HGS Alumni – Careers Stories
The HGS Careers Team are seeking volunteers from the school’s alumni community to share their career stories. If you would like to be involved in the “I went to HGS and now I am…” poster campaign, please complete the MS Form below or email [email protected]
Welcome to Heckmondwike Grammar School’s Virtual Christmas Concert 2020.
We hope you enjoy these varied performances. It’s been a difficult time for music making, but we are determined to show some of the many talents at HGS – and Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some music!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from The HGS Music Department!
At Heckmondwike Grammar School we are delighted with our 2020 exam results and being ranked one of the top schools in the North of England. At GCSE, the government’s progress 8 score showed that on average, in all subjects, students ‘overachieved’ by at least half a grade compared to what was expected of them given their starting points. All of our Year 11 students secured at least five good GCSE grades and 79% of our students achieved five or more GCSEs graded 9-7. In addition, 58% of our Year 11 students secured an impressive eight or more graded 9-7.
At A level, we had similarly impressive results with 78% at grade C or better and 72% of these grades were either A*, A or B. We had over 40 students achieving all grades at A*/A with high proportions of students going on to high calibre Russel Group universities including Oxford and Cambridge.
As a result of the closure of schools, we have extended the deadline for applications to the Sixth form until Friday 12th February 2021. In completing your application, please put the most recent assessment results you have available down. We are aware that some schools had further assessments planned for this half term and will take this into account when considering applications.
The HWGS North Leeds Parents Group has donated an amazing £525.00 to the school, raised by holding an online trivia night on 31st October. The event was the groups first attempt to organise such an event and the feedback has been fantastic. The HWSG group children played a huge part in organising the event and displayed coordination, enthusiasm and focus throughout.
There were some fantastic prizes up for grabs, and the five lucky winners were as follows:
1st Prize – 5 class pass from Yoga Kula – Ira Garg
2nd Prize – Pizza express voucher for 2 main courses – Ananya Chinchalkar
3rd Prize – £20 voucher from Pizza Hut delivery – Siddhartha Mondal
4th Prize – £20 voucher from Singhs – Ryan Dawe
5th Prize – Luxury hair treatment from HQ Hair – Ameya Shenoy
We would like to say a huge thank you to the group for their efforts and amazing donation to the school.
Normally, with an advent calendar, you open a little door each day and get something. With a reverse advent calendar, you put something in, rather than taking something out.
Every day from November 16th 2020, we will be collecting items for a local food bank, ready to donate before we break up for Christmas. This means the food bank will have time to make up food parcels and distribute the contents before Christmas.
Why take part?
In the UK, more than 12 million people are living in poverty, of whom 4.5 million are children. It was bad enough before. This year will be even worse. Many people have seen their jobs or self-employed earnings wiped out by Covid-19. Others have seen their income cut while on furlough. Overall, a third of families have lost income because of coronavirus.
As a result, rising demand for food banks has rocketed. More than half the people using foodbanks at the start of the pandemic had never needed one before. This winter, demand for food banks is predicted to be 61% higher than record figures last year. An extra 670,000 more people in the UK are at risk of being pushed into destitution this winter, unable to afford the basics in life.
No-one should go hungry, least of all at Christmas. By taking part we can help people in our local community, encourage our students to think of others and raise awareness of food poverty.
How are we collecting?
If every student brought in one item from 16th November, we would have over 1000 items to donate to a local foodbank. If at all possible, please encourage your son/daughter to bring items into school which can then be stored in their form rooms or reception and will be donated to a local food bank before we break up. Students can bring as many items as they wish between 16th November and 16th December 2020.
What should we bring/donate?
A typical food parcel includes:
- Cereal
- Soup
- Pasta
- Rice
- Tinned tomatoes/ pasta sauce
- Lentils, beans and pulses
- Tinned meat
- Alongside the standard food parcel, food banks try to provide other essential non-food items to adults and children in crisis. The list below sets out what food banks generally need the most:
Toiletries – deodorant, toilet paper, shower gel, shaving gel, shampoo, soap,
toothbrushes, tooth paste, hand wipes - Household items – laundry liquid detergent, laundry powder, washing up liquid
- Feminine products – sanitary towels and tampons
- Baby supplies – nappies, baby wipes and baby food
- Face masks and hand sanitiser!
Thank you for your support!
Mr Tipler, Deputy Headteacher, ran from his home in Holmfirth to Heckmondwike on the morning of Friday 13 November 2020 to raise money for Children in Need. He set off on the 15 mile route at around 6.45am and arrived at school 2 hours, 2 minutes and 19 seconds later, where staff and students were waiting to cheer him in.
Staff and students were given the opportunity to predict his run time, with the person guessing the closest to his actual time winning a giant Pudsey Bear. Well done to Year 7 student Lewis Monaghan for his prediction which was just 11 seconds out.
Here’s what Mr Tipler had to say:
I started running seriously about 3 years ago after I realised middle age had very much crept up on me, and sadly set-in and I had to do something about it. I am a person who needs goals and challenges, and so for my New Year resolutions for 2019 I pledged to complete a 100-day run streak which meant I had to run at least 1 mile every day for 100 continuous days. Here I am still going on Friday 13th November 2020; which is Run Streak Day 683 and having just completed the 15 miles from my home just outside Holmfirth to school in a little over 2hours, in support of Children In Need. As a Senior Leadership Team, we came up with numerous ideas to fundraise this year, but the traditional ‘Sponge the Headteacher’ was not met with its usual enthusiasm (something to do with social distancing, apparently) so I volunteered to run in. Because of these unprecedented times, there has been no formal challenges and races I have been able to partake in over the last few months, so this was perfect for me to focus on and raise money. The weather was horrendous as I set put and within about 15 seconds I was wet though and cold, the but I was kept in buoyant mood by the numerous beeps and waves from drivers and passers-by as I passed through Huddersfield and out along the A62. As I arrived at school and onto the MUGA I was greeted by Y9 & Y10 who cheered me on in the last 50 yards towards the finish line. It was a humbling experience, and I cannot begin to describe the emotions I had as I ‘broke the tape’. As I sit here writing this with tired legs, consuming vast amounts of flapjack, I have a strange warm glow inside, the kind you get when you know you have set your mind to a task and achieved it; the same feeling I am sure our wonderful students experience as they complete their work, ticking off tasks, gaining knowledge and making fabulous progress. I’d like to thank everyone for all their support, encouragement and of course, donations – you’re amazing!
His efforts, along with a non-uniform day and participation in the annual Duck Race Sweepstake has raised an amazing £1,659.39 (and still counting) for the charity.
Good news…Music is back! Things have been a little different in Music since returning to school. Social distancing and year group bubbles have meant we haven’t been able to run a lot of our extra-curricular like we would want to. However, we have been doing our best to keep lessons as fun and practical as we possibly can!
We asked our A Level Music groups to put some performances together, simply to spread some positivity around school for students, staff and parents. Please take a listen, we hope you enjoy!
We are currently putting together some Christmas ideas that we will hopefully be able to share with everyone at the end of term!
As usual, HGS will be taking part in several events in an attempt to raise as much money as possible for this fantastic cause.
What’s happening?
- Non uniform day – Donate £1 to come to school in non-uniform
- Holmfirth to Heckmondwike – Pay £1 to guess the time it will take Mr Tipler, Deputy Headteacher, to run from his home in Holmfirth to school (roughly 14 miles) on the morning of Friday 13 November. The winner will receive a giant Pudsey Bear.
- Duck Race – Sixth Form students and staff are invited to take part in the annual Duck Rase sweepstake. All monies will be donated, however, the winners will receive a prize.
Donations can be made in school or via Parent Pay.
Thank you to everyone for supporting this great cause.
