The Year 10 team began their Football season in style with a 5 – 2 victory over Holt School in the Aston League. Also in the Aston League, Year 7 beat Aston Manor 5 – 1 and also Year 8 won 9 – 3 .
Congratulations!
We are going to be offering LAMDA tuition at HGS. LAMDA stands for The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and is a globally recognised institution. Exams can be taken in 3 areas: Communication (speaking and reading), Performance (acting, devising, and mime) and Group (group recitals, group acting). Key habits for learning can be developed through LAMDA such as confidence, clear speech, presentation skills and working in a team as well as having a lot of fun.
We also would like to establish an after school Drama Club.
Please collect a leaflet and letter for more details from your English teacher and why not try a taster session?
In its recent Real Schools Guide the Birmingham Mail awarded Handsworth Grammar School the top score of 5 Stars. This is based upon Attainment, Teaching, Attendance and Outcomes data and makes us one of the top 8 schools in the city as well as one of the top performing schools nationally. This is a great achievement and is something the whole school community can be proud of!
Handsworth Grammar School attained a very good set of GCSE results in the light of considerable changes as a result of the overhaul of the exam system and volatility on a national scale. The overall picture at Handsworth Grammar School is one of consistent progress and positive development. This is again due to the commitment and hard work of both staff and students alike. This year’s figures take into account the fact that we no longer offer courses such as OCR Nationals and national statistics such as the 1.9% drop in English passes this year. Nearly 40% of all entries were at A* and A grade which is 1% up on 2013 and the national figure is 21%. Nearly 75% of all entries were at A* to B grade which is up 2% on 2013 and the national figure is 43%. 93% of all entries were at A* to C grade which maintains our position from last year and we secured 92% A* to C grades including English and Mathematics which again maintains our position from last year.
32 students achieved 10 or more A* and A grades which is nearly 25% of the cohort. Some notable performances include Khubbaib Hasan who secured 13 straight A* grades, Abdikaliq Ige who attained 12 A* grades and 1 A grade, Arjun Virk who secured 10 A* grades and 3 A grades as well as Mohammed Kabel and Aadam Sufi who both secured 9 A* and 4 A grades.
So, against a backdrop of national upheaval and volatility it is fair to say that Handsworth Grammar School maintains its positive move forwards with regards to progress and development. My congratulations to all departments and students on their achievements.
HGS enjoys success with another consecutive year of improved A Level Examination Results
Handsworth Grammar School celebrated another consecutive year of improved A level Results. This is testament to the hard work and commitment of both staff and students. The vast majority of students were in the strong position of being able to accept their first choice University offer which has seen them being destined for top class Universities such as Kings College, Warwick, Nottingham, Leeds, Birmingham and Aston. 29% of students achieved an A* or A grade which is up by 5% on 2013 and 58% of results were A* to B grades which is also up by 5% on 2013. The overall pass rate was 98%.
Some notable performances include Nazem Khan who attained A* grades in all his 4 subjects and Gulfraz Ahmed who attained A* grades in all his 3 subjects. Bapinder Bansal, Prikesh Patel and Harshita Vig attained 2 A* and 1 A grade in their 3 subjects. Finally Ishmael Aqsar and Ossama El Shukri attained 1 A* and 2 A grades in their 3 subjects. Whilst at AS Level Dhanish Amin and Donte Nembhard attained 4 straight A grades whereas Manish Bains and Jaswinder Bhogal secured 3 A grades and 1 B grade in their 4 subjects.
Congratulations to all staff and students.
On the 25th June, 32 students from Year 8 (comprised of students from Henry, Galahad and Alfred) visited the Matthew Boulton Campus of Birmingham Metropolitan College, located in City Centre, for their ‘Big Bang’ Fair. The Fair involved a range of subjects including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, otherwise known as STEM.
We were split into three groups and were taken around campus by volunteers from the College and their teachers. Throughout the tour we engaged in multiple activities and were able to sample some of the state of the art technology available there such as, Oculus Rift, a virtual 3D roller coaster experience, and the latest television technology. There were TV’s where two or more people can watch two different things at once using specialised glasses (you can be playing Xbox while someone else watches TV)! We even had the opportunity to wirelessly stream games from a tablet on to a TV.
In the Science Department we learnt how to make our own ice cream using traditional ingredients and some Liquid Nitrogen (we all found it quite tasty too)! We further investigated a crime scene (no one actually died) and took samples of DNA, drugs and other forensics.
Overall we had a very enjoyable experience and many of our fellow pupils agreed that they would enjoy if they could visit again.
Ibrahim Kabir and Dhiraj Korotania, Year 8
After having studied the prominent Irish Poet WB Yeats for English Literature, I was somewhat familiar with the themes that were explored by O’Casey’s nationalist and anti-imperialist play ‘The Silver Tassie”; however, no amount of research could’ve prepared me for this play which artfully blends realism and expressionism to give a truly unique viewing experience- by following the life of its hero Harry through WWI and beyond, the play presents incredibly complex themes in a wholly human manner.
The four part play opens whilst Harry is in the youthful prime of his life, we see him in his unbuttoned army tunic, which reveals a football jersey; he has just led his team to victory, winning the Silver Tassie- however, the joy of the scene is overshadowed by the grief of separation that comes from the men having to depart to the war. The second scene of the play is incredibly tumultuous, as the audience, along with the troops, is dropped into a war-torn battle field, wherein the spectacular special effects and the singing of the troops helps us to comprehend the sheer confusion and despair that would’ve been experienced by troops that were no older than ourselves; the scene culminates with the pointing and launching of the cannon at the audience. The third scene takes place in a hospital and shows the despair, anger and hopelessness of the once full-of-life Harry, who has been left paralysed from the waist down following injuries sustained during fighting- and the final scene, which follows from it, contrasts the vitality of those who did not fight with the misery and desolation of those whose lives have been ruined in the pursuit of a cause which is of no interest to them…
Like the others, I thoroughly enjoyed the play, not only because of the themes analysed, but also because of the cast and the incredibly well designed set: there were certain details, which, whilst quite small within themselves, helped to contribute to the overall quality of the experience- one such detail was the action which happened upstage, behind the ‘corridor’ and could be seen through the ‘windows’.
All in all, I would say that this play and the themes explored within it are just as pertinent today as when the play was written, as it essentially is a timeless account of how socio-political factors can utterly ruin the lives of those who have no influence over them…
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-silver-tassie
Gurdeep Mall, Year 12
Founded in 1660, the prestigious “Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge”, is the oldest such institute in the world; as such, it is easy to understand why we were all so eager to visit and partake in the Summer Science Exhibition, which is held annually and is made up of 22 exhibits showing the latest pioneering innovations in the world of British Science and Technology. Whilst I myself do not study Science, I was thoroughly interested by all of the displays and activities that were on offer; I was particularly awe-struck by the University of East Anglia’s presentation on Ants and their naturally occurring antibiotics, I found that it was especially informative and pertinent in regards to global attempts to fight anti-biotic resistance.
Indeed, the other exhibits were equally fascinating, as they showed the ways in which scientific and technological discoveries are being used in order to facilitate easy living, the Animal-Computer Interaction Lab’s exhibit on Guide Dog Technology was especially overwhelming, as it used colour altering lenses and ‘paws’ in order to highlight the problems faced by assistance dogs on a daily basis- and then showcased some of the simple, yet incredibly helpful alterations which can help to overcome these problems.
Whilst it is now unfortunately too late to visit the exhibition, I would urge you to follow the link to learn more about the incredibly original and helpful innovations that are being made by scientists across the country: http://sse.royalsociety.org/2014/#AllExhibits
30 students from year 9 and year 12 were chosen to enter the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival brought to us by the Eastside Educational Trust team. The workshop’s aim was to expose students to the literature of people of Asian heritage and to encourage people of all backgrounds to write about their background and their values.
The first workshop was very entertaining – we had an amazing time during the team tasks; tasks such as quizzes. The quizzes involved information that was relatable to many of us, it required us to think about Asian heritage and it was surprisingly challenged our misconceptions. We also read extracts from of a variety of fictional books about non fictional events in Asia; they were all inspiring and extremely intriguing. All of us also wrote a creative piece of writing with the theme of Values, and it was an interesting topic to write on. I personally wrote about how our values contradict with western modern society and how we are often faced with the choice between going with our morals or going with society.
The second workshop took place at the beginning of July, and we all had the privilege of meeting Romesh Gunesekera. It was very exciting to meet an author of such well known books such as “Reef” and “Noon Tide Toll”. Gunasekera connected with us on a personal level as he told us of his life, his background and how he became an author. I personally found him very intriguing as both an author and a person. Gunasekera allowed us the privilege of him reading us extracts from his most well known books, and I personally will remember that moment for a very long time. This is because I feel when we read books; we read it as how we interpret it. Our narrative voice may be very different to the writer, but when a writer reads his own words, you seem to hear the same words in a completely different way. This time you may see every sentence, every word, and every letter differently – and it is riveting.
We then had the pleasure of asking him some questions and he did seem very impressed with us all. After, he told us of the new book he was writing. He read an extract from it, and then he asked us if we were in his place what we would’ve written next. I figured he liked some answers of ours as he wrote some of our answers – including mine – down on paper. He then thanked us and gave us all Romesh Gunesekera postcards. It was all in all a very inspiring experience.
Thank you to all who organised the workshops, and I would recommend it to all students!
Sahil Karra
