Routes into Languages
One of our pupils, Jasbinderbir Singh, was recently featured in the Routes into Languages newsletter. The newsletter can be viewed by clicking this link.
Aston League Football Success
HGS Year 9 Football team played and beat Broadway 8-0 yesterday in the Aston League. (I. Stanjanovic 3, K. Matinyadze 2, H. Raza 1, A. George 1 and A. Mahmood 1)
Congratulations!
UoB Master Classes & Taster Days
During the past year the Computing and Multimedia department have collaborated with the University of Birmingham on a number of initiatives including participating in the University of Birmingham’s Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme. This programme entailed a final year undergraduate Computer Science student visiting Handsworth Grammar for half a day per week for one term, primarily to support KS5 Computing students develop their Java Programming skills.
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Robot Wars – Taster Day
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During the summer, sixth form computing student Adreese Ashfaq, attended an introduction to computing Taster Day at the University of Birmingham. The ‘hands on’ workshop began with the forming of small teams to create and program an armoured robot using Lego Mindstorms. Once the robot was assembled and programed to battle and defend itself, it was entered into a Robots War Tournament. Overall the day was very enjoyable and helped to increase the students’ knowledge of computer programming within a university setting.
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Computer Science Decoded – Master Class
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Two KS3 students from Handsworth Grammar were accepted to take part in the unique workshops of ‘Computer Science Decoded’ at the University of Birmingham. These Masterclasses were hands-on and interactive extracurricular sessions led by top experts from academia and industry for talented computer science students across the country. The aim was to open the eyes of young people to the excitement and value of computer science and was the first of its kind in Birmingham. Congratulations to Ismail Hussaain and Danyal Iqbal, both of whom were awarded certificates from the Royal Institution of Great Britain Computer Science Masterclasses.
If you are interested in attending a Computing Master class at the University of Birmingham or Aston University please see your ICT teacher or Mr King for further details.
Computing News
To support the Computing & Multimedia departments teaching of its Computer Science Curriculum for the 21st Century, we are pleased to announce our membership of The Oracle Academy.
Oracle is the second largest software company in the world with an annual turnover of 38.8 billion US dollars. The Oracle Academy has 2.5 million students globally and is the defacto standard for Database design, development & Java Programming.
As members of the Academy our students will benefit from access to leading computing educational resources that are engaging, up-to-date, industry-relevant and also gain industry-specific skills.
Our Key Stage 5 Information Technology & Computer Science students will have direct access to a wealth of independent learning resources and online access to ‘Industry Experts.’ The Key Stage 3 curriculum will also be enhanced via the introduction of ‘Green foot’ & ‘Alice’ object based interactive Java development environments.
Word of the Week – Incredulous
The word of the week commencing 5th October 2015 is: Incredulous.
This means unwilling to admit or accept what is offered as true.
“Many people were incredulous that such a small fire could have caused so much damage.”
The display is produced by the student librarians.
This display can be found in our Library.
Geography Enrichment Lecture
On 22nd September seven Sixth Form Geographers attended a fascinating lecture about India at King Edward VI Five Ways School. This is part of our collaboration work with Grammar Schools across Birmingham and enables HGS to provide deep and challenging enrichment opportunities for our students.
As a British Indian, the title of the lecture sounded quite controversial. However, the premise of the lecture was India’s huge cultural diversity and the challenges this presents for the world’s largest democracy.
India is a country of many contrasts; notably gender inequality, the gap between rich and poor and life in the cities compared to life in rural areas (where 72% of Indians live). This is further complicated by the many religions in India, a caste system which give people a social status at birth and the challenges presented by a progressive federal government dealing with the ‘rich states’ of the west and the ‘poor states’ of the north and east (6 states here have over 50% of the population classified as malnourished).
I was shocked to hear about the issue of gender inequality. It troubled me to hear that many women are beaten and even raped and murdered if they are seen to bring shame on their family. Indeed, there have been very upsetting news items about this kind of behaviour towards women and these have helped to galvanise Indian opinion to ensure that such tragedies are not repeated. I understand that peoples’ beliefs – whether religious or cultural – may bring a conservative point of view, but this kind of treatment and lack of tolerance is holding India back in my opinion.
On the positive side, India’s software manufacturing and IT services are bringing much needed investment and have been at the forefront of economic growth. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and rapid rural-to-urban migration is placing huge pressure on India’s cities. Whilst huge challenges remain, the potential efficiencies of urban living; the access to health care, jobs and education could help lift millions of people out of poverty.
Taranvir Bedi & Mr D Bird
