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A leading economic journalist kept his audience of GCSE and A-level pupils enthralled with a talk that covered topics ranging from pension thefts more than a decade ago to the global stock market falls of recent weeks.

Liam Halligan is Economics Commentator with The Telegraph Group. He is also a Permanent Panellist for CNN Talk, a commentator for UnHerd – a weekly internet publication edited by Tim Montgomerie, formerly of The Times – and Editor-at-Large at bne IntelliNews, a source of English-language news and analysis about 34 countries, from Poland to Turkey and Mongolia to Russia.

In his talk to the School’s Economics Society, he recalled some of the news stories and issues he has covered, as well as giving advice on the rewards and challenges of journalism as a career. His latest cover story for the Spectator, headlined The Crash We Need, welcomed this month’s sharp falls in the markets as a necessary correction.

Thanking Mr Halligan after the talk, Headmaster Neil Enright, who is a fellow Governor with Mr Halligan at The John Lyon School in Harrow, said: “I know that the boys greatly appreciate the opportunity to hear from and question those who hold prominent positions in fields such as journalism. I am sure they will have taken away a good insight into aspects of print and broadcast media.

“It is particularly important for our boys to hear from those who, like many of them, may not have grown up in highly academic or professionally networked families, but have nevertheless achieved notable success. The persistence and dedication that it takes to establish oneself in an industry whereby such heritage is almost the norm is something that we work to cultivate and support in our boys.”

During his visit, Mr Halligan, who took a first-class class degree in Economics at the University of Warwick and an MPhil at Oxford, recounted how he helped to exonerate RAF pilots blamed for the 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook helicopter crash many years after the disaster and how he exposed pension thefts in 2007. His career also included covering post-Soviet Russia for both The Economist and the Wall Street Journal in the turbulent period in the early 1990s after the break-up of the USSR.

He particularly highlighted the stress of deadlines and the need to be able to work under time pressure. He once received a call from the editor of the Spectator asking him to write the cover story in just four hours.

“You need to be able to entertain, as well as educate and inform, have a spirit of adventure and be willing to challenge decision-makers,” Mr Halligan told the boys. “Success follows those who are confident, driven and versatile. You also need to be a good colleague, as well as being informed about a wide range of topics.”

There were a number of questions from the audience. Year 12 pupil Parth Gosalia said: “When asked about his views on the state of the Government, Mr Halligan told us that politics is very vibrant and that this is, indeed, a very promising time for the UK.”

The questions turned to the effect Brexit would have on the UK economy – an issue about which Mr Halligan was optimistic. “He argued in favour of a clean break from the EU and the Single Market,” said Parth. “His case for Brexit seemed to epitomise the entirety of his talk, in that it provided a fresh perspective to the assembled students.”

The Christmas 2017 Draw was recently held and the fortunate prize winners and their prizes are detailed below.

If you would like to be part of the 200 Club and have a chance of winning prizes which are  drawn twice a year whilst raising Funds for the Memorial Playing Fields and the School please contact Martyn Bradish at mb@bradish.co.uk for a standing order form.

Good luck to all our 200 Club members in the next draw to be held at the School on Founder’s Day.

A team of QE boys has achieved the School’s best-ever result in the national final of the Senior Team Maths Challenge.

The four boys from Year 12 scored 197 points out of a possible 230 and were placed seventh out of 86 teams. Kiran Aberdeen, Bashmy Basheer, Aadi Desai and Niam Vaishnav were invited to the national final after achieving one of the highest second-place scores in the regional rounds in November 2017.

The final of the UK Mathematics Trust competition, which was held at the Royal Horticultural Halls in St James’s Park, London, was won by Ruthin School, an independent school in Denbighshire, who scored 223.

Assistant Head of Mathematics Wendy Fung said “The boys performed very creditably against a very high-quality field of opponents.”

The challenge comprises four rounds, which test a wide range of mathematical skills. In the Group round, each team had 40 minutes in which to solve ten questions; they had to decide whether to work individually, in pairs or as a group. The Crossnumber round – crossnumbers are similar to a crossword but with numerical answers – the teams worked in pairs, with one pair taking the across clues and the other the down clues. The exercise required logic and deduction.

In the Shuttle round, the teams had to compete against the clock to answer a series of four questions, with questions 2, 3 and 4 all dependent on the answer from the previous question. In the final relay round, the teams were required to split into pairs, taking it in turns to solve problems – the round involved movement as well as Mathematics.

Kiran, the team captain, said: “It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. My favourite problem was about the number of possible routes between two vertices.”

QE economists were given insights into the City and the state of the UK economy during a conference at a leading independent school.

The event hosted by St Paul’s School featured a presentation by George Dinenis, a trader at Deutsche Bank, who enlightened boys about the day-to-day realities of working in the financial world. Mr Dinenis, who trades contracts and handles books worth up to £200 million, also discussed some of the implications of economic policy, such as the end of quantitative easing and the impact it had had on his work.

His presentation was complemented by an address from George Buckley, Chief Economist at Nomura, the global investment bank, who presented his economic outlook for 2018 and beyond.

Dr Buckley talked about the opportunities and risks associated with the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. He covered issues ranging from the impacts of exchange rates to productivity.

The conference began with a team trading game, in which QE’s Year 12 boys were mixed with participants from other schools to take on different roles, such as manufacturers and bankers, within simulated commodity markets.

The trip was overseen by Shamendra Uduwawala, Head of Economics, who said Mr Dinenis’s talk offered “an excellent opportunity for the boys to learn about the demands of the banking sector, as well as providing information on routes into the industry. He stressed how important it was to choose to study a subject at university that one is passionate about and not merely because it might seem a more obvious entry to a particular career.” Mr Dinenis himself studied Physics at Imperial College before choosing a career in finance.

“The topics covered in Dr Buckley’s talk provided a great opportunity for boys to apply the macroeconomic concepts and ideas they had learnt in the classroom to a relevant real-world context,” said Mr Uduwawala. “The boys rose to the occasion, taking the opportunity to question Dr Buckley on his views.

“Overall the trip was a great learning experience and provided fresh insights into the world of banking and the UK economy for all the boys involved.”

It was ‘standing room only’ when two high-profile figures from the world of international and Premier League football visited the School.

Boys and staff alike turned out in force to hear from David Dein, a respected entrepreneur and businessman who was Vice-Chairman of Arsenal from 1983 to 2007 and is also a former Vice-Chairman of the FA, and Gary Mabbutt, a former professional footballer for Spurs and England.

Mr Dein spoke predominantly about the business side of the Premier League, describing its establishment in 1992 and charting its growth. He also touched on his role at Arsenal, where he was instrumental in appointing the then little-known manager, Arsene Wenger, and in the signing of legendary players like Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas. Under Wenger, the club has won the Premier League title three times and the FA Cup seven times.

Mr Dein brought former FA Cup-winning Spurs captain, Gary Mabbutt, with him as a special guest. Mr Mabbutt, who made more than 750 professional appearances for club and country, spoke largely about the role of the Professional Footballers’ Association and the way it supports players both during their playing careers and afterwards.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The boys, my colleagues and I all appreciated the opportunity to hear David’s first-hand account of the birth of the Premier League and enjoyed his insight into many aspects of the modern game. I know that the boys will have been able to take away a good deal of advice relevant to business and their careers, beyond simply the remit of football.”

“They always value being able to put their questions to those pre-eminent in their respective fields and particularly relished this opportunity. Despite our being a rugby-playing School, football is, of course, one of their favourite topics for discussion.”

Mr Dein, who led the unsuccessful England bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018, talked about the importance of teamwork, demonstrating this by inviting a boy to snap a single pencil and then to try again when 11 pencils were banded together.

He also used a can of the ‘magic paint’ used by referees to mark where a ball should be spotted for a free kick and where the players’ defensive wall should stand, recounting being pitched the product by its inventor when visiting South America. After spraying the School’s Conference Centre floor, he joked: “This is designed to last for about three minutes – oh, that’s on grass. On this floor, it should be gone in about three months!”

He involved the boys in his demonstrations, with his presentation stimulating a lively question-and-answer session. “It’s important to always strive to be your best and to get up each day thinking, ‘how can I be better than yesterday?’” said Mr Dein. He noted that at Arsenal, the last two players to leave the training ground were invariably Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, two of the club’s most talented players.

The visit was organised through the auspices of Performing Artistes – an organisation providing speakers from the worlds of entertainment, media, politics and sports – with Mr Dein inviting Mr Mabbutt along to provide some ‘North London balance’.

Mr Mabbutt has been involved with the PFA for a number of years. It was established in 1907 and is the longest-established sports’ union in the world. Its aims are to protect, improve and negotiate the conditions, rights and status of all professional players. In recent times it has supported its members in disputes with the Premier League, the Football League and the Football Association with regard to the PFA’s entitlement to a percentage of television revenue. It is also notable for the work it does to support players and former players who may be struggling with addiction, depression or mental health issues.

“We all learned much about the role of the PFA and the support they give to players both during and beyond their careers. I know that my Spurs-supporting colleagues were especially thrilled to meet Gary,” added Mr Enright.