Red Nose Day – 20 March 2026

As ever, HGS will be holding a non-uniform day (optional wear-red theme) in an attempt to raise as much money as possible for Comic Relief.

Donations for the privilege of wearing non-uniform should be made via ParentPay. Any additional donations can be made via the schools donations page.

This Red Nose Day, let’s come together to raise some smiles, and money, to help people through the toughest times of their lives. Thank you to everyone for supporting this great cause.

 

 

The UKMT Team Maths Challenge (TMC) is a competition between nearly 700 schools, each bringing a team of four students to solve a variety of mathematical problems. The regional final of the TMC consists of four rounds:

Group Round
All four students work together on some mathematical problems. Teamwork and time management play a big role in this round.
Crossnumber
Like a crossword, but with numbers! Two students get the across clues and two get the down clues. Strategy and perseverance are put to the test as the aim is to fill in the grid without knowing the other pair’s clues or talking to them.
Shuttle
In pairs, students answer 16 questions. One answer becomes part of the next question for the other pair, so accuracy is crucial here otherwise it can become a wild goose chase.
Relay
In pairs, students answer 30 questions. When a question is answered, students run to their marker for checking and, if correct, they get the next question to hand to the other two students. Speed, both mathematically and physically, play a part in this round.

 

In 2024, HGS won the regional final by scoring 226 out of 236 points. Last year, HGS improved on that by scoring full marks, securing first place in the regional final, and then continued to place joint fourth in the national finals. This year’s team clearly have some big shoes to fill!

 

Out of 80 students who took part in the TMC try-outs this year, Aarush Maniyar (9P2), Sienna Xu (8H1), Abdul Cheema (8B2) and Yusuf Shah (9C1) showed remarkable skill and were selected to represent HGS. On Thursday 12th February, they spent all day competing at Lawnswood School. Once again HGS scored full marks (and finishing the relay round with half the time remaining, I might add), securing first place and an invitation to the national finals in Manchester in June.
The team performed exceptionally well and continued to raise the bar. Congratulations to all four of them! They certainly got the attention of other students and staff at the event. The team are no doubt planning their next steps with the idea of securing a national first place. We wish them the best of luck!

In the Autumn term, 64 players competed in the Tiny Tournament – a knockout tournament played on a tiny 5×5 chess board. Mr Tipler and Yusuf Shah reached the semi-finals but were knocked out by Soham Gaikwad and Dexter Cheetham, respectively. After some dedicated study of 5×5 strategies, Dexter secured overall victory and was awarded a tiny trophy. Congratulations, Dexter!

On Thursday 5 February, HGS travelled over to Westborough High School for our chess clubs to compete against each other. Both teams showed good proficiency in chess, but HGS won the vast majority of games in the first two rapid rounds. Interestingly, in the final blitz round where each player had only 5 minutes on the clock, both teams seemed evenly matched and won roughly the same number of games. Take from that what you will! Well done to Dexter Cheetham, Hamza Ali Ali, Mohammad Bin Gulzar, Vedant Upasani, Mudra Bharade, Pratham Khanna, Aaradhya Rane, Soham Gaikwad, Reyansh Saxena, Muhammed Bhayat, Isaac Wong, Sree Harsha Veerepalli, Ethan Khush Barai and Nirvaan Mahajan – You all represented HGS brilliantly. Some of the HGS players were new to chess competitions, so this was hopefully a nice introduction for them.
A lot of players come to Chess Club sessions to play a few casual games, but there is a growing number of students taking chess more seriously by studying openings and tactics as well as regularly completing puzzles and drills. To support students with their development in chess, Chess Club now has a small collection of books for students to use and there has been some discussion around masterclass sessions. To keep up to date with Chess Club tournaments, events and whatnot, students can join the Microsoft Team page with code zefc3k6.

This significant milestone reflects our commitment to high-quality financial education and preparing students for life beyond the classroom, and follows a rigorous year-long process that began in summer 2024. As part of the accreditation, our school will benefit from a three-year programme including a bursary, expert consultancy, staff training, and access to Young Enterprise’s extensive network and resources. These tools will enable us to embed financial education deeply and sustainably across our curriculum.

Why Financial Education Matters

Financial literacy is more than just numbers—it’s about empowering young people with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to make informed decisions and achieve their goals. In today’s world, where financial choices shape futures, this education is essential for wellbeing and success.

Our vision is clear: to provide high-quality learning opportunities that empower students to become financially healthy adults who make a positive contribution to society.

Our school values of respect, responsibilities and excellence align closely with the framework objectives: Respect for differences in circumstances, choices and decisions; Understanding consumer responsibilities as well as responsible decision making; Excellence in terms of striving for excellent financial health for individuals, communities and the economy.

What This Means for Our Students

Through the Financial Education Planning Framework, endorsed by the Money and Pensions Service, students will explore four key areas:

  • Managing Money: Budgeting, saving, borrowing
  • Becoming a Critical Consumer: Understanding financial products and rights
  • Managing Risks and Emotions: Fraud prevention, financial resilience
  • Understanding Money’s Role in Life: Work, economy, life choices

Learning will be delivered through Mathematics, Business, PSHCE, and applied experiences such as Young Enterprise challenges, guest speakers, and real-world projects. Diversity and inclusion will remain central to our approach, ensuring every student benefits from this vital education.

Looking Ahead

Our three-year accreditation period provides a strategic opportunity to embed financial education across the curriculum and beyond. Throughout this cycle, we will continue to integrate high-quality, applied learning experiences that strengthen students’ financial literacy and prepare them for real-world decision-making.

A huge well done and thank you to Mrs Harker, our Business, Economics & Finance Pathway Leader, who has put lots of hard work and effort into leading this initiative.

We will once again be supporting Children in Need, and this year, we are going BIG.

All students have been challenged with raising £10 each and have come up with some fantastic ideas to raise money including bake sales, staff football matches, and the making and selling of bracelets and key rings etc.  There will also be a variety of events in school including a Pudsey Party, a staff ice bucket challenge and of course a non-uniform day (all students and staff who take part are asked to pay £1.00 for the privilege).

Students are asked to bring cash or donate via the following link. https://app.parentpay.com/ParentPayShop/Foc/Default.aspx?shopid=19003

 

 

On 11th October the HGS Soul Band once again performed at the Marsden Jazz Festival.

This is an international music festival that has been running since 1992, with HGS performing there since 1998. Throughout the whole weekend there were a range of pro-musician concerts, supported by a wide range of free performances all around the town of Marsden.
We performed our set during the Saturday lunchtime slot at the Bandstand in the Park to a large and supportive audience, and even the weather was lovely and sunny for a change! This year our 21 piece ensemble had almost half of the 21 band members new to the band, after the larger than normal annual turn-over of players leaving for university. In fact, we even started with a completely new rhythm section of Matthew Tillotson (drums), Will Thornton (bass) and Mehaan Roy (Guitar). Other newcomers included Sienna Xu and Linus Lightfoot, both in year 8.
We started our set with an energetic performance of ‘Soul Man’, featuring Ben McNally on vocals – his first time performing at the festival.  Also debuting with the band on vocals was y12 student Praise Nduka-Obiora, giving a super performance of ‘In the Midnight Hour’. Lily Stirk, Caitlin Tolan and Isobel Roberts once again sang a range of songs including Jazzman, Spooky and California Dreaming.  We had improvised solos from Lily Dillon, Arthur Dye, Harvey Cole and Helena & Mary Kernick, bringing that wonderful jazz atmosphere to our performance. Well done everyone!

Headteacher, Mr Roberts congratulated ‘an exceptionally talented year group, who had worked incredibly hard during the last 5 years’. He went on to say, ‘we are blessed with very supportive parents and a dedicated staff team who all go the extra mile. With incredible students, we have helped put a northern school on the national map’.

The students in the photo all achieved 9, 10 or 11 GCSEs all at grade 9 and are now studying for their A levels in the school’s sixth form.

We are delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievements of one of our Sixth Form students who recently excelled in two internationally renowned essay competitions: the Trinity College Cambridge Law Essay Competition and the John Locke Institute Essay Prize. Through rigorous research, thoughtful analysis, and a passion for justice, Eesaa explored complex legal questions ranging from universal legal aid to the ethics of punishment. His work placed him among the top entrants globally, earning recognition from leading academic institutions and an invitation to Trinity College, Cambridge.

Eesaa’s story:

“Earlier this year, I participated in two essay competitions the Trinity College Cambridge Law Essay competition in April and the John Locke Institute Essay Prize in June.

For Trinity, the question was, “Should governments provide a publicly funded legal service which is free at the point of access, as many governments provide a free public health service?” I argued that access to justice should be understood as a basic constitutional right, not as a charitable offering. I used the analogy of health care, noting how legal issues can appear very suddenly and again, without professional assistance, can lead to very serious consequences, such as deportation, imprisonment, and homelessness. I interjected cognitive sciences research which shows that legal language is so abstract and technical, only the most legal-trained minds can even attempt to make sense of it alone. This made the case that lawyers are, in a sense, translators of the law, in the same way that physicians are translators of medical knowledge to treatment.

I also wrote about the principle of subsidiarity, and the necessity of proximity of legal assistance to the community. I cited examples of mobile legal clinics in France and examples of student-run legal services in Uruguay as models saving costs in government funded legal services, while also increasing community trust in the legal processes. I then compared various systems abroad, such as Finland’s hybrid model of legal insurance and income tested aid, Brazil’s constitutionally provided public defender service and Canada’s dual national and provincial systems. All of this fed into the conclusion that universal legal aid is achievable, practical, and necessary if we are to have rights that are real rather than theoretical. That essay put me in the top ten percent of entries and I received an invite to Trinity for the prize giving in July.

The day itself was really nice. There were about fifteen of us there, and once we had all received our certificates, we had about twenty minutes of open discussion with the Fellows. We spoke about the ideas brought up in our essays and how different people had dealt with the same question, as well as more broadly about law and Cambridge life. It was relaxed but it was definitely stimulating to hear how other people thought about the same issues from completely different angles. After that we were shown around some of the college gardens and then refreshments were served in one of the halls, including sticky chocolate cake which somehow made it feel even more friendly.

For the John Locke Institute competition, I chose the question “Should the law treat offenders better than they deserve?” In this essay I focused on whether strict retributive theories of justice work in practice. I began by outlining the basic retributive idea that punishment should reflect what a person deserves, then went on to suggest that the idea is more complicated by concepts like moral luck, where something that is out of the control of an individual shapes the choices they made, and the way they /others were judged. I then covered ideas like restorative justice, which is focused on being restorative repairing harm and reintegrating offenders – as opposed to predicting/describing previous actions to see what they ‘deserve’. The concluding thought I came to was that sometimes the law should treat offenders better than they deserve, not to be soft, but to better realize proportionality, rehabilitation, and ultimately a fairer society overall.

That essay was shortlisted – which means I was in the top 18.65% of entries, out of 63,000 of entries from all over the world! The final results of if I received a prize will be released in October, but ultimately just getting shortened given the competitive nature of the field is already rewarding.

Both competitions allowed me to step outside the mainstream A-level syllabus, and to interpret law in a much more independent and creative way. The Trinity essay made me really think about the law as a part of the basic infrastructure of society, and the John Locke essay let me, for a little while, go in search of the big ideas surrounding justice and punishment. The prize giving at Trinity also allowed me to glean a sense of what studying law at Cambridge would be like, which was both motivational and memorable.”

 

Our Sixth Form Open Evening for 2026 entry will take place on Thursday 23 October 2025 between 5pm and 8pm.

Prospective students are invited to attend our Sixth Form Open Evening for September 2026 admissions. The evening will consist of talks from the Headteacher, the Head of Sixth Form, and provide an opportunity to visit departments to find out more about about out A level courses and see our fantastic facilities.

 

At Heckmondwike Grammar School Sixth Form, our main aim is to provide the best possible conditions for teaching and learning so that students can reach their full potential both inside and outside the classroom. It’s a place where students are given the tools and support they need to excel academically and grow into well-rounded individuals, ready to take on whatever challenges life throws their way.
A Proud History of Academic Success
 
At Heckmondwike, academic achievement is at the forefront, and our results speak for themselves. Year after year, our students achieve fantastic A-Level results that exceed the national averages. This year, an amazing 85% of students scored A-Level grades of C or higher, and 80% of those grades were A*, A, or B. Eleven of our students picked up three A* grades, and five of our students bagged an incredible four A* grades!
But what’s even more impressive than the statistics is the environment that helps make this possible. The teachers here are committed to helping students reach their full potential, and our ethos of ‘work hard, play hard’ runs through everything we do. Whether you’re aiming for top grades or just trying to be the best version of yourself, you’ll find all the support you need.
One of the things that really sets Heckmondwike Grammar School Sixth Form apart is the sheer number of students who go on to study at some of the UK’s most prestigious universities. This year, 148 students chose to go onto University, of those, 93% managed to get into their first choice which is a phenomenal achievement. 78% were Russell Group Universities. The school has a track record of sending a higher percentage of students to Oxbridge than the national average, with a unique support system in place for those students wishing to apply for Oxford and Cambridge. As Degree Apprenticeship grow in popularity, we are proud to have supported many students to successfully gain placements at KPMG Finance, Mott Mcdonald, Turner & Townsend, Coke Cola, Airbus Engineering and the Ministry of Defence.
All this is credit to how well-prepared students are when they leave us. Having the confidence needed to pursue their dreams, with the knowledge and skills they need to make those dreams a reality.
The Jo Cox Sixth Form Centre: A Space to Learn and Grow
 
When you walk into the Jo Cox Building, you immediately get a sense of what makes Heckmondwike so special. This modern, purpose-built facility is at the heart of Sixth Form life. Whether you’re looking for a quiet study space, an area to learn with friends or a place to hang out, it’s all there. The design of the building encourages both focused learning and social interaction, our students consistently feedback that studying at HGS Sixth Form is like being part of a supportive and friendly community.
One of the best things about Heckmondwike’s Sixth Form is the flexibility it offers. Most students opt to take three A-Levels, and the school provides a wide variety of subjects, so there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re passionate about the sciences, humanities, or arts, you can tailor your studies to suit your future plans.
We proudly provide our students with access to our Sixth Form Pathway Program. This initiative is a real game-changer because it gives them access to specific career-focused guidance in the following pathways:
  • Oxbridge
  • Medical Sciences
  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
  • Humanities and Arts
  • Business
  • Apprenticeship and Employment.
Through talks, seminars, educational trips, and one-on-one guidance, our students can get the insight and experience they need to pursue their chosen career path.
It’s not all about hitting the books, though. Heckmondwike Grammar School is passionate about enrichment, so you’re encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities. Whether it’s sports, arts, or leadership roles, there’s plenty to dive into outside the classroom. These opportunities allow our students to develop new skills, explore their interests, and make friends along the way.
By the time our students leave, they have an impressive academic record and the kind of personal growth that makes a real difference in the world. The school is as much about building character as it is about achieving top grades, making it a special place.
Our incredible teaching staff and dedicated Sixth Form team really know our students, their happiness and welfare are paramount to successful learning, we believe in this. Whether you’re aiming for a spot at a top university, exploring degree apprenticeships and employment…Heckmondwike will give you the tools to succeed.
It’s a community where you’re encouraged to aim high and reach your full potential wherever your passions lie, we are proud to be part of your unique journey

Please visit the Sixth Form area of our website for more information.