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Queen Elizabeth’s School today launches Building on Distinction – a detailed plan establishing the School’s priorities for development from 2021 until 2025.

The 32-page strategic vision plan redefines the School’s existing mission to produce young men who are ‘confident, able and responsible’ to ensure that pupils are equipped with all the attributes they need to thrive and lead in the fast-changing, and sometimes unpredictable, world of the 2020s.

The document, which is being sent to parents and other members of the School community today,  includes ten priorities for the School to follow, as well as a more detailed look at what will be required to fulfil the mission and deliver on the priorities.

A new video been produced in which Headmaster Neil Enright and a selection of pupils together set out the qualities of the modern Elizabethan, as defined by the plan.

Mr Enright said today: “I am pleased and excited to be able to launch our new School Plan. As the name, Building on Distinction, suggests, we started drawing up this plan from a position of strength and pre-eminence. We are proud of our heritage: the period covered by the plan includes the significant milestone of our 450^th anniversary in 2023, while our more recent past has been characterised by great success which has seen QE become firmly established as one of this country’s leading academic schools.

“To maintain and further amplify such success, we must continue to move forward. At the heart of the ambitious vision in the new plan is a fresh consideration of what it means to be an Elizabethan, looking at the combination of traditional qualities and new skills that our leavers will need to flourish in a global environment characterised by both crisis and opportunity. Our answer to that includes kindness, resilience, inclusivity and a commitment to the greater good of society, alongside attributes such as intellectual poise and broad, analytical thinking.”

Preparation for the new plan began some time ago. A major consultation exercise with parents was conducted last winter by independent consultancy RSAcademics, while current pupils were also consulted through internal surveys.

“I was delighted by the highly positive outcome of the research, which helped shape our thinking as we formulated the plan,” said Mr Enright.

The ‘ten priorities’ section in the middle of the plan is a distillation of the thinking of QE’s Governors and Senior Leadership Team about what must be done in order to accomplish the mission.

The School will seek, for example, to encourage ‘intellectually rigorous activity’ while also celebrating boys’ ‘diverse skills, talents, and achievements’.

The final portion of the plan looks at the commitments that will be required from all departments of the School and across the Elizabethan community, including parents and alumni, in order to enable the vision to be fulfilled. The areas covered range from ‘excellence and advancement on merit’ and ‘valuing and seeking inspiration from our heritage’ to ‘operational efficiency’ and ‘sustainability’.

In recognition of the importance of QE’s long history, the plan document is punctuated with panels detailing key episodes and developments at the School over the past 450 years.

The launch of Building on Distinction was delayed for a term in order both to focus on meeting the challenges posed by Covid-19 and to reflect on how QE’s experience in this crisis could inform its contents.

“However,” Mr Enright said, “we have not, and will not, let the present situation dominate: we continue to look ahead to secure the long-term success of the School and to deliver the very best education possible for current and future pupils.”

In line with previous Government requirements, QE had expected to launch a mass Covid-19 testing programme in School in the first weeks of term. This has now been postponed because of the lockdown. However, it is still expected that such testing will form part of the measures to enable a safe return to School, whenever national policy makes this possible.

Planning for testing is, therefore, continuing. The aim is to ensure a smooth return to on-site classes, with as little disruption as possible academically, with full pastoral support for all boys, and with minimal risk to public health.

Participation in the programme to be held at QE is not compulsory – participating boys or their parents can opt out at any point.

The School is, however, encouraging everyone to join the programme, since it will remove anyone who has the virus but is asymptomatic from circulation, while reducing the numbers who need to stay at home where they have been close to a person with a positive test result.

This testing programme at QE will be for those with no symptoms. If anyone develops symptoms at any time (such as a high temperature; a new, continuous cough; or a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste), he must immediately self-isolate, and book a test by calling 119 or visiting https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test.

The QE mass testing programme will involve:

• Two lateral flow tests, which will be conducted near the point of return to School to identify asymptomatic cases.

Initial planning was also conducted on the basis of offering daily testing – for seven school days – for those identified as a close contact of a confirmed case. This would mean that, provided these boys do not test positive themselves, they would not have to self-isolate at home, unless they would prefer to do so. This part of the government’s testing plans is currently paused, as further evidence on the impact of this form of testing is gathered. Our consent form still takes account of this daily close contact testing so that we are ready should public health advice be that it is resumed.

The lateral flow tests are quick and relatively easy, involving a simple swab of the throat and nose. The swab will be self-administered, but with advice and guidance from a trained test assistant. The specimen is added to a solution in a tube and this is then applied to a test strip by a test processor. The lateral flow device then clearly displays the result in the form of horizontal bars on the test kit (similar to a pregnancy test).  The result is available in half an hour from testing.

Testing will in all cases be by appointment. Tests will be supervised by trained staff.

The test will be logged with the NHS at the point of registration. Registration is most easily done via a smartphone – as details, including a unique barcode provided upon arrival for each test, need to be entered online. For the purposes of testing, the School would therefore allow pupils to bring smartphones (including camera phones) with them. The results will be shared directly with those participating via notification from the NHS to the contact details entered in the registration process.

The School will only contact families in addition to the notification from the NHS if:

• The test subject has tested positive, or
• His test is void (whereby another appointment needs to be arranged), or
• He is identified as a close contact of a positive case.

Please click below to fill in the testing consent forms. These include an option to decline consent. Consent can be withheld by a pupil at any time – no one would be forced to take a test against their will. Without a valid consent form, tests cannot, however, be administered.

For pupils under 16, parents should complete the form and should discuss testing with their sons. Pupils aged 16 or over should complete the form themselves.

The School will require a response for all pupils.

Consent forms

Pupils aged under 16 (to be completed by parents)

Pupils aged 16 or over (to be completed by pupils)

With remote learning currently in place for all boys from Year 7 to Year 13, QE staff are drawing on the extensive experience gained from last year’s first lockdown, while taking full advantage of technological advancements now available to them.

Deputy Head (Academic), Anne Macdonald, says that the focus in refining online and other forms of remote learning is on keeping pupils’ experience aligned with the School’s customary strengths: “It is important that we continue to develop the boys’ independent learning skills, building confidence and resilience, and honing their organisational skills.”

Overall, a “blended approach” is being followed, combining both “guided independent learning”, through the eQE platform, and “interactive lessons”, given through Microsoft Teams. “The variety helps pupils to remain engaged with remote learning,” says Mrs Macdonald, who sets out below the specific features being used and their attendant advantages.

Among the eQE features proving particularly useful in lockdown are:

• Tasks and the subject pages in Academic Departments, which are used for sharing learning resources, such as PowerPoints, worksheets and weblinks, and for setting activities to support guided independent learning;
• The add comment feature for eQE tasks or eQE Forums, through which boys can ask questions and receive answers from their teachers and peers. Pupils can also share work and ideas on the Forum pages;
• eQE Class Tests: these are secure pages that can be set with timers and are thus useful for assessing boys’ learning during tests. These are being used for Year 11 mock examinations this week, for example.

Microsoft Teams is being used in two principal ways, as Mrs Macdonald explains. Either all boys and their teacher ‘join’ their MS Teams lesson at the start of the class, when they receive instructions about the learning objectives and learning activities to be undertaken. This is followed by a time of guided independent learning through eQE. It finishes with everybody ‘re-joining’ the MS Teams lesson so that the boys can review their learning and have an opportunity for their questions to be answered. Or full lessons are taught entirely through MS Teams.

The use of MS Teams:

• Provides an opportunity for accommodating different learning styles, with verbal as well as written instructions possible;
• Allows boys to receive answers to their questions, and teachers to assess learning;
• Enables interaction through class discussion and the development of speaking and listening skills;
• Gives a chance to demonstrate practical work and to hear performance work;
• Facilitates pair work or group work through using breakout ‘rooms’.

The screenshot image, top, is taken from Mrs Macdonald’s Year 12 Physical Geography class on Friday, which covered the topic of Tectonic Processes and Hazards. Mrs Macdonald used MS Teams’ Whiteboard feature to explain ‘slab pull’ as a process of tectonic plate movement.

Two QE boys have won prestigious places in national youth choirs after being nominated by the School.

Year 9’s Joel Swedensky has been offered a place with the National Youth Boys’ Choir, while Eeshan Banerjee, of Year 13, secured the opportunity to sing in the National Youth Training Choir.

Congratulating the pair formally with Headmaster Neil Enright last term, Director of Music Ruth Partington paid tribute to colleagues who had helped them and expressed the hope that their achievement would be a foretaste of even more singing successes to come.

“It is wonderful that these two boys have been offered places in national ensembles – both had to audition for these places, and it is very competitive, so they have done extremely well to get in.”

Joel and Eeshan were put forward for their auditions by QE singing teacher Rhys Bowden, an Old Elizabethan (1995–2003) and a professional operatic tenor.

“With such an excellent singing teacher and with the appointment of our new Assistant Director of Music, Mr James McEvoy-Stevenson, himself an ex-Oxbridge Choral Scholar, I hope that more boys will start to have voice lessons, and that our singing will go from strength to strength in the future,” Miss Partington said.

Both choirs are part of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain organisation. The auditions took place online through Zoom.

The National Youth Training Choir is for boys and girls aged 15-18. Members receive the highest level of choral training, singing alongside some of the most gifted singers in the UK. They are introduced to repertoire from all periods, genres and cultures. The choir often collaborate with guest artists and, in non-Covid times, perform at leading venues.

Eeshan explained how his audition had gone. “There were two senior members of the choir, including the conductor, who listened to me perform and then got me to complete a few exercises to test my ability. I performed an Italian song called Dolente immagine di Fille mia and got special commendation for singing in Italian.

“I’m really excited to join the choir as the next step in my musical journey. I’m both looking forward to improving my singing and also having access to a massive range of opportunities.

“If it weren’t for Mr Bowden, who told me about the audition and pushed me to take part, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity, so I would like to especially thank him. I’ve been having singing lessons at QE for probably around five years, but he has been teaching for the past two years and really helped me to understand my voice and help me improve.”

Joel, who has been having singing lessons since the beginning of Year 8, also acknowledged Mr Bowden’s help. In his audition, he performed Where the Bee Sucks by the 18th-century British composer, Thomas Arne. “I feel like my singing has developed massively as a result of these lessons.”

Although a little nervous about the likely impact of Covid on the choir’s activities in the coming months, Joel said he has happy to be joining and hoped it would be fun.

In normal times, the choir, which is for boys with unbroken voices (trebles), offers opportunities to perform at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and to train to the highest standards, with a wide range of music studied on residential courses.

Year 13’s James Tan sealed his long and glittering record of success in Mathematics competitions at QE with a perfect score in this year’s Senior Maths Challenge (SMC).

He was one of nine Sixth Form mathematicians who performed so strongly in the challenge that they qualified for the élite British Mathematical Olympiad.

James’s tally of 125 out of 125 secured him the Best in School title, while Abhinav Santhiramohan, with a score of 112 out of 125 was Best in Year 12. To qualify for the Olympiad, candidates had to score at least 108 points.

Assistant Head of Mathematics Wendy Fung said: “James has scored perfect, or near-perfect, marks in every Maths Challenge he has sat, from Year 7 to Year 13. He has done phenomenally well throughout his School career and is so unassuming about his successes.”

In addition to the Olympiad successes, a further 29 boys qualified for the challenge’s other follow-on round, the Senior Kangaroo, which required a score of at least 91 points.

A total of 136 QE sixth-formers sat the challenge, which involved answering 25 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes.

The top 40% of SMC entrants nationally in the country receive certificates with gold, silver and bronze awarded in the ratio of 1:2:3. At QE, however, there were 38 gold certificates, 65 silver and 22 bronze, which means that 92% of the School’s participants gained certificates.

“We are very pleased with the boys’ success at the SMC,” Miss Fung. “The challenge provides an opportunity for our senior boys to hone their problem-solving skills with fun, yet challenging, questions, and we are grateful to the UK Maths Trust for providing these opportunities.  Many congratulations to Years 12 & 13 – we look forward to receiving the Olympiad and Kangaroo results in due course.”

She added that Abhinav had said that he particularly enjoyed solving the following question in the challenge (answer below):

• Question: Two congruent pentagons are each formed by removing a right-angled isosceles triangle from a square of side-length 1.
  The two pentagons are then fitted together as shown. What is the length of the perimeter of the octagon formed?
  A: 4
  B : 4 + 2 √ 2
  C: 5
  D: 6 − 2 √ 2
  E: 6

• Answer: E: 6
  Explanation: The perimeter of the octagon is made from four long sides, two medium-length sides and two short sides. The long sides are given to be of length 1. The medium-length sides have length 1 √ 2 , using Pythagoras’ Theorem on the right-angled triangle which was removed from the original square. Therefore the length of each short side is 1 − 1 √ 2 . In total the perimeter has length 4 × 1 + 2 × 1 √ 2 + 2 × (1 − 1 √ 2 ) = 6.