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Sixth-Formers Alex Davis and Scott Grossman have won a prestigious award recognising young leadership.

Alex and Scott secured the award from the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) for their work in leading QE’s Jewish Society.

UJIA is an organisation which works to foster stronger links between Israel and the UK and to strengthen Jewish identity. Each year it presents an award to the most inspiring person or persons delivering Jewish education in an informal setting.

“I am delighted to present Alex and Scott with the UJIA Young Leaders Award,” said Robin Moss, a UJIA Fieldworker. “They have shown outstanding leadership of the Jewish Society at QE over the last two years and are a credit to the School.”

In a letter to David Ryan, QE’s Head of Sixth Form, Mr Moss added that the society also greatly appreciates the School’s supportive attitude to the Jewish Society. “We work with the boys to provide them with speakers, food and other support, but it is only because of the positive, progressive ethos of the School towards cultural diversity that the society is as successful as it is.”

The boys received their prize at a special ceremony at the School.

A guest lecturer from Kings College London had QE Sixth-Formers literally tearing out their own hair – as part of her presentation on DNA technology. Dr Elizabeth Glennon, from the Department of Neuroscience in Kings College’s Institute of Psychiatry, offered all 50 of the School’s Year 13 Biology students the opportunity to try out three processes used in current DNA research.

The day started with boys removing their own hair to provide root tips for a DNA extraction test. They then used the School’s own Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine to amplify the samples by a billion. The third and final process was gel electrophoresis, for which the DNA was loaded into a gel through which an electric current was run. This enabled the boys to observe banding patterns, as typically seen in genetic fingerprinting.

“The boys found this an interesting and enriching day,” said Biology teacher Martin Bassett-Jones. “It provided a rare opportunity for them to use modern-day genetic technology in their own classroom.”

The boys used the techniques they had been shown to amplify copies of DNA taken from tails of transgenic mice (mice with mutant copies of a human gene cloned into them) to compare with normal mice DNA. Dr Glennon explained how the research with mice may help to provide a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

A screening of the film Solar System, Galaxy, Universe and Beyond was one of the highlights of a Year 8 Science trip to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

The screening in the Planetarium was followed by a special workshop on exoplanets – planets which are being discovered around other stars. The visit to the observatory, famous as the home of Greenwich Mean Time, was organised to build on Science classroom studies.

As the Prime Meridian in the World, Greenwich marks the starting point for each new day and year and boys were able to stand with one foot in each hemisphere. The observatory also boasts the UK’s largest refracting telescope.

The visit took in a glimpse of the newly-restored tea clipper Cutty Sark, and a trip to the area’s covered market.

QE’s young geographers enjoyed a successful trip to Italy – with highlights that ranged from eating pizza to seeing the ruins of Pompeii.

The half-term visit for Years 7-9 began with a day spent at three attractions all connected with volcanic activity. As well as seeing the casts of dead bodies in Pompeii, the boys walked to the rim of Mount Vesuvius – the only active volcano in mainland Europe – and experienced the sulphurous steam jets, bubbling mud pools and crystallised rock formations at Solfatara, thought by the ancient Romans to be the gateway to the Underworld.

On the following day, the party took in a visit to the island of Capri, including a boat trip to see the coastline formations, a walking tour to the Gardens of Augustus and a funicular railway ride.

The final full day in Italy began with a coach trip along the Amalfi Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with the later morning spent enjoying the mediaeval architecture of Amalfi. The afternoon had a food theme, beginning with a visit to the Vannulo Buffalo Mozzarella Farm and then to Olive & Lemon Farm & Mill, where the day ended with a complimentary pizza and soft drink.

Trip organiser and Geography teacher Geraldine Booth said: “We packed a great deal into the trip and the boys had a thoroughly enjoyable time, while also deepening their subject knowledge through visits to some truly spectacular geographical and geological features.”

The family and friends of Guy Joseph have been on a successful trip to Nepal to start construction of the first Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC) in his memory.

The centre is being funded by Guy’s Trust – a charity set up by the family of Guy (OE 1997-2002) following his death at the age of 25 in a paragliding accident in the Pyrenees in October 2011. The trust supports disadvantaged children and conservation, two causes about which Guy was especially passionate.

A 31-strong group, including friends from Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and the USA, travelled to Dhikurpokhari, a village in the Annapurna foothills. Guy lived in the nearby town of Pokhara in Nepal for several months during the winter of 2010-11. He loved the country and its people, especially the children, and had planned to return there.

After attending a welcome ceremony arranged by the villagers, the group and the locals began the hard work of digging the foundations. They also started the laborious task of making the 8,000 bricks needed, using a machine to manufacture one brick at a time.

In a report for the charity’s newsletter, Guy’s mother, Vicky Joseph, wrote: “As always we were greeted like royalty…we were reminded yet again just how hard life is here and how the ECDCs will help to lift the next generation out of poverty.

“There is a huge need for schools for younger children in Nepal, particularly for girls and the untouchable dalit class. Despite the government’s commitment to free education for all, at least one million children in Nepal do not go to school. Each Guy Joseph ECDC will provide for 150 children up to the age of seven preparing them for and ensuring their entry into primary school. In addition, Guy’s Trust will be training 25 teachers for the surrounding area, offering education in nutrition, health and hygiene to parents and paying for uniforms and lunches. We will also maintain the ECDCs for three years, after which time the local community is committed to taking over.”

The trust, in partnership with the international Non-Governmental Organisation, ActionAid, is now building two further ECDCs, the second being in Dansingh and the third being in the village of Armala, in the Kaski district of Nepal. In addition, Guy’s Trust is funding four ‘MantaWatch’ internships for students to work on manta ray conservation in Indonesia. The trust is also funding another manta ray conservation project being run by one of Guy’s old university friends in the Maldives.

Mrs Joseph said the trip inevitably raised mixed emotions: “Amongst the hard work, there was much time for reflecting on the paradoxes of why we were in Nepal – the fun we were all having and the sadness underlying the fun; how much Guy would have loved the experience and that we wouldn’t be here had he still been with us. And the birds of prey constantly riding the thermals above the valley reminding me of how Guy must have felt paragliding. Tear-filled conversations with his friends revealed that I was not alone.”

The local people are now working to complete the school before the monsoon season. It is scheduled to open in the autumn this year.

“A school is more than a building, and thoughts are already turning to how we can build upon what we’ve started and continue to support the children we have met. This is the beginning, not the end, and an experience I think none of the group will forget,” Mrs Joseph concluded.

• For more information about Guy’s Trust, and to read the full version of Mrs Joseph’s report, go to www.guystrust.org