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Two sixth-formers have achieved success in the English Speaking Union’s prestigious Mace debating competition and now go through to the next round.

Akshat Sharma and Mipham Samten, both of Year 12, were chosen to represent the Elizabethan Union – QE’s senior debating society – for the first round of the Mace at Kingsbury High School, where they competed against leading schools such as Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’.

They won their places in the next round with their successful arguments in favour of the proposition, This house would add e-sports to the Olympic Games, in one of the four debates held during the evening.

Academic Enrichment Tutor and Geography teacher Helen Davies said Akshat got things off to a strong start with an “inspirational introduction”, which highlighted the 43 million online viewers who recently watched an e-sports tournament taking place in the US. In fact, Akshat pre-empted many of the opposition’s points before the first opposition speaker had even taken to the floor.

He acknowledged that to be included in the Olympics, e-sports would first have to be recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee and he therefore set out reasons why this should happen. E-sports fulfilled the IOC’s meritocratic ideals, since they were played at internet cafés by many people in less developed countries, with one poor Pakistani citizen recently winning an e-sports tournament (and netting prize money of $6.3m).

For his part, Mipham stressed the need to move with the times and overcome outdated, stereotypical views of e-sports participants as “overweight men playing games”. They were, on the contrary, true athletes and, furthermore, they would help attract younger generations of supporters for the Olympics, promoting Olympic values to a wider audience.

In his summing-up, Akshat strongly challenged some of the major arguments against the motion. He pointed to shooting as a precedent – an example of an Olympic sport that required accuracy and skill, rather than great physical fitness. He also had an answer for those who criticised e-sports as too “gory”, highlighting the aggression inherent in boxing and fencing.

QE boys took the honours at a literature quiz, comfortably beating all the other schools in the competition.

QE entered two teams in the North London heat of the Kids’ Lit Quiz and, by half-way through the contest, they were competing closely for the lead, while standing some eight points ahead of the third-placed team.

English teacher Alex Ulyet said: “They held on to this right until the end and the only question was whether the Year 7 or Year 8 team would clinch the top spot, but Year 8 nudged in front by about two points.

“On the day both teams were fantastic. We were a little worried at first as it seemed every other table was celebrating every question they got right, whilst the two QE teams stayed relatively silent. This was, however, clearly just their calm, composed natures!”

The quiz heat at Queenswood School in Hatfield was part of the nationally run Kids’ Lit Quiz, which aims to test young people’s knowledge of literature. The two groups of four boys had prepared for the event in Monday lunchtime practice sessions overseen by Mr Ulyet and QE Librarian Ciara Murray. They were given questions based on known categories in the Kids’ Lit Quiz. These included, for example, sci-fi, mythology and fish.

Besides their performance in the main competition, the QE boys did extremely well in the bonus questions between rounds, several of them winning book tokens.

“Both teams seemed to really enjoy just being able to revel in their knowledge of children’s and young adult fiction. There was a sense that it left them with an even greater desire to go out and read some of the books which they heard questions about but had not yet read, which is of course the most important thing,” Mr Ulyet added.

The winning Year 8 team comprised: Yashaswar Kotakadi; Leo Dane-Liebesny; Ishaan Mehta and Conall Walker.

The Year 7 runners-up were: Parth Kapadia; Arjun Patel; Ewan Penhale and Siddharth Sridhar.

Fifty pupils from Year 8 tested their debating skills under pressure during a visit to a leading girls’ school.

The QE boys joined an equal number of girls from The Henrietta Barnett School in Hampstead for the competitive debating symposium. After the motions to be debated were announced, the mixed groups of boys and girls then had just half-an-hour to research their topics before the debates started.

The motions included: This House believes the media does not have a right to intrude in the lives of public figures and This House would impose quotas for women in workplaces where they are under-represented.

The symposium was one of a regular series of academic enrichment events for Years 8-10 held jointly with HBS.

Nisha Mayer, QE’s Head of Academic Enrichment, said: “Students were very engaged and enthused throughout the morning. We lay great emphasis on the importance of developing oracy – the ability to communicate well using the spoken word. At events such as this symposium, pupils gain early exposure to the need to articulate their arguments. They learn to think on their feet and begin to appreciate the importance of keeping abreast of current affairs and societal issues – an interest that we seek to cultivate both during lesson time and in extra-curricular activities.

“Because of our single-sex environment at QE, there are also benefits for the boys in interacting and sharing ideas with peers from a girls’ school: we are very fortunate to have such a mutually advantageous partnership.”

After the initial debates in ‘break-out’ rooms, all 100 boys and girls joined together for the final, where the best six debaters did battle, each receiving certificates.

A recent visit by a team of boys who have qualified for the final of a courts competition gave them valuable insights into the life of a lawyer.

The 15-strong team of Year 11 and 12 pupils, who have progressed through three qualifying rounds of the Bar Mock Trial Competition, visited the Supreme Court in Parliament Square, where they had a tour and discussed some key cases. They were asked how they would have decided them. The boys then sat at the back of Court 2 and listened to part of a case regarding a disagreement between a solicitors’ firm and an insurance company.

Head of Philosophy, Religion & Society, Jack Robertson said: “The boys were impressed by the formality and ceremony, especially the way the barristers had to address the judge; but they were also surprised at how straightforward the language of the barristers was; they were very clear and easy to understand.”

In addition, the group enjoyed a look around the Royal Courts of Justice in Fleet Street, before walking through Middle Temple, one of the Inns of Court, and a potential future workplace for those considering a career as a barrister. The boys were able to watch part of a second case, where a man was accused of possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

“The boys found the experience inspiring and it undoubtedly gave them an excellent understanding of life as a barrister or solicitor,” said Mr Robertson. “They were able to watch skilled barristers and judges at work, and get a feel for the locations and buildings this work takes place in. There is no doubt it will help them when they participate in the final of the mock trial competition in Cardiff next month.”

A pre-eminent political journalist took boys at the Year 12 formal luncheon on a journey through pivotal moments of recent British history.

George Parker, Political Editor of the Financial Times, was the guest speaker at the annual meal, which is arranged to give sixth-formers experience of the sort of formal social occasions that will become more frequent at university and in their careers beyond.

Mr Parker, who has previously been named in the top five of the Press Gazette’s Top 50 Political Journalists, looked back at the end of the Thatcher era and touched on significant political events right through to Brexit.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “He spoke entertainingly and in engaging fashion, relating anecdotes which kept the boys enthralled, and then answering their questions.”

Mr Parker told one light-hearted story about how a front-page story he had run with the FT on a new haircut of Tony Blair’s had sparked a minor media frenzy and a rebuke from No 10! He discussed weightier matters too, in particular talking about the Brexit negotiations, from the project’s very feasibility through to the possible economic benefits of a trade deal with the US.

He gave thoughtful answers to all the boys’ questions, which included whether the referendum had led to increasing xenophobia; whether the country is headed for a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit, and whether he thought Brexit would happen at all. The FT is a very pro-Europe newspaper, the most widely read in Brussels, and Mr Parker predicted that the advantages of Brexit would be meagre. Other questions related to specific issues such as the desirability of the Government pursuing a balanced budget.

“It was a real pleasure to welcome him to the School,” said Mr Enright. “The boys clearly appreciated hearing his insights and had some very pertinent questions. This was another opportunity for them to benefit from a guest speaker’s expertise.”

The luncheon followed a format of a three-course meal, with Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s volunteers assisting the School’s catering team. This was followed by toasts and speeches. School Captain Aashish Khimasia presided over the occasion as master of ceremonies, leading the toasts to The Queen and the ‘loyal toast’ to Queen Elizabeth I; as is customary, this was taken in silence. One of the Senior Vice-Captains, Aditya Ravindrakumar, introduced Mr Parker, with Vice-Captain Parth Gosalia delivering the vote of thanks at the conclusion of the event.

“Mr Parker declared that he had enjoyed himself and said he was heading off to go and think about tomorrow’s front page!” said Mr Enright.

QE debaters have reached the European Youth Parliament national finals after putting in an excellent performance at the South East regional round.

Eight Year 12 boys headed to the European Commission’s London building in Smith Square for the EYP South East forum, where they and teams from two independent schools – St Paul’s and Guildford High – were chosen to go through to the national event later in the year.

Congratulating the team on its success, Academic Enrichment Tutor Helen Davies said the jury had given them very positive feedback: “The boys worked exceptionally well as a group, having done their research well; they made interesting points, often bringing new lines of argument into the debate.”

The QE sixth-formers defended a Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE) resolution which proposed steps towards greater integration and co-operation between the armed forces of European Union countries.

The 40-minute debate began with an opening speech from Akshat Sharma in which he stressed that, in view of the aggression it faces from countries including Russia and North Korea, the EU needs both to increase its spending on defence and to improve the level of co-operation between EU countries, so that the increased funding is spent effectively.

His stance was duly opposed by a speaker from Haberdashers’ Aske’s Girls’ School, to which Mipham Samten then responded. After further debate, Mipham gave a summation of the QE team’s arguments: “Mipham put a great deal of work into the team’s preparation and gave a leading contribution,” Miss Davies said.

The subsequent vote on the resolution was 63 against, and 14 for; Miss Davies pointed out that, in fact, no resolutions were passed throughout the whole day.

After the debates, the jury provided general feedback to all the teams, praising them for their enthusiastic participation and their research.

As well as Akshat and Mipham, the team comprised: Ibrahim Al-Hariri; Parth Gosalia; Shivam Masrani; Laurie Mathias; Anake Singh and Mudit Tulsianey.