Paul “Duggie” Douglas visited HGS this week to work with our school basketball team.

Paul is head coach of the Birmingham Knights and said how impressed he was with the standard of basketball shown by our boys.

The players quizzed him on his basketball career and listened intently to his advice.

The year 9 team play their next game at home against Bishop Vesey’s Grammar school next week when we hope for a great game and a good result.

The attached photo shows Paul with the HGS basketball team at training.

On Monday 27th January, twelve students from Year 9 went to the so-called Physics ‘Big Quiz’, an annual event held at the University of Birmingham in the Great Hall.

We left school in the minibus, and arrived at about 9:40. We then took our seats in our three teams of four, completing a Physics word search whilst waiting for all of the other schools to arrive. Once everyone had taken their seats we were given an introduction and the quiz began. There were six rounds in total. The last round was a specific round on the GAIA Satellite and the Milky Way; we were informed of this particular round before the event, so we could revise this topic.

After we had completed 3 rounds we had lunch, followed by a 45 minute lecture from an astrophysicist, which was very informative and enjoyable. Then, we completed the last three rounds. To finish we had the Awards Ceremony, where the top three teams each won medals. Each school could enter as many as three teams, which we did. Out of the 94 teams entered our highest placed team finished fifth, so there’s a challenge for next year’s Year 9 to improve upon this!

It was a great day out for all of us and we are hoping to have the chance to take part in any similar events in the future.

Caleb Brown

Footnote: The results were very tight indeed at the top end, with only a few points separating 1st and 6th places. Congratulations to Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School (my old school) for coming top!

Mr Jones

Dr Generalis an Astrophysicist and Mathematician from Aston University thrilled Sixth Form students with his presentation on the use and application of mathematics in space travel.

Dr Generalis told the students the story of the famous Apollo Space mission in 1970, when only a knowledge of mathematics, particularly vectors and tangents, allowed the commander of the module to guide the ill fated capsule back safely to earth. The dramatic journey was made into an Oscar nominated film, starring Tom Hanks as Commander Jim Lovell.

Dr Generalis visited HGS as part of the “Speakers for Schools” programme, and he revealed that his own son had been a pupil at HGS some years ago. His enthusiasm and witty delivery both educated and entertained the year 12 and 13 students, many of whom waited to speak to Dr Generalis after the presentation.

This year’s ski trip was the quietest for many years. Just 9 students and 2 teachers headed off for the Italian Alps on the 28th December, of which only three had skied on snow before. This was not only an incredible opportunity to experience skiing in a beautiful resort but also a rare opportunity to meet fellow students we had never come across before.

This year we went with Interski again to Pila in the Aosta Valley. Having been on the ski trip twice before, visiting this resort on my first time, I had a fair understanding of what this trip would entail. First of all, the journey, only enjoyable for those who managed to get some sleep during the 20 hours spent on a coach (with a large group from an air cadet regiment) but worth it. By about 10am the following morning we arrived in the Alps and caught a first sight of what we would gradually get used to over the week, snow!!! After a couple more hours and a transit through a very long tunnel we arrived in the Aosta valley, home to the tallest mountain in the Alps (well only half of it.) We had our skis, boots and helmets allocated to us before we headed off for lunch in the hotel where we would be staying. Afterwards we had time to unpack, relax with a game of table tennis and prepare for the first day on the snow.

Each day we skied for 4 hours, with an hour for lunch, and more time for anybody who wished to ski extra with Mr Bird. During this time I managed to cover most of the runs whilst the others completed all the blues and a red. Our techniques improved drastically over the course of the week and everyone made considerable progress. Whilst skiing we were able to experience the stunning views and even look down on the snow clouds below when we headed to high altitude.

For breakfast, it took several days and several eggs before we finally got a fully cooked boiled egg and actual toast, not just warmed bread! For lunch we ate in several of the mountain restaurants with a choice of pizza, pasta, hot dogs, chips and a few more options which I won’t go on to name. For drinks there was water, Coca- Cola, Sprite and hot chocolate, which had a high viscosity and was more like melted chocolate. Our evening meal varied every night but always started with a bowl of pasta. For the main course, most of us had the vegetarian dish as only one student could eat meat but nevertheless the hotel provided delicious meals.

It was a fantastic trip this year and I think I speak for everyone who came. I would urge anyone who is thinking about going next year to go. Skiing is an amazing opportunity and although it is expensive it is definitely worth every last penny. I would like to say a massive thanks to Mr Bird and Mr Jones for organising this trip, especially as they had to switch to another provider after the required number of students was not met. For pictures, look at the Ski Trip 2014 Album on the school website.

Josef Feiven 10G

Click here to view the photo gallery.