Students must live in a homestay (organised by MAGS or other) or with the family of a relative or close family friend (organised by the parents ‘ ‘designated caregiver’) or in the School Boarding Hostel on campus (boys only). Students may not live in a flat or similar, while enrolled at MAGS.
Where the parents arrange a designated caregiver for their child rather than using the School’s homestay services, then the parents are required to sign an indemnity document taking full responsibility for the placement of the student with the designated caregiver.
MAGS will arrange a time to visit the designated caregiver in the home and it may be necessary to make random visits. All accommodation will be regularly visited by the School’s homestay organization, and all homestay carers and their live-in family members aged 18 or over will be vetted by the New Zealand Police (Ministry of Education Code of Practice).
All homestay contact details (names, address & phone number) must be given to the School and any changes to the student’s contact details must be notified to the School immediately.
Homestay
Fees for these should be paid to the school for the same period as the tuition fees. This makes it easier for the school to assist with visa extensions.
Designated Caregiver:
This must be a relative or close family friend designated in writing by the student’s parents. Parents will need to sign a form, available from the school, stating that they agree to take responsibility for placing you with that family, and that this family will take responsibility for the student outside school hours. Designated caregivers are paid directly by the parents for their accommodation. In this case the school will not issue a guarantee of accommodation.
Boarding: School House - The Boarding Hostel for Mount Albert Grammar School for Boys
There are few Government High Schools that boast a boarding establishment. School House was opened in 1927 and has forged a tradition rich in academic, sporting and cultural achievement.
School House caters for 100 boys from New Zealand and around the world, all of whom are assisted to grow and fulfil their potential in a safe, structured and caring environment. Hostel fees are payable annually (or for the rest of the current school year), in advance. These fees cover 3 meals a day, laundry and accommodation. Students are supervised at all times and can only obtain leave passes by prior arrangement with the hostel staff.
The hostel is usually closed in each of the two-week holidays at the end of Term 1, 2 and 3. At these times students will be offered local homestays, which cost extra (invoiced by the school), or may stay with relatives or friends if these are acceptable to the Guardian. School House boys are provided with extra educational oppotunities. Supervised homework and study programmes take place between 7 pm and 9 pm Monday to Thursday.
Four of the five dormitories are named after students who attended the hostel in the 1920s, and one is named after the first Housemaster Herb Towers. Each dormitory has 20 boys: At the beginning of each school year the aim is to have Year 9 and 10 boys share bunk rooms, Year 11 boys share rooms in pairs, and Year 12 and 13 boys have a room each. Older students arriving later in the year may have to share accommodation. Each dormitory has a dormitory prefect (a senior student given extra responsibility).
School House is under the control of the Hostel Director, one of the School’s senior teaching staff who lives on the premises with his family, and a group of live-in teaching staff. There is also a group of hostel prefects appointed each year, one of whom is the head hostel prefect.
The School House Philosophy consists of four basic tenets:
- Each student will have a secure, safe and clean environment to live in.
- Each student will be given the opportunity to fulfil his academic potential.
- Each student is expected to participate as fully as possible in the wider life of the School.
- Each student is taught to be self-disciplined and well organised, and to maintain a consistently high standard of behaviour in the School and in School House.
The hostel fee are listed on the forms page. Fees include accommodation, laundry and meals in term time. Hostel fees for the rest of a year from the date of enrolment must be paid in full prior to the start of a course. Hostel students enjoy the use of school facilities 7 days a week. Homestays are arranged for hostel students in term holidays.