Viewing archives for

All four QE teams competing at the VEX World Robotics Championships in Texas won divisional awards, with three securing the top divisional prize of a Design Award.

The teams excelled at both the V5RC competition for older pupils and at the VIQRC event for the younger competitors.

Head of Digital Teaching & Learning Michael Noonan said: “The week in Dallas began with our Year 10 teams Rogue and Nova delivering exceptional performances. When both were honoured with the Design Award – the highest judged divisional award – it was a moment of immense pride.

“In the VIQRC competition, too, our Year 9 teams, Omega and Constellation, shone very brightly. Omega secured the Build Award, recognising their robot’s outstanding construction and reliability, and Team Constellation added to QE’s growing trophy cabinet with another Design Award.”

Overseen by Mr Noonan and Technology Assistant Claudia Cunha, both V5RC teams advanced to the elimination rounds in their respective divisions, finishing 39th and 19th in qualification rankings, before being narrowly defeated in the round of 16. It was, said Mr Noonan “an impressive feat among over 80 teams per division.

“Their Design Awards celebrate not only engineering excellence, but also the meticulous documentation and innovation that went into their robot design.”

Head of Technology Bilaal Khan and Technology teacher Chantel Sinclair led QE’s teams in the VIQRC competition. Both achieved top-50 finishes in the teamwork rankings, with Omega also securing a top-50 placement in the Skills Challenge, out of more than 300 teams.

“But the best was yet to come,” said Mr Noonan. “Team Omega’s Build Award and Constellation’s Design Awards were fantastic achievements. As if that was not enough, both teams dazzled with their themed pit displays and costumes, winning the Costume Competition – a celebration of creativity and team spirit announced during the final rounds.”

Mr Noonan thanked the boys’ dedicated coaches, and their staff and student mentors for their support throughout the season.  He also thanked QE’s robotics sponsor, Kingston Technology, and the company’s ESG and Compliance Specialist, Antonia Pata.

Year 13’s Harik Sodhi will be heading to Paris this summer to compete with the world’s top young physicists as part of the British national team in the International Physics Olympiad.

Harik progressed through three rounds of the UK’s top schools Physics competition and has now been chosen for the five-person UK team after performing well among some 14 high-fliers at a selection camp (pictured).

Head of Physics Jonathan Brooke said: “This is an incredible achievement. Harik has mastered an impressive breadth of Physics and worked assiduously, fine-tuning his impressive problem-solving skills.

“Olympiad papers are extremely challenging; pupils need to have very strong mathematical skills and need to be able to work quickly and accurately. Making headway through the problems requires insight, composure and resilience.”

QE gave Year 13 boys a chance to sit the Physics Challenge paper in September 2024. The high achievers then had the opportunity to sit the British Physics Olympiad (BPhO) Round 1 paper in November.

That QE contingent were among some 3,500 pupils from schools across the UK to sit the Round 1 paper. From these, around 100 were then invited by the BPhO organisers to sit the Round 2 paper in February 2025.

Harik’s invitation to the UK BPhO training and selection camp in Oxford (pictured) followed on the basis of his performance in Round 1 and 2.

Before going to Paris in July, he will first attend a final training camp with his UK team mates at Trinity College, Cambridge.

The BPhO was founded in 1979 and it is believed that QE first started giving boys the opportunity to take part in the competition in around 2005.

“In the 20 years or so that QE boys have been taking part in the competition, only a small handful of QE boys have made it to the national team,” said Mr Brooke.

In 2013, Mahdi Elango was a bronze medal-winner at the International Physics Olympiad in Copenhagen. The following year, Aniruddh Raghu took bronze at the IPhO in Astana, Kazakhstan. And in 2015, Robert Swan also won bronze, at the IPhO in Mumbai, India.

“I think that means that if Harik can get a silver or gold, he will have bragging rights as the greatest Physics Olympian the School has ever produced!” said Mr Brooke.

Queen Elizabeth’s School Headmaster Neil Enright met the King when he attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Mr Enright was representing QE at the afternoon event, hosted by the King, accompanied by Queen Camilla. It was organised to ‘celebrate and recognise those working in Education and Skills’. Mr Enright was nominated to attend by Martin Russell, Representative Deputy Lieutenant of the London Borough of Barnet, and a former QE parent.

Mr Enright said: “It was an honour to represent my exceptional colleagues – present and past – at the garden party. It was particularly special to share a moment with His Majesty on the lawn when he made a slight detour from his route to the Royal Tea Tent.

“I had the opportunity to shake hands and tell him something about Queen Elizabeth’s School. He seemed delighted to know that The Duke of Gloucester had visited us in High Barnet during our year celebrating 450 years since our foundation. As we parted, the King generously wished the School a (belated) Happy Birthday!

“It was really good fun and I was very lucky to speak to the King. The weather was perfect, too!”

Every summer, the Sovereign holds three garden parties at Buckingham Palace, and one at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland. Having originally begun as a replacement for presentation parties attended by debutantes, the garden parties have evolved into a way of recognising and rewarding public service. They provide an opportunity for members of the Royal Family to meet people from all walks of life who have made a positive impact in their community.

The Headmaster thanked Mr Russell both for the nomination and for all that he and his family have contributed to support the School’s work in the past 23 years.

Mr Enright joined the Geography department at QE in September 2002. In September 2011, he was appointed the 40th Headmaster of the School. Before that appointment, he held positions as Deputy Headmaster, Assistant Headmaster, Head of Year and Head of Geography.

• Click on the thumbnails below to view the images.

Six Year 13 pupils reached the finals of an Imperial College medical competition, ranking among the top ten teams nationally.

The QE sixth-formers, who mostly hope to become medics and scientists, scored strongly with their innovative approach for treating vasculitis – a rare inflammatory autoimmune condition affecting 40 million people globally.

Biology teacher Hinesh Shah said: “Our team should be extremely proud of what they have achieved, as we all are in the Biology department.

“Thanks to their strong teamwork and organisational skills, they produced an excellent e-poster, which, uniquely, considered financial and economic sustainability, providing sufferers with real-time data and intervention.

“I am sure the skills gained in this competition will aid them in their future careers. Whilst many teams tried to improve current treatment, their bold approach of thinking ‘out of the box’ reflects the skills we are trying to help the students develop,” added Mr Shah, who helped organise their entry into the Science in Medicine Schools Team Prize competition.

The team comprised Hadi Al-Esia, Dhaivat Gohel, Zaki Mustafa, Anshul Nema, Rahul Ranjan, and Jason Tao.

Their scientific poster saw them shortlisted for the finals, where they presented their project to a joint panel of Imperial College professors and representatives from Vasculitis UK, the country’s leading charity for the condition.

Their proposed treatment was a wearable patch that could monitor levels of specific biomarkers in tissue fluid, then treat the affected areas using red light therapy.

Additionally, they designed a companion app that provided an accessible interface for patients to track their current risk level. By using red light therapy instead of standard steroids, the patch avoided many of the harmful side effects that come with sustained use of steroids, which normally feature in treatment for vasculitis.

The team followed a multi-disciplinary approach, with Anshul and Rahul responsible for the data-analysis and companion app design, and Zaki Mustafa calculating the costs of producing sustainably and on a large scale.

Although not among the winners at the finals, the team were praised by the judges for their novel approach, which was both non-invasive and affordable.

As part of their reward for securing a place in the finals, team members received a mentorship session with one of the judges, Professor Frederick Tam, Chair of Renal Medicine at Imperial College.

Team member Jason, who intends to pursue a career in Medicine, said “I really enjoyed the research aspect of the competition – learning in-depth about disease pathways and developing clinical trials made me think about which area of medicine I want to go into.”

Anshul enjoyed the technology side of the project: “Using algorithms and other tools in conjunction with traditional approaches helped me to better understand the wide variety of scenarios in which technology and data can be leveraged effectively.”

And Dhaivat, who plans to study Biomedical Sciences at Imperial College, described Professor Tam’s mentor session as “a great insight into life there… it was something that stuck with me when choosing to commit to Imperial”.

• You can view the poster for the Imperial competition here.

Lawyer Matthew Radstone featured in the first episode of a new Channel 4 documentary series that follows some of the country’s leading barristers representing clients accused of serious crimes.

The programme, Barristers: Fighting For Justice, shows Matthew (OE 1993–2000), a criminal defence barrister, defending a taxi driver facing a 15-year prison sentence as he is accused of transporting cocaine worth £1m as part of an international drugs conspiracy.

The series depicts the work that goes into preparing a defence, from, for example, walking the crime scene through to forensic examination.

After reading Politics at Leeds, Matthew was called to the Bar in 2005.

A Legal 500-listed lawyer, he is based at 25 Bedford Row, a leading defence chambers, where he has established a strong reputation in the areas of serious crime, complex fraud and regulatory matters.

The chambers’ website states: “His reputation is built on his forensic mind, sound tactical judgement and affable approach. He is passionate about his cases and leaves nothing to chance as a result of his meticulous preparation.”

He previously featured in a BBC Radio 5Live series, Raising the Bar, about a day in the life of a barrister.

Outside of work, Matthew has long been a leading supporter of Jewish charities, including World Jewish Relief. He is also a Parent Governor at the Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish Primary School in Mill Hill.