38 CLUBS AND SOCIETIES Once again we have had a myriad of sporting and cultural events over the last twelve months as the pupils and students of Handsworth Grammar school have competed for the house trophy. We have seen a range of competitions take place in the school, nearly forty different ones, which have generated much healthy fun and competition among both the pupils and staff in school. The 2015/16 winners Galahad, led by the inspirational Mr A Campbell have been very closely pursued by the 2014/15 winners Nelson, led by the irrepressible Mr Mohsin, and these two houses have been neck and neck for much of the year. Alfred, Henry and William have all been very close fighting for third spot this year, although that could all change with Sports Day in July. This year’s change in the scoring system, giving more points for competitions has led to a much closer competition overall and this has been very well received by the heads of house. There have been a number of notable non-sporting competitions in school and the spelling competitions produced some exciting moments as Henry achieved three year group victories, closely followed by Galahad who won two of the year competitions. The General knowledge quizzes which took place in early April also produced great entertainment from the watching audiences throughout the day. However, it was a dominant performance from Galahad who won or were joint winners of five of the year group competitions. All in all, it has been another fantastic year at HGS for house competitions and we look forward to even more great fun and competition in 2017/18. C.J.Conway House Activities Overview for 2016/2017 Well-done to 9 Alfred and Ms Brown for their continuing support for the Trussell Trust. This charity runs a network of over 400 foodbanks, giving emergency food and support to people in crisis across the UK, where thirteen million people live below the poverty line. In the last year they gave 1,109,309 three- day emergency food supplies to people in crisis. It is fantastic that HGS and 9 Alfred are doing their bit to make a difference to people’s lives. Thank you to the many pupils, families and staff who donated food. Mr Sangar and 8 Alfred have been busy this year! Each T uesday morning, members of 8 Alfred visit classrooms to collect paper recycling, doing their bit for the environment. The UK produces about 434 million tonnes of waste every year. This is enough to fill the Albert Hall every two hours! We dispose of about 45% of this: around two thirds goes to landfill and a third is incinerated. Landfill produces 38% of the UK’s methane emissions: a greenhouse gas which is causing climate change. So, the more we can do to separate waste and ensure as much as possible is recycled, the better. Do you have any good ideas that your form can get involved in to make a difference to something you care about? Forms that initiate activities which involve the whole school will get 20 achievement points per pupil, so that’s 600 points! Get involved! The following pupils represented House Alfred in the Spelling Competition: Afshan Khan, Solomon Khan, Salmane Nasri, Mahdi Chowdhury Mustafa Harris. Although we had no winners, remember points are awarded for taking part so well done to you for getting involved. A big thank you to those who represented Alfred in the House Quizzes. It’s a big deal being sat up there on Big School Stage having questions fired at you! Congratulations to 10 Alfred for winning and 9 Alfred for coming joint first. The first Enrichment Day was a story of close calls as 7 Alfred finished second in football, table tennis and basketball. In February, 8 Alfred won the handball and 9 Alfred the football. Well- done to 7 Alfred who won the basketball and came second in the handball competition in May. So, it looks as though sport is a strength of ours and should be an area which will bring much success in the future. Perhaps Sports Day will make a significant difference to the league tables? I hope so, at time of writing, we are fourth! An area we have seriously underperformed in is the debating competitions, so let’s work on our powers of persuasion in time for October 2017. Dr D.Bird winners, remember points are awarded for taking part In February, 8 Alfred won the handball and 9 Alfred the football. Well- done to 7 Alfred who won the basketball and came second in the handball ALFRED A good start to the Academic year as Henry at one point took the lead in the House Competition. However this unfortunately was not to last and Henry are currently third, but this is still an improvement on last year. Notable successes this year so far have been in the House Spelling Competition; Aaqib Farooq (Year7) joint 1st, Shay Parekh (Year 8) 1st Ibrahim Kabir (Year 11) 1st. In the House Quiz competition the Year 7 and Year 10 Henry teams came 3rd with the Year 8 team finishing a credible 2nd. Various Enrichment days have taken place over the year. The first one in October saw Hanzblyth Camanzo (Year 9) winning the individual Table Tennis competition with the Henry Year 9 team finishing joint 2nd also in table tennis. The Henry Year 11 footballers won the six aside competition at Goals with Henry Year 9 Debating team finishing 3rd. In December the Year 10 Henry team won the Basketball competition and a different Henry Year 10 team won the Handball competition. The Year 10 Henry Debating team finished joint 3rd. In February the Year 8 Henry Basketball team and a different Year 8 Table Tennis team both came 2nd. In May the Year 7 Henry Table Tennis team finished 1st with Amaar Ateeq the individual winner, also in Table Tennis. The Year 7 Henry Basketball team came joint 2nd. So with one more Enrichment Day to come and also the Sports Day Finale there are plenty of points to play for. A much improved year-well done to all those taking part. Mr S.Campbell The Henry Year 11 footballers won the six aside competition at Goals with Henry Year 9 Debating Basketball competition and a different Henry Year 10 team won the Handball competition. The Year In May the Year 7 Henry Table Tennis team finished 1st with Amaar Ateeq the individual winner, also in Table Tennis. The Year 7 HENRY