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A major new photographic installation charts the history of School photos at QE, as preparations for next year’s 450^th anniversary gather pace.

The carefully curated collection of 232 photos of form groups, year groups, sports teams and prefect teams is displayed along the ground-floor corridor of the Main Building.

The installation, called Ties through Time, spans the decades from 1880 onwards, charting not only changing kits and uniforms, hair styles and even postures, but also the development of photography. It has been made possible by the work that has gone into QE Collections, the School’s free-to-use digital archive, which was launched last year.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It has been very exciting to have the ground floor of our Main Building transformed with this celebration of continuity and change. The photos are a striking visual representation of our inspiring heritage, showing many thousands of people with this one thing in common: they all attended our School.”

Mr Enright paid tribute to the late Richard Newton (OE 1956-1964), whose vision and financial support made possible the extensive work currently going on to organise and digitise the School’s archive ahead of the 450th anniversary of QE’s founding in 1573.

“One of the sparks for the entire QE Collections project was Richard’s desire to see the preservation of the old group photographs that used to line the top-floor corridor,” he explained. “He has left a great legacy to the Elizabethan community in Barnet and we are indebted to him.”

The new display of photos extends either side of the Main School Hall. When the earliest were taken, photography, which is generally considered to have started in 1839, was still expensive and required specialist knowledge. Following the introduction of the Kodak camera in 1888, however, camera owners no longer had to develop film themselves.

In the years since, camera technology has undergone frequent change, with, for example, the introduction of colour and, more recently, of digital technology, replacing analogue film.

Work on the installation was led by Surya Bowyer (OE 2007–2014), founding Curator of QE Collections, with creative input from John Mgbadiefe and Rachael Simcox at architecture and design firm Bisset Adams.

The photos in the display, and countless other images and documents , can be seen remotely by visiting QE Collections.

Author, scientist and QE parent Dr Ananyo Bhattacharya gave a talk to senior pupils on his book about John von Neumann, the brilliant Hungarian-American polymath who made breakthroughs in fields ranging from nuclear energy to economics.

Dr Bhattacharya’s book, entitled The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann, was named a Financial Times and Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year in 2021.

His lunchtime talk to A-level Mathematics, Physics and Economics students explored how von Neumann’s advances in mathematics 70–80 years ago continue to inform the science of today.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are grateful to Dr Bhattacharya, as a QE parent, for coming in to School to share his expertise and to inspire our senior boys. It is great that we can draw upon different constituencies within the Elizabethan community, including parents and alumni, to enhance the educational experience offered here.”

Dr Bhattacharya, whose son, Callistus, is in Year 7, is a science writer who has worked for The Economist and Nature, the weekly multi-disciplinary scientific journal. Prior to that, he worked as a medical researcher at the Burnham Institute in San Diego. He has a degree in Physics from Oxford and a PhD, also in Physics, from Imperial College London.

The subject of his book, von Neumann, was born in 1903 to a wealthy Jewish family in Budapest. A child prodigy, he had published two major mathematical papers by the age of 19.

After an early career in German academia during the late 1920s, he took up an invitation to Princeton University in October 1929, becoming a naturalised citizen of the USA in 1937.

In a life of only 53 years – he died of cancer in February 1957 – he made major contributions in subjects including mathematics, physics, economics, computing and statistics.

During World War II, he worked on the Manhattan Project – the research and development that produced the first nuclear weapons – and after the war, he served on the General Advisory Committee of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

In his talk, Dr Bhattacharya mentioned the Manhattan Project as well as, inter alia, von Neumann’s contributions to set theory, game theory and the development of the first programmable digital computer.

Head of Library Services Jenni Blackford said: “Dr Bhattacharya delivered a friendly, accessible and vastly informative talk about the life and accomplishments of von Neumann.”

Thirty-five Elizabethans received offers from Oxford and Cambridge universities this year, having successfully surmounted all the extra challenges posed by Covid throughout their A-level studies.

The 29 Cambridge and six Oxford places offered take the total number of Oxbridge offers secured by QE boys over the past three years to 114.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Huge congratulations to these students for showing such fortitude and for maintaining their focus throughout their extraordinary Sixth Form years, when they have had to contend with extended lockdowns, the cancellation of all the public examinations they were to have sat, and university interviews that were held online.

“Despite all these difficulties, they were still able to demonstrate their ability, keen interest, and the positive contribution they would make to university life. Their success is the result of careful preparation, hard work over many years, the support of their families and others, and of the little bit of luck you need in such a highly competitive process – we have other very deserving candidates who did not secure Oxbridge offers.

“We are, of course, very proud to celebrate this achievement, which consolidates our consistent record of sending large numbers of leavers to Oxford and Cambridge every year. It should be said, however, that it is not the be all and end all here: many of our other Year 13s are currently receiving exciting offers for well-regarded courses at internationally respected universities around the country.”

“I must mention the significant efforts of their teachers in helping these 35 Elizabethans secure their Oxbridge offers, whether through lessons, arranging mock interviews, running extension classes, producing UCAS references, co-ordinating entries for admissions assessments, or contributing to the many and wide-ranging enrichment opportunities available to our boys. I also thank the many Old Elizabethans and other friends of the School who rallied round to offer mock interviews in online format.”

Among the broad range of courses are:

• Engineering (six offers)
• Medicine (five)
• Mathematics (four)
• Human, Social & Political Sciences (three)
• Economics (three).

The highest number of offers came from three Cambridge colleges, with four apiece from Gonville & Gaius, St Catharine’s and Girton.

While a large majority of the 35 offers received this year are for current Year 13 boys, two have been made to 2021 leavers, namely Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy and Yuvan Vasanthakumaran. Deshraam is spending this year working for Springboard Pro, a company that develops advanced medical devices, having won the placement through the national Year in Industry scheme. His success thus exemplifies the possibilities of pursuing an alternative route to university.

A new School society – believed to be the first of its kind in the country – is working hard to decipher QE’s earliest written records.

English teacher Kanak Shah has brought together a group of dedicated Year 12 boys and trained them in palaeography – the study of ancient and pre-modern manuscripts.

Now they have started transcribing QE Governors’ meeting minutes, starting with Volume I, which begins in 1587, and also researching the School Charter, which dates back to the School’s founding year, 1573.

Ms Shah, who has an MPhil degree in Renaissance Literature from Cambridge, said: “Due to its complexity, palaeography is usually only studied at Master’s level. But since I myself have a keen interest in palaeography, manuscripts and the early modern period, and since QE boasts one of the most robust school archive collections in the UK, I was eager for the students to be involved in preserving and curating their own School’s history.”

Working together with Ms Shah and Jenni Blackford, Curator of QE Collections and Head of Library Services, are the following Year 12 A-level History students: Gabriel Gulliford, Ishaan Mehta, Muhammad Nayel Huda, Kai Mukherjee, Danny Adey, Conall Walker and Jeeve Singh. All are currently studying the early modern period and are considering pursuing courses in subjects such as History, Palaeography or Archaeology at university.

“We started by following Cambridge University’s English Handwriting 1500-1700 online course to develop the students’ transcription skills. We then began to transcribe the digitised manuscripts on QE Collections [the School’s publicly available digital archive, launched last year].

“The earliest documents present an interesting challenge as they were written before the standardisation of handwriting, and so require careful decoding,” said Ms Shah.

Having initially familiarised themselves with the subject matter digitally, the group are now working with the original archive materials, guided by Mrs Blackford.

They plan to publish the transcripts on QE Collections in the Summer Term, while they will contribute their research to an exhibition of archival material planned for the School’s 450^th anniversary next year.

“Looking forward to the future, we would be keen to establish a working relationship with Barnet Museum, who possess a complete transcription of these Governor’s minutes that was done many years ago,” said Ms Shah.

It is not clear who made the the Barnet Museum transcription, which was completed  some time prior to 1931. The preface to the museum’s collection of QE translations and transcriptions was written in May 1931 by Cecil L Tripp, author of A History of Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, published 1935.

“Transcriptions are often erroneous and subjective, so it is very interesting for the boys to compare their own work with the museum’s transcription, and to contribute to Barnet’s history in such an active way.”

Once the pupils’ transcription has been completed and it and the Barnet Museum transcription have been digitised, they will both be published on QE Collections.

Four Year 12 linguists have reached the next stage of a prestigious German debating competition after enjoying success in two early rounds.

Two of the four also appeared in a French competition, where the QE contingent won multiple debates against fierce opposition from sixth-formers from other schools, many of whom were older.

The next stage of the German competition – organised by the Goethe Institut, the Federal Republic of Germany’s highly respected cultural organisation – will be hosted by QE early next month, with the finals taking place at the Institut’s London headquarters at the end of March.

Head of Languages Nora Schlatte said: “I pay tribute to these dedicated and talented debating teams. I especially congratulate our German students: their progress in the Goethe Institut competition is a well-deserved result of the hard work, commitment and sheer linguistic ability they brought to two very different online debates.”

Towards the end of the Autumn Term, A-level German students Theo Mama-Kahn, Olly Salter, Ansh Jassra and Jai Patel beat Croydon’s Coloma Convent Girls’ School on the motion, School canteens should offer vegan and vegetarian food.

In the recent second round, the QE boys faced the Royal Grammar School Guildford. They were debating the motion The use of social media is harmful to the health of young people.

These first two rounds took place online, but QE has been asked to host the third round in person. Competitors will gather at the School on 3rd and 4th March.

Wishing the four boys well for the future rounds, Languages teacher Helen Shephard added: “Their spoken German is outstanding and their debating skills are second to none.”

Still basking in their success, current School Captain Theo and classmate Olly were then joined by fellow Year 12 pupils Alan Yee Kin Kan and Antony Yassa for the French debating competition, which was held at St Paul’s Girls’ School.

They found themselves competing against 24 other schools, mainly from the private sector, who fielded more than 30 teams.

The QE four were split into two teams, with each debating three motions. These covered very diverse topics: Korean pop music, the environment and politics. Both QE pairs won two of their three debates, often facing opponents who were already in Year 13.

“It takes a lot of confidence, preparation and an excellent standard of French to be able to participate so successfully in such an event, and we are very proud of these students!” added Ms Schlatte, who served as a judge at the competition, together with QE Languages Assistant Joelle Simpson.