The Ski Trip, which was to France this year, took place between 8^th and 15^th 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

Click here to view more photos in the gallery.

Congratulations to the Key Stage 4 Badminton Team who were victorious in their first league game of the season. The team put in some excellent team and individual performances to beat King Edward Aston 5-1. The team hope to continue this success in their remaining league games in the New Year.

The Department for Education have recently published the performance data for Secondary schools across the UK. This data demonstrates the amount of Progress achieved across all subject and groups within a school. Please click on the link below to view the Progress data for HGS.

2017 Progress Data

The UCL Institute of Education published the results of a study last week that again demonstrated the benefits of reading for pleasure for young people. The longitudinal study using data from eleven thousand, fourteen year olds found that those who read for pleasure most days understood twenty-six per cent more words than those who did not. The results may not surprise, but the impact of such a difference is significant. If a teenager cannot access twenty-six per cent of the words in a piece of text that they are required to read for their academic work it is likely that they won’t be able to understand its full meaning. Meanwhile, those who can understand the text have no such barriers to their academic progress and it is therefore likely that the gap in achievement will widen over time. To read more about this study on the UCL website please click here.

Thursday 30^th November 2017 saw the official opening of the Professor Joe Biddlestone DT Laboratories by Patrick Burns, Chair of the King Edward VI Foundation. It was a wonderful occasion and was enjoyed by all.

Head of DT, Ms Bullock spoke first and highlighted the developments that the DT team have made over the last couple of years such as the introduction of GCSE and A Level Product Design as well as collaboration with King Edward VI Aston School and DATA (Design and Technology Association). Most recently the team won a national competition (The Ripple Effect) sponsored by Misco, HP and Intel which saw them be awarded a HP STEM and Creative Learning Studio worth over £20, 000.

Headmaster, Simon Bird then spoke about the work that had been put into creating the fabulous new facilities and how it had been a fantastic team effort. He thanked the DT department for their energy and creativity, the IT team for their excellent advice and support and the Bursar for driving the project forward. He then thanked the various companies and contractors who had been involved in the project:

Martin Evans Construction

Severn Group

Hobarts

Zioxi

Lee Stimson Painting and Decorating Services

HP

PCM

Dr Bird went on to emphasise that these new facilities are designed and created to enhance our students’ learning experience and to ensure that we remain at the cutting edge of both design and technology. This was emphasised by the fact that KEVI HGS is now a Hobarts Centre of Excellence School. The development of our students and staff is at the heart of all we do. He then went on to dedicate the Laboratories to Professor Joe Biddlestone who has been a Governor for some 30 years as well as a Charity Trustee. It is apt that they are named in honour of him as he has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham as well as giving so much to KEVI HGS in wise, erudite and effective leadership. We are truly grateful for all that Professor Biddlestone has done for our school and the evening and presentation was a way of marking our thanks. By way of response Professor Biddlestone thanked everyone for the evening and his presents adding that he had thoroughly enjoyed his time as a Governor and was delighted to have played such a positive part in the developments of the school over the past 5 years or so.

Mr Burns then officially opened the Laboratories and said how delighted he was to see such an investment in teaching and learning, the collaboration across the 3 King Edward VI Grammar Schools in the north of the city and he took the opportunity with his Chair of the KEVI Foundation hat on to welcome KEVI HGS to the Foundation and Academy Trust – even though he is an Aston old boy!

The evening closed with viewings and hands on demonstrations of the facilities and equipment followed by refreshments in the Sixth Form Centre.