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Order! Order! Visit of Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary

On Friday 12th July, Handsworth Grammar School were fortunate to host a visit with the Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell MP. He spoke about his illustrious career as a Member of Parliament with us. The talk was an insightful experience on the world of politics and current international issues and we really appreciate him for the way he graciously answered our questions with thoughtfulness and clarity.

 

Andrew firstly spoke about his beginnings as an MP. He first entered the cut and thrust world of politics at 24 and he summarised his relationship with politics as having “great highs and great lows.” He expressed his great fondness of politics with his successful “Keep Justice Local” campaign to safeguard the jobs of the now retired Sutton Coldfield Magistrates Court gaining over 5,000 votes in the process!

 

During his enthralling speech, Mitchell spoke about the necessity of social cohesion around the world. He gave heart provoking examples across the globe from the Russo-Ukrainian war to the Darfur conflict as reasons to care and be interested in the world environment. Mitchell preached to us that we as the upcoming generation are the new voice of the world who can either stop the suffering or cause the world to be a dystopia. 

 

Mitchell gracefully requested to the audience to ask any question they desired. He answered questions not just with flair but also with patience making sure no one was left disappointed. He also made sure to discuss with Parliament the relevant issues raised by the well-informed audience. Fellow students were very eager to site their positive reviews, “thanks to Mr Mitchell’s talk I want to become a politician and help my community”.

 

Overall, the talk was an inspiring and enriching experience. It was a tremendous opportunity for us to hear from such an eminent personality who has played a key role in influencing British politics and international relations. His words of wisdom will stay with us long after he has left our school.

 

Ali Afzal 12GDH

 

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Birmingham Music Service Summer Gala Concerts

Our final concert this year involved the majority of our brass students from across all year groups. Each week, these students rehearse with Mrs. Miller in preparation for a concert at the end of each term. For this term, the boys were working on three items to be performed as part of a massed ensemble at Birmingham Symphony Hall. On Thursday 11th July, performers came together for the very first time at 17:00 then performed two hours later. A big thank you to Sebastian, Abdulrahman, Guang, Rayhaan, Sukhmandeep and Johan for all their hard work.

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Code Crackers!

On Friday 28th June, a group of 40 students embarked on a trip to the famous Bletchley Park, the home of famous WWII codebreakers to discover and explore its occupants’ history.

For the first half of the day, we explored the grounds surrounding the mansion house and the museum displaying objects from the Second World War. We watched a short film outlining the crucial work of Alan Turing and William Tutte and looked inside the huts where the codebreakers worked to decode the encrypted messages.

After lunch, we were led by a tour guide around the grounds. We discovered many things, such as the reason why the government chose to use Bletchley Park specifically and heard about the often-overlooked Polish codebreakers, such as Marian Rejewski, who helped to pave the way for codebreaking at Bletchley Park. We also learned about the crucial role the codebreakers played during D-Day and the tour provided us with a new sense of respect for the codebreakers.

Finally, after a quick stop for ice cream in the warm weather, we attended a workshop where we practiced cryptography. We came across the Lorenz code and machine, which were used by Hitler and the more prominent members of the Axis to send messages, as well as the many steps taken to decipher the code, including the building of the first computer at Bletchley Park. We tried to decipher some code ourselves, and even got to see a real Enigma machine!

Overall, we had a fantastic day and would like to thank Mr King, Mr Hawkins, Ms Marriner, and Ms Brown for such an interesting trip.

Darren Lounguedy (9 William)

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Summer Concert 2024

On Thursday 4th July – memorable for more than just the music – we held our final concert of the academic year. 70 students performed to a packed Big School to celebrate the musical achievements of the year. Very early into the programme I was concerned that the concert might not end until mid-night but with shorter items in the second part my worries soon passed.

The concert commenced with the impressive senior guitar ensemble which filled the stage and was led by Mr. Knight. The other ensembles performing were Lower School Woodwind Ensemble, Upper School Woodwind Ensemble, Lower School Choir, KEVI HGS Jazz Ensemble, String Ensemble, Guitar Sextet and KEVI HGS Orchestra. We enjoyed solo performances from Daniel Earle, Abel Shaine, Rajan Dhuphar, Ziona Paulson, Joshua Holdsworth, Alvin Chan, Maximus Rueff, Ritchie Rogers, Teghbir Singh, Enzo Lee, Hrithik Bansal, Jaswanth Panathala Venkata, Nicholas da Silva Xavier Woods, Daniel Alloh Mikael Mahmood, Arjun Dev Bagha, Sebastian Fernando and Amitoj Saggu.

This was the final concert for Daniel Earle and Max Rueff, both of whom have regularly contributed to the musical life of the school since joining us. Max is off to university in September and Daniel heads to Stourbridge for A-levels. On behalf of the department, we wish them well in the next stage of their education.

Thank you to all the staff and students that made this wonderful event happen with relative ease. We look forward to seeing you at our concerts next academic year.

Martin Ward

 

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Morgan Motor Company

On Monday 8th July 2024, year 9 computer science students visited the world-renowned Morgan Motor Company in Malvern, Worcestershire. The trip provided us with a firsthand look at how cutting-edge technology blended with traditional craftsmanship in the automotive industry.

We reached the Motor Company just after 10am and we were greeted by 3 members of staff. We were given a lanyard, with one being gold, and one being blue, to split us up into 2 working groups.

We received earpieces to use in case we visited loud areas of the site. We were all seated and were presented with an inspiring video of the Morgan Motor Company and how the application of technology blends with the intricate craftmanship that goes into each Morgan car produced.

After the video, we followed our tour guides to the industrial side of the site, where we got to see the aluminium framework of their 3 vehicles, the ‘Super 3’, ‘Plus 4’, and ‘Plus 6’. We then made our way to the showroom with a few special vehicles, with one being an elegant, limited-edition vehicle with only 50 being manufactured. We were given a brief overview of each vehicle and made our way to the chassis assembly area.

It was very loud, and we learnt how the workers would assemble the chassis of the vehicles, and how they would test the newly made vehicles to see if they fit to emission standards and can operate correctly. We then learnt how they made the parts of the Morgan’s through compressors and rollers.

We then made our way to a quieter area of the factory, the woodwork area. This area was where they would create the base of the exterior of the vehicle using ash wood due to its flexibility and low moisture content. After leaving the woodwork area, we made our way to the “trim room” where the innovative parts for the interior were handmade, ranging from the seats to the dashboard.

Finally, we were invited into the historical showroom to see many pictures of Morgan Vehicles throughout history. The trip undoubtedly sparked our curiosity into technology and automotive engineering and was an inspiring and enriching experience.

Balraj Nijjar 9 Galahad

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Year 9 Trip to Italy

From 3rd March to 9th March a group of 40 students and 5 staff visited Italy for a two-centred trip organised by the Geography Department.

We met at school very early on the morning of 3rd March and travelled by coach to Heathrow airport for our flight to Rome.  After leaving our bags at the Hotel Archimede we enjoyed a walking tour of the capital city of Rome, where we were able to visit many places including the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We then headed back to the hotel to settle-in before heading out again for our evening meal at a local restaurant.  On the next day, we enjoyed another walking tour, this time including the Colosseum, where we saw where gladiators would have fought in front of an audience of 85,000 people. Shortly afterwards, we went to the Vatican City and saw the famous Sistine Chapel which has the magnificent ceiling designed by the artist Michelangelo, adorned with religious symbolism, and architecture that dates back to the 16th century.  We also visited St. Peter’s Basilica before heading back to our hotel.

On the next day we boarded a coach to travel to the bay of Naples and visited Pompeii on our journey where we were able to clearly see remains of life in 1st Century Italy. We were able to see ancient streets, houses and atriums all of which were preserved by volcanic ash and then uncovered and restored by archaeologists.  We were based at the Hotel Albatross in Sorrento for the next 3 nights.  From here, we visited the Island of Capri.  On our ferry journey there, the choppy water meant that many of our group were sick – our teachers (Mr Thaper, Mr Sanders, Miss Morgan, Mr Campbell and Mr Jones) were kept busy supplying sick bags to us (and some other passengers!)  We then had a boat trip around the island to see gorgeous cliffs, mountains and sea- caves.  On the following day we climbed the infamous Mt. Vesuvius which is famed for destroying the city of Pompeii. The climb was easy but exciting, as throughout we were met with incredible views. We then visited Herculaneum, which was also destroyed during Vesuvius’s eruption in AD79.

For the full duration of the trip, we ate authentic Italian cuisine, which was mouth-watering and flavourful. On our final day, we took part in a gnocchi-making session at a farm and, after taking a tour of the farm whilst our food was cooking, ate what we had made.  It was very tasty!  From here, we headed to Naples Airport for our flight home, after what had been a very enjoyable, educational and tiring week.

Amrit, Amaan and Yazan

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Wellbeing Advice – Jump Back Up July

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Hardwick Hall

Year 10 GCSE History Visit on 19 June 2024

After doing preliminary work and enduring a 90-minute coach ride, we finally arrived at Hardwick Hall. My first impression was that the building was huge and had many windows; in fact, at the time, it was described as having “more glass than wall”. After a brief tour, where we saw luxurious tapestries and antique furniture, we attended a talk about Bess of Hardwick, the first owner of Hardwick Hall- and I must say that the history behind the building is fascinating. Then, we took a tour of the Old Hall, which is now in ruin, and walked around in the gardens. The whole experience showcased the wealth and status of Bess of Hardwick. (Suhban Alam, 10G)

I found the Hardwick Trip very interesting because I had the opportunity to see a house that was roughly 500 years old and was built for Bess of Hardwick. I also found the trip informative because we learnt about the history of Hardwick Hall. It was built for Bess of Hardwick because she wanted to show her wealth and power, which the house symbolised through its location and the letters ‘E’ and ‘S’ (Elizabeth Shrewsbury) that stand on top of the house. (Hamza Bashe, 10A)

The visit to Hardwick Hall was fascinating. The house allowed us to step into the shoes of people living in the 16th century, being able to experience their ideas of fashion and even architecture. We discovered that Hardwick Hall was designed by one of the earliest British architects, Robert Smythson, who implemented Renaissance designs of symmetry into the grand mansion. Also, the owner of the house, Bess of Hardwick, used the house as a show of her incredible wealth, using expensive glass panes formed from smaller pieces of glass and having elaborate patterns of her title ‘ES’ to constantly boast her wealth. The trip will also be useful for our upcoming exams for GCSE History and gets us very close to experiencing what life was like in the 16th century. (George Lin, 10W)

Hardwick Hall was such a wonderful educational experience, we learnt all about Bess of Hardwick and had a talk that was around 15 minutes explaining a lot of things about her life. The tapestries in the house are exceptional and lovely to look at. There are over 40 rooms, and each one is filled with its own unique history. The gardens are peaceful and well maintained, however, the same can’t be said for the Old Hall, which is in ruins, but despite this, it still has an amazing view at the top. Overall, I really enjoyed Hardwick Hall and would say that it was a thought-provoking visit. (Inderveer Singh, 10G)

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‘Big Bang’ Fair

On Thursday 20th June 2024, 30 students from Year 7 went to the ‘Big Bang’ Fair held at the NEC. Students had the opportunity to learn interesting facts during this Science trip. We were able to go around the exhibition hall and get involved with many activities and learn whilst having fun. We watched a show about what careers we could choose in the future, and learn what may suit us through answering a quiz. Alteeb Ahmed said “The trip was interesting and it was fascinating to see all the workshops. I’ve learnt that many careers involve Science.”

Thank you to Mrs Saleem for organising this amazing experience for the students.

Guanghui Li, Year 7

 

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Cyber Explorers Success in Computer Science

Congratulations to Alvin Chan (8 Alfred) pictured below, receiving his Cyber Explorers Champion Certificate for completing all levels and missions on the Cyber Explorers learning platform.

Cyber Explorers is the government’s flagship online learning platform, currently teaching Cyber Security skills to more than 60 000 key stage three students across the UK.

Mr King – Head of Computing was approached by the Cyber Explorers team to discuss how our students find the programme and what factors would motivate them to consider a career in Cyber Security.

Please click here to read the full case study.