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Founder’s Day, the traditional highlight of the Queen Elizabeth’s School calendar, this year saw the revival of an old tradition – a cricket match between the current First XI and an old boys’ team.

The day began with the Founder’s Day Thanksgiving Service at Chipping Barnet Parish Church, after which parents, boys and staff enjoyed a fete at the School organised by the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s.

Headmaster Neil Enright said:  “It was an excellent day: even the weather played its part, with the showers that we had feared failing to materialise, enabling the fete to be held outside and the cricket match to go ahead.”

“Earlier in the day at the service our guest speaker, Piers Martin, Director and CEO of British Fencing, gave a most interesting address, discussing the British Olympic fencing team and the dedication and hard work required to succeed at Olympic level.” Mr Martin was a QE pupil from 1987 to 1994, while his father, Barrie Martin, is the Chairman of the Governing Body.

“Immediately after the service, I enjoyed giving the traditional Roll Call on Stapylton Field and the Reading of the School Chronicle – the first time I have had this privilege since becoming Headmaster last September,” added Mr Enright.

These formal proceedings were followed by the fete, which featured many traditional delights, such as home-made cakes, cream teas, Pimms and a tombola. The International Food Tent proved popular, serving food from India, Japan, China, West Africa, Turkey and Sri Lanka. There was a bouncy castle for younger children, while the QE boys enjoyed the opportunity to pelt teachers Liam Hargadon and Michael Feven with wet sponges as they sat in the stocks, as well as the ‘smashing the crockery’ stall.

The cricket match, which was last played regularly in the early 20th century, is now known as the Stanley Busby Memorial Match. It has been named in honour of Mr Busby,  who was a QE parent and was also a Governor from 1989-2011. The match was revived in 1984 for one year only as a retirement ‘gift’ to another loyal servant of the School – Eric Shearly (1920-2005), a former pupil and master. Now it has been permanently re-instated by the Headmaster.

“Happily, the first playing of the match in the 21st century resulted in an exciting, closely fought game, with the School First XI emerging as narrow winners: a fitting close to a splendid day,” said Mr Enright.

In the 30-over match, which started at 2pm on the Third Field, the Old Elizabethans – who were mainly in their late twenties – batted first. They set a target of 169, losing four wickets and ending their innings with Nick Jones on 95 not out. In reply, aided by Sebastian Feszczur-Hatchett’s 53, the First XI amassed a similar total. They then won the match with a four off the last ball of the day, finishing on 171-5.

More than 300 children and 30 adults from five local primary schools enjoyed a specially organised concert at QE. The youngsters also made the most of the opportunity to find out more about the instruments they had heard.

The children from Bushey Heath Primary School, Christ Church CofE School, Foulds School, Frith Manor Primary School and Moss Hall Junior School were treated to a broad repertoire including Elgar’s Pomp & Circumstance March No.4, Walton’s Crown Imperial and Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King.

 “We were delighted to welcome the children to QE for this musical event,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “Our place in the local community is of great importance to us and it is very satisfying to have the opportunity to share our facilities and expertise with others.”

The focus of the concert was on recognising the instruments of the orchestra. The QE boys demonstrated, and talked about, their individual instruments. These included the viola, double bass, oboe, bassoon and tuba – some of which the visiting children had not seen before.

QE’s Director of Music, Kieron Howe, said: “The visitors clearly enjoyed their visit and I was very impressed with how entertaining and informative our boys were when explaining their instruments to the younger children. The event was of mutual benefit to all involved.”

Over the course of the concert the visiting children heard the instruments in a large ensemble, small ensembles and individually. Mr Howe said he hoped the experience would inspire the younger children either to take up an instrument for the first time, or to practise their instruments even more.

QE boys were given a special tour of the cosmos during a visit to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.

A group of 23 Year 9 students took part in a visit to attend an interactive show entitled Solar System, Galaxy, Universe and Beyond, which was led by one of the ROG’s astronomers. They received insights into how observations by early astronomers led to a modern understanding of the solar system and how astronomers first measured the distances to the nearest stars. The show then moved on to the latest technologies for exploring and understanding structures in space.

“The boys thoroughly enjoyed the visit,” said Physics teacher John Varndell. “In addition to the show, the boys visited the newly-refurbished planetarium and saw John Harrison’s famous chronometers. They also had the opportunity to bestride the east/west meridian line.”

En route to the Observatory, in brilliant weather, the boys were able to see the Cutty Sark and the new Olympic Equestrian Stadium. “The boys’ behaviour was exemplary,” said Mr Varndell. “A teacher from another school praised both their behaviour and appearance, which was very satisfying.”

Six Year 10 boys have achieved the gold standard in a national Biology competition. A further 10 boys were awarded silver and 23 bronze medals in the Biology Challenge, organised by the Society of Biology. The competition is the junior version of the Biology Olympiad, in which QE has also recorded considerable success.

It is the first time the School has entered the junior competition: 130 boys sat two 30-minute papers covering all aspects of Biology. Christopher Brown, Adam Hilsenrath, Andre Hui, Bhavik Mehta, Roy Aronya and Tialin Zhang were all awarded gold medals.

More than 30,000 students from across the UK took part in the competition, the stated purpose of which is to encourage interest in Biology beyond the curriculum. It also aims to reward those students whose knowledge of the subject has been increased by reading books and magazines, and by watching natural history programmes.

 “The boys rose to this new challenge,” said Dr Gillian Ridge, the School’s Head of Biology. “I hope it will encourage them to be even more curious about Biology in the world around them.”

In addition to the medal winners, a further 31 QE boys were highly commended and 24 were commended.

A group of Year 10 students have taken part in an academic symposium at a leading independent girls’ school. The 45 boys joined a group at the North London Collegiate School (NLCS) for an afternoon of discussion and debate on a broad range of academic topics, including core areas of English and Science, specialisms such as Music and History of Art and Classical Civilisation and Current Affairs.

The purpose of the symposium is to broaden the academic opportunities on offer to QE’s pupils and has become an annual event since its successful launch last year.

“We enjoy a number of links with high-achieving schools, both in the state and independent sectors,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “A cross-curricular symposium such as this gives students the opportunity to develop their critical thinking and discursive talents. It also takes them outside the comfort zone of learning and discussion solely with their classmates, and helps to develop social confidence too.”

NLCS was named Sunday Times Independent School of the Year in 1999 and 2006, while QE was top state school in the Financial Times Top 1000 Schools 2011 table.

During the symposium a number of topics were introduced by the teachers, but it was then left to the students to ‘drive’ the discussion. Tahmer Mahmoud, who is QE’s Head of Academic Enrichment, said: “The boys thoroughly enjoy these symposia and the opportunities they provide to generate sophisticated responses to a given issue. The level of critical thinking that is provoked amongst the students is of a very high standard.”

During the afternoon, each student gave a brief presentation on a source material before joining in a more general discussion within their groups. The sessions were chaired by Year 12 students, providing them with useful experience of overseeing and directing lively debates.