MAGS Blog!

Sustainability. Environmental awareness. Some people would call these fads, but climate change is not going to be short lived. Unless we take action. Nowadays there is lots of talk about how to save our earth. Friends talk about it, family talks about it, people post about it on social media. ‘I spent the weekend doing volunteer tree planting’, ‘I joined a stream clean up’, ‘I’m going vegan, long term’, ‘I donated to a wildlife rescue organisation’. It’s easy to feel guilty that you aren’t doing all of these things too, but the reality is they involve time, money, effort and organisational skills. Don’t worry! You don’t have to be extreme. As an individual there are innumerable ways that you can play your part in being sustainable and preventing damage to the earth. And they don’t have to be expensive or grand, just simple changes that will reduce your carbon footprint and help you have a positive effect on the world. So many products include plastic these days. Excessive pa...

Nothing to read these holidays? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Here is a list of highly recommended reads compiled by members of the MAGS Blog Club! Alex Rider series - Anthony Horowitz Dear Vincent - Mandy Hager Everyday - David Levithan  Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury Far From the Tree - Robin Benway Hive - AJ Betts Lists of Note - compiled by Shaun Usher Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng Matched - Ally Condie Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend - Mathew Green Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs Moonrise - Sarah Crossan  Mortal Fire - Elizabeth Knox My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece - Annabel Pitcher Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro Northern Lights - Philip Pullman Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman Paper Towns - John Green She is Not Invisible - Marcus Sedgwick Starters - Lissa Price (and sequel Enders)  The Book Thief - Markus Zusak The...

On the morning of Saturday 15th June, more than 20 anxious MAGS students rolled up at Auckland International Airport to meet their French exchange students for the first time. Families got to know each other in the hour long wait for the kids to emerge with French teacher, Madame Olive. There was a flurry of excitement and a jumble of "will I recognise her?" and "is that them?!" as the wait grew longer and nerves escalated. Eventually a bunch of familiar faces rounded the corner, and students and their families awkwardly met their new house guests for the next five weeks. The French kids spent three weeks at school with their students, following them around classes and making new friends. They got the chance to practise their English skills and learn different subjects, even though in France it is the Summer holidays! After the three weeks of work, the real fun began! MAGS students took their kids on road trips throughout the country, visiting places such as Taupo, ...

Quitting Added Sugar It has been my goal, this year, to not consume added sugar . I have eaten honey a few times, and maple syrup on my sugar-free pancakes. Most breads contain added sugar too. But for the most part, I have avoided added sugar by cutting cakes, chocolates, ice cream, and all those other “ amazing ” sweets from my life. I’m often asked “How do you do it!?” “Why do you do it?” That’s what I’m going to shine light on today, because quitting added sugar is totally feasible, for you too. There are two types of sugar; added and naturally occurring. Added sugars are added to food products during the manufacturing process. Naturally occurring sugars are those that “ naturally occur ” in fruits, vegetables and dairy. They’re chemically indifferent in the way our bodies process them, the difference is the form in which we consume them. When we eat natural sugars we consume them with other nutrients, fibres and proteins that are vital for our health, whereas added sugar...

Last Friday, thirteen students, accompanied by science teachers Mrs Nisha and Mr Frank, attended the 2019 NIWA Auckland Science Fair, held at Mount Roskill Grammar School. The students had worked either individually or in pairs to perform a science fair project and display their experiments and findings on a board for the fair. Projects from 29 different schools crowded the hall at Mount Roskill Grammar School and the vast range of experiments and the detailed knowledge displayed was astounding. It was open to public viewing on Friday evening and Saturday and drew a lot of fascinated supporters, enjoying the creative display boards and getting fascinated by the results of hours and hours of work from hundreds of students. Projects were entered into specific categories - such as material world, living world, technology - and within each category were prizes for first, second and third as well as highly commended. Several MAGS projects took out prizes, with a first and third p...

Come along to the upcoming Level One Drama Production, Children of the Black Skirt . This is taking place on Wednesday 21st of August at 7.30pm in the dance and drama room, E9. Children of the Black Skirt  is about the neglected orphans at Golgotha Orphanage, Australia, run by the strict matron known as the Black Skirt. To liven up their lives and comfort the new orphans, the orphans tell stories and embody the spirits of past orphans.  Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for MAGS staff and students.

My 40 Hour Famine Experience Friday afternoon saw me piling my possessions on the floor of my bedroom and pulling sleeping bags out from the cupboard as I prepared to give up furniture for 40 hours. In a previous year’s 40 hour famine I had given up my lovely queen sized bed, but this year I upped the ante by deciding to give up all furniture! I defined furniture as 'movable articles that are used to make a room or building suitable for living in e.g. tables, chairs and desks’, but this did not include home accessories such as pillows and blankets. So for 40 hours I had to sleep and sit on the floor, not use any tables or desks, and any clothes or other items that are usually stored in drawers or on shelves I had to relocate to the floor. It begins… I returned from karate training at around half past eight on Friday 7th of June (I had been out when the famine started) and when usually I w...

The MAGS blog has created a new and improved Blog website . It is much easier to access to and is more sleek. It contains various categories and countless articles. We will no longer be using this page anymore. Check out the new blog by using the link provided below: 😀 https://sites.google.com/mags.school.nz/the-roar/home

Board Show and Market Evening The annual MAGS Art Board Show and Business Market Evening took place on Tuesday 21st May, from 4.30pm to 6.30pm, and as always drew crowds. E block corridor and classrooms were crowded as members of the MAGS community admired the boards that senior visual art students had created. Senior students taking either photography, painting or graphic design each had a board displaying multiple pieces of their work with a common theme that they have been working on since the beginning of the year. The overall standard of work was excellent, receiving many compliments. The board show was a great opportunity for students to show off their work to parents and peers, and receive valuable feedback. But there was more than just art to be had. The evening was a chance for Year 11 business students to test their skills  as they dished out delicious food to the hungry crowd. The wonderful items on offer included nachos, burgers, hot dogs, premade baking mixes,...

Youth Week 2019 DIY stress balls were the theme at MAGS last week, with many events taking place as part of Youth Week. The purpose of Youth Week was to promote well-being in the MAGS community, and this was done through a number of engaging events throughout the week. Year 12 health students did their job finely at one of the events, the Health Expo. The health students had, in groups, identified a health issue at MAGS, researched the issue and ways to prevent it, then presented about it with a booth at the expo held on Tuesday 21st, Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd during lunch time, in the hall. Some of the booths had presentations on body image, drug and alcohol use, nutrition, and depression. However, the most popular theme was stress, a very fitting topic to address at this time of year with year 11 practice exams looming. The expo was attended by hundreds of students who were able to get some handy tips on how to maintain positive well-being, and also pick up some g...

As most year 11s will know, exam week is looming and we are feeling the pressure. Being our first year of NCEA, many of us are unaware of how exams work and how to study, so it is important that we are aware of what we are doing in each subject and start studying early. It is also important to be aware of things that you may need to memorise, such as quotes, equations, or formulas. Starting to memorise things early increases the likelihood that you will remember it. Here are some great ways to study: Make a study timetable -  This will ensure that the workload is evened out across a longer period of time rather than squished into a last-minute late-night session! e.g. Monday afternoons for English, Tuesday afternoons for Maths etc. Maybe allocate more time towards subjects you aren't as confident in.  Using Quizlets/flashcards for key terms/definitions or making a Kahoot! to do with friends. Study groups -  Studying with friends can be very distracting, but you...

Get your dose of stress relief with these handy social stress strategies :) Smile and laugh on the daily Hang out with friends who make you laugh, keep a collection of your favorite photos or even just watch a funny film! Laughing and smiling is a super easy way to relieve stress- studies even suggest that it can be more effective than distraction! Laughing with others relieves tension by relaxing your muscles, and calming the bodies stress responses. Long term effects of laughter also included improved immune health and mood. Spend time with family, friends and pets Connect with others and make socialising a priority- you won’t regret it. Relationships are important and a perfect way to reduce stress. By connecting with others you will feel a sense of belonging and improved self worth. Having a large support network and spending time with others also reduce stress through the the production of the natural stress reliever: oxycontin. Having a pet also achieves this alo...

The 40 Hours Famine is back again this year, and now is the time to sign up! The 40 Hour Famine New Zealand is an annual fundraiser event, first held in 1975. It is organised by World Vision, a humanitarian aid organisation which works in 97 countries and that supplies emergency relief, education, health care and economic development to those in need. This year the 40 Hour Famine is in support of the South Sudanese children refugees. Money raised goes towards providing these children with clean water, food, healthcare, education and emotional support. From the relative safety of our first world country it is hard to imagine the terrible events that these children - who are our age and just like us - have experienced. During the 40 Hour Famine you can experience a small part of what the refugee children of South Sudan have by giving up something (it could be food, technology, speaking, etc.) for 40 hours. Alternatively, you could decide to do something for 40 hours - 40 hours of bic...

Get your tickets to see To Kill a Mockingbird quick! $5 for students $10 for adults Starts at 7pm in E9 (drama/dance room) Monday 1st April - SOLD OUT Tuesday 2nd April- Wednesday 3rd April- SOLD OUT Thursday 4th April- To get tickets go to the drama department to hold them at the door or buy them

The Moth Pod Competition is back this year and we have $2,000 of prize money! So make sure to read the information and get involved. Moth Plant is an introduced pest plant that is causing a huge amount of damage to our native forests, and therefore damaging the habitat of our precious native species that are found nowhere else on Earth. You may have seen them around your neighborhood or even in your own backyard. They usually grow against fences or shrubs, and the pods are about the size of your fist. The goal of this competition is to remove as many pods as possible before they go to seed, as each pod contains about 800 of them that are carried by the wind.   How to enter/rules: - To enter you need to collect as many seed pods as you can and send a photo with you and your seed pods (organized into groups of 50 pods in rows etc) to chaslam@mags.school.nz . Prizes can be claimed by an individual, or a team which then splits the prize evenly. - You can only enter the comp...

As you may know, a tragic event had occurred last week in Christchurch. This news has impacted many people nationwide. As Jacinda Ardern had said, it was one of New Zealand’s ‘darkest days’. There was a terrorist attack in Christchurch. Around 50 people were killed, the youngest was a 3 year old boy and the oldest was a 71 year old man. Dozens were critically injured. So many innocent people were harmed or even killed. This is truly heartbreaking and devastating. The Muslim community shouldn’t have encountered this appalling event. Numerous people has been affected and to this day are still in shock. But people in New Zealand are embracing each other, showing lots of support, sincerity, politeness and respect to those who were victims and who are affected. Around a week ago, people brought countless amounts of flowers in Christchurch and throughout NZ for victims and stood in silence to pay respect. There are fundraisers and charities for people to donate money for those who are affec...

Hi Everyone! If you haven’t signed up for the environment club this year make sure you use the google classroom code n80mfo to sign up and get information on fun trips like repotting plants in the agriculture block this week and going on future trips to plant trees on Motutapu. These trips to Motutapu are run by the Motutapu Restoration Trust that is trying to restore the island for our native wildlife and for it to stay pest free. These trips give you service points and planting trees is very enjoyable and rewarding so encourage your friends to come along with you and help us restore Motutapu Island.

Year Nine Perspective You’ve spent the holiday with your stomach tied in knots, not knowing whether to be excited or terrified. The day looms nearer, it’s daunting. You recently answered a call from a stranger claiming to be your peer support leader, following which you hurried to text your friends “What class are you in?” Maybe you were lucky and they replied with the same teacher code as yours, or you were unfortunate - as I was - and with each reply it becomes apparent that not a single friend is in your class. With hyped up thoughts, you review your stationery, prepare your uniform, arrange meeting points with mates, and try to enjoy the final days before being thrown into secondary school life. Year Ten Perspective It’s common knowledge that year ten is the best of high school. You drift in a comfortable bubble, familiar with the school system and not worrying about NCEA exams. Either you thoughtfully reflect on how to improve from the previous year, or you YOLO ...