Minister's Visit Boosts Teacher Trainees

Today, MAGS welcomed Education Minister  Erica Stanford, who visited the school to make a post-budget announcement about a boost to on- the-job teacher training.
She said the Government would be funding 530 new on-site teacher trainee places over the next four years as part of a $2.5 billion boost to education in Budget 2025. MAGS has eight teacher trainees here currently learning on the job, and has enjoyed great success with the programme.
“We know the most important part of a child’s education is the quality of the teacher in front of them. Developing the workforce of the future is one of my priorities for the education system," Stanford said.
“We want to grow, promote and support the education workforce by backing and strengthening our educators who every day deliver real change in the classroom.”
The Minister also took time to talk to students and teachers, in particular our Deputy Principal Mrs Cato, who taught Stanford at Rangitoto College.
She then dropped in on teacher trainee Mr Coughlan's Year 10 Social Studies class (pictured above and below), spending time with his students as Mr Coughlan took them through a lesson about early migrants to NZ.
You can see the Minister interviewed at MAGS here

Year 11 Drama Push Physical Limits

Photos / Eden Bosman and Rebecca Laing

Last Thursday and Friday, Level 1 Drama performed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
HOD Drama Miss Hughes said, "Over the two nights of performances, the students undertook with grace and care the task of doing Physical Theatre for 90 minutes with only one 10-minute break.
"This style of performance is identified by its stripped back technology, with limited props (or in this case, none). The students contorted themselves into all sorts of different things: characters, furniture, weather, abstract concepts – you name it. The end result was a slick and beautiful performance by a great group of students."
You can see more photos from the production here 

Health Expo Raises Awareness

The Health Expo on Monday and Tuesday drew hundreds of students into the F.W. Gamble Hall to learn about a range of issues at stalls set up by Year 12 Health students.
The expo was run across lunchtimes with topics covered including mental health, exercise, good nutrition, oral health, relationships, body image, and awareness of the effects of vaping.
The Year 12s are working towards an achievement standard, which is a health promotion assignment.
Students have had to identify a health issue in the MAGS community, research the topic, develop resources, present their expo and then evaluate the effectiveness of it. This is giving the students first-hand experience of how health promotion works.

Character Design Competition Winners

The Visual Arts Department's Character Design Competition had an overwhelming number of entries this year, making the judging process incredibly challenging.
Year 13 Design Leader Noah Abbott took the lead in organising the competition, with support from Painting Leader Joe Mitchell during the judging this week.
Visual Art Teacher Mrs Gauntlett said, "Students from across the school were invited to design a character of their choice, inspired by the theme ‘Contrast’, using any medium they preferred. We especially enjoyed the thoughtful world-building that many illustrators included to enhance their drawings and ideas."
The overall winner was Year 11 student Jasmine Walker. Her entry, pictured right, was praised by Noah and Joe as “a strong design with clear shapes and good contrast. Nice use of colours, texture, and lighting. The ‘emotion screen’ is a great touch and adds to the story. The idea has depth and is well thought out. High-quality rendering with beautiful details – could work well in animation”.
Mrs Gauntlett added, "We were equally impressed with the Outstanding Junior entry by Year 10 Eloise Fraser-House, pictured top, whose work “uses contrast in a cohesive way that sparks curiosity about the creature. A variety of elements come together seamlessly to create rich details and a strong sense of story”.
Winners received art supplies, creative goodies, and Jasmine also took home a $50 prize.
First Overall: Jasmine Walker 11SAS
Outstanding Junior: Eloise Fraser-House 10SEO
Outstanding Senior: Finlay Robilliard 13BOW, pictured below
Best in Theme: Gemma Wong 10PEH
Best Creative Storytelling: Ayushi Asthana 12JER
Teacher’s Pick: Hiyori Yoshizawa 12 JER

Muriwai Field Trip

The 13GE1 Geography students have visited the Muriwai coastal environment to gather fieldwork data at Maukatia (Māori Bay), Ōtakamiro Point and the Muriwai Beach dunes. 
This was to assess the levels of risk each site has to coastal erosion. Data was collected on the atmosphere, waves, infrastructure, beach management techniques and the resistances of rock to erosion. 
HOD Geography Mr Hobbs said, "To help with the latter, a team of geologists from the University of Auckland joined the trip to showcase ways of assessing rock resistance. Students were particularly interested in the rock hammering and acid testing!  "This data will be used for a report to prove which site has the highest physical and social vulnerability to the ongoing effects of coastal erosion, which is a hazard that will greatly impact our country in the years to come. Overall, it was a successful day out in stunning conditions." 

Chess Team Second at AKSS Seniors

From left to right: Matt Clement, Declan Kiw, Victor Coen, Janice Shi, Nathan Bailey, Yaroslav Sidorenko, Varshit Sudi and Nguyen Bui.

The MAGS Chess team has finished second in the Auckland Senior Regional Tournament.
They missed out on first place by half a point to ACG Sunderland. The top four players' points contributed to the score. They were Nguyen Bui, Victor Coen, Yaroslav Sidorenko and Janice Shi. This qualifies them for the National tournament.
Nguyen was placed third and Victor Coen fifth overall for the tournament.

Sign Up for Bubbles and Banter

MAGS is thrilled to invite you to an evening of memories as we celebrate 25 Years of Girls at Mount Albert Grammar at Bubbles and Banter on June 27, 2025, starting at 7pm.

This special complementary event welcomes all past students, parents, staff, and whanau to come together in the W.O.H Gibbs Room for an evening of fun and laughter.  Let’s reminisce, celebrate our achievements, and strengthen the bonds that have shaped our community.
Over the last 25 years the school has changed enormously.  New classroom blocks, dynamic spaces and learning areas have contributed to this. Optional school tours are available at selected times. Take some time to explore, see the school in action and experience the school, both old and new.  
Please register here for this event. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email the school: [email protected]
Registrations close Tuesday, June 17.

Band makes Rockquest Auckland Final

Last Friday, three bands from MAGS took part in the 2025 Smokefreerockquest Auckland heats at the Dorothy Winstone Centre.
Reverie, playing their song False Messiah, made it through to the Auckland Final on June 6. The band members are Tessa Russell, Jamie Russell, Blake Dodds and Lucas Grant (St Kents).
Also competing on the night were Markus Lienaw, Daniel Dorrian, Nathaniel Hilsden and Jeremy Choh as The Remedies, playing their song Timeless, and Louis Muir, Leo Cairncross, Blake Spalding, Willoughby Riddel and Johnny Bilton as U.F.O., playing their song Walk On, and Tully Cook from 3rd Floor.

Term 2 Arts Calendar

Start Bidding on Quiz Night Auctions Now

MAGS Rowing (MAGSROW) is having its annual Quiz Night fundraiser tomorrow at 6pm in the F.W. Gamble Hall, and is inviting the MAGS Community to join in.
You can purchase individual seats or whole tables, so join in for a night of fun! 
There will be online auctions, raffles, and live auctions. You can now start bidding on the online auctions here
There are five live auctions showing on the link above – these will be auctioned on the night, however you can email bids in advance to  [email protected], or, phone bids can be made via 021 934 944 (Nic Norris).
Plus, you can win prizes on the night for best dressed (there's a theme: 'Things that go together'), as well as the best quiz team.  Email [email protected] if you'd  like more info, or book directly via eventfinda here

Put the Board Show in Your Diary

'Historical' Photograph

Among photographs recently added to the website here is this photograph of Form 4A from 1937, with the names of the students on the back.
These names were written by T.W.H. (Tom) Hobbs, who donated his school photos in 1998. Two very eminent New Zealand Historians appear in this photo, both in the front row – Professor Keith Sinclair is fourth from the left and Professor Russell Stone is third from the right. 
Sir Keith Sinclair was Professor of History at the University of Auckland from 1963 to 1987 and is regarded as one of the pioneers in the study of New Zealand History. Russell Stone is regarded as an authority on the early history of Auckland. He also taught at Auckland University, from 1964 until his retirement in 1989 when he was given the title Professor Emeritus. Russell co-wrote Tradition and Change, which covers the first 75 years of Mount Albert Grammar, 1922 to 1997. He recently celebrated his 102nd birthday and attended the Anzac Day service at the school at the end of Term One. Both Keith Sinclair and Russell Stone have been inducted into the Hall of Distinction. 
The form teacher ('Master' in the language of 1937) is John Hooper Harvey, who taught at the school from 1922 until his retirement in 1941. He was known to the students as “Bunny” – most of the staff were given nicknames by the students – most, but not all, were inoffensive. The practice continued well into the 1970s. 
Bunny Harvey was Head of English and was instrumental in the setting up of the school library. He is remembered annually at prizegiving by the J.H. Harvey Prize for English. 
If any of our readers have any connection with other students in the photograph, please contact the archivist, Greg Cave at [email protected]

Upcoming Rail Closures 

Auckland Transport has advised of upcoming rail closures as the train network is upgraded ahead of the City Rail Link opening next year.
The next planned rail closure will be over King’s Birthday weekend from Friday, May 30 – Monday, June 2.
Find out what rail replacement buses are available here
There will also be an extended closure on Matariki weekend – no trains running from Friday, June 20 – Monday, June 23, and reduced services during the next school holidays – no Southern Line trains running between Puhinui and Pukekohe, and reduced frequency on all other lines from Saturday, June 28 – Sunday, July 13.

Sports Update

Climbers Reach New Heights

The second round of the Auckland College Climbing series was held at Northern Rocks last Sunday.
In a round typically dominated by the North Shore schools, who use this as their home gym, our senior climbers took this as an opportunity to test themselves against some of the hardest grade climbs on the walls and aim for placings.
In this respect it was a very successful day. In the Senior Boys, Thomas Roberts completed his first Grade 6 climb and finished in 36^th place, Ronin Ng, pictured above left, still only in Year 11, finished an impressive 23^rd and Riley Hobbs, pictured above right, broke into the top 20 for the first time with a score that included a Grade 7 top.
In the Senior Girls, Anna Swan missed a place in the final by 1 point for the second time this season.
Meanwhile, in the Junior Boys, Brennan Scouller smashed his personal best to finish 26^th. Our two new climbers also performed well in their first-ever competition with Guy Neeley gaining 18 points to finish 47^th in the Senior Boys whilst Soren Bell’s 20 points saw him placed 19^th in the Junior Boys division. Round Three is later this term.

Upcoming Premier Sport

The Basketball Premier Girls and Boys are both playing away tonight, with the Girls playing Takapuna Grammar at Orewa College at 6pm, and the Boys at Sacred Heart College at 7pm. The Football Boys 1st XI play St Kentigern College at William Green Turf at 7.15pm.
Tomorrow, our Netball Premiers play St Kentigern at Auckland Netball at 11.30am, while the Rugby Boys 1st XV have a home game against Kelston Boys High at 2.30pm.
On Monday, the Rugby Girls 1st XV are away to Kelston Girls High at 4pm, while the Basketball Premier Girls are also playing a rescheduled game against Westlake Girls at MAGS at 6pm.
On Wednesday, the Football Girls 1st XI host Diocesan at 4pm, the Rugby League 1st XIII are home to De La Salle college at 4pm, and the Hockey Boys 1st XI play St Peter’s at Auckland Grammar Turf at 6.45pm.
On Thursday, the Lacrosse Girls Premiers are at home to St Mary’s College at 4pm, and the Hockey Girls 1st XI play Howick College at Macleans College Turf at 5.15pm.
More sporting fixtures here