Our successes at HGS are underpinned by values which place children at the heart of all our endeavours. You will be aware of the increasing mental health concerns amongst young people over recent years, and the pandemic has unfortunately exacerbated some of these, with the NHS and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) facing unprecedented demand.  At school and at home, we should support our children in managing both mental and physical well-being in positive ways, so that they can build personal resilience, enjoy a sense of healthy balance in their lives and be able to adapt to the challenges which they will inevitably face. This is not always straightforward, and knowledge of the individual, a listening ear, the encouragement of open and trusting dialogue, as well as guidance and support are all important.

We are an academic school where our students often have very high expectations of what they should achieve. In reality the best grades are not necessarily top grades, but the best grades relative to a child’s abilities; no-one can ask more of someone than they do their best and grow into a caring and valued human being.

We have been committed over the last two years to the continuing development of pastoral expertise and provision. We want to:

• Create a happy and mutually-supportive community of learners and staff, in which each individual is encouraged and enabled to do and be their best.
• Care for the mental and emotional well-being of students, and be proactive in the promotion of a healthy lifestyle.
• Embed a caring community with students’ well-being, support and guidance; staff professional development and well-being at the forefront.
• Ensure best deployment of pastoral resource to address students’ needs.
• Become increasingly recognised as a community which cares deeply for students, staff and others

We have recently reviewed our progress:

• Regular revision of the PSHE (Life Education) programme, to extend coverage of certain topics: e.g. Relationships and Sex Education
• Introduction of our Equality and Diversity committee at a local level.
• Promotion of the Sharp System.
• Being a part of the wider Foundation Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
• We have appointed and trained Sixth Form Mental Health Ambassadors.
• Introduction of an Employee Assistance Package for all Trust staff, which includes both phone and in-person counselling.
• Mental Health First Aid training for teaching staff and pastoral staff as well as Place2Be training and wider Birmingham Education Partnership training for members of the pastoral team.
• Mindfulness training completed by some staff.
• We have designated members of SLT having oversight of key areas such as Wellbeing.
• We have increased our links with the Wellbeing Crew who provide counselling for students and staff.
• We have established our new values system of HGS CARES.

The division between ‘academic’ and ‘pastoral’ in the life of a school is in many ways arbitrary; the two go hand in hand as we support children in their growth towards young adulthood and a lifetime of adventure with the aim being they become a Force for Good.

Stay well and safe.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Best wishes,

Dr Bird

The Go Karting/Laser Tag trip was arranged to recognise and reward those who have been performing consistently well in school, in terms of attendance, punctuality and overall conduct. These students are more likely to get merits, which in turn count as points towards qualification for such a Reward Trip. A total of about 60 students across Years 12 and 13 went, including a few of my friends. It was on Thursday 16th December (the day before term ended) and the venue was local, on Fazeley Street (in Digbeth), and we had to make our own way there. At the venue, as implied at the beginning, we first enjoyed Go Karting, and then later in the afternoon (after our lunch break) tried Laser Tag. In total, we spent about half an hour doing these activities, as the large group size meant we had to wait our turn. However, there was table football to play in the upper lounge/cafeteria, and watching the poor driving of fellow students was quite amusing! The trip had quite a few enjoyable moments, such as when I came first place in Go-Karting, but some students, including myself, must have had problematic equipment to achieve such appalling scores in the Laser Tag!  The trip was great fun, but it would have been even better if there were more things to do on site whilst waiting our turn.

Kavish Bhopal, Year 12

Please click here to view more photos in the gallery.

Congratulations to Ex-HGS student Alpesh Chauhan on being awarded an OBE for Services to the Arts in the New Year’s Honours List. Alpesh is currently Birmingham’s Opera’s Music Director. To read more on this, please click the following link:

https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/midlands-business-leaders-recognised-new-22615264

The Trussell Trust collected our Foodbank donations this morning. Many thanks to Ms Brown and her Form for coordinating our 2021 Foodbank Campaign. Thank you to everyone who donated – your contributions will have a positive impact on many families in Birmingham this Christmas.