The Lion December 2019

SCHOOL NEWS

DECEMBER 2019

BRIAN MURPHY SIXTY YEARS OF SERVICE MAGS ART SHOW Another triumphant event

PRIZEGIVING SEASON Celebrating achievement

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Fencing, Orienteering, Squash and Swimming THE LION

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Mount Albert Grammar School Alberton Avenue Mount Albert Auckland 1025

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Ph 09 846 2044 www.mags.school.nz The Lion is the official magazine of Mount Albert Grammar School Editorial and advertising inquiries to editor Graham Hepburn communications@mags.school.nz ph 09 846 2044, x 8236 Cover photo: Mount Albert Grammar School’s Brian Murphy, who started at the school in 1960.

Photo: Martin Sykes

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Designed & printed by ICG

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Contents

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From the Headmaster School News Academic News

Community

Performing Arts Prizegivings

Sport

MAGS Foundation Corridors – Albertian News Key Dates

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Mr Murphy (third from left) is pictured with four of the five headmasters he has served under.

From left Dale Burden, Greg Taylor, Maurice Hall and current Headmaster Patrick Drumm.

SUCCESS THROUGH SERVICE I am delighted to present you with the 2019 Summer Edition of The Lion.

We are in the season of celebrating the success of students across the many areas of excellence, the many moving parts of Mount Albert Grammar School.

Our academic prizegiving has been complemented by the Arts Awards and Sports Awards Dinners. We have joined with our Maori and Pasifika communities to formally celebrate high achieving Maori and Pasifika students. It is a truly wonderful

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time as we acknowledge the brilliance of our students as well as their teachers and families who have walked alongside them on this journey to success.

As soon-to-be New Zealand’s largest school, we are blessed with immense human resource. The scale and diversity among our student body allows us to provide a breadth of education that is the envy of other schools. Each year ‘excellence’ is redefined across our academic, sporting and arts pillars with students setting new benchmarks

to which the next cohort can aspire.

The importance of the Service Pillar in the overall success of MAGS can never be underestimated. It begins with the adults in our school – teachers who bring with them to the classroom each day a belief in the unlimited potential of our young people.

This belief is expressed through the highest standards and expectations – a learning environment in which our students thrive!

Serving others at MAGS is so well exemplified by our teachers – and further

FROM THE HEADMASTER Mr Cave speaks at Mr Murphy’s 60 Years of Service Celebration.

Mr Murphy beside the puriri tree that was planted in his honour outside the Student Centre. A plaque beneath the tree commemorates his 60 years of service.

complemented by the actions of students as they too look to learn how they can support the others around them.

Embedding a service ethos through our school allows us to approach everything we do with the right attitudes and purpose. In many ways, the Service Pillar is the glue that binds together the other Pillars – it gives meaning to those many moving parts of MAGS. Earlier this term we celebrated an example of service to MAGS of the most extraordinary kind. Pictured on our front cover is Mr Brian Murphy who has completed 60 years as a member of the Mount Albert Grammar School staff. Brian began at MAGS in 1960 as a teacher of Science and Biology and has gone on to hold a number of roles in the school in the curriculum and pastoral areas. He is currently the school’s archivist.

Brian has worked with five of the seven Headmasters of MAGS and it was wonderful to have our three living former Headmasters, Maurice Hall (1970-1988), Greg Taylor (1988-2006) and Dale Burden (20062015) returning to school to join

with Brian in this celebration.

There are many ways to try to present a perspective of the magnitude of Brian’s length of service to MAGS. We are soon to enter our 99th Year as a school – but you would have to go back to the 38th year of MAGS to find when Brian first appeared on our staff list! Furthermore, in those early days he worked with some of the Foundation Staff of our school – Masters who taught the first students of MAGS in 1922! So Brian holds a direct connection to the very first day of Mount Albert Grammar!

There are many, many stories and anecdotes that have been collected over the years as Brian has witnessed the evolution of MAGS to where it is today.

Some of those stories are shared in the pages that follow.

Long service to MAGS by teaching staff is a characteristic of our school. Since 1922, 36 teachers have been acknowledged for 25 years teaching service to our school with many of those going on to complete significantly more service before finishing up at MAGS. One of those teachers who has also

Associate Academic Dean Greg Cave has taught at MAGS for 46 years and is retiring at the end of the year.

remained with us long after his first 25 years is Mr Greg Cave, who is retiring at the end of this year after 46 years at MAGS. As an Albertian himself, Greg has a strong affinity to MAGS further strengthened through his father’s attendance at the school from 1923 and also Greg’s two sons attending MAGS in the 1980s.

Greg began at MAGS in 1974 as a teacher of Latin. During his time he taught French and Economics, introduced Japanese as a subject in 1980 and currently holds the Classics Head of Department role. Greg has been invaluable in his Academic Deaning role, supporting students as they prepare to transition to university and tertiary study.

On behalf of all associated with Mount Albert Grammar School, we salute Brian and Greg – two living legends of our school.

Collectively with 106 years of service to young people – you are the example of the human taonga on which our great school has been built! Ad multos annos!

Merry Christmas.

PER ANGUSTA AD AUGUSTA. Patrick Drumm THE LION

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CELEBRATING

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BRIAN MURPHY’S Sixty Years of Service Friends, colleagues and Albertians gathered in the F.W. Gamble Hall on October 16 to celebrate Brian Murphy’s 60 years of service to Mount Albert Grammar School.

Mr Murphy started at MAGS as a Science and Biology teacher in 1960 and over the years he has taught Chemistry, been responsible for Junior Science, a teacherlibrarian, and a school counsellor before becoming the school’s Archivist in 1999 – a role he continues to this day.

During those years, he has served under five headmasters, beginning with Murray Nairn (1954-69). Four of those headmasters were present on the evening to celebrate Mr Murphy’s 60 years of service: Maurice Hall (1970-1988), Greg Taylor (1988-2006), Dale Burden (20062015) and current Headmaster Patrick Drumm. Also in attendance were Board of Trustees Chairman Greg Moyle and MAGS Foundation Chairman Peter Thorp.

Mr Murphy was presented with a Gold Lion lapel pin to recognise his dedication to the school, and unveiled a commemorative plaque that has been placed under a puriri tree planted in his honour outside the Student Centre.

Named Albertian of the Year in 2009 (his 50th year of service), Mr Murphy was the first recipient of this honour not to have attended MAGS – giving an indication of the esteem in which he is held.

A proud and loyal staff member, Mr Murphy has proved himself a true gentleman over the years and has always been prepared to go the extra mile for Albertians and their families.

Mr Drumm said there was a visual demonstration of Eugene Brian Murphy’s legacy at the school in the hall, with his name on an honours board in one corner of the hall that preceded rows of subsequent

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honours boards that wrapped right around the hall walls.

He added that Mr Murphy had been an invaluable and enduring asset to the school having filled so many different roles with distinction.

Mr Hall said when he started at MAGS as a teacher in the 1960s he taught a sixth form class with Mr Murphy, who always impressed him with his organisation and commitment.

That included his dedication to getting The Albertian magazine out on time and organising photos of every Albertian casualty of war for ANZAC Day. Associate Academic Dean Greg Cave, who boasts 51 years at MAGS – 46 as a teacher and five as a student, said, “I first came across Eugene Brian ‘Spud’ Murphy when I was a third-former in 1964. I had very little to do with him then – he taught in Upper Lab 1, now called B1, which is now my room, and I had Science in the room nextdoor for two years.

“Brian had classes like 6 Science 2 and Upper 5 and it was safer to keep away from them. Brian was also a housemaster and in our minds was associated with all housemasters – and with the behaviour modifier [cane], which you can see on the wall in the staffroom. We thought it best to steer clear of all housemasters just in case and give them no reason for them to modify our behaviour.

“In the mid-to late-60s there was a bit of an exodus of NZ teachers to Canada where pay and conditions were somewhat better than in NZ. Brian was one of those who joined the exodus in, I think, 1967.

“When I started as a teacher in 1974, Brian was back. I had some misgivings about coming back to a school with teachers who only a few years earlier had taught me. Brian from the start treated me as an

equal – which is more than I can say for a few of the others. He was also teacher librarian – something I found hard to fathom as I thought that was a job for an English teacher. I later learnt that he has very catholic tastes and once you get him talking on a topic it is hard to get him to stop. In the 70s he also edited The Albertian.”

He added that Mr Murphy’s contribution to the school was immense and not just in his teaching and counselling roles. Mr Murphy had established and built a comprehensive school archive “from nothing” and it was now a rich resource that staff, students and the wider public could enjoy.

Mr Murpy said of his move from teaching into counselling: “I had done a lot of personal growth courses in the 80s, when it was a thing. The counsellor’s job came up, I knew that I had the skills, applied and got it.

I loved it.

“The year I became the counsellor, 1988, Greg Cave became third form dean. And we became a double act.

“Kids thanked me for making a difference in their lives and that is the gold standard in the counselling caper.”

Of his move to school Archivist, he said: “I had done the School-based research for Tradition and Change, working with Kate Stone, the Copy Editor. Once that was done and the counselling job was coming to an end, Greg Taylor offered me the new position of Archivist. I was well pleased and set about finding out what was what.

He added: “The School has been very good to me over the years and I have been able to reinvent myself here, in the same way that others have managed to do that by relocating.

“Reinvention as well as a sense of institutional history has been the best of both for me.”

SCHOOL NEWS Brian, at right, with Roy Clements, acting as marshals on athletics day.

Brian after graduating from University of Auckland in 1959.

Brian Murphy’s Gold Lion.

With Brian at his 60 Years of Service Celebration are Colin Nicholls, at left, and Grant Bean. Both are old boys of the school whom Brian taught.

Headmaster Patrick Drumm pays tribute to Brian.

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Aka Bloomfield Youth MP Aka Bloomfield admits it was a big surprise when she got a phone call from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern nominating her to be the Mt Albert MP’s representative in Youth Parliament 2019.

“I had applied for it and then forgotten about it because I thought someone else must have got it, and then I got the phone call,” said Aka, who took the PM’s seat in Parliament.

“I applied for it because I’m interested in activism more than being a politician.

But it was really interesting to see how the whole process works at Parliament.”

Over two days during the July school holidays, 120 Youth MPs experienced aspects of the parliamentary process by taking part in mock debates, attending

caucus sessions, sitting on select committees, asking oral questions of Ministers, and engaging in legislative and general debates in the debating chamber.

Ms Ardern advised Aka to forget about being nervous and just enjoy the moment when speaking in Parliament, which was what Aka had to do when asking a question of Climate Change Minister James Shaw.

Her question was: ‘Does the Minister plan to include Tikanga Māori and indigenous practices in the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill; if so, how?’

Aka said, “In his answer he mostly talked about what they are doing in the bill but he did say that the Government needed to do more around being culturally sensitive.”

MODEL UN

Four students got to work on their diplomatic and tactical skills when they attended the NZ Model United Nations in Wellington in July.

Henri Blakeley, Isaiah Nin, Cyrus Meredith Melhuish and Nicodemus Smith were among about 300 attendees.

The conference consisted of workshops in which they looked at various diplomatic tactics, but also other skills like an ethics workshop mainly focused around tools that diplomats and politicians use. There were various guest speakers as well as meetings and committees to simulate those in the UN such as those of the Security Council and Human Rights Council.

Henri Blakeley received a scholarship place to attend the conference funded by the German Embassy of New Zealand. He is pictured with the Acting German ambassador to New Zealand, Dr Timo Bauer-Savage.

Inspirational speech recognised On June 28 at Assembly, Eric Neal, Auckland Regional Coordinator of the Race Unity Speech Awards, presented Head Girl Takunda Muzondiwa with an Auckland Regional winner’s shield and the

Head Girl Takunda Muzondiwa with Eric Neal, Auckland Regional Coordinator of the Race Unity Speech Awards, and Associate Principal Jo Williams.

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school with the Auckland Region Shield for the year.

Takunda was recognised for her inspirational and provocative spoken word performance, which saw her represent Auckland at the national finals of the Race Unity Speech Awards in May. The video of Takunda’s speech in the national finals went viral and was reported on by newspapers such as The Guardian and resulted in interviews on national TV shows.

Mr Neal represents NZ Baha’i Faith, which organises the national awards. He congratulated Takunda on her success and said she had the potential to be a world leader, not just the leader of her home country Zimbabwe, which has been her stated ambition.

Takunda thanked Mr Neal and Baha’i Faith for giving her the platform to express her views on racism and colonisation.

She also presented her speech to the Year 9 Assembly and explained her thinking behind it, covering issues such as assimilation and racial domination.

The week before, Takunda was speaking at Parliament and was given a tour by Green MPs Marama Davidson and Chloe Swarbrick.

SCHOOL NEWS

SPACE CAMP 2019

Forty one students travelled to Huntsville, Alabama to take part in a NASA Space Camp during the July school holidays, accompanied by teachers Ms Sarnia Slabbert, Mr Matthew Huang, Ms Jenna Bone, Mr Sam Dockery and Mrs Helen Dunham.

Students Eric Shen and Lance Law share their experience: “During the Space Camp Program, we spent six days as part of its Advanced Space Academy, which simulated all aspects of space exploration including mission simulations, engineering challenges, and advanced physics and aeronautics history presentations; all encapsulated in NASA’s state of the art facilities at the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center.

Many unique activities included the 1/6th gravity chair and a two-storey high scuba diving Neutral Buoyancy Lab to feel the effect of reduced gravity, rocket design and launch, robotic engineering, teambuilding exercises on the high ropes course, and flight simulators. These aspects were later compiled into a grand three-hour simulated mission that tested our knowledge and team cooperation abilities in the aerospace fields.

After graduating, we wasted no time heading to the Sunshine State of Florida. First step was the magical Disney World where we also viewed the spectacular fireworks, moving some of us to tears.

This was followed up by the snorkel trip with the manatees at Crystal River, an animal rare to encounter, and we free-dived in the natural springs.

The grand finale was at Universal Studios, hitting the thrill-seeker rides and we later had dinner at the iconic Hard Rock Cafe.

The trip concluded with a spectacular performance from the weird and wonderful Blue Man Group.”

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NGĀ MANU KŌRERO

MAGS came back with two third-place trophies from the Ngā Manu Kōrero ki te Waitematā Regional Speech Competition at Ōrākei Marae in June.

Jackson Absolum competed in the Tā Turi Kara (Sir Turi Carroll) Junior English section, Te Waaka Popata-Henare in Rāwhiti Ihaka/Junior Māori, Richard Mann in Korimako/ Senior English, and Niua Pomare-Khanna in Pei Te Hurinui/ Senior Māori.

MAGS also co-hosted the junior stage, and it was a very successful day with Te Waaka taking third in Junior Māori and Niua third in Senior Māori. Jackson was seventh in Junior English, and Richard was ninth in the senior English section.

In Senior Māori, Niua did particularly well, competing against five full-immersion schools.

Te Waaka Popata-Henare (left) and Niua Pomare-Khanna with their trophies.

Eureka! Awards Faolan Okan has been awarded a $5000 scholarship as part of an internship with the Department of Conservation following the Finals of the Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka! Awards in Wellington in September.

On top of the scholarship, Faolan was awarded $1500 for reaching the finals stage, at which he presented his talk: Ammonia Treatment in Wastewater: A New Approach.

While in Wellington he also took part in the Governor General’s Young Science Leaders Forum.

The Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka! Awards competition challenges secondary school and tertiary undergrads to deliver a 12-minute presentation about how an application of science or technology will benefit New Zealand’s economic, environmental and social wealth and well-being.

Media Studies

FILM NIGHT

This year’s Media Studies Film Night held at Event Cinemas St Lukes on October 17 was a resounding success.

The Year 13 documentaries both challenged and entertained a receptive audience, covering topics such as digital playgrounds, the state of NZ’s exciting music industry, and drag culture in Auckland.

Year 12 students again excelled in

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making compelling and technically complex music videos, from noirinspired murder fiction to beautifully crafted memories to the tunes of Fleetwood Mac. Our Year 11 students produced catchy, polished and innovative advertisements, highlighting that the future of Media Studies film production is bright looking ahead to 2020 and beyond.

Head of Media Studies Simon Allen said, “Many thanks to the fantastic Media Department, who have both supported me and guided these talented film-makers and shared in their success: Aubrey Mason, Jo Beck, Carissa Calvert, Tom Dale and Becky Woodall.”

To watch all the short films go to the Mount Albert Grammar School YouTube channel.

The School Ball was held at the Cordis Hotel, Auckland City on Friday, July 5.

The theme this year was The Great Gatsby. The venue was decorated in a lavish array of black, white and gold. The Ball Committee managed to present a spectacular entrance featuring black fairy light curtains and red carpet with a border of plinths, gold candles and fresh flower arrangements. Inside the ballroom, the tables were all decorated to theme.

NZDJ provided the music along with our school band featuring Himadri Podder – Guitar and Vocals, Amelia Worsley – Vocals, Inoke Halaholo – Drums, Caitlin Grobler – Bass, and William Kung – Lead Guitar.

And there were the traditional prizes handed out as voted for by the students: King – Matthew Knowles, Queen – Jamila Chen, Cutest Couple – Charlotte Barrand and Germain Hellriegel-White, Sisterhood – Claudia Zwalué and Lauren Zwalué, Bromance – Max Dunshea and Shravaneel Prakash, Best Dressed Male – Karkeat Low and DaRhys Simone, Best Dressed Female – Zahra Dowsett, Best Dancer – Moanekah Va’ai.

Ball organiser Mrs Natasha Phyn said, “It was a wonderful event and all of the providers were highly complimentary about the MAGS students.”

SCHOOL NEWS

SCHOOL BALL Ball King and Queen Matthew Knowles and Jamila Chen.

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Agriculture and Horticulture In a first for MAGS, one of our three Junior Young Farmer teams made it through to the National Finals held in Napier on July 3 & 4.

The team of two Year 12 Agriculture boys – Campbell Barclay and Joshua Baker – were supported by their families and Head of Agriculture and Horticulture Esther Hancock.

During the finals, the boys had to give a speech, build an irrigation system from scratch, complete an exam, back a huge trailer with a tractor, and answer “modules” with questions about matters as diverse as insurance risk, health and safety, soil deficiencies and creating a demand for natural fibre.

Fourteen teams competed with five teams going through to the final ‘Face Off’; a series of questions posed by comedian Te Radar.

Campbell and Josh did not make the final cut but will use the experience as motivation to compete again in the regional competition next year with the hope of doing better.

Young Farmer of the Year winner James Robertson visited the ASB MAGS Farm on August 14 to share his experiences and wisdom with Year 12 Agribusiness students and members of the Teen Ag Group.

James, who is based in Auckland with Fonterra, was the youngest ever winner of the iconic competition at age 22 earlier this year. He came up through Teen Ag at Hamilton Boys High and was part of the team that won the Teen Ag Grand Final.

He studied AgriCommerce at Massey University and was involved in the organisation of its Young Farmers club while there.

Since graduating he has continued that involvement with Young Farmers and said it was his dream to win Young Farmer of the Year. He made it a reality by working hard: honing his practical and theoretical skills, and becoming comfortable with public speaking.

With so many niche areas in the primary sector, he urged the students to investigate the sort of scholarships open to them and apply for them. With scholarships and summer farming jobs, he had come out of Massey debt-free.

On August 29, Year 12 Agribusiness students were lucky to be invited to Green Valley Dairy/Marphona Farms, home of Lewis Road Creamery.

On the trip they learned about Marphona Farms’ organic milk production and the Green Valley processing plant.

The students have been learning about the amazing export of fresh milk to China by Green Valley. NZ fresh milk is a trusted brand in China and the growing middle class in China is prepared to pay a hefty premium for fresh milk imported from New Zealand.

The visit was crowned by samples of Lewis Road mocha milk and Green Valley chocolate milk.

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SCHOOL ACADEMIC NEWS NEWS

FUTURE PATHWAYS EXPO The annual Future Pathways Expo was attended by a record crowd on August 6, and was hailed by several providers as the best they have attended.

The breadth of courses and providers who set up in the MH Building to interact with students and families exceeded previous years, and the interactive displays and competitions proved popular.

Students and parents took the opportunity to talk to MAGS staff about course selections for 2020 and to see what is on offer from more than 50 tertiary institutes and industry providers. The faculties were very busy, with Technology merging in a shared space with industry training organisations and UNITEC as a new initiative.

The ASB MAGS Farm held a prominent space with linked providers, and is working on widening student knowledge of careers available in primary industries.

Two of the competition winners were Maya Freundlich (ASB MAGS Farm – Guess the Eggs), and Jack Norris (AIS – Guess the Marbles).

Tuiaki Fiuloi and Dante Azariah were the winners of the UNITEC Personal Trainer Challenge and received gym supplies as their prizes.

Totara Health Building, New Lynn

www.turnerlim.co.nz

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09 827 1478

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

FOOD AND CULTURE EVENING The International Food and Culture Evening was held in the FW Gamble Hall on Friday, June 28 and was enjoyed by enthusiastic students, staff, homestay families and guests.

The evening commenced with everyone mixing and mingling, and sampling a range of delicious food from Thailand, China, Japan, Vietnam, Mexico, India and Europe.

The MAGS Chinese cultural group took to the stage first to perform a contemporary Chinese dance. They were followed by performances from Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico and a contemporary dance finale from the ‘Rest of the World’ – all enthusiastically received by the crowd.

International Director Bronwyn Watts thanked all those involved in providing food and entertainment, with a special mention of thanks to all our homestay parents and designated caregivers for the care and support our international students receive through their life at MAGS.

SPORTING HONOURS Arnd Arelmann and Valentina Buniato (pictured at left) were named International Student Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively, with Arnd receiving his Blue Cap as part of the NZSS Champion Squash team, and Valentina hers for winning an NZSS Fencing title.

Other International students recognised were Rebecca Blanco, who received a Lion for Squash, and Orion Schmok, who was awarded a Lion for Rugby and the trophy for Best Tackler in First XV Rugby.

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SCHOOL ACADEMIC NEWS NEWS

LANGUAGES On Monday, June 17, the fourth biennial French exchange got underway with 25 pupils from Sainte-Croix de Neuilly having their first day at MAGS. Sainte-Croix de Neuilly is our sister school in Paris, a private Catholic school with around 1000 pupils from 6 to 18 years of age.

The exchange students are hosted by pupils from our Year 11 and 12 French classes. They participate in school and visit places in Auckland for three weeks then head off on holiday for two weeks with their host family.

HoF Languages Helen Selaries said, “Needless to say, our pupils are looking forward to their return visit for five weeks in France in December-January.”

Isabella Kerridge Temm and Holly Bannister (centre) with members of Year 10 French.

If Year 10 French students needed any further inspiration to keep pursuing their French language studies, they got it in early July from Albertian Isabella Kerridge Temm and Year 13 student Holly Bannister.

Isabella was part of MAGS' first French exchange programme to Ste Croix High School in Paris in 2013 and went on to work there as a live-in assistant in 2016 after finishing at MAGS. She has since studied drama in Paris for three years, and is now about to pursue a Masters in Performance (Acting) in London – opportunities that were opened up by the French exchange programme.

Holly, who took part in the third French exchange programme in 2017, has been chosen to serve as an assistant at Ste Croix High School in Paris next year. Holly will be the fifth MAGS student to be an assistant at the school, with Hugh Malcolm working there currently.

David Laxon, in Year 12, has been selected as one of only two NZ students to represent this country at the German Olympiad (Internationale Deutscholympiade) in Dresden next year. Albertian Hugh Malcolm achieved the same feat two years ago and competed in Freiburg. David was interviewed in German at school as were others around the country in their schools, then he was flown by the Goethe Institut for a weekend to Wellington to compete with finalists from other centres.

In August, Year 12 student Quinn Burton-Brown represented NZ in the Asian-Pacific German Olympics after winning an all-expenses paid trip to Bogor, Indonesia.

The competition, run by the Goethe Institut, began in 2017 and will run every two years, alternating with the Insitut's German Olympiad in Germany.

MAGS students excelled across all year levels in the Auckland Goethe Society German examinations.

QUINN BURTON-BROWN

RESULTS: Year 9: Gold award to Ashleigh Muir, Silver to Aimee Loveday, and a Bronze award to Liam Spencer.

Year 10: Gold awards to Hannah Jordan, Molly Cavanagh, Cassandra Ploeg, Jack Frear, Ethan Chester, Luka Jeremic, Madhav Nair, Lucy Makinson and Rena Weatherall. A Silver award to Philip Paxie.

Year 11: Gold awards to Aidan Price, Mekal Covic, Caleb Hall, Paul Beyer. Bronze award to

Devendra Johnston (who has only done German for one year). Gold award to Mena Ren-Fritzke in the advantaged speaker category.

Year 12: First place to David Laxon, second place to Katya Astashkina, third place to Finnian Montgomery. Highly commended to Joshua Williamson and Mitchell Cooper.

Year 13: First place to Izzy MacKenzie. Third place in advantaged speaker category to Jack Cavanagh.

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GEOGRAPHY The winning Year 12 Geography team of (from left) Ben Batchelor-Cook, Samantha Persson, Freeman McCall and Aidan Skinner.

Year 11 Geography competition winners (from left) Caleb Hall, Hamish MacGibbon and Ben Merlini.

MAGS' Geography teams have successfully defended their Auckland quiz titles for the third successive time.

On August 13, St Cuthbert’s hosted the Auckland regional round of the National Maatangi Whenua Year 11 Geography competition. Twenty teams from across the region competed in a range of rounds covering various topics. The much-coveted trophy has been won by MAGS for the past three years and so there was stiff competition from other schools wanting the honour of taking it from us.

One of the MAGS teams consisting of Melissa Barnes, Olivia Moody and Bohemia Schollum finished a commendable fifth. However, it was our team of Caleb Hall, Hamish MacGibbon and Ben Merlini that won the competition – a massive 13 points ahead of second-placed St Mary’s, securing the title for the fourth year for MAGS. On August 21, the AGTA Senior inter-school quiz for Year 12 and Year 13 Geography students again had MAGS as three-times champions and the other schools itching to take the title.

Our Year 13 team consisting of Jack Cavanagh, Matthew Ray, Lilly McCarthy and Amy Barker, many of them quiz novices, finished seventh-equal.

In previous years, the MAGS Year 12 teams had gone to this competition to get practice and experience for the following year.

However, this year’s team of Aidan Skinner, Freeman McCall, Ben Batchelor-Cook and Samantha Persson finished four points ahead of a strong Takapuna Grammar side and the trophy returned to MAGS in an unprecedented four-title winning streak.

Sixty Level 3 Geography students, accompanied by three staff, went on a two-day field trip to Rotorua in August.

This was an opportunity to gain first-hand insight into the cultural process of tourism development that will be examined in their end-of-year external exam.

Students were spoken to by industry experts as well as having an opportunity to experience a number of attractions that cater for a wide variety of different tourist groups. It was a fantastic way to combine hands-on learning and fun ‘out in the field’.

Mathematics Our Mathematics students have won the Auckland East Calcex for a third straight year, with MAGS' other team claiming third spot.

The two Year 9 Mathex teams.

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These great results came in the face of strong opposition from Macleans, Pakuranga, St Kentigern, Botany and Ormiston high schools on September 24.

Mathematics teacher Michael Walden reports that this means that MAGS is still the only winner of this event, much to the frustration of the other schools.

MAGS' winning team was Logan Allomes, Minh Nguyen, Stephen Stuart and Junjian Zhang; and the third-placed team comprised Jamila Chen, Cole Hickey, Caitlin Mitchell and Adam Bateman.

On August 21, MAGS had four teams of junior mathematicians participate in the annual Auckland Mathex competition at Barfoot & Thompson Stadium in Kohimarama.

Our Year 9 A team (Anatol Coen, Jay McElwee, Matthew Radcliffe and Jules Webb) placed seventh out of 126 teams. They reached the maximum score of 100 in about 22 minutes, a few minutes off placing in the top three.

Our other Year 9 team (Tabitha Freeman, Ella Graves, Emil Hinchliff and Shrey Patel) scored 85 points.

Both our Year 10 teams scored 100 points.

SCHOOL ACADEMIC NEWS NEWS

Outdoor Education YEAR 11 TRAMP As part of Term 3’s interpersonal skills and self-management units, our Year 11 Outdoor Education classes took part in a threeday tramp in the Kauaeranga Valley, Coromandel Peninsula.

This experience allowed them to practise and demonstrate their interpersonal and self-management skills under pressure while developing their bush craft skills in a bush environment.

The three days consisted of travelling to the Coromandel by van, tramping within the Kauaeranga Valley, including up to the Pinnacles Hut, on and off-track navigation, river crossing, group shelter building, group cooking and other group work activities.

YEAR 12 SURVIVAL COURSE As part of a Bushcraft unit, Year 12 Outdoor Education students participated in an overnight SOS Survival Course in a native forest block near Muriwai.

The course focused on the essentials of survival (protection, location, water, food) and gave the students a practical insight into some basic survival skills. The main highlights were cooking for themselves on a fire that they prepared and lit, and building a natural shelter to sleep under for a night. For the students, it was a unique and enjoyable experience.

YEAR 10 BEACH CLEAN-UP Year 10 Outdoor Education students have again been doing an amazing job collecting rubbish from beaches around Auckland.

Student Isabella Cain reports: "Over the past couple of weeks, the Year 10 Outdoor Education classes have been visiting various beaches as part of our Environmental Care unit, in partnership with the Keep New Zealand Beautiful charity.

My class specifically went to Point Chevalier Beach on the Thursday of Week 9 in Term 2. Spending a collective seven volunteer hours, we managed to cover 27,600sq m, finding a range of rubbish – from microscopic plastic pieces to teabags and jandals. We left disgusted at what we found but with a sense of pride for doing our bit in the community."

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SCIENCE Science Bowl MAGS’ Junior team won at the North Island Secondary Schools Science Bowl Tournament held at Auckland Grammar on June 7.

And team member Cole Hickey took home the trophy for the most questions answered correctly over the competition.

In the Junior division, MAGS won narrowly, beating Auckland Grammar in a tense final.

The Senior team of Vaibhav Nayyar, Alexander Pullen, Nikita Privavlov and Giles Paton-Simpson did well reaching the semi-finals where they were beaten by Auckland Grammar.

The winning Junior team of (from left) Cole Hickey, Matthew Batcheler, Rosa Jack and Xander Pritchard.

The North Island Secondary Schools Science Bowl Tournament seeks to provide an event for some of the most intellectual secondary school students in the North Island to come together and compete

against one another in a relatively lowstakes environment. The students answer questions from a range of Science and Mathematics topics, eliminating teams as the tournament progresses.

Crest challenge Four Year 11 students triumphed in the NZIFST CREST Food Innovation Challenge, for which senior secondary school students must develop a consumer food product.

David Wu, Max Hertzum, David Li and Liam Middlebrook were mentored

by Tip Top and the winning product they created was a protein-enriched milk tea-flavoured ice cream, ‘Wheytea’. The production of Wheytea was extensive and difficult as the ice cream had to be made using commercial grade agents such as emulsifiers and stabilisers.

The challenge, is run by the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST), in partnership with CREST, the nationwide awards scheme administered by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

It is conducted in collaboration with Massey’s School of Food and Advanced Technology, the Department of Food 18

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From left, teacher Blanche D’Cunha with winners David Wu, Liam Middlebrook, Max Hertzum and David Li along with challenge mentor and Albertian Sarah Leakey.

Science at the University of Otago, and the food processing industry. Students must follow the principles of food product development as used in the food industry.

Product development investigations are based on the Team Silver Challenge CREST project framework, and students successfully completing a project receive a Team Silver Challenge CREST Award.

Two MAGS teams began the challenge in early February this year and worked hard to

produce two high-quality products. Each team received sponsorship of $250 towards the cost.

The other group was mentored by Kerry and produced a high-protein chocolate drink ‘Pro-Teen’. This group was also comprised of Year 11 students: Tamasa Lavea, Genevieve Taua, Pasilika Ulugia-Pua and Jessica Marginson.

‘Pro-Teen’ received a highly commended from the judges.

Ella Keegan with her winning photograph.

Once again, the MAGS Art Show had a stunning array of student works on display in the F.W. Gamble Hall for the public to purchase.

MAGS Art Show Curator and artist Colleen Pugh judged most of the awards and there were also Teachers’ Prizes as well as the Watershed People’s Choice Award.

Ms Pugh said she was impressed by the vision and technical skills shown by the winning artists as they interpreted the theme of “Past, Present and Future”.

She said that some of the digital design work was of such a high standard that it would not have been out of place in a professional studio.

Ella Rowe won the painting section with her work The Germainting, while Lois Wadsworth was second in the section with her Magenta Hummingbird – obviously a crowd favourite as it took out the Watershed People’s Choice Award.

Ella Keegan was first in photography with her black and white work Young Girl, while Maria Lowrie took out the Digital Design section with Diablo.

Students not only received kudos for their efforts but also prizes, kindly donated by Art Show sponsors.

Maria Lowrie took out the Digital Design section.

ACADEMIC SCHOOL NEWS

Visual Art Ella Rowe with her winning painting.

The old prefect locker area adjoining the hall was refurbished during the July school holidays and repurposed as a waiting area.

In August, it was brightened up with the addition of six artworks, which were the finalists in the ‘Values of MAGS’ Art Competition.

For this art project students were asked to submit a design that would showcase one of the values of MAGS. From about 20 submissions, six finalists were selected to complete the work onto board. These six student finalists’ generously donated artworks will be displayed in the room and also printed onto aluminium and installed on E Block’s exterior.

The students have all spent many hours on these artworks and presented them along with a short speech about their work to a staff judging panel.

Jaime Spencer was awarded first place, Tara Fausett second place, and Lucy Woodall third place. The other finalists were Falconeris Marimon Correa, Ullrich Von Reiche and Samantha Persson.

Lois Wadsworth holds her People’s Choice winner.

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Blood donor

DAY

A great turnout of staff and students on Blood Donor Day meant that around 200 units of blood and blood products were collected for use by hospitals.

With the help of MAGS’ student-led Health Committee, NZ Blood Service facilitated the day on Tuesday, July 2.

NZ Blood Service is the sole provider of blood products to hospitals around New Zealand and relies on the generosity of their donors to save lives. MAGS nurse Claire Brown said, “The tireless work from the Health Committee, with spreading the word, recruitment of donors leading up to the day, and organisation on the day itself, contributed immensely to the success of the day.

“The Blood Service has commended the students and staff on their generosity in donating, and on the impeccable behaviour observed on the day. They passed on that the students were a pleasure to work with and made the day thoroughly enjoyable.”

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MT ALBERT GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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SCHOOL COMMUNITY NEWS

Shave for a Cure

Shave for a Cure was staged over two days – August 8 and 9 – and raised more than $9000 for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

About 20 brave students and one staff member – Commerce teacher Stuart Halstead – sacrificed their locks on Thursday and Friday in front of boisterous crowds to raise money for the cause.

The Interact Committee chaired by Sarah Sherlock had a goal of raising $4000 for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand but easily smashed that target with a total of more than $9000.

MAGS has been holding a Shave for a Cure event for many years now and it is hugely popular.

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Peace week Students celebrated Youth Peace Week from August 5-9 with a range of activities including writing messages of gratitude on paper doves, chalk drawings about peace, Spoken Word poetry and a poster/ poem competition.

More than 600 doves – with anonymous messages of gratitude to either staff or students – were collected by Peer Mediators who distributed them to recipients.

This year, Youth Peace Week saw secondary schools all around New Zealand undertake activities around the theme of Peace and Technology. Peer Mediators at MAGS encouraged students to put down their devices, talk to one another face-toface and be in the present moment.

Peer Mediators (from left): Alyssa Houma, Caitlin Baber, Jade Chambers and India Bulman.

Duke of Edinburgh

AWARD Silver Award winners, pictured from left: Flynn Lakeman, Jydee Leonard, Mackenzie Brabant, Claudia Woods, Norah Anderson, Eric Shen, Caitlin Mitchell, Elliott Lawrence, Alex Pullen and Vaibhav Nayyar.

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In August, students were recognised at Assembly and congratulated on attaining Duke of Edinburgh awards.

Ten students achieved their Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award through completion of the four sections of service, skill, physical activity and adventurous journey over a minimum period of six months.

And the following students achieved their Bronze through completion of the four sections of service, skill, physical activity and adventurous journey over a minimum period of six months: Freya Coulson, Angus Edwards, Max Hertzum, Cameron Hicks, Ella Mitchell, Nicole Muir, Charlie Pellett, Ariella Weinberg, Maria Boow, Mikayla Eade, Rosa Jack and Emma Johns.

The Duke of Edinburgh international award scheme challenges young people to achieve through persistence, voluntary participation, leadership and challenge to the individual. Be it giving time to an organisation once a week over six months or tramping in hill country, all these students have met and overcome personal challenges along the way.

SCHOOL COMMUNITY NEWS

Daffodil DAY With Health and Well-Being Committee members out selling daffodils and collecting all week, $1288 was raised by Daffodil Day on Friday, August 30.

All the donations will go to the Cancer Society and help with vital scientific research, as well as funding a wide range of support services, and education and awareness campaigns for people affected by cancer.

Since 1990, this iconic event has supported the Cancer Society’s work and raised awareness of cancer in New Zealand.

Community champion Camille Peterson was named Quota International of Auckland’s Community Champion of 2019 in July.

Quota International is a community service organisation, and its Community Champion Award honours young women who have faced difficulties in their lives and succeeded, providing inspiration to others.

Quota members Glenice Stevens, pictured at left, and Pam Carr presented Camille with the award at Assembly on July 3.

Glenice said, “Our judges were impressed by Camille’s involvement in a wide range of activities plus success in her choice of Drama.

“Her diligence and determination to succeed with her ‘can do’ attitude is an inspiration to students in the school and to us all.”

Year 11 student Camille, who can be seen around school with mobility dog Lewis, has a passion for Drama but plans to study psychology.

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HIP HOP Gold Winner MAGS student Faolan Okan was part of the Swagganauts dance crew that won the Gold medal in the Varsity Division at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships held in August in Phoenix, Arizona.

The team, trained by Identity director and Albertian Josh Cesan, won this title against 68 crews from 52 countries. What made the victory even sweeter is that their sister crew, Masque, won the Bronze medal in the same section – a huge feat for one company from a small country.

Josh Cesan says their win was a result of the total commitment and effort that the team members displayed personally and collectively at all stages of training and preparation – always keeping their eye on the goal.

FRONTLINE GRAND SLAM FINALISTS

Spoken Word team members (from left) Abby Irwin, Matilda Clack, Takunda Muzondiwa and Vaibhav Nayyar

On September 14, the MAGS Spoken Word team competed in the sixth annual WORD – The Front Line Grand Slam.

While the team was unsuccessful in their bid to lift the trophy, they delivered powerful and articulate performances that brought audience members to their feet.

The team members – Abby Irwin, Matilda Clack, Takunda Muzondiwa and Vaibhav Nayyar – were selected by audition at the start of the year, and these students worked hard to write original material and polish their performances for each of the demanding competition rounds, as well as manage their studies.

Vaibhav was singled out for his solo piece, which addressed the

Smokefreerockquest Borderline won the People’s Choice Award at the Auckland Regional finals of Smokefreerockquest on June 8.

That win earned them the right to compete for a spot in the national final but they did not make the judges’ selections.

Borderline (pictured) is comprised of MAGS students Matthew McFadden, Sam Tebbutt, Jackson Boswell and Sam Mandeno-Clay, and Mt Roskill Grammar’s Isaiah Stitt.

They were joined by another MAGS band – Brolo – in the Auckland final after they also made it through the heats in May. Brolo is Finn Helm, Norah Anderson, Jakub Ward, Alex Collins and Sean Tyson Taylor.

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issue of absent fathers, by judge and Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft. In Judge Becroft’s final comments to all contestants he described how, as a first time attendee at a poetry slam, he hadn’t been prepared to be so moved and was impressed by the bravery and intelligence of the young people who took the stage.

He said that Vaibhav’s message had resonated with him particularly due to his time working as a Principal Youth Court Judge. He described it as an “important poem” that deserved a wider audience.

Abby was acknowledged by international slam poet Carrie Rudzinski, who described Abby’s poem about the harassment young women face as part of their daily life as “fresh”. She said that Abby’s poem covered a topic that slam poets regularly traversed but that Abby’s skill as a writer and performer were obvious and the message was worthy of repetition.

SCHOOL PERFORMING NEWSARTS

Taking centre stage Head Girl Takunda Muzondiwa has been chosen to be part of the Youth Shakespeare Company that will travel to London to perform at the Globe Theatre next July.

Takunda was chosen after taking part in the National Shakespeare Schools Production in Wellington during the October school holidays. She is pictured playing the titular role in the play Macbeth despite reading for other roles

as she did not think she could play the lead in the National Shakespeare Schools Production.

“I didn’t put my hand up for Macbeth because I thought there is no way I can learn my lines in such a short space of time so I read for the Three Witches and Lady Macduff,” said Takunda. “With only one week to put the production together, we performed what we had put together at Pipitea Marae and then the Legislative

Chamber of Parliament – it was an intense experience doing that along with 47 other talented actors and actresses from all over the country.”

At the Globe next year, the 24 members of the Youth Shakespeare Company will have two weeks to prepare the nominated Shakespeare play.

“It’s such an exciting opportunity; when I got the call to say I was a going to London I was in disbelief.”

Photo courtesy of Memory of Light Photography – Brian Scurfield

Wheeler’s Luck On October 15, the Drama Department finally got to stage the Year 11 performance of Wheeler’s Luck by Nigel Collins, Toby Leach and Damon Andrews.

HoD Drama Gerald Urquhart said, “It was a bit of a case of life imitating art. “Wheeler’s luck” is a made-up phrase from the fictional town the play is set in. It roughly means you’ve got to take the good with the bad.

“Well, we certainly had our fair share of both. Staff and students battled through illness, injury and the required postponement to produce a wonderful night out. The cast delivered an energetic performance, fuelled by a large and responsive audience. There was lots of laughter and some excellent feedback at the end.

“I am incredibly proud of the effort put in by everyone involved including the backstage and technical students. But in particular I want to thank the cast for their commitment to staging such a successful show.”

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Children of the Black Skirt On August 21, the Year 10 Drama Academy class performed Children of the Black Skirt, a challenging piece of theatre about orphanage institutions in Australia.

Drama teacher Carmela Hughes said, “These students showed off their exemplary skills to an enthralled audience with a performance standard well beyond their years. It was a night of excellence and a fantastic example of the high standard of performing artists trained by the department.”

Photos: Ruby Taylor Sinclair 26

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SCHOOL PERFORMING NEWSARTS

KBB Music Festival MAGS’ bands won four awards at KBB Music Festival in August, with the three classical orchestras and Jazz Band receiving one each.

The Moon Strings were Highly Commended, the Jazz Band won Silver, and there were Bronze awards for the Chamber and Symphony orchestras. There were 132 different groups performing over the week.

Director of Arts Co-Curricular Jacqui Cesan said, “The music students and teachers worked hard for these results and must be congratulated for their commitment.”

Earlier in the month, the Jazz Band won another Silver when it competed at the Auckland Jazz and Blues Festival.

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NIGHT OF THE

CLASSICS

On June 25, at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre, classical musicians showcased their talents in Night of the Classics, and the audience was treated to performances by The Chamber Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, String Orchestra and Concert Orchestra.

There were some stunning individual performances as part of the orchestras including virtuoso piano playing by student Eric Shen, the delightful Hayden Trio, and Three on Six piano trio.

The Boys Choir, under the direction of Terence Maskell, gave a stellar debut performance, and the Jazz Band provided a wonderful contrast to the classical repertoire of the evening.

Photos by India Bulman 28

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SCHOOL PERFORMING NEWSARTS

MOVE OVER This year, for the first time and owing to the broad range of talent across musical genres, MAGS held a contemporary music concert at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre on June 24.

Move Over featured a host of Jazz, Rock, Pop and R’n’B items.

The audience enjoyed performances by our qualifying RockQuest bands Brolo and Borderline, as well as the Jazz Band and two other school-based bands.

The 50-strong Contemporary Choir showcased some beautiful voices, and there were also performances from the finalists in the Junior MAGS Idol, among other strong solo items.

Special guest performer Albertian Matt Esekia, now in his final year of a Jazz music degree, came with another guitarist and treated the audience to a wonderful jazz version of the classic There Will Never Be Another You.

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UNITY CULTURAL

CONCERT The 2019 Unity cultural concert was held on August 1 at the Dorothy Winstone Centre, Auckland Girls Grammar.

The capacity audience of 750 enthusiastically acknowledged each of the groups and were vocal in their praise for all the performances.

Prefects DaRhys Simone and Assina Te Paa-Kolio were wonderful MCs, introducing each of the groups before they performed and having a little fun with the audience while some groups set up.

The evening started with a powerful and disciplined performance by MAGS Kapa Haka, who clearly showed why they were such strong contenders in competition.

This was followed by a beautiful and very lyrical performance by the Chinese group, also incorporating a bit of martial arts at one point.

Next was the Niuean group, who looked stunning in their new costumes and it was lovely to see ex-students and former leaders performing with them. This was followed by a moving piano duet by Chinese students Kitty and Carl Mu that wowed the audience with its technical expertise and expression.

Then came the very popular Tongan group, again beautifully costumed, colourful and all on stage. They loved performing as much as the audience enjoyed watching.

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As a contrast, but with equal colour and energy, the Indian group gave us a quick tour of the many Indian dance styles – cleverly crafted together into one performance by student leader Maitreyi Jaywant.

The Samoan group was next and again a clear crowd favourite. The time they put into their preparation clearly showed as their synchronisation and energy was outstanding. Congratulations to Ms Anisi and student leaders Theresa Anisi, Siana Vagana and Tali Afele. The beautiful lyrical quality of the girls’ performance was contrasted by a rousing sasa, and special mention must be made of Ezra Purcell, who was highly entertaining in his role of Fa’aluma.

The final item for the evening was the Cook Island group. Again beautifully costumed and performing with sheer joy shown on their faces at the opportunity to share their culture with us all. Their performance finished with the ever-popular Around the World, and they invited members of the audience to come and perform with them.

Director of Arts Co-curricular Jacqui Cesan said, “All in all, this was an outstanding representation of culture at Mount Albert Grammar and we look forward to an outstanding representation at PolyFest in 2020.”

Photos by Lars Landicho and Renee Ng

SCHOOL PERFORMING NEWSARTS

ARTS ALIVE The annual Arts Alive concert and presentation of Arts Lions was held at Centennial Theatre on Tuesday, September 24.

The concert particularly showcased the performances of the Lion award winners and a variety of individuals and groups from across the Arts spectrum.

As they came in, audience members were treated to a Powerpoint of work from MAGS talented senior Visual Artists.

Kapa Haka Leader and songstress Assina Te Paa-Kolio opened the evening with a waiata based on a Maori proverb about our connectedness to each other. This was followed by a stellar performance from the award-winning Jazz Band.

The evening showcased a huge variety of talent across the Arts, with music performances from the Boys Choir, senior string players and a stellar piano solo by Eric Shen.

Drama pieces from the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare and Godot performances

were all directed by students and showcased their broad talent and creativity in both comedic and dramatic work.

Dance items ranged from the everpopular Leavers Dance to choreography being submitted for scholarship.

Particular mention must be made of the very moving tribute to Geoff Moon choreographed by Allyana Mayerhofler, and, of course, everybody enjoyed seeing the national champion Megacrew perform for the last time this year.

Also this year we featured the Spoken Word group consisting of Vaibhav Nayyar, Takunda Muzondiwa, Abby Irwin and Matilda Clack. This is a relatively new group but what talent there is among these students!

We are hugely proud of all the students who performed and were awarded the coveted Arts Lion for their talent and commitment to the Arts.

Credit must also go to the Arts Prefects and senior students who had a large role in the organisation and running of the event.

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BOYS CHOIR INITIATIVE MAGS has been lucky enough to secure the well-known choirmaster Terence Maskell to help in the establishment of Choral singing at Mount Albert Grammar.

Terence Maskell has been the conductor of The Graduate Choir NZ since the choir’s inception in 2001. He gained his early choral and musical development from Emeritus Professor Peter Godfrey and the late Tony Jennings.

His choirs, which perform regularly on television and are Radio NZ Concert artists, have toured in NZ and overseas, and he has acted as guest conductor, accompanist (piano and organ), soloist, adjudicator, choral arranger and clinician on numerous occasions.

He has served as organist, choral director and music teacher at King’s College, Otahuhu and was formerly Director of Music at Aorere College, Papatoetoe for 20 years, establishing a firm national and international reputation for fine choral groups there. He is currently working with students in three Auckland schools – developing choral programmes and teaching piano.

Mr Maskell has worked hard this year with the MAGS boys and they have featured at both Music and Arts Alive concerts – and at the Arts Dinner and Senior Prizegiving performing Jingle Bells.

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Some of our seniors have enjoyed the experience so much that they have committed to joining Mr Maskell’s well known Graduate Choir when they leave school.

Mr Maskell has also been working with Junior boys for a performance at Junior Bytes in November.

Next year will see the establishment of a girls choir under Dr Erin Atchison, and Mr Maskell will be working with junior students in assemblies to foster singing at MAGS.

The Boys Choir made a big impression at the Night of the Classics concert.

Choirmaster Terence Maskell is driving choral singing at MAGS.

Germain Hellriegel-White, Kanhaiya Naidu, Tali Afele and DaRhys Simone perform Jingle Bells at the Arts Awards Dinner.

SCHOOL PERFORMING NEWSARTS Recipients of the Arts Attitude Awards were recognised for their commitment and positivity.

ARTS ATTITUDE AWARDS Albertian Josh Cesan was the perfect guest speaker at the Arts Attitude Awards Assembly on October 25 with his story of triumph through hard work and persistence.

Josh, who now runs a dance company with world champion hip hop crews, said he was not successful as a dancer to begin with and couldn’t even break into his brothers’ crews.

But he kept pushing and decided to set up his own dance company, Identity, which has fostered men’s and women’s crews who have gone on to great success nationally and internationally.

His Swagganauts dance crew won the Gold medal in the Varsity Division at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships held in August in Phoenix, Arizona.

They defeated 68 crews from 52 countries, and their sister crew, Masque, won the Bronze medal in the same section – a huge feat for one company from a small country.

Josh’s story fitted perfectly with the theme for the awards: ‘It’s attitude not aptitude that determines the altitude’.

Identity director Josh Cesan

DUX ARTIUMS 2019 True examples of commitment to excellence

Faolan Okan was named Best Male Actor at the Arts Dinner.

Our two Dux Artiums this year – Head Girl Takunda Muzondiwa and Year 12 student Faolan Okan – are truly exceptional students.

They achieved this accolade with a record number of Arts points – the highest in six years. This is due to their outstanding record both at school, nationally and internationally.

Takunda – a triple Arts Lion awardee – shot to fame earlier this year when she became an overnight online sensation because of her compelling race unity speech. She has also been chosen as one of a very select group of young Shakespearean actors to perform at the Globe Theatre in London next year. As well as this, however, she was also part of the award-winning Jazz band and the NZ School champion Hip Hop Megacrew and performs with school orchestras and the Spoken Word team.

Faolan, who is also a spokesman and dancer for the current world champion hip hop team Swagganauts, is also a NZ Tap dance scholarship winner, was chosen to feature in a NZ On Air-funded short film and has had his choreographic work for boys selected for dance festivals receiving excellent reviews.

He has also won awards for musicianship and is a talented composer and filmmaker.

Takunda Muzondiwa performs a scene from Macbeth at the Arts Dinner.

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MAGS Dux for 2019 Matilda Clack is pictured above with Headmaster Patrick Drumm and Proxime Accessit Adam Bateman.

SENIOR

PRIZEGIVING The Mount Albert Grammar School Dux for 2019 is Matilda Clack, with Adam Bateman named Proxime Accesit.

Both were also awarded Chris Liddell Scholarships at Senior Prizegiving in the F.W. Gamble Hall on October 31. The Chris Liddell Scholarships are each worth $5000 per year for three years and are granted to students who show strong academic potential and are also good all-rounders.

They were presented by Chris Liddell’s sister Dr Hilary Liddell, with brother John Liddell also in attendance at prizegiving.

Adam also won The FW Gamble Memorial Cup for Best All-Round Boy in Year 13 and was awarded a Gold Lion. Head Girl Takunda Muzondiwa won the Prefects’ Cup for Best All-Round Girl in Year 13, and was re-awarded a Gold Lion.

Takunda and Head Boy Germain Hellriegel-White, who MC’ed the ceremony, gave their farewell speeches, thanking staff, peers and parents – and providing some humorous insights into life at MAGS. The top teaching awards were also presented. Year 13 Boys Dean Andy Belson

received the Herb Towers Travel Prize for a professional development trip overseas. Chris Liddell also awards Teacher Scholarships worth $10,000 each for excellence in teaching and contribution to the school, and these went to Haana Bovaird (Year 10 Girls Dean) and Carissa Calvert (Assistant HOF English).

Eric Shen and Megan Williams were named Best All Round Year 12 Boy and Girl respectively, while Oliver Bulman and Rosa Jack received the equivalent awards for Year 11.

Orion Schmok was named Best All-Round International Boy, and Hannah Blaschke the Best All-Round International Girl.

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PRIZEGIVINGS Year 13 Boys Dean Andy Belson received the Herb Towers Travel Prize.

Alyssa Houma was named Best All-Round Pasifika Student.

Dr Hilary Liddell and John Liddell are pictured with Chris Liddell Teacher Scholarship winners Haana Bovaird (Year 10 Girls Dean) and Carissa Calvert (Assistant HOF English).

India Bulman was awarded the Woolf Fisher Memorial Scholarship.

Head Girl Takunda Muzondiwa won the Prefects’ Cup for Best All-Round Girl in Year 13, while Adam Bateman won The FW Gamble Memorial Cup for Best All-Round Boy in Year 13.

Abbey-Jean Kaipara received the Te Puna o Wairaka Whanau Award for Best All-Round Maori Student.

Matilda Clack and Adam Bateman were awarded Chris Liddell Scholarships, and are pictured with John Liddell and Dr Hilary Liddell.

Gold Lion winners for 2019, pictured from left with Headmaster Patrick Drumm, are: Eva Williams, Tara Fausett, Takunda Muzondiwa, Claudia Saunders, Adam Bateman, Germain Hellriegel-White and Logan Allomes.

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Head Girl Takunda Muzondiwa added to her many accolades when she became the first MAGS student to receive two Gold Lions since the inception of the award in 2015.

The Gold Lion is a prestigious award that goes to winners of all four MAGS Lions

for Sport, Arts, Service and as Scholars.

Takunda was awarded a Gold Lion last year in Year 12 and re-awarded it this year at Senior Prizegiving.

Tara Fausett followed in her footsteps by becoming only the second Year 12 student to be awarded a Gold Lion.

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Bryan Liu was awarded the Jim Greatbanks Mount Albert Grammar School Engineering Scholarship.

Jamila Chen won the Girls’ Foundation Cup for Service to the School.

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Matthew Knowles was a popular winner of the Neville Watson Memorial Award for Best Typifying the Spirit of Mount Albert Grammar School.

The Isaac Gray Cup winner for Service to the School was Jake Paxton.

India Bulman won the Sylvia Lamb Benevolence Cup.

Hannah Adye won the Jo Williams Cup for Diligence, and Victor Qiu the Robert Willmott Memorial Prize for Quality of Effort for Year 11 Boys.

Rosa Jack and Oliver Bulman were named Best All Round Year 11 Girl and Boy respectively.

Faolan Okan won the Hanson Cup for Senior Progress and Endeavour, and Brearna Crawford the Yvette Williams Cup for Effort for Year 12 Girls.

Eric Shen and Megan Williams were named Best All Round Year 12 Boy and Girl respectively.

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SCHOOL PRIZEGIVINGS NEWS

Service Lions 2019 The Service Lions of 2019 were awarded on October 18 to 69 well-deserving students at a Special Assembly in the F.W. Gamble Hall.

Before proceedings got underway, Headmaster Patrick Drumm called Brian Murphy up and he received a standing ovation for his 60 years of service to MAGS. MCs for the event were Prefect Theresa Anisi and Deputy Head Boy Oscar Graham, who introduced guest speaker Tiff McLeod.

Ms McLeod is a Cure Kids Ambassador and became involved with the charity because her daughter Eva was born with a hole in her diaphragm that meant Eva spent her first four years of life living in Starship Hospital.

She said Cure Kids, a health research charity, gave her hope that Eva could live a full life and so she decided to give back by working for Cure Kids as well as helping Starship Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.

Ms McLeod, who was awarded a Local Hero award for her work in the community, said the greatest gift we had was being able to give, and we should all try to leave the world a better place.

Students were awarded the Lions for services to the Performing Arts, Visual Arts, the Library, Technology, Pasifika, School House, and the wider school community. They were presented by Mr Drumm and Ms McLeod.

Cure Kids ambassador Tiff McLeod was guest speaker at the assembly.

Prefect Theresa Anisi and Deputy Head Boy Oscar Graham MC’ed the event.

2020 PREFECTS MAGS is very excited to announce the leadership group who have been chosen from an exceptional field of students through a rigorous process.

The Prefect’s role carries great responsibility around service leadership and guardianship of our school culture.

All 2020 Prefects must attend the compulsory Prefects Convention (Saturday, 7 December – Monday, 9 December) to be held at MAGS School House this year.

The current Head Boy (Germain Hellriegel-White) and Head Girl (Takunda Muzondiwa) will hand over the korowai donated by the Gallagher-Sullivan family to their successors when the Head Boy and Head Girl for 2020 are announced in early December.

Congratulations to all our 2020 Prefects on their appointment. We trust that the 2020 Year 13 student body will support this group in their significant role.

2020 Prefects:

Norah Anderson, Adi Ashok, Joshua Baker, Tayla Bamber, Bailey Bennett, Samuel Chote, Lara Chuo, Oscar Clark, Theodore Coker-Grey, Jack Conder, Brearna Crawford, Luca Eastwood, Sila Esekielu, Tara Fausett, Schneider Fernandes, Tuiaki Fiuloi, Bethany Fletcher, Cynthia Gao, Finn Helm, Nanaka Inaba, Abby Irwin, Kailah Johnson, Blake Jowsey, Flynn Lakeman, David Laxon, Latonya Lole, Ayleigh Loomes, Ruby Maoate, Eloise Muir, Kareena Naran, Vaibhav Nayyar, Quinton Nichols, Kike Ogundipe, Faolan Okan, Andre Pickering, Niua Pomare-Khanna, Alexander Pullen, Marieke Richards, Eric Shen, Meadow Simpson, Aidan Skinner, Jaime Spencer, Milan Stevenson, Sataan Tawera, Isla Thompson, Iosefa Ulugia-Pua, Ronette Va’ai, Lois Wadsworth, Megan Williams, Claudia Woods.

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The Outstanding Arts Service Award went to Jake Paxton.

Dux Artiums Faolan Okan and Takunda Muzondiwa at the Arts Dinner with Headmaster Patrick Drumm.

Assina Te Paa-Kolio, who won the Maori Performing Arts Award, sings a waiata.

ARTS DINNER The Arts Dinner on October 30 celebrated the depth and breadth of students’ talents as well as their dedication to the Arts.

Performances and displays on the night showed excellence across Cultural Performing Arts, Dance, Drama, Media Studies, Music, Speech and Debating, and Photography and Visual Arts.

The Dux Artiums for 2019 are Takunda Muzondiwa and Faolan Okan, who also took home other major awards on the night.

Takunda, a triple Arts Lion awardee, completed NCEA level 3 Drama with an excellence endorsement and Drama scholarship as a Year 12 student.

As a member of the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare team, she won a regional award for her performance and at a workshop in Wellington in July was selected to be part of the NZ young Shakespeare group that will travel to London next year to perform at the Globe theatre.

An accomplished writer and orator, she was runner-up in the National Race Unity speech 38

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competition this year and her inspiring words saw her become an online sensation with over 1 million views worldwide of her speech.

She is also a member of the National Secondary School Champion Hip Hop Megacrew, the award-winning Jazz Band, MAGS Frontline Spoken Word team, and plays in both the Concert and Symphonic orchestras and is part of the Contemporary Choir.

At the Arts Dinner she was also awarded Best Actress, the Public Speaking Award, Spoken Word Poetry Award and the trophy for Outstanding Extracurricular Representation.

A Year 12 student, Faolan is an extension student in Dance and Drama and has this year achieved all available NCEA level 3 credits in both subjects at excellence. In 12 Media Studies he has also achieved all credits at excellence.

Faolan is an Arts Leader in Dance, and his choreography for boys, for which he also composed and played the music, was

selected to be in both the YouDance festival and the Tempo Auckland Dance festival, receiving outstanding reviews in both.

Faolan is a spokesman and dancer for world champion Hip Hop team the Swagganauts.

He is also the national NZAMD scholarship winner in Tap Dance.

This year, he has also found the time to represent MAGS in RockQuest, where he received the Rock Shop electronic performance award and a musicianship award.

At the Arts Dinner, Faolan also won Best Actor, Most Outstanding Male Dancer, Most Promising Filmmaker, and Creative Vision in Drama.

Director of Arts Co-curricular Jacqui Cesan echoed the sentiments of the other teachers on the night when she said the Year 13s would be sorely missed not only for their dazzling talents but also for their hard work behind the scenes that made productions and performances possible.

SCHOOL PRIZEGIVINGS NEWS Top Year 12 Pasifika Academic and Best All Round Pasifika Student Ruby Maoate.

Alyssa Houma, pictured with Mrs Anisi and Mr Drumm, was named Best All Round MAGS Pasifika Student 2019.

PASIFIKA

PRIZEGIVING DINNER Liz Ah Kuoi-Atmore, at left, presented the Ah Kuoi Family Cup for Services to Pasifika to Theresa Anisi and DaRhys Simone.

From Left, Director of Sport Allie Wright with Top Y13 Pasifika Sportswoman Karla Akeli and Top Year 13 Pasifika Sportsman Josh Leger.

Top Year 11 Pasifika Academic and Best All Round Pasifika Students Leilani Ginnen and Marcus Savelio.

There were a few tears and a lot of laughter as the Pasifika community came together to celebrate the success of MAGS Pasifika students in Academia, Sports, the Performing Arts and Service to Pasifika and the school.

The Pasifika Prizegiving Dinner, on Friday, 25 October at Sorrento in the Park, was MC’ed by Deputy Head Prefects Alyssa Houma and DaRhys Simone, who were also big winners on the night.

Alyssa was named Best All Round Pasifika Student and it was announced on the night she had earned six scholarships.

DaRhys was a co-winner (with Theresa Anisi) of the Ah Kuoi Family Cup for Services to MAGS Pasifika and co-winner (with Tuiaki Fiuloi) of the Tagaloa Peter Su’a Award for Performing Arts, and has earned two scholarships.

Headmaster Patrick Drumm opened proceedings by saying Pasifika students comprised a significant part of the MAGS population and, more importantly, were vital in maintaining the school’s much-valued cultural diversity.

The Top Year 13 Pasifika Academic Student was Lovely Pulotu, while Ruby Maoate was named Top Year 12 Pasifika Academic and Best All Round Pasifika Student. Top Year 11 Pasifika Academic and Best All Round Pasifika Students were Leilani Ginnen and Marcus Savelio.

The Year 13 Siva Samoa featured students and staff showing off their dance moves with the latter including Pasifika Liaison Danny Liuliu Afoa, Deputy Principal Corey Todd and Rugby Director Nick Leger.

It preceded the naming of the top sportspeople: Karla Akeli and Josh Leger.

Siana Vagana was a co-winner (with Theresa Anisi) of the Tupuola Apisaloma Taulapiu Cup for Cultural Leadership, and also won the Director of Arts Award for Extra-Curricular Excellence.

Tavita Fa’amausili won the Village Community Trust Award for services to the Pasifika Council, and Maraea Ah Kuoi-Atmore took home the Ulugia-Pua Award for Outstanding Services to Mount Albert Grammar School.

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The NZ champion Softball Boys Premiers were awarded the Headmaster’s Cup for Team of the Year.

Guest speaker Lisa Carrington was presented with a bouquet of flowers by MAGS’ champion rower Holly Chaafe.

Sports Awards Dinner An outstanding year of success in the sporting sphere was celebrated at the Sports Awards Dinner 2019 at Alexandra Park on October 23, with world champion kayaker Lisa Carrington as guest speaker.

Latonya Lole and Lachlan Pearce were named Victrix Ludorum and Victor Ludorum respectively, while the NZ champion Softball Boys Premiers were awarded the Headmaster’s Cup for Team of the Year.

The Te Aroha Keenan Cup for Outstanding Individual Achievement for girls was awarded to swimmer Brearna Crawford while basketballer Nate Wilson won the comparable boys’ award – the Olympic Cup. Fencer Charlie Bioletti won the Service to MAGS Sport Cup for offering his opponent a rematch when he discovered he had been wrongly awarded victory.

The night also saw the awarding of Blue Caps to MAGS’ Auckland representatives and Black Caps to MAGS’ NZ representatives. Six students were also recognised as Elite Premiers for representing MAGS at Premier level

Brearna Crawford won the Te Aroha Keenan Cup winner for Outstanding Individual Girls Achievement.

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for each of their five years at school: Rikki Fiatau (Basketball), Zane Harrison (Lacrosse), Jack Norris (Lacrosse), Eva Williams (Swimming), Dylan Moon (Touch) and Moanekah Va’ai (Touch).

Lachlan was named Victor Ludorum as Captain of the MAGS Row team and Co-captain of the Hockey First XI. He also played MAGS Football and was a member of the Maadi 8 to make the A final.

Latonya Lole was named Victrix Ludorum having represented MAGS in three Premier sports this year. She is Co-captain of the Athletics and Premier Netball teams, and was a member of the Premier Girls Touch Team. She was named Auckland Netball Premier Player of the Year and was selected to represent New Zealand against England for New Zealand Secondary Schools.

The Premier Boys Softball team won Team of the Year for finishing first in NZ Secondary Schools, winning the national title in a longer format competition than seen in previous years. This is the seventh consecutive year that MAGS has won this national title. They also finished first in AKSS and

Victrix Ludorum Latonya Lole.

first in the AKSS One-Day Tournament.

Brearna Crawford won the Te Aroha Keenan Cup after breaking every Auckland age group swimming record she has attempted and collecting an amazing 46 Gold medals, 19 NZ Age Group records and two NZ Open Records. Brearna also represented New Zealand at the Junior Worlds meet in Budapest and was a member of the first MAGS team to win a NZSS title.

Nate Wilson won the Olympic Cup for his achievements in Basketball.

He was an influential member of the Premier Boys team that finished third at the New Zealand Secondary Schools competition this year and was also named in the tournament team. Nate played in the Auckland U19 team who were runners-up in the New Zealand U19 National tournament and was named in the tournament team. Nate represented New Zealand this year as a member of the Junior Tall Blacks who competed in China and received the MAGS Most Outstanding Basketball Player Award this year.

Victor Ludorum Lachlan Pearce.

Nate Wilson won the Olympic Cup for Outstanding Individual Boys Achievement.

Te Puna o Wairaka bid a fond farewell to its Year 13 Leavers and celebrated its top students at a special dinner on Monday, November 4 at Te Mahurehure Marae.

There was also a formal hand-over of the kaitātaki wahine (female leader) and kaitātaki tāne (male leader) for the Kapa Haka group in 2020. The sounds of waiata and haka rang out as this year’s leaders Assina Te Paa-Kolio and Kisepi Ma’afu Roberts handed over the ‘mauri’ in the form of a patu and taiaha to the two new leaders: Charlotte Mann and Niua Pomare-Khanna.

Year 13 Leavers were also presented with pounamu but not before teachers Whaea Waimirirangi Paul and Matua Peter Walters had some fun at their expense, revealing the nicknames they had given the Leavers and the reasons for them.

Headmaster Patrick Drumm was the first speaker on the night – MC’ed by Year 12 students Niua Pomare-Khanna and Tayla Bamber – and he emphasised the importance of Te Puna in keeping te reo alive, empowering Maori students and maintaining diversity at MAGS. Junior members of Te Puna performed a haka in tribute to the Year 13s, who performed their own thunderous haka towards the end of proceedings.

When it came to the awards, Abbey-Jean Kaipara won the Top Senior Academic Award and was named All-Round Top Senior Student.

Richard Mann won the “Manu Tute” Award For Services to Puna and the wider community, while Assina Te Paa-Kolio received the “He toka tū” Award For Contribution to Kapa Haka.

Bree Tipene was All-Round Top Junior Girl, and the All-Round Top Junior Boy was Isaiah Nin. The Top Junior Academic Award went to Nikora Morehu.

The award for Top Senior Māori Language Orator went to Niua Pomare-Khanna, and Te Waaka Popata-Henare was named Top Junior Māori Language Orator.

When it came to sports achievement, Princess Elliott won the senior award and Stella-Rose Woodman the junior award.

SCHOOL PRIZEGIVINGS NEWS

TE PUNA O WAIRAKA DINNER

Te Puna Leavers, from left, Tuhaka Te Pou Kohere, Abbey-Jean Kaipara, Phoenix Karaitiana, Richard Mann, Assina Te Paa-Kolio, Kisepi Ma’afu-Roberts and Tylah Williams. Absent: Princess Elliott.

Kaitātaki tāne (male leader) and kaitātaki wahine (female leader) for the Kapa Haka group in 2020 are Niua Pomare-Khanna and Charlotte Mann.

Abbey-Jean Kaipara was named All-Round Top Senior Student and won the Top Senior Academic Award for Te Puna o Wairaka.

Bree Tipene, at left, was All-Round Top Junior Girl, while Stella-Rose Woodman won Top Junior Sports Achievement.

Te Waaka Popata-Henare, at left, was named Top Junior Māori Language Orator, while Isaiah Nin was All Round Top Junior Boy.

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The Fencing Boys A Team with coach Kyle Macdonald.

Winter Tournament Week One of the highlights of Winter Tournament Week was an outstanding effort from the MAGS Fencing team to win the Girls and Boys Epee Teams events as well as Charlie Bioletti being the NZSS Individual Epee Champion, with James Butler runner-up and Gio Aguilar third-equal – a MAGS trifecta.

On top of that, Amey Smith won Bronze in the Womens’ Individual Epee.

The Boys A Team won the Epee Teams event in dramatic fashion with Charlie winning the last point when both teams were tied on 44 points, and 45 points needed for the win.

MAGS Fencing Coach Kyle Macdonald was instrumental in having the event hosted by MAGS on top of his commitment to coaching the team.

Other highlights were the Basketball Girls Junior Premiers finishing runners-up in the Schick AA Regional tournament to Westlake Girls High at Pulman Arena.

The Basketball Boys Junior A and B teams played at the same time and the same venue as the Girls, ending up 8th and 12th respectively.

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SPORT SCHOOL NEWS four wins in a row and qualified for Nationals in Palmerston North by finishing 6th. Unfortunately the Premier Girls missed out on going through to nationals after a close game against Massey, ending up 8th.

The Hockey Boys 1st XI had just one loss and beat Rotorua Boys High 3-2 in their last game to finish third at their tournament in Whangarei. The Hockey Girls 1st XI fought hard but came out on the wrong side of some close games at North Harbour Hockey Stadium.

In Curling, the four-person Mixed Team of Bryn Williams, Jack Millar, Lily Hardy and Hashmita Singh were runners-up in the NISS competition in their debut season.

The Rugby U15s rounded off their tournament with a good win – 3119 over Westlake Boys High – in Napier to finish 11th.

Also in Napier, the Football Boys 1st XI lost their final game 1-3 to Tauranga Boys High to finish 6th. The Football Girls 1st XI started off their competition in Christchurch with five wins on the trot but lost the semi-final on penalties. In another tight game, they lost the 3rd/4th playoff by a solitary goal to Epsom Girls Grammar.

The Lacrosse Premier Girls had two wins and three losses to finish 6th in their NZSS tournament at Pulman Park.

Our Netball Premiers started well with four consecutive wins at the North Harbour Netball Centre but some close losses followed and they eventually finished 8th at UNISS. The Rugby League NZSS Tournament, to be held in South Auckland, was cancelled due to concerns about the spread of measles.

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BASKETBALL The Premier Boys Basketball team had a dream run to end their season at the National Championships, exceeding all expectations by claiming third place.

The team started the tournament poorly, losing both their matches on the first day to Napier Boys’ High and eventual champions Saint Kentigern, making a top 8 placing highly unlikely.

With everything on the line, a much better performance was needed. After a bruising encounter that went down to the wire, MAGS prevailed against Middleton Grange. This was followed up with wins against Nayland College and then Gisborne Boys’ High to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The team had to win a tough repecharge match against Rotorua Boys’ to make the top 8. Making up for a lacklustre display against Gisborne, MAGS played one of their best matches of the season, playing strong team defence and shooting an impressive 14 threepointers to win.

Strong defensive efforts were again on display in the quarterfinal match against Rangitoto College. Once again, MAGS wore

The Junior Girls Basketball team with their Silver medals at the Schick AA Regional tournament.

Amazing effort from the Junior Girls Basketball team, who won the AKSS Championship title on August 22.

They led from the start and defeated Massey High 47-36.

They also finished runners-up in the Schick AA Regional tournament to Westlake Girls High in early September.

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The Premier Boys Basketball team celebrate claiming third place at nationals.

down strong opposition in a huge upset victory to advance to the semifinals.

The rematch against Saint Kentigern went better than the first encounter, with strong defensive pressure from MAGS disrupting their offensive plans. The team played valiantly and pushed Saint Kentigern to the limit, eventually going down 54-59.

MAGS rebounded the next day to decisively beat Cashmere High 71-53 to end the tournament on a positive note. There was more good news when Nate Wilson was named in the tournament team.

This MAGS team epitomised the school motto ‘through hardship to glory’ and can be immensely proud of their achievements against the odds.

ADITHYA ASHOK

MAGS’ Cricket First XI captain Adithya Ashok was called back into the New Zealand U19 squad to play against Bangladesh in September/October.

Adithya toured Australia in July with the U19s for four oneday matches, and joined the 18-man NZ squad in Lincoln for five one-day matches against Bangladesh. The visitors won the series 4-1 but Adithya made some useful contributions to the NZ team.

The team is building for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup early next year in South Africa.

SPORT SCHOOL NEWS

Cricket

CURLING

Our curling team, a first ever for MAGS, has just finished their season with the Mixed Team gaining top three placings in both the Auckland and NISS competitions.

The Auckland Secondary Schools Competition saw our mixed team competing over several months against other Auckland schools, all of whom have been curling for several years.

Our team, one of the youngest in the open competition, of Bryn Williams, Jack Millar, Lily Hardy, Hashmita Singh, Sarah Brinck and Nabil Malik finished third in the competition.

They then went on the North Island Secondary School Champs, played during tournament week, with their four-person team of Bryn Williams, Jack Millar, Lily Hardy and Hashmita Singh, and finished runners-up in this competition.

All six team members improved enormously throughout the season and show great promise. Our team was approached by one of the Auckland Curling Association international representatives who is keen to do some coaching with them next season.

If you are keen to give this Olympic sport a go, look out for the ‘have a go’ sessions and trials in April next year in preparation for the 2020 season.

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FENCING MAGS’ fencers swept the podium at the Auckland Secondary Schools Epee Teams Event at the Trusts Stadium in mid-June.

MAGS won Gold, Silver and Bronze after fielding three similarly balanced teams, each with a strong fencer and some younger fencers. This was done to try to even the playing field, in the knowledge that the MAGS top team would completely dominate the epee event.

The winning team was Charlie Bioletti, Shaun Owen and Courtney Won; in second place Caleb Anderson, Nikita Privalov and Aidan Meyer; and in third place James Butler, Lucy Henshaw and Daniel Finch.

The competition is part of the wider Auckland Team fencing events held over three weekends and involving more than a dozen schools.

At the Auckland Secondary Schools Fencing Championship Final held at the Trusts Stadium in early August, MAGS fencers claimed all the boys and girls medals.

International student Valentina Buniato, from Italy, came from behind to claim Gold in a very close fight (15-14) against Amey Smith. International Swiss student Yvonne Landhaeusser won the Bronze medal, and making a top four clean sweep for MAGS was Year 10 student Lucy Henshaw.

The boys final saw James Butler edge out team-mate and favourite Charlie Bioletti to take the Gold medal.

James took an early lead and, in a noisy, energetic match, managed to hold his nerve.

Year 12 student Nikita Privalov took home the Bronze medal.

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SPORT SCHOOL NEWS MAGS has had two goalkeepers representing New Zealand this year.

Alisha Perry

Luca Taylor

Football Girls 1st XI ‘keeper Alisha Perry was part of the defending champion New Zealand squad who won their seventh consecutive regional title at the OFC U-19 Women’s Championship in Rarotonga.

NZ overcame a brave challenge from New Caledonia to win the final 5-2 in September and qualify for the 2020 U20 Women’s World Cup in Nigeria.

Football Boys First XI ‘keeper Luca Taylor travelled with the NZ squad for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil in October.

Luca was in the NZ U16 squad that won the Oceania Football Championship in the Solomon Islands last year to book their place at the World Cup. The NZ U17s lost to Angola and Brazil but beat Canada in the group stages.

GYM SPORT James Dougal (pictured far right) continued his good form this year when he came third in the Elite Men’s trampoline division of the NZSS Trampolining held in August at Tristar Gym, Mount Roskill.

Two students and one Albertian have been selected for the New Zealand Trampolining team to travel to the World Age Group Competitions in Tokyo, Japan from December 5-8.

James Dougal will compete in the 15-16 Yrs Individual and Synchro Pairs, while Jack Jones will compete in the 15-16 Yrs Double-Mini Trampoline.

Albertian Kate Nicholson will compete in the 17-21 Yrs Individual and Synchro Pairs.

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Lacrosse MAGS Premier Girls Lacrosse team finished runners-up again to their old foes Epsom Girls Grammar in the Division One Final before the July school holidays.

The game was played in atrocious conditions, with strong wind and heavy rain, and MAGS could not get the better of EGGS, who prevailed 14-3.

Even worse weather hit the Lacrosse One-day Championships held at Avondale Racecourse in August, with the competition being abandoned due to heavy rain and lightning.

MAGS had the Premier Girls and B Girls competing at the event, with the Premier Girls registering two good wins before play was abandoned.

In August, the MAGS U15 Boys Hockey team became backto-back Auckland Secondary Schools U15 Hockey Championship winners.

They shared the title this year after a 1-1 draw in the final with King’s College, who they had beaten 2-1 a fortnight earlier.

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SPORT SCHOOL NEWS

NETBALL

A great effort from our netballers saw them win the Combined Points Netball Tournament on August 7 after last holding the trophy in 2016.

Our Premier team made it through to the final, which was a tough battle with Howick, who won 14-9.

Our Year 10 team won their section and

lost their semifinal to Avondale, while the Year 9 side came second in their section.

The combined effort and results from all teams meant MAGS won overall.

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ORIENTEERING An amazing effort from the Orienteering Boys team saw them successfully defend the Top Boys Secondary School Trophy at the NZSS Orienteering Championships held in Auckland in August.

This year, the Girls team joined them on the podium for the first time, placing third in the Top Girls Secondary School competition.

MAGS Boys were National Relay Champions in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Boys grades, with our second Senior Boys relay team winning Silver.

For the first time ever, our Junior Girls Relay Team had a podium placing, gaining Silver.

In the Long Distance, Mitchell Cooper was second in Senior Boys, and Jay McElwee third in Junior Boys.

In the Sprint Distance, Luke Clements was first in Intermediate Boys, with Jay McElwee third in Junior Boys.

Our Orienteering team is managed by Neill McGowan with coaching from Albertian and New Zealand representative Kieran Woods.

Five MAGS students (Adam Bateman, Mitchell Cooper, Luke Clements, Sam Taylor Sinclair and Daniel Wood) were selected for the New Zealand Schools team to compete in Australia.

Earlier in the year, MAGS Orienteering Boys retained their North Island Champions title after a tense battle, which saw them draw with Havelock North for Top Boys School.

This result – making three successive North Island titles – was just part of an impressive effort from the whole team during the North Island Secondary Schools Championships held in the July school holidays outside of Hastings.

The girls team finished fourth overall in a close competition.

In the Team Relay, Senior Boys finished second and fourth, Senior Girls were third, Intermediate Boys came first, and Junior Boys were also first.

In the Long Course Championship, Luke Clements finished third in the Intermediate Boys, and won the Intermediate Boys Sprint Series Championship.

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SPORT SCHOOL NEWS

Rugby League Several MAGS Rugby League players earned representative honours over the October school holidays.

NZ U18S VS FRANCE AND SAMOA Moala Graham-Taufa Lani Graham-Taufa

NZ U16S VS SAMOA Stanley Iongi

SAMOA U18S VS NZ Jeremiah Schuster

SAMOA U16S VS NZ Reiley Satele

Lani and Moala were also named in College Sport’s 1st XIII for the year, with Lani at centre and Moala at fullback.

For the MAGS 1st XIII, Moala was the Players’ MVP and Wiremu Kaire was Players’ Most improved.

SOFTBALL

Oscar Clark, Liam Jardine-Ngauamo and Ryan Earley played for the Junior Black Sox at the Queensland U18 State Championships in Toowoomba.

MAGS’ softballers continue to impress on the international stage, with representatives across various age groups.

Brooklyn Temu was part of the New Zealand Junior White Sox team that finished ninth at the WBSC U-19 Women’s World Cup in Irvine, California in August.

The world championship was contested by 16 teams, and New Zealand drew a tough pool against Canada (seeded 3), Chinese Taipei (6), and The Netherlands (10) – all of whom were ranked higher than the JWSX (11).

Three MAGS softballers – Oscar Clark, Liam Jardine-Ngauamo and Ryan Earley – played for the Junior Black Sox at the Queensland U18 State Championships in Toowoomba in early October.

The Junior Black Sox are preparing for next year’s U18 Boys Softball World Cup in Palmerston North.

Gabrielle Murare and Logan Carr attended the International Softball Friendship Games in the July School holidays with the NZ U15 Girls and U15 Boys teams respectively.

The girls finished runners-up to an U18 team, losing 4-5 in the last innings.

The boys team won the tournament, beating the Queensland U18 team 6-3 in the final after being down 0-2 until the last innings.

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RUGBY MAGS’ Rugby 1st XV beat Aorere College 22-14 on June 29 on the Sir BG Williams Field to claim the inaugural Geoff Moon 1st XV Memorial Cup. The cup has been donated by the Foster family for what will be an annual fixture to honour the memory of MAGS’ former 1st XV coach Geoff Moon, who passed away earlier this year after a sudden illness.

Mr Moon also taught and coached at Aorere and had strong roots in South Auckland.

Congratulations to the MAGS Rugby Girls 10s on winning back-to-back titles in the Auckland Secondary Schools Competition, and going through another season undefeated.

No team got close to the Girls during the season, and they beat Howick College 58-12 in the final at Orakei Domain on August 24.

September 24, saw the much-anticipated rugby showdown between the School House Boys and the Day Boys, which was a lively affair in front of an appreciative and vocal crowd.

Momentum see-sawed in the game but the School House Boys hung on for a 29-27 win.

At the end of August, two of our rugby teams featured in finals but neither the 1R side (pictured above) nor the U15R could get the win.

28394MTA

Painting Mt Albert green.

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The Auckland champion U15 Girls.

Back to back wins for the Open Girls.

Congratulations to the Open Girls Sevens team who won back-to-back Auckland titles on October 18 at Waitemata Rugby Club.

Their success was repeated by the U15 Girls Sevens on October 24, also at Waitemata Rugby Club.

The defending champion Open Girls reversed a close loss in pool play to Aorere College to beat them in the final 24-15, taking the first qualifying spot for Auckland at Condors 7s at the end of November.

The Open Boys team, champions last year, lost their semifinal to eventual tournament winners De la Salle and finished the tournament thirdequal. They have also qualified for Condor Sevens.

The U15 Girls played extremely well throughout their tournament, developing their skills every game. They won the final against Onehunga High School 22-7.

On the same day, the Boys U15 team had a close semi-final but lost 12-24 to eventual winners De la Salle, and finished third.

All teams are taking part in the Condor 7s tournament.

SPORT

Sevens

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Road Running Luke Clements led from start to finish to convincingly win the Intermediate Boys 4km race at the College Sport Auckland Road Running Championships held at Pulman Park on August 20.

MAGS had 20 students entered for the championships, which were run in strong southerly winds, making conditions tough for the athletes.

In the three-person teams events, MAGS recorded these results: Junior Girls 4th, Intermediate Girls 4th, Junior Boys 8th, and Intermediate Boys 7th.

XTERRA TRAIL SERIES Our team raced in the Hunua Ranges on September 1 in the final of the six Xterra Trail runs for the season.

The race was through native forest, rivers and winding hill trails. The MAGS runners all put in a strong final performance but could not defend their title and finished the season, and the Teams Challenge, in fourth position.

Individual Placings from Race 6: 8th Oliver Bulman (Mid course), 4th Holly Bannister (Short course), 5th Sonali Mistry (Short course), 7th Ella Mitchell (Short course), 13th Jacob Bannister (Short course), 14th Bryn Williams (Short course).

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Luke Clements

SPORT SCHOOL NEWS The Bronze-medal winning Snowboarding Boys A Team of, from left, Andre Pickering, Matthew Ray, Ronan Guthrie-Hoven, Archie Shaw, Cameron Hartley and Codi Smith (Captain).

SNOW SPORTS NISS SNOWBOARDING

In what is thought to be a first for our school, the Boys A team won a Bronze medal at the NISS Snowboarding Championships at Mt Ruapehu in September.

On the first day, there were two competitions: the Banked Slalom and the Slopestyle, with weather switching from clear and sunny to white-out.

Andre Pickering and Ronan GuthrieHoven reached the Slopestyle Final but due to the deteriorating weather they did not land their finals run.

However, with the team’s solid results, it accumulated enough points to claim Bronze.

NISS SKIING

Eleven Mount Albert Grammar school pupils competed in the NISS Skiing Championships at Mt Ruapehu in September.

On the first day, inclement weather meant races were postponed and practice was limited to a small portion of the mountain. The poor weather continued into the second day and the competition was postponed again.

On the third day, there was beautiful sunny weather and both the Giant

Slalom and Slopestyle went ahead. All the team impressed by completing the course and recording a time.

Andre Pickering placed 6th overall in the Slopestyle competition. In the Giant Slalom, Nico Stroud and Cassia Reinsfield were the fastest of the Junior Men and Women respectively from the MAGS team.

Also part of the team were Bryn Williams, Jade Robertson, Caitlin Graham, Holly Fisk, Mila Medley, Mena Ren-Fritzke, Kaelin Reinsfield and Baxter Hilson.

AKSS SKIING

MAGS came away with three medals from the AKSS Ski and Snowboarding Championships held at Snowplanet in June.

Students only had one run to impress for each of the competitions, and then the top five were selected for the finals run in Snowboarding Slopestyle and Slalom, and Skiing Slopestyle and Slalom for Junior and Senior grades.

Sophie Johnson-Chung was second in the Senior Girls Snowboarding Slalom, Ronan Guthrie-Hoven placed third in Senior Boys Snowboarding Slalom, and Andre Pickering was third in the Ski Slopestyle.

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Squash MAGS Premier Boys Squash team made history when they won the NZ Secondary Schools Squash Championships for our school for the first time in Tauranga in August.

MAGS beat Tauranga Boys College 3-1 in the final, only losing one match out of the 24 they played against five schools over the weekend. The boys were on a roll, having won the Auckland title as well.

The secondary schools national squash champs has been held since the mid-1980s, and about nine years ago the MAGS Boys got close when they lost 3-2 in the final against Auckland Grammar.

Michael Blanchard was part of that team and has returned to coach the boys along with Julian Conder, who is also the manager.

Following the tournament, three

MAGS players were selected for the New Zealand team to play a test against Australia in August. Tarin Love and Jack Conder (non-travelling reserve) were picked for the Senior Boys team, and Mason Smales for the Junior Boys.

It was in late July that the Premier Boys won the AKSS Teams Championship for only the third time in MAGS’ history.

The Boys went into the competition seeded No.1 but had tough competition from Westlake Boys and Auckland Grammar. They beat Auckland Grammar 3-2 in the final to claim the shield.

Our Open A Girls won Division 2, going through undefeated against Avondale College, Westlake Girls High, Western Springs College and Orewa College. A move up the divisions is on the cards for their next campaign.

The Auckland Division 2 winning MAGS’ Open A Girls, from left: Natalie Brook, Kiriko May, Grace Conder, Melodi Mataia and Hannah Brook.

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The national champion MAGS Premier Boys Squash team, from left: Max Conder, Mason Smales, Tarin Love, Jack Conder (Captain), Arnd Arelmann, Jaeswen Kwan and Hasan Pathan.

The Auckland champion MAGS Premier Boys Squash team, from left: Mason Smales, Max Conder, Jack Conder (Captain), Tarin Love, Jaeswen Kwan and Arnd Arelmann.

SPORT SCHOOL NEWS

SWIMMING The MAGS Swim Team won the NZ Secondary Schools Co-Ed Swimming Championships for the first time in the school’s history in September.

The event at Waterworld in Hamilton attracted 733 swimmers from 160 secondary schools. Swimming Captain Vasilina Shipilova led the 21-strong team to this inaugural victory in her final year at MAGS with strong personal performances including two Bronze medals, 10 Top 8 placings and was a member of the Gold medalwinning women’s relay team.

FINA World Junior Swimming representative Brearna Crawford was also in devastating form, smashing three NZ 16 Years records, one Auckland Open and four Auckland Age Group records as she collected nine individual Gold, and one Silver medal.

House Boy and MAGS Academy’s top male swimmer of the meet Quin Walden produced outstanding results on his way to winning Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Quin achieved nine Top 8 national placings to lead the male points score for MAGS. Anna McGowen, who trains with the Central City Swim Club, was the youngest member of the team and won Gold and her first ever national title in the 13 Years 100m Backstroke.

Coach Paul Kent said, “The team came together beautifully to produce this outstanding result for our school. I have no doubt that we will look back on this event with very fond memories, and the swimmers should feel very proud of this achievement. Each team member played their part in producing these outstanding results.”

In August, MAGS had two swimmers at the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest: Bede Aitu and Brearna Crawford.

Bede swam personal best times – and set Cook Islands records – in the 50m Backstroke and the 100m Backstroke during the heats, while Brearna Crawford competed in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke and the 200m Individual Medley.

In early July, Brearna rewrote the record books at the annual Evolution Swim Meet held in Hamilton in early July, becoming New Zealand’s fastest female short course (SC) 100m Breaststroke swimmer when she broke the NZ Open Record in a classy time of 1.07.14sec.

She set nine other records at the meet: two NZ records for 16 years (100m Breast, 100IM), two Auckland Open records (100m Br, 50m Br - 100 split), five Auckland 16 years records (50m Br, 100m Br, 200m Br, 100m IM, 200m IM) – and unofficially the 50m Fly. The rest of the MAGS Swim Team also produced outstanding results with a high percentage of personal best times achieved at the meet.

Bowen Crawford won Gold, Silver and Bronze in the 14-15 Years 200m Breast, 100m Breast and 50m Breast respectively.

Bowen went on to represent NZ for the first time at the 2019 Australia State Teams Championships in early October in Canberra, swimming the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke events.

In early October, Brearna Crawford was again in record-breaking form at New Zealand Short Course Championships on the North Shore.

She set an Open Record in the Women’s 50m Butterfly in 26.43 seconds - 0.10 seconds faster than time set in 2010. At the meet, she also broke four Auckland open records, four NZ age group records, and six Auckland age group records.

MAGS’ winning NZ Secondary Schools Co-Ed Swimming Championship team.

Brearna Crawford was part of the NZ team at the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

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The MAGS Art Show Committee celebrates months of hard work at the Gala Evening.

MAGS ART SHOW 2019

This year’s MAGS Art Show was kicked off with a sold-out Gala Evening on Friday, August 16, with guests having the first opportunity to view and purchase art while enjoying drinks and canapes.

Guests were greeted by a string quartet on entry and entertained by the Jazz Band through the night in the F.W. Gamble Hall.

Earlier in the day, the show was blessed by Matua Hare Paniora with the support of Matua Peter Walters, Whaea Waimirirangi Paul and Te Puna o Wairaka students.

During the weekend the show was open to the public, who enjoyed an on-site café and there were also performances from the MAGS Junior Dance group, singer and musician Tuiaki Fiuloi, Ella Brislen and Marcus Savelio doing a drama skit, pianist Ken Naidu, singer and winner of Junior MAGS Idol Tahlia Petersen, and the Cook Island group.

Art Show Committee chair Sandra Fischer said,

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“A massive thanks to the Art Department staff: Bryn Corkery and Jacqui Cesan, and the Arts Prefects and Leaders: Isaac Young-Montgomerie, Jade Chambers and Ella Rowe for all their work helping the committee to get the show up and running this year.

“Over $225,000 of art was sold and a massive 185 pieces of student art was bought. The curator this year, Colleen Pugh, was very impressed – not only with the number of student works but also with the quality of work. The show only retains a percentage of the art sold and the students get to keep their profits.

“The 2019 Art Show Committee is very grateful for the support of the community in sponsoring boards and also our major sponsors, ICG and Fuji/Xerox.”

Proceeds from the show go back in to the school – supporting the Artist in Residence programme and buying school equipment.

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MAGS FOUNDATION

ASB MAGS FARM Update Students plant a block of gold kiwifruit.

Some of the 19 lambs born on the farm.

The last six months has been a busy time on and off the farm. Students have been in full swing completing tasks, and the MAGS community has also become engaged. This has provided some great days on the farm and seen more community involvement than ever before.

The farm development is taking shape.

We have roughly a third of our native trees planted around our stream with the remainder planned to be in the ground next winter. The planting happened on a stunning winter’s day with the help of the community and our stream partner Watercare.

Watercare provided the barbecue, salads and coffee to keep everyone fueled, while also showcasing some digital information around the Central Interceptor project. It was great to see everyone having so much fun.

We are looking forward to having a similar

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day during winter 2020.

Some of the community may wonder what the new structure is in the corner of the farm. We have been gifted a licence to grow gold kiwifruit from Zespri, and the posts form the foundation of the canopy which will begin fruiting in 2021. Due to the licence being for education, we will not be selling the fruit but are more interested in showcasing the growing techniques used in this massive industry. This planting couldn’t have happened without the help of our neighbours at Plant and Food Research. To put this in context, a licence to grow gold kiwifruit for one hectare has the same value as a new Maserati!

On the animal front, lambing was a success with 19 new lambs on the farm.

Some of these will be put back into the flock for the future and the ram lambs will find a

home somewhere else. We were so happy to have them survive a wild August and September where we got 350 mm of rain compared to the normal 245 mm. Also, the strong winds didn’t make things pleasant but this will make them hardy for the future.

Our pet lambs are doing well and thirsty as ever. A big thanks to one of our wonderful neighbours, Kelly Cook, and her daughters for helping feed our pet lambs which we show at Alberton open days.

As MAGS has many feeder schools, we are keen to have more involvement with them on-farm.

During Term 3, 135 Gladstone Primary Year 2 children spent a morning on the farm where they participated in the day-to-day farm activities. We finished up planting seeds which they will plant next year around our stream.

SCHOOL MAGS FOUNDATION NEWS Peter Brice travelled to Holland to learn from similar education centres there.

Primary school children enjoying planting seeds.

We have Edendale primary studying our stream and the Meola Creek over three visits in Term 4 and, again, they will be planting some seeds to germinate and plant next winter.

In October, a memorial bench was erected on the ASB MAGS Farm and a totara planted in memory of Giandomenico Ghella, one of the executives from the Italian tunnelling firm Ghella-Abergeldie JV. In conjunction with that, Ghella presented a generous scholarship for $5000 to MAGS student Lachlan Pearce that will go towards his engineering studies next year.

Giandomenico Ghella’s son, Lorenzo Ghella, presented the scholarship to Lachlan.

The farm was chosen as the site for the memorial due to the vista over Meola Creek and one of the Central Interceptor portal sites at Lyon Ave, which Ghella will

Lorenzo Ghella presents a scholarship to Lachlan Pearce for $5000 on behalf of Ghella-Abergeldie JV.

be constructing.

A karakia and tree planting ceremony was conducted by Blackie Tohiariki, preceding the unveiling of the bench, which has a plaque with a dedication to Mr Ghella, who died suddenly earlier this year.

This strengthens the relationship between Watercare, which is building the Central Interceptor to control stormwater, Ghella-Abergeldie JV and Mount Albert Grammar School.

Lastly, an update on our Agri-food and Fibre Experience Centre. This remains our long-term vision for the property. However, there is a need to have more modern facilities in the interim. The advisory group now has sketches of a redeveloped education hub where the current classroom sits. This is a more refined version of our long-term vision and is intended to cater for

the rise in student numbers.

The building is slightly bigger than the current structure and has four flexible teaching spaces including a lab, breakout space and a staff area. It is a basic, functional building that will be modern, but fit with the other buildings we have on the farm.

This decision was validated by a recent visit to Holland to learn from similar education centres there. In every case their first design was not the final outcome, but formed a valuable part of experience for the industry that was being promoted.

I am looking forward to visiting companies that are interested in helping promote NZ’s most important industry.

Peter Brice ASB MAGS FARM EXPERIENCE CENTRE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

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NZ MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS

Albertian and former MAGS music teacher Benjamin Sinclair (pictured) has won two New Zealand Music Awards along with another former MAGS music teacher Elizabeth Stokes as part of indie pop band The Beths.

They were nominated for five awards at the NZ Music Awards on November 14 and won two: Best Group and Best Alternative Artist.

Mr Sinclair was an itinerant music teacher and Jazz Band director at MAGS, while Ms Stokes was a brass teacher before commitments with The Beths took over.

Following the release last year of their breakthrough debut album Future Me Hates Me, The Beths have been touring extensively – through Europe, the United States, Australia and Asia, finishing off with dates in NZ.

Kilimanjaro climb Albertian Shane O’Brien climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in July as part of a charity mission for Gulf For Good, which helps children around the world.

Shane was sponsored to do the climb, and the money raised from expeditions Gulf for Good runs go to organisations such as schools, orphanages and hospitals in places such as Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

While Shane successfully summited the 5895m peak in Tanzania, he says, “It was a week of being out of my comfort zone, truly

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uncomfortable, cold, tired and in general all-round pain.

“The amount of trekking was considerable and a challenge particularly with the altitude which was a whole new experience and phenomenon.”

Shane, who is Director of Jumeira English Speaking School in Dubai, added, “It is the highest place you can go without being a climber/mountain man but is a great leveller and super taxing. Our group was very diverse and all sorts of people made it to the

top, regardless of age, fitness or background and some struggled, some didn't get there, succumbing to altitude which is pretty much out of your control to a point.

“The last climb is straight up, six hours in darkness leaving the final camp at midnight, then another one and a half/two hours to the summit. I'm not sure if I would have got around the final traverse to the summit without the help of one of our guides, Ernest. I really struggled the last bit. Altitude and exhaustion. We shared biscuits and got there – slowly. Ernest could have done it walking on his hands, I think.”

Shane said half of the money raised is going to a school and the other half to an orphanage, both in Tanzania.

He visited the school in question after the trek.

“The whole village turned up. The kids were so grateful and happy and have so little. We fed all 800 a big meal and it would have been the first time many of them had eaten in days. Many walk 20km to school.

“The school has 800 kids and sometimes 160 kids in a class. They have five ramshackle classrooms and the money is going towards three new ones.”

SCHOOL CORRIDORS NEWS

Albertians in Sport

Aaron Booth with his gold medal (above) and competing at the World University Games (below). Photos: University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand

BASKETBALL Three of our talented 2018 Year 13 Premier Basketball Girls have been signed to colleges in the United States.

Albertians Sharne Robati (Utah State Eastern Basketball, Utah), Tessa Talo-Tomokino (North Eastern State Basketball, Oklahoma), and Jada Manase (Mineral Area Basketball, Missouri) have now started their freshman years at their US colleges.

NETBALL Two Albertians faced off in the Netball World Cup Final in Liverpool in July with Maria Folau earning bragging rights over Jamie-Lee Price as the Silver Ferns defeated Australia's Diamonds in a one-goal thriller.

In 2014, Maria (2004) was the first female inducted into MAGS' Hall of Distinction – for services to netball and the school. Her winning World Cup Final appearance was her 146th game for the Silver Ferns. She debuted for the Silver Ferns in 2005 but this was her first Wold Cup win.

At the other end of the experience scale, Jamie-Lee (2009-2013), a mid-courter, made her debut for the Diamonds last year.

RUGBY Albertians Jack Goodhue, Sonny Bill Williams and Nepo Laulala were part of the All Blacks squad that finished third at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

All three played in the semi-final loss against England that condemned them to a 3rd/4th playoff against Wales that they won 40-17.

While Jack and Nepo will continue with their rugby careers, Sonny Bill has taken up a multi-million-dollar contract to play rugby league.

DECATHLON Aaron Booth (2010-14) won the decathlon and New Zealand’s only gold medal at the World University Games in July with a personal best score of 7827 points.

The 22-year-old USA-based athlete was second after day one with a score of 3993 at the Games, held in the Italian city of Naples.

He had a PB pole vault of 4.80m, which held him in second place behind Alexander Diamond of Australia. A javelin throw of 60.51m propelled him into the lead, which he maintained after a 1500m of 4:31.38. Diamond was second with a score of 7593.

Since his secondary school days at MAGS, Aaron has chalked up an impressive record of achievements, improving with almost each outing. He was the Oceania under 18 octathlon champion in 2013, the national junior decathlon champion in 2014, won silver in the decathlon at the 2015 Oceania championships and at previous World University Games was 13th in the decathlon in 2015 and third in 2017. In the States, Aaron was 14th in the 2018 NCAA division 1 decathlon, and showed good form coming into the Games with a sixth placing at the NCAA division 1 in June.

FOOTBALL

Albertian Sarpreet Singh was presented with his Black Cap last year by Headmaster Patrick Drumm.

Footballer Sarpreet Singh (2013-2015) has seen plenty of game time since making his debut for Bayern Munich against Arsenal in a pre-season match in July.

He has also come on as a substitute against Real Madrid and AC Milan, and came close to scoring against Real.

The 20-year-old All White midfielder and former Wellington Phoenix player was signed by Bayern on a three-year deal on the understanding he would start by playing for Bayern Munich II in Germany's third-tier 3 Liga competition but he turned out for the top side in their pre-season matches.

He has also been training with the top team recently but hadn’t played a game in the Bundesliga at the time of writing.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

The J.H. Harvey Senior English Prize a memorial to his efforts. Outstanding in these must be mentioned the Library and the Calendar.”

This image (at left) is of J.H. Harvey rephotographed from the 1941 The Albertian.

As to the Library, this School was the first in New Zealand to have a silent reading period, each week, in the Library. From this perspective it is not easy to grasp how innovative this “Library Period” was, especially for a Grammar School. Harvey and Gamble, both, were prepared to do

John Hooper Harvey (he was often referred to by his full name) was the original head of English at Mount Albert Grammar School (1922-1941). His unsigned valedictorian in the 1941 The Albertian remarked: “From the outset Mr. Harvey’s interest in School activities has been unusually broad; more than one sphere will stand as

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what it took to promote reading and a love of literature.

The image below is of 4C in the Library in 1936. It was taken by their English teacher, Old Boy Nelson Body, who had the foresight to indicate on the back of his photographs who, what, where and when. This image is a gift of his estate.

The Library was located in what is now the staffroom. The present Library building was opened in 1976.

In Golden Jubilee 1922-1971, edited by

SCHOOL CORRIDORS NEWS

Harvey’s 1945 successor, J.G. Brown, it was reported that: “[Harvey was] … deeply interested in stimulating a love of literature at all levels.

From his work came two publications; Better Than Golde, a guide to pupil reading, and A Shakespeare’s Eleven, a sensible down-toearth critique of eleven of the more widely read of Shakespeare’s plays.” The latter would have been a play on his love of cricket – he umpired senior games. We do not have copies of either of these works.

In Russell Stone’s Tradition and Change (p55) he wrote of Harvey: “True, he was a man of great personal dignity, but when acting out Shakespeare in class, he threw aside all inhibition and positively romped …. Inspectors suggested that Mt Albert boys might spend less time reading and more time writing literary appreciations. But Harvey was wiser, believed that literature was for personal enrichment and enjoyment and should not be slanted towards examinations. He was very modern.”

Professor REF Matthews, one of Harvey’s librarians of the 1930s, said of him that he had “a wise appreciation of what school could offer a boy.”

The Calendar was a little top-pocket booklet, packed with information from a list of Board members and masters and rooms to class lists and much else. It lasted, in a professionally printed form, until 1979.

It remains a wonderful resource. Harvey introduced it because it was used at his own School, Tonbridge School, Kent, which opened in 1553 and is still in operation as a boys’ Public School.

The images are of Harvey’s first form class: 4B, Term 1 1922 and of the 1922 Calendar covers.

We have just one copy of the Term 1 Calendar and it is in a fragile state.

J. H. Harvey, at left, with the 1926 First XI Cricket team.

Harvey also edited The Albertian from the beginning, ran the Bookroom where textbooks were bought and sold, in pre-free textbook days. He introduced Tennis and the ‘Dramatic Club’ and, though retired, he edited the 1946 Silver Jubilee Souvenir, the School’s first history. He gave financial support to the fledgling Old Boy’s Albertian Hockey Club. He was a judge at Drama Festivals and a book reviewer for 1YA – the precursor to Radio New Zealand National.

Though the English Prize is awarded to this day, no record of its endowment had earlier been found. Both Harvey’s son George and his grandson John were Old Boys, and George came back to teach here.

Both George and John are now deceased.

John’s sister, Sue, reports that: “… JHH was a very closed book, as long as his grandchildren read Shakespeare all was well with the world.”

So the present day family had no knowledge of the prize.

In his Headmaster’s Report of 1941 F.W. Gamble farewelled Harvey: “Today we farewell Mr J.H. Harvey, a foundation master of the School … when the School was young and small, he controlled the three departments of English, History and Geography, eventually concentrating upon English work to which he has devoted remarkable care and skill.

A rare host in the classroom himself, he has good cause, too, for satisfaction for

the long line he has built of successful English teachers … In outdoor activities apart from introducing Lawn Tennis and coaching cricket groups he has been one of the strongest supporters of all manly sports… The life of an institution has a way of working round certain outstanding figures … the retirement of Mr Harvey means the loss of one who has deeply set his mark upon our school life … Mr Harvey can be assured of the wealth of respect and affection he is taking with him. May he abound in health and happiness in the retirement he has so fully earned.”

Following this splendid encomium and the rest of Gamble’s Report was the Prize List. There was no English prize.

In the 1942 Report, the Headmaster had this to say: “The School Essay Prize is the generous gift of Mr J.H. Harvey our past English Master and the Prize has an enhanced value in coming from a Master who gave 20 years splendid service to the school.”

The line in the Prize List reads: ESSAY Senior (J.H. Harvey Prize) P Stone The scope of the Prize has now been widened to Excellence in Senior English.

No doubt Harvey would have been content that his Prize was still being awarded but he may not have been able to predict that some winners would be girls.

Brian Murphy ARCHIVIST

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MAGS' new Event Manager Emma John (at right) and Senior Administration Secretary Dimity Payne welcome guests to the Albertians Lunch at School House.

Albertians Lunch At the second Albertians Lunch of the year on June 27, Acting Headmaster Jo Williams, as guest speaker, reflected on the rich history of MAGS as the school starts building towards its Centenary celebrations in 2022.

Ms Williams said those reflections were triggered by looking through some of The Albertian yearbooks from the 1930s that had been donated back to the school.

The lunch, hosted at School House, was also the debut function for new Event Manager Emma John, who has been reaching out to Albertians as preparations begin for the Centenary, and the school is also planning other celebrations leading up to 2022.

New Board of Trustees members Catherine Murphy and Neil Waka also attended the lunch and were introduced to the guests.

In memoriam John Carlyle Burns had a distinguished academic career, becoming Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales.

John was born in Auckland in 1926 and attended MAGS from 1937-41.

He said of this early start – at age 11 – at MAGS: “I had only six years at primary school instead of the normal eight. This came about for two reasons.

“First, even though I think I was ready to move on at the end of the first year, having reached the top of the class already, I spent the whole of the next year in the top infants’ class – Primer 4 – and so moved into Standard 1 in the third year.

“By this time the Headmaster had retired – I remember he had a white beard – and a much younger head had arrived. Presumably, at his insistence I was moved into Standard 2 at the end of the first term and was then a year younger than normal.

‘Then at the end of 1936, when I was finishing Standard 5, I entered the Rawlings Scholarship, which was open to “children of poor parents” under the age of 12.

“I was in fact only 10 and the idea was that this would be a trial run for the next year. When my father came home from meeting the Trustee of the Scholarship with the news that I had unexpectedly won the award, the question was whether I should accept or wait to sit again the next year with, of course, no guarantee that I would win it again.

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“I was awarded 10 pounds a year for three years; school fees and all text books were provided.

“Incidentally, the scholarship could have been taken up at King’s College … but I was not interested in going there when we lived within walking distance of Mount Albert Grammar School.

“So, at the beginning of 1937, I started at MAGS. School didn’t start that year until March because of a polio epidemic so I had turned 11 before I actually started.”

From MAGS, he entered Auckland University as a Junior University Scholar, gaining a BSc in Mathematics and completing a MSc in Mathematics with first class honours in 1945.

After being awarded a Post-graduate Scholarship, he attended St John’s College, Cambridge, and graduated BA in 1949. He was awarded a research scholarship by the University of Manchester and worked there as a research student until 1952.

After working as a Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at Victoria University in Wellington from 1953-62, he moved to Australia. There, he became Professor of Mathematics at the University of New South Wales and was made Emeritus Professor in 1987.

During his career, he served on various education committees and faculties and published 30 papers in mathematics journals.

His younger brother Richard, also an Albertian, said that John passed away in Canberra in May at the age of 93 after a period in care.

John was the husband of Eleanor, whom he married in 1952, and the father and father-in-law of Keith and Imke, Hilary and Stephen and grandfather of Sonya, Peter, Fiona, Katie and Hugh. Brother and brother-in-law of Richard and Moira, and the late Alison.

SCHOOL NEWS

LIONS OF 2019

Farewell and good luck to our Year 13 students

KEY DATES 2020 TERM 1 28 January Tuesday Year 9 students only start school 29 January Wednesday Full school in 7 February Friday School closed 9 April Thursday Last day of classes for students 10 April Good Friday End of Term 1 (11 weeks) School Closed

TERM 2

28 April Tuesday Start of Term 2 2 July Thursday Last day of classes for students 3 July Friday Staff Only Day End of Term 2 (10 weeks)

TERM 3 20 July Monday Start of Term 3 24 September Thursday Last day of classes for students

25 September Friday Staff Only Day End of Term 3 (10 weeks)

TERM 4 12 October Monday Start of Term 4 8 December Tuesday End of Term 4 (8 weeks)

2020 PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 27 January Monday Auckland Anniversary Day

10 April Friday Good Friday 13 April Monday Easter Monday (observed Monday, 27 April) 27 April Monday Anzac Day holiday observed 1 June Monday Queen’s Birthday 26 October Monday Labour Day

6 February Thursday Waitangi Day

Please refer to our website www.mags.school.nz for the full Calendar, including all sporting events

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