Year 7 pupil Aarav Kumar has been chosen as Young Geographer of the Year in his age category in the Royal Society of Geography’s prestigious international annual competition.
Having first won the initial QE round, Aarav went on to impress the judges with his colourful, information-packed poster on the theme of Choose Geography.
Geography teacher and Enrichment tutor Eleanor Barrett said: “Aarav’s well-researched work perfectly captured the essence of Choose Geography, highlighting how the subject empowers us to understand the world and address its challenges. His win is a fantastic achievement, and we are thrilled to see his talent and hard work recognised at such a prestigious level.”
Pupils aged from seven to 18 were invited to create posters that demonstrated the relevance of Geography and how studying it can help those studying understand the world we live in and the global challenges we face as a society.
The competition aims to inspire young people to engage with Geography and show its importance in addressing issues such as climate change, sustainability, and biodiversity loss.
With schools hosting their own heats and submitting only their winners, the 1,000 entries received by the society represented just a fraction of the overall number of participating pupils.
In a ceremony hosted at the Royal Society of Geography in central London, two winners and two runners-up were announced for each age group – and Aarav was announced as one of the winners in the Key Stage 2 (7-11) category. He is pictured here with other winners in the various age groups.
His poster, which centred around his drawing of the earth, included several features:
- Brief profiles of several Geography-related jobs, including cartographer and climatologist, under the heading ‘Want fun, good-paying, creative jobs related to the world: look here!’
- A summary of ‘the geographer’s mindsets’ , divided into the following categories: ‘create’, ‘evaluate’, ‘apply’, ‘discover’ and ‘understand’
- Descriptions of the educational benefits of taking the subject, including a look at Geography GCSE and A-level.
The society’s director, Professor Joe Smith, praised the quality of the entries: “The students have clearly demonstrated how geographical skills and thinking are vital for addressing global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss.”
Almost half a century later, I decided to contact the School and ask whether I would be welcome to walk down memory lane one day in September 2024 – 50 years after I had first set foot there. I received a positive answer from Matthew Rose [Head of External Relations]. Both Matthew and the Headmaster made me feel very welcome on the day. I was shown around the buildings, I talked to a class of A-level students of German and I was invited to have a cup of coffee in the Headmaster’s study, where we had a lengthy conversation.
My main job, however, was to do German conversation lessons, grammar and vocabulary with the A-level students. Being 21, the age gap between the sixth-formers and me was not that large, and I spent as much time in the Sixth Form common room as in the teachers’ staff room. Even today I remember all my A-level students (Upper Sixth: Andrew Norris, Keith Newton [pictured here], John Dixon, Adrian (Sid) Sinclair, Alistair Johnstone, Lower Sixth: David Peacock and Steven Cohen) and also a number of other sixth-formers (David Hulford, Peter Ward and Ben Glatt, Mark Gardener). I still exchange Christmas cards with John, who went up to Oxford to read German, and I helped first Andy and, years later, Pete to find employment and settle down in Germany. Being busy with my own career and family I lost contact with them when they moved to other parts of Germany and started their families. With Steven I sometimes went to watch his favourite club, Spurs, (even though I was, and still am, an Arsenal fan) and I enjoyed the friendly banter there. With Ben G. and a few others I went to Knebworth Park to see Pink Floyd perform Wish You Were Here for the very first time in public, and with Andy and Dave I attended a number of Cambridge Folk Festivals in the following years.
“Although I enjoyed school enormously and made many friends, I did not enjoy lessons – at the time I was not very academic,” he said. He was a choirboy during his QE years at St Mary’s Church, East Barnet, where both choirmasters were QE Physics teachers! Pictured here are Mr ARW ‘Gabby’ Hayes (third from the left in the second row) and Mr Donald Fairbairn (sixth from the left, also second row), with Andrew, aged about 12 or 13 (back row, second from the right).
Director of Music Ruth Partington: “It was lovely to hear from Indrajit and I am so pleased that he has secured this scholarship. During his senior years as a pupil here, he was a mainstay of our concert support and was much valued within the Music department!
The award is sponsored by AIR studios in Hampstead, established by Beatles producer Sir George Martin.
His A-level Music composition, Sonata for Live Piano and Electronics, broke new ground at QE with its blend of digital technology and live performance.
“My role at School has been fundamental in gaining knowledge and experience. I’ve been able to push the boundaries and use new techniques,” he said in the summer. “I go into my degree feeling very confident and a step ahead.”
QE also came second (just behind Henrietta Barnett) among state-funded schools in the overall Sunday Times Parent Power rankings for the year, which are based on both A-level and GCSE results. This year’s A-level cohort performed very strongly indeed at the highest grades – 52.9% of A-levels taken were at A* – while the story was similar at GCSE, with 87% gaining grades 8-9.
“Since we are a selective school, it is true that our boys are very bright, but the evidence shows QE brings out the very best from them. Our Progress 8 value-added measure at GCSE was +1.22, which means that pupils here achieved on average more than a grade higher in their GCSEs than would have been expected based on their attainment at primary school.