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Sir Andy Street Visits HGS

Former West Midlands Mayor and CEO of John Lewis, Sir Andy Street visited HGS on Thursday 3rd July to speak to our GCSE Business Studies students.

Sir Andy gave an inspiring speech where he talked about his career starting on the shop floor of John Lewis in London and ascending to be the Managing Director of John Lewis. He told the boys that he had actually been rejected by Marks and Spencer before joining John Lewis and he also explained why the values of John Lewis suited him personally.

Sir Andy then took questions from the boys, and he said that he was most impressed by the quality of the questions.

Many thanks to Mr Harvey, Head of social Sciences for inviting Sir Andy to the school.

Mr Conway

 

Year 10’s inspirational journey through the world of business with Sir Andy Street began when he gave a brief yet very thorough introduction of John Lewis’s values and company structure. This helped us gain a very enriching experience in how an experimental company flourishes and succeeds in a modern business landscape. Not only was it very intriguing, but he also added elements of interactivity into it to keep us engaged throughout his talk. He made the speech very relevant for us by explaining the path he took when he was our age, such as his light-bulb moment with an economics teacher at a King Edwards VI school, and how we could apply it to our lives.

Sir Andy Street surprised us when he mentioned that John Lewis was not in fact his first choice, but rather as a social worker, despite having a Politics and Economics degree at Oxford University. However, he was rejected twice.

After 20 years of pure dedication, skill and passion, his hard work was recognised when he was appointed the Managing Director of John Lewis. However, the turbulent economic climate of 2008 meant that profits were falling, and urgent change was needed to help save the company from going underwater. His brilliant advertising schemes, such as the well-known Christmas ads, and his huge gamble on e-commerce helped boost company profits and employee satisfaction.

His career at John Lewis ended at the end of 2016 with a grand gesture of a 15% bonus for all employees, costing nearly £180 million for the company due to a massive windfall in profits. However, his journey was not complete. He wanted to give back to his community by running as the first Mayor of West Midlands, and his re-election was won by a landslide of 50,000 votes due to his ethos of trust and approachability.

We finally ended our session with some very thoughtful questions from the Year 10s. Through these, we learnt more about Andy Street as a role model, and his friendly approach was displayed as he ended his oration with a group selfie!

Sir Andy Street is always welcome at our school, and we would love to have him back again.

Jaskaran Virdi – Year 10

 

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International Success for Year 10 Footballer

Arijus Ahmadian who is in year 10 recently attained more international football caps, playing for Lithuania in the Baltic U’17s cup.

Arijus who will be signing for Birmingham City FC at the end of year 11 scored his first international goal in his side’s 2-1 win over Estonia.

He then played against Finland in a 3-1 defeat , and was an unused substitute against Latvia.

Many congratulations to Arijus, who is pictured below, back row, third from right.

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Record breaking on the menu at HGS!

On July 1st an intrepid team of Year 9 students rolled up their sleeves and donned their chef’s whites to take part in a Guinness World Record Challenge organised by Jamie Oliver to have the largest cookery lesson ever take place.

Along with 15000 other young chefs in the UK, our Handsworth Team cooked home-made pasta and tomato sauce from scratch, following the recipe via the big screen and helped by Ms Hill and Mrs Jameson. The resulting dishes were truly impressive- delicious hand rolled pici pasta (like fat spaghetti) with a sauce of freshly chopped tomatoes, basil, olive oil and parmesan. Buon appetito!

It was fantastic to see the skills and co-operation of our young chefs as they brought their dishes to life. Well done to everyone who took part and to Ms Hill and our amazing DT department for giving our students the opportunity to take part in this challenge.

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Year Council Meeting with Catering Manager

What’s Cooking? Year Council members sit down with our catering  manager, Jasmeet Baluja to discuss all things food related at HGS

Last week, our Year council members in years 7, 8 and 9 have had the opportunity to sit down in their year council meeting slot with Jasmeet Baluja, our catering manager, to ask questions, give their opinions and make suggestions concerning food and the dining room at Handsworth Grammar School.

The dining room is always a popular topic in Year Council meetings, and these were no exception. The boys had consulted their form groups before the event and had a range of comments to bring to the table, including the possibility of having microwaves for students, and the inclusion of more cultural days for special menus.

They listened spellbound as Jasmeet explained that the dining room’s top seller is the chicken burger- 400/500 per day- and that he keeps costs as low as possible, making no profit on the food sold at HGS. They boys were pleased to hear that more food culture days are planned for next year, and that biryani will definitely making an appearance soon!

Well done to all the Year Council members who represented their peers so eloquently and professionally and a big thank you to Jasmeet for sharing his kitchen confidential with us.

 

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Wellbeing Advice – Jump Back Up July

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Sports Day Scorcher!

Just like tennis from the centre court at Wimbledon and cricket from Edgbaston, the advent of high summer here at HGS means only one thing: our hotly-anticipated sports day, where our 5 noble houses go head to head in defending their honour!

This year’s event, on Tuesday June 17th , was no exception as students, teachers and parents gathered at the world-class Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr to compete in a range of track and field events including the much anticipated tug of war!

The beautifully sunny and slightly breezy weather made for excellent conditions, and with Mr Conway on the microphone and Mr Johnson on the medals, the event was a runaway- and very noisy- success with our students shouting their encouragement to the wide range of competitors from all year groups and houses.

It was fantastic to see the winners streaking ahead, but it was also lovely to see the encouragement and applause given to the students bringing up the rear, determined to get over the line. Well done all of you!

Many school records were broken during the event as you can see from the attached photos and we would like to congratulate everyone who broke a record on their outstanding achievement.

Well done to all our competitors, supporters, staff and parents who made Sports Day 2025 such a lovely event- and if you didn’t compete in 2025, now’s the time to lace up your tainers and get practising…

Click here to view more photos in the gallery.

Record Breakers

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Whitemoor Lakes 2025

From 21st to 23rd May 2025, 107 Year 7 students (accompanied by 11 HGS staff) were based at the Whitemoor Lakes Activity Centre near Alrewas in Staffordshire.  Rayhan F writes:

Whitemoor Lakes was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  When we arrived, we received a warm welcome and were shown to our lodges.  Everyone was a little bit nervous as to what would be happening over the next few days but, at the same time, excited.  The staff at the centre answered all of our questions and guided us through our activities.  These were all fun but we always obeyed the rules because safety came first.

The view of the lake was very impressive; its calm water allowed us to enjoy water activities such as raft-building and canoeing. The other activities included zip-lining, abseiling, climbing, fencing, the ‘leap of faith’ and problem-solving. We also enjoyed team games on the first evening and a football tournament on the second night.

The cafeteria had a choice of food.  We had a cooked breakfast with toast and cereal in the morning, a hot lunch such as a burger, and a cooked evening meal such as chicken. We were given a slip of paper which had on it any dietary requirements (for instance halal or no egg) and any allergies we might have.

Here are some quotations about the trip from my friends:

Ahdam said “The leap of faith gave the biggest adrenaline rush.”

Jai said “Fencing was extremely fun and the combination of skill, rapid movement and reflexes combined to provide a lifetime supply of joy!”

Haris said “The raft-building provided a combination of skill, teamwork and resilience, ultimately creating the perfect activity.”

In summary, our trip to Whitemoor Lakes was an entertaining and amazing experience which has given us some great memories.  For future Year 7 students, if you do not go, you will miss out on a lot of fun things.

 

Click here to view more photos in the gallery.

 

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Kindness Champions

The week beginning 9th June, Year 8 took part in Kindness Week during form time. Pupils looked at the science of kindness, the benefits of being kind, and a chance to recognise kind acts in school! Below are our Kindness Champions who were nominated by fellow pupils with the comments that were made. Well done to all pupils below!

Arvin Sokhi 8N
Always encouraged fellow pupils to be confident and do well in their studies. Every day he shows qualities we should all work towards to achieve to make the world a better place.

Savhman Singh 8H
Being a force for good in and around school and always having his friends’ back.

Jeevan Singh Pal 8A
Celebrating the achievement of others in school.

Ibrahim Hanif 8N
Helping others in lessons to achieve the best that they can and always showing kindness to others. He is always quick to help people when it is needed.

Afzal Aflar 8N
This pupil puts others before himself and is always a calming/positive influence on his friends and people around him. He has the respect of all his peers.

Yusuf Hussain 8W
Helping others in lessons to achieve the best that they can and always showing kindness to others. Always willing to help with homework when asked.

Ekamjeet Singh 8A
Always friendly to others and polite to everyone he meets.

 

Miss Morgan

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HGS Awarded CyberFirst Silver Award

HGS Celebrated Nationally for Pioneering Cyber Security Education with CyberFirst Silver Award

We are delighted to announce that the Computing Department has been awarded the prestigious CyberFirst Silver Award by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). This national accolade recognises our innovative approach to cyber security education and our unwavering commitment to developing the next generation of digitally literate, cyber-aware leaders.

The CyberFirst programme, developed by the NCSC (part of GCHQ), is designed to identify and nurture young people with potential in cyber security. It provides structured, inclusive pathways into one of the UK’s most vital and fastest-growing industries. The Silver Award affirms our success in embedding cyber security across the curriculum and in delivering transformative learning experiences that extend well beyond the classroom.

“In a world shaped by rapid digital transformation, it’s not enough for young people to simply use technology, they must understand it, challenge it, and be empowered to shape it for good,” said Mr King, Head of Computing.

This recognition further strengthens the school’s reputation as a forward-thinking, future-ready institution, dedicated to equipping pupils with the knowledge, confidence, and ethical grounding to thrive in the digital age.

Mr Hawkins and Mr King would like to thank everyone who contributed to the whole-school accreditation process. We look forward to building on this success, broadening participation, deepening our impact, and inspiring even more students to become confident, responsible, and capable digital leaders.