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In a week bookended by a special assembly from an anti-racism expert and a cinema visit, QE’s Year 7 got to grips with topics including diversity and intersectionality.

In between these highlights, regular pastoral sessions and a special afternoon were devoted to a project looking at race, intersectionality and women in science ahead of seeing the film, Hidden Figures.

Fully prepared, the School’s youngest pupils then travelled to the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley to watch the award-winning picture, which focuses on the story of three female African-American scientists working at NASA during the Space Race in the 1960s.

Head of Year 7 Rosie Uduwawala said: “While at QE we celebrate our diversity as a School, it is nonetheless important to ensure that our boys understand racism, knowing how to recognise it, and what to do when they see or experience it.

“Also, in our single-sex environment, it is good for pupils to develop an understanding of intersectionality, particularly with regard to how women may be affected by discrimination.

“It was a very successful week: the boys responded well to the workshop, which ended on a very uplifting note with a message about empowerment and the reading of a poem by Benjamin Zephaniah. They then worked diligently on their project, which included learning about the Cold War and the Space Race – an important period of history. And, of course, they enjoyed their trip to the cinema to see what is a very engaging film.

“We hope that all they have learned will promote discussion about diversity beyond the classroom.”

The Monday assembly was given by Mpula Lawton from ARISE (Anti-Racism In Schools & Education), an organisation dedicated to promoting equality in education. Her themes were:

• What is racism?
• What does racism look like?
• Language: “I never ever say the words, but we discuss slurs and how terrible they are,” says Miss Lawton. She related how one such slur was addressed to her when she was young, and how it has stuck with her;
• Racism on social media;
• ‘Hero’ versus ‘snitch’: what to do when you see or experience racism;
• ‘Upstanders’: how to spread the word about anti-racism;
• Empowerment, including the poem.

The boys’ project involved completing a PowerPoint presentation designed to teach them about topics such as the origins, causes and effects of the Cold War and about the Civil Rights Movement in the US.

The presentation also featured statistics from 2012 about the representation of various groups in professional careers, particularly in the field of technology. It highlighted, for example, that whereas Black and Hispanic people make up 30% of the US population, men from these groups represent just 9% of computing jobs, and Black and Hispanic women even less, at just 4%.

It challenged the boys to discuss the reasons for these differences, introducing the concept of intersectionality and looking at whether the situation had changed in the 60 years since the period depicted in the film.

A Sixth Form musician’s composition is to be performed at the world’s longest-running music festival, after he won a place on a highly regarded programme for young composers.

Harrison Lee’s piece, Ego Flos Campi, will be sung by the acclaimed ORA Singers amid the medieval magnificence of Worcester Cathedral as part of the famous Three Choirs Festival.

The A-level Music student was one of only ten successful applicants to have secured a place on the ORA Singers Young Composers scheme.

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “We are thrilled that Harrison gained a place on this prestigious scheme, and that all the hard work he puts into his composition has been rewarded.

“We have already performed one piece by Harrison this academic year and look forward to the next one!”

Ego Flos Campi will be heard at a showcase concert on 2^nd August 2024 held as part of the festival, which rotates between the cathedral cities of Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester. The title of the piece is taken from the Latin first words of the Song of Solomon in the Bible, meaning ‘I am a flower of the field’.

As part of the programme, and in preparation for the concert, Harrison has  been receiving ten hours of mentoring from Kemal Yusuf, a young British composer who has composed more than 150 works for various ensembles, films, dance productions, and solo performances.

Harrison’s piece has already been the subject of a workshop by the ORA Singers, with guest composer Oliver Tarney, best known for his work with filmmakers Ridley Scott and Paul Greengrass. The award-winning vocal ensemble, which is also a world-leading commissioner of choral music, is directed by Suzi Digby, Baroness Eatwell OBE, who is a choral conductor,  music educator and visiting professor at the University of Southern California.

After the concert, each of the ten successful young composers will receive detailed feedback from the panel, along with a video-recording of their piece, which is provided for them to use to kick-start their musical portfolios. The concert will also feature a prize-giving ceremony.

Harrison, who is in Year 12, said: “It’s such a great opportunity to be working with singers of this calibre, and I think it has helped me to develop my composition skills a lot more. I have learned a lot from this programme and it will definitely help me with my ambitions of being a composer.”

Last term, his Magnificat was one of the highlights of QE’s Chamber, Choral and Composition Concert. Performed by a full orchestra and the Chamber Choir, and conducted by Harrison himself, it filled the The Friends’ Recital Hall with sound (pictured top).

Having previously won Senior Music Colours, Harrison this year had a bar added to those colours for his exceptional contribution to music at the School: Headmaster Neil Enright presented it to him in March. Harrison was also the winner of this year’s Music (academic) prize for Year 12 at the School’s Senior Awards ceremony.

QE’s Paarth Aggarwal spent three days at a European Space Agency base in Italy after being named the UK winner in an international competition.

Paarth, of Year 10, triumphed in the ESA’s Climate Detectives challenge after impressing judges with his AI-driven study into tackling electronic waste in Barnet.

His three days at the ESA Centre for Earth Observation at Frascati, near Rome, included a tour of the facility – “the main highlight for me personally” – and an awards ceremony where he received his prize “with bigger audiences than I had possibly imagined”.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My sincere congratulations go to Paarth on this great achievement: he showed initiative in applying for the competition, perseverance in pulling the project together, and great ability in completing it to such a high standard. And what an opportunity it was to spend time at one of Europe’s leading space research facilities!”

The competition brief allowed entrants not only to focus on climate change, but also on all aspects of caring for the planet. Paarth’s Next Gen Ninja entry was among winning submissions from 18 European countries; all the winners were invited to Frascati as their prize.

“My inspiration to enter stemmed from my deep concern for the environment and my passion for leveraging technology to combat climate change,” said Paarth. “The competition presented a unique opportunity to contribute to a cause that I care deeply about, using technology to address one of the most pressing issues of our generation.”

His study focused on the disposal and recycling of electronic devices, taking into account the significant environmental and health risks if improperly handled. More specifically, he explored the design and implementation of initiatives aimed at empowering Barnet residents to address e-waste. “By understanding how such initiatives can effectively raise awareness, educate residents, and promote sustainable practices, the study sought to identify strategies that foster meaningful engagement and action…ultimately, the goal is to promote a more sustainable future for Barnet.”

Paarth sent out a survey to residents: the results, he said, were “shocking”, with only a small percentage aware of the hazards of e-waste. Problems he identified included limited access to relevant information on a community website. “Moreover, the waste facilities lack specialised equipment and trained personnel to safely process and recycle e-waste.

“These findings highlight the necessity for a dedicated information centre and for a focus on developing and implementing more accessible e-waste collection and efficient processing systems.

“Throughout the competition, I honed several key skills, including data analysis, and enhanced my knowledge of the development of AI-powered chatbots. Working with satellite and local data gave me valuable experience in interpreting data effectively.”

The facility in Italy has over the past three decades collected EO (earth observation) data from ESA satellites looking at factors such as water content in lakes and algae concentrations to understand Earth’s changing geology. Available free to anyone, the data is used by research organisations and government institutions in areas such as: the prediction and analysis of climate-related disasters; rural urban management; agriculture; forestry management; the study of glaciers;  and mining.

“In a workshop, I learned the use of EO data gathered from satellites such as Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3. ESA taught us how they are using the data to save numerous human lives across the globe by predicting climate-related disasters, such as wildfires,” said Parth.

“Being named a winner was an overwhelming and humbling experience. The acknowledgment from ESA, a leading space organisation, was particularly rewarding.”

Use of AI: the technical details

Paarth is an enthusiastic advocate of AI. Here he sets out the important role the technology played in his competition entry.

“Using Microsoft Azure OpenAI cloud environment, I deployed a GenAI-powered chatbot to provide residents with easy and 24/7 access to information when they ask questions in natural language regarding e-waste, helping them make informed decisions.

“I also developed a PoC (Proof of Concept) for an AI-powered app which can: help to detect the waste type through an ML model; incentivise residents for responsible disposal; and allow councils to proactively plan for the e-waste collection, enabling them to be economical and efficient in the waste collection process.”

A Year 7 QE boy has won the Greater London prize for German for his age group in a prestigious translation competition.

Saran Anderson took the award for his translation of Grashüpfer (Grasshopper), a poem by the 19^th-century poet, writer and engineer, Heinrich Seidel.

Saran was among a group of QE linguists who entered the Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators – a competition run from The Queen’s College, Oxford, which attracted 16,000 participants from 300 schools nationally.  It challenges children to translate a text with precision, creativity and cultural sensitivity.

Head of Languages Helen Shephard congratulated Saran: “He impressed the judges with his flawless rendition of a German poem into English.”

She added: “Our students embraced the challenge wholeheartedly, demonstrating their passion for languages and their commitment to excellence. Their success inspires us to continue to nurture language enthusiasts and celebrate the beauty of words across borders.”

The competition is organised by The Queen’s College Translation Exchange and named in honour of renowned translator Anthea Bell, who specialised in translating children’s literature and is perhaps best known for translating the Asterix comic books from French. She died in 2018, aged 82.

Saran said: “I think everyone should have entered; the benefit is learning the language in a different way – not just translating it. It gives you a little taste of ‘more than the basics’ and, most importantly, is super fun!”

Two other Year 7 entrants, Hardit Gulati and Rachit Banker, also reflected on their experience of taking part.

“It was an exciting competition,” said Hardit, “testing not only our language interpretation skills, but also our creativity and comprehension skills on how to keep the feel of the poem in a different language!”

Rachit added: “Participating in the competition was an absolute thrill; you get to enhance your translation skills, while it also assesses your imagination, creativity and vocabulary skills. It was really exciting to keep the essence and meaning of the poem when translating from one language to another!”

QE boys have enjoyed repeated success in the competition since it was first held in 2020: like Saran, last year, Jason Tao (then in Year 11) and Olly Salter (then in Year 13) were Greater London German winners for their age groups.

• Saran is pictured with other QE entrants in the 2024 competition.

Old Elizabethan academic and economist Sandeep Mazumder queried the Bank of England’s 2% inflation target and suggested it should be higher – not because it is too cautious, but paradoxically because it is too risky.

Sandeep (OE 1993–2000), who is Dean of Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, Texas, spoke to the group of Year 12 economists before yesterday’s news that the inflation rate had fallen to 2.3%.

Although this is its lowest level in almost three years, the figure was still higher than expected. Political commentators believe that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called the early General Election on the strength of the apparently improving economic outlook.

Dean Sandeep, who has published widely on inflation dynamics and the Great Recession of 2007–2009, argued that inflation at 2% would limit the Government’s room for manoeuvre in cutting interest rates during times of economic difficulty, making it hard to escape a recession.

He argued instead for adopting a 3 or 4% target, which would give more flexibility with interest rate cuts, without the risk of inflation dropping to 0%. This is the level below which rates cannot be cut (the ‘zero lower bound’) without the potentially disastrous economic risk of people hoarding cash, rather than saving it in banks, the so-called ‘liquidity trap’.

Economics teacher Celia Wallace thanked Dean Sandeep, who spoke remotely to the School’s Gresham Society for Economics. He is a member of QE’s 450 Club member and has been very supportive of the Economics department.

“Sandeep introduced several new concepts to improve pupils’ depth of understanding, including the Fisher Equation to calculate real interest rates and the problem of the zero lower bound, which was the main basis of his talk.

“Within his critique of inflation targeting, Sandeep showed other policy options which countries can often consider, including price-level targeting – where a specific price index is targeted, rather than a growth rate.”

Afterwards, the sixth-formers asked a range of questions, including Avi Juneja’s cautious query about the issue of real wage cuts with a target of 3% or 4% inflation, and Abyan Shah asking about which method of targeting would be most effective for the UK: inflation targeting, price-level targeting, or average inflation targeting (a hybrid of both systems).

Sandeep gave plentiful career advice to all. He strongly expressed the need to follow one’s strengths and passions. He said he had chosen to go into academia and research as it was his passion, while also giving more of a life balance compared to other options, such as  banking.