Year 12 enjoyed a bespoke careers talk by Tutors from Keble College, Oxford University yesterday as part of their UCAS preparation work. The team of Admissions Tutors provided our Students with some detailed advice about the University application process in general as well as some tailored guidance on Oxbridge applications.
Once we arrived we were escorted to one of the lecture rooms of Birmingham City University and we were allocated to our seats. Once we were settled down we were greeted and the senior members of staff at the YPP introduced themselves to us. To kick off the meeting we did a quiz on what we already knew about the houses of parliament and the house of lords. Basically we were questioned about our overall knowledge of politics. We had a green card, a yellow card and a red card and each card represented an answer to the question asked. (E.g. how many people do you think can fit in the houses of parliament, green=300, red=600, yellow=500).
After the quiz we learned about the original traditions of the houses of parliament and how they are still used today and we learned about the role of Black Rod who seems to be treated badly by other members of parliament! We were thinking that if we had our own parliamentary ceremony how we would do it, for example I contributed by putting my hand up and saying that maybe the Black Rod should be treated with respect rather than being treated like he is an outcast.
After that we had a memorial for a man called Dennis Edwards, who was the original founder of the YPP Handsworth. Sadly he passed away last year so the manager of the YPP came to talk about Mr Edwards who was a very humble man who changed a lot of people s lives by encouraging them to be more interested in politics. They talked about how much of a great person he was and how he inspired many people to make something of their lives. They then told us that the original YPP meetings were held in the Millennium Point but sadly they had to leave because Millennium Point turned into shops. But fortunately BCU let them use the university as a meeting point with no charge! Then it was lunch.
When we came back to the room we were greeted by the dean of the university Fiona Church, she told us to become something great for ourselves and she asked us what we want to be. I said I wanted to be a MP for Birmingham. After the dean talked to us we started the ceremony where we were given the writing YPP book to take to council meetings at our schools and they gave us the parliament scrapbook, then they presented us with our badges and then we went back to school on the green bus. It was a great day.
Year 9 beat King Edward VI Aston 6 – 1 in their Cup game last night. This victory reflects a very good first half to the season this term with all our junior teams enjoying significant success – well done.
WBA Academy
Isah Idris 7W
WBA colts academy(1 down from Academy)
Will Smith 7A
Kevin Matinyadze 7A
Adan George 7A – on trial (also getting good reviews playing weekly for AES District)
WBA Player Development Centre (2 down from Academy)
Ivan Stanjanovic 7H
Congratulations.
Catherine Munyarari, our Head Girl has been selected to be one of a small select group of local young people to switch on the Soho road Christmas lights. Catherine is very involved in the “Hands on Handsworth” campaign and has recently been presenting assemblies to other local schools about the UK Youth Parliament. Her selection to switch on the Christmas lights is recognition of her fine community work, both in the local Handsworth area and in Birmingham.
Shuja Mehmood in year 9 continued with his fine footballing form this weekend, as he was selected to play for Aston Villa U’14s in a match away against Bolton Wanderers. Although the Villa team was defeated Shuja did well enough to be selected to play for Villa next week in a Premier League tournament at Warwick University.
Good Luck Shuja!
As part of Black History Month, the Year 13 History students went to a talk at the University of Birmingham given by Dr. Julius Garvey. Dr. Garvey is an eminent surgeon and the son of Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican African-American-Civil rights leader during the 1920’s who students have studied as part of their A2 History course.
Dr. Garvey’ talk took place in the Guild Chamber in the Guild of Students at the university but was open to all. A series of welcome speeches were made, most notably by a university student who read directly from Marcus Garvey’s work and by an ex-Young Mayor of Lewisham who spoke very knowledgably about the legacy of campaigners like Garvey and the African diaspora today.
Dr. Garvey unexpectedly only spoke for a short while before engaging with the audience about issues affecting the African diaspora today. At times, heated and opinionated discussion ensued raising issues such as the importance of education, a theme which runs through the A2 History course as well. This gave students an opportunity to experience a little of what it would have been like to have been in a civil rights meeting in the 1920’s and to evaluate as an historian a variety of strong opinions.
It was a very interesting talk and students got an insight not only into the work of Marcus Garvey but also into the continuing issues in the African-American community.
My name is Kai Ho and I am in 7W. I am currently in the Junior GB Gymnastics Squad. Gymnastics is becoming an extremely popular sport. Last year, in London 2012 Olympics, Great Britain won a team bronze medal. This was the first gymnastics medal for over 100 years.A member of the winning team was Kristian Thomas. His home club is Earls Gymnastics Club, which is also my club.
I would aspire to be like Kristian. I train six days a week except for Friday. The apparatus I use are; the Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, the Parallel Bars and the High Bar. My favourite apparatus is the Parallel Bars.
At the English Championships, I came 6th overall in the country and won a bronze medal on the High Bar. In December, I will be competing in the British Championships. It will take place in Glasgow at the Emirates Stadium.
“I cannot think of a single field in Biology or Medicine in which we can claim genuine understanding, and it seems to me the more we learn about living creatures, especially ourselves, the stranger life becomes.” This quotation from Lewis Thomas really sums up how young minds learn and what better way to learn than to visit one of the most prestigious museums on the planet: London’s Natural History Museum. This museum brought awe to our Year 13 Biology set and exceeded all of our expectations, at which point my colleague, Chetan Soni said ‘You need to calm down mate’ in a comical voice (which quickly became the motto of the day). From the elegant architecture to the extremely interesting exhibits, to the Spirit Tour we were allowed to explore the world and most importantly, History.
We arrived in London by means of Virgin train and Underground tube. After emerging from the South Kensington Station, the sheer size of this extraordinary building became apparent to us. Its intricate architecture that included tall pillars and gargoyles captivated each and every one of us. The entire building was a wonder in it of itself; however, once we entered this mammoth museum, we were greeted by a giant dinosaur skeleton; this one exhibit was indicative of the wonders yet to be seen at the museum. Everything was absolutely beautiful, even the toilets were palatial. When we progressed further into the museum, more and more incredible things made themselves apparent.
After exceeding our initial expectations, the museum continued to amaze, with exhibits the size of a blue whale, literally. Various species were present in this room and we saw animals that we were familiar with, and some we didn’t know how to pronounce their names. Humorously, there was an animal called a dik-dik. The entirety of the museum was an experience which we will all cherish. The exhibits were breath-taking and the facts were really interesting; who would have known that we would see a 1:1 scale blue whale?
This was the educational part of the field trip. The spirit tour allowed us to see a variety of species preserved in methylated spirit, hence the name. The spirit was used to ensure that bacteria are killed, especially saprophytic bacteria which would otherwise decompose the organisms. The spirit tour however, was all about science, not sentiment; when we entered the spirit room, we noticed that it was quite chilly. That was because the temperature of the room was kept at approximately 15˚C which was well below the flash point of the alcoholic spirit so that if in the unlikely event of a fire, the alcohol would not ignite and the specimens could be successfully retrieved. Primarily, the organisms were kept in the alcoholic spirit, however, in the case of some molluscs and others including octopi and jellyfish, they were kept in a different substance called formalin which maintained the organism’s structural integrity which was good for the study of the organisms’ physical attributes. The organisms were arranged taxonomically which was good to organise the species but was also good to see where these organisms fit in their own groups. It resembled a library of organisms that could be used by scientific researchers. The groups of organisms we were primarily focusing on were the molluscs and sponges whilst also showing the different forms in which they can occur. The final organism was quite surprising; the ‘giant’ squid which was the length of a London bus, just to put it into perspective. It is the only complete giant squid which has been preserved in one piece, usually it is just a tentacle or arm which is displayed, which was the case with the ‘colossal’ squid.
At the end of the tour, we saw what research took place in the museum, some if which is really ground-breaking. Original relics taken from the HMS Beagle expedition to the Galapagos Islands made by Charles Darwin were stored in this part of the museum.
One particular exhibit was particularly beneficial to us as a Biology Set. As Ecology is a main theme of Unit 4 Biology, this section was possibly the most helpful to us. Detailed explanations of the Carbon Cycle and the basic biochemistry and stages of photosynthesis helped to reinforce our knowledge as well as add to it. The more serious implications of human activity were explored here; a whole hallway dedicated to the chain reaction set in motion by Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming was an incredibly interactive way to learn new things.
The remainder of the time at the museum was spent in the Dinosaur exhibition. Taken back to our childhood fascinations with them was an experience enjoyed by all. The highlight of this exhibition had to be the mechanical scale model of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
Conclusion and London.
Once the museum experience had ended, we were free to explore London and its many sights and landmarks including the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and an assortment of statues. This really was a recreational and educational activity which was appreciated by everyone who was present. I would now like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Arnold and Mrs Hartt for organising this trip on behalf of our Biology set.
Arjan Lal
Mayur Parmar
For our recent Citizenship Day, the Year 8 theme was ‘Making a Difference’. Members of 8Nelson gave their time generously during a clean-up and litter-pick around Edgbaston Reservoir and on the Harborne Walkway (which runs along the former route of the railway line which connected Harborne to Summerfield Park).
