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“Not many readers of QE Connect will remember me, I presume, but I have still been asked to reminisce about my time at the School. My name is Dieter Pinkowski and I was the German assistant at Queen Elizabeth’s Boys’ School in Barnet from September 1974 to June 1975.

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.

In 1974, as a 21-year-old university student of English and History (at TU Braunschweig) who wanted to spend at least a year in England before graduating, I was happy to be offered employment by the London Borough of Barnet as a foreign language assistant at QE (and Edgware Comprehensive) for ten months at a monthly salary of £66. I lived on Byng Road at first and moved to Normandy Avenue early in 1975.

At QE, my mentor was Kenneth W Carter, Head of Modern Languages. The colleagues teaching German that I remember best were Knuth Saam and John Osborne, who both helped me to settle down in my new environment and occasionally asked me to accompany them to their German classes.

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.

What did I do after my year at QE? Well, after finishing university, I trained to become a teacher of English and History, and eventually taught my subjects at a German grammar school. When I retired in 2019, I could proudly look back on 40 years of teaching.

Today I still try to visit Britain at least once a year. Having discovered long-distance walking for myself after my retirement, I have walked some of the National Trails: Cleveland Way, Hadrian’s Wall Path, Offa’s Dyke Path, Pennine Way – a pastime and a challenge I can warmly recommend.”

Dr Andrew Thomas’s social policy research helped pave the way for major changes in the way the British state operates, ranging from the development of HMRC’s web-based tax returns to the ending of statutory retirement ages.

Yet Andrew (OE 1966-1971), who is now fully retired himself, started his working life in a very different field, going into retail banking when he left QE after his first term of A-levels.

“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).

He left banking after three years to attend Barnet College of FE (1974 – 1976) to take A-levels, and then went on to read Psychology at York University. There he was offered a Social Science Research Council grant to pursue his undergraduate research. He later gained his doctorate, also at York, and was awarded the KM Stott prize for distinguished post-graduate research.

Andrew initially worked as a Research Fellow for St Marys Hospital Medical School and Charing Cross Medical School exploring, with a consultant paediatrician and a speech therapist, The transition to adulthood for young people with physical and learning disabilities (1983 – 1988) – research that was published in a number medical and scientific publications, including the British Medical Journal. He even published one academic article jointly with his brother, Roger Thomas (who was featured in the Summer Term edition of QE Connect), on how to prevent children from smoking.

Subsequently moving into social policy research, using qualitative methods, he worked for eight years for the National Centre for Social Research. He left to set up a new Social Policy Research Centre at BMRB/Kantar, where he was promoted to Director after a year.

In all, he spent 19 years with BMRB/Kantar, undertaking and managing some 350 social policy research projects. “While I undertook research for the majority of Government departments, my main clients were the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs and the Department of Employment. 90% of the research is in the public domain.”

He retired from the company in 2015 and went freelance. Fully retired since COVID-19 hit in 2020, he maintains an interest in social policy issues, but his focus in retirement is more community-orientated: he is a church warden, treasurer for two church councils, and chair of his local parish council. He is pictured, top with his wife, Mona.

2024 leaver Indrajit Datta has been awarded a £30,000 scholarship to support him during his degree in Music and sound recording.

Until this summer, Indrajit was frequently on hand to help with sound and lighting at QE, increasingly taking responsibility for concerts and other events.

After securing his first-choice place at the University of Surrey’s 54-year-old Tonmeister course, he has now won the Air Diversity Scholarship for Tonmeisters, which gives him £10,000 for each year of the course.

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!

“Commendably, he also took pains to ensure that he passed on what he had learned at the sound desk to a new generation of pupils.”

The scholarship is open to those from underrepresented ethnic groups, with a financially disadvantaged background. It is open only to students from the UK on the Tonmeister course, which was established in 1970. The course combines rigorous musical study, advanced investigation of audio engineering and mastery of sound-recording operation and practice. It boasts several Grammy, Emmy, Oscar and Mercury Music award-winners amongst its alumni.

The award is sponsored by AIR studios in Hampstead, established by Beatles producer Sir George Martin.

In his application, Indrajit had to explain how the scholarship would make a difference to him at university and how it would help him achieve his career aspirations.

Indrajit developed his twin interest in Music and sound recording while a QE pupil. A pianist himself, he was involved in raising money for new pianos for the Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms, gaining his first experience of live-streaming concerts during the pandemic with the Pianoathon – part of virtual Founder’s Day in 2021.

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.

Highlights in his final year at QE included his role in recording QE’s 450th anniversary anthem –   And Be it Known, the anniversary anthem commissioned by the School from international composer Howard Goodall – in The Friends’ Recital Hall. “I was given complete autonomy with thousands of pounds of equipment and was really able to test myself,” he said.

This spring, his electronic arrangement of Britney Spears’ Toxic, combined with the appearance of some glow sticks, provided a rave-like neon spectacle at the Leavers’ Concert.

“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.”

After benefitting from Indrajit’s knowledge and experience, a new group of sound specialists has now emerged, led by Year 11’s Ben Newton, Abhinav Sandeep and Chinmaya Dave.

Queen Elizabeth’s School has today been announced as the Sunday Times Schools Guide top State Secondary School for A-levels 2025, jointly with Henrietta Barnett School.

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.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We celebrated a fantastic set of A-level results in August, and it is now great to receive independent confirmation that our leavers’ performance places this School at the very pinnacle of the country’s state schools. In fact, QE is in truly rarified company across all UK schools – whether in the maintained or independent sectors.

“At QE we support our students to be free-thinking scholars, going beyond their exam courses to seek out new insights and new solutions. We focus on excellence across the board, with a very extensive programme of academic and extra-curricular enrichment delivered through our QE Flourish programme. Boys receive individual support through bespoke tutorials, while our Personal Development Time programme equips them to navigate our fast-changing world, helping them become kind and responsible citizens.

“We encourage boys to start thinking ahead early in their time here: our QE Futures operates across all year groups, inspiring boys by creatively presenting a range of exciting opportunities for higher education and their eventual careers. Extensive support and detailed guidance are offered to pupils as they approach university applications. The fruits of this may be seen in the outstanding destinations of our students. Fifty-four of the 2024 cohort will be taking up places at Oxford or Cambridge; perhaps even more remarkably, 55% received offers from a university in the QS World Top 5.

“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.

“In short, QE offers, as we like to say, a state school education like no other – a very rounded educational experience, which nurtures as well as stretches our highly able pupils.”

Today’s announcement adds to QE’s long record of success in the annual Parent Power academic rankings. In addition, QE has also won the separate Sunday Times Parent Power State Secondary School of the Year award three times, for 2001, 2007 and 2022 – an award which recognises overall achievements across all aspects of the School’s life.

Well over 400 boys performed at this year’s Winter Concert, delivering a highly entertaining programme drawn mostly from the pop and rock repertoire.

The evening featured fun elements aplenty, and there was music to suit almost all tastes. It ranged from the contribution of the ever-popular Indian Ensemble, who included a percussion improvisation in their performance, to the pulsating rendition of Guns N’Roses’ Paradise City from the Electric Guitar Ensemble – a sound that just grew and grew.

One notable feature of the concert was the level of pupil leadership: eight pupil conductors took the baton during the evening, while the Indian Ensemble and Electric Guitar Ensemble have no conductor but are student-led and directed.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate our Director of Music, Ruth Partington, and her colleagues on a concert delivered on a grand scale, with the Shearly Hall packed to the rafters and almost a third of our pupil roll involved.

“The music was both highly entertaining and varied, displaying the enthusiasm, talent and dedication of boys and staff alike.

“Our conducting club is supporting boys in their leadership of their peers and in developing higher-level skills. It was great to see those young conductors in action, and to witness how the boys responded to their peers and came together as one.

“All the music was of a high standard, but a special mention must perhaps go to Year 12’s Simi Bloom, who received a rapturous reception from his peers for his vocals for Skyfall played by the Jazz Band.”

Lighter moments during the evening included:

• The sound of cowbells in the pre-concert entertainment from the Year 12 Kowbell Kwintet
• A skit that began the concert proper, which revolved around missing performers who then appeared from all directions to join the Orchestra in its performance of the opening movement of Sibelius’ Karelia Suite
• The Cantina Band (Star Wars theme) in the piece, John Williams Swings, played by the Senior Winds
• The pizzicato playing of Leroy Anderson’s Plink, Plank, Plunk! by the Junior Strings
• Boys very effectively simulating the sound of rain – light, then heavier, then a thunderstorm and back again – using their hands and feet to open the Junior Choir’s performance of Toto’s Africa

Near the end of the concert, Mr Enright presented Music Colours, for which boys from Year 8 upwards are eligible. Two boys receiving Junior Colours – Gabriel Ward and Krish Bhatia – were in this youngest age group (being awarded at the earliest possible opportunity), while a further eight boys from Years 9 to 13 also received colours.

Two students received Music Bars (for those who have already received colours, but whose contribution is such that they warrant further recognition). These were Ryuki Watanabe and Leo Sellis, both of Year 12. Miss Partington said: “Both contribute to a huge number and variety of ensembles and allow difficult repertoire to be chosen, such is our confidence that they will be able to provide a lead.”

The perquisites of winning Music Colours include being able to use the practice rooms before school, at break or at lunchtime, without seeking permission!

The concert was attended by The Worshipful the Mayor of the London Borough of Barnet, Councillor Tony Vourou, accompanied by The Mayoress.

Thanks were given to School Stage for their work on the sound and lighting, which so enhances the concerts, as well as to all the FQE volunteers who looked after guests during the interval.

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