Basketball Representation
Amar Rupra has represented the West Midlands Under 15 Basketball team this past season. Amar (number 13) and his teammates have enjoyed considerable success.
Focus on Education
The Russell Group of UK universities have sought to provide advice to those choosing A Levels through their Informed Choices programme for a number of years. The most controversial part of this has been the list of so-called “facilitating subjects”. While intended to help ensure that students took A Levels that gave them the greatest options for post-eighteen study, this short list of academic A Levels has been criticised for causing the marginalisation of creative subjects in schools. In the second half of May, a new Informed Choices website (www.informedchoices.ac.uk) was launched that takes a different approach to guiding student A Level choices, and it is hoped this will address the concerns with the old system. The new website has been well received and is well worth the attention of students in their GCSE years who are considering what to study next. Please click here to read more about this from the BBC.
Visit of Professor Alec Cameron Vice Chancellor of Aston University
On May 17th we played host to Professor Alec Cameron, Vice chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University along with his colleague Mr David Farrow, Executive Director for their first ever visit to the school.
Professor Cameron and Mr Farrow met with Headteacher Dr Bird, and Deputy Headteacher Mr Conway, before being given a tour of the school by our new Head Boy, Hasnain Sumar and Head Girl Deborah Sepo.
Aston University is a popular destination for many of our students, with over thirty students each year choosing to study there. It has a fine reputation nationally and internationally and has recently opened a new medical school, to help to develop the next generation of doctors.
Professor Cameron and Mr Farrow were both extremely complimentary about the school, and the students whom they met. They were both keen to stress the importance of building a strong, long-term relationship with our school, and we look forward to welcoming them back to HGS in the future.
Mr Conway
Camp Hill Athletics Results
Divine Wood won Gold in the 300m, Nigel Agboola won Silver in the 200m and Discuss and Kai Dawkins won Bronze in the 800m and Long Jump. Congratulations!
Super 6 Athletics
The first athletics event on the season started with huge success with both the Year 7 and Year 8 Team taking home the overall team bronze medals in the Birmingham School Games Super 6 Competition. The afternoon produced some excellent athletics with outstanding performances in the Year 7 800m (Kai Gordon – 1st Place) and in the Year 8 200m (Nigel Agboola – 1st Place). Both teams’ look to improve on their personal best’s in their next athletics fixture at Norman Green on Tuesday 21st May. We wish them the best of luck.
Year 7 Team – Daniel Chikwizo (7N), Kai Gordon (7G), Haisem Zeino (7A), Rafae Ajaz (7A), Jamal Taijiri (7G) and Reuben Esmerguzeli (7A)
Year 8 Team – Nigel Agboola (8H), Corey Wainwright (8G), Jiaxi Lu (8W), Zane Baker (8G), Abdulrehman Shaker (8G) and Sukhraj Singh (8N)
Whitemoor Lakes Trip
The annual Year 7 trip to Whitemoor Lakes Activity Centre near Alrewas took place from 13th-16th May 2019. 85 students accompanied by 9 staff enjoyed fantastic weather over the three days and were well looked after by the Centre staff. Some student reminiscences are as follows:
“I really enjoyed the raft-building because we worked as a team. It felt satisfying when the raft started floating. The instructors were good; they pushed you to try to do everything but they didn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to.” (Emils)
“I loved the activities…my favourite was the fencing because it was a new experiences. The staff made the stay enjoyable because they helped you conquer fears.” (Hayden)
“I didn’t think I could do the leap of faith in high ropes, or the abseiling, but I completed both…the food and how we were treated were both very good.” (Abdullah)
“My experiences at Whitemoor Lakes were amazing…my favourite activity was the zip-wire because I conquered my fear of heights.” (Kirat)
“The most challenging activity was the climbing; although it was safe I felt scared but I tried my best and overcame my fear.” (Ibrahim)
“…the food there was great…the beds were comfy and the lobby area was very good with table tennis tables, pool and a chilling-out area.” (Danyaal)
“I pushed myself and completed all of the challenges”. (Ash)
“Whitemoor Lakes was a great experience for me because there was a range of activities for me to try. My favourite two activities were zip-wiring and canoeing. In my free time I played table-tennis”. (Manveer)
“The staff there tried their best to make our stay fun”. (Temi)
“I tried some new activities such as fencing, abseiling, zip-wiring, canoeing and raft-building. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget”. (Basel)
“I learned that waiting longer for an activity (like abseiling) make it even more scary!” (Nathaniel)
“I was surprised that I managed to complete the climbing activity”. (James)
Please click here to view our photo gallery.
House Sports Results – 14th May 2019
| Yr 8 House Table Tennis | Yr 8 House Basketball | Yr 8 House Table Tennis | |||
| 1st | William | 1st | Henry | 1st | William |
| 2nd | Galahad | 2nd | Galahad | 2nd | Galahad |
| 3rd | Alfred | 3rd | Nelson | 3rd | Alfred |
| 4th | Henry | 4th | William | 4th | Henry |
| 5th | Nelson | 5th | Alfred | 5th | Nelson |
| Yr 8 Individual Winner – Table Tennis | |||||
| Ethan Lal 8A |
| Yr 8 House Football | |
| 1st | William |
| 2nd | Galahad |
| 3rd | Alfred |
| 4th | Henry & Nelson |
Focus on Education
In examination season the desire for pupils to improve their memories becomes a top priority. Fortunately, the ability to retain lots of information turns out to be a learnable skill rather than an innate talent. In this article from the New York Times, memory champion Joshua Foer gives three key tips for improving memory – please click here to read more.
Table Tennis Results
The KS 3&4 table tennis teams won the level 2 School Games Championships and qualified for the level 3 Championships held at Washwood Heath Academy. This tournament had all of the best teams in the city in attendance.
The KS 3 team consisted of Yaseen Ahmed 9G, Sulayman Khan 8G, Ahnaf Rahman 9G and Zane Baker 8G. They played Holte in the first game and won 3-1, they then played Stockland Green and won 4-0. In the final pool game we played Plantsbrook School and won 3-1. In the semi-final we had to play Wheelers Lane who came second in their group. We won 3-1. In the final we played Kings Norton Boys School who are attached to Colesbridge Table Tennis club so all of the students play club table tennis to a good standard. We drew 2-2 but won on the number of games that we had won. An incredible achievement!!
The KS 4 team were playing some of the strongest school table tennis teams that we have seen for a long time. All of the games were close which shows how we have progressed as a school over the last few years. Having a dedicated table tennis coach has pushed our boys on to a higher level. We lost to Wheelers Lane 3-1 (who were the eventual winners) and Holte 3-1. We beat Bishop Vesey 3-1 and Kings Norton Boys 4-0. Overall we came 3rd. The team consisted of Manveer Chahal 11G, Jamie Corpuz 10A, Thien Tran 10G and Hanzblyth Camanzo 11H.
Focus on Education
There is considerable uncertainty about the future financing for universities in England and Wales as they await the publication of the Augur review into post-eighteen education which appears to have been delayed by the ongoing difficulties associated with Brexit. The widely mooted drop in the tuition fee cap to £7,500 is one potential source of concern, especially if this is not balanced by additional government funding to make up the difference to current fee levels. Meanwhile Brexit may create another funding issue if, as is suggested in a recent article by Alex Wickham, the fees for EU students to attend universities will rise considerably in the near term to match other international students. Such a change is sure to lead to a considerable drop in the number of EU students attending UK universities (currently around one hundred and thirty thousand) and this may lead to an additional funding shortfall. For further information on the current issues surrounding universities you may wish to listen to a recent BBC Radio 4 programme, The University Time Bomb, which can be accessed here.
