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More than 130 prizes were awarded to boys in the top four years of the School at the 2019 Senior Awards Ceremony – one of the highlights of QE’s academic year.

Parents, prize-winners, VIP guests, governors and staff assembled in the School Hall for an evening in which the achievements and endeavours of boys were publicly celebrated in a formal ceremony punctuated by musical interludes performed by the School’s musicians.

The Guest of Honour was Professor Michael Arthur, President and Provost of University College London. Since he took up his post in September 2013, nearly one hundred Old Elizabethans have taken up undergraduate courses at UCL.

Professor Arthur awarded prizes to boys in Years 10 to 13, which ranged from awards spanning the curriculum from Art & Design to Technology, to Sixth Form prizes for commitment and service. The extensive list of endowed prizes and special awards which were also presented reflects significant individuals and events in the School’s history. It includes, for example, two prizes named after former Headmaster E H Jenkins, the Bishop Broughton Prize for Divinity (the bishop, after whom one of QE’s Houses is also named, was a pupil in the late 18th century), and the Old Elizabethan War Memorial Prize.

The professor began his address by congratulating the high-fliers gathered before him: “You are the best of the best in this School, which, by definition, makes you among the very best in the country.”

Their prizes notwithstanding, all were still at an early stage in life, he pointed out. With regards to those leaving this summer, he quoted Churchill: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

He encouraged boys to apply to the best universities – particularly UCL, of course – where they would be taught to think critically, to understand what knowledge is and where it comes from.

There they would benefit from the collaboration between research and education, he said, affirming his strong belief in the desirability of a close connection between research and teaching.

Professor Arthur, who is a hepatologist, shared much of his own story, from being someone at school whose prize was for being ‘most improved’, to making his first medical discovery, related to diabetes. It was not necessarily his best research paper, he said, but one of the most cherished, giving him a “a very special feeling, realising that for a short time I was the only person in the world to know that thing”.

He encouraged the boys to “aim high” and “think big”, whilst also stressing the value of retaining humility. Citing former UN Secretary General, the late Kofi Annan, he spoke about the importance of making a contribution to society and the world, and helping those less fortunate – a theme also reflected in the vote of thanks delivered by the School Captain, Bhiramah Rammanohar.

Other notable guests at the ceremony included: the Deputy Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Caroline Stock (who, as well as congratulating the boys, expressed the pride that the borough has for the School and its achievements); her husband, Dr Richard Stock, who is an Old Elizabethan himself (OE 1967-75), and Martin Russell, the borough’s Representative Deputy Lieutenant.

In his speech, after welcoming all the guests, Headmaster Neil Enright thanked the Foundation Trustees for their sponsorship of the awards and the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s for their support both at Senior Awards and on many other occasions throughout the School calendar.

He first acknowledged the particular accomplishments for which the prizewinners were being rewarded, then told them: “A specific award does not, though, define you – nor should it restrict the celebration of your broader achievements.”

Reflecting on the fact that this year marks the quincentenary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci – “perhaps human history’s most celebrated and archetypal polymath” – he highlighted the “unquenchable curiosity” and “feverishly inventive imagination” that da Vinci was reported to have had.

“That is why we are so intent on encouraging free-thinking scholarship, critical questioning, and equipping you with the skills for life-long learning. Creativity cannot be scheduled, nor inventiveness timetabled,” Mr Enright told the assembled boys.

“Follow what you have a passion for; pick the subjects you most enjoy; embrace trying to learn new skills at School and outside it.

“These topics and interests can be eclectic. History shows us that many discoveries and inventions have come from the cross-pollination of ideas and experiences.

“This is, though, no argument against expertise, or eventual specialism. Indeed, I am sure that this will be the outcome for many of you.

“What I would encourage is for you to keep open and expansive minds; to continue, through your studies here, at university, in your careers and in your hobbies, to try and develop an expertise in a range of areas to make you as rounded individuals as possible.”

Music performed during the ceremony covered a number of genres, from Shostakovich’s Sonata in D minor Op. 40 for Cello and Piano, Movement 2, to two pieces composed by American saxophonist Gordon Goodwin.

Dame Helen Hyde, former headmistress and now a leading social justice campaigner, encouraged QE pupils at the Year 12 Luncheon to say no to hatred in all its forms and to make a positive difference by taking action.

Dame Helen was the guest speaker at the annual meal, which is arranged to give sixth-formers experience of the sort of formal social occasions they will experience at university and in their careers beyond.

A recognised national education leader who mentored other heads and school leadership teams, she left Watford Grammar School for Girls, where she had been Headmistress for 29 years, in 2016, because, as her own website puts it, “she felt she could no longer be a bystander”.

She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to national state education and Holocaust Education in 2013. Dame Helen was appointed to the Holocaust Commission established by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2013-14. Last year, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hertfordshire.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The boys and the teachers present greatly appreciated her thought-provoking contribution, which was perfectly pitched for the occasion. The boys always value the opportunity to hear from those eminent in their respective fields and to be able to put their questions to them.”

And Mr Enright told Dame Helen: “Your message about each individual being able to make a positive difference to the lives of others resonates very strongly with what we try to convey to the boys, both directly and with the support of our guest speakers. Your inspiring work in Rwanda provides evidence of what can be achieved.”

The luncheon, a three-course meal, was supported by Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s volunteers and Year 9 helpers. As is customary, a number of toasts were made prior to Dame Helen’s address. School Captain Bhiramah Rammanohar compèred the event, while Senior Vice-Captain Fozy Ahmed delivered the vote of thanks.

In her presentation, Dame Helen explored aspects of the Holocaust, in which members of her own family were murdered. She considered its unprecedented nature, the events that led up to it in Nazi Germany, the widespread complicity of many in Germany and occupied lands across Europe, and the reasons why the world powers failed to intervene.

Her family were originally from Germany, but some managed to escape abroad. Her father went to South Africa in 1936, where she was later born. She emigrated to Britain in 1970.

Her presentation also looked at South Africa’s history of Apartheid, as well as at genocides from that of the Armenians in the early 20th century through to recent events in Darfur in the Sudan and among the Rohingya from Myanmar.

She spoke about the work of Refugees to Recovery (R to R), which she set up with Tony Rindl, Vicar of St Mary’s Church, Watford. R to R works with other organisations to collect items badly needed by refugees.

Her work with Holocaust survivors led to Dame Helen’s interest in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, when 1 million people died in 100 days. She is an active patron and co-director of the Rwandan Sisterhood, which brings together Rwandan women uprooted by the genocide and raises funds to provide ‘Mama packs’ to expectant women in Rwanda and other African countries.

She finished her presentation to the boys with a challenge, calling on them to consider “your decisions, your words and your actions” and to “be an upstander”, taking action to help with the campaigns and charities she had outlined.

Sixty teams from leading schools across the country journeyed to Barnet for the 43rd annual Queen Elizabeth’s School Rugby Sevens Tournament.

Wimbledon College took the U16 Cup and Whitgift School won the U14 Cup, while Eton College achieved a tournament first, winning the Plate at both U14 and U16 level, after seeing off the challenge of Warwick School in both Plate finals.

Players had to contend with a full range of weather conditions, including blustery, gale-force winds, heavy rain, a little sunshine and even some sleet or snow towards the end of the day.

QE’s Head of Rugby, James Clarke, who was the main organiser, thanked all the visitors for a good day’s rugby, adding: “It is a real QE community day, with staff, student helpers from Years 12 and Year 7, Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s and former staff all out in force to ensure that it runs smoothly.

“So far as QE’s players are concerned, we had a tough draw. Our U16A team found themselves in what could in retrospect be considered the ‘group of death’, pitted against both the eventual Cup winners, Wimbledon, and the Plate winners, Eton. They nevertheless managed a 12-5 victory against the other member of the group, Woodbridge School, in their opening game. The U14s also had a tough day, but battled well throughout,” Mr Clarke (OE 1999–2004) said.

The tournament was established in 1976 by Dave Maughan, who was QE’s Head of PE/Games from 1974–2003. He returned to the School once again this year to support the running of competition.

The first tournaments, from 1977–1981, were played at the Old Elizabethans RFC at Gypsy Corner and were mainly for schools from Hertfordshire, featuring A & B teams from both age groups. In 1982, the tournament relocated to the School pitches, and the Byng Road pitches of Barnet RFC (now the Barnet Elizabethans RFC, following a merger between the two clubs in 1997). By then, the event was becoming popular with schools across a wider area. 1983 saw it reach its present size of 32 teams in each age group, with participants from across England and Wales, including QE’s A & B sides at U14 and U16 level.

Eight of the nine pitches used are on clay soils, so conditions can frequently get muddy. The finals are played on pitches 1 and 2 at the front of the School.

In the tournament’s history, notable achievements have included:

• Two occasions on which schools ‘did the double’, winning both the U14 and U16 events – Eltham College in 1986 and Wellington College in 2017
• Consecutive wins – a feat achieved only once, when St Paul’s School took the U14 trophy in both 2003 and 2004
• Victories by schools to take the U14 title and then later the U16 Cup. QE achieved this in 1977 and 1979. Others who have followed suit include Wellington College, who did in twice (2000 & 2002; 2015 & 2017); London Oratory School (1998 & 2000); Wimbledon College (2005 & 2007), and Gowerton School, Wales (2012 & 2014).

A QE team won praise from the judges for their multi-faceted presentation at the final of an Economics competition run by one of the country’s oldest thinktanks.

The team of four sixth-formers, including the co-presidents of QE’s Economics Society, were shortlisted among the final 12 teams for the final of the Budget Challenge run by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

Praising the boys on their contribution, QE’s Head of Economics Shamendra Uduwawala said: “Many of the finalists decided to concentrate on single policies whereas the QE boys decided to focus on multiple policies tackling different issues.”

Although the team were not among the eventual winners, Dr Stephen Davies, Head of Education at the IEA, praised their work as “very detailed and well worked-out”, saying: “I liked the presentation and [it was] very strong on an individual level.”

The QE team chosen from Year 12 by Mr Uduwawala consisted of Economics Society co-presidents Rishi Shah and Hanif Gofur, together with Neel Shah and Rushil Shah. They were competing against schools including Harrow, Repton and North London Collegiate School.

For the challenge, each team had to prepare a budget for the UK in the coming financial year, with taxation and spending policy, as well as more briefly analysing the macroeconomic conditions and setting out a broad policy and strategy in response to these.

Rishi said: “We prepared a 5,000-word budget and constructed new policies to address Brexit uncertainty, the UK’s ageing population, the global growth slowdown and Industry 4.0 revolution. Our policies included; eNHS (a centralised online platform for the National Health Service), Project Unicorn (a technology start-up accelerator programme to scale-up new firms into market giants) and a reduction in stamp duty to name a few.”

The final, which was held at the IEA’s Westminster base, began with an introduction from Dr Davies, who recently delivered a lecture at QE on game theory. He discussed the history of the IEA, which was founded in 1955 based on a vision from economist Friedrich Hayek and now reports on economic affairs.

Then the competition began, with each of the 12 teams being asked to give a ten-minute presentation on their budget, followed by a ten-minute cross-examination by the judges. Soon after lunch – a ‘grand buffet’ – came the presentation for the QE team.

“We delivered our vision for the future of the economy and outlined our main policies,” said Rishi. “The judges then questioned our polices in detail and posed questions such as: ‘Why not scrap stamp duty instead of just reducing it?’ to which I answered that the long-term goal is to reduce stamp duty over time and eventually bring in an annual land value-based tax. They also questioned the potential ‘cyber security threat to the eNHS’, to which we replied that blockchain technology would be used to prevent data breaches.”

During lunch, the competitors listened to a talk from Rebecca Lowe, who is the Director of FREER – a major new initiative from the IEA promoting a freer economy and a freer society. She tackled the question ‘Is democracy worth it?’

She argued that democracy isn’t the realisation of an ideal society; instead it is more of a process. She then moved onto the relationship between democracy, the rule of law and the judicial system.

After all the presentations, there was a talk from Dr Kristian Niemietz, the IEA’s Head of Political Economy, who explained some of the key phrases frequently heard in the EU debate. He noted that the implications of Brexit will be on trade, immigration and regulation, as leaving the customs unions and the European single market would end the free movement of people. He used the analogy that the EU is not like being a Netflix subscriber, where either one is, or is not, subscribed. Instead, the EU is a great deal more complex, with many different parts and subsections, and one can be in each of them without being in all of them.

A visiting historian and economist set out how game theory applies across a very wide range of human activity in a lecture to senior boys – while also giving his own views and predictions about Brexit.

Dr Steve Davies is Head of Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs and has previously held academic roles in both the UK and US. He has authored several books, including Empiricism and History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) and was co-editor with Nigel Ashford of The Dictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought (Routledge, 1991).

In his lecture to senior boys, he illustrated applications of game theory in football, TV game shows and in oligopolies (where a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers). Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interaction between rational decision-makers.

Shamendra Uduwawala, Head of Economics, expressed his gratitude to Dr Davies for his visit, saying: “Game theory is a fascinating area of study, and he contributed significantly to our boys’ understanding of it by using such diverse and interesting examples. It was also good to have his own, well-informed perspective on Brexit, which complemented the lecture given here recently by Clément Leroy, a Research and Policy Engagement Associate from UCL’s European Institute.”

Himself a keen Manchester City fan, Dr Davies chose the penalty shoot-out at the end of the 2008 Champions League final between City’s local rivals Manchester United and Chelsea to illustrate game theory in the sport. United won the match after the team’s goalkeeper Van der Sar first pointed to his left, but then dived to his right, correctly guessing that Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka would shoot that way. Van der Sar saved and United duly won European football’s top prize.

Dr Davies also looked at game theory in the game show, Golden Balls, and at the dilemma faced by two suspects interrogated for crimes, where they must choose whether the best thing for themselves is to confess, stay silent or betray the other prisoner.

Turning to oligopolistic markets, he examined the issue of such markets involving just two firms. Both firms could benefit from both having high prices, but one will always try to undercut the other firm by lowering prices, he pointed out. This problem could be overcome by collusion, although that is illegal.

Dr Davies also digressed to talk about Brexit. Stating that there was an impression of widespread panic about it within business, he blamed the media because he said they were predicting – incorrectly, in his view – that desperate shortages are inevitable. In terms of companies stockpiling, this is usual in any time of uncertainty and is not uniquely or solely about Brexit.

Alluding to the current febrile political atmosphere, with much plotting going on in Westminster pubs, he noted the similarity to the 1885 general election, the first to be held after an extension of the franchise which meant that for the first time, a majority of adult males could vote.

There would be, he predicted, no second referendum, since a majority of Parliament is against it. A cross-party deal will form – to secure outcomes such as ‘Norway plus’ or continuing membership of the customs union – but he forecast that major splits will continue to happen as the March 29th Brexit deadline approaches.