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A QE team triumphed in their heat of the Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial Competition, beating both fellow Elizabethans acting as prosecutors and a team from another school.

After successfully grappling with a case involving harassment across the two rounds, the defence team amassed enough points to beat all other competing schools and take the top spot. Now both QE teams will take part in a national celebration event in June.

Biology teacher Nadia Kaan, who oversaw the boys’ involvement, said: “This competition is a fun and engaging way to introduce pupils to the law, while also developing skills such as teamwork and oracy.

“Our boys had worked hard since October to prepare, and they duly performed very well on the day. My congratulations go to our defence team on their victory.”

The competition, which is run by the Young Citizens education charity, has been running for over 25 years and is open to 12–14 year-olds from UK state schools. Participants take on the main roles found in a criminal trial – such as prosecutor and defendant – with the cases specially written by legal experts.

Run with the active support of practising magistrates and legal advisors, the competition is usually held within real courthouses, although this year’s event was held online because of the pandemic.

The two QE teams, all drawn from Year 9, found themselves facing each other in their heat after one of the other schools expected to take part pulled out. Defence team ‘lawyer’ Colin Copcea explained that it was only after much deliberation that a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict was returned by the supporting professionals in this round. He paid tribute to the efforts of all QE entrants, whether defenders and prosecutors: “Both teams fought hard to influence the magistrates.”

In the second round, the QE defence team went up against another school, and again secured their desired ‘Not Guilty’ verdict.

Afterwards, QE participants reflect on how much they enjoyed taking part and on the competition’s benefits:

• Vase Pardeepan: “This experience was absolutely incredible, and to be able to compete against other schools and communicate with professional lawyers really helped me understand  my personal passion for the career of law.”
• Simi Bloom: “It was interesting to learn more about how legal proceedings work and the justice system. ‘Mock trial’ was a great way to learn to how respond when things don’t go your way, boosting public speaking skills and overall confidence. I think the experience largely encouraged teamwork, too, as well as establishing trust between one another.”
• Adam Liang: “Of the many other clubs and competitions that I have attended, this one was by far the best. Thank you for this amazing experience!”
• Adithya Raghuraman: “Despite perhaps not playing a very important role on my team, I still greatly enjoyed being a part of the whole experience, from attending on Wednesdays when the club began and auditioning for different parts, all the way to helping out with different things on the day of the competition itself. It has made me realise that I have a passion for law, and perhaps may pursue it in the future.”
• Vidyuth Shankar: “Personally, I found the mock trial competition quite refreshing. It encouraged us to work as a team and creatively and intuitively work out the best angles to a problem. I found performing my speech exciting and enjoyed working in a team.”

The other QE competitors were: Samhith Aggana; Devansh Jha; Muhamad Mohamed; Soham Kale; Daniel Moon; Sai Murarishetty; Daksh Vinnakota; Ash Iyer and Adokshaj Magge.

Twenty Year 10 GCSE Art students seized the opportunity to study at first-hand the work of leading British artist Dame Phyllida Barlow – a key figure in their current lessons.

The boys, who have spent the term using her Bad Copies series as a starting point to develop their painting and drawing skills, headed straight to the rooms in Tate Modern’s Materials and Objects collection dedicated to her work.

Head of Art Craig Wheatley explained why her paintings and drawings are so influential: “Barlow’s drawings are often derived from her environment, but never drawn from life; they range from swift biro and pencil sketches in notebooks and diaries to more heavily worked acrylic drawings and oil paintings, which experiment with surface textures as well as colours, forms and arrangements.”

The boys also enjoyed finding out about aspects of her oeuvre that were less familiar to them: “After responding to Barlow’s paintings and drawings, the natural progression was to explore and respond to her three-dimensional work.”

During the visit, the boys took time to analyse and record their observations in the form of written annotation and observational drawing. Guided by teaching staff, they were challenged to contemplate the meaning of the works on display and the artist’s intention, giving both objective analysis and subjective opinion.

There was also time for them to explore the gallery space independently, so that they could make comparisons between different genres.

“It was a productive day: starting at St Paul’s Cathedral, we walked across the Millennium Bridge photographing the ever-evolving landscape, before enjoying a great time at Tate Modern – the first visit for a majority of the boys,” said Mr Wheatley.

“They enjoyed the opportunity to see artwork first-hand and to be inspired. Having their appreciation and understanding challenged is significant in ensuring that pupils’ own work continues to develop and become more sophisticated.

“Furthermore, the visit developed their ability in out-of-classroom research and in generating independent ideas. Those are transferrable skills that the boys will be able to apply across their current and future curriculum.”

Born in 1944, Barlow taught for 40 years and in 2004 was appointed Professor of Fine Art and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Slade School of Art before retiring from teaching in 2009.

Her break as an artist came late: it was in 2010 when she was shown at the Serpentine Galleries. Solo exhibitions around the world followed, and in 2017 she represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale.

She has had an important influence on younger artists, including Rachel Whiteread and Angela de la Cruz, who were among her students at the Slade.

Three QE boys were finalists in a national Geography competition run by Christ Church, Oxford.

Shreyas Mone, of Year 10, Zhuoer Chen, of Year 9, and Sarang Nair, of Year 7, were among just ten finalists nationwide.

All three were invited with their parents to a special prize-giving day at Christ Church, one of the largest and most famous of all the Oxford University colleges. The day included a pitch to encourage the visiting high-flyers to consider studying Geography there.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to Shreyas and to Zhuoer and Sarang on their success.”

The competition, which is part of Christ Church’s outreach work, was open to all UK state school pupils in Years 7–10. Entrants had to submit a video 2–5 minutes long on a geographical issue or phenomenon that was local to them.

The day featured screenings of the videos, a prize-giving ceremony, a tour of the college, and talks from current students and staff. There was also a workshop about geopolitics in popular culture, which covered, inter alia, the issues of missile tests in Iron Man and mineral resources in Black Panther, as well as how Bond villains were supposedly based upon enemies of the USA.

Shreyas’s video – entitled Why is the UK’s weather so dismal? – explored why the UK has mild temperatures and high rainfall, compared to the cold, dry conditions of Canada, when, for example, Calgary is on a latitude slightly to the south of London.

The video compared average yearly temperatures at Greenwich weather station with those at Calgary and found they were 11.35C higher.

This, Shreyas explained, is partly because of the Gulf Stream bringing warm water to Britain and conversely the Labrador current taking cold water to southern Canada. In the video, he addresses why this affects the weather in inland areas, rather than just the coast.

His video was illustrated by a range of maps and photos and even a clip of a fox jumping into snow, with colourful captions setting out his argument.

Shreyas was inspired to enter the competition after seeing it advertised by Head of Geography Emily Parry on eQE, the School’s remote learning platform.

Sarang’s video on the Effects of floods in Hertfordshire included photos of recent floods; it looked at where flood plains are and explored whether houses should be built on flood plains.

Four Year 10 boys won every round when they took on other regional schools in the Maths Feast competition.

After being selected to represent the School in the event, the four emerged with a perfect score of 121 out of 121.

Mathematics teacher Kirtan Shah said: “This was the first time I’ve seen full marks in every round of the Maths Feast competition since I started working here in 2018. So they did really, really well: definitely something to be proud of!

“They worked so well together as a team; by building on each other’s arguments, they were able to successfully reach sensible solutions to some challenging problems. They knew what each member’s strengths were and that really helped them gain their clean sweep.”

Hadi Al-Esia, Kovid Gothi, Saim Khan and Shreyaas Sandeep travelled to St Dominic’s Sixth Form College in Harrow on the Hill for the competition run by Advanced Mathematics Support Programme – a Government-funded national initiative.

They faced four rounds: team captain Hadi said each involved “intriguing puzzles that stretched our knowledge and problem-solving skills”.

The rounds were as follows:

1. What No Words? All teams were given a series of problems to solve, with the catch that they were only given diagrams. Not only did they have to work out the answer; they first had to work out what the question was!
2. Four for Forty: Students were given four long problems, including logic puzzles, which all required outside-the-box problem-solving, including logic puzzles. “They were able to deftly negotiate this round by each member of the team taking the problem which suited their strengths the most,” said Mr Shah.
3. Card Sort: Competitors had to reimagine every 3D shape (such as cubes) to try to unravel the shortest way to pass through or over them. “This was by far the most challenging round for the team to tackle as it involved a new dimension of geometry for them – a combination of Pythagoras and 3D visualisation,” Mr Shah added. “They finished the round with less than 20 seconds to spare.” The team’s favourite problem came from this round (see picture right): competitors were asked to calculate the distance from A to B if the net [what a 3D shape looks like if opened out flat] were open for the cone.Saim said: I particularly enjoyed the card sort round – trying to reimagine and visualise the shapes in a new way was challenging but immensely rewarding too!”
4. Four in a Row: A relay round, with teams splitting into two pairs to solve two separate sets of questions. “Our boys were able to comfortably finish the round, with eight minutes to spare,” said Mr Shah.

Hadi said: “I’m proud of our teamwork and the dedication we showed on the day,” while his teammate Saim added: “The Maths Feast was a fantastic opportunity; the problem-solving and lateral thinking the rounds called for was a refreshing invigorating experience.”

From the very first notes played by the Indian and Guitar ensembles in their Wednesday morning breaktime appearances through to guest pianist Béla Hartmann’s closing bars in the Friday night gala concert finale, the opening festival for QE’s new Music building was a feast of high-quality performance.

The three-day extravaganza marked the official opening of The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms by showcasing both the talents of the School’s young musicians and the new multi-million-pound facilities themselves.

And in celebration of the expanded extra-curricular opportunities the state-of-the-art building will provide, a string of professional musicians were invited in to give talks, to lead masterclasses and to perform.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I am very happy to say that the festival was a great success, with many, many memorable moments, two magnificent evening concerts and a splendid atmosphere over the three days. All in all, this was a very worthy way to inaugurate this significant addition to our facilities, with participants truly rising to the occasion.

“Music is really flourishing here at QE, and the department now has the facilities it needs to support the teaching of the Music curriculum for all pupils, as well as the extensive range of extra-curricular music that enriches the QE experience for so many of our boys.

“My congratulations go to our Director of Music, Ruth Partington, her Assistant Director, James McEvoy-Stevenson, Music teacher Caroline Grint and the small army of peripatetic teachers who have all helped the boys reach such high levels of performance.”

The new building received the go-ahead in 2019 after the School’s application for a £1.2m grant and £1m loan from the Department for Education was successful. It has been completed with extensive financial support from the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s (FQE) and through fundraising by the boys, including the Pianoathon held last summer to help pay for new upright pianos for the seven practice rooms. Pride of place in the recital hall goes to the new Yamaha CF6 grand piano, valued at just under £75,000, which was purchased by the School’s Foundation Trustees.

In addition to the Music facilities, the complex features a covered atrium for boys to use at lunchtimes and breaktimes which incorporates the new Mayes Atrium Café.

“My heartfelt thanks go once again to all those in the Elizabethan community who have donated to FQE and thus made possible this exciting project,” said the Headmaster.

The first day of the festival saw the breaktime performances by the Indian Ensemble and Guitar Ensemble, with lunchtime slots filled by Junior Jazz and the Jazz Band. In the afternoon, GCSE and A-level Music students, along with selected musicians from other Music groups, enjoyed talks by three Old Elizabethans and professional musicians: Rhys Bowden (1996–2003), an operatic tenor who teaches singing at QE; composer Richard Collins (2005–2012), and violinist Simon Purdy, who teaches the instrument at the School.

Day two saw the Junior Strings perform at break, with Junior Winds and Senior Winds both in action at lunchtime. The afternoon was taken up with masterclasses for the Pianoathon winners and for members of Junior Jazz and the Jazz Band led by pianist and improvisor extraordinaire, Harry the Piano.

The evening saw Harry perform in concert in his inimitable style, with pre-concert and interval music provided by the Junior String Quartet, Sax Ensemble and Trumpet Ensemble. Two of the School’s star musicians, Year 8’s Noah Morley and Conor Parker-Delves, of Year 13, even had the chance to shine alongside Harry, performing improvisations with him.

On Friday, the 160-strong School Choir gave the breaktime performances, enjoying the experience of all being together – something that was not possible in the old Music department. Lunchtime appearances were by the Orchestra and Senior Strings. Afternoon masterclasses for élite musicians were given by award-winning international pianist Béla Hartmann.

The final evening brought the Festival Concert, which was arranged particularly to demonstrate the acoustics of the recital hall and the capabilities of the Yamaha grand piano. The Senior Vocal Group played during the Headmaster’s Reception for donors and other VIP guests; the pre-concert welcome music came from the Saxophone Quintet and music during the interval was provided by the Senior Piano Trio and Senior Violin Trio.

The concert’s main line-up featured a piano duet and piano, viola, cello and saxophone solos by the boys, as well as a first-half appearance by pianist Tadashi Imai, resident accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music and a piano teacher at QE. There were also appearances by the Jazz Band, Chamber Choir, Junior Violin Trio and Year 13 Flute Trio, before Mr Hartmann brought the concert programme and the festival to a conclusion. The repertoire ranged from Beethoven Chopin, Mendelssohn and Ravel to lesser-known composers such as Jules Demersseman and Carl Bohm, with one soloist, Jao-Yong Tsai, of Year 12, playing a sonata that he had composed himself.