Our first day began at 10.15am when we met with our peers (and Mr Jones and Mr McCarron) at Birmingham Airport and prepared to check-in. We then boarded the plane for a short and tranquil flight to Geneva. Arriving in the historic city of Geneva we were immediately astonished by the magnificent view of Mount Blanc’s snowy white peaks in the distance. We headed through the main town, taking time to enjoy the much purer Genevan air and fascinating buildings on the way. Arriving at our hotel, we were given time to wind down in our rooms before heading out to eat at an Italian restaurant previously reserved by Mr Jones. Here, we were treated to authentic Italian main courses, from pizza to spaghetti carbonara, with tiramisu for dessert. We then headed out for a relaxing evening at a nearby pool hall before returning to the hotel for “lights out” at 11pm local time.

‘Day 2’ began with a continental breakfast in the hotel restaurant for which we were accompanied by people of other nationalities. We were blessed with some beautiful weather across all three days and spent the morning exploring some of the city’s landmarks including the famous ‘Jet d’Eau’ Water Fountain; we also climbed the many steps of St Peter’s Cathedral for a wonderful 360^o view of the city and the surrounding lakes and mountains.

We then travelled to CERN, home of the World’s most powerful particle accelerator – the Large Hadron Collider – and, in general, all things physics! We were greeted by exhibits explaining breakthroughs in physics and current mysteries within particle physics; we also watched a video about the discovery of the Higgs Boson. We were also given talks about the structure of the establishment and shown components that make up the particle accelerators. We were informed of some jaw-dropping facts about the particle accelerator e.g. some of the electromagnets have currents of 1800A flowing through them!  As an amazing coincidence, our Tour Group at CERN was joined by an ex-pupil (Thron Miah, now a medical doctor based in Nottingham) and his wife who were touring the area.

We finished the day by dining at the ‘Holy Cow’ restaurant near the main train station before being given a bit of free time to enjoy some of the exciting night life before heading to bed after an exhausting day.

On the third day we vacated the Youth Hostel at about 9.00 a.m., leaving to tour two museums of Geneva. The museum we visited first was the small ‘History of Science’ Museum, one of few, which showed various displays about how scientific instruments have changed over time such as the telescope. There were also interactive displays showing how forces worked with pulley systems. We then visited the Museum of Art and History which has exhibits dedicated to the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans, and to Medieval times. The Ancient Greek exhibit was beside the Egyptian exhibit and was mostly sarcophagi, sculptures, precious coins and jewellery. The Roman Exhibit showed paintings as well as sculptures but the exhibit that stood out the most was the medieval showcase. This was comprised of weapons, and armour ranging from leather to iron. We were surprised to see that there were broadswords at least a metre in length as well as a vast collection of rifles. After we had visited the exhibits we left for the airport (via the hotel to pick up our bags) to return to Birmingham.  All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all over the packed three days.

Ibrahim Qayyum and Sharujan KunarubanYear 12

Click here to see more photos in the gallery.

Supporting Your Child During Exam Time (Young Minds)

As we start to move towards exam season, Young Minds have launched advice for parents about supporting their children.

Tips include:

• Encourage your child to take revision breaks and find a balance between studying and doing things they find enjoyable and relaxing.
• Make sure they are eating and drinking at regular intervals.
• Reassure them – reinforce that you are and will be proud of them no matter what happens.
• Remain positive and hopeful!
• Let them know their feelings are valid and normal, but also offer support and solutions where possible.
• Anxiety is often worst at night and this means it is useful to encourage good bedtime routine

You can find out more here: https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-guide-to-support-a-z/parents-guide-to-support-exam-time/

On Friday March the 15^th 2019 Year 8 students participated in a workshop focused on developing their Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills with a team from HS2.

The workshop delivered by two representatives from High Speed 2 (HS2) as part of their education outreach remit encouraged students to develop the skills essential for a career as engineers of the future. They began by assessing their own STEM powers with the intent of using the activities of the day to boost their skills and understanding.

Taking place in the sixth form common room, the day split into parts. Firstly, students in small teams were challenged with designing the railway station of the future. Emphasis was placed not only on the practical needs of a station, but also the needs of a full-spectrum of customers. Some ‘blue sky thinking’ was also required, with students encouraged to consider all manner of hi-tech features, both real and speculative.

The latter half of the workshop tasked students with applying their practical engineering skills. After some guidance on different structural concepts, teams were asked to build a structure from paper straws capable of supporting a sack of sand weighing several kilos. Many different approaches were adopted, and the final testing stage was an excellent example of mutual support as teams competed to produce the most effective structure.

The day was very successful and enjoyed by all who participated and hopefully inspired students to consider the variety of opportunities available in STEM careers. The staff from HS2 were very complimentary and were impressed by the effort, ideas and behaviour of all students involved.

Handsworth Grammar School have been entering the Young Writers Mini Saga competition for a number of years now. This year’s theme, “Mission Catastrophe”, included 87 entries ranging from speculative fiction to romanticism.

The competition organisers were impressed by the entries from Handsworth Grammar School, commenting on the way in which the writing showed ‘perception, imagination and creativity’ written with ‘strong expression, originality and use of language’. The English Department is delighted that 84 out of 87 entries received have been published in an anthology produced by the organisers- again, surpassing our previous record!

We would like to congratulate all students who managed to get their work published.

Well done!

Year 7

1st Place Jamie Callaghan – 7N
2nd Place Basel Ziyara – 7A		3rd Place Faraaz Khan – 7G

Year 8

1st Place Arun Desai – 8G
2nd Place Rupinderjeet Dhanoa – 8G		3rd Place Muhammad Awais – 8G

Year 9

1st Place Robert Callaghan – 9N
2nd Place Yaseen Ahmed – 9G		3rd Place Faisal Jajeh

Year 10

1st Place Zaide Ebrahim – 10W
2nd Place Roshan Patel – 10G		3rd Place Ritish Sadhra – 10G

Year 11

1st Place Rohan Nath – 11G
2nd Place Franciszek Czech – 11G		3rd Place Anar Rupra – 11G

Staff

1st Place Mr Jones
2nd Place Mr Gallagher		3rd Place Mrs Lin-Fellows