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Guest speaker Claude Francois Muhuza (OE 2001-08) urged boys at QE’s Junior Awards Ceremony to make the most of their opportunities – and he has certainly practised what he preaches.

Having escaped from war-torn Rwanda as a small child, he did not begin primary school until he was six and later spent seven highly successful years at QE, before making his mark at Cambridge University and beginning a career in law.

Born in Kigali, Rwanda, in 1990, Claude spent the first four years of his life there before being forced to flee the country with his mother. During the next two years spent with his mother in Tanzania and Kenya, he had no formal education. Arriving in London, he started to learn English when his mother enrolled him at Harlesden Primary.

Claude quickly established himself as a model pupil upon joining QE in 2001: he was Deputy Form Captain in Year 7, started Year 8 as Form Captain and was chosen to greet visitors at open evenings and School events. He also studied hard, gaining many commendations in the Lower School.

In Year 10, he was appointed as a Colt Prefect and later, when in the Sixth Form, became a Senior Prefect. As a Sixth-Former, he became a skilled debater and was jointly responsible for organising and leading the School’s entry to the European Youth Parliament. The team’s success saw them ultimately being invited to represent the UK in events in Turkey and Greece, which was a first for the School.

His significant contribution to the life of QE was recognised when he was awarded the Chairman of Governors’ prize in his final year. His Year Head’s report praised him as “One of the outstanding students in his year group, or indeed any other, Claude is all that one would wish for in a Year 13 student; he balances academic drive with good humour, while giving of his time freely and openly.”

Claude gained A grades in Economics, English Literature, French and History A-levels, together with an A in the AS Critical Thinking qualification.

Having secured a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge, to read Law, he was elected President of the college’s Student Union. He was presented with the Crowden Award for making such a distinguished contribution to the life of his college.

Claude has consistently lent his time and abilities to the support of good causes. At Cambridge, he served as treasurer to a committee charged with putting on a Law conference for more than 300 Sixth-Formers from around the country and also sat on the 1347 Development Committee, which raises money for causes including an African Scholarship scheme and student support. He was the Publicity Officer for the Black and Ethnic Minorities Students’ Campaign, helping to organise careers events and a diversity week.

Claude (OE 2001-08) is beginning his career at the London offices of international law firm Baker & McKenzie.

He was the guest of honour at QE’s 2012 Junior Awards Ceremony.

Marine biologist Nick Jones has worked in some of the most beautiful locations in the world – and with some of the most exotic animals too.

Nick (OE 1996-2004) became passionate about science – especially biology – while still at QE, but he feels sure few would have predicted then that he would become a marine biologist working in remote locations all over the globe.

Alongside the interest in biology, he also had a love of the sea, and it was these two passions that led him to enrol in the Marine Biology course at Southampton University. Gaining his Master’s degree in 2009, he won a scholarship for an internship at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences to work in the coral reef ecology department. That led on to an opportunity to establish a new coral reef research programme for the research and conservation company Blue Ventures in Belize, Central America.

During this time, he enjoyed some “awe-inspiring occasions”, including swimming with colourful reef fish, endangered manatees and turtles, and also sharing the water with potentially dangerous sharks and crocodiles.

In fact, sharks were a long-standing interest, so when he was then offered the chance to study Great Whites in South Africa, it was an opportunity too good to miss. Working with this endangered species was a dream job for Nick, albeit one that required constant vigilance, given that the sharks can reach over 20 feet in length and weigh over a tonne.

From there, he was drawn to the warmer waters of the Seychelles, working on a cutting-edge project to grow coral reef on large artificial reefs in an attempt to replenish the depleted coral reefs of the region. It meant living on an island with five times as many giant tortoises as people and being regularly interrupted by nesting Hawksbill turtles (he is pictured with one above).

After spending three years in the field, he has now returned to England to work for the Environment Agency. Since returning, he has been able to indulge another long-term interest – cricket. This has included organising an OE team for the Founder’s Day match against the School’s current First XI. This Founder’s Day match, an old QE tradition, was re-established in 2012 by Headmaster Neil Enright. It was also given a new name, The Stanley Busby Memorial Match, in honour of Mr Busby, a former QE parent and also a Governor from 1989-2011.

Neuroscientist Peter Zeidman is now pursuing his ‘real love’ – namely academic research. Working towards his PhD at the Wellcome Trust, he is already attracting national attention.

Peter (OE 1996-2003) appeared as part of a panel of young scientists in an updated radio version of the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World programme for Radio 5Live, where he discussed neural interfaces using EEG [Electroencephalography]. These could allow the identification of consciousness in patients incorrectly diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. It could potentially even allow two-way communication with these locked-in patients.

He took a first-class degree in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from the University of Birmingham in 2006, and followed it with a Masters in Natural Computation and an MSc in Neuroscience from University College, London, in 2009. After teaching himself the cell biology, biochemistry and linear algebra he needed for his MSc at UCL, he received a distinction and won a prize for the best thesis.

To investigate whether a career in industry might be for him, he spent two years developing computer systems for Tessella PLC. Although he enjoyed the work, this period served to confirm that he would rather devote his career to academic research.

Peter is now studying for a PhD at the Wellcome Trust for Neuro-imaging at UCL. His research – which he describes as extremely exciting – uses MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to explore the relationship between memory, imagination and spatial awareness in the human brain. He hopes that understanding how a healthy brain comprehends visual scenes will lead to a better understanding of how the brain functions in illness and disease.

In a letter to the School, he describes how his time at QE created a platform for his current success: “Above anything else, Queen Elizabeth’s gave me the confidence to do well. Growing up with intelligent and interesting schoolmates also taught me a huge amount.”

Joe Sheffer is establishing himself as a freelance journalist and cameraman, based in Yemen, one of the world’s most notorious trouble spots. After leaving QE, Joe (OE 2000-2007) spent seven months touring on his motorcycle, visiting Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, China and the Himalayas, illustrating his blog with his own photography.

He returned to the UK to read Politics and International Relations at Manchester University, although his time as a student was punctuated by a cycling trip on the central Asian Pamir Highway – known as ‘the rooftop of the world’.
Realising that there were opportunities for a freelance journalist, after graduating Joe settled in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen.

He specialises in covering news in the Gulf and East Africa, and his news features have appeared in The Times, the Guardian, Private Eye and Global Post. He also works regularly for Channel 4 News. Joe has covered the conflict with al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula and reported on the anti-Government protests around the 2012 Grand Prix in Bahrain.

His interest in current affairs, self-reliance and energy were all evident during his time at QE. An original thinker, he spoke regularly and well in Sixth Form debates, and was greatly respected as the Sergeant Major in the CCF and as a Prefect. Alongside his studies for A-levels in Politics, Business Studies and History, he made time for a wide range of activities outside School, including attending local party political meetings, climbing, kayaking, organising work in a press agency, learning Arabic and planning his travels in the Middle East.

Piers Martin’s (OE 1987-1995) love of sport has led him to a number of top GB sports leadership and advisory roles.

Piers (OE 1987-1995) swam internationally during his time at QE, but then switched to water polo, playing for Great Britain as a Junior and Senior.

“I made a natural move into coaching and tutoring whilst at [Manchester] University,” he says. “I then took a job as National Development Manager for Water Polo with the ASA, the governing body for swimming.” Later, he was appointed as a Director, running the North West Region.

Following an MBA at Manchester Business School, he took up a role consulting on the UK set-up of the World Academy of Sport - a global programme offered to sports federations.

This was followed by his recruitment to help prepare fencing for London 2012, with a focus on taking the sport from one led by an amateur committee to one run as a successful business.

During the run-up to the 2012 Games, Piers was the Guest of Honour at QE’s Founder’s Day service at Chipping Barnet Parish Church, where he spoke of his work with the Olympic team.

The fencers enjoyed mixed fortunes at the 2012 Olympics. Britain remains without an Olympic fencing medal since 1964, but there were some promising signs: in the quarter-finals of the men’s team foil, the British team were only narrowly beaten by the world number-one team, Italy, who went on to take the gold medal.

Piers backed a post-Games, sport-by-sport Olympic assessment by the Independent newspaper, which called for British Fencing to be allowed to continue implementing “far-reaching change” for another Olympic cycle.

Since stepping down from his role with British Fencing, Piers has taken on a number of sports-related appointments.

In 2012 he became a director of The Podium Group, which creates strategies for Sport & Business and also of Saxon Vaal Consulting Ltd. Between 2012 and 2014 he was the Chief Operating Officer of British Bobsleigh. He was appointed as a Trustee of both UK Deaf Sport and the British Disabled Fencing Association in 2014. In 2014 he also became an advisor to British Wheelchair Basketball.

The Autumn Term began on a high note, with the School still celebrating our most successful year to date for A-level results. The proportion of A*, A and B grades achieved rose to 98.5%. By this measure, in 2012 QE is probably the best-performing state school in the country. This was, and is, a superlative academic performance to be savoured by all and, I trust, one that will be emulated in the years to come.

The Autumn Term brought further external recognition of the School’s achievements. First came news that, based on 2011 examination results, we had been named the best boys’ state school in the Financial Times Top 1,000 Schools table. Similarly, QE retained its place as the best boys’ state school in the Sunday Times’ Top 200 State Secondary Schools league table and, in terms of A-level statistics published in the newspaper’s table for independent schools, matched the top-placed boys’ school, St Paul’s, while outstripping the runner-up, Westminster.

I am very pleased to be able to announce that Queen Elizabeth’s School has also won the Academic Excellence Award in the annual London Evening Standard School Awards: at time of writing, we await confirmation of the date of the presentation ceremony.

Gratifying though such awards are, there is, of course, no room for complacency. This term, we have held meetings for parents in each year group to explain our School Development Plan. Aspects of the plan that we are tackling this year include taking a fresh look at how we use questioning in lessons to prompt better responses from all boys. We hope that the boys will become more adept at expressing their points of view, articulating extended and complex arguments. Encouraging such high-level discourse is a key factor in maximising academic progress among very able boys. Teachers are working on how to best facilitate this.

We are also evaluating the use of the time that boys spend with their form tutors, examining how we might better use this time to support boys’ personal development. This evaluation has involved, inter alia, consulting the boys themselves for their views through the medium of the termly Pupil Conference.

There has been much talk recently in the news media about the importance of balanced parenting in producing children who are confident and, therefore, ultimately successful. At QE, we contend that it is most important to give boys the freedom to identify their own genuine academic interests and, indeed, to find and develop wider interests, too. I urge boys of all ages to discover these and then to throw themselves wholeheartedly into pursuing them through their studies and through our extensive range of extra-curricular clubs and activities. On a personal note, I am greatly looking forward to joining the German exchange to Bielefeld next summer.

Improvements to the School campus have continued this term. Recent work has included decoration and the fitting of new windows in our School Hall, as well as the refurbishment of other parts of our Main Building. As you can read elsewhere in this newsletter, this autumn we have been celebrating the 80th anniversary of the opening of these buildings. We continue to make progress towards the creation of our new Library and Dining Hall, which is proving to be a complicated build.

The Autumn Term has been a time of preparation for university entrance among our Sixth Form, involving many mock interviews. I am optimistic that we can look forward to good news following boys’ real-life university interviews.

This term, I have also enjoyed several social gatherings, including the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s quiz. Similarly, I greatly enjoyed our Christmas Concert: it is always pleasant to meet parents, friends and old boys of the School at such informal occasions.

May I conclude by wishing you a restful and happy festive season and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Neil Enright