Birmingham is the second largest student city in the UK and is currently home to a total of 65,000 higher education students who attend one of the city’s five different universities (Aston, Birmingham, Birmingham City, Newman and University College Birmingham). On Monday 12^th December, all Year 12 students embarked upon a visit to Aston University in an attempt to gain a further insight into studying at University. Aston University’s campus is located only a 5-10-minute walk away from the City Centre, which was perfect for the prompt 09:30 start.

This bespoke and exclusive programme only for Handsworth Grammar School students included a talk on entry to University whilst also covering the whole application process. Sarah Fullwood, Student Recruitment Officer, went into much more detail covering the personal statement aspect of the UCAS application and advised on how we could successfully ‘sell ourselves’ and maximise our application. Following on from this presentation, we were introduced to student ambassadors who gave us a tour around the campus and answered any questions or queries we had. Along with this, we were also delivered a presentation regarding personal finance at University and were told about the costs of going to a University. The trip proved to be both insightful and informative.

Even though the school doesn’t pressurise students into going to University, this visit was an important part of our School’s University application process, due to virtually all Sixth Form students choosing to go on to University after Handsworth Grammar School.

Mohammed Zoheb Mobeen and Muhammad Nazakat

HGS Old Boy Sir David Cox is the first ever recipient of the International Prize in Statistics

Sir David Cox, former President of the Royal Statistics Society and Honorary Fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford is the first recipient of the International Prize in Statistics. Like the acclaimed Fields Medal, Abel Prize, Turing Award and Nobel Prizes, the International Prize in Statistics is considered the highest honour in its field. Recipients are chosen by a selection committee comprised of world-renowned academicians and researchers and the award, worth $75k, will be officially presented at the World Statistics Congress.

This inaugural prize recognises Sir David Cox’s 1972 paper in which he developed the proportional hazards model that today bears his name. The Cox Model has been applied in many fields of science and engineering, from disease risk assessment, treatment evaluation and showing the mortality effects of particulate air pollution to product liability.

Please click on the links below to view the information for this years booster class programme:

Year 11 Booster Classes 2017 Letter

Year 12 Booster Classes 2017 Letter

Year 13 Booster Classes 2017 Letter

Half Term Booster Timetable 2017

Easter Booster Timetable 2017

The Film Challenge
The first official challenge we were required to do as part of the 10-month programme was to create a short film focusing on our chosen topic. This particular task required us to work as a team to passionately communicate the issues that mattered to us. This challenge required us to shoot the video in a single take in (no editing) under two minutes.

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The Pitching Challenge
On Thursday 24th November 2016, the Envision students from HGS were driven to Birmingham City Centre to meet over 200 students at KPMG’s Birmingham offices. The aim of the challenge (the first in a series of upcoming challenges) was for us to share our plans for tackling some of the pressing social issues and bid for up to £100. This challenge required us to prepare a project plan and pitch it to a panel of judges made up of senior representatives from local companies and government, including David Ward, Managing Partner at Marks and Clerk, along with employees from KPMG. Handsworth Grammar School had two teams participating in this challenge: Team Odyssey who aimed their project at young people suffering from depression; and The Comma Project whose aim was to raise awareness about the shockingly high suicide rate amongst young men and where they can seek help.

All 20 teams (from 10 schools) in total were split into 4 different rooms, to make it easier and quicker to conduct their presentations. Team Odyssey pitched first and even though it was quite nerve-racking, we did quite well and managed to answer all questions that came our way from the judges. Once the other 4 teams in our room had pitched, there was a break whilst the judges decided how much to give us. Team Odyssey received the full £100 they needed, whilst The Comma Project managed a total of £95. The judges also gave us feedback for improving our project as well as our pitch.

Overall the evening was quite interesting and useful, as we gained some vital public speaking skills along with feedback to improve. This was an amazing experience which students who join the Sixth Form should definitely consider taking part in.

Mohammed Zoheb Mobeen and Muhammad Nazakat
(Team Odyssey)

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Envision – Pitching Challenge
At Handsworth Grammar School we encourage our Sixth Form students to try and give something back to the community by volunteering their time and skills for the benefit of others. One of the programmes we have on offer is called Envision | Community Apprentice. This is an exclusive programme involving Sixth Form students from select schools in Birmingham, London and Bristol only. The students work together with local volunteers, schools, businesses and charities to provide a practical learning experience.

• This year, twenty students from Handsworth Grammar signed up for the programme and have organised themselves into two teams:
  Team Odyssey – working on raising awareness about mental health with depression as their main focus
• The Comma Project – working on raising awareness about Suicide amongst young men

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On November 24th, 2016 (Thu), the students went to KPMG offices in Birmingham City Centre, to pitch for up to £100 towards their community projects. They conducted their presentations from memory and did not rely on scripts, unlike the majority of their competitors; which allowed them to make eye contact with the judges and project their voices to reach all in the room. In the face of tough questions from the judges, both teams impressed the judges with their answers, especially Team Odyssey, who were awarded the full £100 compared to the £95 that was awarded to The Comma Project. Both teams did very well for themselves and the school and we are proud of their achievements so far. The CEO of Envision, Jennie Butterworth, spoke to many of our students and expressed how impressed she was with their work and the effort they displayed during their presentation.

Closing the evening, host Mike Steventon, Midlands Regional Chairman and Birmingham Senior Partner, KPMG, said that he had been impressed by the standard of presentations and ideas and hoped that many of the students would consider applying to the firm’s apprenticeship programmes.

The link below is to the Envision website where they report on this event and display a photo of Team Odyssey in mid-presentation:

http://www.envision.org.uk/home/news-events/iwill-benefit-my-community

Mr Ahmed

Once again HGS has been highly praised by the National Citizen Service (NCS) for our work with them in supporting our students to take part in the NCS programme The Challenge.

Hezron Brown, NCS Engagement Co-ordinator from the West Midlands visited school recently to congratulate our students on their efforts last summer.

Last year 65 students from Handsworth Grammar School took part in the programme and as a result of our success we have been appointed a Champion School. Students from Year 11 and Year 12 took part in outdoor residential trips across the country, working alongside students from other schools, and then developed their skills through a community programme over a two-week period.

Our students reported that they had learnt many new skills while taking part in the programme as well as making new friends and having great fun.

HGS has been presented with two certificates acknowledging our students’ achievements with the National Citizen Service, both signed by the Prime Minister Mrs Theresa May.

Congratulations to all involved in the programme – this is a great achievement.