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Queen Elizabeth's School

The Elizabethan

NE WSLET TER TO PARENTS

SUMMER 2018

WORLD-BEATERS: QE returned as world champions from the VEX IQ Challenge international finals in the US. Turn to p3.

From the Headmaster Dear Parents,

We devote a great deal of time, effort

happiness may depend on making the

and thought to enhancing pupils’ future

right decisions. 80,000 Hours is also the

The Summer Term, and indeed the

prospects as they consider firstly their

name of an organisation providing career

whole academic year, has been marked

university choices and, ultimately, their

advice for talented young people who

by a large number of visits to Queen

careers. I urge boys to make full use of

want to have a social impact. It recently

Elizabeth’s School from speakers who

the opportunities afforded by visits from

published long-term research identifying

are forging illustrious careers in their

our alumni and others; pupils should

key elements that go into making a

chosen fields. For example, I was pleased

approach such occasions with an open

‘dream job’ – one that is both enjoyable

to welcome Major Charles Russell as

mind, ready to ask intelligent questions.

and meaningful. Interestingly, neither

guest speaker on Founder’s Day and in

It is important that boys and their parents

high pay nor low stress is among them.

the last week of term we were joined by

are not over-hasty in planning career

Instead, the researchers highlighted

Daniel Isenberg, who addressed prize-

pathways. After all, there are an estimated

three factors which resonate very strongly

winners and their parents at our Junior

80,000 working hours in an average

with all that we are working to achieve

Awards Ceremony.

career, so one’s own wellbeing and

at this School.

One is that the work involved must

through our work experience programme;

for the Samaritans. On Founder’s Day,

be sufficiently engaging to hold one’s

through contact with old boys in our

Charlie (OE 1997–2004) spoke about his

attention. This typically means that

fast-growing alumni network; through

own successful career as a British Army

tasks should be varied and have a clear

events such as this month’s Year 9 Careers

officer, which was punctuated by an

beginning and end, that the person

Circus, or through extra-curricular

attack in Helmand Province, Afghanistan,

working has freedom to decide how he

activities such as the new Coding

in 2010, that caused him very serious

will carry out the work, and that he should

Club, the Bar Mock Trial competition

injuries. In his speech, Charlie not only

receive feedback on it. All of this dovetails

and the Combined Cadet Force. Our

explored the centrality of service to the

with the specific ways we deliver teaching

success at the VEX IQ World Robotics

military profession, but highlighted the

and learning at QE. Pupils receive effective feedback and guidance through a bespoke approach that includes

“ testing nascent career plans”

the setting and

Championships is a

role of the concept at QE. As the From

terrific example: while

the Archives article in this Elizabethan

pupils got involved for

shows, traditions of service have long

the fun and intellectual

been associated with the School.

challenge, there is

Moreover, they remain at the heart of

clear scope for it to

what we do today, enshrined in our

monitoring of personalised targets, our

lead to career opportunities later in life.

commitment to “developing boys’

Personal Development Time programme,

A word of caution is necessary here: boys

awareness that they achieve genuine

peer mentoring and subject clinics. And

at QE should not feel under enormous

fulfilment and greater benefit by seeking

with our emphasis on the development

pressure to decide on a particular career

to make a contribution to society rather

of free-thinking scholarship, we

in a particular field. They should instead

than pursuing only personal gain”.

ensure that Elizabethans can thrive in

remain adaptable and flexible, acquiring

engaging workplace environments,

skills and practising

having developed the effective habits

continuous learning so that

of independent learning, resilience and

they can grasp new and

academic curiosity that will make them a

evolving opportunities.

prized asset for employers.

“ traditions of service”

Finally, the researchers

In equipping boys for their futures, we constantly seek to refine and improve our facilities. The Summer Term began with the launch of a new public website, which

Another essential for true career

identified growing evidence that helping

takes advantage of modern web design

satisfaction is that a job should be a

others is a key ingredient for fulfilment

to communicate all that QE has to offer.

good match for one’s ability. When

at work. Both Charlie Russell and Daniel

The refurbishment of our Main Building

considering possible careers, boys should

Isenberg are prime exemplars of those

takes place over the summer holidays,

develop aspirations which are realistically

who derive satisfaction from work

funded by a Department for Education

ambitious. At QE, much of what we do

that helps others. Now a rising young

grant and support from the Friends of

to support boys in planning their futures

barrister, Daniel (OE 1999–2006) gained

Queen Elizabeth’s to the tune of £0.5m.

focuses on helping them become aware

a Double First at Cambridge and was a

of their own strengths. Parents and

Fast Stream Graduate with the Ministry

I trust all our families will have an

boys receive lots of detailed assessment

of Defence before gaining an LLM from

enjoyable summer and wish those boys

information from teachers: it is important

Harvard Law School. He has served with

awaiting public examination results in

to use that sound empirical data to

the Supreme Courts of both the UK and

August the best of luck: I look forward

plan individually. We provide extensive

Israel, while in his spare time pursuing

to celebrating with you on results days.

opportunities for boys to test their

a love of rugby – he is an RFU-certified

nascent career plans, whether that is:

referee – and working as a volunteer

Neil Enright, Headmaster

QE become UK’s first-ever robotics world champions In only its second year in the competition, QE won a world title in the VEX IQ Challenge international robotics finals in Louisville, Kentucky. The QE junior pupils took the Excellence

• A stair-climbing robot designed

Award – the highest in the world’s

by AS-level Technology students

largest robotics competition – seeing off

was praised by judges at the

previous winners from the US and China.

Celebration and Assessment Day of the Engineering Excellence

Writing to the School to congratulate

Scheme. Working with mentors

the winning finalists, Education Secretary

from construction company Morgan

Damian Hinds said: “I am delighted

Lovell, the team tackled the problem

that the pupils were the first UK team

of lifting large sheets of materials

to win…I am pleased that such a

up staircases on building sites –

talented group were representing the UK

one of the industry’s commonest

in this global competition and have been

sources of injury.

recognised as our most promising future robotics minds.”

Glory, awe and wonder Boys experienced the awe-inspiring

Highlights of the four-day trip to Italy

power of nature, the man-made

included a walk up Mount Vesuvius –

glories of Ancient Rome and

mainland Europe’s only active volcano

the wonders of Italian cuisine

– and a day taking in Rome’s Forum

during a Geography trip.

and the Colosseum.

Banging! National winners A QE Year 12 team beat off the challenge of more than 600 other schools to win the national MathsBombe competition. Captain Kishan Patel and teammates Bashmy Basheer, Nico Puthu and Niam Vaishnav dropped just one point across all eight rounds of the University of Manchester’s online contest. QE boys have excelled in other recent national competitions, with strong performances in the Junior Maths Challenge, the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad and the Team Maths Challenge, where a QE team reached the national finals, coming 11th out of 88 teams.

Expressing ourselves: QE pupils explore ideas and showcase their skills in Art QE pupils from across all year groups have served up a visual feast this year, producing artworks ranging from photography and drawing to sculpture and collage. Shown on these pages is art from boys

note-making, research, photography,

across the year groups, including the

drawing and making items to assist their

work of Art prize-winners at both Junior

investigation. As the projects progressed,

and Senior Awards. For their final-year

the ideas became more refined.

projects, the A-level Art students were tasked with finding a subject that meant

The boys were required to show

a great deal to them personally.

evidence of deeper thinking and to be ambitious in their artworks, which they

They were encouraged to take a broad

had to support with a written statement

approach at the beginning, using

articulating their ideas.

Ambitious artwork picked for Royal Academy exhibition Sixth-former Darsh Thacker’s

from his intended career path.

artwork using unconventional

Darsh plans to study Dentistry,

materials was one of only 43

and his project, entitled Savium,

winners out of more than 2,000

explored the division between the

entries to be chosen for the

personal and clinical spheres.

Royal Academy A-level Summer Exhibition Online 2018.

The artwork, measuring 2.56 x 2m, employed contrasting materials,

Like his fellow QE Year 13 Fine Art

from plaster-of-Paris casts to string,

A-level students, Darsh had been

nails and even chewing gum.

encouraged to draw inspiration

Artwork, left-hand page, clockwise from top: Joshua Bonafe & Yuvraj Manral, Year 9; Akhil Walia, Year 8 Junior Award; Maxwell Johnson, Year 7 Junior Award. Right-hand page, clockwise from top: Darsh Thacker Savium, Year 13; Filip Olszewski, Year 9 Junior Award; Sthujan Jeyasingarajah, Year 7; Amaan Ahmad, Year 10 Senior Award. Background artwork: Pratyush Dutta-Gupta, Year 7.

Stephen Buckeridge Head of Art In Art we focus on ‘fine art’, which means expressing ourselves and our responses to the world around us for personal fulfilment. The skills and creativity developed can be applied to a wide range of other aspects of art and design and taken up in higher education or as a career, such as Architecture, Graphic Design, Product Design or Fashion and Textiles. We use processes such as drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, collage, digital art and mixed-media. The work we do varies from traditional observational drawing to work that is very experimental and contemporary.

From the archives: Jack’s last letter from the front Pupils have been learning the sad story of the 1916 School Captain, who died only a few weeks before the end of the First World War. Private John ‘Jack’ Albert Field, of Bosworth Road, New Barnet, was just 19 when he was killed by a shell on 29th September 1918. He was serving with the 9th Company, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry). In 1916, he had headed the QE cricket First XI averages and passed the London Matriculation school-leaving examination. Jack’s name is listed on the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium, which was among sites visited by Year 9 historians recently. Sited in the area of the Battle of Passchendaele, it lists 35,000 men with no known grave. His great-niece, Mary Smith, came in to speak to boys in Year 7 during History lessons, bringing with her letters, including one Jack sent to his sister, Doris; and another

written by Jack’s father to Doris’s husband, Bert, asking him to tell her of Jack’s death. Jack’s letter, dated four days before he died, says his unit was “gradually getting nearer one of the worst places of the line”. He mentions the notorious mud – “the only thing to see and about 1ft deep in places” – and perils from above: “Jerry [the Germans] occasionally drops bombs from aeroplanes in the vicinity but as yet none have fallen anywhere near us.” Portentously, Jack’s own letter concludes: “I had better finish as it is nearly dark.” His father’s letter, on 14th October 1918, says: “We have just received the sad news that poor Jack has been killed. The officer wrote that he was killed instantaneous [sic] and was buried with two other comrades killed by the same shell.” Written with the emotional restraint characteristic of the era, the letter then ends simply: “It is a very great blow to us.”

That was then… QE under long-serving Headmaster Ernest Jenkins (1930–1961) was so strict that a prefect punished a boy for buying an ice-cream without wearing his School cap…on a Sunday afternoon. Alumni Ken Cooper (OE 1942–1950), David Farrer (1954–1961) and John Todd (1958–1964) shared anecdotes with Year 7 pupils working on a project about the history of the School. Then, as now, QE enjoyed academic and sporting success, yet much was different: lessons ran six days a week, the roll totalled only 400–450 and masters’ (teachers’) routine use of corporal punishment was little questioned.

QE and the royal wedding Senior Vice-Captain Binu Perera spent the royal wedding day inside Windsor Castle. Nominated by QE,

Cost of war A trip to World War I battlefields and cemeteries reinforced History lessons for 44 Year 9 boys in the centenary year of the 1918 Armistice.

he was among 1,200 members of the

History teacher Simon Walker said: “The

public invited by the royal couple.

trip was important both emotionally and

A reading of a specially commissioned

analytically, helping students understand

poem by George ‘the Poet’ Mpanga

how trench warfare worked and giving

(OE 2002–2009) introduced global

them an opportunity to reflect on the

TV coverage.

cost of war.”

Positive verdict QE achieved a top-10 finish in the national finals of the Bar Mock Trial competition – with one Year 12 boy achieving a perfect score for his appearance in the guise of a defence barrister. The team of senior boys had reached the national final of the prestigious legal competition in Cardiff after competing successfully in three qualifying rounds. They were placed ninth on the day.

Best of British young biologists QE has added to its glittering reputation in the British Biology Olympiad, with two sixth-formers reaching the final round, open only to the top 16 young biologists in the country. Year 13 pupils Showgo Kimura and

prestigious Olympiad competition, and

Michael Takla were selected from

although it will not be known until later

Round 2 for the four-day finals,

this year if it has repeated this feat, the

a series of practical examinations

School is certainly in a strong position,

held at Warwick University. They were

says Biology teacher Mev Armon: it has

among five QE boys who had qualified

amassed a total of 14 gold, 16 silver and

for Round 2, with the others being fellow

15 bronze medals.

sixth-formers Ilan Elango, Milan Hirji and Simon Rey. The five’s qualification

Congratulating Showgo and Michael,

placed them in the top 2 per cent

Mr Armon said: “They have worked for

of the 7,818 entrants nationwide.

almost two years, developing additional skills outside of the specification at lunch

Last year, QE was crowned the best-

times. I am very proud of them and of all

performing school in the country in the

the boys who were awarded medals."

QE poems published after success in international Classics competition Two boys drew on the lessons of ancient

The book, entitled Artefact to Art, was

history to write poems that have been

launched at the Annual Conference

published in a new book.

of the Classics Association in Leicester. Both boys were singled out for a special

Jonathan Ho, of Year 12, and Matt

mention by Dr Naoise Mac Sweeney,

Salomone, of Year 11, took inspiration from

Associate Professor in Ancient History.

the Trojan War for the multi-disciplinary

They were inspired by an ancient amphora

art competition organised

showing Ajax and Achilles, heroes of the

by the University of Leicester.

war, playing a board game.

English teacher Lucy Riseborough praised the team, adding: “A special mention has to go to Mipham Samten for his 10-out-of-10 score in his role as part of the defence team.”

Clean sweep in Chemistry Olympiad All 11 of the Year 13 boys chosen to enter this year’s UK Chemistry Olympiad were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze certificate. Nationally, of the 6,500-plus pupils who participated, only the top 8% received gold, with 25% achieving silver and 31% bronze – and nearly 40% received no award at all. By contrast, QE’s boys gained four golds, six silvers and one bronze between them. Chemistry teacher Elizabeth Kuo said “By any reckoning, our sixth-formers did very well in what is a deliberately challenging national competition.”

County cup victory for Year 7 cricketers

Biggest-ever turnout

QE’s younger cricketers have enjoyed a memorable summer. Having won all but one of their games, the U12s emerged victorious over Newland House School in the Middlesex County Cup final. Rhys Davies-Horne, Assistant Head of PE & Games and in charge of Year 7, said: “This deserved win topped off a great season, with stand-out performances by Prayag Gandhi, Aaryan Patel and Bilal Hassan.” The U13 team also reached their county final, losing to a strong Merchant Taylors’ side.

a record 14 primary schools tackling

QE’s work with younger local children goes from strength to strength, with the English and Mathematics challenges at this year’s Primary Challenge Day. A similar Primary Forensic Science Day saw visiting girls and boys from across the borough working enthusiastically to solve a ‘whodunnit’ fictional murder case.

Medal-winner Year 8 boy Yusuf Karim won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Karate European Cup meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia. He took gold in Team Kumite, Silver in Individual Kata and Bronze in Team Kata. Yusuf also won recognition closer to home when the Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Brian Salinger, presented him with a GLL Athlete Award.

NATIONAL FINALISTS: Recent personal bests have helped Year 10’s Nicholas Shaw and Jeff Hagan qualify for the English Schools’ Athletic Association finals. Nick ran the 100m in 11.14s at the Middlesex Championships, while Jeff, pictured, reached over 13.21m in the triple jump.

Queen Elizabeth’s School Queen’s Road, Barnet, Hertfordshire EN5 4DQ 020 8441 4646 enquiries@qebarnet.co.uk

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