Congratulations to Arijus Ahmadian (8G) who has successfully completed the bronze star award for completing seven visits to the academy enrichment education programme at Wast Hills training facility at Birmingham City Football Club. The certification represents high levels of engagement, enthusiasm, dedication and commitment to both his academic studies and academy football codes of conduct.
Over the past couple of months, I have read a number of articles and features which debate/discuss what could be named as ‘Enlightened Education’. Alongside some of the more practical information I hope always to be inspired as I reflect on my own leadership and the future direction of our school in the face of the ever-changing scene vis-a-vis Ofsted et al. I will allow these soundbites to speak for themselves:
From Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix:
“Don’t try to predict the future but prepare yourself for whatever happens.”
“Surround yourself with people who excel in areas where you don’t.”
“Take risks and learn from mistakes; then don’t make the same mistake twice.”
From broadcaster and professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, Mona Siddiqui:
“School playgrounds stay with us for all our lives.”
“How can I leave the world a better place?”
“What does it mean to lead a meaningful life?”
“Our job as educators is the formation of young people rather than information to young people.”
Nicola Benedetti, violinist:
“Music teaches me about faith, humility, creativity and humanity.”
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, former Paralympian, winner of 11 gold medals who broke 35 world records, talking about the importance of access to mainstream education for disabled people:
“Education gives you choices and opportunity.”
Young changemakers and youth ambassadors from their world, combatting the global education crisis:
“Education is a child’s weapon. Don’t take it for granted.”
You could very easily be forgiven for not being able to name the five Secretaries of State for Education who have been in post over the last few months! I couldn’t do so, without resorting to Wikipedia! Education has sadly featured very little in the polemic of politicians of both main parties in the last few months – a far cry from Tony Blair’s list of priorities in the run-up to the 1997 General Election: “Education, education, education.”
There was an interesting article in The Sunday Times by James Kirkup, Director of the Social Market Foundation, who wrote:
As a country we do not give enough resources or attention to education. Twenty years ago, Britain devoted the same share of national wealth to education as to healthcare. Today total health spending is roughly double the education budget. Voters don’t seem to mind, or notice. The Ipsos Issues Index, a polling barometer of public concerns, recently found that just 8 per cent of the public considered education a high priority. That’s the lowest since 1984.
Rishi Sunak has thankfully said that he believes some reform is needed, talking about an English Baccalaureate to perhaps (in part) replace A levels, a greater focus on vocational subjects and fewer subjects to be assessed at age 16 – all ideas that have been mooted on more than one occasion in the past, but which have failed to gain traction. This was a welcome statement, for a fresh perspective on the way in which we prepare our young people for life and work today is certainly required. More clarity of thought is needed though rather than Education yet again being used as a political football by politicians from all sides. Or to phrase it differently, playing the Education hokey-cokey!
Without a doubt, you do consider education as a top priority for your children, for you have made some sacrifices to invest in an HGS education, and to give your children life-enhancing, even life-changing opportunities – and, as a school, we never forget that.
Let us hope that the most recent incarnation of Education Secretary (Gillian Keegan, in case you needed reminding!) lasts long enough to understand and to make an enduring, positive difference to the lives of young people. In the meantime, it is the committed work, day-in, day-out, from caring and inspirational teachers in the front line which makes the greatest impact.
Stay safe and well.
Be kind to yourself and others.
Best wishes,
Dr Bird
CyberCenturion is a free to enter cyber security competition designed by the American Air Force Association and powered by Northrop Grumman, open to 12- to 18-year-olds in the UK and British Overseas Territories. Teams participate in a series of three online rounds, attempting to discover all the security vulnerabilities within various operating systems.
Securing systems equals high scores, but ill-fated changes or reduction in security can result in the undesired loss of points.
5 boys have been competing against the rest of the country in this cyber security competition.
They have been using an operating system that is not very familiar to them, Linux, and they have been performing operations on an invented, dummy computer network, finding insecurities and fixing them.
There were three rounds, each one taking 6 hours to complete, so they were working hard all day, and after school too. There were two different networks each time, and different versions of the operating system, so they had to work as a team to try to root out any problems.
The team finished mid-table of all the teams in the country including the senior’s category.
What an achievement for a first attempt at something so new.
Congratulations to: Aariz Dhalla, 9W; Nihal Sharma, 9G; Kisandu Hapuarchchi, 9G; Rajan Nagra, 8W; Zayd Mirzoyev 8G
Next year, we’ll do even better, I’m sure. You learned so much, already.
Mrs Hibbert
Dear All at Handsworth Grammar School,
Thank you so much for your recent donation of 186 kg of food to the B30 and South Birmingham Foodbank.
As you can imagine, demand for help from local families in crisis is increasing steadily as the cost of living crisis deepens. In the last week alone, we gave out 3427 kg of food to feed 454 clients from 179 different families. Sadly, we anticipate even more rapid rises in client numbers as we head into the New Year and temperatures begin to drop again, so your gift will be put to very good use.
From everyone at the B30 and South Birmingham Foodbank , on behalf of all our clients, we say a truly heartfelt thank you once again for your kindness and generosity, and as a token of our gratitude I am attaching a Certificate of Appreciation which I am hoping you will be able to print out and display where those who contributed can see it.
On behalf of the Foodbank Volunteer Team
Cyber Explorers is an exciting new government initiative led by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) aimed at helping students develop fundamental skills and inspire them to follow a cybersecurity career path.
Baasit Siddiqui is pictured above presenting a series of Cyber Explorer workshops to year 9 students at our enrichment day in December.
On Thursday 8th December, for our Reward Trip we were privileged to go to Teamworks karting and laser tag as a recognition of our behaviour and attitude during the Autumn Term. It was around 9.30 in the morning by the time everyone had arrived at the site in Digbeth. After briefings, we were split up into 2 groups (Year 12 and Year 13). We (Year 12) started on laser tag first and were split into 4 separate teams. We played 3 games against another team. My team, after losing the first, came back and won the latter matches, with me being the top individual performer for the second 2 games! The laser tag was epic, with the venue having a good layout and decent lighting.
Then we were allowed out for lunch and were able get food from Birmingham town centre. We then made our way back to the venue.
After lunch, we had to change into race suits for the karting, and the Year 13s went to do the laser tag. After changing, we were taken down to the track and split into 4 groups so we could race safely on the track. After seeing the previous groups crash a bit, I was quite scared to go onto the track however, when we started driving, I felt very comfortable and drove well. In fact, out of my group I actually had the fastest lap time of 31.62 seconds! I was shocked at how fast the karts actually went, especially down the straights.
Overall, the day was a very enjoyable experience and we all had lots of fun.
Balkaran, Year 12
We visited the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research on Friday 9th December to learn further about the carbon and water cycle but also the impact of climate and environmental change on woodlands, specifically the effect of elevated carbon dioxide on the woodland. We boarded the minibus on a cold December morning and headed over to Stafford to view the FACE facility.
Upon arriving we underwent a brief safety talk about the possible risks we might have encountered in the experiment. After this, we had a tour of the facility and went on to observe two ‘rings’ where the elevated carbon dioxide is transported and in effect given to the forest. These ‘rings’ consist of around 8-12 tall towers in a ring shape marking an area of forest and through specific computer programming and control, carbon dioxide is pumped through these from soil level to the canopy of the forest. It was interesting to see the process of how the 120 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is transported to these ‘rings’. Professor Jerry Pritchard explained how the experiment is controlled, what measurements are taken, who works on the site and the links between the water and carbon cycle.
After the tour, we were treated to some hot chocolate in the control room to help warm up us. After lunch, we headed over to a small forested area outside the facility to complete some fieldwork. After our most recent trip to Cranedale in Yorkshire, we were all well prepared for this! We looked how you are able to identify trees, measure the height and circumference of the trunk and then how that relates to how much carbon each different tree can store. We were also informed that we could get a kit and install our own dendrometers for the trees at Handsworth! Miss Morgan jumped at this opportunity with a BIFoR package hopefully on its way in January!
This research that is conducted by the University of Birmingham is vital as it is using future projections of carbon dioxide levels in 2050, thus allowing us to see how trees and the woodland responds to this elevated carbon dioxide. This is crucial to us as it allows us to develop a sense of idea of how the forest can respond to more carbon in the atmosphere, which is quickly becoming true due to global warming, and how trees in the woodland can help us combat this increased carbon dioxide levels as trees are involved heavily in the uptake of carbon dioxide. We found out that tree are taking in more carbon (30%) but we are still unsure what this means; more growth in the leaves, trunk or roots?
The trip was extremely interesting and the professors at the site were very welcoming and engaging, but more so it has allowed us to study the Carbon and Water Cycle in much more detail, only benefiting us for our A-levels.
In November, we left HGS behind and headed for the rainy, green and very beautiful Yorkshire. Cranedale was definitely a thrilling experience; sixteen A level geographers, plus Miss Morgan and Mr Bird, eagerly awaited for the lectures from professional geographers and we were not disappointed. For the majority of us, it was not only our first taste of fieldwork, but also our first residential experience. Geographical skills play a vital role in not only our A level studies, but for the understanding of our environment: despite the trip being a lot of fun it was crucial for our learning too.
After a long, four-hour journey, we finally had the opportunity of exploring the natural world directly, with a hands-on lesson in learning about the effects on nature caused by the water and carbon cycle. We did an investigation into the moisture of soil between homogenised and non-homogenised areas using quadrats. It was also a great way to start the adventure and for everyone to interact. We retuned to the centre for dinner which was really nice, especially the pasta dish and the hot chocolate roll for dessert. After that we were able to relax, or so we thought! After a little break we headed to the classrooms and started preparations for how we can apply our collected data into a stats test.
The following morning, we headed off to rainy Scarborough. It started off really cold and wet, that didn’t stop us from collecting data. This day was my favourite as it heavily relied on a changing places, one of the fun aspects of human geography. We were had the opportunity to explore different locations – my favourite was going to the beach – and learning about the history of Scarborough. [In particular,] We conducted various surveys by collecting qualitive data, which allowed us to gauge the lived experience of a visitor and the dominant place characteristics of Scarborough.
On Thursday, we visited the rocky, white Flamborough Head, the fastest eroding coastline in the UK. This was definitely the most challenging day. In order to get to the beach, we had to walk a flight of 190 steep steps – talk about a leg day! We braved the strong 40mph winds, whilst studying about coastal erosion. It was a windy and cold day but the advantage of being with friends and nice tutors make the experience more enjoyable and work seem less challenging. We returned back to the centre and analysed and presented our data to each other. After most days we spent our relaxation time in the common area. Some played foosball, some played table tennis and others played card games.
On our final day, Friday was spent doing an overview of our week at Cranedale and we were randomly given a bucket of resources and using our knowledge from the trip, were to find out how we would conduct our own mini NEA. Finally, it was time for us to head back home!
Overall, we all learned a lot from our experience at the Cranedale Centre. It was really helpful and definitely aided to guide us in our NEA topic and the various types of methods and data we can use. We were glad that we had the opportunity to attend the trip as it truly developed us, not only as geographers and our upcoming A level exams, but also developed our class bond. It was a truly a memorable experience!
Muhammad Ali Imran
MR KAFAI HAS BEEN KILLED!! He was discovered dead in the Science Department. The police have come and cordoned the area off. Looking at pictures of the crime scene, we can see two empty plates, two drinks glasses, cards, stacks of notes on the table, a pack of cigarettes and a gun. The possible suspects are Mr Jones, Mr Bansal, Mr Mohsin, Mr Hussain and Mr Alishah. With the help of forensic science and intuition, we will conduct a case to see who killed Mr Kafai.
The first thing we did was a fibre examination. There was some found at the crime scene and using what we know the suspects were wearing on that day, and comparing it to the fibre at the crime scene, we can gauge who did it. To perform this task we had to use microscopes. I first examined the fibre found at the crime scene. I then examined a few other fibres until finally, I examined denim which matched the crime scene fibre exactly. Suspect- Mr Hussain was wearing a denim jacket.
We had to perform experiments to see what nutrients were present in the suspects’ stomach liquid, and that of Mr Kafai. The nutrients we were looking for were protein, fat, glucose and starch. We found only two similarities, and those were with Mr Mohsin (starch) and Mr Bansal (protein).
What killed Mr Kafai? This experiment was not so much to identify a suspect but rather to get a better idea of the crime. There was no blood on the table, so this suggests it was a murder conducted by poison, which we found in his drink. Since the body was found in the Science Block, poisons wouldn’t be too hard to find. After conducting a pH test, the pH level matched a poison called methanol. However, going back to the white power which we also found to be potassium chloride, we suspect that the killer tried to confuse the police by trying to let us think he had died of an overdose.
Chromatography. There was a marker pen stain on Mr Kafai’s shirt, and colours had run. We did experiments using chromatography paper and markers; when in water (at the right depth) the colours in an ink dot separate. The stain on Mr Kafai’s shirt matched with the black marker – suspect Mr Alishah is the only one that likes to use black ink. Also, using luminol we spotted a blood stain on the wall. Someone had attempted to clean it but we still saw its shape. It was a low-velocity blood splatter because the blood clearly bled in slow, large amounts. The only suspects that possess weapons that are capable of this are Mr Hussain with his knife and Mr Alishah with his hammer (the claw hammer most likely caused the damage).
Fingerprints and footprints can be really useful when finding a culprit for a crime, with fingerprints being unique to everyone, and footprints also providing lots of information. Using magnetic sand, you can find fingerprints and footprints upon close inspection. I traced the fingerprint at the crime scene to Mr Mohsin and the footprint to Mr Alishah.
We reviewed all of the day’s work and built up a case against the suspects. Using my supreme forensic skill I, with some small help from my peers, found the killer to be Mr Alishah. The footprint…. the marker…. the hammer… The other main suspect was Mr Hussain but while we had evidence, it wasn’t such as strong case as that against Mr Alishah.
Form 8W
Congratulations to Arijus Ahmadian (8G) who has had another successful term as a registered player with Birmingham City Football Club Academy. Arijus trains for one day per week at the impressive Wast Hills Training Facility as part of the Youth Development programme for the under 13-16 age group. He has also been engaging in the life skills and personal development programme provided by the club whilst also completing all his academic work for HGS to a very high standard. He is pictured with Adan George (ex HGS) who is already a professional footballer for the first team at Birmingham City.
