School features in Sathnam Sanghera’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ on Channel 4

Times journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera (OW 1995), came back to the School in the Summer term to film elements of his for thcoming television series ‘Empire State of Mind’, based on his best-selling book ‘Empireland’.

Released last year, ‘Empireland’ featured in our 2020 edition of Wulfrunian. In the book, Sathnam demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past. The British Empire ran for centuries, covered vast swathes of the world and is fundamental to understanding Britain today – yet empire is still a subject often hidden from view and obscured in school history books.

Notably during his visit, Sathnam held a discussion with members of our Prefect team (pictured) and met Dr Bernard Trafford, who was Headmaster of Wolverhampton Grammar School at his time in the School. Much discussion was had about the themes in ‘Empireland’, how the topic fits into the school curriculum and the wider discourse of Imperialism.

The series, ‘Empire State of Mind’, was shown in two parts on Channel 4 in November. There is no doubt that Sathnam’s exploration of how imperialism has shaped modern Britain, how this affected his upbringing in Wolverhampton and plenty more besides will be as fascinating and thought-provoking on screen as it is in the book. The School features mainly in the second episode but both episodes promise to inform, entertain and stimulate discussion.

Sarvjit Sra inspires Art students

This year, students have been working alongside Midlands-based photographer, Sarvjit Sra, to practice the art of storytelling through photography. Hearing his motivation and inspiration engaged the students in developing their own imagery throughout the summer – some working towards their A Level Personal Investigation, others building their own portfolios.

Workshop sessions were kindly delivered by Sarvjit Sra, as part of his Arts Council funded-project “Invisible”. After the sessions, he commented that, “It was wonderful to see the students work after the summer break. I was really impressed with not just the quality of the work, but the thought that had gone into creating the images”.

Charlie P. Brooks launches Holly Hopkinson’s Latest Adventure in the Junior School

Sixth Form Subject Scholarships

Keep on running!

Well done to our cross-country runners who were trialed for West Midlands this term. With some very impressive performances in particular Zena Asbury who was 3rd & Leon Asbury 4th. Zena (right) is pictured with Year 9 student, Charlotte Anderson.

On Monday 6th December author, racehorse trainer and jockey, Charlie P. Brooks spoke passionately to Years 3 - 5 about his latest book in the Super-Secret Diary of Holly Hopkinson series. To really bring this magical adventure to life for students, Charlie was accompanied by his miniature pony, Beanstalk, who is one of the stars of the book series. Beanstalk was thoroughly entertaining and children loved hearing all about his real-life adventures.

Team GB Triathletes

Congratulations to Upper Sixth student Cian Gopal (left), Oliver Evans (OW 2019) and Lauren Evans (OW 2013) on representing Great Britain in their age group at the European Sprint triathlon in Valencia.

All participants completed a 750m swim, 20km bike followed by a 5km run.

Over 25 students sat the first ever WGS Sixth Form Subject Scholarships earlier this year in a range of subjects from Art to Physics. Year 11 students were invited to apply for any subject that they intended to study in the Sixth Form at WGS before sitting a subject specific paper followed by a general scholarship exam which tested their ability in verbal reasoning and numeracy. The standard demonstrated by students was incredible and all entrants attained extremely high results as they competed for the prize of £500, a Sixth Form Scholar’s pin badge and the title of Sixth Form Subject Scholar. Huge congratulations go to the following students who were successful in their endeavours and thanks to all students who entered. Current Year 11s will be invited to apply for the Sixth Form Subject Scholarships for 2022 later this academic year.

• Sophie Newey – Art

• Ahmed Imran – Biology

• Jak Sidhu – Chemistry

• Thomas Frith – German

• Jenny Chan – History

• Hamzah Ansari – Maths

• Edward Hamill - Physics

• Ella Grew and Vishwas Kumar –General Sixth Form Scholarship and Governors’ Academic Scholarship