Viewing archives for Academic enrichment

Old Elizabethan Priyan Shah and his family are so passionate about education that they have set up their own awards scheme to encourage the pupils of today.

Together with his parents, Dhiru and Rami, Priyan (OE 1991–1998) visited the School to present DVS Foundation Awards to ten sixth-formers.

The awards seek to promote a virtuous circle of motivation and success, together with kindness. And they are only one facet of the family’s philanthropic work: the foundation’s focus is on education, food insecurity and healthcare, in both the UK and East Africa.

Headmaster Neil Enright thanked Priyan and his parents for their visit, during which they addressed the whole of the current Year 13: “We are really grateful to the family for their generosity in awarding each of our ten prize winners a £100 Amazon voucher, and I know that the whole year group are, in turn, grateful for the great advice Priyan passed on to them.”

Priyan read Accounting & Finance at the University of Kent at Canterbury and then completed a postgraduate degree at the LSE. His father established the family’s commercial property investment business, DVS Property, in 1985. The company specialises in UK institutional real estate investment across sectors including logistics, automotive, out-of-town retail and supermarkets, as well as holding occupational assets that include student accommodation and hotels.

Having been part of the business throughout his career, Priyan today runs the company with his brothers, Julan and Prag. He is also actively involved in the running of the foundation, which was set up in 2012 to formalise the family’s giving.

Introducing its work in a special assembly, he explained that the foundation supports other organisations as well as operating its own programmes. These  include not only the awards programme, which was launched in 2021, but also its WhyOhYou personal development programme. QE plans to get involved in WhyOhYou during the autumn.

“Focusing on the individual (the name is a play on words for ‘YOU’), the programme is a five-week personal development journey that provides youth aged 15–18 with the space and tools to explore who they are, what they want and how to achieve it,” said Priyan, who is a member of the School’s philanthropic 450 Club. WhyOhYou is run by Rupal Shah (no relation), who was recruited by the foundation approximately four years ago, and by Priyan’s wife, Asmi, who has worked at EY for over ten years as an actuary and supports the global firm’s mentoring programme.

The Headmaster added: “I look forward to working with the foundation through WhyOhYou in the coming months: my thanks go to Rupal Shah for her work coordinating the scheme.”

The awards, set out below, cover a number of academic subjects, as well as extra-curricular activities.

Priyan and Asmi have a daughter and baby son. Priyan enjoys travelling and hiking. A long-time racquet sports enthusiast, he continues to play tennis and badminton.

Pupil Saim Khan drew on his own experience with QE’s Young Enterprise team to identify ‘character’ as a key attribute for leaders of smaller groups in a prize-winning essay.

Saim, who was in Year 10 in 2021–2022, took the top prize in the Sustainable Success Essay Competition run by management consultants Telos Partners in partnership with Young Enterprise nationally. He wins £1,000 and four hours of mentoring from Telos Partners.

His winning words focused on the particular nature of the leadership of small groups, where, he wrote, character was especially important: “You need to inspire and make people want to follow you.”

The competition, which was for those aged 14–18, gave entrants this challenge: Using your own thoughts, ideas and experiences what do you believe are the qualities of a leader that is able to lead an organisation not only to short-term success, but one that will be successful for many generations to come?

The competition briefing also included this quotation from United States Army general Norman Schwarzkopf, who led the coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War: “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.”

Saim was a senior member of a QE Young Enterprise that offered ‘stress balls’ for sale during the year. The team took part in a Young Enterprise trade fair and also had a stall at The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s School fete on Founder’s Day in June. There, they took a two-pronged approach, selling their remaining stock and running a Make your own stress ball activity, which particularly drew in younger boys.

Saim said that participating in Young Enterprise this year was “a great, different experience”, while the essay competition was “a reflective opportunity to academically tie it off and consider what I’ve learned”. He noted that he generally enjoys essay-writing too.

His essay, which included case studies, reflected his observation that, in the news, leadership is usually considered at a large or national scale. Little or no reference is made to the sort of small-group leadership involved in Young Enterprise, where a company might comprise only about 25 people. Leadership of such a group, and others like it, needs to be more dynamic and more equal, with less of a ‘leader and subordinates’ ethos. At this scale, he viewed character as being especially important: “You need to inspire and make people want to follow you.” By contrast, at a larger scale, not everyone will know you, and therefore character can be less important. “The CEO of Apple needs a strategy, but for regional managers it is more about managing people,” he said.

Other specific lessons drawn from his Young Enterprise experience that he covered in the essay were:

• How to include everyone in the group in big decisions
• How this creates unity
• What to do when things go wrong.

On this last point, Saim said: “Things go wrong quite a lot! For example, a week before the trade fair, we had under half of our expected stock. It’s important not to panic – do first, panic later.” Accordingly, the team simply got on with the meetings necessary to put things right.

“In other clubs, people share a defined passion, or it is more structured. Young Enterprise leaves it up to pupils to make decisions. We didn’t start all united in our interests, so there was scope for debate and discussion.”

With his company, decision-making was initially all taken by voting at the wider group level. “We realised as we went on that this was inefficient. We then had four–five people who took on leadership roles and made more decisions.”

Since this resulted in other members of the team feeling “less personally invested”, there was further refinement of the decision-making process, with company votes reintroduced for more important decisions. In short, he said, strategy was then determined by the whole company, with implementation delegated to a smaller group of leaders.

Saim was invited to a Young Enterprise Company Programme Final, during which it was announced that he had taken the top prize. “I was really surprised to win this – a national competition. I knew I could write a good essay, but you are competing against so many other people. It was a pleasant surprise to be invited to the final and I was then ecstatic to find out I’d won.”

He has yet to decide how to spend his prize money.

Boys from QE picked up an existing pre-pandemic partnership with one girls’ school and staged a joint concert as part of their developing links with another.

Year 8 and Year 10 pupils from QE met their counterparts from The Henrietta Barnett School for debating – part of the well-established academic partnership between the two schools.

And QE Together – a recent initiative led by sixth-formers at QE and near-neighbour Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School – gained fresh momentum with the staging of the joint concert for residents at a nursing home.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “QE is very much part of the community and, as such, we value our local partnerships highly. Our academic links with HBS give our boys the chance to flex their intellectual muscles against their peers in activities such as debating, while the focus of our link with QEGS is on community action.

“In addition, both these connections offer our boys the opportunity to socialise and study with girls, thus better preparing them for university and careers.”

QE’s Head of Academic Enrichment, Nisha Mayer, said: “The Year 8s enjoyed an animated and enjoyable morning at HBS. They debated in mixed teams in breakout rooms before assembling for a grand final.”

Topics for the Year 8 event included ‘school strikes’ for climate change, and rich countries accepting more refugees.

The motion of the final debate – made up of the best debaters from both schools selected from the earlier sessions – was the prospect of extending the school day. “Unsurprisingly perhaps, the opposition won the debate, but the proposers certainly made an excellent case for making up time lost during the pandemic,” said Mrs Mayer.

Year 10 QE boys travelled to HBS for a preparatory workshop for their debates, which included agreeing on the motions to be discussed. The girls then came to QE for the debates themselves, with the final held in the new Friends’ Recital Hall.

For QE Together, a concert took place at Barnet’s Abbey Ravenscroft Park Nursing Home, involving musicians from both QE and QEGS.

Organised by QE Vice-Captain Dylan Domb, of Year 12, who is a regular voluntary helper at the home, the lunchtime event included music for clarinet played by the girls and songs sung by QE’s TTBB Vocal Group.

QE musician and fellow Vice-Captain Jao-Yong Tsai, of Year 12, said: “QE Together is aiming to foster greater connections with all aspects of the local community, and the presentation of a charity concert at a nursing home within walking distance of both schools was a strong illustration of such goals.

“Students at both schools have long enjoyed volunteering locally, and integrating the arts into both that and a project that brings the two schools together is but the beginning of a growing relationship with people in the local area.”

QE Together has plans for further events, including a Big Litter Pick.

QE had the joint-highest number of teams of any school or organisation at the huge 2022 Vex Robotics World Championships in Dallas, where the 48-strong contingent picked up a string of awards.

One of the QE senior teams made strong progress, at one point single-handedly carrying British hopes when they reached their divisional semi-finals, while the junior teams picked up a string of awards in their competition.

Eight teams made the 4,750-mile journey from Barnet to Texas after gaining their places through multiple successes both in the season’s domestic fixtures and at the UK national championships in April.

After the boys proudly joined other UK competitors in the parade of nations in front of almost 10,000 people in the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, the two senior (VRC) Year 10 teams got down to competition in the first in-person world championships to be held since 2019.

Teams Hybrid and Vortex Invicta competed in the Engineering and Arts divisions respectively ­­– just two of the seven senior divisions, each of which comprised 70-80 of the best robotics teams in the world.

After a day of set-up, practice and scouting both of alliance partners and opposition alliances, both teams began the competition with some strong tactical driving resulting in some high-scoring wins: at the end of the first day of play, Hybrid had amassed four wins and only two losses, while Vortex three wins and three losses.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “What seemed to boost the chances of both our teams was that, in the face of opposition from more experienced teams using robots with more functionality, they just kept their tactics simple.”

By the end of day two, both teams had five wins and five losses, and both were ranked 40^th. Hybrid were then among the teams to be selected as alliance partners by a divisional finalist, in their case the eighth-ranked team.

“What followed was a tense victory for Hybrid over good friends and local rivals GCA Gearers (from Greig City Academy, Hornsey) in the round of 16, presenting the sole win in this stage of competition for a senior QE team to date,” said Mr Noonan.

This success, however, meant they next faced the top seeds. The team duly threw themselves into the challenge. “Using fast reactions and excellent tactics Hybrid and their partners, Robohawks, took control of the match, taking possession of the game elements and pressurising their opponents…What resulted as a nail-biting finish, where the highly fancied opposition could not ‘balance their platform’ (normally a significant bonus) – and Hybrid had successfully qualified for the divisional semi-finals on a score line of 136-85 – then a best result for UK teams in VRC competition.

“The final stages of the match were met with rapturous applause from UK supporters…and Hybrid were suddenly the great hope of UK teams and mentors,” Mr Noonan said. “With this, confidence levels in the team grew, and they swatted the semi-final challenge of a once-again higher-ranked alliance with ease, with a score of 163-76.” Their “fairy-tale journey” then came to an end as they lost out to a very high-scoring alliance.

“They were more than happy with their lot at the end of the competition – a divisional runner-up and Judges Award represented a fantastic outcome for the team.”

With ten divisions, the VIQC competition for the Year 8 and 9 teams was even bigger. The first day saw most of the six teams hit the minimum required score of 120 to be in the top 30 of their divisions, and at the end of the day “an incredible four of the six teams” had qualified for divisional finals.

First up was the Rubber Bands team: even though their alliance partner’s robot suffered technical difficulties, they still managed a respectable score of 108 points. Next came Nova, who shot to the top of their rankings with a “fantastic” 142. Shattersquad achieved 133, while Gearsquad scored 114.

“All teams put in an incredible effort, but none managed to secure that coveted prize of a place in the world finals,” said Mr Noonan. Nevertheless, Gearsquad won an Inspire Award and a top-50 place for Skills, while Nova, Cyberforce, Rubber Bands and Eclipse all secured online challenge awards.

“A trip up Dallas’s Reunion Tower with a handful of silverware and a chest-load of memories topped off a fantastic day,” said Mr Noonan.

The boys and five accompanying staff also find time during their trip to sample delicious Tex-Mex food, visit the Perot Museum of Science and Nature and take in other Dallas sights.

Year 8’s Jeevan Karthick Thiyagarajan said later: “Travelling to the USA as a group was a great experience, particularly since we missed several trips earlier due to the pandemic. It was almost like we played dual roles – hard-working robot engineers during the mornings and fun-loving tourists in the evenings!”

Advay Bhat, also of Year 8, added: “Going to the Worlds and representing QE and the UK has taught me how to stay determined, focused and resilient. I met many people from different countries and backgrounds with different ideas, and the experience has truly been one of the greatest I’ve ever been through.”

Old Elizabethans helped 50 boys battle it out in a Galactic Challenge at the School that saw all three teams secure multi-billion pound contracts for an imagined settlement in space.

The pupils from Years 7–9 (and from across tutor groups) formed aerospace ‘companies’ to participate in the space industry simulation challenge, competing against not only each other but also the clock. Their target was to design a space station for 100 years hence, when space travel might be commonplace. The remit was for a tourist resort that would orbit Mars.

Lending their expertise and experience on the day were four 2017 leavers: Aadil Kara, Neelesh Ravichandran and Harikesan Baskaran and Suchira Peiris. Aadil, Neelesh and Harikesan all got through to the national stages of the UK Space Design Competition (Galactic Challenge’s ‘big brother’ for older pupils) when they were in Year 13, with Aadil going on to reach international level.

Jonathan Brooke, Head of Physics, has been impressed by how the OEs have sustained their commitment to STEM outreach throughout their undergraduate studies and beyond: “It’s even more impressive to see this commitment continue as they move into challenging careers and post-graduate study,” he said.

“They were the driving force behind digital Galactic Challenge competitions that were a welcome diversion to our boys during lockdown, and it was an honour and a pleasure to welcome them back to the School to host an in-person competition.”

Mr Brooke was also thanked the Year 12 boys who helped on the day. “Without them, the event could not have run so smoothly.”

The challenge has two main objectives: to help foster pupils’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and to help them develop so-called ‘soft skills’, such as team-working, communication, and the ability to solve complex problems.

Aadil, who studied Physics at Imperial College London and now works as a data analyst for the Civil Service, said: “It was a joy to see the teams rise to the challenge, and to work productively in a way that rivals some professional teams!”

Harikesan, who is working towards a Master’s in Engineering for International Development at UCL, added: “The boys engaged within and outside their teams to produce some truly amazing designs. The fact that all teams won contracts is a testament to the quality of work produced across the board. Everyone really was a winner today!”

Neelesh now works as a technical analyst at Credit Suisse, having read Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London. He said: “A brilliant amalgamation of strategy, engineering, science and public speaking skills – the Galactic Challenge was a joy to help with.”

Suchira left QE to read Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, before securing a role as a consulting data analyst at the Information Lab. He said: “As a volunteer it was inspiring to see how engaged and active the students were in the competition, the out-of-the-box thinking, novel problem-solving and, in nearly every case, a board-worthy presentation!”

All four OEs commented on how much they had enjoyed being back at the School in person, observing that much had changed there in the past five years.

The three ‘companies’, Astrodyne Delta, Infinity Airspace and Solaris Flight Systems, were given a Request for Proposal (RFP) reflecting a typical design brief in the space engineering industry. They were asked to bid on a range of design modules: from the design of the command centre, to the power & energy generation, and the operations of the resort facility itself.

After trailing team Astrodyne Delta through the early stages of the competition, Solaris Flight Systems came through in the final stage to secure victory by the tightest of margins, winning contracts worth £320bn, against Astrodyne Delta’s £315bn. Infinity Airspace were not too far behind, on £300bn, with all three impressing the judges and securing contracts.

The judging panel comprised: Jenny Lyons, Director of Education at the Galactic Challenge; Alison Ahearn, Deputy Director of Education at the Galactic Challenge and Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London; Headmaster Neil Enright; Gillian Ridge, Head of Biology; Tamara Rakviashvili, Science Technician, and Science teachers Bryn Evans, and J Murphy.

The designs were assessed in three stages over the day. Stages 1 and 2 were presented during the day to peers and judges, while Stage 3 was presented at the end of the day to parents, peers and the judging panel.

For the first time since 2019, prize-winners, parents, VIP guests and staff assembled for a full Junior Awards Ceremony – complete with tea and cakes on the lawn afterwards.

After last year’s restricted event, 2022 saw the welcome return of a guest speaker, with Old Elizabethan Hemang Hirani (2008–2015) passing on to the boys lessons he has already learned in his blossoming career in investment banking.

The ceremony saw pupils from Years 7–9 awarded around 75 prizes for academic subjects and  extra-curricular activities such as chess, drama and public speaking & debating, as well as other endowed prizes and special awards.

Headmaster Neil Enright said afterwards: “Junior Awards is one of the highlights of our Summer Term, so it was splendid to be able to hold the ceremony in full once again, giving the boys and their families an afternoon to remember. It was a really enjoyable time and the young musicians who performed during the musical interludes played to an exceptionally high standard.”

VIP guests included The Representative Deputy Lieutenant of the London Borough of Barnet, Mr Martin Russell and The Deputy Mayor of the London Borough of Barnet, Councillor Nagus Narenthira.

In his speech during the ceremony, Mr Enright alluded to the heatwave and to the legend of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and paid the price. “Boys, you have kept your cool in the academic heat of QE – in its own way a record-breaking environment; one which absorbs and re-radiates aspiration, intellectual curiosity and positive energy.

“In our proud meritocracy, we will always want to publicly recognise and celebrate absolute performance, but maximising your personal potential is why you all have unique targets each year; why we spend time doing bespoke tutorials. To help you to be realistically ambitious in what you do; to let you fly; but to make sure that your wings are fit for purpose and don’t melt in the heat.”

In the few short years since Hemang Hirani took a First in Geography and Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), he has forged a career in investment banking and is now an analyst with Barclays.

He has served in various voluntary capacities, including as a mentor to pupils at under-performing London schools and as an intern in Mumbai, fundraising and raising awareness in support of poor cancer patients. He previously returned to QE to lead a Sixth Form discussion on Economic Geography.

Hemang passed on various pieces of advice to the boys, pointing out that he had been a Junior Awards prize-winner himself just 12 short years ago. He concluded his address with a plea to the boys to remember to enjoy themselves: “Life, as we all know, is far too short – we spend a lot of time sweating over the small stuff – worrying, complaining, gossiping and always wanting something we think is bigger and better, rather than appreciating and focusing on what we have, and are fortunate to have.

“It takes a single moment to change everything that we take for granted…we are all blessed in one way or another, so live life and leave no regrets.”

Music award-winners from each of the three year groups performed during the musical interludes. Year 7 violinist Jamie Lam played Italian composer Vittorio Monti’s 1904 piece, Czardas; Year 8 pianist Noah Morley played Claude Debussy’s Dancers of Delphi, and Ryuki Watanabe, of Year 9, performed American composer Clarence Cameron White’s Levee Dance. Piano teacher Tadashi Imai was the accompanist.