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With a wide range of public musical performances and their traditional Christmas lunch, QE boys enjoyed a busy but satisfying end to the term, reports the Headmaster.

The Saxophone Quartet were invited to perform at the Borehamwood Rotary Club’s Christmas Concert. The Top Brass ensemble and members of the Chamber Choir were in demand to perform carols in the local Spires shopping centre (in aid of Cherry Lodge Cancer Care) and at the Thomas Watson Cottage Homes in Barnet.

“The annual Christmas Concert in Shearly Hall was very well received by the audience, who enjoyed the eclectic programme, which included movements from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and pieces by Bach and Corelli,” said Neil Enright, Headmaster.

There were performances from the String Camerata, the Concert Band, the Senior String Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra and the Junior Indian Ensemble as well as the Choir and Chamber Choir. The Concert was rounded off with a selection of carols, with the audience joining in with great enthusiasm.

The School’s traditional Service of Nine Lessons & Carols, in the Parish Church, was a fitting musical finale, with its blend of choral pieces and congregational carols.

On the penultimate day of term, a festive atmosphere reigned as boys and staff enjoyed a traditional Christmas dinner of turkey and trimmings, with a vegetarian alternative. This year, the lunch was held in the School’s temporary dining facility, the Atrium. Next year, the Headmaster added, the School is looking forward to celebrating the season in the new dining room, which is currently under construction.

A British 100m finalist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics led a sprint workshop with a group of 14 QE athletes of mixed ages.

Jeanette Kwayke’s visit to the School was part of a special initiative aimed at boosting confidence and increasing attainment. She spent the day at QE working with boys ranging from Year 7 to Year 13, including John Otugade, who is hotly tipped as an Olympic prospect himself.

Jeanette, who graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Politics & Economics, was the only European to make the final of the 100m Women’s Sprint in Beijing. She finished in sixth place with a personal best time of 11.14s, having become the first British woman to reach the Olympic sprint final since 1984.

Her finest performances include smashing the British 60m record with a time of 7.08s in the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She finished 2008 as number 2 in the world’s women’s rankings. She suffered a career-threatening injury in 2010 and missed out on the opportunity to compete at London 2012.

The visit to QE was part of her role as one of Sky Sports Living for Sport Mentors. It came about following an application from PE teacher James Clarke.

The initiative is designed to motivate and inspire pupils to participate and succeed in their chosen sports. It uses sports stars and sports skills to improve the lives of thousands of young people.

“Sport helps people think, helps people listen, helps people to speak up and helps people work together,” said Darren Campbell, Sky Sports Living for Sport Ambassador. “Different sports inspire different people but one thing is true: there's a sport for everyone and it can change your life."

The boys who took part in the workshop, carrying out drills and training exercises, were: Patrick Owen, Ifeatu Obiora and Isaac Morrison, of Year 7; Liam Hagley, Abbas Adejonwo and Ola Ogunade, of Year 8; Nabil Haque and Nivedth Radhakrishnan, of Year 9; Niruban Rajendram and Eben Karikari Sarpong, of Year 10; Daniel Soyode, Onyekachi Oguike and Yemi Falana, of Year 11 and John Otugade, of Year 13.

As part of Living for Sport, Jeanette is due to return to the School in 2013, to work with the sprinters once more, as well as with the Fit Club boys. She will also lead an assembly.

Gifted and talented boys from Year 11 joined their peers from a leading girls’ school in a series of academic symposia that shadowed the judging of the 2012 TS Eliot Prize for poetry.

The pupils from QE and the North London Collegiate School debated the merits of the shortlisted works for the prize, which is organised by the Poetry Book Society.

“The events were targeted at pupils who have shown a particular talent for English combined with a demonstrable ability to think independently,” said Head of English, Susannah Sweetman. “During each session of the symposia, pupils explored, analysed and discussed two of the short-listed poets. This led to thought-provoking and stimulating debates, providing the participants with a taste of English study at A-level standard.”

The QE and NLCS pupils looked at the ten volumes selected for this year’s shortlist from the 131 works submitted by publishers. They are: Simon Armitage The Death of King Arthur; Sean Borodale Bee Journal; Gillian Clarke Ice; Julia Copus The World's Two Smallest Humans; Paul Farley The Dark Film; Jorie Graham P L A C E; Kathleen Jamie The Overhaul; Sharon Olds Stag's Leap; Jacob Polley The Havocs and Deryn Rees-Jones Burying the Wren.

The symposia were chaired by QE Year 13 student Sheharyar Hasan, who hopes to study English at university.

Miss Sweetman added: “I have been thoroughly impressed by the quality of the debates and discussions regarding the poetry. It has been a rewarding experience for students at both schools who have developed confidence and passion in putting across their personal view.”

This year’s judging panel for the TS Eliot Prize is Carol Ann Duffy (Chair), Michael Longley and David Morley. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in the Southbank Centre’s Festival Hall in January.

After an outstanding season in which he set personal bests in two disciplines, Sixth-Former John Otugade is setting his sights on a Team GB place for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

John achieved notable success at the European Junior Team Championships in Slovenia in September 2012, where he was part of the Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers’ squad representing Great Britain. He won the individual 100m and 200m events and was in the 4 x 100m relay team, which secured second place. His performance helped seal a five-point win for the team over Turkish rivals Enka Spor Kulubu Denegi.

“I was a little disappointed with my time in the 100m,” said John in an interview with European Athletics. “But I was delighted with my time of 21.84 in the 200m, which was a big PB [personal best] for me. It was a quick turnaround between the 100 and 200 – only about 20 minutes – but the 100m acted as a bit of a warm-up for the 200m.”

In fact, even in the 100m his winning time 10.78 was just .05 of a second outside his personal best, set at Lee Valley in August 2012.

The Manager of Shaftesbury Harriers, Geoff Morphitis, has tipped John for future success. “John has a lot of talent. He is not going to be one of those sprinters who runs a ridiculously quick time and then disappears,” he told the North London Press. “He is a very intelligent lad and is going to get better and better.”

John himself feels there is much more to come. “At the moment I’m studying hard for my A-levels and have to balance my training with that, but I’m confident that in the future I will be able to push for times that will compete with the best. I’d like to be a professional sprinter and believe I could compete at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.”

Athletics Weekly magazine has tipped John as an athlete who could very well reach a future Olympics as a competitor.

QE mathematicians have qualified for the knockout stages of a prestigious regional competition.

“The Hans Woyda Mathematics Competition is renowned for being highly intellectually demanding; to be successful, boys have to be adept at applying a wide range of mathematical skills under time pressure,” said Mathematics teacher Geoff Roberts.

The aim of the annual contest is to get students of differing ages discussing and working co-operatively to solve mathematical problems which push the borders of the syllabus.

The initial group stage of the competition involves 64 teams from across the South Eastern Region; each school competes against three other local schools in a round-robin format.

The QE team of Nitharsan Sathiyalingham, of Year 9, Bhavik Mehta, of Year 11, Gabriel Gendler, of Year 12, and Rahul Mukerjee, of Year 13 (pictured below, left to right), go through to the next stage after comprehensively beating Highgate School, Channing School and St Michael’s School in the group stage.

 “To win against three very strong schools, and indeed achieve the highest score of all 64 schools competing in round 1 and the second highest in round 2 in the group stage, is highly pleasing and an excellent achievement by the boys involved.”

The format requires aptitude both in mental mathematics and in the use of a calculator; it involves individual and team questions. The boys are now anticipating the knock-out stages later in 2013.