In a hugely exciting and competitive game on Wednesday at KE Aston, the KS4 team triumphed by 48-47 over our local rivals.
The game was played in a great spirit by both teams and highlighted some excellent attacking play. Amar Rupra made a particular contribution with five successful 3 point shots in the third quarter, which ultimately proved the difference between the teams. However, there were also important scores from Kijani Sullivan and Camara Talburt.
We are delighted that Amritpal Kullar has been offered a place to read History at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge University this September. This is a wonderful achievement and we wish him all the best.
Football
The Year 11 Football team lost in the semi-finals of the recent West Bromwich Albion tournament on sudden death penalties. The team had been winning 1-0 until the last few seconds when the equalizer was scored. They played really well and deserved to be in the Final. Mr Griffiths was very proud of them – well done.
Table Tennis
Both the Under 16 and Under 14 teams beat Holt in their recent Table Tennis fixtures. The Under 16’s won 7-2 and the Under14’s won 6-3.
Badminton
Both the Under 16 and Under 14 teams beat Nishkam in their recent Badminton fixtures. Both teams won 5-1. A special mention goes to Hridik Pandey (7W) who secured two wins for the team against his opposition two years his senior. We wish them well in the remainder of their matches as they pursue the league title.
Congratulations to all involved.
We are delighted that Rahul Patel has been offered a place to study Natural Sciences at Selwyn College, Cambridge University starting this September. This is a wonderful achievement and we wish Rahul all the very best.
Mark Rowley who is the National Lead for Counter-Terrorism Policing, and the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police visited school on 12th January, for the first time in over thirty years. Mark was a pupil at the school between 1976 and 1983, before going off to study at the University of Cambridge.
He returned to the West Midlands in 1987 where he began a very successful police career, which has involved uniformed policing and detective work. He rose to become the Chief Constable of the Surrey Force before his present role and is now the country’s second most senior Police officer.
Mark spoke to our year 12 students about his memories of the school and about his career, including some of the very serious cases on which he has worked. He also encouraged them to think carefully about their career choices and hoped that they would all find careers which are as enjoyable and fulfilling as his has been.
Mr Conway
The certificates for exams sat in Summer 2017 are now available for collection from the front office.
The deadline for Summer 2018 resits is Thursday 15th February at 4pm. The forms and costs are available from the front office.
On Monday 18th December, a group of year 9 students visited RAF Cosford in Shropshire, to hear about the history of the Royal Air Force and World War One and Two. We were taken around the site by two kind guides Suzie and Lilly, who gave us interesting facts regarding various aircraft that took flight in the First and Second World Wars, such as the Comet 1xB and the Bristol Sycamore HR14. There were also activities prepared for us, like identifying the artefacts, missiles and trenches, where we had the opportunity to try on clothing from the First and Second World Wars, such as gas masks and clothing the pilots would have worn in the cockpits of their fighter or bomber aircraft. Ultimately, this was a fantastic experience for us all. (Rajan Aulakh, 9G)
At RAF Cosford the first part of the schedule was fun ‘n’ flight where we got to try out lots of scientific activities about aircraft. There was also a war aircraft we could enter and experience what life was really like for the pilots. This part was very interesting. We also got to look at different uniforms the pilots would wear and extra things like goggles and gloves. Then we headed for a new modern building which contained lots of jets from the Cold War and other equipment related warfare. There were mini films we could watch. It was very factual and we got to learn more on some recent wars and more about the Cold War. During the afternoon, we went into a classroom where we got to learn about World War II. We learnt about the shelters and actually went inside one, which was very dark! We examined what life was like for the people living back then. The trip itself was very interesting and we have a lot of new information to take into our lessons. (Ajay Mann, 9W)
King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys donated over 9,000 items of food to Reverend Roger Collins from the Trussell Trust Foodbank. This donation was made possible by the hard work of Ms Elaine Brown and her form and the wider generosity of the HGS Community.
Please see the certificate below:
The Ski Trip, which was to France this year, took place between 8th and 15th December. 33 students, including one Sixth-Former, were accompanied by 4 staff. The original plan to leave at 4.30pm was changed due to the forecast of heavy snow in Birmingham and so we left earlier than expected. This turned out to be a good thing as we arrived early giving us time to unpack at leisure and enjoy the beautiful scenery that Les Deux Alpes provided. During the coach journey we mainly chatted and entertained ourselves by playing cards, listening to music and watching videos. Along the way we stopped at a few service stations to give the drivers a break and us the opportunity to buy something to eat.
Our base for the week was Chalet d’Aka, which some felt was a little basic but staying there enabled us to ski at one of the top 5 resorts in France for a reasonable price. During the week the weather gradually improved as there was less snow and rain falling during the day; visibility levels weren’t brilliant at the start of the week but we had a couple a great weather days later on.
In order to prepare us for our first day of skiing we walked down to the ski hire shop and sorted out our skis, boots, poles and helmets. The first day of skiing proved a challenge as we had to carry our skis to the lift rather than getting the bus. There were three instructors, Matteau, Yves and Yvelin. We were taught various techniques that can be used whilst skiing such as the snowplough, used to control speed and help you turn at the same time. Another technique was the side slip; this can be used to help you descend steeper slopes at a controlled speed with your skis parallel to each other.
There are always crashes and falls and, on this trip, there were a fair few! Even the most experienced skiers crash and, in my group, this mainly happened when we went over bumps at high speeds. As we approached one bump, we were going fast after descending a steep slope. Our instructor led us over the ramp; most landed in control but Kylan fell, bringing me and then Elias down too. Amar came to help us up but then fell over one of Elias’s skis, forcing Amar into very deep snow and hence claiming a fourth victim. Jagjeet also gained a reputation for crashes, claiming Dillon and Elias as innocent victims during two of them!
Usually, we headed back to the hotel for a hot lunch but, on a couple of days, we dined at a mountain restaurant which provided ginormous servings of food. It was certainly filling and ideal to re-fuel your body’s energy supply for the afternoon’s skiing.
The après ski activities were extremely entertaining; we had a quiz night, a bowling night and a pizza night. For the quiz we were split into teams of about five and when the scores came in the results were very close. The winners by one point were a team called ‘Megamind Approved’, consisting of Param, Dhiren, Shivam, Jarnail and Amar. For bowling there were five lanes and there was one winner from each lane. The winners were Amar, Abdul, Nico, Josh and Kylan. Bowling was fun to watch, especially with Jarnail doing trick shots and getting a ‘no-look’ spare! Before our pizza night at a local pizzeria, we had time to explore the town and spend a few euros in the souvenir shops and crêperies.
On our last day of skiing we were on a tight schedule as we had a full day’s skiing and then had to return our equipment, shower and change, finish our packing and eat our evening meal before departure. One group were a little late as there had been some technical difficulties on a chair lift (an electrical fault) and they were stuck on it for over half an hour in blizzard conditions! When we’d all arrived at our hotel, our instructors presented us with booklets according to the skiing level we’d reached.
Finally, we left Chalet d’Aka and, although it was nice to be heading home, it was also sad that we wouldn’t be skiing the next day. We loaded the coach and set off, quickly realising that we left Mr Griffiths behind and running after the coach! We slept for a lot of the way back but enjoyed a full breakfast on the ferry before arriving back at school at just after 2pm.
The trip was extremely enjoyable, physically demanding and educational, particularly for the first time skiers. Although certain things didn’t always run as expected or anticipated, we had a laugh and even managed to improve our French. Let’s hope that future ski trips are just as entertaining and rewarding!
Rohan Nath, Year 10
