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Body image took centre-stage at a Year 12 assembly held as part of QE’s pastoral support programme.

Nicole Schnackenberg, of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) Foundation, explained to the boys that BDD is the perception of a major flaw or imperfection in appearance, which can lead to hours of pre-occupation, camouflaging and even self- harm.

She outlined how societal changes have had an impact on body image, with technological developments spanning the centuries from the invention of modern mirrors through the advent of television to the growth of social media, such as Instagram, all playing their part.

“BDD is not about vanity,” said Ms Schnackenberg. “It affects boys as well as girls and can include an obsessive desire to ‘bulk out’ or, conversely, to lose weight.” She went on to say that BDD has one of the highest suicide rates of any mental health diagnosis.

Having outlined some of the common behaviour associated with BDD – avoiding mirrors, skin-picking, anxiety, depression and eating disorders – she urged the boys to look out for their friends’ wellbeing as well as their own. She also pointed them towards sources of information and support, including GPs, the BDD Foundation and OCD Action, the national charity for obsessive compulsive disorder.

Ms Schnackenberg rounded off her presentation with the encouraging news that many people, with timely and appropriate intervention, make a full recovery and go on to lead happy, meaningful and fulfilled lives.

Head of Year 12 Michael Feven said “We are committed to ensuring that our boys have the highest standard of pastoral care and access to external sources of information on topics relating to their physical and mental health. It is also important that we talk openly about such matters. Therefore, we very much appreciated Nicole’s clear and helpful presentation, which was followed by a useful Q&A session.”

One QE team won gold medals at the inaugural Hertfordshire School Fencing Championships, while another took silver.

The U13 First team saw off five other teams to take gold and the U15 lead team claimed silver, both in the Foil discipline. The School’s U13 Second team were placed fourth, also in the Foil competition.

All the boys train at the School with coaches coming in from the Paul Davis Fencing Academy (PDFA), who hosted the championships.

Maria-Jose Faustino, who is the Welfare Officer for the PDFA, said: “All the fencers were delighted by their success. They were given their medals at a presentation at the event along with gold and silver school certificates.”

The U13 gold medal-winning team comprised Abdullah Chisti (Year 9), Umer Saad

Rahman (Year 8) and Mrinaank Chilkoti (Year 9). The U15 silver medallists were Ayush Patel, Batu Cakir and Sultan Khokhar, all from Year 9. The U13 second team was made up of Dilan Patel (Year 8), Musab Alam (Year 8) and Ali Chisti.

Pearce emerged triumphant as the first winners of the newly revived inter-House Music competition when their version of the hit song from the 1980s film classic, Dirty Dancing, found favour with the judges.

Run for the first time in five years, the reformatted contest featured specially formed ensembles drawing boys from across all year groups.

Each House’s ensemble had to choose a piece based on the theme of the Oscars and then arrange and rehearse it. The competition culminated with a performance of all the pieces to the whole Lower School (Years 7-10) at a special assembly in the Shearly Hall.

Congratulating all the ensembles, Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The boys faced a tricky task: they had first to take into account the particular talents within their House when selecting their piece; then they had to arrange the music themselves, and finally, they faced the challenge of performing together in front of their peers.

“This competition constituted a great opportunity for boys of differing ages to work together and foster that shared sense of House identity. It is an experience that will no doubt stand them in good stead for other Music competitions in the future.”

The judging panel comprised QE music teachers Tom Jack and Jen Brown, as well as St Albans High School for Girls’ Director of Music, Miss Emma Price, who led the panel and delivered both the feedback and results.

Pearce won the day with their rendition of (I’ve had) The Time of My Life. The judges felt the boys performed well in all areas, but specifically highlighted the strong sense of rhythm and timing providing by Pearce’s drummer, and the timing and quality of their saxophone solos.

Runners-up Harrisons’, who played Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire, drew plaudits in particular for their use of Indian drummers for a call-and-response segment, as well as for their generally strong performance.

Overall, Miss Price commended the boys on some very good playing, whilst proffering useful practical advice to consider for future competitions.

Year 13 pupil Abbas Adejonwo, who was part of the Harrisons’ team, remembers the old Music competition, in which boys performed pieces individually. He recalls finding the experience somewhat daunting as a Year 8 boy, and he welcomed the different arrangements adopted for the revived competition: “It was an exhilarating experience competing in this new format. It really instilled a sense of teamwork – and I am very proud of my House.”

The Music competition complements the broad range of inter-House competitions now running through the year, with points won at this event added to the overall House Competition totals.

In order of appearance, the performances were as follows, with the competition positions in brackets:

• • Leicester – Can you feel the love tonight? from The Lion King (third)

• • Broughton – I dreamed a dream from Les Misérables (fifth)

• • Stapylton – Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (sixth)

• • Underne – Themes from Gladiator (fourth)

• • Pearce – (I’ve had) The Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing (first)

• • Harrisons’ – Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire (second)

A Lower School lecture about the role and experience of women led to lively debate amongst the boys.

Alice Fookes, an Awareness-Raiser for UN Women (the United Nations organisation dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women), gave a wide-ranging talk on issues ranging from the limited access women and girls have to health care and education in certain parts of the world to the leadership & political participation of women. Amongst other topics she brought forward were: negative cultural practices; how to end violence against women and girls; economic empowerment, and HIV & AIDS.

She asked the boys at QE to talk to the women in their lives – whether mothers, sisters or cousins – about their experiences and to try to understand how they felt about issues.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Alice brought an important and thought-provoking contribution, which engaged the boys. We aspire for our boys to be among the leaders in their generation; to do so effectively they will need to be able to understand issues from a broad range of perspectives and to analyse how others are affected by them.”

Ms Fookes talked about the work of the United Nations and its flagship programmes for women, including promoting safer cities, providing decent work and social protection, and the development of female humanitarian programmes in refugee camps. She outlined the UN’s desire to end discrimination and violence against women and girls, to eliminate harmful practices, such as child marriage, and to encourage women’s participation and leadership in decision-making.

In the Q&A session, there was a discussion of what feminism means and whether there are different versions of it. She averred that men could be feminists, stating that her husband and son would describe themselves in that way, and that feminism does not have to be about being anti-male, suggesting it is more about genuine equality.

“This was also another opportunity for boys to practise asking effective questions,” said Mr Enright. “It enabled them to explore issues more deeply and to challenge an aspect of an argument.”

QE’s actors combined adventure with comedy in their fast-moving re-telling of John Buchan’s much-loved tale of espionage and danger, The 39 Steps.

The 2018 School Play involved a cast of almost 40 boys drawn from Years 7–13, supported by boys in directing and technical roles and by a team of composers and instrumentalists led by Director of Music Cheryl Horne.

The final night in the Main School Hall ended on an emotional note, as this was the last School Play for the production’s Director, Elaine White, who retires this summer. In addition to flowers, she received a tribute in the form of a book from QE actors past and present containing their memories of the many productions in which she has been involved.

Headmaster Neil Enright, who watched the play alongside Chairman of Governors Barrie Martin MBE, said: “Elaine has been pivotal in making Drama once again a central part of the extra-curricular offer at QE; I am most grateful for her dedication and commitment over the years. She has brought great joy to QE’s young actors and to audiences alike.”

“The 39 Steps was a fitting swansong. The production was very entertaining – it has been many years since I have laughed so much! – and highly memorable, too. It was also well-attended over the two nights. And perhaps most importantly, the boys involved seemed to thoroughly enjoy performing.

“Those playing the female roles did so with great conviction – dancing in high heels is no mean feat –while Year 9 boy Shivas Patel, who played Mrs McGarigle, spoke with a very convincing Scottish accent. I must also commend the performance of George Raynor, of Year 10, in the lead role of Hannay, who had a very large number of lines to learn and was involved in a good deal of the action.”

The 39 Steps was among the first spy thrillers ever written. Its author, who was born in Scotland in 1875, had a remarkable life which included: helping in the re-structuring of South Africa following the Boer War; working as a literary adviser for a London publishing house, and serving in the First World War firstly in the Intelligence Corps and later in the Ministry of Information, while also working as a war correspondent for The Times. After the war, he became assistant director of the British news agency, Reuters, and was the Unionist Member of Parliament for the Scottish universities, 1927–35. In 1935 he was created Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield and also appointed Governor-General of Canada – a post he held until his death in 1940 from a cerebral thrombosis. Buchan wrote throughout his adult life.

Year 7 were treated to a matinee performance before the two public evening performances.