Queen Elizabeth’s School has joined the London Schools Eco Network – and a sixth-former has already played a leading role in supporting its work with his contributions to this month’s Youth Climate Summit.
Year 12’s Aadarsh Khimasia was QE’s delegate at the summit, a week-long series of lockdown-adapted virtual discussions and activities for primary and senior school pupils across the UK organised by the network to raise awareness of sustainability issues. Aadarsh subsequently took part in a Sustainable Innovation Forum, along with two other Summit Ambassadors.
“We presented five Climate Calls decided upon by the summit Finale to a wider group of international business and government representatives, hoping to see changes in business and laws in the near future to make our nation and the world more sustainable,” said Aadarsh.
After the forum, he was interviewed by Sky youth TV presenter, Ella Meeks, for the channel’s FYI Kids show: the interview was broadcast three times, including once on the main Sky News channel.
Aardarsh had also appealed for young people to lend their support when he appeared in the promotional video for the summit, organised under the slogan Transform our world.
QE Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Micah King said: “I’m incredibly proud of Aadarsh, who is using his talents in difficult circumstances to raise awareness of the climate crisis, and our role in combatting it.”
Coordinated by the charity Global Action Plan and supported by organisations such as Greenpeace, the WWF and Oxford University, the summit’s stated aim was to empower students to create a more sustainable and healthy future for the planet.
It was organised around three main themes: climate, social and racial justice; education, skills and careers, and health & wellbeing. Examples of the sessions held include one on Fast Fashion another on Careers in Conservation.
In the promotional video published last month, Aadarsh was one of only four young people selected to speak. He said: “We all call this planet home, meaning we all share the responsibility to safeguard it.
“Our earth is on the brink of irreversible damage putting us and millions of other species here at risk, but strides are being made in the right direction and we need you to help us along the way to a safer, healthier and more sustainable future.”
Aadarsh, who hopes to become a vet, teamed up with fellow delegate Andra, who is from a school in Belfast, to interview Caroline Lucas, former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.
Afterwards, the summit host, Dr Jessica Tipton, who is Head of Sustainability and a languages teacher at St Paul’s Girls’ School, said to the pair: “That was absolutely fantastic, a massive well done for leading an informative yet relaxed interview with Caroline Lucas just now. [The] questions [were] great and you were really articulate in your responses.
“Aadarsh is really an excellent ambassador for the summit and your school! I’m so glad he’s got involved,” she added.
The boys learned about the importance of the three corners of the Communication Triangle – delivery, content and structure – in making a successful speech. They gained insights into overcoming nerves and tips on how to listen and give constructive feedback to each other.
The workshop, which was held in QE’s Conference Centre, included an opportunity for each boy to deliver a speech to the group on any subject of their choice.
Boys voted in their forms yesterday on their first day back after the holiday, having spent the weeks before half-term finding out more about the two main presidential candidates and the whole American electoral process.
The popular vote was also emphatic: there were 821 votes for the Democrats, compared with just 322 for the Republicans. Of the six year groups voting, only Year 10 voted red (Republican), while Biden swept the board in Year 7.
In order to make the experience as realistic as possible, every tutor group was allocated a state. Each had the same number of votes as in the electoral college, ranging from Alaska, Wyoming, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont, all with just three votes apiece, through to Texas, with 38, and California, with its 55.
Information and links on the eQE election page included:
Well over 50 clubs and societies are currently running at the School, covering almost every conceivable interest, from table tennis to practical science, and from manga to Mathematics.
Several clubs take a creative approach to stimulating interest in academic subjects. One that is run on Fridays for Year 8 boys is a regular fixture in young linguist Anik Singh’s week, for example: ”Languages Board Games Club is really fun as well as educational, as we can play our favourite games in a new way and learn new vocabulary at the same time,” he said. Pictured here is a keenly fought round of German Scrabble: one boy is off to a strong start, with ‘Füchse’ (foxes) scoring 26 points.
Raphael Herberg, of Year 12, spoke there on the topic of Female Composers. “Raphael gave informative and interesting biographies of the composers Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger and Judith Weir, and played excerpts of their music, asking the boys present to comment on what they thought of it,” said Miss Partington.
School Vice-Captains Thomas Mgbor and Ayodimeji Ojelade, of Year 13, have been speaking in assemblies at the School, while teachers have also led assemblies and the academic departments are uploading resources to the eQE digital learning platform throughout the month, promoting discussion and awareness in all the subject areas. Pictured here is a Year 12 assembly on Black History Month themes led by Head of Year Simon Walker.
In his video for the younger boys, Ifeanyi began by introducing himself, saying that although his family originally came from Nigeria, he has lived in the UK for his whole life. He recounted his personal history of the “hurtful” comments he received as a teenager, as others questioned his love for the performing arts (including debating, public speaking and acting). “In my teenage years, I became aware of the fact that this choice of passions was unusual for young, black men like me and I was constantly reminded of this by my peers. At the time, I was often called an ‘oreo’, or asked why I didn’t act like a real black guy.” (Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘oreo’ as a ‘usually disparaging’ term meaning ‘a black person who adopts the characteristic mentality and behaviour of white middle-class society’.)
Lev Shafran, Achint Thakkar and Ye-Sung Baek, who are now in Year 12, collectively won the Best of Key Stage 4 Award in the second stage of the 
Chair of the Galactic Challenge Aadil Kara, who is also an Old Elizabethan (OE 2010–2017), explained that when Covid-19 forced the cancellation of in-person events, including one due to be held at QE, the organisation had instead launched the digital competition to allow participants to enter from home.