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As the School’s U14 and U16 rugby squads prepare to welcome teams from around the country to the 48^th annual QE Sevens tournament, their U15 counterparts are reflecting on a strong national competition run.

Another recent highlight was the first-ever QE Rugby Dinner, which saw top players from all year groups come together to celebrate their love of the game.

The QE Sevens, held this year on Sunday 10^th March, is one of the country’s biggest school sevens tournaments. It has cup and plate competitions for both U16 and U14 age groups. QE’s own players recently got some practice in at warm-up sevens tournaments at Haberdashers’ and London Oratory schools.

Head of Rugby James Clarke said: “We are busy putting in place the final preparations for the big day. QE Sevens provides invaluable opportunities for our rising players to test themselves against strong opposition. It’s an event at which QE families, alumni and staff can welcome old friends and make new ones.

“Most of all, it’s a great day out at the School – an opportunity to cheer on the home teams and to watch highly competitive, fast-moving rugby in a convivial atmosphere. The action starts at 11:00am. It’s free, and spectators are welcome just to turn up on the day: we look forward, as usual, to seeing many supporters on the touchline!”

The U15s stormed through three rounds of the National Bowl to reach a fifth-round home game against Emanuel School in Battersea. With no first round played, they had kicked off their campaign by securing a convincing 36-7 win in October against Hampstead’s University College School.

They then dispatched both Parmiter’s School, from Garston – whom they defeated 15-12 in round 3 – and Debden Park High School, from Loughton in Essex – against whom the winning margin was greater, with the final score at 25-14.

In their encounter with Emanuel School, they led throughout, amassing a 14-3 lead in the second half. However, after a strong fightback by the visitors, they saw victory snatched from their grasp by an Emanuel try in the last play of the match.

“It was a truly painful defeat,” said Mr Clarke. “Had the boys managed to hold on and see out the match, they would only have been two games from the final at Twickenham. But they should be congratulated on playing some fantastic rugby, both in this game and throughout their run.”

There was some consolation for several of the U15 backline when they found themselves named in the QE Team of the Year, which was announced at the inaugural Rugby Dinner in the Shearly Hall.

There were also prizes for boys of all ages in the Most Improved Player, Players’ Player, and Player of the Season categories.

Inspirational speeches came in the form of videos from current South African captain Siya Kolisi and London’s Maggie Alphonsi MBE, former flanker for Saracens and England.

Also speaking on video was guest speaker Desh Ganeshamoorthy (OE 2014–2021), a former First XV player, who fondly recalled his own QE rugby memories: “I think I ended up playing every position but fly half and scrum half…it was so much fun.”

• The dedicated Sevens website will show the draw and allow people to track results through the group and knockout stages.

With beginners making up at least half the 80-strong party that headed for the French alps, this year’s QE skiing trip was a time to enjoy thrilling new experiences alongside friends and classmates.

The boys enjoyed plenty of time on the slopes in the beautiful setting of Les Deux Alpes, near Grenoble – the destination for this year’s nine-day, half-term trip.

Group leader Richard Scally said: “It was a super trip, with everyone having a good time – and no major injuries!

“Such visits provide adventure and fresh experiences for the boys, and are a really important element in the QE experience.”

Les Deux Alpes, a ‘snowsure’ resort popular with British skiers, boasts a number of records: it has Europe’s largest skiable glacier and is also home to the longest fully on-piste vertical in the world, at 2,200m.

In total, Les Deux Alpes has 200km of on-piste terrain, ensuring that skiers of all abilities and experiences can enjoy their alpine adventure.

The boys stayed at the traditional Le Soleil alpine hotel in the centre of the village. Its après-ski attractions include a cosy fire area, ping-pong and table football.

Their busy programme when not skiing included ten-pin bowling and the opportunity to see some spectacular ice sculptures.

The trip began with a coach journey of more than 21 hours that took them all the way from the School to the resort, and included crossing the Channel on the Dover–Dunkirk ferry.

The boys were accompanied by ten members of staff, led by Mr Scally, who is QE’s Head of Cricket and Combined Cadet Force Contingent Commander.

He said: “Temperatures were very warm – up to 18 degrees one day.

“Snow was good at higher altitude, but, in an indication of how the climate is changing in the alps, it was interesting to see things getting a little slushy lower down in the afternoons.”

Destinations for the long-running QE skiing trip have in recent years ranged from the Italian alps to the Purcell Mountains, close to the Canadian Rockies.

• Click on the thumbnails below to see more images from the trip.

Bioquest, QE’s new, richly illustrated Science journal, features articles covering topics that range from a look at plant communication to an exploration of the eye’s importance in predicting human health.

The first edition is contained within the pages of The Econobethan, the School’s well-established Economics and Politics magazine, but future editions are intended to be stand-alone publications.

Edition XVII of The Econobethan takes as its theme The Economics of Conflict, looking at economic topics in theatres of war from Nazi Germany to the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to the team who have launched Bioquest – I hope it will be the first edition of many. It is also good to see such a high-quality edition of The Econobethan.

“Such publications provide excellent opportunities for boys to display genuine academic curiosity and scholarship. Through its thematic approach, The Econobethan demonstrates how the big issues cut across disciplines.

“It is important that our pupils develop an understanding of the world around them, and these publications show that they are taking great interest and thinking carefully about context.”

Bioquest is produced by a six-strong editorial team. One of them, Year 12’s Advik Balaji, appeals in his introduction for “dedicated scientists to contribute articles” for future editions.

Its six articles all feature colour illustrations and are all written by pupils in Year 12. They include Kavinayan Manivannan’s investigation of The Plants’ Trojan Horse, which explores plant cells’ use of RNA defence systems against necrotrophic fungi. Shivam Vyas looks at Microbiome Engineering in Plants, considering how a recent research breakthrough could “dramatically cut the use of pesticides and unlock opportunities to bolster plant health”.

Seyed Jalili considers how the identification of CHIP (Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential) in human blood cells might translate into effective treatments. Joshua John looks at the ethical implications of genetic screening in his piece entitled The Cost of a Human Life.

Within the Economics of Conflict-themed section of The Econobethan, the writers look both at particular wars and at economic lessons to be drawn from conflicts more generally. For example, Year 12’s Akheel Kale reflects on The Bizarre Nature of ‘Hitlernomics’ and Suryansh Sarangi, also of Year 12, explores the legacy of the British selling opium in China on the Chinese economy.

The magazine also includes a more general section on Economics, Politics and History.

• For those with access to the School’s eQE network, The Econobethan and Bioquest may be viewed here.

Twenty of QE’s youngest boys teamed up with pupils from a leading independent girls’ school to explore the environmental crisis and learn how to persuade others to take action.

The QE contingent headed to North London Collegiate School for the Year 7 academic symposium, starting the day with a critical examination of social media posts representing different viewpoints and highlighting different scientific data on the atmosphere.

Together with the NLCS girls, they then explored the power of persuasion, studying the speeches of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, before enthusiastically taking up the opportunity to write and practise their own speeches.

Enrichment tutor and Chemistry teacher Xiangming Xu said: “It was an amazing display of collaboration and environmental responsibility, in which the aim was to educate young students about the environmental crisis and empower them with knowledge about their role as students.

“Thus, they not only expanded their knowledge on environmental issues, but also developed essential skills such as teamwork, quick thinking, and persuasive communication techniques. Overall, the symposium served as an inspiring platform for students to learn, develop, and take action.”

The start of the day was marked by discussions about the selected social media posts, with the boys and girls supporting or challenging the various arguments being propounded.

Next, they looked at the impact of different techniques employed in speeches, including the influential contributions made by Thunberg, who customarily challenges world leaders to take immediate action over climate change.

Later, in the afternoon session, they had the opportunity to apply these techniques and to deliver their own speeches targeted at specific audiences, including business professionals, politicians, primary school children, and teachers.

Afterwards, three of the QE participants gave their reflections on the day:

• Arnav Ghoshal: “We learnt about the environment – which is a major factor in today’s world – while doing engaging and fun activities, making it a great time. Also, as QE is an all-boys school, it is good to mix with other genders, too.”
• Aaron Khan: “The activity I enjoyed most was when we worked together as a group to create an ‘elevator pitch’ for our chosen audience. This trip helped build confidence and my communication skills with others whom I may not be so familiar with.”
• Thomas Leung said he enjoyed delivering a speech aimed at changing politicians’ minds, since politicians can have a significant impact. “They have enough money and power to change something. I felt more confident at the end as I knew more about the environment and learnt new facts.”

A Year 12 team have been presented with their trophy after seeing off competition from 1,200 teams from Slovenia to Singapore to triumph in the international Ritangle Mathematics competition.

The five-strong team submitted the best answer to the final question, thus winning them the title in the competition run by education charity MEI (Mathematics, Education, Innovation).

Competition organiser Bernard Murphy, a Maths Education Support Specialist for MEI, visited the School to present the trophy and a hamper in a special assembly.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to the five on a splendid victory in a competition that is designed to stretch young people’s Mathematics knowledge to the limit.”

Ritangle is a free competition for teams of students aged 16-18 studying either A-level Mathematics or equivalent qualifications. Fifteen QE teams took part in the competition.

Harik Sodhi, captain of the winning team, said: “My favourite part of Ritangle was collaborating with friends on solving an interesting Maths problem. I definitely enjoyed the final question the most as it was a very open question and required lots of steps and a combination of Python and Maths and Excel programming, which made it very fun.”

His fellow team members were Anshul Nema, Koustuv Bhowmick, Shreyas Mone, Joel Swedensky.

For the first four weeks, one question was released every Monday. For the following five weeks, three questions were released, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Every correct answer revealed a piece of information that helped solve the final task.

Shreyas said he particularly enjoyed the period in which the number of questions started to increase each week.

The final problem, involving the pairings for a ‘jamboree’-format chess tournament, was released on a Tuesday evening, with even those who set it not knowing what the best answer would be.

Mathematics teacher and Head of Academic Administration Wendy Fung said: “It essentially involved finding the smallest possible number that met a set of criteria. The question setters came up with an answer of 56, which they expected to be beaten by someone, but not by a great deal.

“The first correct answers submitted were above 100. On the Thursday afternoon, the winning QE team submitted the figure of 0.16. MEI initially assumed it must be wrong, but it proved to be correct once checked, and was never beaten – though some other teams got quite close. It was a remarkable performance by the boys, who have vowed to try and win again in 2024!”

The winning team, The Flex Angles, worked independently to solve the questions and needed to get to grips with using various forms of technology, from spreadsheets to graphing software.

Joel particularly enjoyed the early stages of Ritangle, when large numbers of boys at QE were taking part. “Racing to complete each question first after it was released was its own mini-competition.”

Anshul added: “Beside the final question, which will always be special to me, I really enjoyed all the prior questions in which I could use my technical expertise in plotting advance or interactive graphs to optimise functions. I’d have to say that my favourite part was at the very end, coming back to my computer after taking a break from the frustration to see my code announcing that a solution had been found, and rushing to tell Harik and the team.”

Of all the teams who entered, only 153 submitted correct answers to the final question. A second Year 12 QE team – The Left Angles, captained by Uday Dash – was among these and was therefore listed among the “commendable” teams by MEI. Uday’s fellow team members were: Saim Khan; Kovid Gothi; Adyan Shahid; Vijay Lehto and Dinuk Dissanayake.