HGS will be at the Kirklees Teaching Fair – 19 March 2019

Did you know Heckmondwike Grammar School is a lead school for School Direct? We will be at the Teaching Fair at Huddersfield Town Hall on 19th March and are recruiting for trainees for 2019-2020. Come along and meet Miss Newton for more information.

Find out more about our School Direct scheme here.

Mr Walker, Mr Keenleyside, Mrs Proud, Miss Bannister and Mr Rourke embarked on a ski trip during February half term with 47 pupils from Years 9 and 10, to the Austrian resort of Matrei Kals. The snow and weather conditions were excellent and the group had a fantastic weeks skiing. Many thanks to all the pupils for the way they conducted themselves and to the staff who worked so hard during the week to ensure all the pupils had the best possible experience. Mr Rourke and Mr Keenleyside put huge amounts of time and effort into planning and delivering entertaining evening quizzes, slide shows, videos  and social media posts.

At 8am on Thursday 14th February, also known as Valentine’s Day, 19 business and economics students, along with Mr Basser and Mr & Mrs Roberts, had set off for Manchester airport to begin the long journey to New York.

Within the space of four days, despite the freezing cold, we had visited places all over the city. Naturally, shopping was key  – we toured Macy’s behind-the-scenes, visited Sephora, went to 5th Avenue where Usmaan amused us with endless mispronunciations of designer brands, and many of us (especially Mr Basser) loaded our bags with bargains from Century 21.

At night, we experienced the buzz of Times Square and the breathtaking lights atop the Empire State Building, as well as enjoying all the food New York has to offer. On the topic of food, it would be impossible not to mention the extortionately expensive Michelin Star meal some of us went on for Jaslin’s Birthday.

During the days, we toured Wall Street and the fascinating financial district, explored the forefront of technology at the Microsoft Store, learnt about complex international relations at the UN, visited Grand Central and mastered the New York Subway – which, by the way, makes travelling on the London Tube seem like a first-class Emirates flight. Luckily, as we caught a ferry to see the infamous Statue of Liberty, the sun decided to briefly join us. It was a nice break from the rush of the main city to relax, admire the skyline and explore the history of immigration into New York.

Overall, New York was an amazing experience, and we would like to give special thanks to Mr Basser for organising the trip and getting us there and back in one piece.

Written by Year 13 students Sara Saloo and Danyal Abubaker.

On a proud day in the school’s long, 120-year history, on Wednesday 30 January we were delighted to formally name our new sixth form social and study facilities the ‘Jo Cox Centre,’ in honour of our former Head Girl and MP for Batley & Spen. The emotional occasion connected the school’s past and present, as the current senior committee chatted with old scholars (Jo’s sister and parents among them) and former staff, as well as distinguished guests from across the school and wider community.

In a poignant speech, Jo’s sister, Kim, spoke eloquently about Jo’s personality and connection to the school, as well as the enduring legacy of her moral and political values, which are best encapsulated in the now-famous line that holds pride of place among a series of wall displays in the Centre: ‘we have more in common than that which divides us.’ It is our hope that the Centre that now bears Jo’s name will serve to help promote Jo’s qualities of studious hard work, compassion and humanity for years to come.

We are looking for parents who would be interested in coming into school to take part in our Year 7 Careers programme on 14 May 2019. Each year we have some parents who come into school and spent around 15-20 minutes talking to a Year 7 class of around 30 students about their current careers, their roles and responsibilities, the skills they need and about their career journey more generally. If you would be interested, please could you email Mrs Mistry (Careers & Higher Education Adviser): [email protected] or call 01924 418315 for further details.

Thank you.

This maths competition is being run by the STEM team in Educational Engagement at the University of Leeds. The challenges are aimed at mathematically able and enthusiastic pupils in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 and should be done at home during half term!

If you are interested in taking part, then please email [email protected]  and mark for the attention of Mrs Hepworth; she will then send you the puzzles to solve.

There are prizes available!!!

Tuesday 18 December saw 600+ guests attend Heckmondwike Grammar School’s annual Senior Prize Giving in the grand surroundings of Dewsbury Town Hall. The evening was a very fitting tribute to the outstanding successes of year 11 and 13 students in the record-breaking 2018 examinations.

Throughout the evening the audience were entertained by the fabulous Soul Band who also accompanied talented vocalists singing ‘I Say a Little Prayer’ made famous by the late Aretha Franklin and ‘Seasons of Love’ from the musical ‘Rent’.

The special guest Roger Burnley, who is an old scholar of the school, awarded prizes to the top performing students. Roger has since gone on to become the CEO and President of ASDA and it was a fitting link between outstandingly successful students across different generations. Roger entertained the audience with his tales of life in the school as student in the 1980’s and of the importance of tenacity and resilience in working to achieve our goals in life.

There were many highlights to the evening including Hamish Dee being awarded the Jo Cox – former Head Girl of HGS, memorial award for his services to the community and Basim Kajwal who was presented with the Rex Scolarum award for the highest academic success having achieved 4 A* grades at A level. Basim is now reading Computer Science at the University of Oxford.

Mr Roberts, compere for the evening, concluded the event with hearty congratulations to all the students in the class of 2018 and paid tribute to the outstanding staff who work tirelessly with the students to support them in their achievements.

Our Street Orchard cafe, located in the Jo Cox Centre, is now on Instagram. Follow us at Street_Orchard to see what’s on offer and to find out about our daily deals.

The winning numbers of the Friends of HGS Winter Raffle are listed below. Please collect your prize from Student Services.