  Tēnā koutou, ki te whānau o Mount Albert Grammar School.
Last evening, our Premier Boys Cricketers brought more silverware home to MAGS with a win in the T20 Auckland Finals against St Kentigern College.
This most recent success caps a fantastic run over recent years for our cricketers. MAGS has reached four major finals over the past two years including winning both the Auckland Cricket Limited Over and T20 titles during this period.
In the early days of MAGS, Foundation Headmaster Freddie Gamble described cricket as “the Mount Albert game”. And while the past 102 years has seen our sporting achievements move well beyond the cricket boundary, it is still special to see our current cricketers continuing the legacy of our earliest MAGS students.
Like so many sports, cricket provides valuable life lessons. Success in the field requires the ability to seize an opportunity when it arrives – often after a long period of relative inactivity. And, when batting, focus is paramount. Making a mistake at the crease can be critical! There’s no second serve in cricket!
Yet, primarily, the game is about mental toughness and attitude – and the ability to show resilience when the wickets are falling around you.
Our premier cricketers are doing just that! Congratulations on (another) well-deserved Auckland title.
Have a good weekend.
Patrick Drumm
Headmaster
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Click here for the Calendar
Monday, March 18
Summer Tournament Week starts. See fixtures and results for the week here
Saturday, March 23
Te Kapa Haka o Te Puna o Wairaka performs at Polyfest, 8.35am
Tuesday, March 26
Summer Sports Photos
Friday, March 29
Good Friday holiday
Monday, April 1
Easter Monday holiday
Tuesday, April 2
School Closed
Thursday, April 11
Last day of classes for Term 1
Friday, April 12
Staff Only Administration Day
End of Term 1
Photo Essays
 Cricket Boys 1st XI, T20 Final v
St Kentigern
Click here
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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 Congratulations to our Cricket Boys 1st XI T20 team, who have won the Auckland Secondary Schools T20 Championship for 2024.
In the final at Melville Park yesterday,
St Kentigern won the toss and asked MAGS to bat on a rain-affected wicket.
At 4/39 MAGS were in a spot of bother, with only Krish Bhargavaram showing much resistance with 23 off 25 balls.
Captain Felix Naish, pictured right, joined Jaskaran Sandhu at the crease and added 40 before Jaskaran was out. Felix continued to completely dominate the opposition bowlers with power hitting and sensible decision-making as he batted with the tail in a captain’s knock, and an ultimately match-winning performance, of 70 from 39 balls.
After MAGS made 144/6, St Kents were in the game throughout but their chase was stifled by the loss of regular wickets due to MAGS' tight bowling and some great moments in the field.
St Kents were eventually all out for 121 in the 19th over following some miserly bowling from vice-captain Aaqib Aadil (1/12 off 4), three wickets from Krish Bhargavaram, and some great death bowling from Yann Rowe, with two wickets in the 19th over and a wicket and only two runs off the 17th over.
You can see a photo essay from the game here
 Prefects Volunteer for Beach Clean-up |
 Last weekend, five of our prefects attended a Pt Chevalier Beach Clean-up hosted by our local MP, Helen White.
Ryan Antia said, “The beach clean-up was a gratifying experience that highlighted the importance of giving back to our communities through service, by starting with the smaller things in the community like maintaining a green and clean beach.
"We were all very grateful to engage with the community organisations who took part in the day, with a special thanks to Helen White for hosting the event.
"Opportunities such as these emphasise the many ways students can get involved in our service pillar at MAGS.” |
Albertians Win Festival Awards |
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Huge congratulations to Albertian and 2017 Arts Dux Oli Mathiesen for the success he is having with his newest dance work,The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave.
Oli says, "Last Wednesday, after pitching The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave and Night and Mortar at the PANNZ Arts Market, it was announced that we were the first time recipients of the PANNZ - Edinburgh Fringe Festival Award. The award sees Performing Arts Network of NZ (PANNZ), Edinburgh’s Summerhall and Aurora Nova, funding, supporting and mentoring the show to get to the Festival."
Oli and his dedicated team, which includes two other talented Albertians – Lucy Lynch and Lulu Qiu – among others, also received unanimous praise from festival theatregoers and in reviews and were nominated for and won several other awards as below.
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WEEK 8
Wednesday, March 20 to Saturday, March 23 – PolyFest. Our Te Kapa Haka o Te Puna o Wairaka is expected on stage at 8.35am on the Saturday. The performances will be live-streamed on Whakaata Māori (Māori Television) here
WEEK 9
Tuesday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 28, PA02, 6.30pm – Level 1 Drama production of Bird Dog, written by Albertian Emily Gough and HOD Drama Miss Hughes. Bird Dog is an Aotearoa Theatre comedy about the small town of Matakana in the aftermath of a mysterious killing.
WEEK 10
Thursday, April 4 and Friday, April 5 – 2024 Unity Concert at Dorothy Winstone Centre, AGGS, 7pm. Tickets on sale from Wednesday, March 20.
Friday, April 5 – Evening performance, time TBC, Sheilah Winn Shakespeare groups at Avondale College.
WEEK 11
Monday, April 8 – Shakespeare Showcase, 4pm.
Any specific enquiries can be made to Director of Arts Jacqui Cesan – [email protected] |
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 As part of Summer Tournament Week next week, 25 crews from Mount Albert Grammar School will be competing in the National Secondary Schools Rowing Championships at Lake Ruataniwha.
Among the trophies up for grabs is the Maadi Cup, which was gifted in 1943 and is awarded to the winning crew in the Senior Boys’ Eights.
Maadi is a suburb of the Egyptian capital Cairo and was the base for the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the African Campaign in World War II.
Rowing competitions were held on the River Nile between New Zealand crews and those from the Cairo Rowing Club. On 20 November 1943, shortly before the New Zealand forces left Africa for the Italian campaign, New Zealand oarsmen beat the Cairo River Club to win the Freyberg Cup. Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg VC, GCMG, KCB, KBE, DSO and 3 Bars was Commander of the New Zealand forces in Crete, North Africa and Italy. He was New Zealand’s Governor General from 1946 to 1952.
The New Zealanders gifted that cup to the Egyptian club. In return, Dr Youssef Bahgat, of the Cairo Rowing Club, donated a cup to the New Zealanders as a trophy for the annual secondary schools eights competition. It was first competed for in 1947 in Whanganui, and Mount Albert Grammar School was the first winner of the trophy.
Rowing started at Mount Albert Grammar in 1936 and the first competitions were held the following year.
The school developed a close relationship with the West End Rowing club and won the Auckland “Head of the Harbour” competition nine times between 1937 and 1946.
After the Maadi Cup victory in 1947, Jack Jenkin built the pyramid-shaped base that is now an integral part of the trophy. Jack Jenkin was a foundation pupil of the school, returned as a teacher in 1930 and retired in 1963. He was instrumental in developing rowing as a sport in Auckland schools and was the first coach of rowing at MAGS.
Mount Albert Grammar has produced a number of outstanding rowers. The most recent is Shane O’Brien, who attended the school from 1974 to 1978, and was a member of the gold-winning Coxless Fours crew at the 1984 Olympics.
– Greg Cave, Assistant Archivist  |
Pianists needed for choirs |
Our wonderful Gloriana and Centennial choirs are looking for pIanists to play for our choirs in rehearsals, particularly on Wednesday afternoons.
Pianists need to be at least grade 7 to Diploma level.
We would love to hear from any Albertians or parents who may be able to assist. Please contact Director of Arts Jacqui Cesan [email protected] if you are interested. |
 MAGS has a subscription with SchoolTV to provide a resource for our community.
School TV provides a range of topics with comprehensive videos from leading specialists and organisations.
Topics covered include managing screen time, understanding adolescence, raising boys, raising girls, resilience, sleep, nutrition, exam jitters, bullying and mental health.
To access School TV, you can click here or access it through the MAGS Parent Portal. |
Community Project Tackles Invasive Species |
Moth plant is an invasive species that is taking over local green spaces and killing native flora and fauna.
This year, the Sandringham Project in Community Empowerment is working with the Mount Albert Grammar School Environmental Committee to encourage community members to take the initiative and eradicate this invasive species. You can register for the competition at any time starting from March 17.
Submissions for moth plant entries start on April 5 and end on May 5. Submissions before or after these dates will not be recorded.
Students are encouraged to work in teams of up to five individuals.
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Western Line Train Disruptions |
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AT and KiwiRail have announced temporary timetable changes for the Western Line train service while track and drainage improvements are made between New Lynn and Newmarket stations.
From Monday 11 March until Wednesday 24 April, Western Line trains will run:
– Every 20 minutes throughout the day (trains usually run every 10 minutes at peak times on weekdays).
– Every 30 minutes in the evening (from around 8:30pm).
Trains will have six carriages at peak times but will be busy when schools start and end.
To help customers, AT will:
1) Run a supporting bus service – RBWN – from Monday, 11 March until Friday, 12 April. Buses will run from New Lynn Station to Avondale, Mt Albert, Baldwin Ave, Morningside, Kingsland, Grafton, and Newmarket stations every 10 minutes from 7am until 8.30am on weekdays. Buses will not run in the opposite direction, towards New Lynn.
2) Run the 22N bus service more often than usual at peak times. This service connects New Lynn, Avondale, Mt Albert, Baldwin Ave, Morningside and Kingsland stations and the City Centre.
Baldwin Ave Station
From Monday, 11 March until Wednesday, 24 April, trains will only use one platform at Baldwin Ave Station.
From Monday, 11 March until Thursday, 28 March all trains will depart from Platform 1 in both directions.
From Tuesday, 2 April until Wednesday, 24 April all trains will depart from Platform 2 in both directions.
Trains will not run over Easter – from Friday, 29 March until Monday, 1 April.
Journey Planning
Customers can use the AT Journey Planner or AT Mobile app to review their travel options now – they just need to select a date of travel from Monday, 11 March. Help is also available from the AT Contact Centre (phone 09 366 6400) and at its Customer Service Centres.
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Summer Sports Photos Coming Up |
Summer Sports photos and Girls' and Boys' boarding photos will be taken on Tuesday, March 26.
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
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Swimming Champions Recognised |
Our 2024 Swimming Champions were recognised at assembly this week.
They are, front row from left: Ava Winn (Joint Junior Girls Champion), Kate Wheeler (Joint Senior Girls Champion), Khalen Quensell (Joint Senior Girls Champion), Bianca Chan (Intermediate Girls Champion)
Back Row: Taiga Ueno (Senior Boys Champion), Hiro Tau (Intermediate Boys Champion), Jonny Joseph (Junior Boys Champion)
Absent: Sammie Visser (Joint Junior Girls Champion)
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  Nineteen students (seven teams of two and five individuals) competed at the Auckland Secondary Schools Aquathon at Saint Kentigern College on Tuesday.
The conditions were overcast and drizzly but the water for the swim leg was calm. The overhead conditions made racing comfortable for all competitors.
Several students were doing this event for the first time. The day proved successful for three students who came away with medals. Theo Bray (Year 12) backed up his win at the Auckland Secondary Schools Triathlon with a commendable 2nd place in the Senior Boys individual category. Theo finished the 750m swim and 6km run in a time of 32:16.
In the Senior Boys teams race, Ike Ancell and Jesse Burge (both Year 13) finished 3rd with a combined time of 33.06 in what was a competitive race. Other positive results came from Lilaina Marshall (Year 13), who was first after the swim leg in the Senior Girls race and finished 6th overall. The Intermediate Girls team of Isabelle Spreitzer and Ailsa Taylor finished 10th in a strong field. Jack Tyler and Ted Waters finished 7th in the Intermediate Boys section.
Assistant director of Sport Carlin Crossan said, "Thanks to Sarah Appleton, Melissa Bray, Karin Meaclem and Vicki Tyler for their assistance with transport and supporting our students throughout the day."
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Orienteers Continue Winning Ways |
Our Orienteering team had another amazing set of results from the Western Sprint Series out at Henderson High School on Monday.
The Senior Boys took out the top five places and the Senior Girls five out of the top six places. The juniors continue to impress with their massive improvements over the four weeks. The last event in the series is on Monday at Green Bay High.
Top placings from Week 4:
Senior Boys – 1st = James Milne/Matthew Greenwood
Intermediate Boys – 1st Tahi Harris
Intermediate Girls – 1st Zara Bint
Junior Girls – 1st Rose Poynter
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