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A new podcast series from The Queen’s Library starts with a look at the contemporary challenge of climate change, while Library staff have also put together a lavishly illustrated historical account of a Londoner facing a pandemic even worse than the present one.

Both the podcast and the account – about Samuel Pepys and the Great Plague of 1665 – are part of an extensive selection of content curated by Head of Library Services Surya Bowyer for boys to access during the pandemic lockdown.

The 27-minute first episode of the podcast series, entitled Roundness, looks at the issue of climate change, examining evidence from around the world and taking as its starting point President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. It features audio clips and music, as well as a commentary from Mr Bowyer.

The podcast, which is available on subscription from online providers including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, quotes experts from a range of disciplines, including investment bank Morgan Stanley’s chief executive, James Gorman, who recently told a congressional committee: “If we don’t have a planet, we’re not going to have a very good financial system.”

The podcast may also be accessed from the Library’s pages on eQE – the School’s portal for boys, parents, staff and other members of the Elizabethan community.

The Library’s extensive eQE section includes a Book of the Week, as well as a host of other recommended reading on the Lockdown Reading page, some of it recommended for particular age groups, some suitable for all.

“There are quick links to huge selections of free e-books and to free audiobooks. And there is our own Virtual Culture guide to virtual museums and galleries for lockdown and beyond,” says Mr Bowyer.

The Arabella magazine, a publication produced by pupils and featuring pupils’ own written and visual contributions, is hosted by the Library’s eQE section.

Mr Bowyer adds: “One coping strategy when we face a crisis like Covid-19 is to document our experiences in some way. More than 350 years ago, that was exactly what Samuel Pepys, a young civil servant living in London, did in his diary when the capital was hit by the Great Plague in 1665 – the worst epidemic in England since the Black Death of 1348. His reaction, and that of his fellow Londoners, is set out in our Pepys and the plague page.”

The page features 12 illustrations, most of them contemporaneous drawings, as well as extracts from Pepy’s diary detailing what he saw and heard – “so many poor sick people in the streets full of sores” – and the gradual recovery over many months until, in February 1666, London was deemed safe enough for King Charles II and his court to return.

The History department has thrown down a VE Day 75th anniversary challenge to the boys: recreate one of the famous photographs from the celebrations marking the end of European hostilities in World War II.

The dedicated VE Day page in the eQE History section suggests pupils can perhaps: get their family involved; bring in some suitably evocative props; use their computer skills to convey a party atmosphere, or even give their image a clever modern twist.

The page includes a range of suitable images to replicate as well as links to information to find out more about VE Day, and, for those whose talents are more culinary than photographic, another suggested activity: boys are urged to try baking or cooking, using a recipe of that period, when food rationing was in place.

In addition, the page features an interview with Old Elizabethan Ken Cooper, who was a pupil at QE from 1942 until 1950.

“I joined the School in September 1942, by which time I and my peers had lived through the 1940-41 Blitz on London. We had grown used to nightly air-raids and during one of these in 1941 a bomb had hit the School and destroyed the refectory. This meant that we not only assembled in Hall at the start of every school day, but also returned there for lunch. We sat in our Houses at long tables, one for juniors and one for seniors, with the Housemaster seated at the end of the senior table. This gave a good sense of togetherness, but the food was abominable….potatoes nearer black than white and meat as hard as leather, often lined with colours suggesting it was more suitable for animals than for humans.

“When the sirens went during school hours, we left the classroom and sat in the corridors with our backs to the walls for our lessons. There was a small air-raid shelter on the old Gun Field, but it was always full of water and never used during my time. There were no after-school activities; when the bell went, we had to head for home in hope of making it before the next air raid.”

Although he cannot remember taking part in any VE Day events at the School, he adds: “I well remember the street parties where we all sat at tables in the middle of the road, celebrating with whatever food and drink we had and giving thanks that six years of war with the Nazis were over.”

Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, is said to have advised “never let a good crisis go to waste” and, in that spirit, our Enrichment teams are tirelessly innovating to provide home access to as many as possible of the clubs and activities boys enjoy at school, writes Crispin Bonham-Carter, Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement).

Many of these new facilities will continue to benefit students well after the current lockdown. Our Home Enrichment eQE pages, for example, are regularly updated and guide students towards a myriad of creative, healthy, academic and caring activities.

Many of our clubs and societies have moved online, and the student club leaders have recommended ways students can continue to pursue their interests in lockdown, with recommendations of books, films, podcasts, articles, competitions, videos and more.

Our charity work continues. In addition to the Technology department’s work producing PPE for the NHS, our student musicians, after having had their concert cancelled at the nearby Ravenscroft Nursing Home, simply took it online and have now provided the home with enough live video recordings for five concerts! [Pictured is a contribution from cellist Raphael Herberg, of Year 11.] Plans are also afoot for events to support the local Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, this year’s main QE charity.

We are keenly aware that what students are missing most of all is each other. Accordingly, much of our energy is directed towards bringing students together, whether it be in the various subject competitions, the wonderful online concerts and exhibitions or the new forums being established within departments.

Finally, some advice for those with motivation-fatigue:

• Make your self-enrichment a habit. Build it into your day like brushing your teeth
• It’s much better to do a little often, rather than a lot rarely
• Reward yourself when you’ve done it
• Build yourself an enrichment streak – keep a record of days when you’ve kept to schedule.

Rome wasn’t built in a day – but they were laying bricks every hour. Keep positive, keep active and stay enriched!

From Food Technology to PE, boys are finding their feet in their home learning environments and still relishing being part of the QE community.

After some initial concerns about how they would deal with the workload, a number of boys have reported that they are managing well and, furthermore, enjoying the experience of working at their own pace.

Keon Robert, of Year 7, said: “Obviously it is not quite like school, but I am handling it well. The workload is manageable, but I am missing the company of my friends and classmates.”

He has particularly enjoyed working through eQE. “I find the Year 7 forums help me communicate with my friends during lockdown. We discuss various interesting and enjoyable topics, such as sport and politics. The forums can also be utilised to help us with our work. It shows that even during lockdown, the QE community is still willing to help others in need, via the internet.

“What I also enjoy about eQE is that I can access all the work that has been set with the push of a button. It has helped me get on top of my workload, and I am much more organised.”

Keon has been a keen participant in the PE department’s weekly challenges. “Not only has my fitness improved, but I have also seen an increase in my interaction with my family since they usually do the challenges alongside me.”

He took part in the Brave New World poetry competition and was delighted to win first prize. He has also entered an external competition – Galactic Challenge’s Digital Competition, “It caught my eye the other day, and my friends and I decided we could enter it. This is an extra-curricular activity I enjoy as we have regular online meetings with each other, and I can see how they are getting on.”

Keon’s Year 7 peer, Edward Muscat, has earned himself a mention in his local newspaper, the Islington Gazette. He and his parents, along with six other neighbouring families have raised more than £3,000 by running 85 blocks around their homes in a relay marathon, being careful to observe social distancing and, in Edward’s case, wearing a mask. The money raised will go to NHS Charities Together.

“I am enjoying learning from home,” he said. “It’s good to have the full day’s classes on eQE when I log on in the morning; all the resources I need are always available, and I can work at my own pace.

“In History, we are studying American history from the European settlement onwards, which I am finding fascinating. Food ‘tech’ at home is great, because we can eat it immediately! Physics is quite challenging as we are learning about forces, which is completely different from anything I have studied before.”

In addition to the marathon, Edward is doing a great deal of sport with his dad in the garden. He has found he has had more time to practise for his online Zoom piano lessons. And as well as eating the results of his Food Technology classes, Edward has also been brewing ginger beer from a starter kit. “It is fermenting nicely and should be ready any day!”

Music, especially the Virtual Orchestra and Choir, has figured significantly in the lockdown life of  third Year 7 boy, Leo Sellis. “I especially enjoyed the Virtual Orchestra because I love making music, especially the pieces we are performing, and I cannot wait to hear the outcome.

“I have also really enjoyed my Music lessons because we are doing theory, which is my favourite part. I am challenging myself by trying for Grade 6 since I have just completed my Grade 5.”

Leo has found home learning quite relaxing, but has acknowledged that it has occasionally been hard to learn new content without teachers’ immediate help. “I like working through eQE, because it means that I can have a slightly more relaxed timetable and be able to take short breaks whenever I feel I need one.”

He has also been taking regular exercise. “I like all the fun challenges I am sent by the PE department.”

He has found the Year 7 forums have given him an opportunity to broaden his circle of friends: “The forums are a good place to talk to people that I do not usually talk to at school.”

The twin importance of message and method in fighting climate change was brought to the fore in the two winning entries in the Geography department’s Earth Day competitions.

The competitions were held to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

With this year’s Earth Day theme being Climate Action, the winner of the writing competition emphasised the importance of using the right people to convey environmental messages, while the victor in the parallel photography competition emphasised the positive impact that even small steps could have.

Head of Geography Emily Parry said: “Well done to all of the boys who entered the competitions. It was impressive to see the boys engage with the enormous challenge of climate change and heartening to see their appreciation of the wonder of our planet and passion for it to be protected.”

The first task was to write in 500 words or less an answer in response to the question: How can we save our planet from climate change? The second was for boys to submit a photograph they had taken illustrating the impact, for good or ill, of humans on ecosystems, accompanied by a 100-word explanation.

Ananth Iyer, of Year 8, took the prize for the photography competition with his striking image of a bird feeder in his back garden. He explained his choice of subject: “It celebrates the positive impact that humans can have on our environment. It can provide food for birds and all sorts of other animals when they are finding it tough. Small things like these can have a huge impact.”

Congratulating Ananth, Miss Parry said: “We appreciated the simplicity of Ananth’s photograph and how it showed that it is possible for anyone to take a small action which can have a positive impact upon ecosystems.”

First prize for the writing competition went to Rahul Doshi, of Year 10, who submitted an argument that insufficient numbers of people are aware of the threat of climate change.

“Rahul creatively answered the question How can we save our planet from climate change? by recognising that it is first necessary for everyone to accept that climate change is actually a threat! He draws attention to the importance of having messengers, such as David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, to effectively communicate climate science to people of all ages and backgrounds,” said Miss Parry.

Rahul proposed the use of respected messengers to increase recognition. He wrote: “With over 46% of UK citizens believing that the threat is overstated and 10% completely denying that humans are to blame for climate change, it is clear that not enough people currently are aware of the threat climate change poses to our planet. There needs to be a big push to get messengers – people who we all relate to – to get this message across. If we do not, this planet faces a grave future.”

The competitions were launched on Earth Day on 22 April through eQE and were accompanied by tips and links to websites with suggestions for background reading material. These ranged from National Geographic’s suggestions for lightening our ecological load to an Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) article about how to build a bug house.