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After a session spent getting to grips with the intricacies of the legislative process, Year 9 boys worked together to devise campaigns aimed at amending fictional Parliamentary bills.

As part of their Humanities Enrichment Day, the pupils learned about how legislation is formed and then used campaigning tools old and new to lobby for change, from writing letters to an MP to creating an internet meme and composing tweets.

Head of Geography Emily Parry said: “The aim of the session was to provide students with an understanding of how laws are made and how they and the wider public can influence this process.”

After initial talks, the boys took the opportunity to ask questions and then split into groups to design their lobbying activities, with social media campaigning to the fore.

Head of Academic Enrichment Nisha Mayer said: “The boys got into the competitive spirit of the day and made some very creative campaigns.”

The fictional bills about which they campaigned were:

• Abortion Bill, with abortions to be made illegal in all circumstances
• International Aid Bill, increasing the UK’s international aid budget from 0.7% of GDP to 2%
• Nuclear Power Bill, under which the UK’s energy supply will be 100% nuclear by 2040
• School Uniform Bill, prohibiting gender-specific school uniforms
• Voting Age Bill, lowering the age of voting in UK parliamentary elections to 14
• Wage Cap Bill, enforcing limits so that the highest earner within a company can only earn a maximum of ten times the lowest earner.

Three Year 9 boys are through to the national finals of the Big Bang competition after their idea for a hi-tech device to replace the white sticks used by the blind impressed both the judges and the visiting crowds at the London regional heat.

The boys’ Device to Aid the Visually Impaired is an ergonomic headset housing complicated circuitry that uses object-detection algorithms to warn users of hazards lurking nearby.

Aryan Jindal, Bhunit Santhiramoulesan and Ashwin Sridhar made full use of the opportunity to showcase their work and discuss it with spectators stopping by their stand at the Big Bang London Central event hosted by Westminster Kingsway College at Kings Cross. The Big Bang programme comprises a national Big Bang competition and a series of events across the country, all aimed at bringing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) to life for younger people.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “The students created this device in our dedicated design area and they hope the project will help provide a cheap and affordable alternative to the stick and other measures that visually impaired people are currently offered.”

“The device proved to be a major hit among spectators and judges alike, so it was perhaps unsurprising that the boys succeeded in being selected for the Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers competition next year, where they will present to thousands of visitors in the NEC in Birmingham.

“Suitably impressed by the demonstration of the technology, one computer scientist from a major company even left his contact details with regard to future collaboration: the company is looking at using the same type of technology in CCTV in large railway stations to help monitor who is using the facility and to detect potential threats to public safety.”

One of the trio, Aryan, said afterwards: “This was my first STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics] enrichment activity outside of School and I loved it! I was really nervous before the judges visited, but by the time we had to speak with them it was fine, and by the time the second panel came it was more like a conversation than a presentation. I can’t wait to go to the national finals and we will try to develop our work even further for this.”

Also displaying their work at Big Bang London were a team of Year 12 students on the eve of their appearance at the finals of the International STEM Youth Innovation Competition at the Royal Air Force Museum in Colindale, London. Deeps Gandhi, Aryan Jain, Simon Sherriff, Ben Domb and Tarun Bhaskaran secured their place there by designing and building a glider drone to help in the conservation of black rhinos.

“It proved to be a useful exercise, as the boys had the chance to speak with fellow competitors and mentors from around the world, as well as preparing the final touches to their presentation for the following day and staging a practice flight,” said Mr Noonan.

With more than 100 prizes presented, the Junior Awards Ceremony in the final week of the academic year gave public recognition to the high achievement and outstanding commitment of QE’s youngest pupils.

The formal ceremony in the School Hall took its traditional form, with the audience of prize-winners, their parents, VIP guests and staff treated to classical music interludes during the prize-giving.

Yet in his speech, Headmaster Neil Enright reminded the young high-fliers that theirs is a changing world: “If rapid progress is a feature of our School, it most certainly is in aspects of the wider world. Whilst much focus this month is on the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, it is also the 100th anniversary of the first two-way crossing of the Atlantic by airship. That only fifty years should separate those landmark events, itself would seem to emphasise the point. The rate of technological and human progress has never been so great.”

This, said Mr Enright, provided the boys both with wonderful opportunities and new challenges. “Try new things and broaden your base of skills and knowledge, as your generation will need to adapt in an economy and a society disrupted by technology and associated structural change.”

Technological change was also making the globe “smaller, more connected and more accessible,” he added. “In the last year boys here have been variously to Canada (for rugby and skiing), Beijing (for astrophysics), Russia (for History and Politics), France and Germany (on language exchange programmes), Sicily (for Geography), Kentucky (for robotics) and New York (for an international mock trial competition), among other destinations.

“But” the Headmaster said, “we may have reached a moment when progress is not all about faster, further and bigger – at least in the non-digital world. Climate change, for example, means grappling with new imperatives, of doing things smarter, cleaner and more sustainably.”

The implications of this for QE’s pupils were clear: “It is through a rounded combination of academic, technical, creative and social skills that progress on the biggest issues facing us in the future will rely. This is a roundedness we try to prepare you for…You are in a privileged position to be well set to face that future with confidence and optimism, building on your prior success to progress further and further, to thrive in a changing world, and to change it.”

Among the VIP guests at the afternoon ceremony were Councillor Lachhya Gurung, Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Barnet, as well as governors and representatives of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s. In his welcome to the Deputy Mayor, the Headmaster pointed to his 18 years of service with the Brigade of Gurkhas and his longstanding chairmanship of the Burnt Oak Nepalese Community.

The Headmaster also welcomed the Guest of Honour, Old Elizabethan Akash Gandhi (2005–2012), who, he told the audience, had himself picked up no fewer than five Junior Awards when he was in Year 7, for Geography, Mathematics, Science, Stapylton House and the overall Charles Fitch Memorial Award for Outstanding Commitment.

In his speech, Akash, who is currently working as a Junior Doctor, urged current boys not to forget the values and ethos of QE.

Akash threw himself into life as a pupil, playing cricket (he was described by the Headmaster as an “excellent all-rounder”), getting involved in debating, helping younger boys through peer mentoring, supporting the Sai School Appeal and serving as a Senior Lieutenant, then one of the leading positions within the prefect team.

On leaving, he went up to Queens’ College, Cambridge, to read Medicine, taking a first-class degree with prize & honours. From there, he went to University College London, for his clinical training, again excelling in his studies. Akash is now a Junior Doctor in Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, but carves out time every year to support QE’s aspiring Sixth Form medics with their UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) preparations.

Akash recalled the message instilled in him by his father: “It is not about what you do, but who you become by what you do.” It is, he said, more important to be concerned about what will be said in your eulogy than what is written in your CV.

And Akash had three specific areas of advice. The first was to find and follow your passions. “During my time at QE, my passions were my culture, cricket, charity work and football. And so, at university I found myself as the Vice-President of Cambridge University’s India Society. I also captained my college’s cricket team all the way to the final of the cup tournament – despite only ever representing QE’s C team.”

The second area was to find your mentors and to remember to thank them. “You are not alone, and you’d be a fool not to seek advice from those around you, especially in an establishment like this one.

“Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, embrace the power of true friendships – trust me on this one,” Akash told the boys. “From my experience, boys of this School look out for each other long after they have stopped sporting its badge. Joining Stapylton House with Mr [Mark] Peplow at the helm, little did I realise the everlasting friendships that I would go on to make. With some of them, I have travelled across central America, Asia and Australia. With others, I have worked together to help provide treatment for patients attending emergency departments across London.

“I can safely say that I am still surrounded by the values, ethos and ethic that I felt whilst studying at QE. I suppose that’s easy to say when I got to work last Friday to find that four out of the five doctors on my team were also QE boys. And as for the fifth? She’s a proud mother of a son who currently goes to QE!

“Congratulations on your achievements, keep working hard, and the best of luck for the future,” Akash concluded.

During the afternoon, the School’s young musicians performed works by Handel, Bach, Chopin and the Bohemia-born Josef Fiala, who died in 1816. A Recessional piece was composed by Year 12’s Ifeatu Obiora and Federico Rocco.

The vote of thanks was delivered by Saim Khan, winner of the Year 7 award for public speaking.

The awards presented covered a full range of academic subjects and extra-curricular activities, with some also recognising service to the School.

After the ceremony, boys and their parents enjoyed refreshments with staff and other guests.

Akash Gandhi, who is now working as a Junior Doctor, urged current boys not to forget the values and ethos of QE when he returned as guest speaker to this year’s Junior Awards. 

Akash (2005-2012) threw himself into life as a pupil, playing cricket, getting involved in debating, helping younger boys through peer mentoring, supporting the Sai School Appeal and serving as a Senior Lieutenant, then one of the leading positions within the prefect team.  

On leaving, he went up to Queens’ College, Cambridge, to read Medicine, taking a first-class degree with prize & honours. From there, he went to University College London, for his clinical training, again excelling in his studies. Akash is now a Junior Doctor in Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, but carves out time every year to support QE’s aspiring Sixth Form medics with their UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) preparations.     

In his speech to the assembled audience of younger boys, parents, staff and VIP guests Akash recalled the message instilled in him by his father: “It is not about what you do, but who you become by what you do.” It is, he said, more important to be concerned about what will be said in your eulogy than what is written in your CV. 

And Akash had three specific areas of advice. The first was to find and follow your passions. “During my time at QE, my passions were my culture, cricket, charity work and football. And so, at university I found myself as the Vice-President of Cambridge University’s India Society. I also captained my college’s cricket team all the way to the final of the cup tournament – despite only ever representing QE’s C team.” 

The second area was to find your mentors and to remember to thank them. “You are not alone, and you’d be a fool not to seek advice from those around you, especially in an establishment like this one. 

“Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, embrace the power of true friendships – trust me on this one,” Akash told the boys. “From my experience, boys of this School look out for each other long after they have stopped sporting its badge. Joining Stapylton House with Mr [Mark] Peplow at the helm, little did I realise the everlasting friendships that I would go on to make. With some of them, I have travelled across central America, Asia and Australia. With others, I have worked together to help provide treatment for patients attending emergency departments across London. 

“I can safely say that I am still surrounded by the values, ethos and ethic that I felt whilst studying at QE. I suppose that’s easy to say when I got to work last Friday to find that four out of the five doctors on my team were also QE boys. And as for the fifth? She’s a proud mother of a son who currently goes to QE! 

“Congratulations on your achievements, keep working hard, and the best of luck for the future,” Akash concluded. 

Civil engineer Karan Dewnani is relishing being part of one of Europe’s most high-profile projects, while also making time to contribute to society both through his career and through sport.

Karan (OE 2006–2013) first began working in the rail industry on internships while taking a Civil and Structural Engineering Master’s degree at Sheffield, which he completed in 2017. He works for the American civil engineering giant, Jacobs.

A project manager on the High Speed 2 railway, he says: “I have received great exposure to all the disciplines that are required to deliver the construction of a state-of-the-art railway. I look forward to seeing the day when the first passenger trains run between Euston and the West Midlands.”

His prior projects included a range of tube upgrades for Transport for London: “These have already been installed on the District line, improving the frequency of the service.

“In the medium term, I am working towards achieving Chartered Engineer status and Membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). This is a process that has required me to demonstrate my competence as a civil engineer and is achieved by writing progress reports and having a professional career review day, typically achieved around five years after graduation.”

Karan gave early notice of his engineering prowess, winning the ICE QUEST Award in 2013, while in his final year at QE.

“I have fond memories of my time at QE and made some great friends in the seven years. I particularly enjoyed my time in the Sixth Form. I’m sure other alumni will say this too, but you realise how far ahead QE is, in terms of developing students into well-rounded and intelligent individuals, once you go to uni and compare your school life with other students.”

Karan tries to stay in touch both with the School and with fellow alumni. Last year, he gave a talk to current pupils; he recently attended Founder’s Day and the QE Careers Convention, and he is looking forward to the new University Mock Interview Evening later in the year. “Such events  provide a great opportunity to meet old friends and network.”

Other volunteering activities include his work as a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] Ambassador through the national, Government-backed scheme. “I take part in some events encouraging younger students to take up STEM activities and careers – most recently, at this month’s open day at the London Transport Museum aimed at primary school children, taking questions about jobs and careers in transportation and engineering.”

He remains a keen graduate member of the ICE and has been in touch with the School recently about the possibility of pupils participating in the #ICanEngineer competition run by ICE’s London region, which is sponsored by his employer, Jacobs, and is this year themed around the creation of new flood defences for the capital.

“In my spare time, I play tag rugby,” he adds. “This started off as a corporate league and I have continued to play with work colleagues for over a year.” He also works for the organisation, Try Tag Rugby, as a referee in its Hyde Park leagues. “I’d like to think that playing rugby in QE helped massively in me taking this up as sport, which is upcoming in the UK.”