mahurangi managed to win 8-0 but it was a good chance for MAGS to dust off the cobwebs and get settled in. They would have two more games on the Saturday, a loss to Glendowie 5-0 and a win against Trident 2-0. Sunday saw a loss against Howick 8-0 and a very tight loss to Tauranga Boys 2-1. This was a very close game with both teams pressuring each other's goal bin throughout the game, resulting in some fantastic defence. With Mahurangi dropping down, MAGS finished as the 4th seed and played a semi-final against Glendowie, who won 11-0, eventually going on to win the whole tournament. This meant a playoff for third against Tauranga, and an even closer game – finishing 1-1. Tauranga came out on top in extra time but again it was a back and forth game that either team could have won and the MAGS players should be very proud of their efforts. This fourth place finish means the team has qualified for nationals, in Tauranga again, on August 31 to September 3. Congratulations to James Neilson, pictured above, for being the team's MVP. Also, all members of the team were named in the trial squad for the Northern U18 team. |
Climbers Reach New Heights |
![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/15f160ad5c9b8b8c10a9710c16341fa8.jpg?20240624) The third round of the Auckland College Climbing Series was held at Vertical Adventures in Glen Eden last Sunday. MAGS had a mix of novice and experienced climbers in this top rope competition. In the Junior Girls division, Chloe Petrie placed 23rd and Maddi Vaughan 25th in what was only their second event. For Senior Girls, Yvette Luo placed 16th, Anna Swan 21st, and Anna Batcheler 22nd. For the boys in the senior section, Thevindu Senarath, our novice, placed 45th whilst Riley Hobbs set a personal best, placing 17th and finishing as the second-highest-placed Year 11 student in the senior division. Our top climbers for the day, though, were our junior boys with Brennan Scouller placing 31st again with a PB including several tops, Thomas Roberts in 23rd, and Ronin Ng in 9th placing, missing the final by just one point. The final round is in August at Boulder Co., the climbers' home gym, so everyone is looking forward to a great end to the season.
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![](https://dispatch.bridge.school.nz/uploads/34/f7f54494dd83a01d2f2e6b03bf1a77ba.jpg?20240627) Due to the Matariki holiday, there is very little Premier sport this weekend, with only the Rugby Boys 1st XV bucking the trend with their home game against St Peter’s on Saturday at 2.30pm. On Monday, the Rugby Girls 1st XV are at home to Manurewa High at 4pm, on the Sir B.G. Williams Field, while our Premier Basketballers are back in action with the Girls away to Epsom Girls at 6.00pm and the Boys away to Auckland Grammar at 7.45pm. On Wednesday, the Football Girls 1st XI are home to Botany Downs at 4pm, and the Hockey Boys 1st XI play Rangitoto College at North Harbour at 6.20pm. On Thursday, the Lacrosse Premier Girls are home to Whangaparaoa College at 4pm, and the Hockey Girls 1st XI play Rangitoto College at Diocesan at 7.15pm.
For updated fixtures and results, click here
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