Our flight to Texas was mostly uneventful, however after several films and hours of sleep, we landed in George Bush Intercontinental Airport. We were picked up by our coach and finally reached our destination, the Hyatt Place Sugarland hotel. We were met with the warm reception of Mrs McMahon, who helped organise the trip from the USA side, and Principal Stewart, the head of John Foster Dulles High School. We spent our first evening touring the local area and capped it off with a trip to the local Target, where we indulged in some of the local cuisine.

On Monday, we woke up at 6am to attend our first day at the high school. Immediately, you could see how huge their school was in comparison to ours, some of the hallways were nearly as wide as our classrooms! We were paired with our American counterparts and attended all their lessons, whether it was Band class, Algebra, or World History. We ended the day by spending our evening at Main Event Entertainment, playing laser tag, bowling, and pool.

One of my favourite days was on the Thursday, where we started the day at school but left afterwards to visit the Houston Galleria Mall. The mall was absolutely massive with countless rows of shops and restaurants to choose from. We ended this day by going to watch an away match for the Dulles High School Football (the American one) team, and even though they did not win, it was still amazing to see how different the sports culture is in the States compared to how we do it in the UK. Each team had their own band and set of cheerleaders and at half time, they had a grand show. We concluded the day with a warm meal at McDonalds.

On the trip, we visited so many more parts of Texas such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Galveston Pier, Brazoria County Fair, the Lone Star Flight Museum, and even a police station! The trip was an amazing experience for me and everyone else, I will never forget the countless memories and all the pictures I took during that week!

Raza Khan (11G)

Click here to view more photos in the gallery.

The below photo shows the KS 4 Basketball team who dramatically lost in the last few seconds 31-30 against Holyhead School on the 9th November.

The team then bounced back with a thrilling victory against St George’s at home 27-22 on 14th November.

The annual Foundation Welcome Ceremony for 2023-2024 had to be held at a number of schools this year as we are just too big a number to hold it in one location! Indeed there were five different ceremonies this year held across the 13 schools. HGS had their event on the 17^th October where it was held at King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls. HGS was joined by King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls, King Edwards School, and King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls Academy. It was a fabulous occasion which marked the official entrance of all Year 7 pupils to the King Edward VI Foundation.

The programme of events included:

• A welcome from the Head of King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls
• A musical piece by a pupil from King Edwards School
• A history of the Foundation by the Chief Master of King Edwards School
• A Spoken Word piece by the Senior Prefects of King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School
• The Foundation Present and Future by the Chief Master of King Edwards School
• A musical piece by a pupil from King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls Academy
• The Founder’s Prayer introduction and prayer by the Head of King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School
• Closing remarks by the Head of King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls Academy

Each and every Year 7 pupil across the Foundation can now wear their King Edward VI Foundation Birmingham badge with pride!

Our thanks to the Foundation staff who organised the event (especially Mrs Canton and Mrs Bullock) – it was a memorable and significant event for all involved. It provided a real and tangible sense of community, belonging and inclusion.

Articles from students:

In the King Edward VI Year 7 Foundation Ceremony 2023, the year 7 students of multiple King Edward schools all went to King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls to see the ceremony. In this ceremony, we all saw the headteachers of the King Edward Schools and they gave speeches on how the King Edward VI Foundation began. A few people from the schools performed beautiful pieces of music to everybody. It was very interesting to learn about the history of the King Edward VI Foundation and I learnt a lot.

Mohsin Khan 7H

Me and the rest of Year 7 went to a ceremony at the Girls School where we were accompanied by other King Edward Fouindation Schools. On stage, were representatives of the schools like Dr Bird and other heads of schools. We were greeted by the heads and we had two musical pieces. We then learnt about the history of the King Edward VI Foundation. For that very event, we had badges that showed us that we were a true part of the community.

Krithik Hariharan 7H

The memorable ceremony took place on the 17^{th of} October at King Edward VI Handsworth Girls school and was only one of the 5 ceremonies taking place due to the astounding number of students. This was a great way for the newcomers of year 7 to find out about the history of the King Edward VI Foundation with many interesting facts to listen to. The ceremony included:

• A warm welcome from the head of King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls
• An enjoyable musical piece by a pupil from King Edwards School
• A history of the Foundation by the Chief Master of King Edwards School
• A Spoken Word piece by the Senior Prefects of King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School
• A musical piece by a pupil from King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls Academy
• The Founder’s Prayer introduction and prayer by the Head of King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School
• Closing remarks by the Head of King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls Academy

In my opinion, I think that the ceremony was highly enjoyable, and it reminded everyone what we truly are and the title of the King Edward VI Foundation has stayed with us for a very long time and it will continue to stay.

Amaar Badre 7H