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A major milestone in the project to build a new, multi-million pound Music School at Queen Elizabeth’s School’s has been reached, with the first ‘concrete pour’ at the site.

Selected staff and pupils were on hand to celebrate the arrival of the concrete mixer – the first of some 150 lorryloads due at the School over the coming months!

Headmaster Neil Enright, who was among the group witnessing the historic event, said: “It is exciting that the construction phase of this major project is now well and truly under way.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has inevitably caused a few complications, we have been very keen to press ahead with this project: it represents not only a significant investment in our facilities, but is also a sign of our confidence in the future at this difficult time.

“Indeed, while we have extensive precautions in place to keep everyone here safe from the virus, we are trying, so far as is possible, to ensure it is ‘business as usual’ for our boys, our focus remaining firmly on providing them with the best possible education.

“If all goes according to plan – Covid-permitting! – we should be able to open the new building during the 2021 Autumn Term.”

The £3.5m-plus project received the go-ahead in 2019 after the Department for Education accepted the School’s £2.2m bid (comprising a £1.2m grant and £1m loan).

Completion will involve substantial financial support through the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s, thus continuing a long record of FQE backing which has been instrumental in ensuring the School has been able to open a succession of new facilities over the past 25 years.

The purpose-built Music School complex will provide essential support for QE’s booming Music department – until lockdown began earlier this year, there were more than 20 ensembles at the School, with over 160 boys singing in the Choir.

It will feature a new performance venue and a number of much-needed teaching and rehearsal rooms. In addition, the two-storey building will provide additional assembly space to accommodate QE’s lecture programme, as well as a covered atrium for boys to use at break times.

The School’s new Deputy Head (Operations), Tara O’Reilly, said: “The site has been ‘prepped’ and ready for building work to start for some time, so it is good to see the area now full of machinery and to be able to watch the construction team from our contractor, TJ Evers, who are all working hard to break ground and put in the foundations for the new building.”

Watching the concrete pour alongside the Headmaster and Ms O’Reilly were Director of Music Ruth Partington and Music teacher Caroline Grint, together with two of the School’s senior musicians, Year 12’s Raphael Herberg and Conor Parker-Delves, both of whom have just started their A-level Music studies.

Raphael said: “We are very excited about the new Music block,” while Conor added: “We are really glad this is happening for our Music Department, and that future QE students will get to enjoy it.”

A Year 13 pupil has been named runner–up in a highly regarded international Economics competition, beating off other participants from around the globe. 

Ayushman Mukherjee ranged widely in his entry to the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) competition, drawing on experts and episodes from across the centuries to reinforce his contentions. 

His arguments, which even included suggestions for improvements to the A-level Economics syllabus, found favour with the judges as they evaluated entries from sixth-formers around the world. Ayushman was in Year 12 when he submitted his entry. 

A record-breaking total of more than a thousand students from Hungary to India took part in the competition to win the Dorian Fisher Memorial Prize. The prize is named after the wife of Sir Antony Fisher, the founder of the IEA. Sir Antony was also a co-founder of the Fraser Institute, the Manhattan Institute, the Pacific Research Institute, the National Center for Policy Analysis, the Centre for Independent Studies, and the Adam Smith Institute.  

This is Ayushman’s second major success in an IEA competition this year: in the spring, he was part of a QE Year 12 team which took second place in the institute’s Budget Challenge event.

QE’s Head of Economics Shamendra Uduwawala said: “We congratulate Ayushman on his achievement. His essays have demonstrated his thorough grasp of economic principles and history, and it is underpinned by the additional research he undertook. He should be very proud of himself.” 

All contestants were offered a choice of essay titles in the competition. Ayushman, who is looking to read Economics at Cambridge and is the current House Captain for Leicester House at QE, had to produce three pieces of writing: firstly, there was a 1,200-word essay, for which he chose the title, What exactly is economic growth and why do some parts of the world grow more rapidly than others? He began this by citing one of the “founding fathers of Economics, Alfred Marshall who famously advised, ‘Every short statement about Economics is misleading.’” 

Secondly, he wrote a 500-word article on What does the concept of rationality mean in economics – in which, inter alia,  he explored the question of whether it could ever be rational to burn a £50 note – and, thirdly, he penned another 500–word essay entitled Identify an area of economics that you think should be given more attention in the A-Level or IB syllabus and say why this is so. 

Ayushman said: “My entry explored the determinants of economic growth, the nature of rationality, and the role of economic history in the classroom. 

“Initially, I was somewhat bewildered by the 500-world limit – it really isn’t a lot to work with! But I felt as if I managed to get a concise and polished message across. I tried quite hard to make it accessible to the average person, not just to academics. I believe this resonated with the judges.” 

In the three pieces, he explored the roles of institutions in economic development (looking at the aftermaths of two important events in English history, the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt and the 1688 Glorious Revolution), economic growth after civil wars, and the role of ideas and innovation. He also looked at the intricacies of economic rationality, and at the drawbacks of a “homo economicus” (that is, an individual with an infinite ability to make purely rational decisions).  

Finally, he articulated the need, in his opinion, for a rigorous education in economic history to be included in the A-level syllabus, suggesting it would better to explain the models that are currently taken for granted in economic education and to portray them as less infallible. 

Ayushman, who received a £250 prize, added: “This year’s competition was particularly fierce, so I’m grateful to have seen my effort pay off. I explored some really fascinating topics, which I think is going to be a great head start for university.”  

He was particularly surprised at the “great” reception he has received since the result of the competition were announced. “I’ve had people messaging me to ask about certain topics I’d mentioned – like certain periods in economic history, or recommendations for wider reading in that particular subject. It’s a really great feeling.”  

• To read Ayushman’s competition entry in full, click here.

A poem by QE pupil Surya Senthilkumar is being published this month in a special anthology created to raise spirits during the coronavirus crisis.

Year 8 boy Surya’s poem, The Pathway to Triumph!, was selected to feature in an international collection of writing from the Young Writers organisation entitled Write To Unite – Together We Stand.

Young Writers Editorial Manager Jenni Harrison said the anthology aimed to “spread positivity, give thanks, share stories, purge worries and record [contributors’] thoughts during lockdown.

“It’s history in the making and will make an incredible keepsake of an unprecedented time,” she said, adding that more than 4,000 adults, children and families had been involved in the project, contributing writing in various genres.

Surya’s 10-line poem, which is set out below, includes a call for unity – “Only as one will we overcome this disaster” – and a paean to front-line workers battling the virus – “Let us praise the NHS staff at toil”.

Asked for his reaction to his success, he adapted the last line of his poem, saying: “Endeavour from the beginning, and you shall succeed till the end!”

Surya’s triumph comes as GCSE poetry workshops led by QE’s poet-in-residence Anthony Anaxagorou get under way at the School again, helping to develop boys’ creative thinking and writing skills ahead of their English GCSE. Old Elizabethan Anthony (1994–1999) made headlines last month when he spoke out against a Government announcement that poetry was to become optional in next year’s GCSE English examination.

For every copy of the book sold by Young Writers, £1 will be donated to NHS Charities Together. Young Writers is an organisation that has been promoting poetry and creative writing within schools and through poetry competitions for the past 29 years.

The Pathway to Triumph

For the nation, we have loved for years,
Our faith and effort shall polish away the tears,
Thy actions must roar wiseness and care,
Avoiding the faces of sorrow and despair,
Only as one will we overcome this disaster,
By being resolute we can prevent the spread faster,
Let us praise the NHS staff at toil,
Valiant and loving, holding our nation up like soil,
So, let us conquer this misfortune together,
By being wise and cooperative, we continue to endeavour!

Pupils and staff at Queen Elizabeth’s School have made a successful start to the term, taking in their stride extensive measures introduced to keep them safe from the coronavirus.

All 1,250 pupils are now back, with normal levels of attendance reported and lessons well under way.

The new Year 7 boys came in on Wednesday for a special induction afternoon that included an assembly with the Headmaster, Neil Enright, with their Head of Year, Tom Harrison, and with the 2020 School Captain, Ivin Jose. They also had time in their form groups and were taken on a familiarisation tour of the site. These youngest Elizabethans are enjoying their first (non-contact) games afternoon today.

The rest of the year groups started yesterday and have already had their own assemblies and pastoral time to welcome them back.

Mr Enright said: “These are extraordinary times, but I am pleased to report that all is well and everyone is in. After last term’s remote learning through our eQE digital platform, the boys and their teachers are quickly getting up to speed in the classroom and on the sports field again, with productive learning taking place from day one.”

“Everyone is settling in well to new routines, adapting to a new timetable to accommodate social distancing and to lunch being served in multiple venues, for example.”

Mr Enright added that while staff and boys are being urged to remain vigilant, he has so far been impressed at everyone’s willingness to comply with the new measures and take responsibility for keeping the community safe, in line with QE’s anti-Covid-19 slogan, Play your part, help control the virus.

“The next few months are, of course, uncertain locally, nationally and internationally, but I am pleased that all here is running smoothly and am, therefore, cautiously optimistic as we set a steady course for the rest of the term,” Mr Enright concluded.

Queen Elizabeth’s School today begins the final countdown to the start of the new academic year next week, when all 1,250 boys will be welcomed on site.

The School, which celebrated extremely strong results at both A-level and GCSE this month, has prepared extensively and systematically for the September return to classes.

To help families get to grips with new measures to counter the pandemic, the School is today publishing its 35-page Back to School Guide containing details of its three key messages – Please, keep your distance, Wash your hands, and Catch it, bin it, kill it.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “After a great deal of hard work, we are now ready to welcome the boys back to a School that has been extensively adapted in order to keep everyone safe during this pandemic.

“It will be great to see boys from all year groups back here again and to welcome our new Year 7 intake as they embark on their QE education.

“While our teachers showed admirable flexibility and great professionalism in successfully delivering remote learning during last term’s lockdown, they are now very much looking forward to getting back into the classroom.

“I also know that, for their part, many of our pupils cannot wait to catch up with their friends. I am sure they will soon get back into the swing of lessons and start enjoying our exciting extra-curricular activities.”

As well as producing the 35-page guide for pupils, staff and parents, the School has embarked on a wide range of measures to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. The boys will be in year group ‘bubbles’ that will gather in their own allocated playgrounds during breaks and lunchtime. One-way systems have been introduced and the timetable has been adjusted to incorporate staggered lunchbreaks, all helping to minimise congestion in corridors and communal areas. Additional staff have been trained in First Aid and arrangements made to boost cleaning in the School, particularly on high-contact surfaces, such as door handles.

“We are confident that we have effective measures in place to mitigate the risks posed by Covid-19,” said Mr Enright. “We are now asking all boys and their families to be steadily diligent and individually responsible in following the rules, in line with our new anti-coronavirus slogan, ‘Play your part: help control the virus.’

“Of course, we recognise that many families have gone through difficult times in the past few months and some people may well feel a degree of anxiety as we come back together as a School. Moreover, the pattern of the coming months is unpredictable, both locally and all over the world, and the measures we have taken may have to evolve in line with changing official advice.

“I am, however, confident of this: if we work together as a School and as the wider Elizabethan community, QE will successfully get through this hugely challenging period and emerge successfully on the other side, just as we have done before at other critical junctures in our 447-year history.”

• Click here to read the guide in full.