HOUSE REPORTS ALFRED Ms Brown’s form have yet again led the way with their continued support of the Trussell Trust. Pupils from 10A have led the school in collecting 532 kg of food for the charity which runs a network of over 400 foodbanks. This is a fantastic achievement especially as food bank use is rising; the one we send our collection to distributed almost 2,000 more food parcels this year than they did last year. Thank you to all who have donated! Our Year 10s have also sponsored a guide dog, Buddy. After two years on an intense training programme Buddy will aid visually impaired people to go about their everyday tasks. The total cost of this two-year programme is £44,000 and every penny counts! In order to collect as much as possible 10A carried out a fundraising walk for Buddy during Enrichment Day (raising over £200 at the time of going to press). Staff and pupils contributed towards this and updates about Buddy can be found on the House notice board. Mr Sangar’s form have also continued their momentum with their recycling efforts into Year 9. They have been encouraging recycling in school by providing recycling boxes and collecting the waste from them regularly. They are clearly doing their bit for the environment. More needs to be done about recycling as unrecycled waste fills landfill and contributes to Global Warming. This is clearly something they understand and is certainly one of the current major issues. Well done 9A and all those who help with recycling efforts. These forms have proven that each form can make a very large impact, beyond academic studies. These are truly character-building initiatives and also reflect the maturity which these young men command. It would be great to see every form with as much drive and enthusiasm. Do you have suggestions or ideas about how you and your form could make a difference to something you care about? Speak to me and/or your form teacher. As well as the fabulous efforts mentioned above our house has been very active in all house events. Ashkon Larmour of 8 Alfred came 1st place in the Year 8 Countdown event! 8 Alfred have had a challenging but successful year, being runners up in table tennis, cricket, football and handball events. Ismael Tayeb batted his way to being the highest run-scorer in the house cricket event. I am certain it is only a matter of time until these promising young athletes overtake their rivals! Year 9 also had a similar success coming in 2nd place in the house handball. Hasnain Jafer of 9A also made his mark and was very convincingly victorious in the spelling competition. The rowing event was a new event organised by Mr Conway and over 100 young men took part in it. This event was a major success for our Year 11 team who finished in 1st place thanks to Sahil Mufti and Ikhlas Syed. Our House Captain, Muhammad Nazakat from Year 13, and Mohamed Maki also rowed their way to the top of the 6th form competition. I would also like to thank Muhammad for his efforts in his position as House Captain and we wish him a fond farewell in his future endeavours as he will be leaving us soon. Well done to all who take part in the house events. It can be difficult performing in front of peers but your contributions make all the difference. We still have sports day and another Enrichment Day to look forward to! Mr Bansal, Head of House Alfred HENRY The season kicked off with a good third in the Year 9 Table Tennis Competition on Enrichment Day in October. Year 9 also came third in Basketball and fourth in Handball. Third seemed to be the theme as yet another third in the House Debating Competition was achieved by Year 9. Overall Henry was third in the House Competition. But the best success so far this year was to be achieved: winners – yes winners – in the Year 11 Football competition at Goals Soccer Centre! A great boost to Team Henry. Mr Conway, chief host for HGS Entertainment, staged a House Spelling Competition. Henry using brain power and word scrutinising had Arjun Rana Year 7 third, Rohen Mahmood Year 8 – WINNER!!, Shay Parekh Year 9 – fourth, and Shuaib Upadhay also fourth. Another pattern emerging – fourth places – and yes Team Henry slipping to fourth in the House Competition. Also the busy Mr C managed to organise the House Quiz. The Year 10 winners were from Henry: Messrs Raul Bhatti and Eesah Rashid – very well done to those boys. Heading into the next Enrichment Day in February – a great start for the Year 8 Table Tennis team, WINNERS, with the Year 8 Basketball team a credible third and the Year 8 Handball team fourth. The Year 10s achieved a “podium finish” (third) in the House Football Competition at the recently opened HGS “Maracana” Stadium with a lush 4G surface. The Year 10 Debating team claimed a steady fourth position. Mr Mohsin staged an HGS Indoor Cricket Competition for Year 8s. A good third position for Henry with Alex Cummings and Karanjit “Spinmaster” Virdi doing particularly well. Keeping busy Mr Mohsin also staged a Year 8 Countdown Competition with Syed Atif finishing joint first. Well done to him. Enrichment Day in May saw the indoor Handball, Basketball and Table Tennis for Year 7 and outdoor football for Year 8 take place. In Basketball, the Henry Year 7s managed a great set of results to “Win” the competition with the Handball team – after a slow start – achieving second place. In the Year 7 Debating competition Henry again achieving a second place. Down at the “Handsworth Maracana”, the Year 8 football team claimed a podium finish – third. A great year so far with another Enrichment Day and Sports Day still to come. Mr S Campbell 30