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Oliver Todd acknowledges his debt to the School as he looks to break into the competitive world of journalism.

Oliver (OE 2005-2010) has successfully combined his studies at the University of York with his commitment to journalism. In 2012 and 2013 Oliver was shortlisted for two individual student journalism awards and was on the winning team for a best publication award.

He was nominated for The Guardian’s award for best Student Journalist and for the National Union of Students’ (NUS) Student Journalist award – which effectively placed him in the top six in the country in both categories and credits the School with helping him to learn how to keep focused, particularly in the Sixth Form.

He received a Special Commendation from the NUS for his work and led his student newspaper, York Vision, to the runners-up spot in the Best Student Media category at the NUS Awards. He was also involved with the same publication the previous year when it was awarded Best Student Publication at the Guardian Student Media Awards.

Oliver has undertaken a wide range of work experience with national media organisations, including The Guardian, the Daily Mail, Sky News and Sky Sports and is aiming to pursue a career in the industry once he has undertaken more training.
 

Kwamina Korsah is inspiring the next generation through an élite teacher-training scheme targeting the socially disadvantaged.

He is taking part in Teach First, a programme run by a registered charity which aims to place the brightest graduates into some of the toughest and most socially deprived schools in the country.

Kwamina (OE 2000-2007) read History at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and then joined a brand consultancy on graduation, but after 18 months he took some time out to travel and re-evaluate. Needing a new challenge and finding the ethos of Teach First inspiring, he signed up to the programme.

Teach First begins with an intensive six-week course. Almost the whole of the two years of the programme are then spent teaching in placement schools – in Kwamina’s case, Hatch End High School, a mixed comprehensive in Harrow with 1,800 pupils, and the Mossbourne Community Academy in inner-city Hackney. Essays must be written and the theoretical side mastered during the holidays. During his placements, in addition to teaching his subject he is expected to deal with frequent pastoral issues.

Kwamina also spent a week of the programme at QE, gaining valuable experience of working with very able children. He values the transferable skills gained through participation in Teach First, such as organisation, presentation, communication and time-management.
 

Two QE contemporaries went to the same two universities and now work in the same prestigious architectural practice.

OEs Andrew Grethe and Devan Mistry, pictured at the top of the Shard skyscraper in London, both joined the School in 2000 when they were placed in the same form and the same House (Leicester). They then moved up through the School side-by-side, both taking Art and Physics at A-level, before leaving QE in 2007 to pursue their studies together at The University of Nottingham and the London Metropolitan University.

The two then went on to take up employment at Terry Farrell and Partners (‘Farrells’), which is one of the UK’s most prestigious practices and has offices in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Known for its expertise in urban regeneration, its famous projects include Charing Cross railway station, the Greenwich Peninsula and Newcastle Quayside.

Devan avers that his time at QE was important in nurturing the skills required for his future career and acknowledges the role played by his Art teachers in helping him to develop a keen eye for composition. During his spare time, Devan would travel to various art galleries across London to sketch sculptures, artefacts and people passing by. From that he moved on to draw the external facades and three-dimensional forms of many buildings and structures in and around London.

Devan’s first contact with Farrells came when he gained a two-week placement in the summer after completing his GCSEs. He continued working at the firm in his vacations during his three years at Nottingham, and spent his compulsory one-year placement there. During that year he worked on several high-profile projects, such as the redevelopment of the prestigious St Ermin’s Hotel in London and the design of a new masterplan for the Nine Elms area in Battersea.

In 2012 he spent five months in Farrells’ sister office in Hong Kong where he gained international experience working on major design projects such as The Springs in Shanghai, China (a key retail and residential quarter for one of the fastest growing cities in the world), West Kowloon Cultural Masterplan, Hong Kong (“probably the equivalent of the Southbank Centre in London multiplied ten times over”) and a new banking headquarters for Vattanac Capital in Cambodia.

For his part, Andrew has worked on three large-scale residential projects with part-retail elements: Bicester Eco Village; Skylines, Canary Wharf and Convoys Wharf, Deptford.

Both agree that their working relationship and friendship can be ascribed to their education and the atmosphere created for them at Queen Elizabeth’s. Ultimately they hope to form their own architectural practice.
 

This year’s Founder’s Day guest speaker, Christos Karaolis, related how he found himself caught up in a national media storm when he was photographed playing croquet with John Prescott.

After leaving QE, Christos (OE 1995-2002), pictured second from left, completed a degree in Law at Trinity College, Oxford (where he also learned to play croquet) and then worked for a period as a political writer for the then-Deputy Prime Minister.

His first involvement in politics had come in 2001, when, as a Year 12 pupil, he volunteered to be the Labour candidate in the School’s mock election, held to coincide with that year’s General Election.

He told the congregation gathered in Chipping Barnet Parish Church for the Founder’s Day Thanksgiving Service: “In 2006, we were at our office away-day at the Deputy Prime Minister’s country residence, and when it was suggested that we play croquet, I thought, ‘why not?’

“As it turned out an eagle-eyed photographer with a long lens camera was waiting at the bottom of the garden, and well, we discovered ourselves on the front page of every newspaper the following morning, and something of a laughing stock for the nation.” The episode led to calls for Mr Prescott’s resignation.

“The lesson to learn – sometimes in life, things just don’t go as you had intended,” said Christos. “The answer, of course, is to realise that it happens to everyone and that you should bounce back as soon as you can.

“My experience in the political world was a good one and it taught me a crucial lesson for my adult life; that you can disagree, sometimes strongly, with someone for their views or beliefs, but still respect, and indeed like them, for their hard work and commitment to what they do, even if your perspective may be significantly different.”

He also spoke on the importance of friendships forged and lessons learned during his time at QE: “To this day, I still regularly see my friends from School who have gone on to have successful and diverse careers … our common thread is the School that gave us so much and put us on the road to those successes.”

And he advised the boys: “Use the advice of more experienced people – older boys, Old Elizabethans and those who you might just see as old; your teachers and parents; as I know their ideas and inspiration count for so much.”

After his brief stint working in politics, he went to law school, completed his Bar examinations and qualified as a Barrister.  He recalled how much he had gained at QE from the Young Enterprise scheme and how he applied knowledge acquired then on a daily basis in his current employment as a business strategy consultant.

For the last six years, he has also led a 15,000-member global organisation for young Cypriots. “What I love about London, our city, and indeed about QE, is that we are such a wonderfully multi-cultural society where there are so many ways that we can celebrate and share that diversity.”

After the Thanksgiving Service, rain started to fall as the Headmaster began the traditional roll call in front of the School; it continued during the afternoon. The Stanley Busby Memorial Cricket Match between an old boys’ team and the current First XI, which was revived last year, had to be abandoned. There was therefore little opportunity for OEs to enjoy their new refreshment tent. However, a good number did come along and savoured the attractions of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s Founder’s Day Fete, including the ever-popular international food tent. The Concert Band ignored the rain and played with considerable composure, demonstrating their musical abilities despite the conditions.

Lucian Grainge has achieved fresh success at the helm of the world’s biggest recording company, Universal Music.

Los Angeles-based Lucian (OE 1971-78) recently announced a partnership with rapper and music mogul JAY Z’s Roc Nation music label. The announcement came just a few weeks before JAY Z released his 12th studio album; it has gone straight to number one in the official UK album chart and has already broken US streaming records on Spotify, with 14 million plays.

Californian film-maker DreamWorks Animation, the company behind 27 films including the Shrek and Madagascar franchises, also revealed that it was nominating Lucian Grainge to join its board of directors.

Both announcements appear to underline his success as chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group.

In a major interview with the Sunday Times, he was bullish about the prospects for EMI – owner of famous labels such as Capitol Records and Virgin – which was the subject of a controversial £1.2bn takeover by Universal. Concerned about a threat to competition, the European Commission forced Universal to sell a third of EMI.

He is due to bring together many of his British labels into a new company called Virgin EMI, while also launching a Capitol Records UK label. In addition, he plans to invest millions of pounds into signing unknown acts.

Speaking of his plans to revive EMI now that the takeover has been secured, he said: “I tried to get my first records recorded at EMI and I really want to make a difference to it. For me, this is a duty and a responsibility.”

Figures released during the spring show that the recorded music industry’s global revenue grew 0.3% to $16.5bn last year – the first increase for more than a decade, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Revenue was boosted by growing sales from legal downloading and streaming of music.

He is correspondingly sanguine about Universal’s prospects: “We were the first to be disrupted by the internet and we will show that we are the first to power out. When you lift the carpet there is an extraordinary transformative explosion of new rights, new distribution, new content and new ways of acquiring and finding it.”

Lucian reputedly walked out of a history A-level examination at QE to cut his first record deal, although he still passed his A-levels. His interest in the business is said to have been fired in childhood, when he would observe which records customers selected in his father’s TV, radio and record shop.

He was awarded the CBE for services to the creative industries in the 2010 New Year’s Honours. Married with two children and a stepdaughter, he is known both for his formidable business ability and his disarming style. He remains a keen Arsenal supporter.

His brother, Justin (OE 1978-81), is understood still be to living in the family home in Finchley and is a photographer.