33 CLUBS AND SOCIETIES My name is Felicia Akanbi and I joined HGS from Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy in September 2015. I currently study A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths and I hope to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh next year. This has been a thrilling year for both the school and myself as I have very much enjoyed being Head girl at such a prestigious school. Indeed this has been a memorable year for the school too with the school attaining some fantastic examination results last summer. 99% of all of our pupils achieved 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE and 98% of students gained five or more A*-C including English and Maths. Thirteen students gained straight A*-A grade and forty students gained eight or more A*-A grades. At AS Level we had an 89% pass rate which was a 14% increase over the last three years. At A Level, we had our best results for a decade with eleven students gaining three or more A*-A grades. Our overall grades showed that 30% of all entries were A* and A grades, which was up on last year. Two students achieved places at Oxford and Cambridge and seven students went on to read Medicine and Dentistry at university. Our students also gained places at Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Imperial, UCL, Aston Oxford and Cambridge among others. They have gone on to study courses as wide ranging as Economics, French, Dentistry, Medicine, Law, Accountancy, Engineering, Pharmacy, Optometry, Maths and Computer Science. We have also had major work carried out within the school including new seating areas in the quad and a major refurbishment of the sports pavilion. The outdoor table tennis tables which were new in 2015 continue to be very popular among the pupils, as does the astro turf which was put down on the Baker street playground in the summer of 2015. In January 2017 the school was inspected by OFSTED. We were inspected for two days and were given an overall judgement of “outstanding in every area”. OFSTED described the Overall effectiveness as Outstanding; the quality of teaching, learning and assessment as outstanding; the personal development and welfare of the pupils as outstanding; the outcomes for pupils as outstanding and the 16-19 study programmes for 6th formers as outstanding. They also commented that the Head teacher is “relentless in his determination that all pupils should achieve as well as they can while developing into young people ready to take their place in society. Pupils, staff and parents support this vision”. This was a fantastic judgement and one of which we are all very proud. We are the first school in Birmingham to receive this judgement for three years and indeed there is only one other grammar school in the city which has this judgement. Handsworth Grammar School is a fantastic place to be a student and I have had a wonderful time as a student at the school. I will always have Handsworth Grammar School in my heart. Thank you. OLD BOYS’ DINNER grades. Our overall grades showed that 30% of all entries were A* and A grades, which was up on last year. Two students achieved places at Oxford and Cambridge and seven students went on to read Medicine and Dentistry at university. Our students also gained places at Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Imperial, UCL, Aston Oxford and Cambridge among others. They have gone on to study courses as wide ranging as Economics, French, Dentistry, Medicine, Law, Accountancy, Engineering, Pharmacy, Optometry, Maths and Computer Science. We have also had major work carried out within the school including new seating areas in the quad and a major refurbishment of the sports pavilion. The outdoor table tennis tables which were new in 2015 continue to be very popular among the pupils, as does the astro turf which was put down on the Baker street playground in the summer of 2015. In January 2017 the school was inspected by OFSTED. We were inspected for two days and were given an overall judgement of “outstanding in every area”. OFSTED described the Overall effectiveness as Outstanding; the quality of teaching, learning and assessment as outstanding; the personal development and welfare of the pupils as outstanding; the outcomes for pupils as outstanding and the 16-19 study programmes for 6th formers as outstanding. They also commented that the Head teacher is “relentless in his determination that all pupils should achieve as well as they can while developing into young people ready to take their place in society. Pupils, staff and parents support this vision”. Head Girl’s Speech CLUBS AND SOCIETIES My name is Felicia Akanbi and I joined HGS from Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy in September 2015. I currently study A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths and I hope to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh next year. This has been a thrilling year for both the school and myself as I have very much enjoyed being Head girl at such a prestigious school. Indeed this has been a memorable year for the school too with the school attaining some fantastic examination results last 99% of all of our pupils achieved 5+ A*-C grades at GCSE and 98% of students gained five or more A*-C including English and Maths. Thirteen students gained straight A*-A grade and forty students gained eight or more A*-A grades. At AS Level we had an 89% pass rate which was a 14% increase over the last three years. At A Level, we had our grades. Our overall grades showed that 30% of all entries were A* and A grades, Two students achieved places at Oxford and Cambridge and seven students went on to read Medicine and Dentistry at university. Our students also gained places at Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester, Imperial, UCL, Aston Oxford and Cambridge among others. They have gone on to study courses as wide ranging as Economics, French, Dentistry, Medicine, Law, Accountancy, Engineering, Pharmacy, Optometry, Maths and Computer We have also had major work carried out within the school including new seating areas in the quad and a major refurbishment of the sports pavilion. The outdoor table tennis tables which were new in 2015 continue to be very popular among the pupils, as does the astro turf which was put down on the Baker street playground in the summer of 2015. In January 2017 the school was inspected by OFSTED. We were inspected for two days and were given an overall judgement of “outstanding in every area”. OFSTED described the Overall effectiveness as Outstanding; the quality of teaching, learning and assessment as outstanding; the personal development and welfare of the pupils as outstanding; the outcomes for pupils as outstanding and the 16-19 study programmes for 6th formers as outstanding. They also commented that the Head teacher is “relentless in his determination that all pupils should achieve as well as they can while developing into This was a fantastic judgement and one of which we are all very proud. We are the first school in Birmingham to receive this judgement for three years and indeed there is only one other grammar school in the city which has this judgement. Handsworth Grammar School is a fantastic place to be a student and I have had a wonderful time as a student at the school. I will always have Handsworth Grammar School in my heart. Thank you. OLD BOYS’ DINNER Head Girl’s Speech It is an honour to be appointed as the Head Girl of Handsworth Grammar School. I understand that this role comes with great responsibilities, however, I’m very grateful that I can conclude my final year at Handsworth Grammar school with such a high, prestigious profile. Over the past year, I have come to understand how much of a great importance being in a school that supports you as well as challenges you is. With this being said, Handsworth Grammar School provides you all the support you need as well as excellent facilities and, most importantly, provides a foundation for which young people can evolve into wise individuals with high morals and strong ethics. Furthermore, the standard required from students at the Sixth Form is very high as we are the school ambassadors and are essentially required to show the younger pupils how they should conduct themselves around school. Moreover, as a Sixth Former you learn to be independent and hardworking. This is vital considering how much more challenging A-levels are becoming. With the full support given by teachers here, what could have been a challenging year of A-levels is a less stressful year. A word of advice, from me to you, would be to make sure you perform every task to your full potential, from homework to helping out around the school. Make sure you always get involved and you’ll have a great year at Handsworth Grammar School. My name is Felicia Akanbi and I joined HGS from Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy in September Chemistry and Maths and I hope to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh next year. This has been a thrilling year for both the school and myself as I have very much enjoyed being Head girl at such a prestigious school. Indeed this has been a memorable year for the school too with the school 99% of all of our pupils achieved 5+ A*-C grades more A*-C including English and Maths. Thirteen Head Girl of Handsworth Grammar School. I understand that this role comes with great responsibilities, however, I’m very grateful that I can conclude my final year at Handsworth Grammar school with such a high, prestigious profile. Over the past year, I have come to understand how much of a great importance being in a school that supports you as well as challenges you is. With this being said, Handsworth Grammar School provides you all the support you need as well as excellent facilities and, most importantly, provides a foundation for which young Felicia Akanbi A word of advice, from me to you, would be to make sure you perform every task to your full potential… 129th Session 2016–2017 129th Session 129th Session