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Sixth-former James Tan is believed to be the first QE boy ever to reach the final of the country’s premier coding competition.

James, of Year 12, made it through to the 2020 final of the British Informatics Olympiad after scoring highly in the first round of the annual competition, which was a three-hour examination sat in school.

The residential final had been due to take place at Cambridge University’s Trinity College, but was switched to an online event because of the Covid-19 restrictions. The results have not yet been announced.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations to James on making QE history by getting through to the final. It is not only in this competition that he is making his mark with his programming skills: he is also the programmer for our highly successful HYBRID VEX EDR robotics team and is teaching coding to primary school children as part of our Year 12 volunteering programme.”

James first developed his interest in coding by building websites in his spare time. He then learned the Python language, which, he says “opened up a whole new realm of possibilities”. He has taken part in a number of programming competitions, including the online Google Code Jam.

“I enjoy the puzzle-like aspect of coding, where each small section of code fits together to solve a much large problem. There is also a great sense of satisfaction when I find a particularly elegant solution, especially after spending a significant period of time on a programming project.”

James’s weekly volunteering work involves teaching Scratch (a block-based programming language) to primary school children in Years 3 and 4.

He found the first stage of the British Informatics Olympiad challenging but enjoyable, and professed himself very pleased with his score of 79 out of 100. “My preparation mostly consisted of trying to solve past questions in my spare time, which proved to be sufficient, given my prior experience with competitive programming in online contests.”

In the five-hour online final, contestants had to tackle four problems, based around scenarios involving settings such as a training ground for spies and a film studio. Each problem required a complete program as a solution. “In the end, I managed to solve two of the four, which I am quite pleased with,” said James.

In previous years, following the national final, the best four competitors were selected to represent Britain in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).

This year, however, the IOI has also been postponed, so the British Informatics Olympiad organisers are planning to run some further selection activity over the coming months, the details of which have not yet been disclosed.

The School’s Saxophone Ensemble have been named among the 2020 Chamber Champions in the prestigious Pro Corda Music Festival.

After participating in a highly competitive semi-final at Westminster School, Nathan Woodcock of Year 9, Conor Parker-Delves of Year 11 and Ifeatu Obiora and Drew Sellis, both of Year 13, qualified for the final, which had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 virus restrictions.

Following the cancellation, the Pro Corda educational charity took the decision to name all the finalists ‘2020 Chamber Champions’, stating on its website: “It was one of the highest-standard festivals yet, so all the groups who reached the final pulled off a stunning achievement.”

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “I congratulate the boys on this fantastic achievement, especially as this was their very first attempt in this competition.”

At the final, which was to have taken place at Sevenoaks School, the Saxophone Ensemble had planned to perform Sonata, First Movement by Phil Woods, arranged by Wilson.

The saxophonists comprised one of the three QE ensembles to reach the competition’s semi-finals, together with the String Quartet and the Celli Ensemble. Each of these ensembles had received expert feedback from the first round.

“All three ensembles took advantage of this advice to refine their performances still further and performed very well indeed,” said Miss Partington, adding that, although they did not reach the final, the String Quartet “played the best they have ever played”.

Established in 1969, Pro Corda provides musical training for a wide range of young people through ensemble training and performance, specialising in chamber music.

The leader of QE’s Combined Cadet Force has been named the Best Adult Volunteer at the Tylers and Bricklayers 2020 Craft Awards.

The ancient livery company’s prestigious award recognises a quarter of a century of service to the CCF by Captain Mev Armon, who is a Biology teacher.

He received his award at a special luncheon at Carpenters’ Hall in Throgmorton Avenue, an event attended by the Master of the Company, Dr Michel Saminaden, and the Principal Guest, Lt Col Mark Stephenson, RE – Commanding Officer 1 RSME Regiment.

Capt. Armon has been a constant presence in the force since joining the School in 1994.

In his recommendation for the award, Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Mev has provided outstanding and inspiring leadership during his time at the School. Such an active and oversubscribed CCF remains rare in the state sector, but the energy and organisation that he has brought to his role has meant that it continues to go from strength to strength.”

The Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers received its first Royal Charter in 1568, although its roots go back to the 15th century. Its monopoly within the City was broken after the Great Fire of London in 1666, when a Royal Proclamation led to a requirement for tiles to be used in the place of thatch. This led to an influx of tilers and bricklayers into the capital.

Despite the diminution of its role in the tiling and building sector, it has continued to play a part in the life of London, pursuing an active charitable, educational and social programme. As part of its link with the Corps of Royal Engineers, the company each year makes awards to London’s Best Cadet and Best Adult Volunteer in the Royal Engineers Army Cadet Force.

“Under Mev’s tutelage and preparation, QE’s CCF has received very strong inspection reports and has been a frequent contributor to local civic events,” added Mr Enright. “His combination of high expectations, strong teaching skills, and personal warmth and charisma, have made him a role model to generations of cadets.”

In addition to his role at QE, Mr Armon has also led outreach work with other schools, for example, supporting The John Lyon School in Harrow with the development of its programmes.

“A number of QE boys have chosen to pursue careers in the military, but many more have simply enjoyed the unique opportunities for personal development that participation in the CCF has afforded.

“As Contingent Commander, Mev continues to be the driving force behind the success of our CCF and continues to be generous with his time a quarter of a century after joining us,” Mr Enright concluded.

Want to make the best use of your study time at home? Deputy Head (Academic) Anne Macdonald  has produced these handy hints to help you with your remote learning.

Keep to a routine: Undertake work Monday-Friday, following a timetable to build variety into your day and week, take breaks to rest, pursue hobbies and interests, and to exercise (whilst following Government guidance about social distancing).

Use eQE: Make the most of the support being offered by your teachers via eQE – ‘add comment’ to tasks set on eQE if you want to ask questions about the work or if you are stuck.

Be organised: Click ‘complete’ for tasks that are finished, archiving them to keep your task list organised; ensure you are following teacher instructions about how to set out and organise your work, printing and filing anything you are asked to by your teacher.

Collaborate: Where possible, collaborate with your peers on your work. You may already by doing this, but there are opportunities to test each other on new vocabulary or content, help each other when stuck, converse in French and/or German, play musical duets etc. This could be achieved, with your parents’ permission and guidance, via social media/communication platforms (some of which you may already be using) e.g. FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Zoom, Skype etc.

Challenge yourself: When you have completed the set work, explore the subject pages on eQE, visit The Queen’s Library page to use the online resources such as links to free Audible audio books, The Day newspaper (including exploring the Become an expert links on any articles that are of interest) and so on.

Revision: Regular revision has benefits for your long-term learning; follow the guidance you are given by departments about how to develop/organise your revision notes, memorise new content and test yourself on it.

More information: After Easter, we will issue further information about how teachers will monitor and assess your learning.

David Ryan, Deputy Head (Pastoral), has some tips for boys and their parents on how to maintain psychological wellbeing during this challenging time.

Routine is important, as it gives us a sense of purpose; without that sense of purpose, it’s easy to feel down, so having a routine that we keep to helps us through a period of isolation, such as the one that we are experiencing. Differentiating Monday to Friday from the weekend, and doing something different then, is very helpful.

Talking is important, too, for all of us. Many people will talk as much to their work and school colleagues as to their family members, and losing this contact can make us feel a little lost. Ensuring that we talk as a family is definitely important. Also, while too much ‘screen time’ is not good, young people are very good at communicating and staying in touch with each other electronically and we shouldn’t under-estimate this as a way of keeping up spirits and alleviating boredom.

Positivity: In the time of a national emergency, it’s very easy for young people to perceive the world in a negative way. Therefore, it is important to encourage them to consider the many positive aspects of life that we see, even in a crisis. Many, if not all, QE parents will be able to tell stories of their parents, grandparents and other relatives in their family’s history who have had to overcome similar, if not greater, challenges than that which we are facing now. Reminding young people that while we are vulnerable to illnesses like this one, the human story is ultimately one of survival, can help the boys maintain perspective at this worrying time: there are many inspirational stories within families.

Re-thinking: Seeing the situation that we are in as an opportunity for reflection, re-thinking and doing some things differently is no bad thing, whatever our age. Having time to think about how we study or work; what our future plans are; what in life is important and what isn’t – these are all ways to help us get through the time that we have on our hands and to plan positively for the future.

Never be too proud: Some families may go through challenging times in the weeks and months ahead, personally, emotionally and financially. As a school, we want to do all that we can to assist all of our students and families; we would encourage you to let us know how things are for you, whatever the situation might be, and to tell us if they are problematic.

Further help: One of the biggest challenges of the current situation is how little time we have had to prepare for it, and that can affect people, as life seems to have changed radically, very quickly, and this can even lead to a sense of loss. Ensuring that the boys are looking after their mental health is very important, and we have a counsellor available to work online with students, if a parent has a concern. The advice available at this site is really helpful – hopefully it will be useful to you.