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Intermediate Maths Challenge Success

Our Year 9 and Year 10 Mathematicians made a good showing in the recent Intermediate Maths Challenge.

In Year 9 Krishan Patel was awarded the Best in Year certificate as well as a Silver certificate. Three other boys attained a Silver certificate and 7 boys achieved a Bronze certificate.

In Year 10 Rajan Aulakh was awarded the Best in Year certificate as well as a Gold certificate. Zaryam Shaker also was awarded a Gold certificate. 12 boys were awarded a Silver certificate and 9 boys achieved a Bronze certificate.

Rajan, Zaryam, Krishan and Mohamed have all been invited to the next round of the challenge.

Congratulations to all who took part.

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Local MP Visits HGS

Eddie Hughes MP, Walsall North (Conservative) visited the school on Friday 15th February to speak to the Sixth Form students. Mr Hughes, who is an ex pupil of this school, spoke very fondly of his time at the school, before taking questions from the Sixth Form audience.

Mr Hughes spoke about his own childhood, and how he came from a traditionally Labour supporting household. His father was a Bus driver, and his mother a Cleaner, and he was one of a large family of boys. Both he and one brother came to this school, and ironically he was in the same year group as Sion Simon, who later became a Labour MP in Birmingham.

Mr Hughes then took questions from the Sixth Form audience, which were well-thought out and challenging. Questions ranged from topics such as Brexit, the fate of Shumina Begum, the NHS, Homelessness in this city and finally a question which he admitted he had no answer to, which was about whether “Drill music” should be banned!

The photograph shows Eddie Hughes with Awez Khan ( Year 13), the Young People’s Parliament MP for this part of Birmingham.

Many thanks to Mr Hughes for visiting KEVI HGS.

 

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Focus on Education

Please read the 2 articles below. The first is from The Guardian newspaper and the second is from the BBC News website.

The two articles highlight some major issues surrounding University education such as the contentious issue of Unconditional offers and the perceived attraction or otherwise of them from the perspective of students and teachers. It also highlights the common tactic of some Universities to offer them to students only if they make them their first choice. The other ley issue which is receiving attention is how the world of work is changing. It would seem that universities will remain the trusted providers of education but there is a need for new ways of packaging learning. The article highlights the need for transferable skills, independent learning and researcher skills as well as the desperate need for creativity, curiosity and work experience amongst young people.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/feb/14/universities-stamp-out-creativity-are-graduates-ready-for-work

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47158697

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‘GCSE Science Live’ Trip

On Monday 4th February, 20 students from Year 10 attended ‘GCSE Science Live’, held at Symphony Hall in Birmingham.  As well as hearing talks from 5 scientists about their respective fields, we also had a lecture from a Senior Examiner who gave us advice about revision, how to answer questions correctly and the ‘do’s and don’ts’ during science examination papers.

The topics that we were given an insight on were the moon, the ‘power of ice’, fertility, animals and whether time travel is possible. Some lecturers were well known due to their documentaries aired on the television.  Lectures were given by Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Professors Andrea Sella, Robert Winston, Alice Roberts and Jim Al-Khalili.  The talks included practicals, fascinating videos and interesting presentations.

Overall, the event was an amazing and insightful opportunity we were lucky to have been given.  It developed interest in topics we weren’t entirely familiar with before and it gave us a push in the right direction in terms of our GCSE’s.  A huge thanks to Mr Jones who was kind enough to organise and run such a successful school trip.

Rohan Minhas

 

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Outreach: STEM Workshops (Science & D&T)

On Monday 17th December 2018, fourteen pupils from Chad Vale Primary School and fourteen pupils from Harper Bell SDA School attended KEVI HGS and participated in two interactive STEM workshops, both of which were designed to give them a flavour of what our students do at KS3 and beyond. We also had fifteen pupils from Manor Park Academy and eight pupils from Bleakhouse Junior School attend the STEM works on Monday 14th January 2019. Furthermore, we recently (Tuesday 12th February 2019) hosted fourteen pupils from Sledmere Primary School.

During the Science workshop where they took part in a variety of stimulating practical activities that included looking inside cells using powerful binocular microscopes; using Bunsen burners to carryout flame tests (of select Alkali and Alkali-Earth metals); making sparklers (burn magnesium); safely put their hands through the flame; and understand the chemistry of fireworks. They were also enthralled by the exploding hydrogen balloons; screaming jelly baby; whoosh bottle fire whirl. Furthermore, both staff and pupils took part in flying our new ‘hover-craft’ around the laboratory. They enthusiastically enquired about its mechanisms and the science behind it.

Following a brief break at the canteen, during which they enjoyed drinks and biscuits, they went for a tour round the school and enjoyed seeing our students during break time, and were complimentary about their behaviour. The tour ended with the pupil in the D&T labs, which hosted the Design & Technology workshop. During this workshop, the pupils designed their own custom pen and pencil holder (to take home) at our brand new design studio, using 2D CAD (Computer Aided Design). The laser machine was then used to cut their acrylic designs. Finally, they used the Line bender machine to fold their acrylic design and attach it to a wooden base. The pupils also watched watch our cutting-edge 3D printer in action, making a frog for their teacher to take away; and enjoyed handling the tools and toys previously printed.

Both staff and pupils seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed their KEVI HGS experience and we look forward to, once again, working with the six remaining primary schools who have booked to attend the upcoming STEM workshops.

Mr F. Ahmed & Mr. D. Bansal

 

 

 

 

 

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First Class Honours for Jordan!

Ex HGS student Jordan Foley has gone on to achieve great things since leaving his alma mater. He clearly was destined for the top for whilst at HGS he broke the record for School Merits!

He is currently studying Medicine at The University of Manchester and whilst at Manchester he has achieved the following for which we warmly congratulate him:

  • A First Class Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacology and Physiology in 2018.
  • The Pfizer Prize for 2018 awarded by the School of Biological Sciences for Outstanding Achievement.
  • The R. B. Wild Prize for 2018 awarded by the School of Biological Sciences for being the top student in Pharmacology and Physiology – an Outstanding Achievement Award.
  • The Division of Medical Education, MBChB Programme have awarded him a First in his intercalation degree.

In addition to the above Jordan was invited to Buckingham Palace 2 years ago where he was presented with the Duke Of Edinburgh Gold Award and met the Duke of Edinburgh himself – a wonderful achievement.

Jordan has kindly offered to visit HGS to talk to our current students who are interested in reading Medicine at University – they would do well to follow his example!

  

 

 

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Boardgame Club

Boardgame club has been running since September and has a strong following of students from across KS3 and 4. These are some things students have said about the club:

“Really Fun” Ronak Virani 8H

“Good talking point. Helps you learn new games” Zeshan Aziz 8H

“You get to make fun of someone when they get a rubbish hand and everyone really enjoys it” Arjun Sabherwal 9W

“Its fun and challenging and you need to be strategic” Louis Stevens 9N

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It All Adds Up 2019

On Wednesday 9th January, we had the opportunity to attend Oxford University for It All Adds Up 2019. Our day consisted of a series of talks and workshops held in the Andrew Wilde building. Our first session highlighted the underlying aspect of maths in every profession. Professor Christl Donnelly, an epidemiologist, explained how analytical statistics can prove to be vital when looking at the spread of disease and the probability of it turning into an epidemic – this was concluded through the reproductive value, R, in which a value greater than 1 could start an epidemic.

Additionally, Dr Vicky Neale expressed the difficulty in the seemingly simple topic of prime numbers and how mathematicians, both past and present, are working to advance the knowledge known in this field. We were also presented with a more interactive session of maths in which we were required to do a range of challenging tasks which proved to be extremely intriguing.

Overall, It All Adds Up 2019 was a great event that enabled us to recognise the wider applications of maths and the range of opportunities one could dwell when pursuing maths.

Taslima Ali 12KDR

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University Challenge

We recently had our first ever staff versus students ‘University Challenge’ when a team of four, year 13 students took on the might of the staff team.

The year 13 team was made up of captain Brandon Masih, Olivia McKnight, Abdullah Shaikh, and Daleep Bahra.  The staff team consisted of two former HGS pupils, Ms PingTo and Mr Jawad Hussain, as well as Mr Kevin Organ from the English department and were captained by headteacher Dr Simon Bird.

With questions ranging from geography questions about Japanese islands to Science questions about chemical elements as well as music questions about Puerto Rican music and the Canadian singer Justin Bieber, the quiz tested out contestants’ general knowledge.

After a very closely fought contest, played before a partisan audience supporting the students, the staff team pulled away to gain a 210- 165 victory, and teacher pride was maintained!

Many thanks to all of the contestants, especially the staff, who were such great sports for taking part and providing great entertainment for the audience.

Chris Conway

 

 

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HSBC Project

Year 13 students enjoyed a superb morning working with staff from HSBC on our recent enrichment day.  The HSBC staff, were led by Jeetinder Singh (Franchise and Regional Team Manager for HSBC), and their team worked closely with our students throughout the morning. Pat Johnson (Financial Well Being Consultant at HSBC) spoke to the students about scams which target new university students, who are often vulnerable and naive as they start university. The students were then taken through personal development plans to assist them in their career planning, and finally completed a critical thinking exercise.

Our thanks to Jeetinder and his colleagues for coming into school and work in with our students.