Get involved -125 years of Heckmondwike Grammar School
On the 17th January 1898 Heckmondwike Grammar School was established. This means that 2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the school. A group of teachers in the school – Mrs
Currie, Mrs Whitelaw, Mrs Doran, Mr Currie, Miss Briggs and Mr Oxby, together with some of our Sixth form students – George Hall, Rowan Lightfoot, Charlotte Alcock, Martha Currie, Freya Thornton and Nancy Roberts, are all working on a project to commemorate this anniversary. The group is being ably assisted by Mrs Dunn and we would like to thank her for her organisational skills!
We are focusing on many aspects of school life, including the history of the school’s founding, key individuals linked to the school, the changing buildings, student life, and house system and putting the school’s history in the context of the changing political, social and economic situation over the 125 years. George Hall in particular, should be singled out for his relentless work on this project. A keen local historian and genealogist, George has thrown himself into this task with enthusiasm. One of his tasks was to transcribe a handwritten history of the school, completed in 1948, on the schools 50th anniversary. The following paragraph is from the concluding comments: “In conclusion, this fiftieth year of the school has seen another great struggle in the effort to
preserve the type of education for which it has stood for half a century. It is satisfying to hear that victory has been won & Heckmondwike Grammar School will continue”.
We would like to encourage any former students, parents and staff to get involved. Please let us know your Heckmondwike Grammar School related stories. We are planning an exhibition in the
new year to coincide with the anniversary, where hopefully we will be able to invite people into the school. Please get in touch if you would like to be involved or have something to contribute:
[email protected] or [email protected].
In the meantime, please follow us on Twitter, where we have a dedicated page: @Heckgrammar125
We have two vacancies for the role of parent governor on our governing board. For more information and details of how to apply, please follow the link below:
Parent Governor Vacancies Letter
The HGS Eco-Committee has earned an international accreditation, recognising their amazing work in making our school more environmentally friendly and raising eco-awareness in fellow students.
Eco-Schools is an international education programme that prompts young people to explore sustainability and climate change and take action.
The Eco-Committee conducted an environmental review, assessing how eco-friendly our school is. They reviewed everything from the school’s recycling practices, to energy usage, to how environmental themes are covered in classrooms. Building on their findings, the committee planned a year of activities that would up their green-credentials.
Over the last 12 months the group has ran uniform drives, book swaps, food collections, planted trees, litter picking, held talks and led assemblies. All of this put together led them to achieving the
Green Flag Award with Distinction.
A member of the group said ‘What has been most important has been raising the awareness of how everyone can act more ecologically in their daily lives, in and out of school. While completing this award we have tried our hardest to help the local community along the way, with the food drives and litter picks. Hopefully, improving all of our Global Citizenship.
Eco-Schools England Manager, Adam Flint, said: “Earning an Eco-Schools Green Flag Award takes passion, commitment and a desire to make a difference. Pupils should be proud of their great work. They’re an inspiration and it makes us feel heartened and positive about the future of our planet.”
To learn more about Eco-Schools head to www.eco-schools.org.uk
Friday 18 November 2022 Children in Need Donation Page
HGS will once again be supporting Children in Need. This will be a non-uniform day with a ‘wear spots’ theme. 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 link below
Heckmondwike Grammar School will be holding the annual Sixth Form Open Evening on the 20 October 2022. With welcome talks starting from 6:00pm, prospective students and their parents are invited to meet the staff team, explore the School and visit the Jo Cox Sixth Form Centre.
Celebrating its 125 anniversary this year, the school has evolved considerably since it was first established in 1898, however, the reputation for educational excellence and academic success remains at the forefront of the school’s culture and ethos. Our values of Respect, Responsibility and Excellence permeate through all aspects of school life, and enable students to make maximum academic progress whilst developing the skills and personal attributes needed to lead successful and fulfilling lives
As an 11-18 school, we feel we have a distinct advantage over exclusive post 16 providers in that we are experts in supporting students make the transition from GCSE to A Level study. We know how students work aged 16 and the support they need to become successful A Level students. As such, we have a carefully structured program to enable them to develop the skills and resilience needed to meet the challenge of A Levels. As a highly academic Sixth Form, we offer students the opportunity to study a wide variety of A Level qualifications, all taught by our subject specialist teachers to the highest possible standard. With hard work and determination, many of our students progress onto further study at university, with more than double the national average for state schools progressing to Oxford and Cambridge, and 2 in 5 students taking places at Russell Group universities.
Whilst many of our students will choose to progress onto further study at university, our dedicated careers team and progression programme will provide the support and guidance needed for success in any chosen pathway. For
Sixth form life at Heckmondwike Grammar School is about far more than academic progress. Our dedicated Sixth Form Team and Student Welfare Officer provide bespoke support for students when they need it, both academic and pastoral, meaning that no student is left behind. We also provide students with access to a wide variety of extracurricular activities and comprehensive enrichment programme, enabling all students to develop new skills, pursue interests and generally have lots of fun!
Heckmondwike Grammar School is a rich and vibrant school community and our Sixth Form is deeply embedded in all aspects of school life. This provides our Sixth Form students with a wide range of leadership opportunities and experiences, from running sports clubs and societies through to involvement in the Senior Committee and prefect system.
Overall, our Sixth Form provides a truly unique experience that combines academic excellence with high levels of support to ensure that every student reaches their maximum potential.
Enrolment for Heckmondwike Grammar School is highly competitive and it is highly recommended that interested parents and students should attend the open evening on the 20 October.
Please visit the Sixth Form area of our website for more information.
WHEELWRIGHT OLD BOYS WAR MEMORIAL FUND
The fund is available to support the education of students under the age of 25 years who are, or whose parents are, resident in the former County Borough of Dewsbury.
In short, any students that live within the WF12 and WF13 postcodes could be entitled to money.
The trustees can make grants:
- For outfits, clothing, tools instruments or books.
- To facilitate travel in furtherance of courses (but not travel expenses to and from home).
To apply, please complete the Application Form, and return to the below address by Monday 31st October 2022.
Mr M G Parkinson – The Clerk, Wheelwright Old Boys War Memorial Fund, 6 Rectory View, Thornhill, Dewsbury, WF12 0NN.
Applications must be made in writing by post in the attached form. Applications by e-mail will not be accepted or considered. Where possible, please attach official purchase receipts as once a grant has been approved in principle the trustees will require proof of expenditure prior to release.
The trustees are next due to meet in the second or third week of November. Applicants will receive written confirmation of the outcome of their application by the end of November.
Congratulations to all our students on achieving outstanding GCSE results again this year.
Students are once again to be congratulated for their outstanding successes at GCSE. 83% of grades were awarded at grade 7 or above, and of these over one third were grade 9.
As well as some overall excellent results for the school, with 98% of our Year 11 students securing at least five good GCSE grades, there were also 90% of our students who achieved five or more GCSEs at grade 9-7. In addition, 77% of our Year 11 students secured an impressive eight or more GCSEs at grade 9-7.
There are also some exceptional individual stories. Well done to Zakiyyah Asmal, Ayush Gautam, Archie Hall, Gracie Kitching, Isabella Lister-Smith, Eoin Morris, Disha Suleman, Divya Vijayanand, Sahasra Vundavalli and Beth Waterfield who all achieved an incredible ten GCSEs at grade 9; as well as Louis Appleyard, Amaan Aslam, Christopher Drake, Mayon Gupta, Elliot Hoyland, Chinwendu Mere, William Parker, Hiba Shahzad, Harshita Tibrewal and Samuel Walshaw who all achieved an impressive nine GCSEs at grade 9.
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.
Some impressive overall statistics include:
742 grades awarded were grade 9.
108 students with ten or more 9-7 grades
157 students with eight or more 9-7 grades
183 students with five or more 9-7 grades
Congratulations and well done to you all.
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. 82% of the A Level results were at grade C or better and 80% of these grades were either A*, A or B.
There were 313 A* and A grades altogether, including 58 students that achieved 3 or more grade A* or A passes. Extra special mentions go to Reuben Price who achieved 5 A* grades in his A Levels and Daniel Damo and Maisy Nichols who achieved 4 A* grades. Further congratulations go to Alina Abbas, Minahil Afzal, Amber Akhtar, Katie Carter, Olivia Germaine, Sama Gorja, Eden Haycock, Umm Kulthoom Kara, Isra Khan, Sophia Mencattelli, Aaliyah Rumana and Caitlin Tansey, who achieved an incredible A* grade in all of their A Levels.
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 and high calibre apprenticeships of their choice are exceptionally good this year.
Congratulations and well done to you all.
Check out this Self Care Summer Pack from Anna Freud, to help they have listed some activity suggestions – give them a try and see what works for you.
As part of our long term strategy of fully equipping our students for the world of work, we are adding to our current provision next year, by implementing a work experience program for year 10 and year 12 students. I am sure we all agree that experience of the workplace can be hugely beneficial to young adults, as they start to develop their ideas for future careers.
Similarly, for the high calibre professions our students are typically aiming for, the application process for university and direct employment has become ever more competitive and so being able to discuss what they learned and experienced on such placements will stand them in good stead.
As I’m sure you can imagine the logistics of a few hundred students finding placements is quite significant, so we are starting the process now, in advance of the planned dates in the Summer term of 2023. We are reaching out to all our parents and carers now to ask if you, the company you work for, or perhaps a friend or family member, would be interested in hosting a student. We firmly believe that all work experience is good experience, so we are looking for a full range of placements, at all levels and in both the public and private sectors.
We would be very grateful if you would complete the enclosed Work Related Learning form, at this stage as an expression of interest, so that we can start to put plans together. On this form there is also a section to ask if you would be interested in speaking to students about your career or the business that you are in. Again, this strategy is designed to expose our students to as many different career routes as possible, to enable them to make informed decisions about their own progression plans.
Thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to complete the form, we are very grateful.