DT Charity Coffee Morning
All students are invited to the DT Charity Coffee Morning. Please see the poster below for more details and support this worthy cause.
Chinese Club
A new and exciting opportunity has arisen at HGS. Mrs Fiess is launching a Chinese Club which starts on October 10th 2016. It will then take place every Monday from 3.10 pm to 4 pm in Room 24. So why not:
- Learn something new
- Experience a different language and culture
- Develop new skills
- Have lots of fun?
Please see Mrs Fiess for more information and sign up via the website.
PTA Update!
Join Us and Get Involved!
We are a friendly group of parents who have children at the School. Our role is to create a wider school community where parents, teachers and students can come together and organise fun fundraising events. The best way this can be achieved is to have a positive and active PTA, so that our children can benefit with the extra influx of funds.
We will always need an extra pair of hands, ideas and contacts to help with the many future projects and events that are due to take place. If you or someone you know can help with supporting events, raffle prizes, catering or anything else, which may be of use, then please contact us.
Future Events include:
- New Year 7 Introduction Evening: 29 September 2016 6.00pm
- Bake Sale: 14 October 2016 Lunchtime
- Shop2Drop Fashion Show: 17 October 2016 6.30pm
- Autumn Arts Festival: 18 November 2016 7.00pm
- Winter Concert: 15 December 2016 6.00pm
If you would like to join in please contact our PTA Chairperson Neha Jolly via the Contact Us page.
GCSE Results 2016
HGS attains an excellent set of GCSE examination results
On a national level, this year saw GCSE results suffer the biggest ever year-on-year decline – down to the lowest level since 2008. Both the proportion of entries achieving A* to C grades and the number of A* grades being awarded have slipped. Prof Alan Smithers at Buckingham University has said that the decline in A* to C grades is the biggest since the introduction of the GCSE exam in the 1980s. It is acknowledged that there has been much unpredictability this year (and the same goes for next year!) in the light of major reforms and changes to the exam and assessment system. The overall picture at HGS is again one of consistent and sustained progress as well as positive development. Approximately 50% of all entries were at A* and A grade which is up on the 2015 results and well above the national figure. Overall 96% of all entries were at A* to C grades. Overall 98% of all students attained 5 or more A* to C grades including English and Mathematics. Overall 99% of all students attained 5 or more A* to C grades in all their subjects. 100% of all entries were at pass grade level.
40 students attained 8 or more A* and A grades.
23 students attained 10 or more A* and A grades.
13 students attained straight A* and A grades – they were:
Caleb Brown
Muhammad Nazakat
Rehan Habib
Dilan Cooppen
Ken Ho
Muhammed Jahed
Suraj Sanhi
Harry Virk
Sulaimaan Mahmood
Hootan Parsapour
Robert Frater
Maximillian Henry
Joel Braich.
These results are down to the hard work of our staff and students. Congratulations to all!
Pavilion and Playing Fields Upgrade
A considerable amount of work has taken place at the playing fields recently in order to upgrade our facilities.
A Level Results 2016
Handsworth Grammar School achieves best A Level Results in over a decade!
2016 has seen the number of top A Level grades awarded fall for the fifth year in a row at a national level. HGS has bucked the trend somewhat! A third of all entries were at A*/A (30% compared to 24% in 2015) and approximately two thirds of all entries were at A*/B (62% compared to 52% in 2015). There was a 100% pass rate compared to 99% in 2015. This is a wonderful achievement which reflects very well on the hard work of our students and staff. Eleven students secured 3 or more A*/A grades:
Arjun Virk attained A*A*A* and will be reading Medicine at Birmingham University
Jagjeet Sehmi attained A*A*AB and will be reading Mathematics at UCL
Raja Haider attained A*A*A and will be reading Physics at Birmingham University
Shirrushtii Appan attained A*AAB and will be reading Medicine at Exeter University
Mohammed Hussain attained A*AA and will be reading Medicine at Manchester University
Tufayel Islam attained A*AA and will be reading Chemical Engineering at Birmingham University
Minesh Katakia attained A*AA and will be reading Dentistry at Plymouth University
Abdikaliq Ige attained AAAB and will be reading History and Politics at Oxford University
Farman Ali attained AAA and will be reading Dentistry at Liverpool University
Kamron Dalvair attained AAA and will be reading Pharmacy at Aston University or Dentistry at Queen Mary’s
Narvair Kahlar attained AAA and will be reading Medicine at Leeds University
Manraj Dhanda will be reading Engineering at Cambridge University.
At AS Level sixteen students secured three or more A grades.
The following students all attained AAAA:
Arjun Aoulik
Jasdeep Bhambra
Amario Chander
Deepak Dhaliwall
Qasim Mushtaq
Isaac Rafiq
Hussein Said
Ayyan Sattar
Four students attained AAAB, two attained AAAC and two attained AAA.
On a different note the LAMDA results were also excellent with thirteen students sitting exams be it Acting, Mime or Public Speaking. Four students were awarded a Distinction, eight were awarded a Merit and one student gained a Pass.
Congratulations to all our students.
Envision – Awards Evening 2016
The Community-Apprentice Programme, run by Envision, is an extra-curricular activity that involves Sixth Form students from Birmingham, Bristol and London. Twenty eight year twelve students from HGS participated in the programme this year, which aims to develop projects within school and in the local community. For more information about Envision, please visit their website at www.envision.org.uk.
Following months of hard work, planning and implementation, both teams (Mentality and Concept) from HGS made it into the Awards Evening to find out which of the qualifying schools had won the competition and which teams would win one of several awards up for grabs.
All 21 teams from our 10 schools on Community-Apprentice were nominated for a range of skills awards, reflecting the six core competencies developed throughout the competition. The categories were highly competitive and judges had a tough time choosing a winner in each.
Team Concept from HGS was nominated for the Problem-solving and Resilience Award but unfortunately did not win. However, Team Mentality was nominated for and won the Empathy Award 2016. The HGS students were described by the judges as being, “…passionate about dementia care and mental health, they showed great empathy throughout their project, linking with a local care home.”
Team Mentality Digital story: https://youtu.be/LSzDl5KmARA D
Team Concept Digital story: https://youtu.be/bVTRGHxiwmk
We would like to take this opportunity to thank ALL the mentors from Interserve and Envision who gave up so much of their time in service of our students – the level of support the students received helped to propel them towards yet another successful year with Interserve and Envision.
Finally, our congratulations go to team ‘Eco-Freakos’ from Swanshurst School for winning The Community Apprentice Award 2016 – a well-deserved win!
Mr Ahmed
Year 8 CSI Day
On Wednesday 6th July, we had an Enrichment Day. Year 8’s activity was a CSI investigation of a murder, the murder of Mr. Kafai. We had to work in groups of three or four to figure out who killed him and how it happened.
Firstly we investigated what pen was found at the murder scene. We put a spot from each coloured pen on the chromatography paper and dipped it in water to show all the colours in the pen. At the end we found out the match was a brown pen which was used by Mr Bansal.
We then used microscopes to detect differences in objects that we usually can’t see with the naked eye. These play a vital role in forensic examinations. We tested the different hairs to determine who the suspect for the murder was. When we tested the materials of clothing and we found out that the suspect had worn denim.
To find out the poison that was put in the coffee we used a universal indicator and matched the pH with the pieces of evidence. We found out the poison was methanol. We also tested the flame colour of the pieces of evidence. We found out that the white powder was paint residue.
We tested each of the suspects’ and the victim’s stomach contents to see if there were any similarities. We tested for starch, glucose, fat and sugar. The victim’s stomach had contained glucose and protein, and one suspect also had contained glucose and protein. The suspect for this test was again Mr Bansal.
For the next test we compared the suspects’ fingerprints with the victim’s fingerprints from the cards they had used to play poker. The fingerprint was also a match with Mr Bansal and we thought that there was enough proof to accuse Mr Bansal of the crime.
After that we had to come up with a story that would match up with the actual events leading to the murder. We had a very exciting day and the winner was to be awarded a prize.
Paramjot Johal
