  Tēnā koutou, e te whānau o Mount Albert Grammar School.
‘For where it is in our power to act it is also in our power not to act’
– Aristotle
We have been sharing the theme of self-discipline with students at our assemblies and gatherings this week.
With our move into Autumn marking the halfway point in the school term, we can safely assume that the routines of the academic year have been well-established. The business of learning and success is well upon us as students continue the steps towards their goals both inside and outside of the classroom.
It is the decisions around the small things which collectively produce growth over time. Choosing what to do (and what not to do) each day will embed the healthy habits and practices we are looking for.
Involvement in the many co-curricular programmes on offer further reinforces the commitment students must make to being organised, on time, an active listener and ultimately a good team-mate. These skills transfer seamlessly into a classroom setting.
In a school like MAGS, our power to act (or not) has significant impact on those around us. Our school culture is a function of small, good decisions being made by students every day – and our school culture is strong!
When our students get those small decisions and actions right... then the bigger picture will almost certainly take care of itself!
Have a good weekend.
Patrick Drumm
Headmaster
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Click here for the Calendar
Wednesday, March 12
Year 9 Interform Sports, 1.30pm
Thursday, March 13
Summer Sports Photos
Monday, March 24
Summer Tournament Week Starts
Trials and Registrations
Click here Fixtures and Results
Click here |
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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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Internationals Back in Big Numbers |
 The number of International students at MAGS has now grown to 150.
International Director Mrs Leon-Brown said, "These students come from a wide range of countries and most of them are here for several years.
"We took this opportunity to gather many of them together as it has been very encouraging to see this number of international students choosing to study at MAGS."
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Junior Leadership for 2025 |
 Our Junior leaders for 2025 were announced and recognised at assemblies recently.
Year 9 (pictured above) and Year 10 Class Representatives, Environment Leaders, Kaea (guardians of the school haka, Takatū) and Captains for the Interform Competition for 2025 were announced and presented with badges and certificates.
You can see more photos of our Junior Leaders here |
 Congratulations to Alumni Alena McGill for achieving the Ara Lodge Fine Art Award and Scholarship for 2024.
The annual Ara Lodge Arts Awards are presented by the Lodge to up to 30 Auckland City secondary schools' top final year art students. Students receive $1500 from the Lodge towards their continuing tertiary study in New Zealand Visual Arts.
Alena was a very successful Arts Leader last year in the Visual Arts, gaining a Scholarship in Photography and is studying Design at AUT this year.
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Art for the Planet Club
Come into E2 any Thursday after school to join us at Art For The Planet.
The club will likely be doing some fundraising and awareness campaigns this year, so the more help the better!
Character Design Competition
Entries for this year's Character Design Competition are open, and there are prizes to be won!
The competition is open to all years, and students can read the poster above here and get planning.
Talk to Mrs Gauntlett or a Visual Arts Leader for more details. |
Summer Sports Photos Next Week |
Summer Sports photos and Girls' and Boys' boarding photos will be taken next Thursday, March 13.
Students should arrive at the hall at least 10 minutes prior to their photo time and must be wearing the correct uniform.
For photo times and uniform details, click here |
Upcoming Fundraiser for SHINE |
 Domestic violence affects thousands of Kiwis every year, and SHINE is on the front lines, making sure victims get the support they need to escape, recover, and rebuild their lives.
Interact is hosting a bake sale on Monday, March 10 to raise money for SHINE. Donations will also be collected during Mentor Class time.
SHINE provides emergency support, safe housing, counselling, and practical help to victims and their families. They also run life-changing programs to educate communities and help break the cycle of abuse.
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Setting up Kindo Payments |
Parents who are setting up payments online to Kindo should be advised that these will come up as being made to 'The Growth Collective'. This is the correct payee.
Please see this link for help signing 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.  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 |
Please Install New MAGS App |
 Our MAGS App has been updated and upgraded in line with our new Kamar Portal.
You will need to delete the old app and reinstall the new one to access the Kamar Portal. When you have done that and opened the portal again, you should see this address at the bottom:
https://mtalbertgrammar.school.kiwi/
Parents and students should 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 access Daily Notices, teachers’ contact details, and notify the School if a child is absent. When notifying absences, parents need to load a child’s Student ID Number. This should only need to be done once, and this helps us record absences more easily.
Parents and students can check the School Calendar and sync chosen events with their own Calendar. There are links to Sports, Maps, Newsletters and more …
You can find out more about the MAGS App here
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Records Tumble at Athletics |
 The main athletics day was held last Thursday, February 27, at Mount Smart Stadium with approximately 350 students taking part in sprint and field events.
The 800m, 1500m and 3000m events took place in the weeks prior at the Lovelock Track.
Several top student athletes had impressive showings in their chosen events and there were four school records broken by two students.
 Kendra Scally-Tui, in her first year in the senior category dominated the Senior Girls 100m and 200m, breaking both these records with times of 11.84 and 24.20.
Nina Chalmers also broke two school records in her first year as a senior. They were in the 800m and 3000m. Her 800m time was 2:23.41 and her 3000m time was an impressive 9:56.50. She also beat the fastest senior boy by 24 seconds in the 3000m.
Other students who performed well were Maddie Earley. She won the Intermediate Girls 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump and triple jump.
Jirah Esekia showed why he is one of the most promising young throwers in New Zealand with wins in the Senior Boys Discus and Shot Put. This included an impressive 50.68m throw in the discus.
Ty Gonzales was strong across several events and topped off a good day with an impressive 1.85m high jump to win the Senior Boys section.
Benjie Fairclough showed his versatility across the Senior Boys with wins in the 400m, 800m, 1500m and a second place in the long jump.
The day was capped off with the 100m finals, which produced some close finishes.
Yannis Luggen won the Junior Boys 100m by 0.09 seconds. In the final race of the day, the Senior Boys 100m final produced a thriller of a race. A photo finish was needed to determine the winner between Adam Gruebner and Adam Kaloga, with Adam Gruebner being declared the winner as his torso crossed the line first.
Assistant Director of Sport Mr Crossan said, "The school would like to thank all the staff and the officials from Auckland Athletics who assisted with setting up and officiating on the day." |
Senior Girls Tag Fourth at AKSS |
 MAGS Senior Girls qualified for the Tag Football Auckland Championships, which were held at Cox’s Bay Reserve yesterday.
This Senior Girls team included six juniors girls, who did not look out of place for one minute.
The Senior Girls went on to win 2 out of 3 pool games against Botany Downs College, Howick College and Rangitoto College. They went on to play Massey High School in a quarter-final, winning 6-2. The girls progressed on to a nail-biting semi-final against a strong Auckland Girls Grammar School, going down 3 points to 2.
The girls put on a phenomenal performance up against Rangitoto, who they lost to previously during pool play, in the 3rd and 4th playoff. With a dramatic ending of incorrect scoring, the girls went into a drop-off. The girls fell short 2-3, placing them 4th in Auckland. |
Boys Lacrosse Looking Good |
  Last Friday saw a strong showing from MAGS Boys Lacrosse in the Auckland Secondary School Boys Summer 6s, with enough players to field two teams for the last of the pre-season round-robins.
The first fixture saw MAGS Blue overpower Rosmini, with creative midfield play through Nate Lawson (captain) and Will Barrett, and dominant finishing by Aidan Michie.
MAGS Red surged forward against Westlake, with penetrating pace from Andrew Hung (vice-captain) and pinpoint accuracy by Eli Delowe and Caleb Stark on attack. Their next fixtures saw MAGS Red come back to defeat Rosmini, while MAGS Blue took on the strong Westlake side in a low-scoring tussle, thanks to the safe keeping of Richard Huynh in nets for what ended up a 2-2 share of the spoils.
The final match saw the two MAGS sides face off against each other, with the captains leading the way through the midfield to spark up end-to-end action. Eli Delowe was piercing on attack for Red, but Richard Huynh again stood up tall in the Blue cage to restrict Red to just four goals. The Blue attack capitalised on defensive gaps to put nine goals on Red through pace and clever placement by Nate Lawson and Louis Allison.
Many thanks to coaches Sam Nash (Blue) and Stevey Couldrey (Red), and to all the families and friends for turning out en masse to support the boys for the Friday festival of lacrosse.
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