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Members of the QE Together partnership have now begun editing after spending two days filming in a Barnet primary school as part of a community outreach project.

A team from the partnership – consisting of senior pupils from QE and Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School – visited QE’s near-neighbour, Christ Church Primary School. The filming was the latest stage in a project that the team have been working on for several months to create a promotional video aimed at encouraging prospective parents to sign up for Christ Church’s nursery.

Lead Enrichment Tutor Kanak Shah said: “All the students – our boys, the girls from QEGS and the Christchurch pupils – did very well, and the little ones were adorable!”

The QE team comprised the 2023 School Captain, Darren Lee, and two of the 2023 Vice-Captains, Shuaib Adam and Anthony Bartlett.

Shuaib, of Year 13, explained that the QE Together team had first held meetings with Christ Church’s head, Mrs Elena Print, to map out ideas and plan the key messages of the video.

During the two days, the team thoroughly explored the school in their filming, as well as shooting B-roll footage (supplementary video) to support the visual story-telling at the heart of the film.

“We engaged with children, including those as young as nursery, guiding them to express the school motto [‘Through God’s love, we learn, aspire and achieve; we flourish’] and ethos. This collaborative effort not only enriched the visual narrative, but also provided an authentic perspective on the school’s values and identity.

“The experience so far has taught us many valuable skills, especially teamwork skills – both within our team and in collaboration with other schools – which has strengthened our capacity for effective communication, task delegation, and collective problem-solving. The cross-school collaboration has not only expanded our network for QE Together’s future, but also deepened our understanding of community dynamics and the importance of collective efforts.”

Chanakya Seetharam this week begins his year as the 2024 School Captain, supported by Senior Vice-Captains Saim Khan and Rohan Kumar.

The three, who were appointed by Headmaster Neil Enright, head a team of ten Vice-Captains, as well as House Captains, their deputies and other prefects.

Mr Enright said: “My congratulations go to Chanakya, Saim and Rohan – a talented trio, who were chosen from a strong field of candidates in Year 12 – and indeed to all our new prefects. These appointments reflect the confidence of their peers and of School staff, who all had the chance to vote in the process.

“Pupil leadership is a significant part of the culture at QE and all the new office-holders will be invested with wide-ranging responsibilities and the opportunity to shape the continued development of the School.

“I must thank our 2023 School Captain Darren Lee and his team for shouldering the responsibility of leadership during our 450^th anniversary year with such distinction.”

Head of Year 12 Micah King also congratulated the new top three. “Chanakya exemplifies what it means to be a QE boy. He is kind, and this come across in his interactions with peers. He is exceptionally able, achieving top grades in his GCSEs and routinely standing out in his classes for his high ability. And Chanakya is extremely responsible. I have no doubt that he will rise to the challenges and demands of being School Captain with aplomb.”

Chanakya is a strong musician, while he, Saim and Rohan are all involved in debating and have therefore contributed to the current strength of the Elizabethan Union, QE’s own debating society.

Rohan plays rugby for the School. He also holds the distinction of having played a role during the 450^th anniversary service in Westminster Abbey in March last year: Rohan’s poem was the winning entry in the anniversary poetry competition and he, therefore, read it during the service.

“Rohan is dedicated and determined,” said Mr King. “He’s consistently stood out during his time at QE for his effort and perseverance. He’s also extremely dependable and calm under pressure. In a challenging situation, you’d want Rohan’s steady and thoughtful nature to guide you through it. He has earned the respect of his teachers and peers. I am confident he will shine as a Senior Vice-Captain.”

“Saim has similarly been a model student throughout his time at QE. He has stood out for his studious nature and willingness to contribute wherever he can to the School community.  Having won a superb number of accolades throughout his time at QE, his appointment is a crowning achievement. He will be a superb Senior Vice-Captain.”

Boys from Years 7 & 8 lined up in front of the School to bid a colourful goodbye to Queen Elizabeth’s School’s 450^th anniversary year.

With sixth-formers helping to ensure all looked good, and with a drone filming overhead, the junior boys filed on to Stapylton Field in front of Main Building to spell out #QE450. Click here to see the drone footage showing how it was done!

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It has been a tremendous year, so we wanted to find a way to mark its conclusion which was both fun and which created an impressive spectacle involving a large number of boys. My thanks go to our Head of Technology, Michael Noonan, and his Year 12 Technology class for lining up the participants so accurately.

“More generally, I would like to thank the countless people – boys, staff, alumni, parents, Governors and other friends of the School – who have contributed in so many ways to making our anniversary year such a resounding success. We look back with gratitude on a fantastic 2023, and look forward with great anticipation to all that 2024 will bring.”

The Year 7 & 8 boys wore sports strip in their House colours for the shoot:

• Broughton in red for the hash tag (#)
• Harrisons’ in brown for Q
• Leicester in yellow for E
• Pearce in purple for 4
• Stapylton in blue for 5
• Underne in green for 0.

The anniversary celebrations were heralded close to the end of the 2022 Autumn Term with a royal visit from HRH The Duke of Gloucester.

Major events during the year itself began with the launch of a new authoritative history of the School, Queen Elizabeth’s School: 1573–2023, written by former Headmaster Dr John Marincowitz (1999–2011).

On 24^th March, 450 years to the day since Queen Elizabeth I signed the Royal Charter to establish QE, the whole School gathered for a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey.

Founder’s Day on the third Saturday in June was heavily anniversary-themed, with events including the planting of a time capsule intended for exhumation on the School’s 500^th anniversary in 2073.

The Old Elizabethans Annual Reunion Dinner this year had a special emphasis on the anniversary, including the opportunity for alumni to see items from the QE Collections archive.

The Chamber Choir were recorded performing And Be it Known, the anniversary anthem commissioned by the School from international composer Howard Goodall for the service in Westminster Abbey, where it was premiered. The recording was used as the soundtrack for a special anniversary video.

The traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in Chipping Barnet parish church, which included the first-ever congregational rendering of And Be It Known.

And those are just some of the highlights: throughout the year, the anniversary was celebrated through a series of special events and activities, including: the 56th Annual Elizabethan Union Dinner Debate; competitions; festivals in areas as diverse as the Sciences, Economics & rugby; and the planting of trees in Heartwood Forest, as well as hundreds of bulbs around the QE site.

• For more details about the anniversary celebrations, visit the dedicated 450th anniversary page.

Boys at QE planted hundreds of trees and flower bulbs, ensuring that the School’s 450^th anniversary year would leave a living environmental legacy.

Forty-seven boys from Year 10 headed to Heartwood Forest with the aim of planting one sapling for every year of the School’s history, while back at the Queen’s Road campus, Year 7 pupils helped plant bulbs. The bulbs were selected so that the flowers will bloom each year around 24^th March, the day of the signing of the Royal Charter in 1573.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Our anniversary year has been about celebrating the present and looking to the future, as well as remembering our rich history: so, what better way to mark the end of the year than by doing some planting – an activity bringing environmental benefits to both current and future generations!”

Trees have been a theme throughout the anniversary year. HRH The Duke of Gloucester heralded the start of the anniversary celebrations by planting an oak tree when he visited the School near the end of 2022. In his anthem commissioned for the thanksgiving service on 24^th March 2023 in Westminster Abbey, international composer Howard Goodall wrote that “like an oak [QE] draws its strength from ancient roots spread deep and wide”. And “thriving from ancient roots” was chosen as the slogan for the year.

The area planted in Heartwood Forest, near St Albans, has been donated to the Woodland Trust relatively recently. The trust aims to reverse deforestation there, creating corridors for wildlife. The 47 boys, accompanied by staff including Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter and Head of English Robert Hyland, spent several hours working in the mud to plant several species of young trees under the guidance of trust volunteers. During their labours, the boys saw wildlife including deer and red kites. The Headmaster also stopped by to lend a hand with the planting.

The eager planters easily exceeded their target of 450, Mr Bonham-Carter explained. “We lost count in the end, but we estimate that our 47 boys planted upwards of 700. Many thanks to The Woodland Trust for looking after us and helping us mark the end of our 450th anniversary in such a long-lasting and life-affirming way.”

The opportunity arose after last year’s Year 10 visited Heartwood Forest on the QE Flourish days in July – special activities run as part of the School’s Flourish extra-curricular programme – and took part in various conservation activities.

Mr Hyland added that the Year 10 pupils had recently been reading extracts from authors such as Henry David Thoreau, William Hazlitt and Edward O. Wilson on environmental themes. “When it comes to raising awareness of ecology and sustainability, it is so much more powerful, however, to experience a connection to the world around us at first-hand.”

The bulb-planting by Year 7 around the School campus was also a muddy experience. The new plants will provide visual interest, as well as supporting the ecology and biodiversity of the School site, building on existing efforts to re-wild selected areas.

• Click on the thumbnails below to view the gallery.
• Read more about our 450th anniversary celebrations in our dedicated anniversary section.

Queen Elizabeth’s School drew its 450^th anniversary celebrations to a rousing, festive conclusion with its Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in Chipping Barnet parish church.

St John the Baptist Church was packed, with extra chairs having to be brought in to accommodate the unprecedented demand from the congregation made up of Year 7 boys and their parents, current and former staff, Governors and friends of the School.

While the service’s format was traditional, there were some innovative touches from the start, with, for example, an introit, The Little Drummer Boy, that was arranged by three sixth-formers, Isher Jagdev, Arjun Patel and Tharun Dhamodharan. The melody was played first by trumpets at the back of the church, but then by Isher, on the tabla, before the Chamber Choir came in with the vocals.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “With a bit of squeezing, we just about managed to fit everyone in – and I am pleased to say that all were treated to a marvellous service.

“The traditional Bible readings were impressively delivered by pupils of all ages and by senior staff. We also enjoyed the more modern musical pieces and arrangements, as well as the classic carols sung by the congregation.”

After the organ voluntaries – played by Year 8’s Zach Fernandes, Noah Morley, of Year 10, and Joel Swedensky, of Year 12 – the service began in darkness as the introit was sung. The traditional solo descant for the first verse of Once in Royal David’s City gave way to the Barbershop group singing verses two and three; it was only on verse four that the congregation joined in and the church returned to light, creating a dramatic opening to the service.

The other congregational carols were: O come, all ye faithful; God rest you merry, gentlemen; While shepherds watched their flocks by night; Hark! The herald angels sing. The Chamber Choir and Barbershop pieces were by composers from John Rutter to Peter Cornelius.

“All the music was strong, but the upper voices of the Chamber Choir singing New Boy Born, with flutes and piano, and the whole Chamber Choir’s powerful and percussive Nova Nova really stood out, the Headmaster added.

The service culminated in the first-ever congregational signing of And Be It Known – the new School anthem commissioned from international composer Howard Goodall for the School’s thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey on the day of the 450^th anniversary, 24^th March 2023. The Year 7 boys had been taught the anniversary anthem in advance of the carol service.

“The boys joined in with gusto and were in great voice, helping to make the congregational singing of the anthem a success.

“Overall, the service was innovative and really quite a spectacle, in the best sense – an entirely fitting end to a wonderful anniversary year.”

The service was attended by: Martin Russell, Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Barnet, and the Deputy Mayor of the Borough Cllr Tony Vourou, accompanied by the Deputy Mayoress, Mrs Caroline Vourou.

The service was preceded by a reception for the Headmaster’s guests at Tudor Hall – the home of the School from soon after its founding in 1573 to 1932, when it moved to its present location.

• For more photos from the carol service, scroll through the gallery near the foot of our 450th anniversary page.