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Two sixth-formers organised a quiz in aid of a charity named after an old boy of the School, as quizzes continue to prove popular throughout the Elizabethan community.

Year 13’s Vishruth Dhamodharan and Varun Vijay Kumar brought together teams from Year 7 and 8 and from 9 and 10 to compete to raise money for Guy’s Trust.

In a separate event, the eagerly-awaited inter-House QIQE quiz returned this year, with Harrisons’ taking the honours in a keenly fought final.

And both competitions followed the success of The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s quiz earlier in the term – the Friends’ first in-person charity event since before the pandemic.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate both the winners and the organisers of these events. Quizzes seem to appeal to many here: they give people an opportunity to indulge their competitive spirit and demonstrate their knowledge, while at the same time competitors have a good deal of fun and, often, raise money for good causes, too.”

Vishruth and Varun were inspired by the good work done by educational charity Guy’s Trust in the developing world, and organised the quiz to support it, raising £163.50. The charity is named after marine biologist, scuba instructor, paraglider and adventurer Guy Joseph (OE 1997-2002), who died aged 25 in a paragliding accident in the Pyrenees in October 2011. It has recently funded the installation of water systems to nine primary schools in Cambodia so that the children there have clean drinking water.

Twelve teams from Years 9 and 10 battled it out, covering subjects including Mathematics, Literature and Science. The winning team was Year 9’s Riyan Siyani, Adithya Raghuraman, Danyal Talha and Ram Chockalingam – the curiously named Team SIUUUUUUUUUU.

Next it was the turn of the first two years. After a tense three-way tie, Year 8’s Keeyan Shah, Vu-Lam Le-Nguyen, Ishaan Jugran and Olic Fan – Team Dino Nuggies – emerged as the winners.

In the QIQE quiz, teams comprised one pupil from each of Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. The University Challenge-style format involved ‘starters for ten’ (with boys raising their table-tennis bat paddles for attention) and then three five-point bonuses on another topic.

Under the watchful eye of quizmaster Tom Harrison, Head of Year 7, Harrisons’ and Underne progressed to the final in front of Years 7-10 on the basis of their posting the highest scores in the preliminary rounds.

Harrisons’ ultimately came out narrowly on top in the Shearly Hall, winning 145–135.

“It was hugely exciting, and there was an impressive array of general knowledge on display,” said Mr Harrison.

Boys and staff rallied round to help Barnet people in need in the Christmas season with a triple charity effort.

The annual QE collection for Chipping Barnet Foodbank – now in its seventh year – gathered food and toiletries, while donations of clothing were taken for Homeless Action in Barnet, with pupils playing their part in ensuring that local people would not be spending frosty nights in cold and hunger.

And in a separate charity initiative, boys from every form in Years 7–9 battled it out in a charity ‘swimathon’ in aid of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter, who was in charge of the deliveries for the foodbank and the homeless, said: “Charitable giving and service have long been important values at the School, and Christmas collections are a cherished tradition here. The boys were keen to support those less fortunate than themselves and gave generously.”

Mr Bonham-Carter expressed his thanks to Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Katrin Hood for overseeing these charity efforts and to all the boys and families who made donations.

For the deliveries, Mr Bonham-Carter was accompanied by Umar Jawara, from the site team, as well as Vice-Captains Suraj Cheema and Dylan Domb from the incoming Year 12 prefects team. The 2022 School Captain, Theo Mama-Kahn and another incoming Vice-Captain, Ryo Sato, were also involved.

With the approach of winter, both the foodbank and the homeless charity typically see a rise in visitors who are barely coping with rising food, heating and clothing costs. In Chipping Barnet, over 1,300 three-day emergency food supplies were given to people in crisis last year.

Donated food had to be non-perishable and have a long ‘use by’ date, such as tinned products,  cereals, rice, jars of pasta sauce, biscuits and jams and marmalades. Sanitary items such as shower gel, soap, moisturising cream and period products were also collected, because often these cannot be a priority when people run short of money.

The Homeless Action centre requested new underwear and socks, as well as any old clothes (except used underwear and socks), provided they were reasonably clean and wearable.

For the inter-House ‘swimathon’, each form had to provide a team of four for a medley relay (back, breast, fly and free stroke) against their own year group. Broughton won the overall competition. There were 105 spectators in total, with Underne praised for turning out the most supporters.

The Autumn Term ended in seasonal style, with the parish church echoing to the traditional sounds of the carol service and with the Christmas lunch proving more popular than ever.

The Service of Nine Lessons and Carols featured not only congregational singing of familiar favourites, but also some lesser-known Christmas music from the School Choir and Chamber Choir. Senior staff and boys from throughout the School delivered the readings, culminating in Headmaster Neil Enright reading the Prologue to St John’s Gospel.

Christmas lunch was served to all who requested it – and well over 800 boys and staff took up the option of hand-carved British turkey with all the trimmings (or a vegetarian alternative), with yule log or Christmas pudding to follow, as well as other treats from the catering team. The figure is believed to be a record, in recent years at least.

For Years 10 and 11, there was the added bonus of eating the meal in the pristine surroundings of the Mayes Atrium Café – part of the new Music School complex, which is due to be officially opened next term. The facility, built on the site of the previous Mayes Building, is named in honour of Harry ‘Curly’ Mayes, who served the School as butler, porter, steward and caretaker for 60 years, from 1902 to 1962.

Mr Enright said: “These festive traditions are an important facet of life at Queen Elizabeth’s School, and I am pleased that we were able to go ahead with them this year, albeit with measures put in place to protect everyone as the national Covid situation changed rapidly in the run-up to the end of term.”

The choral pieces at the carol service included:

• In the stillness, by Sally Beamish
• Masters in this hall, to an old French melody arranged by Gustav Holst
• Gaudete from Piae Cantiones, arranged by Michael Engelhardt
• Angelus ad virginem, a 14^th-century Irish carol, arranged by David Willcocks
• Tomorrow shall be my dancing day, by John Gardner
• O little town, by Bob Chilcott, arranged by Daniel Bishop.

The congregation sang: Once in royal David’s city; O, Come all ye faithful; Away in a manger God rest you merry gentlemen, and Hark! the herald angels sing.

Twelve of the School’s best and most committed pianists took their places to celebrate the eagerly awaited delivery of pianos to the new Music School.

With the Yamaha CF6 grand piano taking pride of place, seven new upright pianos and four refurbished pianos were arranged in The Friends’ Recital Hall, centrepiece of the £3.5m-plus facility.

Twelve carefully selected pupils – chosen for their talent as pianists, but also their commitment to music at QE – were invited to be the first to play the instruments in their new home.

Led by Year 13’s Raphael Herberg at the keyboard of the Yamaha CF6, the boys performed The Twelve Pianos of Christmas, a version of the festive favourite that Raphael had specially arranged for 12 pianos.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The boys revelled in the opportunity to spend some free time with these wonderful pianos, swapping around to try the different instruments and then enjoying the chance to perform together.

“This event was an important milestone in the delivery of this major project. We are on to final snagging now, with boys to begin using the recital hall and The Friends’ Music Rooms – the classrooms and practice rooms – next term.

“We are very grateful to the Foundation Trustees for purchasing the CF6 and to all those who have supported the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s in raising funds for the other new pianos, not least in donating to the Pianoathon and Virtual Founder’s Day celebrations this year. These developments and the amazing opportunities that they enable us to provide for the boys just wouldn’t happen without the support of the Elizabethan community.”

The 12 Pianos of Christmas performance saw each piano take one of the twelve ‘lines’ or ‘parts’, with the sounds building up and coming together, so that, by the end, all were playing simultaneously.

The occasion was attended by the Headmaster, Director of Music Ruth Partington, Assistant Director James McEvoy-Stevenson, Music teacher Caroline Grint and piano teacher Tadashi Imai, all of whom took part in the process of selecting the CF6 grand. Other attendees were David Halford, of Coach House Pianos, from where the new pianos were purchased, and some of those working on site.

An opening festival for the Music School is being planned for early February – details to follow – all things being well!

The four pianos that have been refurbished were all brought across to the new building from the original Friends’ Music Rooms, which were one of the first facilities to be established in the 1990s thanks to giving through the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s. “The pianos’ longevity is testament to our long-standing policy of ‘buying quality,” added Mr Enright.

The pupils involved, who include three sets of brothers, were:

Raphael Herberg, Year 13
Conor Parker-Delves, Year 13
Shivas Patel, Year 13
Alex Woodcock, Year 13
Jao-Yong Tsai, Year 12
Arjun Patel, Year 13
Keir Parker-Delves, Year 11
Nathan Woodcock, Year 11
Danylo Gutsulyak, Year 11
Jason Tao, Year 10
Zeyuan Wu, Year 10
Rajveer Mukherjee, Year 12

After an early career switch from advertising to IT, Warren Lipman has never looked back, building and adapting a company that now employs more than 20 people and supports thousands of customers across the globe.

After leaving the University of Greenwich with a degree in Real Estate, Warren (OE 1986–1988) worked in the 1990s as a Planner Buyer for industry giant MediaCom.

“But,” he says, “I was always very technical, and after an enjoyable career in advertising and in 1999 ahead of the millennium, I decided a career in IT was a good idea. I took a City & Guilds course in Micro Systems and OS, and then went to work as a contractor installing ‘millennium bug’ fixes for the banks.” After that, he worked as internal desktop support for a software company.

Then, in 2003, he started his own company, Storm IT, specialising in providing IT support to SMEs in the local area. The Barnet-based company has grown year-on-year and today employs more than 20 people, including technicians at all levels of competency, digital marketing experts and a full in-house accounts department.

“Our offering has developed and changed each year, embracing ‘comms’, business broadband, cloud computing and full security services.

“Professional highlights include buying a commercial property in Barnet, which became Storm HQ supporting many other businesses, and working with various blue-chip corporates, supporting thousands of users across the world.”

During the 2020 lockdown, in response to extensive feedback and requests from clients, he developed ‘Storm-In-A-Box’. Warren says: “It caters for the blended and hybrid WFH/work-from-the-office model – the premise being that we provide one laptop (and device) with unlimited ‘comms’ calling and headset, MS Office and cloud storage, and with all licences and IT support, for one cost per month. “This has been greatly welcomed and is a unique offering in the marketplace.”

Fresh from that triumph, Warren is now looking to pursue some other ambitions as well. “I have an interest in, and love of, coffee and have always wanted to open a coffee shop as a side passion project: this will be fulfilled in Q1 of 2022, as I am just about to sign a lease for a small shop in Radlett, Hertfordshire. I am an art and music enthusiast, too, and will be incorporating both passions in the coffee shop, which will sell ‘affordable art’ and possibly music. I probably have a few other businesses in me too!”

Thirty-three years after he left the School, Warren has “fond memories of QE (when I wasn’t in trouble!). It taught me the values and principles that have carried – and continue to carry – me through life. I am still in contact with one or or two fellow alumni (Ben Mendoza springs to mind) who are lifelong friends, and our children are friends, too.”