This term began with Queen Elizabeth’s School still in celebratory mood following our superlative results at both GCSE and A-level.
New records were set in August, with the number of GCSE examinations awarded the A* grade hitting 78%. At A-level, we recorded our highest-ever total of A* grades, while 2018 was the 13th consecutive year in which the proportion of examinations awarded A*–B grades – a commonly used benchmark figure – has topped 95%.
Since then, external sources have further confirmed and corroborated our success. First came a Government league table showing that QE is the top selective school in England when measured against the Department for Education’s Progress 8 figure, which records progress between the end of Key Stage 2 (the last year of primary school) and GCSE results in Year 11. Our Progress 8 figure of 1.22 placed us ahead of any other grammar school and 15th out of the 6,530 schools and colleges measured. Furthermore, the School comfortably outperformed all 14 schools above it when compared against two other Government measures, Attainment 8 and the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), both of which are methods of recording pupils’ achievement in key GCSE subjects.
That was followed by evidence of the School’s success in providing high-calibre careers education emerging in a national survey conducted by recruitment consultancy Rare. This found that more boys from QE apply to graduate recruitment programmes run by blue-chip law, finance and management firms than from any other state boys’ school.
More recently still, QE was crowned the country’s top state school in the Sunday Times Parent Power survey, overtaking the 2017 winners, The Henrietta Barnett School, to head the table comprising the 150 leading state schools. This highly influential survey determines ranking based on the percentage of examination entries gaining A* to B grades at A-level (which is given double weighting) and the percentage of entries awarded A* and A grades at GCSE.
QE may perhaps with some justification now lay claim to being considered the UK’s leading state school. Precisely because of that, it is important that our horizons as a school are broad and expansive, and that we encourage, train and nurture our pupils so that they can excel in our increasingly interconnected world. This term’s commemoration of the centenary of the 1918 Armistice stands, among other things, as a warning, a sobering reminder of the potentially disastrous consequences of narrow nationalism. And whatever the outcome of the current turbulent period surrounding Brexit, Britain’s future leaders in society, commerce and academia will need to be equipped to thrive both in Europe and beyond.
Major employers frequently lament the dearth of readily employable graduates who are globally-minded, cross-culturally competent, and, preferably, able to speak another language other than English. To gain such a global perspective, boys need to acquire ‘soft skills’ such as open-mindedness, the ability to listen carefully to others, interest in other cultures, adaptability and curiosity. All of these attributes are in fact adumbrated in aspects of our mission, which, for example, enjoins the School to encourage “independence of thought” and to focus “the boys’ attention on their own development and aspirations, both at the School and beyond”.
It is tremendously important that boys develop and maintain a broad outlook alongside their achievement of very strong academic results if they are to thrive. One foundation of such a holistic approach is that boys begin reflecting upon their own lives and attitudes as they start finding their place in the world. Two of our alumni, poet Anthony Anaxagorou (OE 1994–1999) and Bilal Harry Khan (OE 2003–2010, featured elsewhere in this newsletter) explored the sometimes-tricky areas of identity, masculinity and gender roles when they visited this term, with Bilal speaking to Year 11 and Anthony delivering a Sixth Form assembly. Alongside and related to these areas, we recognise the importance of boys looking outwards in their relationships, adopting habits of kindness, thoughtfulness and respect for others. By so doing, not only do boys establish better relationships, but they also stand to gain themselves.
For those seeking to learn how to operate effectively in a global environment, it is important, too, that their relationships include some with people from other walks of life and from other cultures. There are frequent opportunities for boys to broaden their horizons through purposeful international travel. Whether these are sports tours or subject-related trips organised by academic departments, such visits always deepen intercultural understanding.
For our senior boys, we are encouraging the increasing aspiration of many to study abroad. A sizeable group of our Year 12 boys have been working this term with our visiting interns from the University of Connecticut and others as they prepare to submit applications to US universities. Visits from recent leavers, such as Valavan Ananthakumaraswamy (OE 2009-2016), the first QE boy ever to be offered a place at Stanford University, provide further inspiration.
I wish all our alumni a Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
Neil Enright
The experience, entitled Klimt’s Magic Garden, firstly won Fred a Silver Medal for Cinematic Virtual Reality at the European Virtual Reality Halo Awards in Amsterdam.
In Klimt’s Magic Garden, which is experienced using virtual reality headsets, everything the viewer sees originally comes from Klimt, yet it has all been given depth, movement, and natural-style lighting. The experience features a digital spatial narrative structure that reflects the themes of expectation and fulfilment Klimt explored in his work for the Stoclet Palace.
He returned to St John’s in 2014 to create a 
duates, all ‘black and mixed-race guys’, looking at life, diversity and the challenges faced after graduation. One recent episode of the podcast featured an interview with Stormzy, following the artist’s decision to sponsor scholarships at the university for black students.
When used in the UK, the term ‘mixed-race’ is generally presumed to mean a combination of white and ‘something else’, he said, yet that did not describe him or many other people. “Perhaps we need to change the definition to include people like myself, like my mum,” he said.
identity and you. His own passion, Bilal told the boys, was for “social equality and change, youth empowerment, equal opportunity”.
Volunteers gathered early for a reception and the chance to network in Café 1573. Later, there was a tremendous buzz on the convention floor as alumni shared their experiences and answered questions from Year 11 boys and their parents.
range of opportunities. It is always incredibly useful for the boys to be able to seek advice from those who have been at the School and who have had the experience of establishing themselves in their chosen fields.
In addition to representatives of the major professions, those present at the convention included a good number who have forged a path in more unusual careers, such as:
The evening featured the customary speeches and time-honoured toasts, but there was also opportunity aplenty for alumni to chat with old classmates and strike up new friendships in a relaxed and convivial environment.
n, a senior software developer with electronic trading company Nex Group, attended with his fiancée, Ana Maria Soler Castells, whom he was marrying on the following day. He had, therefore, been very busy in the run-up to the dinner, he said, but added that the resilience one learns as a QE boy had stood him in good stead as he strove to cope with these competing demands!
ciation which is driving so many to volunteer to help current boys and give something back.”
in front of the Queen on Commonwealth Day and who performed a specially commissioned poem as part of the international TV coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.
association, with the response given by the association’s Chairman, Martyn Bradish (OE 1962–1969). This was followed by the toast to the School proposed by guest speaker Alan Ingham, with the Headmaster giving the response.
hish hopes to study Neuroscience at university and has already prepared for this by undertaking work experience in local hospitals and by examining neurological ways of treating depression in his Extended Project Qualification dissertation.
“It is about undying and everlasting love; something which is quite rare today. Igniting love is often the simple part. However, building that sustainability and strength in a relationship is extremely difficult and many people press the ‘quit’ button too soon. The Spanish lines within the chorus – ‘nunca digas adios’ (never say goodbye)’ and ‘nunca digas nunca’ (never say never) – describe never giving up on someone during a difficult period, when you know they are a diamond and worth fighting for!
“I opted for the former because that would allow me to have a level of stability upon which the second could hopefully flourish one day.” After obtaining a first in Biomaterials Science at King’s College London and completing his MBBS and foundation training, he obtained the Registrar post at the Northern School of Radiology in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he now lives.