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Heads of Department provide a quick summary of news and innovative developments during lockdown.

Sarah Westcott, Head of Science

“We are making full use of online resources so that, on the one hand boys can interact with their teachers and, on the other, we, as teachers, can assess and support pupils’ learning. Across all age groups, eQE forums are enabling boys to ask questions about the topics being taught and receive personalised answers: these can be seen by all students, thus helping everyone who may have a similar question. ‘Dynamic learning’, involving the setting of quick progress tests and quizzes, gives teachers an instant view of their students’ progress and level of understanding. Creative open-ended assessment tasks linked to thinking skills are being used across age groups in Chemistry and in the Lower School, so that students can demonstrate their ability to apply knowledge, as well as recall it.

“Of course, normal School life is not only about lessons and what is in the syllabus, and we are now developing online club provision, so that students can explore science ideas at home, using simple ‘kitchen’ experiments to research projects that also make use of The Queen’s Library resources.

“Year 7 and 8’s Summer Term online Science projects will be linked to the America’s Cup yacht race, giving students the opportunity to research and explore ideas around materials science, sports technology and nutrition.”

Emily Parry, Head of Geography

“Each week, we provide all students with lessons set up in eQE in PowerPoint format that include a range of tasks which students should be confident to complete independently. Embedded within the PowerPoint presentations are links to videos and websites for further research.

“The following week, students self-review and mark their own work, using mark schemes we send them. In addition, eQE’s technological capabilities are being used to monitor progress, with timed class tests being set which are automatically marked so students instantly receive their marks.

“There are also plenty of enrichment activities taking place in Geography. Over the Easter holidays, boys were given a range of fun activities. We made a special eQE page for Earth Day, featuring two climate-themed competitions for which there are just a few more days to submit entries, and we have now launched the Royal Geographical Society Young Geographer of the Year competition at QE.

“We are continuing to run our Sixth Form extension group via an eQE forum: the current topic is exploring Doughnut Economics. Year 12 are to be invited to join a series of five webinars run by the Geographical Association to help them prepare for their NEAs (Non-examined assessments, which will make up 20% of their overall A-level mark).”

A major component of QE’s remote learning study programme has been specially tailored for Year 11 to provide a bridge so that boys can cross over successfully into their A-level studies.

The GCSE to A-Level Transition area of study will be a prominent focus for current Year 11 pupils in the coming weeks, together with a distance-learning course on academic research skills run by Eton College, which will be used to complement the in-school study programme.

In a letter to Year 11, Year Head Simon Walker wrote of the importance of the transition programme: “You as a year group have an opportunity to be uniquely well-prepared for starting your A-Level studies, and it is by harnessing the activities within this component that you will do so.

“These activities will prepare you…in all the key areas in which Sixth Form study differs from and develops upon GCSE: they will help you to deepen and enrich your subject knowledge and understanding of concepts that are central to your chosen subjects; and to explore those subjects in an independent and self-motivated way, drawing on research skills and a wide range of physical and online resources in order to read widely within those subjects. In doing so, the activities will provide a foundation for success in AS and A-level examinations.”

Acknowledging that the activities are very different from those that Year 11 would normally be undertaking at this stage, he states that the School’s expectations of excellence remain unchanged: “Your teachers, tutors and I will all be expecting to see thorough and thoughtful work reflecting a conscientious and enthusiastic approach.”

From now on, the boys will be completing activities only for subjects they intend studying at AS-level, thus focusing on fewer subjects and investing commensurately more time in each.

“Those of you who have A-level courses confirmed know which courses to consider at this stage; those of you who are still uncertain should start with those for which you have a definite offer at this stage,” Mr Walker wrote. “You will be assigned three tasks over the course of the term – two this half-term and one next – and should focus on using all the time available to complete the work in as much detail and depth as possible, rather than prioritising quick completion of the tasks: think of this work as something that can be continually refined, extended and developed rather than as something with a clear-cut end-point beyond which there is no scope for further improvement.”

The Eton College distance-learning course, which will run in parallel with the transition initiative, is an online course to help boys develop their skills of academic research – skills that will play an integral part in their AS and A-level and, ultimately, undergraduate studies.

The course is provided by EtonX, a branch of the public school that provides online-learning courses globally. EtonX have made the course available free-of-charge to UK state schools to support the distance-learning programmes being implemented in response to the global pandemic. The course offers a systematic and structured introduction to all the key components of academic research, including managing time effectively, using research tools and databases, evaluating sources, using reading strategies and referencing.

David Ryan, Deputy Head (Pastoral), sets out how bespoke online tutorials are being used to maintain the School’s pastoral support for boys in these difficult times.

‘Keep in touch!’ It is a phrase we use frequently in our everyday lives, yet in the current situation when we have lost regular face-to-face contact with everyone except our immediate family, doing so is a considerable challenge. For our part, we are very keen to keep touch with all our students, firstly by using our established ways of working, and then by enhancing those with new lines of communication. This will allow us to discuss how your sons are and how their studies are progressing, to celebrate their achievements, and to consider any concerns they might have that we can help them with.

We are already doing this in a number of ways and will seek to expand our provision for the period of the School’s closure as we go through the next few weeks. Primarily, in their online bespoke tutorials, students have an opportunity to give answers to a number of questions. Their form tutors read these answers and respond to them when issues arise. We are now confident that online platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams pass the ‘fit for purpose’ test both in terms of how we provide pastoral support for your son, but also with regard to his online safety. Therefore, we will use those platforms more in meeting virtually with our students in the weeks to come.

Normally it will be your son’s form tutor who meets with him in this way, but he may also be contacted by his Head of Year or another member of the pastoral team. Our normal procedure will be to set a date and time for an online tutorial in advance. This allows for the staff member to be notified if your son is unable to attend the meeting. Please be assured that there will be procedures that School staff will keep to in order to ensure outstanding online safety at all times.

We understand that, for some families, access to IT devices may be very limited and/or shared between family members, and that it might prove difficult for a student to take part in an online meeting. If this is the case, we ask that you contact your son’s form tutor: we will always find alternative ways to stay in touch with your son.

For some of our students, the School closure seems to be providing an opportunity to learn in a different way, to learn new skills and to do so from home as summer starts. But for others, there may be challenges: their family’s well-being; their access to IT; or, just feeling anxious – either about the circumstances we are currently in, or about an issue they have been facing for some time. Whatever the situation, we hope to able to work closely with your sons to provide them with the outstanding pastoral support that helps them to thrive and continue to develop.

Four QE boys were part of a team of 50 set the daunting task of designing a settlement for 10,000 people in just a single day after reaching the national finals of the UK Space Design Competition.

After coming up with their detailed design, they then presented to a panel of judges, who included an Old Elizabethan, himself a former competitor in the same competition.

Prior to lockdown, the four Year 10 pupils were accompanied to the final at Imperial College by Head of Physics Jonathan Brooke. “The boys did very well to reach the finals, and although they were not on the winning team, it was, nevertheless, a great experience for them. The competition demands a high level of design and technical skill, imagination and teamwork, alongside the ability to present well. All the boys contributed and worked very well.”

Utkarsh Bhamidimarri, Amogh Bhartia, Siddarth Jana and Jashwanth Parimi, of Year 10, formed part of the Vulture Company, who came up with an ambitious plan for a settlement positioned in low Martian orbit.

Their contribution was evaluated by a panel of judges, who included experts in the field and representatives of the UK Space Agency. Also among the judges was Neelesh Ravichandran (OE 2010-17), who is reading Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Imperial College. He took part in the Space Design competition as a Year 13 pupil at QE. He said: “The UK Space Design Competition dares students to dream bigger than they’ve ever done before. Working together with schools from across the country, competitors are challenged with designing space settlements set in the far future. ”

Part of the aim of the Space Settlement Design Competition is to offer young people optimism for the future whilst increasing their technical competence, management skills, knowledge of space environments and resources, appreciation of relationships between technical products and human use, teamwork, and techniques for preparing effective documentation.

It requires them to integrate their knowledge of and utilise skills in space science, Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, environmental science, Biology, computer science, writing, speaking and Art, and to combine all that with common sense.

The teams were presented with a Request for Proposal, which outlined the technical requirements of the venture, which was set in the year 2065. The challenge was to design facilities for a station serving as a gateway to Mars’s “flourishing surface settlements”. Its purpose would be to serve as a stepping-stone to Olympia – a planned future city on Mars.

To help them accomplish this task, each team was provided with managers from industry, past competitors, or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) university students to serve as company CEOs. The participants then received technical and management training to prepare them for the competition. In addition to designing an overall structure, the teams had to define sources of construction materials, specify vehicles used for transportation, determine sources of electrical power and water, design computer and robotics systems, specify allocation of interior space, show attributes of pleasant community design, and provide estimated costs and schedules for completion of the project.

Old Elizabethan George the Poet played to an audience of many millions when he opened BBC One’s coverage of last night’s One World: Together at Home concert.

George Mpanga (OE 2002–2009) performed a two-minute poem, Our Key Workers, paying tribute to those working for the NHS “like my mum” and other key workers who are keeping the country going during the pandemic lockdown.

Global Citizen, co-organisers of the eight-hour globally streamed benefit concert with the World Health Organization, today announced that the show raised £$128m (£102m) for coronavirus relief efforts.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “As ever, George’s words were both thoughtful and inspiring, his striking turn of phrase perfectly capturing the sacrifices being made by front-line workers and expressing back to them the nation’s gratitude.”

The concert, curated by Lady Gaga, featured global music stars performing in intimate settings as they self-isolate at home. They included the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Billie Eilish.

Songs were interspersed with messages from actors such as Matthew McConaughey and Lupita Nyong’o, as well as world figures, including Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

George’s poem refers to a wide variety of people in key roles, including not only health workers but also bus drivers, teachers, cleaners, carers and those in waste management. Several of these jobs and those of other key-worker roles are depicted in George’s video, which also shows deserted city streets.

With the refrain “People are doing what needs to be done, But this fight won’t be easily won”, the poem appeals to the public to abide by the current restrictions: “We need to help the cause, By keeping ourselves indoors.”

He mentions his friend “Anoop” – believed to be Anoop Raghavan (OE 2002-2008). He is one of huge number of Old Elizabethans in key-worker roles playing a critical role in fighting the pandemic locally, nationally and internationally.

The poem concludes: “Every one of us was given a unique purpose, so let’s honour the service of our key workers.”