QES_The_Elizabethan_Spring_2026

Queen Elizabeth's School

The Elizabethan

From the Headmaster

Dear Parents,

As our new School plan, Boundless, sets out, we seek to equip our pupils to be future-ready and to help them become deep thinkers and compelling communicators, leaders of influence and valued collaborators.

In a world that is rapidly being reshaped by new technologies such as AI and robotics, our boys will need to be adaptable and digitally literate. It is important that the School is itself agile in responding to the seismic changes predicted in the world of employment.

Digital methods have already brought change to QE’s classrooms, and we are excited by the further expansive opportunities for teaching and learning. For all these reasons, we are driving our digital strategy forward, while also acquainting our boys with the exciting emerging possibilities through the QE Futures programme.

But amid all the technological change, it is essential to remember that there are other skills which are today more in demand than ever – skills such as how to construct an argument, evoke emotion, explain clearly, persuade

respectfully, or disagree intelligently. In a wonderfully energising speech at Senior Awards, our guest of honour, University of Birmingham Chancellor Dr Sandie Okoro affirmed the central importance of remembering human values and human judgment in the context of technological upheaval. Empathy is a tremendously important quality, yet it certainly cannot be acquired from technology alone. These, then, are skills, values and attributes that matter for current pupils, whether they aspire to command a boardroom, lead

the next game-changing technology start-up, contribute to scientific discovery, solve global challenges, or simply build strong relationships.

Happily, there is one activity that can play a huge role in acquiring all of them. Reading widely and intelligently builds empathy, allowing us to inhabit the perspectives, experiences, and inner lives of others. Reading stretches the imagination and sharpens judgment, teaching us to interpret nuance, to detect bias, to appreciate complexity. And reading deepens cultural understanding, building what we educators call cultural capital: the knowledge that helps us navigate society, communicate elegantly, and understand people unlike ourselves. To communicate well, one must study good writing. To think independently, it helps to study the not-so-good writing, too. Every page you read quietly trains your brain, helping the reader become a better communicator, a more subtle and profound thinker.

escapist. Because reading for pleasure is still reading. It still enriches you. It still gives you that competitive advantage of understanding others and thinking different thoughts.

There have also been specialist repairs window surrounds and the structure’s crowning glory, namely our handsome cupola. Once the scaffolding comes down later this year, I am confident it will all look fantastic.

“Remember human values and judgment”

So, I ask all parents: please encourage your sons to read.

The Queen’s Library stands both physically and metaphorically at the heart of our School. It is there that our pupils can learn to read widely, read bravely, and to read beyond the familiar. As the pages of this edition of The Elizabethan explain, the library is marking the National Year of Reading by compiling a new collection. Expect fiction and non-fiction, the serious and the playful, the challenging and the

We record consistently high figures for the number of offers our pupils receive from Oxford and Cambridge – over 200 in the past four years. This demonstrates clearly that free-thinking scholarship is deeply rooted here, with a high proportion of our pupils reading extensively beyond their coursework and the confines of the curriculum. An overwhelming proportion of our leavers go on to Russell Group universities, while interest in degree apprenticeships continues to grow after last year’s record number of apprenticeships offered. The Futures programme supplies offers every senior pupil encouragement and detailed advice to ‘find your path’. Take degree apprenticeships, for example: this term, we welcomed back 2025 leaver Shrey Tater, now in the first year of his degree apprenticeship with Standard Chartered, and last term, parent Sumeet Bhatia came from global technology company Cisco, to proffer his own expert guidance.

“Reading builds empathy”

There has been good progress, too, with QE Global Schools, both regarding QE Dubai Sports City and the first school in India, in Gurugram. We are, of course, monitoring the political and military situation in the Gulf, while our plans there continue to move ahead. Lord Graham Brady, who is on the Board of Governors for Gurugram, visited us here in Barnet recently and took the time to deliver a workshop and give a lunchtime lecture. I enjoyed a one-toone meeting with Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, to explain our long-term plans for the Queen’s Road estate and opening of international branch campuses. We are fortunate to enjoy much moral and practical support from him, and we look forward to welcoming him to our student-led Politics Society soon. We also enjoy great support from local councillors, with recent visits from: Cllr Edith David, the Deputy Mayor; Cllr Nagus Narenthira; and Cllr Zahra Beg (Cabinet Member for Equalities, Poverty Reduction and the Voluntary & Community Sector).

Work on the refurbishment and improvement of our Main Building continues apace as we make best use of this once-in-many-generations opportunity to conserve and thoughtfully improve our physical heritage. Excellent work has been done on the roof, and 130,000 new tiles fitted.

I trust all our families will have an enjoyable Easter break, and I send senior pupils facing public examinations my very best wishes for their revision.

Neil Enright Headmaster

“Wonderful” Senior Awards

As QE celebrated the 150th anniversary of its first prize-giving, guest of honour Dr Sandie Okoro, Chancellor of Birmingham University, helped make this year’s ceremony a night to remember.

She presented some 80 prizes to Years 10–12 and later mingled with parents, staff and boys. She arrived having spent the day with the Queen at St James’s Palace, after being invited in her role as Chair of the Women of the World Foundation.

The Headmaster afterwards hailed

UK’s top young orator

Sixth-former Yash Mehta was named Laureate after winning first place in the Sovereign Minds SPEAR Oratory Prize Grand Final. His ten-minute speech on how access to education can quietly shape confidence and ambition won a £10,000 prize and gold-inlaid handcrafted spear.

“a wonderful night… [with] a hugely engaging and inspiring speaker, bringing real energy to the role”.

The evening’s music included featured pieces by Bartók, Saint-Saëns and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Volunteers from The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s served refreshments afterwards.

Inspiring young minds

Forty-five Year 7 & 8 pupils savoured the magnificence of Christ Church –the Borough of Barnet’s partner college at Oxford.

Their day included lunch in the Dining Hall — the iconic 1520s structure upon which the Hogwarts Great Hall in the Harry Potter films is based. There was also a chance to get some tips from Old Elizabethan and current Christ Church undergraduate, Harik Sodhi (2018–2025).

Forty-four find their path to Oxbridge

Forty-four QE pupils have received offers from Oxford and Cambridge this year, taking the total over the past four years to 202. Fifteen offers have come from Oxford – one short of the all-time QE record – and the remaining 29 from Cambridge.

With other universities offers still coming in, QE leavers have applied to 23 of the 24 Russell Group, with 90% applying to at least one QS World Top 10 university.

The Oxbridge offers span academic disciplines from English, Music and Theology and Engineering, Mathematics and Physics, and cover colleges from Cambridge’s Clare College, founded in 1326, to Oxford’s St Anne’s, which became a full college in 1952. James Kane, Assistant Head (Destinations and Progress), highlighted QE’s “impressive” 40% rate for converting Oxbridge applications to offers.

In praise of books and reading

“ To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”

– Victor Hugo, Les Misérables*

The Queen’s Library, which celebrated its 12th anniversary this term, is putting together a new collection of 100 books to mark 2026 as the National Year of Reading.

More than 300 works have been nominated by pupils and staff, and the student librarians have been hard at work whittling down the list, ready for launch at the start of next term.

Head of Library Services Jenni Blackford said: “Books from a wide spread of genres have been nominated, including literary fiction, manga, fantasy and non-fiction – a wonderful array. They demonstrate how much reading has impacted our students and staff. “

The intention, says the Headmaster, is that the collection will “reflect the values of the modern Elizabethan”. He adds: “The prizes handed out at Senior Awards were all book vouchers, and that was deliberate. It signals our belief that, amid rapid change, there remains a place for long-form writing: for novels,

novellas, poetry, and prose; for the slower, quieter, absorbing work of the mind.

“The ability to read deeply, think critically, and empathise with others is a human skill. A timeless skill. A leadership skill.”

As our list of activities and news shows, The Queen’s Library, and the School more widely, are creative in the ways they seek to kindle the spark that ignites a love and enjoyment of reading, whether of physical volumes or of… Kindles!

* “Apprendre à lire, c’est allumer du feu; toute syllabe épelée étincelle.”

QE’s literary term

12TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

The Queen’s Library drew on its longstanding involvement with the School’s primary school outreach programme to mark its first dozen years. Children identified as reluctant readers from Year 5 at Barnet’s Underhill and Whitings Hill primary schools were invited in for a day spent developing their literacy and oracy skills. They were supported by a team comprising Year 7 pupils and sixth-formers. Mrs Blackford said: “Many of our own pupils here develop a passion for English and for reading, and The Queen’s Library provides the perfect place for them to share that passion with pride.”

LIVE BOOK LAUNCH

Author Kwabena Osei, from East London, launched his debut novel, Ministry of Troubled Scholars, which explores and criticises inequalities and hierarchies within education. He

spoke compassionately with around 40 pupils about how he has used writing to channel many of the difficulties in his life and battles with mental health. An Oxford History & Politics graduate, he weaves modern British history into the classic boarding school trope in his book. The Queen’s Library now has two copies. The event was organised in collaboration with QE Futures, the English department and the library.

READING INSPIRED BY NATURE.

All Year 9 pupils spent a lesson outdoors at Barnet Environment Centre. Head of English Robert Hyland said: “We are studying poetry which focuses on humanity's relationship with the natural worldbut it feels difficult to consider the relationship of poets like William

Wordsworth or Emily Dickinson without students also considering their own relationship with the natural world. We are incredibly lucky to have Barnet Environment Centre – a 7.5 acre site woodland, garden, and meadow –on our doorstep. My own Doctorate of Education research suggested that, among other things, good ecopedagogical practice starts locally, and this is exactly the case here. This trip isn't just a nice ‘bonus’ learning activity, but a core part of what I believe is our wider moral duty as educators.”

HARRY POTTER STUDIOS

TRIP. For Year 8 boys who have enjoyed the books or watched the films, there was magic in the air as they headed to the Warner Bros studios in Watford. The Art department trip showed some of the secrets of the filmmaker’s trade used to bring J K Rowling’s work to life on the big screen. As well as a tour, there was a lesson from the studios’ education art department team, which delved into topics such as set design, architectural model-making, costume creation, and character design.

POETRY PRIZE.

Sixth-former Paarth Aggarwal’s poem, I know who I am, which was inspired by his reading of others’ experience of racism, was highly commended in the Black in White Poetry Competition. It has been published in a new anthology of the winning competition entries, entitled White face, foreign hands.

From the archives Sevens and QE: a decided success

As the School celebrates 50 years of the QE Sevens Tournament, From the Archives takes a brief look at the history behind this event.

Rugby sevens had its origins in Melrose, Scotland, in the 1880s. Spreading slowly at first, it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that the game gained momentum.

QE’s alumni – Old Elizabethans’ (Barnet) RFC – first took it up just before World War II, as The Elizabethan of April 1939 reported:

“This season the Club introduced a new feature, the InterHouse Seven-a-side Tournament, which, in spite of the cold and rain, proved a decided success.”

After the conflict, sevens remained popular with the OE club: the programme for the opening of the Memorial Playing Field at Gipsy Corner in September 1953 records that the OEs had won the Hertfordshire County RFU Seven-a-Side Tournament in 1950, 1952 and 1953. The QE Collections photograph (left) shows the 1952 line-up.

It is not clear when sevens was first played regularly by pupils, but it was already established at the School when David Maughan was appointed Head of PE in 1974. With his

Party peace

One of Britain’s most instantly recognisable Conservative figures, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, struck a sometimes non-partisan note in a lively, wide-ranging address to QE’s Politics Society: “Most politicians are decent, honest, and have integrity.”

input, standards rose: in 1976, QE won four out of five local sevens competitions, and – in the School’s first year in national competitions – triumphed in the Oxfordshire B tournament. He is pictured, above, with that year’s sevens team (back left).

David Maughan’s founding of a home tournament for QE thus came at a time when the School’s sevens players were riding high. QE took its new tournament’s U14 title in 1977 and then won the U16 competition in 1979. In the intervening year, however, the home players were less successful, as The Elizabethan of 1978 made clear. The School “hosted the Hertfordshire U13 sevens and its own U16 & U14 tournaments with more organisational

than playing success,” it stated.

Regardless, the event’s reputation continued to grow. In 1983, 36 teams entered “and several of the schools with the strongest reputation for rugby were represented, including Bedford Modern, Tiffin, Campion, Haberdashers’ and Emanuel”: The Elizabethan 1983

There have been countless highlights over the years, but only two schools have ever achieved the double (U16 and U14 winners in the same year): Eltham College in 1986 and Wellington College in 2017. QE’s best performances in recent years include reaching the Plate final in 2014: that side is

Democracy in jeopardy?

Dr Tom Palmer lamented the recent decline he saw in American democracy in a lunchtime talk. The American libertarian academic and author interrupted his lecture tour to Kings College London and the LSE to visit QE.

pictured here. Notwithstanding enforced cancellations due to the depredations of weather and, in 2020 and 2021, a global pandemic, QE Sevens remains a popular and well-regarded tournament among the nation’s leading rugby-playing schools as it enters its second half-century.

Schools champion

Lord Graham Brady – grammar school supporter, longtime former chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee and now governing board member of QE School, Gurugram, India – gave an open lecture and a workshop for A-level Politics students during a visit.

50 years and counting!

The

50th Annual QE Sevens Tournament

was always going to be special – and thanks to a final that went right to the wire, the rugby was memorable, too.

Vying for the ‘double’ were last year’s U14 title winners, Ipswich School, but they were thwarted by last-minute entrants, Maidstone Grammar, who emerged as victors by just two points, with the final finishing 31–29.

QE’s players acquitted themselves well, winning two of their three matches in the group stages, beating Robert Clack School by 24–5 and Norwich School by 10–7.

QE progressed to the Plate quarterfinal, where they lost 26-0 to Gordon’s School, from Woking. The Surrey school went on to reach the final, where they lost to Tonbridge School, who thus retained their 2025 Plate title.

Director of Sport Jonathan Hart said:

“Our QE line-up gave a real squad performance, ably led by captain Husain Jassim, and played some very good rugby.”

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

To mark his enormous contribution, the Headmaster presented the tournament’s founder, former QE Head of PE (1974–2003) David Maughan, with a special salver. Mr Maughan managed England U16s for a decade beyond his retirement here. In 2026, he is still seen in school most weeks, rarely missing a First XV match and also attending lower-year groups for rugby and cricket.

Elemental inspiration

Thirty senior pupils saw the awe-inspiring power of earth in a Geography trip to the Land of Ice and Fire. In their five-day visit to Iceland, Year 11–13 watched a geyser erupt, ice-trekked across a glacier, crossed continents where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, and marvelled at the beauty of the aurora borealis (Northern Lights).

Cliff collapse

Year 12 Geography students arrived at Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex for their field trip just weeks after intense rainfall had brought a large section of the cliffs crashing on to the beach. School Captain Tunishq Mitra said: “It was fascinating to see the complex interactions between all the natural processes we study in real time, including the partial cliff collapse.”

Delving deep

There was huge topical variety but a common theme of Deep Thinkers in ten TEDx talks recorded by boys from across the year groups. Subject ranged from The Biology of Consciousness and The Effects of Foreign Aid on Trade Liberalisation to The Power of Questioning and Why Unbelievers Follow Christ. The talks will be published on the School website.

No going back

Tradition came to the fore as Year 13 debated with Old Elizabethans at The 59th Annual Elizabethan Union Dinner Debate.

As well as toasts – including one to ‘the pious memory of Queen Elizabethan I’ – there was a three-course meal and the centrepiece debate.

Sixth-formers Sejal Bobba and Shreyas Chandrasekar proposed the motion This House would rejoin the European Single Market. They made a strong case, arguing, inter alia, that since allies beyond Europe have become

Camouflage Confidence

Fieldcraft: QE’s CCF

The Combined Cadet Force spent a weekend in the Mereworth Woods Training Area in Kent learning and practising fieldcraft and other military skills. Contingent commander (and Head of Aquatics) Richard Scally said: “The exercise was a great success, with cadets learning concealment, movement in the field, and working effectively as a team, while building confidence, discipline, and leadership.”

less reliable, the UK should stand with European countries.

In the end, however, the Old Elizabethan pair opposing the motion, Anish Kumar and Shubh Rathod (both 2017-2024), prevailed, albeit by a narrow margin, their contention being that the point was not to relitigate the 2016 referendum, but to recognise that the world has moved on, with Europe left behind.

Dinner

at Windsor Castle

Year 13’s Soham Kale was invited to a dinner at Windsor Castle hosted by the Commonwealth Leadership Institute.

The invitation followed Soham’s success in a medical essay competition last year, which indirectly resulted in Mark Kristiansen, Head of Genomics at UCL, becoming his mentor. “It was a very exciting day, and I had the opportunity to meet many global leaders in the field who make an impact that I strive to make in the future as well, beyond borders,” said Soham.

New stars shine with the greats

The Chamber, Choral & Composition Concert offers a unique opportunity to hear the timeless work of Beethoven, Mozart, and Brahms alongside pieces by QE’s emerging musical stars.

Performing their GCSE and A-level compositions in the Friends’ Recital Hall were musicians including sixthformer Leo Sellis, with his quirkily titled piece for alto sax, 7W Microwave, and Year 11’s Felix Chen, playing his Rondo in F minor. Musical support came from friends and peers, as well as alumni Conor Parker-Delves (OE 2015–2022, now at the Royal Northern

College of Music) and Tristan Boldy (OE 2013–2020) who returned to play saxophone and trumpet respectively.

For the finale, the massed ranks of the Chamber Choir and Orchestra performed sections of Mozart’s Requiem. It was, said Director of Music Ruth Partington, both “stirring and powerful”.

Capital concert treat

QE’s chamber musicians headed to Chelsea to give a special concert in front of family and friends at Coach House Pianos on the New Kings Road. The boys also enjoyed the opportunity to sample some of the stylish high-end instruments in the showroom. The trip, which the Music department organised to celebrate the chamber ensembles’ hard work, rekindled QE’s partnership with the firm. Coach House Pianos was involved in the selection of new pianos for The Friends' Recital Hall and Music Rooms.

Musical farewell

The Leavers’ Concert on the penultimate day of this term began with a specially put together Year 13 Ensemble playing – appropriately enough – The Final Countdown by Europe. The remainder of the programme featured genres ranging from jazz to music from both south and north India. After the presentation of Music colours by the Headmaster, a grand finale saw the School Choir and Orchestra massing to perform excerpts from Les Misérables.

Artists’ fresh look at familiar spaces

QE pupils’ artworks feature in a special exhibition starting this weekend. Explore:Imagine:Rebuild at the Apthorp Gallery in North Finchley’s artsdepot shows the results of a project led by professional artists Abigail Hunt and Ngan-Sum Tse-Cappi. In workshops, they encouraged the boys to explore the spaces they live, learn and play in – and then reimagine them through sculpture, mapping, and collaborative making.

Double first – in chess

QE

is the first school ever to have two teams qualify for the national final of the 30-team English Schools Chess Championship.

Following their flying start in last term’s regional round, Teams A and B won their places at June’s University of Nottingham final with a string of victories over familiar rivals in the zonal stages.

After first seeing off North London Collegiate School and Harrow, the B team led the way by winning their zonal final against Merchant Taylors’ by 4.5 points to 1.5. The A team followed suit with a convincing victory over Haberdashers’ Boys’: in fact, they won all 24 of their individual zonal games, wiping out Bishop Douglass

School and Dame Alice Owen’s as well as Habs.

Teacher in charge of chess Geoff Roberts said: “It’s been a memorable term, which has culminated in us making history! While the old format may possibly have seen schools with teams in both the main and plate national final competitions, no school has ever had two teams qualify since the English Chess Federation moved to the straightforward 30-team format a decade or so ago.” The QE teams comprise boys from Year 7 all the way through to Year 13.

Leavers return

Approximately half of the 2025 leavers returned to QE for this week’s University Convention. The event in the Shearly Hall saw them grouped firstly by areas of academic interest – so that the Year 12s could get course-based advice and guidance – and then geographically, for information about destinations. This was the second visit this term for some, as ten of these youngest Old Elizabethans came in for a Q&A with Year 13 about life at university in January.

Record support for Careers Convention Show

A record 65 guests supported Year 11 boys at this year’s Careers Convention, giving advice on everything from law to dentistry.

There were new workshops on degree apprenticeship assessment centres and

on being ‘future-ready’ in a rapidly changing labour market – one of the six key priorities in the School plan, Boundless. The guests included more than 30 alumni, as well as parents and other industry specialists.

Assistant Head (Destinations and Progress) James Kane said: “Our Careers Convention grows stronger each year, and 2026 was our most inspiring yet. The event encourages boys to explore both traditional and alternate pathways, providing them with first-hand insights.”

me what you’ve got!

This year’s QE Futures day with entrepreneur Amanda Slavin saw Year 9 pitch their ideas for an educational app for young people.

Assistant Head James Kane said: “Our pupils duly impressed Amanda with a host of confident presentations – apps that could teach you to cook better, to manage your health and fitness, and, of course, to excel at maths revision!”

Next stop, the Worlds!

Six QE teams have won places in next month’s World VEX Robotics Championships in St Louis, Missouri, following strong performances at the national competition finals in Telford.

All three senior teams went through, with teams Nova and Rogue winning the Innovate and Think Awards respectively in their V5 national competition, while Zenith impressed in the Skills category.

The six members of Omega in the IQ junior competition in Telford were all first-time competitors there, yet they picked up the event’s overall Design Award to secure their place at the ‘Worlds’. Teams Gearsquad and

CircuitBreakers both took an Innovation Award and are also America-bound.

A QE Year 12 team were the only team from outside North America to join the Mecha Mayhem robotics showcase event in Calgary, Canada. They achieved a top-20 finish out of 74 teams, also finding time to enjoy a thrilling game of NHL ice hockey and a trip up Calgary Tower.

Engineers strike gold

Six Year 12 pupils studied at the internationally renowned Dyson Centre for Industrial Design, part of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, in a two-day Industrial Cadets Gold Project residential workshop. The cadets, in two teams, used specialist equipment barred even to Cambridge undergraduates until late in their courses.

Three QE pupils are among just 24 semi-finalists nationwide in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition.

Sparsh Shrivastava, of Year 8, Ishan Jakkulwar, of Year 11, and Devansh Jha, of Year 13, won their semi-final places for their success in leading their respective teams.

Their technological solutions for realworld problems secured them: a set of Samsung earbuds each, a 45-minute mentoring and a prototyping session, and a Samsung tablet for their teachers. In addition, because it had more than five entries in the competition, QE has been recognised as a Samsung Solve for Tomorrow School, giving it access to further opportunities with Samsung and its partners.

Mini marvels Semi-final successes

Sixth-formers saw some of the world’s newest manufacturing technology at one of the UK’s oldest car factories. Danyal Talha, of Year 13, said their trip to the Mini Plant at Cowley, Oxford, provided a “a fabulous insight into realworld flexible manufacturing systems”.

Double top!

Two QE teams took joint first place in a Royal Society of Chemistry competition.

The eight chemists from Years 9–11 – four in each team – outstripped 50 other school teams to win the Chilterns and Middlesex final in the Top of the Bench contest.

The School also showed its strength in depth: five of the eight QE teams who entered finished in the top ten.

Congratulating the winners on their “spectacular success”, the Headmaster

said: “Providing our pupils with ‘stretch and support’ beyond the curriculum through competitions such as this is a great way to explore their Boundless potential and encourage a genuine love of learning.”

The winners’ prize included a behindthe-scenes tour of Imperial College White City’s chemistry labs – a privilege denied to many undergraduates until their fourth year at university.

Rising to the challenge

Four sixth-formers came fourth in a field of 50 top teams at the national final of the Senior Team Maths Challenge – QE’s highest-ever finish in the UK Maths Trust’s long-running competition.

After taking joint first place in their regional final in Cambridge, they only narrowly missed out on the top three places in Manchester.

The team comprised: 2026 School Captain Tunishq Mitra; his fellow Year 12 pupil, Mohith Sigirisetti, Year 13’s Hisham Khan; and William Joanes, also of Year 13.