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A Sixth Form team came second in London and third across the whole country in the long-running Náboj Math competition.

The Year 12 boys’ performance in the London heat of the competition, which was hosted by Dulwich College, placed them among the leading élite of the 70 teams competing nationally.

Head of Mathematics Jessica Steer said: “This was an impressive performance by our students, who entered the competition on their own initiative.”

The London heat was one of four run in the UK this year: the others were in Oxfordshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Team member Vinujan Sivakumar said: “We had an incredible experience at Dulwich College. In the London heat, we secured second place out of 20 highly competitive teams, missing the top spot by just two points to King’s College London Mathematics School.”

The same school went on to be named overall UK winners. QE finished in third place in the national rankings, its 35 points placing it just ahead of Dulwich College and Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School, Marlow, on 34 points apiece.

In the international rankings, QE came 28^th out of around 800 teams.

Vinujan’s teammates were Ram Chockalingam, Sasen Kankanamge Don, William Joanes and Joshua Wilkinson.

The competition lasted for 120 minutes, during which the five-person teams tried to solve as many problems as possible. At the beginning, each team received six problems. As soon as it correctly solved a problem, it was given another one.

The competition website states: “Problems in Náboj differ considerably from the routine school exercises which usually require only direct application of a given method: the Náboj problems require certain amount of inventiveness and ingenuity. Success in the competition does not depend on the individual abilities of the team members only but also on their efficient cooperation.

“Apart from enhancing imagination and logical reasoning our goal is to attract people to the endless beauty hidden in mathematics.”

A team from Poland were the international winners. This year, the competition was also run in Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Uzbekistan.

 

After the School’s triumphs at the VEX robotics national championships in Telford last month, it has now been confirmed that four QE teams have qualified for the world championships in Dallas.

At Telford International Centre, Team Rogue (working in partnership with a team from Haberdashers’ Boys’) were overall champions for the Year 10 (VR5C) event and also took a highly prized Design award. They now qualify for the global finals being held next month in Texas, together with fellow Year 10s in Team Nova and Year 9 teams Constellation and Omega.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “QE has had a stellar record of getting teams to the world championships, but that success should not be taken for granted: it represents a great deal of hard work and preparation, not to mention talent, on the part of the boys.

“It was a truly impressive performance by our robotics teams at Telford, who excelled in their performance, in the awards they won, and, I understand, in terms of the way they conducted themselves at the national championships.”

Team Constellation took a Design prize in the junior VIQRC competition.

Nova won the Innovate Award, gaining their place in the world championships through their high-ranking finish in the Skills Challenge. Team Omega won their division and were runners-up in the VIQRC Overall Teamwork Championship.

Here are all the QE teams’ results at Telford:

High School (Year 12)

• HYBRID: Seventh in Skills; 15th in Teamwork; beaten in the quarter-final

V5RC

• Rogue: tournament winners; Design award; third place for Skills and for Teamwork
• Nova: Innovate award; fourth place for Skills; eighth for Teamwork; beaten in division semi-final
• Bread: seventh place for Skills; 13th for Teamwork; beaten in quarter-final

VIQRC

• Gearsquad: 11th in Skills; 13th in their division; sixth in division finals; won Amaze award
• Omega: eighth in Skills; 6th in division; first in division finals
• Constellation: ninth in Skills; 12th in division; tied second in division finals; won Design award
• Gear Grinders (Year 8): 20th in Skills, 15th in division, sixth in division finals, won Create award
• CircuitBreakers: 58th in Skills, 15th in division, sixth in division finals

Earlier this term, QE followed up on hosting a VIQRC event in December by hosting a successful V5RC regional round, the Battle of Barnet.

And more recently, since Year 12 teams are unable to go to Dallas in May because of their examination commitments, QE’s Team Hybrid instead headed off to the CREATE US Open Signature event in Council Bluffs, Iowa – and came away with a Judges Award.

Head of Digital Teaching & Learning Michael Noonan said: “The standard of competition was amazing and the team had an absolute blast!

“The event featured many state champions and champions from similar élite signature events from across the US. This drove our students to improve their autonomous robot routines, their driving and their strategy. Day 1 featured a new challenge for our teams in the ‘Programming Palooza’, which tasked our programmers with rapidly developing routines for their bots to respond to individual and paired tasks. We were delighted to finish fifth from a highly competitive field, using a purpose-built ‘basebot.

“Along the way we thoroughly enjoyed the Super Mega Alliance, which features many team-building challenges by using pure robots in non-conventional, non-competitive challenges intended to build friendships with those from other parts of the world. Our boys loved this challenge, and finished with a highly respectable second place!

“The competition proper was intense, and had a game every 20 minutes during the competitive phases. Having come in the top 40 out of 160 teams in Skills, we were now free to put together a strong performance on day one, ranking 13th of our 40 on day 1. Day 2 brought its challenges, and unfortunately our team succumbed to four losses. Undeterred, they battled well alongside a team who had been their alliance partner, losing out 39-30 in the round of 16.

“It was then an incredible honour for them to be awarded the Judges Award, making us the first UK team to win at this event.“

Mr Noonan thanked the School’s robotics sponsors, Kingston Technology, for their support.

 

 

 

 

 

The Class of 2024 returned in numbers this week for the University Convention, giving the current Year 12 up-to-the minute information from their universities and courses.

Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane said: “The main point was that they share their experiences and pass on advice to current students who will be making choices as to where to apply. But it was also a wonderful opportunity to catch up with them and hear how they are getting on in ‘the real world’. They seemed to enjoy the opportunity to see each other and to catch up with their ‘old’ teachers over lunch. We’re keen that they stay connected with us and each other.”

• Click on the thumbnails below to view the images.

Thanks to the richly varied careers being pursued by our alumni, the School was able to serve up an inspiring new series of talks as part of our QE Futures programme.

The speakers were drawn from people who attended QE during each of the previous four decades who have distinguished themselves in fields including sports entertainment, design & architecture, music and finance. The line-up even included an illustrious former QE mum, who serves on the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee.

Among those welcome by the Futures team – Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane and QE Futures Co-ordinator Nathan Lawson – were:

Nathan Kosky (OE 1984–1990). Nathan works in sports and entertainment and is creator & producer of cricket podcast Middle Please, Umpire hosted by England’s World Cup-winning bowler Mark Wood and comedian Miles Jupp. After his visit, Nathan reflected on his reception from the boys: “The brilliant questions they fired at me showed just how incredibly switched on they are, and going back to a place which set me up for my own journey was a real pleasure.”

Liz Oakes, mother of OE James Oakes (2010–2017). An External Member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee, she was previously Executive Vice President for Mastercard and is a sought-after financial expert, holding several company directorships.

Alex Gilbert (OE 1990–1995). A committed environmentalist, Alex is Head of Energy and Electrification for Transport for London and is also Chair of the Advisory Group at the University of Sussex Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand (CIED). Alex also took part in the Year 11 Careers Convention and is pictured with some of the boys in QE Connect.

Gabriel Gendler (OE 2007–2014). Gabriel is a mathematician and rabbi, who has studied and taught at the Fuchsberg Center in Jerusalem and Yeshivat Hadar in New York. Gabriel represented the UK in the International Mathematical Olympiad while at School and was an accomplished musician.

Hemang Hirani (OE 2008–2015). He works for Barclays Investment Bank, entering the finance sector after gaining his first-class degree in Geography and Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Ramesh Pari (Paripooranananthan) (OE 1997–2004) is an architect who is now Head of Design & BIM Engineering at Ocado. After speaking to Year 12s in a special assembly, Ramesh wrote: “What was my message? That life is full of weird and wonderful opportunities we can’t always plan for—but we can prepare. That careers are ‘squiggly’, and we should embrace the pivot, prioritising interest over rigid plans.”

 

 

The School paid warm tribute last month to QE teacher and Old Elizabethan James Clarke, who died suddenly in January.

A memorial service in Barnet parish church drew many dozens of OEs and former staff, while there was a very good attendance for a School concert given in his honour on the same day, where the audience included James’ mother and other family members. In the congregation for the service at St John the Baptist were senior current QE leaders; former staff; James’ former PE & Games department colleagues; and the 2025 School Captain, Simardeep Sahota, and current First XV, representing the student body.

After 12 years in the PE department, James (OE 1999–2004) had left his position as Head of Rugby last summer to take up a role in Bermudan rugby.

In his tribute, the Headmaster said: “James meant much to so many Elizabethans.

“Talk to anyone who taught him from 1999 and they will refer to an enthusiastic, committed spirit. He saw the world as a QE boy, from Normandy to ski trips, and when the ‘end of week awards’ took place on those trips, he was a persistent winner.  Why? Because he was involved and he was fun, embracing every opportunity, and working fantastically with others.

“James was an inspiring and supportive teacher, whose work in the classroom and on the sports field left an indelible mark on generations of pupils. A brilliant and respected Head of Rugby, he shared his plain enthusiasm for the game and the opportunities it presents to young people and their development.

“James wasn’t just a member of staff, of course, but an Old Elizabethan – a much loved and admired member of our alumni community.

“He was at home at Queen Elizabeth’s and his intuitive understanding and deep sense of connection helped make the School a more welcoming place to those following in his footsteps. Today, we are united in thankfulness for his life, and in sorrow at his loss.”

The scheduled Choral and Chamber Charity Concert, which was dedicated to James upon news of his death and was also held at the church, raised money for the RFU’s Rugby United initiative. It featured a performance of World in Union, the Rugby Union World Cup anthem, by the Chamber Choir and Chamber Orchestra. Click below to watch an impromptu recording of the performance. The concert alone raised £696, with others donating several hundred pounds through a dedicated JustGiving page. The Barbershop group also sang The Road Home by Stephen Paulus (as they had done earlier at the memorial service) and the Chamber Choir and musicians combined again for Fauré’s Requiem.

At the memorial service, the Junior String Quartet played as the opening music Beethoven’s String Quartet Op.18 No.4 in C minor, movement I, Allegro ma no tanto. This was the piece that won them the Junior category of the National Pro Corda Chamber Music competition this term.