On 12 October, Year 13 History A-level students ventured to Liverpool on a trip to the International Slavery Museum to learn about the history of black people and their struggles in the past. We set off for our journey at 8:34am at New Street Station for a train to Liverpool Lime Street. Over the course of the one hour and fifty-minute journey on the train, some students took some time to read up on what we would be learning about in the coming hours, while others took the journey as an opportunity to study or simply rest.  When we arrived at Liverpool, we set off on a fifteen-minute walk through the town centre to reach the museum. The town centre was quiet and fairly chilly as it was Thursday morning. Our walk through the town centre culminated at the museum, while seeing sights like the Royal Albert Dock during our walk.

Once we had reached the International Slavery Museum, the main part of our journey had begun. By 11am, we began a self-guided tour of the museum. For the next 45 minutes or so, we saw African American artifacts that carried substantial historical significance. During our self-guided tour, we were also able to watch an incredibly moving short video by one of the curators at the museum about how discrimination against black people and their ancestors impacted her and her self-identity. Following on from the self-guided tour was an hour long workshop, led by the same lady. We discussed the hardship that Africans felt throughout history on a global scale and had a conversation about how we imagine sufferers of discrimination during that time would have felt and how this generation would feel looking back. The workshop provided an interesting and different outlook on discrimination against people of African descent and allowed for an understanding of its impact on the society of today.

After the workshop had concluded, students had the opportunity to roam the town centre for some time while we waited for the train back. By 13:33pm, the train from Lime Street back to New Street had arrived, and the final two-hour journey commenced, and by 15:20, we reached Birmingham once again, putting an end to an eventful and insightful day trip to Liverpool.

Faizaan Mir (13EHA)

This Year 13 history trip was organised to allow us to gain an insight into the treatment and experience of Black people in the period of the Transatlantic slave trade, as well as a more developed understanding of the struggle for civil rights in the aftermath of abolition.

Our current course is about the struggle for civil rights in America, with one key topic being on the subject of African Americans. The content we learn in class already provides the context of what it was like to live at the time, with numbers and detailed descriptions describing the trauma and suffering. However, I believe the trip allowed those words and statistics in the textbook to come to life, to present themselves before us within the walls of the Museum. Various recordings and objects were seen throughout our experience, highlighting both the beauty of African culture, alongside the suppression it faced at the hands of the slave trade. An example of what we learnt, for example, was racial segregation, and this was explained in the detailed workshop from one of the museum’s employees, where we were shown various signs, stamps, and images where African Americans were treated inferior, once again bringing our lessons to life, as we saw the solid proof of one of many injustices in human history. Overall, the trip was a great experience for us students, helping us develop our learning outside of the classroom.

Rayyan Yaqub (13SS)

On Friday 6^th October 40 Computer Science students visited the Williams Racing F1 Experience Centre in Oxfordshire. A diverse range of activities were completed throughout an exciting day which related to job opportunities and experiences you can have within many employment sectors, such as technology, engineering, aerospace, product design and developing teamwork skills. The engaging itinerary went like this:

The first activity was programming a racing car using LEGO Mindstorms, a series of engineering and code-based machines released officially by LEGO that can be physically built by the user and can be coded to do certain actions using an app similar to Scratch, a block-based coding language. We also designed a company to sell it, making an advert using the iPads, and creating the company logo to simulate marketing a product correctly. We all presented our ideas on stage and our work was graded by our teachers to decide the winning group – our congratulations go to Farhan’s winning team who were awarded official F1 merchandise caps from the Williams Racing team.

The second activity was a guided tour of the history of Formula One cars where we saw the evolution of the cars physically changing over the years, and the idea behind why the designers changed the cars for the better. We were also shown a video on how the company of Williams started and grew as a business to become the monolith it is today.

And finally, we experienced a gaming simulation of driving a Formula One car where we all raced each other in maps modelled from actual Formula One racing circuits. We raced three times against twenty people which was an exhilarating experience of real-world Formula One scenarios.

Overall, the day was engaging and fun with everyone enjoying learning about the world of technology and engineering.

Jack Ward, 9W and Zayd Mirzoyev 9G.

On Friday 29^th September, the whole of year 7 did their annual sponsored walk. The pupils walked one lap around the Handsworth Park totalling 1 mile. This was in aid for collecting money that will be donated to the British Red Cross who are providing aid for the recent natural disasters in Libya and Morocco. The staff supervising the walk enjoyed themselves and we are sure the pupils did too!

Stop Press!

We have raised to date over £2,200! This is a wonderful achievement!

The photograph shows the boys who raised the most money within their forms.

Left to Right: 7W- Aarush Duggal, 7H- Samjik Lingden Limbu, 7N- Dylan Ly, 7G- Eesaa Plummer, 7A- Amar Shinh

7W raised the most money out of all of the forms. This is a great achievement and is a good example of our HGS Cares Values.

Harrison Hunter, 7A

On Friday 21^st September, the whole of year 7 went on a sponsored walk around Handsworth Park. When we had finished registration, we went to ‘Big School’ to meet before the walk. We left the building in five-minute intervals to stop commotion in the park. After we’d entered Handsworth Park, we followed a blue line painted on the floor which was one mile long. It was nice to see all of the wildlife and the natural landscapes. Once our form had finished, we walked back to school and sat in the main hall. The teachers gave us all a chocolate as a prize for completing the walk. We all left the hall and went to our period two lesson after everyone was back. I’m so happy with how much money I raised. I’m sure it will help a lot of people.

Ekamjeet Singh, 7A

On the day of the walk in Handsworth park, all of the year 7 forms first assembled in the hall. Each form did the walk one by one so one form went and then another followed until all forms had gone. Overall, the walk was very enjoyable and everyone had a bunch of fun talking with their friends and completing it was very relaxing and completely stress free.

Ayan Tariq, 7N

In Year 7, we participated in a sponsored walk to help raise funds for charity. At approximately 9:15, we set off to complete our walk around Handsworth Park. The walk was about 1 mile long and we completed it in around 25 minutes. Overall, the sponsored walk was a fun experience and it felt good to know that we were helping someone and that we could be saving a life.

Kuljot Chahal, 7N

This sponsored walk felt rewarding as we’re not only benefitting ourselves, but to charities for people in need. Doing this walk will help give people in need the opportunity to achieve what they want in life. We had the opportunity to ask for sponsorship from parents / guardians or any friends. After the deadline to donate, all the money will be sent to charity.

Click here to view more photos within the gallery.

Prizegiving 2023

Dr Stephen, Mr Hirst, Colleagues, Parents, Students

Alongside all the staff at HGS, who have worked hard over the last few weeks to ensure that our school is ready for a new term and indeed new year, I want to formally welcome you all to Prizegiving 2023.

I would like to extend a very special welcome to our Chair of Governors – Dr Bob Stephen as this is his last Prizegiving as he relinquishes the role of Chair of Governors. We still have him on the books until the end of half term so we will make the most of his expertise as he guides HGS through the appointment of a new Head. Thank you for all you have done for our school – we all owe you a huge debt of gratitude for what you have done publicly for HGS and perhaps more importantly what you have done behind the scenes for HGS. I would like to award you Full Colours for all your hard work and support!

Also deserving of special thanks and gratitude is Mr Hocine Idjer – Chair of the Trustees of our Charity. Hocine and the Trustees have been extremely supportive of me and HGS over the years. He became a Governor in my first year as Head so I will take the credit for ensuring he joined our LGB and Charity! Like our Chair it is the unseen work behind the scenes of our Charity Trustees that is of paramount importance to the sustained success of HGS and it benefits us all – Staff, Students and Parents. Thank you Hocine and thank you Jim the Charity Vice-Chair in his absence. I would also like to award you your Full Colours for all your hard work and support!

I would also like to especially welcome Mr David Wheeldon who was Bailiff last year but couldn’t attend our Prizegiving but attends tonight as a Foundation Governor, Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Academy Trust. We also welcome Mr Fazle Kinkhabwala who is the Bailiff this year as well as being a Foundation Governor and Trustee.

12 years ago, at my first HGS Prizegiving we welcomed a lawyer as our special guest so it is very fitting that at my last HGS Prizegiving we welcome another – Karl Hirst. Karl is a barrister at NO. 5 Chambers in Birmingham. He is described as a real star in the senior-junior group, (not to be confused with the Danish pop duo Junior Senior who had a global smash hit in 2003 with Move your Feet) an excellent counsel in every respect. Karl is the perfect combination of technical excellence and a genuine passion to help claimants. Superb with both clients and opponents – he is a pleasure to be against. Karl was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2019 and is authorised to hear cases in the family, county and high courts. Welcome Karl and Claire, I just wish I had known you a few weeks ago as you might well have got me off my speeding fine and I could have avoided my speed awareness course in a weeks’ time!

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

 
Turning specifically to our students: it is lovely to be here together again; I hope you have another really successful year in a whole host of areas, inside the classroom and out, academically and socially…and I hope you have a very happy year.

Now, having said just a moment ago that my wish is for you to have a happy and successful year – I want to move on to struggles and in particular to talk about an oak tree, cycling and Nelson Mandela.

Many years ago, when I was much younger in the Bronze Age, I used to enjoy travelling and cycling. In my late teens and twenties, I travelled a lot – Europe, Africa, USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, China and so on. But I fondly remember cycling with a friend, cycling all day carrying what we needed with us on the back of our bikes. There was a lovely sense of achievement when we arrived in the town where we were staying late afternoon, reflecting on how far we had travelled, the difficulties we encountered, getting lost briefly and so on…and planning the route for the next day. My son loves cycling around our local countryside too – so he has caught the bug!

And then, for many years, there was a lot less cycling but more recently, I have enjoyed exploring some of Worcestershire on two wheels. At this juncture, I should point out that there will be many people here who are far more accomplished cyclists (Mr Ward being one) than me; who go further and faster on machines that are far more sophisticated than mine. Some even combine cycling with running and swimming but, that aside, perhaps once or occasionally twice a week, I have enjoyed going out as soon as it is light and pedalling along quiet roads and getting back before most people – including some members of my family notably my teenage daughter – are even awake.

As mentioned I travelled through Africa and have family in South Africa. Robben Island in South Africa is famous and it is where Nelson Mandela was kept in a tiny cell for 18 of the 27 years he served in prison, during the apartheid era. For much of that time, prisoners were treated brutally, but Mandela had learnt the poem Invictus, which I read a moment ago and it became a source of inspiration for him and the other inmates of the prison. I am the guardian of my fate; I am the captain of my soul…in other words, it is me who determines what my future will bring – not others; I will take responsibility for me, even when I’m struggling; I’m not going to blame anyone or anything else. I’m in charge of me.

Coming back to me and the cycling, over the weeks I tried different routes and towards the end of one is a steep hill with an oak tree on the top. Initially, tired at the end of a (not very long) ride, as I huffed and puffed up the incline, getting slower and slower the oak tree never seemed to get any closer. Eventually, there was nothing else to do it seemed, but to pause for a rest and then try again, gradually creeping to the summit. The next time was similar, if ever so slightly easier and then came the first occasion when I got to the top without stopping…and then that repeated…until it became an enjoyable challenge and I found myself looking forward to the oak tree, trying to reach it quicker and without changing down through the gears…you get the idea. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.

Over the coming weeks and months, all of us will have our hills to climb, our oak trees to reach. Sometimes, it will seem as though we will never do it; we will look for excuses, our struggles, we might think, will be the fault of others. But that isn’t right; because we’re in charge of us… what may seem impossible at times, isn’t… because in almost every case, we can find a way to improve, to achieve what we are capable of not least by seeking the help of others we’re the masters of our fate, we’re the captains of our soul.

So, I hope you all have a superb year full of success and happiness. But in amongst the good times there will undoubtedly be struggles; enjoy those too. We can all find ways to overcome difficulties and to achieve more than we thought possible and by doing so, we grow. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.

Some inspiration for the year ahead:

• At GCSE – some 60% of all grades were 9 to 7, 100% gained 9 to 4 including English and Maths. A8 score is 71.21 and P8 score is 0.67.
• At A Level – some 50% of all grades were A* to B, 98% of all grades were A* to E.
• LSE, Manchester, Nottingham, Leicester, Bristol, UOB, Aston, Warwick have all been universities of choice this year. Our leavers have pursued Apprenticeships. Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Law, Engineering – (Mechanical, Civil, Aerospace), Computer Science, Biomedical Science, Maths, Economics, Psychology, Architecture, Optometry, even some History, Geography and English!
• Look at our Honours Boards and all these wonderful Prizes to be awarded tonight. It could be you!
• £1000’S for Charity, Legacy teams, Sports, Music, LAMDA, Prefects, Mental Health Ambassadors, HGS CARES, House Captains and Vice Captains, Trips, Visits – just read The Bridge Magazine! So much goes on in our rich, diverse and vibrant community. Be a part of it and be a Force for Good.

Stay well and safe.

Be kind to yourself and others.

HAEC OLIM MEMINISSE IUVABIT

Dr Bird

Please click here to view more photos within the gallery.

The trip to Oxford was very fun, although the journey to Oxford was long. When we arrived in Oxford, we walked a short distance to the Ashmolean Museum where we looked at various ancient painting and artefacts from a wide range of cultures. I really enjoyed the Japanese exhibit because it had old samurai armour and two katanas which was really interesting. However, my favourite exhibit was the one with old violins and guitar. After supper, we walked around Oxford and explored the famous landmarks before arriving to Oxford Town Hall for the concert. The first half of the concert was Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto which was amazing. The pianist was Evgeny Kissin. The second half of the concert was devoted to Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Hearing the orchestra play was certainly a great experience.

Jaswanth Panathala Venkata 10H