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Representatives from across the School community teamed up for the first Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s in-person charity event since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The 50 people who turned out for the FQE Quiz included Governors, current and former staff, parents and alumni.

During a relaxed but keenly competitive evening, seven teams wrestled with rounds on themes ranging from famous duets to doctors.

And after all the scores were in, the honours went to Team 3, made up entirely of Year 7 parents. With their score of 113, they narrowly beat teams 1 and 5, in joint second place on 111.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “After such a long enforced break, it was wonderful to have people back at the School enjoying themselves and to see such a sweep of competitors from across our whole Elizabethan family.

“My congratulations go to the winning team – it is the first time that I can remember victory going to parents of our youngest boys.

“I also thank our quizmasters , Peter Forrester and George Mason, ably supported by Karen Forrester and Diane Mason, who have together run these quizzes for a number of years.”

Alongside the many parents taking part, there were teams featuring FQE Chairman (and Chairman of Governors) Barrie Martin.

Team 1 included a number of current teachers, together with partners, while Team 2 comprised Old Elizabethans and Team 5 included former members of staff. Participants enjoyed drinks and snacks from the bar, while a fundraising raffle was also held during the event in the Main School Hall.

The winning parents in Team 3 were: Seleena Jigajinni; Suyogi Jigajinni; Maya Mandalia; Uday Mandalia; Sri Nori; Dan Wright; Chirag Mehta and Mona Wright.

Here a few sample questions, with answers below:

General knowledge round
Who succeeded Laura Bush as US First Lady?
Orbiting Jupiter, which is the only moon with its own magnetic field?

Lines round
What is the former name of the Jubilee Line from Stanmore to Baker Street?
Built in the 1930s, what was the name of the German defensive system which stretched 390 miles from the Netherlands to the Swiss border?

Famous duets round: who sang…?
Under Pressure
Don’t Give Up

General knowledge round
Who succeeded Laura Bush as US First Lady?
A. Michelle Obama

Orbiting Jupiter, which is the only moon with its own magnetic field?
A. Ganymede

Lines round
What is the former name of the Jubilee Line from Stanmore to Baker Street?
A. Bakerloo Line (up to 1969)

Built in the 1930s, what was the name of the German defensive system which stretched 390 miles from the Netherlands to the Swiss border?
A. Siegfried Line

Famous duets round: who sang…?
Under Pressure
A. Queen and David Bowie

Don’t Give Up
A. Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

QE COP 26 delegate Toma Gelsinov spoke out about the increasing role that schools are playing in combatting climate change when he appeared as part of a UK Government-backed youth discussion panel in Glasgow.

Toma and his fellow Year 12 pupil, Rahul Doshi, were both invited to take part in the summit to represent the UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN), with Toma heading off to Scotland, while Rahul was part of a home-based remote team.

“I feel national school campaigns on climate change awareness can be a big factor in the younger generation learning about what impacts they have on the climate and how they can help mitigate and stop climate change,” Toma told other members of the five-strong panel and the assembled audience in Glasgow.

“Ever since I was young, I have realised how privileged we are in the UK: with the vast amount of resources we have available, if we cannot tackle climate change, who can?”

The panel was supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport.

Now reunited at the School, Toma and Rahul, together with QE’s third Eco Ambassador, Amogh Bhartia, also of Year 12, are looking forward to tomorrow afternoon’s Mock COP26 summit for Years 7-10.

In the panel discussion in Glasgow, during which UK Chief Scout Bear Grylls gave a keynote address, Toma highlighted the work done by UKSSN, including: media appearances and journalism; involvement in local and national politics, and rewilding and gardening projects. All are aimed at combating global warming and the accompanying crisis in biodiversity.

“In my School, we are working to set up an allotment where students can take part in organic composting and gardening,” Toma said. Such initiatives allow pupils to see at first-hand what impact they can have in terms of mitigating climate change, he added.

Twenty students from the network were in Glasgow, with a further 35 participating remotely, including Rahul. He attended online sessions learning about how to communicate effectively with young people about issues like climate finance and climate anxiety.

After his panel meeting, Toma met Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi and took the opportunity to discuss informally UKSSN’s work and the challenges faced. Toma said afterwards that the Secretary of State was quite knowledgeable and could relate to young people well – going so far as to describe him as a “a cool guy”.

Toma and his colleagues went along to various events at the summit, including a discussion where Mr Zahawi was speaking about the work being done in the education sector to support sustainability.

Reflecting on his experience after returning to School, Toma said that being at COP 26 with delegates and leaders from around the world was “surreal”, but noted that there were “lots of different people with the same ambitions”.  Asked about the prevailing mood, Toma said: “People were secretly optimistic, outwardly expecting the worst, but hoping for the best.”

He added: “Together as a team we collaborated and were involved in different events to learn about different perspectives. Lots of the UK team members lived in rural areas and had quite different opinions from those of us from urban areas, based on their lived experiences. The power is in acting collectively: if we act alone it will have less impact. The world will benefit if we come together, sharing good ideas and putting them into practice.”

For his part, Rahul also reported that there was extensive collaboration with other network members – through MS Teams break-outs, for example ­– with a focus on sharing ideas. “I learned that it is important to collaborate with those with different perspectives and work together. I gained an insight into other people and other schools and what they are doing… understanding different contexts.

“Young people are the future – it is important that they are involved to hold leaders to account for the promises they make. I hope that what we are doing now doesn’t get forgotten – we are pushing for long-term change.”

Year 8 pupils who headed for Hampton Court Palace on the first whole-year History trip since the pandemic struck enjoyed the added bonus of a special exhibition about Indian soldiers in the First World War.

At the palace, the boys learned about Tudor life and saw at first-hand evidence of the School’s own links with the Tudor monarchy. They also had the opportunity to see a special exhibition and art installation – on for this month only – featuring silhouetted figures of Sikh soldiers from the British Empire’s Indian Army.

The display, entitled Standing with Giants at Hampton Court Palace, commemorates the soldiers from the Indian Army who camped in the palace gardens in the summer of 1919 following the signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty, marking the formal end of the First World War, or ‘Great War’. Along with other troops from nations across the British Empire, they had sailed to the UK to march in the peace celebrations in London.

Helen MacGregor, Head of History and Politics, said: “The silhouetted figures made for a moving display, while the accompanying original letters from soldiers displayed next to them really brought home the fear, danger and reality of life in the trenches.

“Our pupils were fascinated, too, by the carved wooden ceilings in the Great Hall, picturing to themselves Henry VIII sitting under them and also, a few decades later, performances there by Shakespeare’s own theatre company.

“Another point of interest was the beautiful starred ceiling of the Chapel – where the boys were intrigued to find the School motto written some 32 times.” The explanation is that the motto, Dieu et mon droit (God and my right), has been the motto of the UK monarch outside Scotland since the 12^th century and was, therefore, the motto of Queen Elizabeth I, in whose reign the School was founded and after whom it is named.

The year group visited Hampton Court over the course of two days.

As well as the grander areas of the buildings, the boys had an opportunity to inspect the huge kitchens that Henry VIII had constructed to feed his 1,000-strong court.

They also saw the Great Vine – the largest grape vine in the world.

Braving the chilly weather, the QE groups enjoyed a walk around the park and formal gardens, during which they spied a herd of deer across a water feature to the rear of the palace.

“The gift shop was another obvious highlight for the pupils – plenty of catapult and cannon pencil sharpeners were purchased!” added Miss MacGregor.

Queen Elizabeth’s School marked Black History Month with a diverse range of special activities both inside and outside of the classroom that drew lessons from the past, while also saluting those building a path today towards a better future.

One undoubted highlight was the online assembly given to the Sixth Form by Roni Savage ­(pictured above) – engineering geologist, founder of a multi-million pound construction industry consultancy, multiple award-winner…and a QE mum.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We sought to provide lots of different opportunities during Black History Month to ensure that our boys could, in the words of a BHM slogan, ‘dig deeper, look closer, think bigger’, coming up with an array of innovative ideas. These ranged from our Lower School History Raiders group researching ancient Black kingdoms and civilisations, to Year 7 PE lessons promoting sports in which athletes have either faced racism or have changed the world due to their participation, such as basketball, boxercise and indoor athletics.

“I am especially grateful to Mrs Savage, who, as a Black woman working at a high level as an entrepreneur in construction, is a true pioneer in her industry, with an impressive list of achievements and accolades to her name. She has certainly proved people wrong who doubted her because of her race, gender and age.

“And she inspired our sixth-formers with her injunction to ‘stand up, stand out, stand tall’ and her insistence that ‘there are no limits to what you can achieve’ with hard work and talent.”

Mrs Savage, whose son, Jayden, is in Year 13, is the founder of Jomas Associates, a large engineering and environmental consultancy, and Policy Chair for Construction within the Federation of Small Businesses. She is a Fellow of both the Royal British Institute of Architects and the Institute of Civil Engineering, and is on the current UK Powerlist of Britain’s most influential people of African/Caribbean heritage.

Her message was that diversity is vital to the capacity, capability and sustainability of all sectors, but that to achieve it, the status quo, with its harmful stereotypes, must be challenged.

Here is a selection of the many activities and initiatives that took place at the School as part of this year’s Black History Month:

• A discussion in MedSoc (Medical Society) of the work of Malone Mukwende, who as a second-year medical student at St George’s, University of London, developed a book to help doctors diagnose skin rashes and diseases on black and brown skin, addressing decades of racial bias in medical education;
• The Year 9 Shakespeare Film Club watching Othello and discussing the racial issues in the play, as raised in a British Library article;
• Publication of a special Black History Month (and COP26) issue of the Economics department’s magazine, Econobethan;
• Cancellation of all Music rehearsals one lunchtime, with the pupil team from the Music Enrichment Society instead giving a presentation about Black musicians. Pictured, above, are boys giving a special performance ahead of the talk;
• Year 9 had a special Depicting Jesus Philosophy, Religion & Society (PRS) lesson, which focused on different representations of Jesus, including those from the Ethiopian Church and Rastafari traditions, and on the use of images of white Jesus for imperialist ends;
• Year 8 geographers started a new, permanent unit on Migration towards the end of October, with a first homework task linked to Black History Month.

2018 leaver Samuel Akpan has been named in Future Leaders magazine’s Top 150 list for 2021–2022.

Samuel, who graduated in Politics & International Studies from Warwick this year, has already made his mark in fields including social enterprise, sport and  anti-racism work at the university.

An annual publication, Future Leaders profiles 150 of the most outstanding black university students in Britain. His citation in the magazine highlights:

• His role as Warwick’s Anti-Racism Disability Officer as part of an executive team charged with coordinating responses to racist incidents on campus
• The talk he gave last year to parents of deaf children about his experiences growing up with unilateral deafness in which he shared insights into the challenges deaf people face and the practical support available to them
• His entrepreneurial creativity: this included designing a red jersey exclusively for the Sickle Cell x ILL London jersey raffle in December 2019 that helped sell tickets to help raise money for the Sickle Cell Society.
• Samuel’s success in becoming a qualified football referee in November 2019, since when he has been speaking with the Birmingham FA about ways of increasing the number of BAME match officials.

Interviewed for the alumni section of Warwick’s website, Samuel (OE 2011–2018) said: “To be named as a Future Leader is a massive honour. To be given such a ‘heavy’ title means you have been recognised for your competencies and your future potential.

“Also, for me it’s an extra achievement, as I’m…deaf in my left ear. When I’m older, whatever field I’m in or wherever I am, I can look back and be proud of the man I’ve become.

“The award has made me think about what it means to be a leader and I definitely feel that it’s about making sure you excel by giving back where you can.”

Samuel is especially pleased that the accolade recognises his social enterprise work, which began while he was still at QE. “In 2017, there was a craze where everyone wanted to make fashion brands, so I made printed T-shirts with my brand ILL London,” he explained.

“When I got to Warwick, I also made sweaters in different colours and added my logos. I ran a raffle for a one-off football jersey with my logo on, and 50% of the money raised went to the Sickle Cell Society. It helped raise awareness of the importance of giving blood if you can, as it’s essential to helping people with Sickle-Cell Anaemia.”

He told QE Connect that he remains in regular contact with a large number of the friends he made at QE (many of whom went to Warwick).

“I am thankful for all the time and energy the teachers gave me to help me even make it to university,” he says, adding that he particularly appreciated his positive experience of studying Philosophy and Politics for the first time in the Sixth Form “as it gave me a lot of direction going forward”.

Outside of the classroom, his “stand-out memories” include the infamous ‘elephant dip’ during cross-country runs and the time he slipped during his 100m race on Sports Day: “It cost me at least a top-three finish, I’d say ­– and caused a lot of general laughter!”

His enjoyment of sport continued at Warwick, where, although he was not on the Philosophy, Politics and Economics course, he played for the league-winning PPE FC side.

He is now focusing on his sports writing: during his recent time at BCOMS (Black Collective of Media in Sport), an initiative partnered by Arsenal Football Club, he covered three matches and also had the opportunity to meet some of the biggest names in football journalism.

Samuel, who did not take a gap year, is currently enjoying a break from full-time education while he considers his future career direction. Asked where he sees himself in ten years’ time, he replied that he hopes to be working in the football sector “in a position that allows me to help the younger black generation”.