MAGS Blog!

Are you a keen writer? Are you interested in current issues? Do you want to convey a message globally? If you answered yes to all of the above, then The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is for you! This competition is open to anyone in the Commonwealth, aged 18 or under. It started 135 years ago, and has been giving our youth the chance to express themselves and their opinions in the form of writing. The Royal Commonwealth Society runs it with the ambition to change the lives of citizens in the Commonwealth. They hope to promote youth empowerment, education, and advocacy.  Each year, four winners win a trip to London to take part in a ‘Winners’ Week’ programme of activities, including an Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace! Other prizes in the past have been signed books and gold pens. Gold, Silver and Bronze Certificates are awarded to excellent entries, but every child who enters the Competition receives a ‘Certificate of Participation’. Schools recei...

Love, Simon if briefly stated is about a 17 year old boy, Simon Spier who is gay, but has not told anyone. Throughout the movie, the audience gets to see how Simon feels about everyone not knowing his true identity. As an audience, we also get to see the extent he will go to to have his secret remain silent. This is because Simon doesn't want people to see him in a different way and doesn't know how his family will react. "I've been thinking about why I haven't come out yet. Maybe part of me wants to hold onto who've I've always been, just a little longer ."  At his high school in Atlanta, Georgia there is a blog that the students read where people confess secrets. A person under the name 'Blue' confessed to being gay and his whole high school tries to track him down. Seeing Blues confession, Simon decides to reach out to him via email after creating another email account to talk about the struggle of keeping his identity a secret with some...

On the 8th of march, myself, Jessika and Grace, went behind the scenes and met with one of our new deputy principals Mr Murdoch to learn a bit about him. We asked him a few questions and were surprised about some of the answers, Enjoy. Mr Murdoch speaks highly of the important quality of leadership, he himself loves being a leader. When asked what he likes most about being a leader he says he loves the moments of connection he gets to experience through this. He talks of the moments you are talking with someone and you realise that being been on journey with them, you have shared knowledge and together you have really connected over an incredible experience. When we asked mr Murdoch about what he can bring to the school, he told us that  he believes that he can bring lots of enthusiasm to our school as it is one of his biggest values. He also hopes that he can help develop our school traditions in any way as he thinks that MAGS is already such a great place.   Next, we aske...

By Roni and Juli Noblesse (Webtoon*) Author - Jeho Son and Kwangsu Lee Reader's thoughts: This is definitely a nice comic you could read if you have time and is not rushed because it is quite long. It is a webtoon* and I highly recommend it to vampire and werewolf lovers. People who enjoy action, fantasy and a little bit of comedy would love this. Orange Marmalade (Webtoon*) Author - Seokwoo Reader's thoughts: One of those comics that pull on the heartstrings - the story is quite well paced. It has romance. Lorien Legacies (series) Author - Pittacus Lore Reader's thoughts: It is a series consisting of seven books. It is an action-and-fantasy-packed story. Cirque du freak (series) Author - Darren Shan Reader's thoughts: This vampire series is more of a dark fantasy story. It follows the adventure of Darren and it's a hell of a ride to the end. The story itself is very well written and thought out. The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix Author - Kate S...

The MAGS Futsal teams have recently come back from Wellington to compete in Futsal Nationals, and achieved 3rd in their grade! Nicole Muir was one of the players in the Junior Girls futsal Team, and I managed to ask her some questions. WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TOURNAMENT? I would say it was winning 14-0 against New Plymouth in our first game. HOW DID YOU GET INTO FUTSAL? I have played football in the past, and it was an easy transition to futsal. WHAT WAS ONE THING YOU REGRET AT THE TOURNAMENT? Losing 4-1 to Marist WHAT DID YOU DO TO PREPARE FOR THE TOURNAMENT? I had to do vigorous fitness training some mornings, and we had regular futsal training. WHAT IS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT THE EVENT? We had creamy pasta every night at a cafe that was a five to ten minute walk from our hotel. Another interesting thing was that we had to walk to the event stadium every morning. WHAT WAS YOUR OVERALL OPINION OF THE EVENT? It was a fun tournament, with plenty of competit...