HGS continues to raise its levels of attainment and achievement with the SSAT grading “Outstanding Student Progress” for 2011 and 2010. This puts HGS in the top 10% of all schools nationally. This is a great achievement for all our Staff, Students’ and Parents’.
Wednesday 18th July 6:30pm
A quick reminder that the Summer concert is fast approaching. It will take place on the school site and will include the first performance of the new fifth verse of the school song.
Tickets are available from the school finance office and are priced at £3.00 for adults and £1.00 for children (16 and under). Show your ticket to receive a drink and some light refreshments. So come and join us to celebrate the 150th year of the school.
Handsworth Grammar School will be having a non-uniform day
in aid of Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis
on
Monday 16th July, 2012
Staff and Students are asked to donate £2 to come in non-uniform
Brief background to the song.
The School Song was first sung in the 1950s, with words by the then Head Teacher J. J. Walton and music composed by B. L. Page. There are four verses followed by a chorus (the original lyrics can be found below). Most of Handsworth Grammar School’s current pupils, and those who have left in the last few years, will be unfamiliar with the School Song. Equally, there will be some of you reading this who recognise the School Song and can recite a few lines or more (including some of the ‘alternative’ words that boys in the past slipped in). Whether you know the song or not, I hope you will join in the selection of a new fifth verse.
Why a new verse?
As part of the 150th Anniversary of HGS we decided to create a competition for all year 7 pupils. Their task was to create a new fifth verse that could continue, or build upon, the original 4 verses. There were more than 20 submitted and these have been narrowed down to 5. The selection of the new fifth verse rests in yours hands!
The closing date for voting will be the 1st July 2012.
Good luck choosing.
M Ward
Head of Music
The Bridge Trust Old Boys’ Society Annual dinner will be held in the Pennington Suite at the Hawthorns on Saturday 17 March 2012 at 7 pm. The cost is £32 per person
The speakers will be John Loarridge a former teacher and David Fulwood ex Special Branch who will be recounting stores about the exploits of the criminal fraternity and the police’s attempts to deal with them.
The Year 9 Physics ‘Big Quiz’, which took place in the Great Hall of Birmingham University, an expansive room that boasts a wooden floor and the motto and crest of the University emblazoned in the roof, was an engaging and interactive event and one that I would gladly participate in again. The quiz had three multiple-choice sections where we had to choose a, b, c or d which each corresponded to an answer on the board, and we also had three written answer rounds which total up to six rounds. There were five regular rounds covering the main topic of Physics, and a specialist round concerning Nobel prize winners in Physics. At the start of the day – around 10.15 – we had a word search to complete between our groups. Although we worked quickly and effectively, we only came second and therefore did not win the spot prizes (a hotwires set for each of the members in the winning team). After we had finished the wordsearch, there was a refreshment break where we were each handed a chocolate bar and a drink. There was also a short speech from Dr. David Evans about the quiz rules. At 10.45, we completed rounds 1 to 3, with each round focusing on a different topic in Physics. After the first three rounds we had half an hour for lunch which was swiftly followed by a keynote lecture from Dr. David Evans who is one the UKs leading scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The lecture focused on telling us about how a man called Peter Higgs thought of the question: “What is mass?” Although most of us associate mass with weight, they are two very different things. The lecture informed us of this and told us how a hypothetical, invisible field resides over everything and when a particle passes through that field it creates a dip, the more mass the particle has got the more of a dip it has. Dr. Evans and his team are on a search for the Higgs’ Boson which would prove Peter Higgs’ theory correct, but so far their attempts have failed to discover anything and the hypothetical particle is still proving itself to be elusive. After the lecture we completed three more rounds and the prize giving ceremony finally arrived. Although we did not come in the top 3 we still did considerably well when you take into account the fact that we came 13th out of over 90 schools. So, overall, it was a very enjoyable day and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is lucky enough to be offered a place.
Zeshan, Year 9
Although the initial closing date for applications is 13th January 2012, we are still happy to receive applications for entry to the Sixth Form for September 2012.
Students who may be interested in applying to Handsworth Grammar School 6th Form are invited to download an application form or contact the school for an application pack.
Internal Application Form
External Application Form
These applications will be processed and suitable candidates will be invited to interview in the next phase of recruitment.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Mr Chris Conway
Assistant Headteacher (16-18)
This year’s Christmas charity event will be run by members of 13 Newton. The decision was made to run a Shoebox Appeal through The Rotary Shoebox Scheme.
The Rotary Shoebox Scheme sends shoeboxes filled with various gifts throughout the year to many different countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Toys are especially useful all year round for birthday presents in the orphanages, homes and hospitals. All age groups, including teenagers, have welcomed the boxes. They have delivered to children and teenagers in orphanages, hospitals and also to street kids, to adults in TB and AIDS hospitals, to disadvantaged families, to women’s refuges and to older folk in hostels with no supporting families. Shoebox gifts have been delivered to Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Romania and Kosovo.
We are aiming to have all shoeboxes filled by Wednesday 14th December. All pupils across the years have been encouraged to bring in any of the following:
Additionally, 13 Newton will be running a Christmas Raffle on Friday 9th December to raise funds for shipment of the boxes, which will take place during AM registration and at break and lunchtime in the cafeteria. Tickets are 20p each.
*The first prize will be a non-uniform day for the winner and their form on the last day of term before the Christmas holidays.
*The second prize will be a big box of chocolate.
The winners will be announced on Monday 12th December.
A big thank you to those who have brought in gifts for the appeal.
For more information about the Rotary Shoebox Scheme and their work, please visit: www.rotaryshoebox.org/
Ms Forth and Mr Kleczkowski
