Masterminded by Cody and Sean with Yared, Harri and Harrison in 7W for a unit on First Aid in Opening Minds. The task was to produce an informative and memorable TV advert explaining how to recognise and manage a First Aid emergency. The boys showed great initiative in producing this short film which is both factually accurate and amusing.
[KGVID]https://www.handsworth.bham.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/7W-Heat-stroke.mp4[/KGVID]On Friday 31st March, seven students from our Biology class attended a Medical Conference on Haemochromatosis organised by the Haemochromatosis Society. We were warmly welcomed by the Society’s Chief Executive, Mr. David Head MBA, who introduced us to all the Doctors and Scientists in attendance.
Throughout the day, we listened to a variety of interesting lectures pertaining to current issues and advances in treatment and prevention of Haemochromatosis. This aided our understanding of DNA mutations, which is part of our A-level Biology course. The speakers included some world renowned names from various countries such as Professor Pierre Brissot, Dr Edward Ted Fitzsimons and Dr Naim Akhtar. One particularly relevant fact to our background was mention by Dr Patricia Bignall from John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, who pointed out that there is a gene prevalent among the Asian community that leads to a faster rate of iron overload – a condition commonly found amongst the younger Asian population. Furthermore, we found the doctors’ debate to be the most engaging part of the conference as they debated whether Transferin Saturation or Serum Levels were the best method of diagnosing Haemochromotosis.
As we were the only students at the conference, we had the opportunity to speak with professors, such as Prof. Tim St. Pierre from France who was delighted with the interest we showed in the Biological Sciences. We were also able to ask numerous other professionals from the various fields of medicine about their experiences and career prospects. This proved to be inspirational for those of us wishing to pursue Science related careers.
Towards the end of the conference we were filmed and asked to express our opinions on the Haemochromatosis Society. During the exposition of the conference, our understanding of the pathology of Haemochromotosis improved and allowed us to better appreciate the important work done by the Society in raising awareness and bringing together experts from different fields to further our understanding of this hereditary disorder.
Finally, we are grateful to Mr Ahmed and the Haemochromatosis Society for providing us with this unique experience.
BY: Pavan Chahal, Fahana Khanom & Ajwad Ilyas
On Thursday 16th March students and staff had the opportunity to bring their favourite characters to life by coming to school dressed as a fictional character.
A variety of costumes were in evidence and the overall winner was Raees Tariq (9G). We raised £1,000 for the World Book Day charity – Book Aid International -through our non-uniform day and a book and cake sale hosted by 9Alfred. Every £2 we raised provides a new book for a library in Africa so that means we raised enough to buy . . . 500 books! Every year they send one million new books to libraries, schools, universities, hospitals and refugee camps. We have made a significant contribution to their annual target!
Thank you to Ms Bullock for providing the book themed cup cakes. Big thanks to 9Alfred for organising posters, book collections and donations and giving up their lunchtime to sell books for a very good cause.
Ms Brown (English Department)
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Handsworth Grammar School have been entering the Young Writers Mini Saga competition for a number of years now. This year’s theme, “Wonderland”, included 40 entries ranging from speculative fiction to romanticism.
The competition organisers were impressed by the entries from Handsworth Grammar School, commenting on the way in which the writing ‘has certainly captured the young writers’ imaginations, from changing history and alien encounters to fantasy lands, we enjoyed reading every entry we received’. The English Department is delighted that 37 out of 40 entries received have been published in an anthology produced by the organisers.
We would like to congratulate and recognise the achievement of the following year 7 students:
| Dawud Ali | Elyas Ibrahim | Jawwad Ahmed | Tallaal Sadiq | Ayman Javaid |
| Rahim Ali | Abubaker Khan | Yusuf Saghir | Mohit Naphray | Vincent Coumarasamy |
| Haaris Mahmood | Callum Mughal | Karanjit Virdi | Adam Khan | Robert Callaghan |
| Alex Cummings | Adam Khan (7A) | Rohan Bagga | Ashkhan Larmour | Cyril Kumar |
| Parth Patel | Armaan Hussain | Vivek Verma | Mohammed Idres | Muhammad –Sulaimman Ahmad |
| Harry Poobalasingham | Rehan Mahmood | Mustafa Muhammed | Mohammed Vi-Haq | Aron Kang |
| Jinyang Zhang | Harveer Greual | Ubaid Khan | Zakir Islam | Farhaan Chodhury |
| Junaid Uddin | Kaamil Mehboob |
A huge well done to all students – keep writing!
English Department
Ryan Ahmed 7N and Adam Mohammed 7A have gone through to the National Finals of the German Spelling Bee. Congratulations!
The Year 7 Football team beat St John Wall 9-0 in the Aston League last night and next play George Dixon tonight to go top of the League. Well done!
Handsworth Grammar School’s Guitar Quartet (Seth Griffiths, Karl Frater, Robert Frater and Brandon Masih) performed at a concert in Solihull with Harmonie. Harmonie are a concert band based in Solihull and directed by the Solihull Music Service woodwind teacher Chris Davies. The Quartet was given two 10-minute slots in both halves of the concert and performed a range of works over a 400-year period. They boys played confidently and were warmly received by the audience and band.
Mr. Ward
A group of 14 year 12 students visited the Tate Modern Gallery in London on Wednesday 15th March accompanied by Mr Ali and Mr Conway.
They were able to take part in a discussion on the migrant crisis in the Greek island of Lesbos in the Mediterranean, and saw the impact that this crisis is having on the migrants and the people of the island.
Students were then able to view works by some of the most famous artists in the world including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Jackson Pollock.
On a beautiful London day, the students were also able to see at first hand the spectacular Millennium Bridge, designed by former Handsworth Grammar School pupil, Ken Shuttleworth.
On Friday 24th March, 30 students from Year 8 had been invited to attend a Science and History trip to Warwick Castle. As well as the Science Fair, we had the opportunity to explore the Castle and learn about its history.
We departed after registration on two minibuses. It was a fairly long journey, so we all entertained ourselves by talking, battling in arenas on Clash Royale and, most of all, snatching each other’s parcels on Snatch.
After a short time exploring the Fair on our own, we met up to hear a talk about rockets and saw model ones being made, tested and launched. After it had finished, we walked past a beautiful garden in the Castle grounds and then entered a maze that took us through different stages of history from the Vikings to World War II. It was easy to get lost though!
We then went through the gates of the Castle and climbed a set of spiral stairs to different heights before seeing a wonderful view of the place from right at the top! Unfortunately, one person in my class wouldn’t look down because he was scared. We also explored the inside of the Castle, looking at portraits, armour and models of past monarchs. Mrs Hartt explained about the paintings and the rooms we visited.
Once the tour was finished and we’d spent all of our money at the gift shop, we watched a fascinating ‘Birds of Prey’ show and then had another 50 minutes to explore the Science Fair. My group and I, after seeing all the different stalls, started popping each other’s balloons and trying to let them fly into the air (cough, cough Troy!).
On behalf of the 29 other students and I, I would like to thank Mrs Hartt, Mr Mohsin and Mr Jones for making this trip possible. I would highly recommend this trip to everyone as it’s a trip I won’t forget for a long time.
Rohan Minhas
