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A 46-strong group of rugby players developed their skills and bonded as teams on a spring tour to Holland.

The short tour, resumed after a two-year break because of the pandemic, was previously open to Year 9, but this year was opened to Year 10 as well, attracting 23 players from each year group.

The trip over the Easter break began with a very long journey from Barnet to Amsterdam, via Caen – with the crossing to France impacted by the P&O Ferries chaos. After successful matches at Rugby Club Eemland in the city of Amersfoort, 32 miles from Amsterdam, the party made the short journey west to take part in the Hilversum Festival – one of the largest and most well-established youth rugby tournaments in Europe.

Head of Rugby James Clarke, who organised the trip, said: “The tour provided a brilliant environment in which our boys were able to develop their skills and enjoy the camaraderie and team spirit that being part of a touring party fosters. It was great to be able to resume this tour after two years and for the experience to be extended to both Years 9 and 10.”

“Both age groups played RC Eemland teams on the Saturday. We won both matches and were hosted brilliantly by the club afterwards,” said Mr Clarke.

The boys then went bowling in the evening. The trip also included a visit to the stadium of Amsterdam’s mighty AFC Ajax.

“At Hilversum the next day, the boys thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, played some really good rugby, and were a real credit to the School.”

The U15s (Year 10) drew four matches and lost one: they were, said Mr Clarke, unlucky not to secure any victories in the tournament, which was run in a round-robin format.

By contrast, the U14s from Year 9 enjoyed considerable success on the pitch and came second in their age group in the tournament after winning four of their matches and losing only one.

The final night, before the trip home on Easter Monday, saw the presentation of tour awards. Ubaidah Rahman was named player of the tour among the U14s, with Theo Moses taking the prize for the U15s.

The tour was a swansong for PE teacher Oliver O’Gorman, “a great member of the PE department since 2018”, Mr Clarke added. Mr O’Gorman has taken up a new post with international IT security company Fortinet.

Year 12’s Shankar Vallinayagam took his place on the stage alongside professional mathematicians as a speaker at the 2022 Maths Fest.

Shankar was among 45 Year 12 mathematicians from QE to attend the annual series of lectures at The Royal Institution in London.

He was selected as a speaker after his video submission for a related Mathematics competition – the Maths Slam – was picked as one of the winning entries by the judges. He was one of four winners who gave presentations on the day.

Mathematics teacher Kirtan Shah said: “I know that many of our boys not only enjoyed the day, but also really relished the opportunity to learn about fascinating aspects of maths and its applications in the real world. As one of our students, Haipei Jiang, put it afterwards ‘It was great to be in an environment where so many other students appreciated really cool maths.’”

As in previous years, the day was chaired by Mathematics YouTuber and ‘stand up mathematician’ Matt Parker.

The day began with Professor Jennifer Rogers, Vice President for Statistical Research and Consultancy at PHASTAR, the London-based international biometrics contract research organisation, giving a talk on Stats to Save the World. As the lead statistician on a treatment trial for Covid-19, she  explained the importance of sample size for clinical trials and the factors which help to determine how large a sample size should be.

Next was internet mathematician and public speaker James Grime, who talked about hidden Mathematics behind the digital world, from looking at how wifi signals are communicated to how cryptanalysis was used to break codes from Germany’s Lorenz cipher machines during World War II.

Host Matt Parker explained that our brains naturally think of numbers using a logarithmic scale, yet the modern world uses a linear system of numbers – which can easily confuse people in understanding how big large numbers actually are.

Puzzle expert and author Rob Eastaway looked at ‘fairness’ and ‘guilt’, telling the audience that chimpanzees have been seen to grasp the concept of fairness, refusing a treat if they felt they were receiving preferential treatment over their fellow chimps.

Mathematics teacher and examinations expert Nicole Cozens shared her top five tips for exam success from her experience of marking papers for 15 years, starting with: Always quote the formula first when using it in a question – this is to show the examiner that you know the formula, even if you end up making a mistake in how you use it.

Ben Sparks, musician and star of the educational YouTube channel, Numberphile, ended the day by explaining the Mathematics of the notes in an octave and sharing how sine waves, trigonometry and complex numbers are used to make noise-cancelling headphones work.

Shankar’s short talk was entitled The Alexander Horned Sphere: he came across the sphere, an object found in the branch of Mathematics known as topology, during his research for his Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) dissertation. Mr Shah said: “His talk interested the audience and got them thinking about why we shouldn’t say something is ‘obviously true’ in maths without proof.”

During breaks, the boys visited the event’s Maths Village, where they could enjoy mini-mathematical activities and meet people who use Mathematics every day at university and in commerce.

The boys were accompanied by Mr Shah and his fellow Mathematics teachers, Deljoo Mahdmina and Heena Haq.

Reflecting on the Maths Fest afterwards, pupil Rajveer Mukherjee said: “I particularly enjoyed it as although the talks were incredibly interesting, they also proved to be accessible to all, while leaving room for further research into the topics.” For his part, Abir Mohammed loved the opportunity to meet “renowned maths celebrities”.

Boys took on their teachers in a fiercely fought quiz to raise money for a charity supporting children in Sri Lanka.

In the final of the competition, which was modelled on ITV’s The Chase, the winning teams from the Year 7, 8 and 9 heats each competed against a teacher ‘chaser’ as they tried to make it through to the last round.

After some determined quizzing, the teams from Year 8 and Year 9 needed a tie-break to separate them. The representative of Year 8 was fastest on the buzzer with the correct answer, so Year 8 duly progressed to face off against Mathematics teacher Geoff Roberts and Economics teacher Sheerwan O’Shea-Nejad in the final chase, where the boys’ strong general knowledge and speedy teamwork saw them emerge as the winners.

Headmaster Neil Enright, who came to the final, said: “This event was great fun and was for a very good cause. My thanks go to our Sixth Form charity team for organising it and to all the members of staff involved, including the ‘chasers’ who cheerfully put their credibility on the line for charity!

“At QE, we have a long tradition of supporting both local and international charities. I am pleased to see that our current prefects recognise the importance of seeking to change the world for the better and that they are carving out time in our busy School life for such work, and are doing so with enthusiasm and commitment.”

The lunchtime final in the Main School Hall followed preliminary rounds held during lunchtime breaks over the previous week.

Year 12’s Shriram Mahesh, the charity team Vice Captain said: “This event was an overwhelming success, not only in raising more than the targeted £200 (the amount raised eventually tallied up to £214.50 across all the rounds), but also in bringing together many members of the School community, including Lower School students, Sixth Form students and members of staff.”

Planning for the quiz took just over half a term and was a team effort, with members of the charity team variously writing quiz questions, organising rehearsals, arranging publicity and promoting the quiz by calling in on Year 7, 8 and 9 form rooms during morning and afternoon registration periods.

Shriram paid tribute to the role of charity team captain, Lourdes Kumar, of Year 12, and of Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter and Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Katrin Hood in liaising with the recipient charity, Teach Sri Lanka. Ms Hood was also the host and quizmaster.

The ‘chasers’ included Languages teacher Gillian Ross, Biology teacher Hinesh Shah (OE 1996–2003) and Physics teacher Isaac Frost.

“It was extremely pleasing to see so many people turn up to watch the event, including many teachers from a variety of academic departments,” said Shriram, adding that the appearances by Mr O’Shea-Nejad and Mr Roberts in the final had been “very well received by the younger students”.

Founded in 2012, according to its website, Teach Sri Lanka aims to help “educational organisations in equipping and enabling children unlock the transformative potential of education in a sustainable manner”.

Last year’s leavers turned out in force to pass on the benefit of their recent experience to current sixth-formers at QE’s annual University Convention.

With the 2021 event moved online because of the pandemic, this year’s convention provided an eagerly awaited opportunity for the School’s newest alumni to meet face-to-face with Year 12s thinking about following in their footsteps.

The day also brought a QE first – a series of afternoon water polo friendly matches involving the Old Elizabethans playing with, and against, the School’s current senior players.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was great to catch up with these, our youngest old boys, as they passed on some ultra-current advice to Year 12 students, whether on university and course choices, gap years or industry placements. My thanks go to all of them for giving their time to support their School.”

Most of the OEs attending the convention are currently in their first years on sought-after degree courses at leading universities, including Oxbridge and the Russell Group institutions.

Those giving presentations included 2021 leaver Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy, who has been spending this year with Springboard Pro, a Cambridge engineering consultancy, after successfully securing a coveted Year in Industry placement. The scheme places around 750 young people annually in engineering, science, IT, and business, where most work full-time before going on to join degree courses.

After the convention, the OEs had the opportunity to catch up with each other and with some of their former teachers over lunch.

Then, in the afternoon 16 visiting old boys headed for the Martin Swimming Pool for the water polo friendlies.

The day finished with two OE sides playing each other, which finished in a well-fought draw.

Head of Aquatics Richard Scally said: “It was a very enjoyable afternoon, with some competitive polo played. There was considerable interest – including from old boys who couldn’t make it on the day – so we would like to expand it in the future.

“I was pleased that a good number of OEs are still playing, whether for their university sides or clubs. Hopefully, by chatting to them, our current team will be inspired to follow suit.”

Year 13 debaters Ciaran Price and Christan Emmanuel successfully convinced their classmates to keep petrol and diesel-engined vehicles off the roads in the 55th Elizabethan Union Annual Dinner Debate.

The pair took on Old Elizabethan challengers Ravi Karia and Jathieesan Umaasuthan (both OE 2011–2018), who argued against the motion, This House would ban all non-electric vehicles.

The weekend event is tailored to give senior boys experience of the type of formal occasions they are likely to participate in at university and later in life.

Head of Academic Enrichment Nisha Mayer said: “This was a welcome return for our dinner debate after the disruption of the past two years. It was a relaxed, pleasantly lively evening, with an engaging debate that saw effective arguments made on both sides.”

A three-course meal, including vegan options, was served in the Dining Hall before the debate in the Main School Hall.

“Not only was it the first time some had worn black-tie, but I understand that one boy’s clip-on bow tie had been manufactured only that morning using a 3D printer!” added Mrs Mayer.

Lawyer Izzet Hassan (OE 2005–2021), the after-dinner speaker, “gave a very heartfelt speech, with recollections from his days at QE and really solid advice for Year 13 to take away”, Mrs Mayer added.

The evening included the traditional toasts to Queen Elizabeth II and to “the pious memory of Queen Elizabeth I”.

The visitors were formally proposed by the 2021 School Captain, Siddhant Kansal, of Year 13, while the Elizabethan Union was proposed by Izzet, who last month took up a new post with international law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Accompanying Izzet was his contemporary, Oli Palmer, who is now a teacher. The pair plan to return for this November’s Old Elizabethan Association Dinner, along with others from their year group, who will make up this year’s ten-year leavers cohort at the event.

Other roles during the evening were undertaken by Year 13 pupils, with Utsav Atri the chairman and Jash Nanavati the designated photographer.

Votes were taken before and after the debate, both of which were in favour of the motion.