Handsworth Grammar School

Handsworth Grammar is part of the Grammar Schools in Birmingham, the King Edward VI Foundation and the King Edward VI Academy Trust. We provide a stimulating and educationally successful environment for our pupils – accepting Boys from age 11 to 16 as well as Boys and Girls at Sixth Form level.

We were rated as Outstanding in every category in our latest Ofsted review and with excellent examination results demand for places is high. The School educates students from all over Birmingham and beyond, with a significant proportion living within three miles of us, thereby helping to maintain a strong community aspect.

This is the oldest surviving selective school in Birmingham, but at the same time we are forward looking. In fact it could be said that HGS reaches for the future from the basis of solid foundations. The foundations manifest themselves in the emphasis given to the importance of work, self-discipline, behaviour and achievement. From that foundation, we are able to help our students face and meet the needs of this rapidly changing world, by seeking to embrace new technologies and recognising the importance of links between education and the world of work.

At HGS we understand that while academic qualifications are important, education must be broader than that alone. Through the ethos and activities of the School, we strive to have a positive impact upon the students’ spiritual, moral, social, cultural and academic development and values.

We seek to confirm the School as a centre of excellence, retaining the traditional values of its foundation, while embracing the opportunities offered by the technological developments of the modern world and serving the locality and the wider Birmingham conurbation.

We Aim To:

• Provide a balanced curriculum, serving the needs of each student.
• Challenge our students to give of their best in all areas and support them in this endeavour.
• Develop self-respect, independence and initiative; promote a climate of trust, openness and co-operation.
• Develop a sense of community at the School and amongst those associated with the School.
• Enable our students to move confidently into the next phase of their education or the work place.

Education must be more than the classroom and collection qualifications. One way in which education is broadened is through the School’s extracurricular activities. An exact listing of the opportunities provided can never be given since some are seasonal and others come and go. At any one time they range from the sporting and musical activities of the School, to the Technology club and inter-form quiz. Students are encouraged to fill the gaps they spot, although a friendly member of staff is needed to support the activity.

The school puts on several concerts each year, helping to encourage the students to gain confidence in themselves by performing in front of an audience, or working behind the scenes. Many students partake of instrumental tuition at the School, learning instruments ranging from the guitar to the trombone and from the piano to the Dhol. As a result we can boast a big band, brass group, string quartet, guitar ensemble and other groupings.

Students are supported through tutorial and careers advice, directed private study, access to our Learning Hub and extensive ICT facilities, a variety of study trips and visits, high quality help with higher education applications, work experience and the opportunity to continue with or experience new sport and leisure activities. An active school council representing students’ views is well run by members of the sixth form. There are also many opportunities for extracurricular activities and taking on roles of responsibility within the school.

Lessons have a dual focus on Learning Habits as well as learning the content of courses and topics. Learning habits are the routine ways in which we think when are faced with life’s experiences and challenges. As a school, we will focus upon building the 10 habits of Collaborating, Questioning, Listening, Noticing, Planning, Revising, Making Links, Resilience, Capitalising and Distillation. We want our boys to know what to do when they don’t know what to do by referring to the habits of mind that they have acquired.

Dual learning objectives, engaging starter activities, a balance between collaborative and independent learning, activities to assess understanding and progress, creative use of resources and ICT, feedback and reflective activities will be common features of lessons at Handsworth Grammar School.

Handsworth Grammar School aims to make a real and significant difference to the lives of each and every student that we educate. The extensive opportunities available are created by a School that has acknowledged excellence in a range of areas but which is able to balance the academic, pastoral and extracurricular needs of the community with that of the individuals that form its student body. The School provides this purposeful environment with the support of staff who are talented and motivated in order to nurture the best from each student.