Jody Dunn, Author at Heckmondwike Grammar School

We are looking forward to welcoming students to our entrance examination on Monday the 17th of September. If your child is taking the exam, you will by now know the details of the day and what time to arrive and collect your child.

Please do be aware that there will be no car parking either on the school site or indeed on the nearby roads. However, very helpfully, Morrisons supermarket have kindly offered their car park which is located in the centre of Heckmondwike, 10 minutes walk from the school. If travelling by car please do use either the Morrisons car park or one of the other free parking sites in the town as we expect a certain amount of congestion close to the school.

May we take this opportunity to wish your child the best of luck for Monday and we look forward to seeing you at the back of the sports hall entrance to the school.

Please see below copies of our weekly newsletter ‘The Heckler’.

You can email us at [email protected] or use our Contact Us form.

Heckler Newsletter 16.02.22

Heckler Newsletter 09.02.22

Heckler Newsletter 22.07.22

Heckler Newsletter 08.07.22

Heckler Newsletter 01.07.22

Heckler Newsletter 17.06.22

Heckler Newsletter 10.06.22

Heckler Newsletter 27.05.22

Heckler Newsletter 20.05.22

Heckler Newsletter 13.05.22

Heckler Newsletter 06.05.22

Heckler Newsletter 29.04.22

Heckler Newsletter 08.04.22

Heckler Newsletter 04.04.22

Heckler Newsletter 25.03.22

Heckler Newsletter 18.03.22

Heckler Newsletter 11.03.22

Heckler Newsletter 04.03.22

Heckler Newsletter 17.02.22

Heckler Newsletter 04.02.22

Heckler Newsletter 28.01.22

Heckler Newsletter 21.01.22

Heckler Newsletter 14.01.22

Heckler Newsletter 07.01.22

Heckler Newsletter 17.12.21

Heckler Newsletter 03.12.21

Heckler Newsletter 26.11.21

Heckler Newsletter 19.11.21

Heckler Newsletter 12.11.21

Heckler Newsletter 05.11.21

Heckler Newsletter 15.10.21

Heckler Newsletter 07.10.21

Heckler Newsletter 01.10.21

Heckler Newsletter 27.09.21

Heckler Newsletter 20.09.21

Heckler Newsletter 23.07.21

Heckler Newsletter 16.07.21

Heckler Newsletter 09.07.21

Heckler Newsletter 02.07.21

Heckler Newsletter 25.06.21

Heckler Newsletter 18.06.21

Heckler Newsletter 11.06.21

Heckler Newsletter 28.05.21

Heckler Newsletter 21.05.21

Heckler Newsletter 14.05.21

Heckler Newsletter 07.05.21

Heckler Newsletter 30.04.21

Heckler Newsletter 23.04.21

Heckler Newsletter 16.04.21

Heckler Newsletter 26.3.21

Heckler Newsletter 19.3.21

Heckler Newsletter 12.3.21

Heckler Newsletter 05.3.21

Heckler Newsletter 26.2.21

Heckler Newsletter 12.2.21

Heckler Newsletter 05.2.21

Heckler Newsletter 22.01.21

Heckler Newsletter 15.01.21

Heckler Newsletter 08.01.21

Heckler Newsletter 17.12.20

Heckler Newsletter 11.12.20

Heckler Newsletter 04.12.20

Heckler Newsletter 27.11.20

Heckler Newsletter 20.11.20

Heckler Newsletter 13.11.20

Heckler Newsletter 06.11.20

Heckler Newsletter 22.10.20

Heckler Newsletter 16.10.20

Heckler Newsletter 09.10.20

Heckler Newsletter 02.10.20

Heckler Newsletter 25.09.20

Heckler Newsletter 18.09.20

Heckler Newsletter 11.09.20

If you have anything you would like to feature in the Heckler, such as any special achievements your child has been awarded, please do let us know. We would love to hear from you.

Heckler Archives

We are hoping to have an old scholars’ open day on Saturday 13th October 2018 and would like to invite any past pupils and staff to come along with family and friends. It will be an opportunity to catch up with one another, have a tour of the school and look at some of the archive materials. Further details will be announced nearer the time but it would be helpful if you could let us know if you intend to come. This will ensure we have enough tour guides and can cater for everyone.

Please email [email protected] indicating how many people you anticipate will be in your party.

Parents with children who use the 221 Mirfield bus service and are affected by the earlier school finish time of 3.15pm please contact Mr Flynn via email on [email protected]

I would like to bring to your attention the availability of instrumental/voice lessons within the Music department from September. Making music can be an incredibly rewarding activity whether it is personal satisfaction and pride in mastering a new skill, or the thrill of performing in front of friends and family in a major concert venue. As well as learning a specific skill which can remain for life it can also enrich and support many other aspects of learning. The mounting scientific evidence repeatedly confirms that the study of music has measurable and lasting positive effects for health, overall growth and development and social skills as well as academic benefits. Musical training positively affects the following areas:

self-discipline
concentration
problem-solving
learning strategies
builds working habits
creativity
self-confidence & self-esteem
coordination

There are many instruments to choose from and such a wide range of musical styles from different times and places – everyone can enjoy the experience of playing a musical instrument. Music is an important part of many people’s lives and the experience of learning a musical instrument will help develop a deeper understanding and lifelong love of music.

Instrumental/voice lessons are timetabled within the school day on a rotational basis. We have the following visiting peripatetic teachers and lessons available:

• Singing – Mr Hall – All styles (male/female)
• Guitar – Mr Shaw – Classical, Acoustic or Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar
• Woodwind – Mr Russell – Flute, Clarinet, Saxophones
• Brass – Mr Marchesi – Trumpet, Cornet, Horn, Trombone (Tuba on request)
• Percussion – Miss Rosborough – Drum Kit and all Tuned Percussion
• Strings – Mrs Preece – Violin, Viola, Cello
• Recorder – Mrs Preece – All levels
• Piano – Mr Hall or Mrs Preece – Piano or keyboards

We have a strong extra-curricular programme in music at Heckmondwike for all our students to participate in. Ensembles include:

Concert Band (for instrumentalists of approximately grade 2 and above)
Junior Band (for beginner and junior instrumentalists)
Senior Choir (open to all students in years 9-13)
Junior Choir (open to all students in years 7-8)
String Group (for all string players of all abilities)
Guitar Group (for all guitarists, as directed by our guitar teacher)
Soul Band (by invitation or audition)

In recent years our bands and choirs have toured Florida and Paris as well as frequent visits to London. All groups are regularly featured in performances both in school and out, including festival performances such as Music for Youth and the Marsden Jazz Festival. Our house music competition provides a showcase for musicians of all abilities.

There are also numerous drama groups and productions taking place, including our annual full school production (last year was ‘We Will Rock’), and some of these will specifically involve our musicians. If you are interested in your child having lessons in school please complete an application form and return it to the business office as soon as possible to guarantee allocation of a place.

NB – Current pupils who received lessons last year and wish to continue with them also need to complete and submit a new form to ensure lessons continue in September. Payment must be made each term before lessons are timetabled.

If you wish to under take music lessons please complete the form and hand it in to Mr Cole.

Music Lesson Request Form ()

****CAR BOOT SALE at HECKMONDWIKE GRAMMAR SCHOOL****

The Friends of HGS have organised a car boot sale to take place at the school on Sunday 9th September. The event will be held on the school MUGA car park (beside the tennis courts). For more information and to book a pitch, please click here

Students are once again to be congratulated for their outstanding successes at GCSE. As well as some overall excellent results for the school, with all of our Year 11 students securing at least five good GCSE grades, there were also 72% of our students who achieved five or more 9-7 or A*/A grades. In addition 52% of students secured an impressive eight or more 9-7 or A*/A grades. Our headline figure of 9-7 or A*/A grades is 61%, which is very pleasing.

In addition to these successes, there are also some exceptional individual stories: Jennifer Hoang, Qasim Noor and Jenny Zhang each achieved an amazing eleven GCSEs at grade 9 or A with Saffron Bond, Naomi Jones, Aaisha Kara, Isabella Mencattelli, Ethan Roy and Adhithya Saravanan all achieving eleven GCSEs at grade 8, 9 or A*.

Gaining ten GCSEs at grade 8, 9 or A* were Oscar Birch, Noor Fatima, Louis Gent-Larroche, Zoya Gul, May Hussain, Basma Khan, Hashim Khan, Zafeerah Ravat, Zohra Sakharkar and Arnav Singh.

These excellent results do not just happen automatically. They are evidence of the exceptional commitment and determination of Heckmondwike’s students who received outstanding support from the dedicated staff and hugely supportive parents.

Congratulations to one and all.

Some impressive overall statistics include:

55 students with ten or more 9-7 and A*/A grades
84 students with eight or more 9-7 and A*/A grades
117 students with five or more 9-7 and A*/A grades

Congratulations to all our students on achieving outstanding A level results again this year. As always the profile of our grades shows a very strong bias towards the upper range of grades. Excluding general studies, 76% of results were at grade C or better.

There were 243 A and A* grades altogether, including thirty-eight students that achieved three or more grade A* or A passes while eight students achieved a remarkable four or more A* or A grades. Extra special mentions go to Nitish Bala, Alim Kapdi and Basim Khajwal, all of whom achieved an incredible four A* grades, and also to Matthew Bullock, Lucy Chen, Kate Lee, Francesca Mencattelli and Jamie Stirling, all of whom gained three A* grades each.

These superb results reflect the hard work and dedication of our students and staff, and will enable the students to take their next steps with confidence. The outcomes in terms of students being placed at universities of their choice are exceptionally good this year.

A-Level Results are published on Thursday 16th August 2018. Year 13 students remember Track will update at 08:00am. Clearing support will be available from 08:00 (results available from 09:00). In the meantime, familiarise yourself with this helpful Ucas Guide. Students can collect their results from the Sports Hall, accessed via Main Reception from 9:00am.

Good Luck everyone!

Following the Year 10 Exam Ready Evening on 10th July, please see below the booklet and presentation available to download.

Parking for Entrance Exam – Monday 17th September