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Equipped only with card and drinking straws, Year 10 boys had to be constructively creative during an architecture event held as part of QE’s Enrichment Week.

For the challenge run by the Art department, House teams were asked to make an architectural structure made up of modular forms, with a theme of Folded Architecture.

Two of 2017’s Year 13 leavers, Nabil Haque and Tochi Onuora, who are both studying Architecture at Cambridge, came back to help.

Towards the end of the day, the participants were instructed to consider what purpose or building form their structure could fulfil. (They had not been told they were making buildings earlier in the day, so that their thinking would not be constrained by notions of what they considered to be normal for buildings.)

With function therefore following form, the six-strong teams decided that what they had designed could be put to use for buildings as diverse as stadia, hospitals, safari lodges and residential accommodation, to name but a few.

The pieces were judged at the end of the event. The Stapylton House team – comprising Alex Aliev, Nikhil Gulshan, Rakul Maheswaran, Jack Runchman, Aqif Choudhury, Riaz Kalim and Jude Miranda – won overall. Their contribution was praised for the way that it essentially used the same hexagonal shape repeatedly to build up the structure and create something very stable, yet still architecturally interesting.

Head of Art Stephen Buckeridge reported that the two visiting Old Elizabethans were very complimentary about the boys’ innovation, lateral thinking and openness to exploring new ways of thinking. He added that the models looked very professional, considering the time spent and rudimentary nature of the materials used. In fact, so good were the models that a small exhibition was staged to give other staff a chance to see them.

Headmaster Neil Enright evoked Nelson Mandela as he urged QE’s young prize-winners to embrace both optimism and persistence.

Mr Enright congratulated the award-winners and explained how they could learn from the former South African President and 1993 Nobel Peace Prize-winner, speaking on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Almost 120 prizes were awarded at the 2018 Junior Awards Ceremony to boys from Years 7–9 across a broad range of categories that included not only academic subjects, but also House prizes and awards for sport, the performing arts and service.

The Headmaster pointed out that the boys receiving awards had achieved double success, firstly by securing a place at the School (more than 2,400 boys sat last year’s entrance examination) and then by winning a prize. “You have been the best of the best in your year groups for the respective subjects, extra-curricular activities and contributions to school life for which prizes are being given. You should therefore be very proud of what you have achieved,” he said.

Just as Mr Mandela had spoken of “keeping one’s head pointed towards the sun, one’s feet moving forwards”, the boys should “keep taking those forward steps” and should also be “highly, but realistically, ambitious”.

Warning pupils against “complacency and hubris”, Mr Enright added: “Being humble, modest and grounded – when coupled with hard work and an inner confidence – is a safe pathway to success, and these are characteristics happily common among QE boys.” And he alluded to Nelson’s Mandela’s axiom that “a good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination”.

The guest speaker at the afternoon ceremony in the School Hall was Old Elizabethan Daniel Isenberg (1999–2006), a young barrister who studied at Cambridge and Harvard and was also Judicial Assistant to Lord Sumption and Lord Carnwath at the Supreme Court.

Other VIP guests included Chairman of Governors Barrie Martin MBE and the Mayor of the Borough of Barnet, Councillor Reuben Thompstone.

The ceremony was enhanced by music performed by the boys, including three pieces from British composers – Samba Triste from Three Piece Suite by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Promenade from Le Tombeau de Couperin by John McLeod and Hypnosis by Ian Clarke.

The final vote of thanks was given by Ugan Pretheshan, winner of the Year 7 Public Speaking Award.

Afterwards, boys and their parents enjoyed refreshments with the Headmaster, staff and guests.

Stapylton House are the winners of the 2017/18 House Cup – reclaiming the coveted trophy from last year’s champions, Underne.

Stapylton’s victory means this House has now won the trophy – formally the Eric Shearly Memorial Cup – for three of the last four years.

The triumph was announced at the end-of-year House assembly, where the cup was presented to House Captain Oliver Than-Lu and his Deputy, Omar Taymani, both from Year 12 (pictured above).

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to all Stapylton boys: this victory reflects their consistency of achievement in extra-curricular enrichment activities across the academic year, with the older boys’ efforts being boosted by a particularly strong Year 7 cohort. I trust that boys in other Houses will be inspired to redouble their efforts next year to challenge Stapylton for the crown.”

The assembly celebrated outstanding performances over a wide range of fields, including the performing arts, sport and charity work.

For this year’s House Drama competition, participants were challenged to produce original plays on the theme of a dystopian future: Leicester won the competition for the third consecutive year.

The House Music competition was won by Pearce.

In chess, the winners of various competitions were honoured, as were the boys chosen to receive junior, intermediate and senior colours.

Similarly, the assembly highlighted the names of boys who had won colours for music and sports.

There was a review of performances in sport throughout the year, including cricket, rugby, water polo, swimming and athletics. One innovation was the announcement of ‘teams of the year’ for cricket and rugby, which included leading performers from all year groups.

House charity fund-raising events during the year were celebrated, together with the work done to support the Sri Sathya Sai English Medium School in Kerala, India, with which QE has enjoyed a longstanding partnership.

Participation in The Duke of Edinburgh Award at QE remains strong: 100 boys from Year 10 enrolled for the bronze award in October and are due to complete their Qualifying Expedition in August, it was announced, while 34 Year 11 pupils signed up for the silver award and 18 Year 12 boys for the gold.

The assembly also recounted details of:

• The various challenges run on a specially arranged House Afternoon
• The QIQE quiz, which was by Stapylton
• A number of House competitions run by the academic departments: these included, for example, a Languages competition to design a poster about a famous and influential linguist, which was won by Year 8 Stapylton pupil Jashwanth Parimi, and a photography competition for Years 7–9 run by the Geography department.

With nearly 100 separate events across disciplines ranging from tug-of-war and Eton Fives to table-tennis and volleyball, QE’s 2018 Sports Day once again saw hundreds of pupils competing for their Houses.

Harrisons’ emerged as the winning House, retaining its 2017 title, with Second Master Colin Price duly presenting the coveted trophy. The 668 points amassed by Harrisons’ placed it ahead of Leicester, on 622: the other four Houses were quite closely matched, led by Stapylton, which scored 576.

The whole day was supported by large numbers of staff, led this year by PE & Games teacher James Clarke (Head of Rugby).

The day concluded, as is traditional, with the staff participating in the QE Mile – a 16 x 100m relay. The staff team comfortably beat the Sixth-Form team into second place, with notable contributions including a swansong appearance from Mathematics teacher Gregory Lee (he is leaving this summer), who this year once again performed his leg in a suit.

Headmaster Neil Enright: “I congratulate all the boys who achieved success for themselves and their Houses and I thank Mr Clarke and all colleagues involved for their hard work throughout the day.”

One notable quirk of this year’s Sports Day was the unusual attire of some competitors – not only Mr Lee, but also competitors running in their socks: one boy lost a shoe early in his 1500m race and even ran back to retrieve it, before eventually discarding it and then working his way up through the field to achieve a creditable finish!

The day included 53 track events of varying length, from the 75m hurdles for Year 8 through to the 1500m individual races and the 4 x 400m relay open to all year groups.

Also continuing through the day were the field events, which included discus, shot put, javelin, long jump, high jump and triple jump.

Years 7–10 each had their own tournaments for tug-of-war, tennis, Eton Fives and table-tennis (the latter taking place in the gym).

There were competitions for Years 9 & 10 in volleyball. The rowers battled it out in ten-minute sessions, with one machine allocated to each of QE’s six Houses.

Professionals from fields as diverse as advertising, finance and law provided Year 9 boys with a snapshot of their own chosen employment during a speed careers event at the School.

Careers 4U was organised in conjunction with Barnet Education Business Partnership. During the day, the boys, in groups of five, met 25 volunteers working in areas that also included web design, construction and the police service. They received a brief overview of possible career paths and were challenged to solve a typical problem that a professional might face in his or her daily work.

Sarah Westcott, Head of Pupil Development and Lower School Science, said: “The aim of the event was to broaden the boys’ awareness of different routes into a variety of possible careers. They clearly found the day both useful and stimulating as it provided them with an insight into the requisite personal characteristics as well as the required entry academic achievements.”

Barnet EBP is a charitable trust whose remit is to support work-related learning and enterprise education. Manager Ken Williams said: “Our volunteers really enjoyed it; so much so that some have already signed up for next year! They had nothing but praise for QE staff and boys.”