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Pupils from across the first three years of Queen Elizabeth’s School had their achievements recognised and lauded at the 2024 Junior Awards.

At an afternoon ceremony held in the Main School Hall, boys gathered with their families and with staff and dignitaries to celebrate.

There were prizes for all the classroom subjects, as well as House prizes, prizes for commitment, and prizes for extra-curricular activities, such as debating & public speaking, and chess. Music prizewinners from Years 7, 8 and 9 punctuated the programme with a series of musical interludes. A vote of thanks was given by the Year 7 debating & public speaking prizewinner, Aaron Singh.

Headmaster Neil Enright spoke about how the prizewinners are seen by others; guest of honour Asif Ahmed (OE 1997–2004) about how they see themselves; and the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Tony Vourou, about how the whole School is seen in the borough: there is, he said, considerable pride in QE and the achievements of its students.

In his introduction to the ceremony, Mr Enright told the boys: “These awards are a signal that you are doing very well indeed and that we see in you qualities that set a positive example for others in the School – so many of whom are also very talented and hard working.”

He spoke about the butterfly effect, which argues that small things can end up having significant impacts, citing the famous story of a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world and a hurricane developing in another.

He urged the boys to small acts of kindness – “a quiet, unshowy altruism” – to benefit those around them, whether at School or elsewhere.

“With your abilities, many of you may go on to make the discoveries, find the cures, engineer the projects, secure the investments of the future. There should be no ceiling to your aspirations. But, with certainty, everyone here and in our Elizabethan community can do the little things in daily life so that things are better for others, or at least,” he added, quoting from George Eliot’s Middlemarch, “that things are ‘not so ill as they might have otherwise been’.”

Guest of honour Asif leads the accounting and advisory team at major accountancy firm Cooper Parry which focuses on venture capital-backed founders of companies. He is also the author of best-selling book The Finance Playbook for Entrepreneurs. An accomplished sportsman, he is now part of the Board at Middlesex County Cricket Club.

In his speech, he included many biographical elements from his Schooldays, mentioning being made form captain in Year 7, playing cricket for Middlesex and rugby for Hertfordshire, being appointed a Lieutenant, and achieving good grades.

“At all those milestones, including being appointed Lieutenant, I never shook the feeling of looking around me and thinking: ‘When will you get found out, you absolute fraud?’” he said.

After leaving School, while still training for his professional qualifications with large accountancy firm PwC, his father was diagnosed with a terminal illness. “I unexpectedly found myself in a position at 22 years old, looking after his very small accounting firm. There I was, no clue in the world, with nothing and really no-one to rely upon. The imposter syndrome kicked in again.”

Over time, however, Asif succeeded in building up the business, wrote his best-selling book, and was approached by a much larger firm with an offer to buy his company. “Today, I am a Partner of that firm and I lead the largest team and portfolio of high-growth technology businesses in the country, working with the best entrepreneurs in this land.”

He told the boys all this, because, he said: “I’ve come to realise that imposter syndrome is the world’s way of telling you that other people see something in you that you yourself can’t see…yet. When you are rewarded, you absolutely must savour it, hold it tightly and mark it out as one step closer to fulfilling your destiny.”

The afternoon’s music was a varied selection – including Stravinsky, Gershwin and Mozart alongside a piece by the rather less well-known Polish composer, Szymanowski.

Because of the inclement weather, the reception, normally held on Stapylton Field, took place this year in the Mayes Atrium.

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QE’s Music teachers and pupils have been reflecting in a podcast for the Royal College of Organists on a year that has seen the organ take centre-stage at the School.

The academic year began with the arrival of a Viscount Chorum 40-S digital organ, supplied to QE under a Royal College initiative to locate organs within state schools.

Since then, as well as an organ club being established at the School, there was the launch last term of a new partnership with Barnet Parish Church, with sixth-former Joel Swedensky and Year 10’s Noah Morley named as the partnership’s first Organ Scholars.

More recently, QE pupils enjoyed a special day at St Paul’s Cathedral, where they were able to play the organs, receive a masterclass from the cathedral’s Organ Education Lead, Jeremiah Stephenson, and enjoy a privileged view of evensong. While St Paul’s sometimes hosts primary schools, QE’s was the first such visit by a secondary school.

Director of Music Ruth Partington told The Organ Podcast why the School joined the RCO scheme and she explained the impact of the organ since it arrived in The Friends’ Recital Hall in the autumn. “At Queen Elizabeth’s, we have a very rich heritage and that includes a very formal Service of Nine Lessons and Carols every Christmas and, again, a very formal Founder’s Day service in June: the organ is an important part of both these services. So along with my mission to expand our orchestral instrument range and our ability to provide piano lessons and singing lessons, the organ seemed to me the next logical step.

“I think it’s made a big difference, and certainly when it arrived, there was this real buzz – ‘Ooh, what is this amazing machine that’s suddenly appeared?’ – and we had quite a few pupils coming to ask to play.”

She also outlined the additional possibilities for higher education that encouraging boys to learn the organ opens up. “Many pupils every year apply to Oxbridge to study a whole range of subjects and, again, it seems a natural progression that we encourage them not only to read Medicine, English and Music, but also to apply for choral scholarships and organ scholarships.”

The partnership with St John the Baptist Church offers the Organ Scholars rich opportunities to play regularly and gain expertise with church music. However, peripatetic organ teacher Adam Hope told the podcast that having an organ at the School brings with it additional opportunities to “interact with other genres and traditions of music that they couldn’t do in a church – it makes the organ relevant”.

The day at St Paul’s Cathedral was led by Mr Stephenson, a prize-winning graduate of Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music.

It started with a demonstration of the Grand Organ (one of the largest in the country, built by Henry Willis in 1872), and the opportunity for all boys to play pieces they had prepared.

The group then visited two other instruments on the cathedral floor before going to the crypt to play another organ built in a historical style by William Drake, which is particularly suited to composers such as JS Bach – a new experience for QE’s organists.

After lunch, the group headed up to a newly installed practice organ, hidden away in the triforium (upper-level interior gallery), which is not generally accessible to the public. On their way, they saw the historic Dean’s Library, experienced a spectacular view of the cathedral from high above the West Doors, and saw Christopher Wren’s 1:25 wooden scale model of the cathedral. Mr Stephenson then gave them a masterclass on matters of technique and improvisation.

Music teacher Jas Hutchinson-Bazely said: “This was an inspiring day, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the boys. We are very grateful to everyone at St Paul’s for their generosity.”

Organ Scholar Joel added: “I really enjoyed discovering the variety of organs there, and especially getting access to see some of the inner workings of the Royal Trumpets, high above the West Doors. It was insightful learning about some of the sound physics from Mr Stephenson.”

The eight boys attending also included Joel’s fellow Organ Scholar, Noah, as well as Akein Abeysinghe, of Year 9; Adithya Ananthakrishnan, of Year 9; Kevin Mao, of Year 8; Hasan Gul, of Year 8; Zach Fernandes, of Year 8; and Gabriel Ward, of Year 7.

Four Year 12 students – Nikhil Mark, Jason Tao, Akshat Bajaj, and Harrison Lee – joined the group to attend evensong. St Paul’s had reserved seating for the QE group near to the choir, and they were given a special welcome at the beginning of the service.

• You can listen to the podcast here. The QE segment starts at around 30 minutes. The podcast is also available on all podcasting platforms, including Apple, Spotify and Amazon Music.

While the country woke up on Friday to news of a Labour landslide in the General Election, at QE the political landscape looks very different, though still with scant consolation for the Conservatives.

In the School’s mock election, the Liberal Democrats emerged as easily the biggest party, with 21 of the 46 seats in QE’s parliament.

However, since he has no overall majority, the Lib Dems’ Ayaad Salahuddin has already struck a deal with Labour’s Shrey Verma, in second place, so that he can form a coalition government.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The mock election seeks to build awareness of the democratic process and get pupils engaged with campaigns, debates, polling and voting. My congratulations go to all the candidates for engaging so enthusiastically in the election process and especially to Ayaad on his victory.”

The run-up to the mock election included a hustings, where parties made their pitches and fielded questions from the audience. All the candidates were drawn from Year 12.

The boys have also been informed by visits in recent months of real politicians from all three leading parties. These were: Sir Vince Cable (former Liberal Democrat Leader and Business Secretary in the Coalition Government); Lord Michael Heseltine (former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister and long-serving Cabinet minister), and Labour’s parliamentary candidate (now new Chipping Barnet MP) Dan Tomlinson, following a previous visit from then local MP Theresa Villiers (Conservative).

Whereas in the country at large, the predictions of the exit poll proved quite accurate, at QE the story was very different: pre-election polling suggested the Conservatives would win, comfortably ahead of Labour, with the Liberal Democrats third. The actual result completely reversed this, giving the Lib Dems 21 seats, Labour 13 and the Conservatives only 7.

John Haswell, Acting Head of History & Politics, said: “The Lib Dems at QE ran a very successful social media campaign and built strong support among the younger year groups, where turnout was also higher.”

In fact, turnout among Year 7 was easily the highest, at almost 80%. Only small numbers of Year 11 cast votes, having recently completed their GCSEs, while Year 13 have already left (and no postal votes were available). One seat was allocated for each of the 46 forms in the School, excluding forms in Year 13.

In contrast to the overall School result, Year 12 gave strong backing to independent candidate Ayan Basharat.

The results were:

• Ayaad Salahuddin – Liberal Democrats – 21 seats (45.6%)
• Shrey Verma – Labour – 13 seats (28.3%)
• Uday Dash – Conservatives – 7 seats (15.2%)
• Arjun Mistry – Green Party – 3 seats (6.5%)
• Rohan Varia – Reform Party – 1 seat (2.2%)
• Ayan Basharat – Independent – 1 seat (2.2%)

Lord Simon Woolley, Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, challenged this year’s leavers to make the world a better place when he came to QE as guest speaker for Valediction.

All of Year 13 gathered in the Shearly Hall with their parents for the ceremony – a last chance to celebrate the contribution of the Class of 2024 to Queen Elizabeth’s School and to mark the start of their new status as Old Elizabethans.

As well as presentations to all leavers and music played by the School’s senior musicians, the afternoon included a prizegiving for those who had excelled in their studies and extra-curricular activities.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This was a super afternoon, with a great atmosphere. Lord Woolley was a brilliant and charismatic guest speaker. Amusing and inspiring in his address, he then happily spent time at the afternoon tea reception speaking to the students and their families.

“Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, even if, after all the miserable weather we’ve had this year, it was possibly just a little too hot and sunny for some!”

In his address, the Headmaster told the leavers: “You sit here holding the most spectacular array of university offers of any Elizabethan cohort to date. Collectively, you’ve received offers from 46 UK institutions across 187 individual courses, including from 22 of the 24 Russell Group unis. We know that this year has seen a record 62 Oxbridge offers and, perhaps even more staggeringly, 55% of you hold offers from a World Top 5 university.”

Not only did many of them, now 18, have their first opportunity to vote in the forthcoming General Election, but many more opportunities were now available to them in life more generally.

“You are always welcome at Queen Elizabeth’s and can be part of our community for as long as you like. There is a growing network, online and in person, from which you can hopefully benefit. Do keep in touch,” the Headmaster concluded.

Year 13’s Darren Lee, who was School Captain in 2023, delivered an entertaining speech: “Though some of us may look different, with growth spurts and beards, we are the same 192 who sat the entrance test and joined in Year 7….. We did it and we did it together.”

He acknowledged the facilities and extra-curricular opportunities the School provides, as well as the care of the teachers, while noting that some of the best ‘lessons’ came from spending time with each other: the experience is as much about the moments around and between lessons, as what happens within them, he said. He implored his peers to keep in touch.

The guest speaker, who is Baron Woolley of Woodford, became Principal of Homerton in October 2021 ­– the third Black person to be elected head of a college at Cambridge or Oxford. He sits as a cross-bencher in the House of Lords. He has a focus on building consensus across political and community lines, and is passionate about educational access and supporting those with potential who are marginalised.

Lord Woolley began by celebrating the role of parents and families, asking them to stand up to be applauded by the boys. Having an 18-year-old son of his own, he identified with them, saying he knows it is not always easy, but is absolutely worth it. He celebrated the staff of the School, reminding the leavers that they turn up each day “to educate you, but also to make you shine”. They genuinely care and want you to succeed, he said.

He also called back up some individual students who had caught his attention: Darren Lee (“Our future Prime Minister!”) for his leadership and eloquent speech; Isher Jagdev (Latin prize winner) to help him with the Latin that he will need on Saturday when he conducts the graduation ceremony for Homerton undergraduates at the Senate House in Cambridge; and Nathan Woodcock (“Mr 100%”) whose perfect attendance had been noted. “To achieve change you have to be present; you have to turn up. He’s someone I’d want on my team.”

He spoke a little about his journey from a tough council estate in Leicester, where you had to learn to fight and where “the reason to go to school was to see your mates”. No one went to university from his school, but, he told the leavers: “You are going to the best universities on the planet.” Coming to Queen Elizabeth’s School was like being among the winning children in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: “You’ve had the golden ticket. Not everyone gets that chance, so the question is: what are you going to do with it?

“Be the people to stand up to inequality, to help people out of poverty, to find the cure, or build something better. The Headmaster and I are not asking you to be brilliant, to share your abilities, to make an impact on the world… we are demanding it. Not everyone can be the principal or the CEO, but every one of you can do something that makes a difference.”

The music during the afternoon included a remix composed by Indrajit Datta, as well as a medley of popular hits that had formed the soundtrack to their school years, played by Indrajit’s Year 13 peers.

Music during the afternoon tea outside following the ceremony was played by the Year 8 and 9 Music Colours winners.

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Having won QE’s internal round of the national Performing Shakespeare competition and made it through the London heats, Year 8’s Vihaan Pal then performed strongly in the regional final held at the School.

Vihaan, pictured here and  top, delivered the speech from Romeo and Juliet given by Romeo as he lay dying – giving a repeat of his performance in School, which was praised for its maturity and sensitivity.

The regional heats and final were both hosted by QE, in the Main School Hall and Friends’ Recital Hall respectively. Two boys had reached the semi-finals, Vihaan and Daiwik Khedekar, with Vihaan progressing to the regional final.

Head of English Robert Hyland said: “Performing Shakespeare is integral to student understanding: as we remind the boys, Shakespeare’s plays were written not to be studied in class, but performed in theatres. Learning and performing a speech requires students to make judgements about what a character is saying, and how this will affect things like their movement, their vocal tone, and their interaction with the audience, in a way which analysing in an essay is not able to.

“We were therefore delighted to host two rounds of the competition. Although Vihaan did not progress through the regional final, he did very well to make it through the semi-finals and is to be congratulated on a series of accomplished performances.

“At QE, we recognise the importance of oracy and the ability to perform in front of others as important skills that will help our boys in their later lives and careers. That is why the School has invested heavily in the new Robert Dudley Studio for drama and the spoken word, which is now nearing completion.”

All Year 8s were invited to take part in the internal round of the competition and could choose any speech from a Shakespeare play. They initially learned their speeches during the Autumn Term (alongside their studies of Macbeth).

The boys were judged not only on their physical performance and their vocalisation, but on how far their performance suited the speech, and how far their interpretation of the speech met their artistic intention.

Vihaan said: “The reason I chose my piece [Romeo’s Dying Scene from Act 5 Scene 3] is because I found it inspiring that the message is so simple, clear in its affirmation of the power of love over hate, and showing the strong loyalty Romeo had for Juliet. Although it is different from the classic booming speech with loud expressions, I felt that the acting of this piece with the sad tone, the detailed imagery, and the soft movements made me feel like I was really there.”

Their classroom teachers judged the QE boys’ initial attempts, while the judges in the School final were Kanak Shah, Extra-curricular Enrichment Lead and an English & French teacher, Head of Year 8 Andrew Collins, and Sixth Form actor Keiaron Joseph.

Ms Shah praised the work that the QE boys put into their performances. “I was amazed by the vulnerability of some of these speeches and the maturity and sensitivity with which they were delivered. These qualities were particularly obvious in the speech of our winner Vihaan, who chose Romeo’s last speech to Juliet. He conjured Juliet’s body out of thin air with his delivery of Shakespeare’s words, and his choice of a vulnerable speech was a brave one.”

Dr Collins said that the boys had shown the full range of emotions when they took to the stage, “from rallying battle cries to internal moments of anguish”. He added: “It was extremely difficult to come up with a winner; Vihaan’s portrayal of Romeo was very tender and he showed great power on the stage even when in such a compact physical form on the floor  – a very worthy winner.”

A Sixth Form musician’s composition is to be performed at the world’s longest-running music festival, after he won a place on a highly regarded programme for young composers.

Harrison Lee’s piece, Ego Flos Campi, will be sung by the acclaimed ORA Singers amid the medieval magnificence of Worcester Cathedral as part of the famous Three Choirs Festival.

The A-level Music student was one of only ten successful applicants to have secured a place on the ORA Singers Young Composers scheme.

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “We are thrilled that Harrison gained a place on this prestigious scheme, and that all the hard work he puts into his composition has been rewarded.

“We have already performed one piece by Harrison this academic year and look forward to the next one!”

Ego Flos Campi will be heard at a showcase concert on 2^nd August 2024 held as part of the festival, which rotates between the cathedral cities of Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester. The title of the piece is taken from the Latin first words of the Song of Solomon in the Bible, meaning ‘I am a flower of the field’.

As part of the programme, and in preparation for the concert, Harrison has  been receiving ten hours of mentoring from Kemal Yusuf, a young British composer who has composed more than 150 works for various ensembles, films, dance productions, and solo performances.

Harrison’s piece has already been the subject of a workshop by the ORA Singers, with guest composer Oliver Tarney, best known for his work with filmmakers Ridley Scott and Paul Greengrass. The award-winning vocal ensemble, which is also a world-leading commissioner of choral music, is directed by Suzi Digby, Baroness Eatwell OBE, who is a choral conductor,  music educator and visiting professor at the University of Southern California.

After the concert, each of the ten successful young composers will receive detailed feedback from the panel, along with a video-recording of their piece, which is provided for them to use to kick-start their musical portfolios. The concert will also feature a prize-giving ceremony.

Harrison, who is in Year 12, said: “It’s such a great opportunity to be working with singers of this calibre, and I think it has helped me to develop my composition skills a lot more. I have learned a lot from this programme and it will definitely help me with my ambitions of being a composer.”

Last term, his Magnificat was one of the highlights of QE’s Chamber, Choral and Composition Concert. Performed by a full orchestra and the Chamber Choir, and conducted by Harrison himself, it filled the The Friends’ Recital Hall with sound (pictured top).

Having previously won Senior Music Colours, Harrison this year had a bar added to those colours for his exceptional contribution to music at the School: Headmaster Neil Enright presented it to him in March. Harrison was also the winner of this year’s Music (academic) prize for Year 12 at the School’s Senior Awards ceremony.