Year 11 Hoodies
For those Year 11s who have ordered Leavers’ Hoodies, these will be given out after your Physics exam on Friday afternoon. Please bring the email you received as proof of payment.
Word of the Week – Mercurial
The word of the week commencing 22nd June 2015 is: Mercurial.
This means subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.
“his mercurial temperament”
The display is produced by the student librarians.
This display can be found in our Library.
Word of the Week – Modesty
The word of the week commencing 8th June 2015 is: Modesty.
This means the quality or state of being unassuming in the estimation of one’s abilities.
“with typical modesty he insisted on sharing the credit with others”
The display is produced by the student librarians.
This display can be found in our Library.
Whitemoor Lakes
On the 11th, 12th and 13th of May over 100 Year 7 students (and 11 teachers and other staff) went on a residential trip to Whitemoor Lakes, which is an activity centre near Alrewas by Lichfield. We had a great time doing numerous activities like climbing, zip-wiring, abseiling, high ropes, team games and problem-solving. These were the outdoor activities. The indoor activities were fencing and archery. In addition, there were a couple of water activities – canoeing and raft-building. During the breaks and in the evening, there were some games to play including pool, table hockey and table tennis. We enjoyed playing them! Furthermore, the food at the Centre was delicious; there was variety of food to eat including vegetarian and halal choices. On the subject of food, there were also two vending machines, one for snacks and the other for drinks. At 10:30 pm each day we went to bed. There were 4 lodges -Buttermere, Chasewater, Coniston and Derwent. In most dormitories (for 4 or 5 people), there were one bunk bed and two single beds and in other rooms there were two bunk beds and one single. There was a lot of space to store clothes in wardrobes and there was a shower room attached to each room. In each lodge, there also was a lounge with a television which had all the Freeview channels. Overall, our visit to Whitemoor Lakes was the best residential trip ever!!!
Sundeep Dhillon 7W
English Department: Looking Grim!
Once upon a time, far far away, in the glorious land of Handsworth Grammar School, a number of student Knights entered the Young Writers’ mini saga competition entitled: ‘Grim Tales’. Thousands of entries were received throughout the land of the United Kingdom but only a select number of entries would be published. Work was selected for publication based on students’ imagination, perception and creative use of language. The School was therefore delighted that 33 shining Knights’ entries were chosen for publication; this not only highlighted their creativity, command and flair in the battlefield of writing but also showed what could be achieved when the supreme Masters of Learning, the English Department, nurtured the Knights’ abilities to use their sharp, double edged sword – the pen!
The King of Handsworth Grammar School, His Majesty Mr. Bird, and the rest of the inhabitants, would like to congratulate all the student Knights who participated in the competition, particularly those Knights who had their work published.
Indeed, the pen is mightier than the sword!
Mr. Dubay
Young Sports Leaders
Our Year 8 Cricket squad recently supported the Handsworth Association of Schools Primary Cricket Festival which was held at the Wood Lane playing fields. Eight different Primary Schools took part in the event and our Young Leaders helped run all the different matches which saw Cherry Orchard go through to the Birmingham Finals. Our Young Leaders received much praise from the Primary School staff and the Handsworth Association Managers. Well done!
University of Birmingham Link
Handsworth Grammar School will be embarking upon a new and exciting development next academic year, working in partnership with the University of Birmingham to provide placement opportunities for PGDipED(QTS) students at the University.
This means that trainee teachers will work alongside experienced mentors at HGS, receiving support and guidance while learning how to be successful teachers.
The school has long had links with local universities but this link re-establishes a relationship which has been dormant for a number of years. It gives young trainee teachers the opportunity to learn in the exciting atmosphere of a Birmingham Grammar School, and also provides our staff with ideal opportunities to work alongside trainee teachers thus providing professional development for all.
Initially, trainees will be working in four departments – Maths, Science, Geography and Religious Studies, but the intention is that this number will increase over the next few years.
Last year, seventeen of our students left HGS to study at the University of Birmingham, and we have close links with the University in a number of subject areas.
We look forward to this exciting partnership developing in the future and we are very proud of our relationship and links with the University of Birmingham .
Word of the Week – Invigorating
The word of the week commencing 1st June 2015 is: Invigorating.
This means making one feel strong, healthy, and full of energy.
“a brisk, invigorating walk”
The display is produced by the student librarians.
This display can be found in our Library.
Grand Opening of the New Sixth Form Centre
On Wednesday May 20th the new Sixth Form Centre was officially opened by Lord Digby Jones, the former Director General of the CBI (Confederation of British Business).
The event was very well attended by governors, guests, parents, old boys and supporters of the project, many of whom had actually contributed financially to the building of the Sixth Form Centre. Also present were representatives of some of the numerous contractors who had designed and built such a fabulous facility.
Headmaster Mr Bird introduced the event and spoke about Handsworth Grammar School being a “vehicle for social mobility” and cited the case of one former pupil whose father had been a cooper (a barrel maker) and whose mother was a cleaner. This particular pupil had done extremely well at HGS many years ago, and had actually won a scholarship to Oxford University. He had gone on to have an extremely successful career, despite very humble beginnings.
Lord Jones spoke about his own humble origins, and how he had risen, through education, to win a Naval scholarship, had had a successful career in the Law, and then became a high profile Director of the CBI and consequently a cross bench peer sitting in the Lords.
He also praised all of those who had contributed to the project and, in a very entertaining speech, wished the school well for the future.
Lord Jones was presented with a framed painting as a memento of the occasion. The painting is by former HGS pupil Reuben Colley, now a successful artist with his own gallery in Colmore Row, Birmingham. This presentation was made by our Head Boy, Leopold Johnson, and Mr Tim Ison, the Director of Reuben Colley Fine Art.
There is now a plaque in the Sixth Form Centre, which will be a permanent reminder of this wonderful occasion.
Mr Conway
History Quest
In April, a group of Y9 History students visited Birmingham University to take part in History Quest. This event aims to give students an introduction to History and Archaeology at university for those studying it at GCSE. We began with a lecture from an Archaeology professor on the relevance of History to the world around us and how important it is to us in our lives today to understand how people in the past have lived, thought and behaved.
We then took part in a workshop that got us thinking about how to analyse a group of objects that had been ‘excavated’ at an archaeological site. We were asked to draw a picture of the people who made up the family who used these things based on the objects that were found. Some things were quite old-fashioned and hard to identify but others were easy to allocate to a person. Sometimes, it was easy to jump to conclusions and so we had to be careful not to assume that a washing up liquid bottle meant that a woman was part of the family!
Our teacher then asked us to consider if we had everything we needed in order to know all about the family. This led onto a discussion about what type of objects survive in the ground over time and which rot away, making it hard to get a complete picture of life in the past. Often, archaeologists have to cross reference what they have found in one site with finds from another location or, like we did, make assumptions about what the objects were probably used for and who might have used them.
After a campus tour, we did well in the quiz at the end of the day, with one of our teams coming second!
Mrs Hartt and Y9.
