On the 25^th May 116 students from year 7 set off on their way to Whitemoor Lakes. The residential trip lasted three days and two nights. Being the first residential trip for many of the students, it was extremely enjoyable. The trip consisted of many different activities that most of the students have never done before. During the trip we learnt a great deal of things. Many of the activities relied on teamwork and since we were in groups within our forms, we knew our teammates quite well.

Activities

The trip consisted of two water activities; raft building and canoeing. During these activities we had to use teamwork. When building the raft, we had ropes tied on to the edge of three barrels. We had some people sitting on the barrels and two people on the opposite sides of the barrels tightening the rope. We had to work together to make sure the barrels were properly attached. When we went into the water on our raft many of us fell off. It took two people to lift someone back on to the raft. Although the water was quite shallow, most of us emerged extremely wet.

My favourite activity was canoeing although most people preferred ziplining. Each canoeing group consisted of 8 people excluding the instructor. One group would be sat in two canoes, connected by a wooden plank. On one canoe I was at the front and my friend was at the front of the other canoe. The person at the front had to make sure everyone was rowing coordinated. This activity was based on the fundamentals of teamwork. Since we were rowing so effectively, we picked up pace easily. At the end 1 person from each boat jumped off, and to our surprise Mr Khan walked across each canoe and jumped off!

Another two activities which were favoured by many of the students were ziplining and climbing. Not everyone particularly liked ziplining as they were afraid of heights. I am not fond of heights, but I managed to partake in all the activities. We also did rock climbing but the wall was not as tall as the ziplining tower. There were 4 different climbing walls; red, blue, green, and yellow. On each wall there would be one of the 4 colours and black. If you used the black and the coloured rocks, it was called rainbow climbing. The hardest wall to rainbow climb was the red. The instructor said the fastest time on it was 3 seconds. My fastest was 16 seconds. My friend, Carl was 14 seconds. The fastest was from Kaiden who got 12 seconds!

Overall, that was one of the best trips I have been on.

Muhammad Fiaz (7A)

Quotes from Students

“Whitemoor Lakes was one of the best trips I have been on. I had fun with my friends and there were so many activities to do there. You should definitely go.”

Amrit Bains (7A)

“The trip to Whitemoor Lakes was extremely fun. Every activity was joyful and interesting. It was the best trip I have ever been on.”

Yusuf Rasul (7A)

“Our visit to Whitemoor Lakes was excellent as it helped us gain trust in each other and there was a lot of teamwork as well.

Whitemoor Lakes was very good as it helped us with confidence building and challenged us to be brave and have trust in ourselves.”

Vinnay Balu (7G)

“Whitemoor Lakes was one of the best things I have experienced so far in year 7! It was very enjoyable and I made lots of memories while there. The activities included everything from team building to problem solving, helping us to work on our HGS CARES. I don’t think anything can compete with Whitemoor Lakes.”

Sarujan Kasinthan (7G)

“The things I liked the most in Whitemoor Lakes were canoeing, rock climbing and ziplining because they were all exhilarating and people were always cheering me on. We always acted as a team and won most of the challenges.”

Arjun Bagha (7H)

“At Whitemoor Lakes I enjoyed ziplining and high ropes as it tested my fear of heights. I managed to get to the top of both.  I liked canoeing the best because we played competitive games and everyone got soaked.”

Fahmi Mohammed (7H)

“I found this trip very exciting. Not just because the activities were fun but the teachers took part too!”

Edwin Fossey (7N)

“he trip was amazing! I made new friends from other forms. I really enjoyed the zipwire, abseiling, raft building and the sports activities.”

Ahmed Datoo (7N)

“When I first saw the timetable for Whitemoor Lakes, I knew it would be fun, but it was better than I though it would be. I did a lot of things I had never done before. The food was pretty good too.”

Abel Shaine (7W)

“Whitemoor Lakes was extremely fun as we got to participate in many activities. The most memorable ones for me are canoeing, raft building and zip wire. The food was lovely and I would love to go again.”

Reeyan Iqbal (7W)

In a statement issued as the Platinum Jubilee celebrations drew to a close, the Queen, said how she had been inspired by the kindness, joy and kinship she had seen over during the four-day celebration.

The statement said: “When it comes to how to mark 70 years as your Queen, there is no guidebook to follow. It really is a first. But I have been humbled and deeply touched that so many people have taken to the streets to celebrate my Platinum Jubilee.

While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all; and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, supported by my family.

I have been inspired by the kindness, joy and kinship that has been so evident in recent days, and I hope this renewed sense of togetherness will be felt for many years to come.

I thank you most sincerely for your good wishes and for the part you have all played in these happy celebrations.”

I was saying to some students the other day that I had no idea what the world would look like today when I was their age. That doesn’t mean I’m ancient (even if I may appear so in their eyes!); it’s simply a reflection of the pace of change in my lifetime so far, with technology very much at the heart of that revolution. The same can be said of the Queen but she has adapted to change which has given her longevity and relevance. This was evidenced over the weekend in all shapes and sizes.

‘Back in the day’, it may have been enough to get good grades to be assured of a place at a good university which would in turn lead to a good job. Many of you will know from the demands of your own professions that this is no longer the case and that some of the skills previously required in the workplace will increasingly be replaced by AI.

Many of today’s children will live into the 22^nd century, needing to adapt to a world which will continue to evolve in all sorts of ways.

“A typical human being now lives significantly longer than the time between major innovations.  Nowadays young people entering the workforce can expect to see several major changes during their lifetime that will very likely disrupt the continuity of their careers.”

(Andrew McAfee, Erik Brynjolfsson: ‘Harnessing the Digital Revolution’)

The list of skills and attributes required for success is very different from a few years ago. In schools we must prepare our children for tomorrow’s world, ignoring at our peril the importance of cognitive, creative and people skills.

Top 10 skills in 2020 (Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum):

1. Complex problem-solving
2. Critical thinking
3. Creativity
4. People management
5. Coordinating with others
6. Emotional intelligence
7. Judgement and decision-making
8. Service orientation
9. Negotiation
10. Cognitive flexibility

Consider too this diagram:

We shall, of course, continue at HGS to aspire to academic excellence; we want our students to achieve as well as they can, relative to their abilities, keeping all their options open. But, when we talk about a holistic, well-rounded education and all the stuff that goes with it (development of curiosity, independent thought, oracy, creativity, resilience, teamwork, leadership, character, empathy, responsibility), we do so not just because we think it makes our children better people. It’s not an optional extra: we believe with a passion that these are essential ingredients for future success and happiness. As the Queen said: “we look to the future with confidence and enthusiasm.” Confidence, enthusiasm, kindness and being a force for good are all important ingredients to success and they are attributes that all HGS students should aspire to. Whether one believes in a Monarchy or not or indeed whether one enjoys seeing Rod Stewart ruining a classic anthem live on BBC One, a fine example has been set for us all by the Queen over the past 70 years.

Stay well and safe.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Best wishes,

Dr Bird

The Maths department here at HGS want to make it as straight forward as possible for you to support your son at home, particularly with end of year exams approaching.  We have a simple to use website www.hgsmaths.com which hosts all our content.  Please see this short video to learn how best to utilise it: https://youtu.be/xQ19q6g_vPw.

A special thanks to Mr Bansal who has made this fantastic website for our school community.