MEGACREW Three-peat at Blueprint

During the holidays our MAGS MEGACREW won the Blueprint Schools Dance championships for the third year in a row. 
The competition was held at the Due Drop Convention Centre on July 3 in front of a sellout crowd, including a wonderful group of MAGS supporters.
Director of Arts Co-curricular Ms Cesan said, "The team had been working since March on their routine, and also had practices from 10am-4pm every day in the first week of the holidays leading up to the event. Their hard work and commitment certainly paid off. 
"Fourteen schools vied for the final positions and the standard this year was high, with the three professional judges all commenting on the level of skill and creativity that is growing in our secondary schools. 

"MAGS, however, were definitive winners and also won a special prize for Most engaging Performance."
The Megacrew was lead this year by Year 13 students Kyra-Leigh Masina, and Year 12 students Manon Gilbert and Harry Bannister. All the choreography was done by the leaders, assisted by other students including Year 9 student Joshua Wen, who also represented MAGS in the freestyle battles, making it to the semifinal round.
"The MAGS leaders also designed the uniform, and arranged and ran all practices, and we are really proud of the way they led this team of 30 students to success, and their demeanour on the day."
Ms Cesan added, "We look forward to sharing the routine with our MAGS students through assemblies later this term, however for the moment we have our MAGS leaders and some of our dancers away as part of the NZ representative teams at the World of Dance World Championship Finals in Los Angeles to be held over this weekend." 
"Best of luck to Harry Bannister, Manon Gilbert, Joshua Wen, Peyson Mataroa, Minna Bostwick, Alyssa Huang, Reuben Moffett and Makaia Quensell, who are all part of the Under 18 NZ champion Yung ID team, and to Kyra-Leigh Masina and Brooklynn Smith-Boyd, who are part of the Adult Division team The Collective.
You can see a video of the MEGACREW's winning performance here

Countdown to Art Expo

MAGS would like to thank the sponsors, as depicted here, who have provided invaluable support to the MAGS Student Art Expo.
Their support will help to make for a spectacular display at the upcoming Expo on Saturday, August 2, from 9.30am–4.00pm in the F.W. Gamble Hall.
With the usual MAGS Art Show taking a break this year, the Expo will showcase a vibrant mix of painting, photography, ceramics, digital posters, and technical design. Some of the student submissions can be seen above.
Many works will also be available for purchase, and top student work will be up for prizes.
Also on display will be the award-winning costumes created by MAGS' Wearable Art students, who won several prizes at the TOI Wearable Art Competition held at the Aotea Centre recently.
The Expo, which is a free event, will also be featuring the artwork of some of our recent student graduates who are continuing with their art. We look forward to sharing their work and our fabulous student work with you, our community.

Language Students in French Polynesia

During the school holidays, students of French at MAGS had an unforgettable week in French Polynesia.
The large group of senior French students immersed themselves in Tahitian culture and French language.
Highlights included: homestays with local families, attending French language school, shopping at the local market, planting coral and swimming in a lagoon, a 4x4 safari adventure and paddle boarding
A day trip to Moorea inlcuded swimming with stingrays and sharks, turtle spotting, making poisson cru, and trying traditional 'ori Tahiti dancing.
TIC Ms Somerville said, "It was a week of language in action, cultural connection and unforgettable memories. Félicitations to our students for making the most of this experience."

Shen Brothers Show Academic Strength

Eric Shen, pictured above left at Senior Prizegiving, when he was named Best All-Round Year 13 and Proxime Accessit in 2020, and at far right with brother Ryan, after he was named Best All-Round Year 13 and Dux at Senior Prizegiving last year.

Albertians Eric and Ryan Shen recently featured in a NZ Herald article highlighting their academic prowess – something that is no secret at MAGS.
Both have recently landed impressive academic awards enabling them to study in the United States.
Eric, 22, has been awarded a $90,000, two-year Fulbright Masters study award at Georgia Tech, while Ryan, 18, has earned a full scholarship to study at Harvard.
In 2020, Eric was Head Prefect, Best All-Round Year 13 and Proxime Accessit. He also amassed an incredible seven Scholarships that year and was named an Outstanding Scholar.
Ryan was a Deputy Head Prefect last year and named Best All-Round Year 13 and Dux at Senior Prizegiving. Ryan achieved six Scholarships and was also named an Outstanding Scholar.
Both contributed immensely to MAGS in their time here, and MAGS is proud of their achievements and can't wait to see what they do as they chase their goal to become involved in tech start-ups. 
You can read the NZ Herald story about the Shen brothers here

Photography Competition Winners

This year, our Senior Photography Leader, Abby Whittle, organised a school-wide Photography competition that ran for Term 2. This year's theme was 'Connection' – Capture a dynamic photo that reflects the relationship between two things.  
TIC Ms Smith said, "We had lots of fantastic entries across the senior and junior categories. We were impressed with the talent shown in the variety of submissions, and our leaders found the judging tough. A huge congratulations to our winners below. A selection of the top work will be on display from Week 6, Term 3 in the Visual Arts Student Gallery."

Senior category:
1. Eva Woods 13 ILU (top left)
2. Lars Stock 13 SMR (top right)
3. Charlie Kennedy 13KMP (above right)

Junior category:
1. Isabelle Chan 10HIK (right)

Get Sorted at Careers Expo 

The annual MAGS Careers Expo will be held on Tuesday, August 5 from 4pm-7pm.
Students and their families are encouraged to come along to learn about the different course options available at MAGS and gain information about tertiary study and future pathways.
This evening is particularly important for students in Years 10-12 and is a great opportunity to build on conversations had during Three Way Conferences before option choices open up for 2026.

Gumboot Friday on August 1

Gumboot Friday is coming up this term on August 1.
Students can wear gumboots to school on Friday, August 1, participate in interform activities on the bottom field at lunchtime, and come along to bake sales at morning tea on Wednesday and Friday that week. 
For this event, guest speakers from I Am Hope will be coming in to speak to our students to raise awareness about mental health, and provide information about the resources available. 
This event fundraises for free counselling for all New Zealanders under the age of 25, so it's relevant to all of our tamariki. 
For more information about Gumboot Friday, click here

Nurse Vacancy at MAGS

We are looking for an experienced Registered Nurse to join our school. This is a varied and busy role, working within a team of two other nurses, and with a wider pastoral team that includes counsellors and deans.
Experience in youth health, emergency, and/or mental health would be an advantage.
Excellent spoken and written English language skills are essential. Familiarity with Microsoft Office is desirable.
This is a permanent position, Monday to Friday, during term time only. It is anticipated that this position will be 30-35 hours per week with some flexibility available in this regard.
Ideal start date is Term 4, Monday, October 6, 2025, however, there is flexibility around this for the right applicant.
You can see a job description and application form here

Board of Trustees Nominations Open Now

Nominations are now open for the election of seven parent representatives to the Mount Albert Grammar School Board. 
Schooled Election Pilot have been appointed as the Returning Officer for this election.
All eligible voters will receive a nomination form by email, or if we do not have your email
address it will be sent to you by post. The nomination pack will include a cover letter
explaining the nomination process as well as a nomination form. You can use this form to
nominate yourself, or you can nominate someone else in the community. If you are going to
nominate someone else, ensure they are aware of your nomination and are willing to accept
the nomination. Information on who is not eligible to be a School Board member is provided
with the nomination form.
If you need additional nomination forms, or forms in Te Reo Māori or of a different language,
please contact the Returning Officer directly on 0800 VOTENZ (0800 868 369) or
[email protected]
Nominations close at noon on August 6, 2025.
Nominations can be submitted by email, through the Election Pilot system at www.electionpilot.nz or by returning the completed nomination form to the school office. You may provide a candidate statement and photograph with your nomination.
The electoral roll is held at the school office and can be viewed during normal school hours.
Voting closes at 4pm on 10 September, 2025.

Fifty Years Ago at MAGS...

Pictured above are the 1975 Prefects with staff. Below, left to right, are Chris Liddell, Graeme Askelund (Head Prefect) and Trevor Auger (Proxime Accessit)

Recently, we celebrated 25 years of girls at the school. Fifty years ago the school was very different even compared with the year 2000 when the girls first arrived.
At the beginning of the year, the roll was about 1170 but compared with today, when the senior levels are more or less the same as the junior levels, there were only 57 students in Form 7 (Year 13) compared with 290 in Form 3. The largest cohort was Form 5 where many of the 343 students were repeating the year as it was necessary to pass School Certificate before moving into Form 6.
1975 is probably best remembered for the end of the Vietnam War and the founding of Microsoft. In New Zealand, the Waitangi Tribunal was set up and in November the National Party under Robert Muldoon defeated the Labour Government, which had been in power since 1972. New Zealand also received its second television channel.

Early in the year, the old shelter shed, which also contained the tuckshop and the prefects’ room, was demolished to make way for a new block designed to house the library, an audiovisual suite, which could be used for team teaching, and five classrooms. Construction took much longer than expected but it allowed the new Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon, to open it officially early in 1976. Muldoon attended MAGS from 1933 to 1936 and is obviously the first (and only) old boy to serve as PM.
Two long serving teachers retired in 1975. A.J. (Bert) Gibson joined the staff in 1934 and was senior housemaster from 1935 to 1936. He was instrumental in the introduction of courses in Agriculture in the school. He left in 1936 to further his studies. During the war, he was an agricultural adviser to the British Government. He was badly injured in a farm accident and suffered from the results of his injuries for the rest of his life. Despite this, he returned to teach at MAGS in 1955, again being responsible for Agriculture courses. W.S. (Bill) Mitchell joined the staff in 1952 as Head of Latin and became head of Languages in 1955, a position he held until his retirement. He was heavily involved in the Language Teachers Association and with the Auckland Classical Association and a number of his students went on to pursue careers in foreign languages.
The school had success in a number of sports. The Premier Football team won the Senior A competition and the Premier Cricket team was runners-up. The Rugby 1st XV could not repeat its successes of 1973 and 1974 but at the end of the season they won the Moascar Cup, the schools equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield. This was only the third time MAGS had challenged for this trophy, the previous (unsuccessful) challenges being in 1924 and 1925. One of the members of this team was Chris Liddell, who received the trophy for the best player in the 1st XV. Chris also made history by becoming both Dux and Victor Ludorum at the end-of-year prizegiving. Chris has continued his involvement with the school in a variety of ways and every year students and members of staff receives awards donated by him.
In 1975, the school year was divided into three terms and exams were held for the whole school at the end of terms one and two.
At the end of Term 3, junior class sat a third set of exams while the seniors sat external exams – School Certificate, University Entrance and University Bursaries. Following the first term exams, all third form classes spent a week at a variety of outdoor education camps. These were largely organised by the students and seem to have been very popular at the time.
We welcomed a new Music teacher at the beginning of the year. Derek Bailey reintroduced the practice of Massed Singing, which had ended in 1966 when the last school concert was held – a victim of television.
Derek also organised an arts concert involving local schools as well as MAGS. Over the next few years Music and the Arts slowly became an important feature of the life of the school.
If you wish to know more about the school in 1975, you can read the Albertian of that year here

– Greg Cave, Archivist

In this 1933 photo, future Prime Minister Rob Muldoon is pictured fourth from left in the front row.

Sports Update

Boys Continue Dominance at NZSS Orienteering

The last few days of the Term 2 holidays saw 34 MAGS students compete in the NZ Secondary School Orienteering Champs in Auckland. This was a fiercely contested event that attracted over 300 competitors from around New Zealand.
Top individual results came from Charlie Milne (Year 11) in the Intermediate grade where he won gold in the Sprint event and silver in the Long. In the Senior grade, Anna Batcheler claimed bronze in the Long event. Charlie also teamed up with Reuben Bruce and Logan Steer to win the Intermediate Boys Relay. 

And Anna Batcheler, alongside Ami McGowan and Charlotte Spence, gained an impressive second in the Senior Girls Relay. 
The impressive individual results meant that the MAGS Boys team earned the Premier Award, for the 6th year in a row. They also won the NZ Secondary School title – for the seventh year – winning the overall competition by a record margin over Auckland Grammar and Havelock North High School. The MAGS girls team also had an excellent competition and came third overall, just a few points behind St Cuthberts, the closest result they have ever gained. 
TIC Mrs Mackinlay-Milne said, "The event was very successful and also very encouraging for the future of the orienteering team. The junior students, who performed so well at their first NZSS competition, showed such a fantastic, positive attitude and determination in all the terrains and weather conditions that the event threw at them." 

Top Individual Results:
Sprint: 
Junior Boys: 6th Max Morgan, 9th Quinn Harris 
Intermediate Boys: 1st Charlie Milne, 4th Reuben Bruce
Intermediate Girls: 9th Zara Bint
Senior Boys: 5th William Wood, 7th James Milne, 10th Caleb Green
Senior Girls: 7th Ami McGowan, 10th Anna Batcheler

Forest Long:
Junior Boys: 4th Quinn Harris
Junior Girls: 4th Matilda Trowsdale
Intermediate Boys: 2nd Charlie Milne
Intermediate Girls: 10th Lucile Brendolise
Senior Boys: 4th James Milne, 7th William Wood, 9th Reuben Adye
Senior Girls: 3rd Anna Batcheler, 5th Ami McGowan, 10th Charlotte Spence

Teams Relay: 
Junior Boys: 4th (Quinn Harris, Willoughby Riddell, Max Morgan)
Junior Girls: 5th (Matilda Trowsdale, Paige Harris, Olivia Wong)
Intermediate Boys: 1st (Charlie Milne, Logan Steer, Reuben Bruce)
Intermediate Girls: 5th (Zara Bint, Chloe Petrie, Lucile Brendolise)
Senior Boys: 4th (James Milne, Reuben Adye, William Wood)
Senior Girls: 2nd (Charlotte Spence, Ami McGowan, Anna Batcheler)

Orienteers Named in NZ Team

Seven MAGS orienteers have been named in the NZ Secondary Schools Team (and reserve team) that will compete in Australia as part of the Southern Cross competition.
This event is held in Brisbane, over 10 days during late September/early October. We wish them all the best for their preparation and competition.
Senior Boys: Tahi Harris, William Wood
Senior Girls: Anna Batcheler, Ami McGowan
Reserves: Reuben Adye, James Milne, Quinn Harris

NZ Cross Country Selection

Congratulations to Nina Chalmers (Year 13), who has been selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country team that will compete at the Australian All Schools Championships being held in the Gold Coast in September. 
She is part of a squad of 27 members who have beem selected right through New Zealand based on their form at various cross country races throughout the year.

Strong Debut at Cyclocross

Hunter Marsh (Year 11) continued his strong form across terrain biking events this year. 
During the July holidays, he competed at the North Island Secondary Schools Cyclocross Championships, held in Hamilton. 
The course was muddy and wet from the heavy rain conditions. 
Hunter finished 2nd in the Under 17 boys category in his first time riding in a cyclocross event. He completed the course in just over 50 minutes. 

Blues U18s Selections

Congratulations to Mikaera Crichton (Year 13), Adam Gruebner (Year 12) and Justin McGrath (Year 13), who were selected for the Blues Under 18 Rugby Development Camp. 
They attended a camp that was held at School House in the second week of the recent school holidays with other players from the Blues region. They had various skill sessions and rugby-related workshops throughout the week, and finished off the camp with an internal game between squad members.

Upcoming Premier Sport

The Basketball Premier Girls and Boys are both playing away tonight at Westlake Boys High, with the Girls playing Westlake Girls at 6pm, and the Boys facing Westlake Boys at 7.30pm. The Football Boys 1st XI play St Peter's College at Crum Park Turf at 7.00pm.
Tomorrow, our Netball Premiers play Howick College at Auckland Netball at 11.30am, while the Rugby Boys 1st XV have an away game against Botany Downs College at 2.30pm.
On Monday, the Premier Girls Lacrosse is playing a rescheduled game against Diocesan at MAGS at 4pm. Details for their game on Thursday are to be confirmed.
On Wednesday, the Football Girls 1st XI have an APC Knockout Cup game scheduled with details to be confirmed, and the Squash Premier Boys play Westlake Boys at the North Shore Squash Club at 4.00pm.
On Thursday, the Hockey Girls 1st XI play Mahurangi College at North Harbour Turf at 6.20pm.

More sporting fixtures here