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Coronavirus restrictions may have forced major changes to QE’s normal Christmas arrangements, but there was festive spirit aplenty in the final week of the Autumn Term.

Boys and staff enjoyed tucking into a Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. Year 7 boys enjoyed an adapted version of the carol service, held this year at the School, instead of at the parish church.

And QE’s commitment to service and the community was not forgotten: the normal Christmas collections for charity went ahead, with parents, boys and staff giving generously to support local people in need.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations and thanks go to everyone who has worked hard to ensure that, Covid-19 notwithstanding, the final week of term was as festive as ever. I wish everyone in our Elizabethan community a restful Christmas holiday at the end of this difficult year, and a healthy and happy 2021.”

In normal years, QE’s Service of Lessons and Carols takes place in St John the Baptist Church in Barnet, with a congregation including staff and all the Year 7 boys, as well as musicians and readers drawn from other year groups.

That was not possible this year, so QE brought the church to the School instead! Last week, a small group of senior musicians went to St John’s to pre-record two anthems.

These were then played between the carols, readings and antiphon performed live in this week’s Carol Service for the Year 7 year-group bubble.

“This gave our Year 13 boys a chance to sing at St John’s, and our Year 7s got to see what the church is like – on video at least,” the Headmaster said. “Hearing the carols ringing out from the Main School Hall lent a wonderfully festive atmosphere to the School, and our Year 7s savoured the opportunity to become part of this well-loved QE tradition.”

Readers included senior staff and 2020 School Captain Ivin Jose, with the Headmaster as usual giving the final Scripture reading, the famous prologue to John’s gospel.

The video segments featured the Year 13 Choir singing The First Nowell and Holst’s arrangement of the carol, Personent Hodie, from the Piae Cantiones collection of mediaeval songs.

The service also included performances of the popular traditional carols: Once in Royal David’s City; O Little Town of Bethlehem; O Come all ye Faithful, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing!

The Year 7 boys were mostly seated in the main floor area.

Social distancing was carefully observed: readings were given from the stage, while the musicians from other year groups – the choir, trumpeters and Year 12 Strings – were well spread.

Earlier in the week, pupils relished their Christmas lunch, with the catering team pulling out all the stops to serve up a festive feast of roast turkey or wild mushroom filo pastry crown, with pigs-in-blankets, stuffing, carrots, Brussel sprouts, parsnips, cranberry jelly and gravy, followed by Christmas pudding or yule log.

QE also continued with its annual collection for local charitable organisations, choosing this year to support Homeless Action in Barnet and Hornsey Parish Church, which is acting as a foodbank hub.

Parents, pupils and staff have been donating non-perishable food items, clothing and blankets over recent weeks, and yesterday a group of Year 9 volunteers helped to load a record number of bags into a QE minibus, ready for delivery.

Head of Extra-Curricular Enrichment Rebecca Grundy said: “We are very grateful to everyone who donated, and to our prefects and Year 9 helpers.

“This support will make a huge difference to vulnerable people this Christmas.”

Year 7 boys enjoyed the cut and thrust of competition as teams met in a charity quiz, held last term, to raise money for QE’s long-running Sai School Appeal.

The School’s youngest boys have been learning all about the appeal, which began in 2002 and supports the rural Sai School in Kerala, India, funding projects there such as a new computer room, and helping with a move from rented accommodation to a new two-acre campus.

Appeal president Tashane Akarawita, of Year 13, who organised the event jointly with his deputy, Sai Puppala, also of Year 13, said: “Our projects in the past have allowed remarkable developments on the Sai School site to be made possible, and it became my mission to continue this legacy. Unfortunately, the coronavirus has had an enormous impact on lives in India so our fundraising for the Sai School this year is more important than ever.”

The appeal is a year-round QE charity activity run by a team of sixth-formers who are currently supported by Languages teacher Katrin Hood. Tashane explained that COVID had restricted QE’s fund-raising in the 2019–2020 academic year, with a number of events cancelled because of lockdown – another reason to redouble efforts this year, he said.

He showed the younger boys an illustrated PowerPoint presentation to introduce them to the appeal and to the school, whose full title is the Sri Sathya Sai English Medium School. The school educates children from kindergarten through to Year 12.

In previous years, several recent QE leavers have visited the Sai School and undertaken work experience there.

The current fund-raising target is to secure sufficient sponsorship to support 30 pupils – the equivalent of a QE form – throughout their full-time education at the Sai School.

After eight teams competed in two lunchtime rounds in the Main School Hall, the two highest scorers – Stapylton House’s Pixellated Ice Cream (Daniel Zhu, Yang Song, Rahul Wimalendran and Akshaj Vyas) and The Master Minds from Broughton (Shreyas Iyengar, Oscar Kaltenbronn, Tunishq Mitra and Vyom Srivastava) – fought it out in a classroom final. Saransh Gupta and Chinmaya Dave had also been part of the Broughton team for the heats.

The quiz comprised mostly general knowledge questions, although there was also a Spot the hidden word round and a problem-solving round.

It was a lively final, with even the spectators taking part, supplying the answers when the two teams drew a blank and enjoying some ‘just for fun’ Mathematics riddles at the end while the scores were being added up.

In the end, The Master Minds lived up to their name and emerged as the winners. The event raised £139. The boys were charged £2 to take part in the quiz and £1 to spectate at the final.

Tashane added: “I was very proud to be elected as the President of the Sai School Appeal, allowing us to continue the amazing fund-raising QE students have achieved over the last eighteen years.

“The appeal is an immensely worthy cause and we strive to ensure our events are always meticulously planned to be able to support those who are less fortunate than us.”

• Here is a sample of the general knowledge questions asked in the quiz. Answers below.

1. Who played James Bond in the film Quantum of Solace?
2. How many capital cities does South Africa have?
3. What is the boy in the DreamWorks logo holding in his hand?

Answers:

1. Daniel Craig
2. Four
3. A fishing rod.

After gaining a Master’s in Engineering and qualifying as a Chartered Management Accountant, Zeeshan Khalid has forged a career in international consultancy – with a distinctly forward-looking slant.

Zeeshan (OE 1996–1998) is a Partner with a boutique consulting firm, Trestle Group, and is the only member of its seven-strong management team currently based in London.

Along with several of his Trestle Group colleagues, he is involved with Fourth-IR (‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’), a firm established in 2016, which harnesses new technologies including AI to help clients transform their businesses. A recent example is its partnership with a large dental-imaging software provider, where AI is used to provide augmented diagnosis, precision treatment and a better overall patient experience.

“Reflecting on my career, I would advise my fellow Elizabethans not to just follow a traditional career path, but to look at the diversity of your learning, as this is what will help differentiate yourself and open more doors,” he said.

“Life presents many opportunities; sometimes one is unable to realise that a challenge or a setback may in fact turn into an opportunity. Always make use of the opportunities given to you and leave the rest to God.”

After leaving QE, Zeeshan went to Imperial College, where he gained a Master’s degree in Information Systems Engineering.

He then spent seven years with UBS, working across finance, risk and IT departments for the Swiss financial giant, before working for RBS Global Banking & Markets and then Credit Suisse. In total, he notched up more than 16 years’ experience at top-tier investment banks, working in both London and Zurich.

In 2007–2009, he undertook his training with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and then in 2011, he established Atlas Accounting, a niche accountancy business for contractors and consultants.

Over the years he has held a variety of senior roles, covering risk management, regulatory change, capital optimisation, risk analytics, finance transformation, programme management and enterprise-wide global IT delivery.

His work with Trestle Group involves him driving business growth and building teams for consulting projects on key accounts with leading global investment banks. Active projects include transformation programmes relating to Brexit and industry-wide Basel regulations, such as the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB).

At Fourth-IR, he is the UK Country Head. The firm offers clients a range of Virtual Team members, which are AI-driven products designed to be easily integrated into clients’ business operations. Fourth-IR works across multiple industries, including health, wealth, risk and legal, collaborating with product specialists, such as the dental-imaging software business.

Zeeshan has fond memories of his time at QE, in particular, of the then-Head of Sixth Form, Dr John Marincowitz (who became Headmaster in 1999), and his Mathematics teacher, Mrs Elizabeth Borland.

“Even though I was a new joiner to QE, I was able to establish new relationships with many of those who entered the Sixth Form from the lower years. I still vividly remember all the younger-year pupils carrying brief cases to School and the Elizabethan luncheons & debates.”

Outside work commitments, Zeeshan has been a long-standing primary school governor. Keen on the outdoors, he supports his local scouting association as treasurer.

“2020 has been a strange year, but an important one in re-setting goals and priorities,” he said. “It has made me realise the importance of focusing on friends and family, how to better manage the tricky balance between work and life (I follow the motto: ‘we work to live, not live to work’), and lastly not to take free movement & international travel for granted.

“For those wishing to get in touch, please contact me via LinkedIn; I am happy to help with any career advice or questions current pupils or alumni of QE may have,” he added.

After a spring and summer spent largely in lockdown, I am pleased to report that this Autumn Term has felt much more normal.

The majority of School life has taken place, albeit often in adapted form. Not only have our classrooms once again reverberated softly to the sounds of teaching and learning, but there has also been a welcome return to those in-person extra-curricular activities which could be run within our year-group bubbles. Alongside this, cross-bubble activities have taken place online, including our much-valued peer-mentoring system.

I do not underestimate the magnitude of the changes many have had to contend with. To name just two examples among many, our University Mock Interview Evening and our Year 11 Careers Convention at the School both had to be cancelled. I, therefore, greatly appreciated the willingness of alumni such as Zac Howlett-Davies (2006–2013) and Karan Dewnani (2006–2013) to support senior boys by giving online interviews and speaking at our virtual careers event respectively. Overall, however, I can say that we have been fortunate in terms of the number of incidences of Covid-19 within the School. It has certainly been difficult at times, but I am thankful that we have not faced really significant disruption.

I was naturally delighted to read the highly laudatory report on Queen Elizabeth’s School published recently by the Good Schools Guide. The guide’s Kate Hilpern began her research during lockdown and then visited us in October. Her final report commented on how we had “flexed quickly and well” to the challenge of Covid-19 and had “learned from it, too” in areas extending beyond the classroom, including pastoral care.

That process has continued throughout the Autumn Term. The intelligent use of technology has enabled much more day-to-day normality. For those needing to isolate at home it has also enabled them to participate in their lessons.

We have seen some bold initiatives within the scope of the current restrictions. Our Year 9 Drama Club members rose magnificently to the challenge of staging an abridged version of Hamlet for this year’s Shakespeare Schools Festival. Music, too, has adjusted well to the current dispensation, deploying web broadcasting and live-streaming to ensure that the term’s concerts reached as wide an audience as possible.

The Good Schools Guide mentioned our “intellectual approach to Art”, noting the breadth of the forms and materials used, such as animation, installation, sculpture, and painting. While sports fixtures with other schools have not been possible, the PE department have been ensuring boys stay match-fit, organising intra-year group games and tournaments in rugby and water polo, for example.

Our new, pupil-led initiative, Perspective, continues to have an impact. We were pleased to welcome Jamie Sherman (OE 2002–2009) and Arjun Goswami (OE 2001–2008) on International Men’s Day, when they spoke about their experiences as members of the LGBTQ+ community in an event that combined an actual meeting with senior prefects with live-streaming into Year 9–13 tutor rooms. During Black History Month, Ifeanyi Chinweze (OE 2008-2015), recorded films for older and younger boys. recounting discriminatory comments against him as a teenager and telling the junior pupils: “It’s important to understand that racism is not limited to hate crimes or acts of violence.” Our forthcoming curriculum review will incorporate themes of combatting racial bias.

In spite of all the new pandemic-related restrictions, the term got off to a very cheerful start as we continued to celebrate the GCSE and A-level grades awarded to our boys during August. All the things we were hoping for in the summer were realised. At GCSE, a shining performance at the very top, with 61% of all grades being at level 9, helped propel us towards what were ostensibly our best-ever results. It was a similar story at A-level, where our leavers achieved 99.6% A*–B grades, as well as a 9.3% increase to 54.6% in the number of A-levels awarded an A* grade; both figures represent a School record. Given the cancellation of public examinations in 2020, comparing these awarded grades with previous years’ results is difficult. But they are, by any measure, remarkable statistics, and I fully appreciate what an extraordinary amount of time and effort from our whole Elizabethan community stands behind them. They are a vindication of our emphasis on free-thinking scholarship. As the Good Schools Guide put it in their summing-up: “[QE is] a place where boys can expect to get carried away with the collective will to learn both in and outside the classroom, the result of which is one of the most inspiring learning environments we’ve ever come across.”

The end of term sees the retirement of Deputy Head Emi Aghdiran. Emi joined QE in 1998 and has made an outstanding contribution over many years.  She was the School’s first Business Manager and also our first female Assistant Head, before her promotion to Deputy. Dynamic and visionary, yet with attention to detail, she has been a significant factor in the School’s present success. On a personal note, I have found her hugely supportive and a pleasure to work with. Happily, she is by no means quitting the Elizabethan community entirely: she will remain a trustee of the School and of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s. I wish her a happy retirement.

Work on our keenly awaited Music School continues apace. The foundation works have largely been completed, and the erecting of the steel frame is scheduled to start this week. We remain on track for completion in time for the autumn of 2021.

I also eagerly anticipate the publication of our exciting new School Development Plan, covering the period 2021–2025, which was approved by the Governors last month. We look forward to launching it.

May I conclude by saying how impressed I have been at the resilience and good humour shown by so many in our Elizabethan family in the face of the unprecedented crisis which 2020 has brought us. For that, I thank you.

I extend my best wishes to all alumni for a peaceful Christmas holiday and for health and happiness in the New Year.

Neil Enright
Headmaster

Covid-19 caused the cancellation of the normal November Concert in front of a large audience in the Shearly Hall – but the Music department were determined not to be defeated by the pandemic. 

Director of Music Ruth Partington decided to use technology to showcase the boys’ musicianship and devised a creative way to recreate the experience of performing together.

Staff made special sound recordings over three days, featuring boys who had been rehearsing in their year group bubbles since September.  

Pupils from across the year groups were brought together in socially-distanced ensembles in two large venues, the Shearly Hall and Main School Hall.   

To recreate, so far as was possible, an authentic concert experience for the boys, they were asked to wear ‘concert dress’  – with white shirts, where available, instead of the normal light blue – and Music ties. 

The recordings were then put together as a high-quality soundtrack illustrated by photographs and broadcast as a YouTube Premiere in early December. The recording remains available on the Music Department’s YouTube channel. 

“We were determined to do our best to give all our musicians a collective ensemble experience and an opportunity to perform,” said Miss Partington. 

The virtual concert opened with a Best of Queen medley from the Junior Wind Band. 

It then featured contributions from the School Choir, Year 13 Choir, Junior Strings, Advanced Strings, Senior Orchestra and from the Gaubert Trio, who played Soir d’automne from Trois Aquarelles by the French composer, Philiippe Gaubert. 

Other works performed were by Grieg, Beethoven and Richard Rodgers (the Junior Strings’ performance of tunes from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma!). 

The QE Blues Band brought the 51-minute performance to an end in upbeat style with the 1958 Mexican-style hit, The Champs.  

After the success of those sessions, the Music department adopted a similar format for the end-of-term Christmas Concert.