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Queen Elizabeth’s School extended its proud record in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench competition with victory in the regional final.

One team, pictured top, took first place – and thus qualified for the national finals in the spring – with a score of 40 out of 43. Another QE team was only one point behind, beating Harrow and Watford Grammar School for Boys into joint third place.

QE has frequently achieved success in the competition throughout its 20-year history.

Head of Chemistry Amy Irvine said: “It was a splendid performance by our winning team, who beat more than 50 other teams to take first place – and in the UK’s national Chemistry Week, too! Furthermore, all five of our teams came in the top ten, so we demonstrated real strength in depth.”

Congratulating all the QE entrants, Myles Worsley, an RSC Chilterns and Middlesex Section committee member, commented on the “excellent” scores of the winners and runners-up. “They showed an impressive knowledge and understanding of Chemistry,” he said.

Top of the Bench is open to every secondary school in the UK. Teams must comprise: two students from Year 9; one from Year 10, and one from Year 11.

This year’s regional finals, conducted over Zoom, featured six rounds. The early stages of these tested entrants’ general Chemistry knowledge, covering topics such as atoms and compounds.

Other rounds included:

• Examining practical knowledge: competitors had to identify different compounds from the results of different analytical tests;
• Asking different questions to each year group. (The Year 11 question, which was about equilibria, was particularly tricky, Dr Irvine said.);
• Testing knowledge of the atmosphere and gases, with, for example, entrants having to identify carbon monoxide as a ‘silent killer’;

The final round involved further testing of general Chemistry knowledge. Competitors had to identify the main compound in smelling salts.

“This caused me much amusement, as some of the boys were discussing what the difference was between baths salts and smelling salts!” Dr Irvine said.

The winning team, Team 35, comprised: Aaditya Pimple and Varenya Pangaluri, of Year 9; Arhaan Yadav, of Year 10; and Yash Mehta, of Year 11.

They win Amazon vouchers, as well as the honour of representing the School in the national finals, to be held at a university: this year’s venue has yet to be named.

The QE teams’ scores and positions were:

Team 35:  40/43 – first

Team 36:  37.5/43 – fourth

Team 37:  39/43 – second

Team 38:  31/43 – ninth

Team 39:  33.5/43 – seventh

The focus is firmly on financial crime in the latest issue of The Econobethan, which takes a detailed look at the misuse of money around the world.

Over 28 pages, the student writers look at crime-related topics ranging from a profile of Jordan Belfort, the ‘wolf of Wall Street’, to the rising use of AI-generated ‘deep fakes’ for fraud.

The 20^th edition of The Econobethan also has, as a secondary theme, Economics and Black history, and is timed to coincide with the conclusion of Black History Month.

Economics teacher and QE Flourish Enrichment tutor Celia Wallace said: “Through The Econobethan, we aim to bring complex economic concepts to life, and to foster thoughtful discussion and an inclusive approach to economic issues.

“This issue takes a compelling dive into the world of financial crime, offering nuanced perspectives on how misconduct – from fraud and cybercrime to insider trading – continues to shape our global economic landscape.”

Congratulating the 16 writers, Dr Wallace said: “Many of them balanced writing for this edition with exam preparation and university applications – a testament to their commitment and passion. This issue also marks the final edition from our current editorial team, who have worked tirelessly to bring these important topics to life. We’re excited to see the fresh ideas the incoming team will bring to future editions.”

In their own introduction, the four-strong editorial team, Year 13’s Uday Dash, Akheel Kale, Zaki Mustafa and Tejas Bansal write of the “chilling insight” the edition gives into how financial systems can be manipulated, adding: “In the end, these articles remind us perhaps the biggest criminals are the ones that are hiding in plain sight.”

The articles have an international flavour, covering Operation Tabernula – Britain’s biggest insider-trading scandal – as well as public corruption in the US, and money-laundering in Pakistan.

There are historical perspectives – on tax evasion, for example, and on the 2008 global financial crisis – as well as exploration of the likely future impact of technology in areas such as cryptocurrency. Pictured top is Kareem Serageldin, the only banker to be jailed following the events of 2008.

The edition’s tribute to Black economists includes a profile of Sadie Alexander, who in 1921 became the first African-American woman in the US to earn a PhD (in Economics) from an American university. Thwarted in her ambition to become an Economics professor, she went on to become a lawyer and civil rights activist. A more contemporary influential Black economist, William Darity, a professor at North Carolina’s Duke University, is the subject of another profile.

• Those with access to the eQE portal can read the current and previous editions of The Econobethan here.

2024 School Captain Chanakya Seetharam relished learning about German culture, benefitted greatly from his deep dive into the language, and met many  “incredible people” – including an Old Elizabethan – during a three-week trip as a Dresden Scholar.

An A-level German student, Chanakya was nominated by the School for one of the prestigious scholarships offered by the Dresden Trust, a British charity that fosters relations with the eastern German city of Dresden. One of the greatest centres of European culture, Dresden, which is in Saxony, was destroyed by Allied bombing in February 1945.

His visit was hosted by a German family and included lessons at the St Benno-Gymnasium (a ‘Gymnasium’ is roughly equivalent to a grammar school), as well as plenty of time to explore.

In his report on his visit, Chanakya said: “My time in Dresden was simply unforgettable. I have learned so much about German culture, the German language, and have met such incredible people. Most of all, however, my experience is a testament to the profound benefits of language-learning.”

Like QE, the St Benno-Gymnasium, has a long and proud history, having been established in 1709 to educate boy choristers (‘Kapellknaben’).

“Each school year begins with a church service in the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) at which new students receive a model fish representing the school logo (the ichthys) to symbolise their acceptance into the school community. This year, the Year 6s were kind enough to make extra ‘Benno fish’ to be presented to the school’s exchange students. I certainly felt incredibly welcome being presented my fish at the end of a service that had otherwise been full of lovely German choral music,” he wrote.

“I also took great pleasure in noticing smaller differences between QE and school in Germany. The lack of uniform was perhaps the most immediately noticeable, but equally surprising was the discovery that chalk boards remain a common feature of classrooms across the country.

“Far from the stereotype that Germans are cold, all the students and teachers I met were incredibly lovely.”

Similarly, he greatly appreciated his host family’s “incredible warmness and openness to conversation”. He was able to talk to them about “the legacy of the GDR [German Democratic Republic – the communist east German state], life in modern Germany, and – much to my delight – German politics in the weeks leading up to Saxony’s state elections”.

Chanakya also enjoyed the reminder of home brought by 2024 QE leaver Arjun Patel. Arjun was in Dresden on his swansong tour with the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain. Chanakya attended one of his concerts at the ‘Auferstehungskirche’ (‘Church of the Resurrection’) and spoke to him afterwards.

During his free hours, he enjoyed exploring the city, especially its “gorgeous baroque church – the ‘Frauenkirche’ (‘Church of Our Lady’)”. This was rebuilt following its destruction in World War II, with the support of benefactors including the Dresden Trust

“A beautiful artistic rendering of the Old City is to be found in a painting by the Venetian artist Bernardo Bellotto often called the Canaletto-Blick,” he wrote. “I was lucky enough to see the painting up close when visiting the city’s Alte Meister (Old Masters) gallery.”

He concluded: “Without my German lessons at QE, I simply would not have been able to engage with another culture and build relationships in the way that I have. The lesson? Keep at it with the adjective endings!”

• To read Chanakya’s report in full, click here.

The 2024 School Play delved deep into the tumultuous events that marked the decades-long run-up to Indian independence in 1947.

Lions and Tigers explored not only the conflict between the eponymous British lions and Bengal tigers, but also between factions of the independence movement, including those, led by Gandhi, who espoused civil disobedience, and those favouring violent insurrection.

Written by British playwright Tanika Gupta, the play combines the story of her great-uncle, Dinesh Gupta, a 19-year-old Indian freedom-fighter hanged by the British in 1931 after shooting dead the Inspector-General of Prisons, with the broader history of the fight for Indian independence.

Congratulating all involved, Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The production did not shy away from the pain, violence and brutality of the period, but dealt with the complex issues sensitively and conveyed the emotional depth of the characters. It was impactful and, at times, shocking, yet done with a gravitas and maturity that belied the age of some of the young performers.”

Lions and Tigers was first performed in 2017 at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in Southwark, coinciding with the 70^th anniversary of Indian independence.

QE’s production involved 15 boys in the principal roles, supported by an acting ensemble playing other parts.

Two very well attended performances were held after school on consecutive days in the Main School Hall, while Year 9 attended a final dress rehearsal.

“The play was notable for a host of powerful and impassioned performances,” said Mr Enright. “The whole cast, including the ensemble, did a brilliant job, with Akshay Shah setting the tone with an amazing performance as the central character, Dinesh Gupta.”

Other notable mentions should go to Daniel Kollo as Charles Tegart, Nittant Moudgil as Mahatma Gandhi, Soham Sapra as Subhash Bose, and Aahan Shah as Jyotish Gupta, he added.

“It was nice to see a good number of other pupils attending, whether aspiring actors, older students who have been part of the QE drama community, or those who were just there to support friends.”

The play was directed by RM Drama’s Gavin Molloy. Musical support was provided by QE’s Indian Music Ensemble.

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter lauded the “immersive and visually interesting staging”, which was done ‘in the round’, as well as “the clever and effective use of newsreel footage and recorded voice-overs”. One example of the latter was that the actors had voiced in advance the words to the letters their characters had sent (as set out in the script): these were then played through the sound system while the boys acted out what had been written.

• Click on the thumbnails below to view the images.

Both QE teams have qualified for the final, global round of the World Economics Cup – with ‘Team 2’ coming first and  ‘Team 1’ second in Europe.

Their success in the continental round and, before that, at the national round, comes in the first year that QE boys have entered the competition.

The boys, now in Year 13, found the opportunity themselves and entered on their own initiative, with the School then supporting them by negotiating down the cost of entry, given QE’s status as a state school.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The results, announced recently, reveal the quite remarkable success of our young economists: this is a huge achievement. I offer my congratulations to both teams. They should be especially commended on their dedication: with their continental round taking place during the summer holidays, the boys had to collaborate digitally, and that involved lots of Zoom calls, one reportedly going on until 2am!”

“We wish them all the best for the final round, which takes place in a few days’ time.”

The boys’ successful ‘cup run’ began last term when the two teams both won gold awards in the UK round. In fact all 12 boys achieved ‘highest distinction’ individual awards, while four team members, Avi Juneja, Saim Khan, Rohan Varia and Uday Dash, were also national ‘top 10 scorers’.

In each round of the competition, entrants have to tackle three modules, entitled Fundamentals, Deep Comprehension and Thinking & Innovation. Teams from 47 countries competed in this year’s World Economics Cup. There were five continental rounds, including the European one.

Modules 1 and 2 each have around 100 questions that every person on the team has to answer. The team score was the aggregated average – which meant there could be no ‘weak links’ among the six-strong teams.

The deep comprehension round also introduces case studies, alongside data and university-style lectures, to test how participants understand, interpret and analyse new information.

Team 2’s Saim Khan said: “The deep-thinking segment gave me a new appreciation for the depth of consideration that must be given from all angles when it comes to economic policy-making and implementing.”

Module 3 is fully collaborative and involves delivering a 15-minute video presentation, identifying problems and solutions based upon a brief. The brief is the same for all teams, but only released the day before the submission deadline – so competitors have no more than 24 hours to respond. In the continental round, the module revolved around a healthcare company that planned to introduce AI and robots into the workforce.

For Andreas Angelopoulos, of Team 2, this was a highlight: “I particularly enjoyed collaborating with my teammates on our solution to the Thinking & Innovation portion of the European round, in which we proposed a framework that ‘MediTech Innovations’ could use to implement AI into the workforce ecosystem.”

For his part, Team 1 member Ishtarth Katageri relished the sheer challenge of this module: “Collaborating with my team mates when we had a day to respond was difficult, especially with some team members in different countries at the time.”

Team 2’s Uday Dash reflected on the event so far: “Being able to refine my problem-solving skills in the context of an international economics competition is a unique thrill that I am incredibly appreciative of!”

And Uday’s teammate, Zaki Mustafa, expressed a similar view: “The competition has been a great opportunity to apply our economics knowledge practically, in areas such as ‘fintech’ and cryptocurrency mining. I’m really proud to have reached the finals with a great team.”

Tejas Bansal added: “Participating in the World Economics Cup has been an amazing experience for us – coming first in the European round was a huge achievement, and I found the presentation part especially rewarding. We look forward to the final round!”

Team 1
Kush Mandan
Avi Juneja
Shrey Tater
Hari Kumarappan
Shreyaas Sandeep
Ishtarth Katageri

Team 2
Saim Khan
Rohan Varia
Uday Dash
Zaki Mustafa
Andreas Angelopoulos
Tejas Bansal

• Most of the QE competitors are pictured above, with members of both teams at the top, then Team 2, then Team 1.

The School’s new pupil-run Biology journal has now been published as a stand-alone publication for the first time.

Featuring articles by six of QE’s senior biologists, Bioquest looks in detail at medical topics, from the effects of ingesting microplastics to HIV immunity, while also examining ethical issues.

The first edition of the magazine was published last academic year within the pages of the Econobethan, the School’s established pupil-run Economics and Politics publication, but the 17-page second issue now stands on its own, published within the Biology section of the eQE portal.

Biology teacher Hinesh Shah said: “My congratulations go to all the contributors: Bioquest is a colourful, interesting read on some fascinating topics. This is an excellent example of free-thinking scholarship, with these six students digging deep into their own areas of academic interest.”

The magazine includes the following articles:

• How are microplastics impacting our digestive pathways? by Shivam Vyas
• Potential autoantibody biomarker to MS, by Hadi Al-Esia
• Cancer-causing viruses, by Seyed Jalili
• HIV immunity and how it has arisen, by Aaron Rodrigo
• How effective and ethically acceptable will immunotherapy be in the future for treating various diseases, by Advik Balaji
• CRISPR and conscience: Shaping immunity, shaping ethics, by Dharm Gajjar.

Dharm is in Year 12. All the other authors are in Year 13.

In their writing, the pupils seek to set out the results of research on their respective topics and to update readers on the latest thinking. In his piece, for example, Seyed begins by saying that although viruses were once seen as the sole cause of human cancers, this has now been “widely disproven”. He charts the development of this understanding, while also including a case study of one virus that is, in fact, carcinogenic, namely hepatitis B.

In the magazine’s final two articles, Advik and Dharm both look at ethical issues arising from gene-editing and immunotherapy, with Advik specifying the changes he believes are necessary in the NHS “to ensure procedures occur ethically”. Dharm reports on the recently developed technique of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and its use to treat people with underlying conditions deriving from genetic mutations, such as cystic fibrosis or polydactyly. While acknowledging its importance, Dharm also highlights the risks: “Ensuring safety throughout the procedure is a must, as a small mistake may have a devastating impact on the individual.”

The boys’ articles all include a bibliography, while several also feature a glossary and  ‘synoptic links’ (showing how the material covered relates to the GCSE and A-level syllabuses).

For the next edition, pupils are being invited to submit cover designs in a new competition. The editorial team, comprising this edition’s authors, write: “We invite our readers to share their creativity and scientific knowledge by designing posters that encapsulate the essence of biological science.”

• Bioquest, edition II, may be read here by anyone with access to eQE.