Joy of Competing at Athletics Day

The MAGS Athletics Day was held yesterday at Mt Smart Stadium with about 350 students competing in track and field.
One of the top performers on the day was Ty Gonzales, pictured below, who jumped a personal best 1.85m to win the Senior Boys High Jump.
Some distance events had already been held at Lovelock Track in the past fortnight.
There will be a full report and all the results in next week's newsletter.

Announcement of a New Era

From left, Nick Smith, Peter Thorp and Greg Taylor.

July 29, 1999 was an important day in the history of the school.
In the morning, the Honourable Nick Smith, Minister of Education, visited the school to announce publicly that from 2000 Mount Albert Grammar School would be accepting girls on its roll.
This followed years of lobbying by local residents and polling of the community.

At that time, the Headmaster was Greg Taylor, a former student of the school and Dux in 1964. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees was Peter Thorp, who had been Head Prefect of the school and of the School House in 1968.
The members of the board had worked for several years developing a case that was to be the biggest change in the history of the school.
Work was already under way on the new classroom block which in later years has become the Greg Taylor Building, and the first girls duly arrived at the beginning of the 2000 school year.
This year we are celebrating '25 Years of Girls at MAGS', with an event coming up at the end of June (watch out for further details).

Prefect Executive for 2025

Our 2025 prefects had their formal photos taken this week as part of the two days of Mentor Class and ID photos – so, it was a good time to round up the Prefect Executive for an introductory photo.
Pictured above, Head Prefects Khalen Quensell and Campbell Buchanan flank Mr Drumm, while their deputies are, from left, Epeli Prescott, Sasha Tobin, Bendan Akeli, Claudia Wen, Tyler Yare and Brooke Margison.
Our 2025 Prefects are all wearing the pale blue '25 Years of Girls at MAGS' tie, pictured right, as part of their official outfit.

Arts Leaders' Training 

MAGS Arts leaders took part in a leadership training workshop on Wednesday afternoon. 
This workshop had a particular focus on some basic principles of effective leadership, and the importance of them being a role model and setting the tone for the groups they lead. 
Director of Arts Co-curricular Ms Cesan, who took the workshop, said, "Discussion was about the importance of being vigilant with time management and staying abreast of their commitments, and understanding that communication is key and also looking at ways that they can support TICS and HODs to manage their group.
"This year’s Arts Leaders are very motivated and committed leaders, who will be an asset to the groups they lead."

Scholarship Information Evening on Wednesday

Mount Albert Grammar School welcomes all parents and students who may be interested in sitting scholarship exams this year to attend our information evening on Wednesday, March 5 from 6-6.45pm in the F.W. Gamble Hall.
The evening is an opportunity to hear details about the scholarship exam, the process for signing up, and hear from current students who have sat the exam. 
Scholarship exams are a richly rewarding academic challenge for our students and we look forward to seeing you at the information evening.

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.

Deserving Recipients of Hi-Well Scholarships

Epeli Prescott and Nina Chalmers are our recipients of the Hi-Well Charity Scholarships for 2025.
They were recommended for the awards and presented them by National MP Melissa Lee at Takapuna on Saturday.
The NZ Korean Association kindly awards these scholarships to worthy Year 13 students, who demonstrate significant leadership skills and balance to their academic studies.

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

Sports Update

Rowers Bring Home Medals from First Regatta 

Last weekend, some of our rowing team competed at the Auckland Schools Championships at Lake Karapiro, Cambridge. 
Assistant Director of Rowing Holly Chaafe said, "Our Year 11, 12 and 13 rowers competed in their MAGS rowsuits for the first school regatta of the season and they represented the school with pride.

"Saturday was heats day, when our crews fought hard and many made it through the tough progression into finals. Everyone has been training really hard the last few months so it was great to see more of our crews progressing into that next step. The success of these crews making finals showed the strength and commitment of the whole team pushing each other to be faster."
On Sunday the team came away with six medals out of ten A finals. 

Gold: Girls U17 Double – Molly Stewart and Pippi Somerville. 
Silver: Girls U18 Coxless Pair – Lilah Martin and Emma Curnow. Boys U17 Coxed Eight – Louis Collis, Hunter Whitten, Ted Rattray, AJ Jacobsen, Joshua Murphy, Tim Reeves, Jack Maxwell, Johnny Gilmour. 
Bronze: Boys U16 Double – Ari Botica and Gus Sinclair. Girls U17 Coxless Pair – Lilah Martin and Emma Curnow. Boys U17 Coxless Pair – Joshua Murphy and Ted Rattray. 

Ms Chaafe said, "A big thank you to all the parents and coaches who made attending Auckland Champs possible. As always, we greatly appreciate your support and could not have achieved those results without you." 

Strong Start for Boys Lacrosse 

The AKSS Boys Summer 6s Lacrosse got underway last Friday with players from MAGS, Westlake, Rosmini and Pukekohe gathering at Nixon Park, Kingsland for a pre-season round robin. 
MAGS fielded a Blue Team led by Andrew Hung and coached by Sam Nash, plus the bulk of a Red Team led by Nate Lawson and coached by Stevey Couldrey.
MAGS Blue and Red each had tough encounters versus a solid Westlake side, but both MAGS teams performed strongly against Rosmini. The last game of the day saw an end-to-end showdown between MAGS Blue and Red, with them sharing the spoils. Congratulations to Players of the Day Caleb Stark (Blue) and Finn McKessar (Red).
It was great to see such fantastic support from families on the sidelines, on the BBQ, and as ball-retrievers behind the goals.
The AKSS summer season proper started today at Nixon Park.

Runner-up in Ninja Sprints

Fresh from competing for Aotearoa in Australia last month, Riley Hobbs competed in the New Zealand Ninja Sprints in Taupo last weekend.
He finished as runner-up in the Youth division and 7^th in the Open Men’s division.