The year 7 & 8 Rugby Union team had their first taste of competitive fixtures this past week in a very well attended festival held at Aston Old Edwardians Rugby Football Club. The day started off with students, from a number of schools, being coached by the regional RFU coaches in a number of key areas of the game, for instance, scrums and tackling. The second half of the day students play ten a-side matches against other schools. In what would be for most their first ever match, the Handsworth Grammar team played with passion and perseverance. The first match started off with the opponents scoring two early tries before the Handsworth team even had a chance to settle in. Once the initial nerves were out the way the year 7 & 8 combined team began playing good rugby and it was the forwards who started the momentum shift, winning opposition scrums and being the first to the break down. The hard work of the forwards gave the backs a brilliant platform to launch their attacks and soon scrum half Will Smith made a fantastic premeditated pass out to winger Adan George who sprinted past the defence and scored. Unfortunately, soon after the full time whistle had gone and the year 7 & 8 team lost their opener 2 tries to 1. In their following matches the Handsworth team continued to improve game on game and after a few substitutions and positional changes from Mr Rupal & Mr Nicholls, the team had the makings of a winning formula. All the players who played on the day were a fantastic credit to the school and all were urged by members of the RFU coaching staff and other rugby players to continue playing inside and outside of school. If anyone who would like to play rugby for the school or at a local club or just learn how to play a new sport (no matter what level of experience you have) are urged to speak to Mr Nicholls or Mr Rupal.

Top (from Left to Right): Mr Nicholls, Adan George, Oliver Timothy, Will Smith, Reuel Davis-Watts, Ivan Stanjanovic, Harjanpreet Bhopal, Camara Talbert, Harry Simpson

Bottom (from Left to Right): Hassan Raza, Nadeem Zaman, Kishan Gill, Max Jevons, Prumjot Soor, Sharyar Muhammed, Justin Fletcher

The Winter Concert on Thursday 19th December (7pm) is rapidly approaching. The concert will take place at Ladywood ARC, Darnley Road, Ladywood, B16 8TF. Tickets are available in advance from the finance office at a cost of £3.00 per adult and £1.00 per child. There will be almost 100 students performing in a variety of ensembles and musical styles. Please come along and enjoy the musical talent of HGS.

Year 7 recently came third out of over ten schools in a Birmingham 5 a side competition.

Year 9 beat Heartlands 4 – 1 in the Birmingham Cup which places them in the last sixteen.

Well done to both teams.

The Sixth Form Geographers recently braved the inclement weather to carry out A Level related fieldwork in the Snowdonia National Park. This hands on Geography will add a vital boost to their classroom based learning.

44 students from Years 8-11 (and 5 teachers) set off from Handsworth at 6:30am on Friday 25 October for the Port of Dover. Although we did stop at service stations for fresh air and to stretch our legs, it was still a long and arduous journey. Some decided to spend their time listening to music whereas others opted to catch up on some sleep. After about five hours, we arrived in Dover for our ferry. The two-hour crossing from Dover to Calais ran smoothly with plenty to do. We then departed for Paris from Calais; this journey also lasted about five hours, meaning that we arrived at our hotel at about 7:00pm.

On Saturday morning, we departed for a cruise down the River Seine at 9am, and had then planned to go up the Eiffel Tower. Our trip to the Eiffel Tower was for nothing though as Greenpeace protestors had climbed the Tower to display a large poster about saving the planet. As a result, the Tower was closed and no one was allowed up until the police had the protestors taken down. Consequently, we decided to come back later and go first for lunch on the Champs-Élysées. After a walk down the Champs-Élysées taking in the sights, we went back to the Eiffel Tower. The view from the second stage of the Tower was magnificent even though it had begun to rain. As a result of the poor weather, we decided to postpone our visit to the Sacre Coeur and return to the hotel to have a game of football on Paris FC’s training ground (located directly behind our hotel) with Mr Mohsin.

On Sunday morning, we departed for the Stadt de France for a guided tour. The stadium displayed many famous artefacts including a signed Brazil shirt from Ronaldo (not Cristiano Ronaldo!) and Zinedine Zidane’s boots from the 1998 World Cup Final. After lunch, we went to the Cite des Sciences where we were left to explore the many things that this place had to offer: “The Past, Present and Future of Games Consoles”, “Where did life begin?” and many more exhibitions that were worth exploring. Then, after a short trip, we arrived in Montmartre and ascended the many steps to the Sacre Coeur where we also visited a small shopping and artists’ area to buy souvenirs. We then arrived back at the hotel in time for dinner.

On Monday, our return journey to Calais was the same as the journey from Calais to Paris, but I wish I could say the same for the ferry ride back to Dover! Due to storms and extreme weather conditions, the water was very rough and the ferry was shaking a lot, which meant we struggled to walk in a straight line without tripping or losing our balance. Due to this, many on this ferry were seasick and the cleaners had a massive job on their hands after we arrived at Dover! The journey back to school was smooth with no interruptions, which meant that we arrived back in Handsworth at 10pm.

In my opinion, the trip was fantastic and I would strongly recommend it to anyone else who has the chance to go.

Mohsin Ali, Year 11

Please click here to view more photos from the trip.