MR RAZA Did you like school and what did you like about it? Yes, it was a time when I had most friends and engaged in lots of fun activities. I got bored at home so to get out of the house I joined all of the sports clubs that I could, including Basketball, Cricket, Hockey, Swimming, Squash, Karate and circuit training. In Year 7 I was the penultimate student to finish in Cross Country, and decided then that things needed to change and through practise and effort I worked my way to the top, captaining all of the school teams except football. Don’t you like football? I do but it must have clashed with other things that I was involved in. Which team do you support? Birmingham City. I used to hold a season ticket for many years and would go with my brothers, my daughter and two sons, both of whom still go regularly. What’s your favourite box-set? The Wire, It’s an absolute masterpiece. Book? Alf Laila Wa Laila or One Thousand Nights and One Night, a literary gem that is a work of art. Film? That’s a tough one, I’m not a real fan of comedy but Stepbrothers is a film I can watch again and again. Ice Cream flavour? Tutti Frutti. Tell me something not many people know about you In my late teens I was a catwalk model for a sports brand. What was your first job? As soon as I passed my driving test, I borrowed my dad’s Volvo estate, and filled it with cases of eggs from a farm near Redditch, which I sold to butcher shops before supplying most of the shops on Ladypool road in Sparkbrook, it was great money for a teenager. Why did you decide to teach? On the advice of my wife who recognised that I liked maths and that I enjoyed helping others to understand maths. It sometimes takes someone from the outside looking in to see the real you. What is your Philosophy for life? Altruism, we feel much better when we give to or help others. What do you dislike? Negativity and disrespect. Good manners cost nothing and when you unburden yourself and surround yourself with positivity, you feel good. What do you like about HGS? It is a nice environment, staff are friendly and the students are generally nice people. Which teacher is your best friend? I don’t have a best friend but I’m friendly with all of the maths teachers and many of the other teachers in school too, I think that as a child I didn’t really fit into a category and so found it easy to move in and out of friendship groups. Which area of maths do you enjoy most? I like Algebra, however Geometry is visually beautiful. What is your favourite equation? Pythagoras Theorem, a fundamental building block in Geometry. If you left HGS tomorrow what would you miss? My students of course. INTERVIEWS NEW STAFF 47