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Youth Mental Health Day

🧠💬 This Friday, 19th September, we’re proud to support Youth Mental Health Day alongside stem4

This year’s theme is #ShareSupport — encouraging young people to connect, open up, and share tools that support mental wellbeing. Whether it’s a kind word, a helpful app, or simply listening, small actions can make a big difference.

Let’s help break the stigma and build a community where every young person feels heard and supported.

Find out more and explore free resources: https://stem4.org.uk/youthmentalhealthday/

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Cyber First Awards

On the evening of Wednesday 10th September, members of the Computer Science team attended a celebration at the KPMG offices in Birmingham, where twelve West Midlands schools were formally recognised as CyberFirst Schools by the Government’s National Cyber Security Centre.

We are proud to announce that King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School was formally awarded CyberFirst Silver status, recognising the dedication of our staff and students in developing excellence in computing and cybersecurity education. This award reflects not only the strength of our curriculum, but also the commitment shown by our pupils in embracing opportunities to build their digital skills and prepare for the challenges of the future.

The evening itself was inspiring, with leaders from industry, academia and government giving keynote speeches about the vital role of young people in shaping the future of the cyber sector. The awards ceremony was a proud moment for the school, and it was wonderful to see the hard work of the computing department celebrated. The event concluded with a powerful cyber panel discussion and the exciting opportunities ahead for students entering this field.

As a school, we are delighted to be part of the CyberFirst Schools community. This incredible success highlights our ongoing commitment to preparing students for the digital age, ensuring they develop the knowledge, skills, and resilience required to succeed in education and the workplace, ensuring they become the digital leaders of the future.

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British Weightlifting – Rajan Nagra

Rajan Nagra from 11 William recently competed in the British Junior Weightlifting championships.

He won a silver medal in the U’15 71kg category despite having sustained a back injury in the summer, which affected his training.

Rajan is a member of Warley Weightlifting club where he has been training for four years. He came 1st in his age groups in the English championships earlier this year.

Rajan hopes one day to compete for his country at the Commonwealth Games.

Mr Conway

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Two More International Caps for Arijus

Arijus Ahmadiaan gained another two international caps for Lithuania U’17s this summer. He is in our year 11 and will be signing a full-time contract for Birmingham City FC after he has completed his GCSEs here at school.

Arijus is pictured with his team mates, back row , 3rd from left.

Mr Conway

 

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Year 6 Open Mornings

🎓 Year 6 Open Mornings – Book Your Visit Today!

We’re excited to welcome Year 6 students and their families to our Open Mornings on:

  • Tuesday 23rd September
  • Wednesday 24th September
  • Thursday 25th September

These mornings offer a fantastic opportunity to experience our school during a normal working day. You’ll be able to see lessons in progress, meet our staff and students, and get a real sense of what makes our school special.

📅 Booking is essential – please reserve your place via Eventbrite:

We look forward to seeing you!

 

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European Youth Olympic Success

We are incredibly proud to celebrate the outstanding achievement of one of our students, Kaiden, who represented Team GB and Aquatics GB at the European Youth Olympics in North Macedonia this summer.

Kaiden’s dedication and hard work paid off in spectacular fashion as he brought home a Silver and a Bronze medal 🥈🥉. This is a testament to his talent, perseverance, and passion for the sport. Competing on the international stage in front of an electric crowd, Kaiden delivered performances that made us all proud.

Kaiden’s journey is a powerful reminder of what can be achieved with determination, support, and belief. We are excited to see what the future holds for him. This is only the beginning.

Congratulations, Kaiden! 🎉🇬🇧

 

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GCSE Success 2025

Following the excellent results achieved by our departing Year 13 students last week, we are delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our Year 11 pupils in their GCSE examinations this summer.

 

65% of all grades achieved by students at HGS were Grade 7 or above and 44% of all the grades were Grade 8 or above.  This is the highest proportion of top grades that the school has achieved since the grading system at GCSE was changed in 2018 and it is a real testament to the hard work of our students and staff and the support given by our parents.

An impressive 58% of students achieved a Grade 7 or above in both Maths and English, and 96% of our students achieved a Grade 5 in at least 5 subjects, including English and Maths.

The average Attainment 8 score was 71.8, which is the equivalent of every pupil attaining at least eight Grade 7s.

 

There have been many exceptional individual performances, with one student attaining a clean sweep of eleven Grade 9s. Well done to Bikramjit!

 

Congratulations also to:

  • Nihal S (10 Grade 9s, 1 Grade 8)
  • Alvyn B (9 Grade 9s, 2 Grade 7s)
  • Rishi K (8 Grade 9s, 3 Grade 82)
  • Anoop L (8 Grade 9s, 3 Grade 8s)
  • George L (8 Grade 9s, 3 Grade 8s)
  • Manjit S (8 Grade 9s, 2 Grade 8s, 1 Grade 7)
  • Amiel P (8 Grade 9s, 2 Grade 8s)
  • Matthew W (8 Grade 9s, 2 Grade 8s)
  • Mohammed Z (8 Grade 9s, 1 Grade 7)

In total, 27 students attained an impressive five or more Grade 9s, and one-fifth of all grades achieved by this year’s Year 11 cohort were Grade 9s.

 

We are utterly delighted for our students. This year group has worked incredibly hard and has been a pleasure to work with. Their achievements should not be underestimated, especially considering that this cohort spent their transitional years of Year 6 and Year 7 in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, which undoubtedly had a disruptive impact on their learning.

 

Most impressively, this Year 11 cohort has developed well as young people during their time with us. We are immensely proud of their hard work and achievements. Our students are so much more than a set of exam results; they have character, they are kind, and they are determined to make a difference in their communities. We are very proud of them all and look forward to seeing the majority continue their education in our Sixth Form. For those moving on to other post-16 providers, we wish them the very best in their next steps in education and training.

 

We would also like to thank everyone involved in supporting our Year 11s and helping them achieve such success, including the teaching and support staff within the school, all of whom work tirelessly to support our students. Additionally, we extend our gratitude to our parents, whose continued support and collaboration with the school have made a significant contribution to the success of this year group.

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A Level Success

King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School are delighted to be celebrating the many outstanding achievements of our Year 13 pupils in their A Level examinations this summer. 

An impressive 42% of all grades were A or A*, 67% of grades were A*-B and 88% of all grades were A*-C.  Six students achieved straight A* grades and there were 36 students whose grades were all A*-A.  This is over a third of the year group.  This performance is also a significant improvement on the high standards achieved last year when 32% of all grades were A or A*, 60% were A*-B and 82% were A*-C.  The results achieved by our departing Year 13 students are the best results that the school has ever achieved outside of the exam years that were affected by Covid when Teacher and Centre Assessed Grades were used.

As a result of their exam success, our young people are going on to further study and training with a wide range of excellent universities.

We are incredibly proud of our students for achieving such fantastic A-Level results.  They have worked hard to achieve these results while also making a really positive contribution to school life and developing into well-rounded individuals. 

It is also important to recognise the hard work and dedication of our staff in helping our Year 13s achieve such impressive outcomes and also our parents/carers for the unwavering support that they give to their children and the school.

We wish all of our departing students the very best for the future and eagerly anticipate hearing news of their future successes.

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Computing Trip to Bletchley Park

On the 27th of June 2025, Year 10 had the pleasure of visiting Bletchley Park on a Computer Science Trip, a day packed with activities that encompassed our algorithmic thinking skills, knowledge of encryption and even cryptography. When we arrived, we were met with an expert tour guide who took us over to the Bletchley Mansion and quizzed us with questions about our prior knowledge of codebreaking and enlightened us with some fascinating information. After this, we were taken over to the entrance of two garages, these were full of different types of vintage vehicles. At first sight, it didn’t look that special. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This was the very entrance where thousands of motor cyclists called Dispatch Riders would bring in valuable intelligence from covert drives during the war. They played a crucial role by delivering encrypted messages to and from Bletchley Park from stations called ‘Y stations’ to the experienced team of expert codebreakers.

After the Dispatch Riders, we visited inside the mansion, which was the very centre of attention as many gathered around the rooms which contained original radios, differing papers packed with code and all organised scrupulously into grids, which made codebreaking more effective. After this, we had the privilege of viewing ‘The Cottages’ where some of the most prolific Codebreakers such as Dilly Knox, Mavis Lever and even the man regarded as the ‘forefather of modern computer science, Alan Turing’ worked in these buildings. This was the very site where the first codebreaking of Enigma by an exclusive British team took place and produced intelligence showing that the Allies had successfully deceived the Germans in the ‘Double Cross’ operation regarding the location for the D-Day landings.

We also got to visit a mini cinema which displayed the significance of codebreaking in the war effort and how crucial it was to gather intelligence such as the Battle of Cape Matapan, where Italian ciphers were decrypted, informing the Royal Navy of Italian and German ship movements. We then moved onto the tours of the Huts where prominent codebreakers like Gordon Welshman worked to break the Enigma codes. Hut 8 was home to the office of Alan Turing, the founding father of modern computer science. I remember it like it was yesterday, his room had two desks with their own typewriter, a map on the far left of the room and a mini chalkboard hung on the wall, accompanying a black telephone. To this day, I still cannot believe that I stood in the same room where Alan Turing’s brains had conjured up the most ingenious thoughts of the century, solving problems during times of national insurgency, when the welfare of the country depended on him.

Finally, we received an excellent lecture presented to us by the staff at Bletchley Park on encryption codes and cryptography as well as an insight into the field of Quantum Computing.

The Bletchley Park Trip was an enjoyable experience based around the many wonders Computer Science can perform, I am very grateful and lucky to have been able to partake in this trip as it deepened my understanding of the fundamental concepts such as encryption and made me appreciate the applications of computer science in British history.

Sarujan Kasinthan, 10G