Viewing archives for Alumni

Thirty-five Elizabethans received offers from Oxford and Cambridge universities this year, having successfully surmounted all the extra challenges posed by Covid throughout their A-level studies.

The 29 Cambridge and six Oxford places offered take the total number of Oxbridge offers secured by QE boys over the past three years to 114.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Huge congratulations to these students for showing such fortitude and for maintaining their focus throughout their extraordinary Sixth Form years, when they have had to contend with extended lockdowns, the cancellation of all the public examinations they were to have sat, and university interviews that were held online.

“Despite all these difficulties, they were still able to demonstrate their ability, keen interest, and the positive contribution they would make to university life. Their success is the result of careful preparation, hard work over many years, the support of their families and others, and of the little bit of luck you need in such a highly competitive process – we have other very deserving candidates who did not secure Oxbridge offers.

“We are, of course, very proud to celebrate this achievement, which consolidates our consistent record of sending large numbers of leavers to Oxford and Cambridge every year. It should be said, however, that it is not the be all and end all here: many of our other Year 13s are currently receiving exciting offers for well-regarded courses at internationally respected universities around the country.”

“I must mention the significant efforts of their teachers in helping these 35 Elizabethans secure their Oxbridge offers, whether through lessons, arranging mock interviews, running extension classes, producing UCAS references, co-ordinating entries for admissions assessments, or contributing to the many and wide-ranging enrichment opportunities available to our boys. I also thank the many Old Elizabethans and other friends of the School who rallied round to offer mock interviews in online format.”

Among the broad range of courses are:

• Engineering (six offers)
• Medicine (five)
• Mathematics (four)
• Human, Social & Political Sciences (three)
• Economics (three).

The highest number of offers came from three Cambridge colleges, with four apiece from Gonville & Gaius, St Catharine’s and Girton.

While a large majority of the 35 offers received this year are for current Year 13 boys, two have been made to 2021 leavers, namely Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy and Yuvan Vasanthakumaran. Deshraam is spending this year working for Springboard Pro, a company that develops advanced medical devices, having won the placement through the national Year in Industry scheme. His success thus exemplifies the possibilities of pursuing an alternative route to university.

Two former classmates stressed the importance of being true to your authentic self as they spoke to sixth-formers about their lives and careers.

Arjun Paliwal and Matthew Chew, who both attended QE from 2006–2013 and were in the same Pearce form group, returned as guest speakers for the Year 12 luncheon. The annual event gives Year 12 boys the experience of the sort of formal meal, including speeches, that they are likely to encounter at university and in their later careers.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The luncheon is part of our programme aimed at supporting boys in line with the commitment in our mission statement to produce young men who are ‘confident’ and to ‘nurture intellectual, verbal and social skills, giving pupils the ability to act appropriately in any situation’. It is also, of course, a nice opportunity to get together over a long lunch, with the boys being joined by their form tutors and by senior staff.

“My thanks go to Matthew and Arjun who had some sage advice for current Elizabethans as they developed their theme of authenticity with respect to their respective careers, as well as touching on their sexuality.

“I am also grateful to the volunteers from the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s, as well as to some Year 9 helpers, who made the event possible and helped it run smoothly.”

The lunch was the first formal occasion presided over by the 2022 School Captain, Theo Mama-Kahn, who was the master of ceremonies. He was supported by Senior Vice-Captains Antony Yassa – who introduced Arjun and Matthew – and Ansh Jassra, who said the grace and delivered the vote of thanks following the speeches.

The two OEs both work in different roles within digital advertising – Matthew as a Paid Social Account Director at MediaCom UK and Arjun as a Client Solutions Manager, Luxury, for Meta (parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram). Both are also members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

In his speech, Arjun spoke of the importance of “finding and owning your rhythm”, which he defined as “the intersection of authenticity, energy and motion: knowing who you are, harnessing the energy that comes from that and then bringing it to everything you do”.

Doing so is difficult but nonetheless important, he said. He recounted his experience of debating with his parents whether or not to go to university: Arjun eventually went on to take a first in Fine Art at Oxford.

He added: “I came out as bisexual a couple of years ago and since then have not only felt prouder and more confident in myself, but I’ve also allowed my sexuality to become one of my superpowers. There are as many ways to be a man as there are men; we don’t have to be universal.”

Arjun also cited Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ now-famous speech at Stanford University in 2005: “…you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

He told the Year 12 boys: “I love this quote because it reminds me that going forward takes courage and authenticity…All you can really do is be the best version of yourself, own your rhythm and wear it proudly on your sleeve. Then let things fall into place around you. You’ll be well-armed to face the challenges that come and truly present to maximise the great moments that fill your world.”

For his part, Matthew recalled how he pursued his passion for German, spending time in Germany, where he still has many friends. He read German with Management Studies at UCL. Studying a language helped him think in a different way, he explained. He reserved special praise for the QE Languages department and was thrilled to catch up with Burgunde Lukasser-Weitlaner, Assistant Head of Languages (Modern), and Languages teacher Helen Shephard during his visit.

He stressed that “the path through life is not always a means to an end”, urging boys to own their decisions – “good and bad” – since “they make you who you are”, thus again corresponding to Steve Job’s maxim about joining the dots.

Matthew, who is a voice on LGBTQIA+ matters at a company-wide level, mentioned some of the initiatives he has been involved with, such as the move by Mars to replace the normal rainbow colouring of its Skittles sweets with grey to celebrate Pride Month.

With questions opened to the floor, the boys quizzed the pair on the use of targeted advertisements, given their respective roles in digital advertising. Arjun explained that, in his personal view, targeting was about showing people content they cared about, and that online advertising can be the lifeblood of many small businesses who would otherwise be really struggling. Matthew concurred, adding that there has been a big investment in processing data safely. It was noted that Meta has information about these matters on its privacy site.

Two sixth-formers organised a quiz in aid of a charity named after an old boy of the School, as quizzes continue to prove popular throughout the Elizabethan community.

Year 13’s Vishruth Dhamodharan and Varun Vijay Kumar brought together teams from Year 7 and 8 and from 9 and 10 to compete to raise money for Guy’s Trust.

In a separate event, the eagerly-awaited inter-House QIQE quiz returned this year, with Harrisons’ taking the honours in a keenly fought final.

And both competitions followed the success of The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s quiz earlier in the term – the Friends’ first in-person charity event since before the pandemic.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate both the winners and the organisers of these events. Quizzes seem to appeal to many here: they give people an opportunity to indulge their competitive spirit and demonstrate their knowledge, while at the same time competitors have a good deal of fun and, often, raise money for good causes, too.”

Vishruth and Varun were inspired by the good work done by educational charity Guy’s Trust in the developing world, and organised the quiz to support it, raising £163.50. The charity is named after marine biologist, scuba instructor, paraglider and adventurer Guy Joseph (OE 1997-2002), who died aged 25 in a paragliding accident in the Pyrenees in October 2011. It has recently funded the installation of water systems to nine primary schools in Cambodia so that the children there have clean drinking water.

Twelve teams from Years 9 and 10 battled it out, covering subjects including Mathematics, Literature and Science. The winning team was Year 9’s Riyan Siyani, Adithya Raghuraman, Danyal Talha and Ram Chockalingam – the curiously named Team SIUUUUUUUUUU.

Next it was the turn of the first two years. After a tense three-way tie, Year 8’s Keeyan Shah, Vu-Lam Le-Nguyen, Ishaan Jugran and Olic Fan – Team Dino Nuggies – emerged as the winners.

In the QIQE quiz, teams comprised one pupil from each of Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. The University Challenge-style format involved ‘starters for ten’ (with boys raising their table-tennis bat paddles for attention) and then three five-point bonuses on another topic.

Under the watchful eye of quizmaster Tom Harrison, Head of Year 7, Harrisons’ and Underne progressed to the final in front of Years 7-10 on the basis of their posting the highest scores in the preliminary rounds.

Harrisons’ ultimately came out narrowly on top in the Shearly Hall, winning 145–135.

“It was hugely exciting, and there was an impressive array of general knowledge on display,” said Mr Harrison.

QE’s First XV pulled on their navy and sky blue-hooped shirts for one last time as they took on rivals Habs at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium, 99 years after the fixture was first played between the two schools.

The evening got off to a great start, with resounding wins against Haberdashers’ Boys’ School by the Year 8 A and B teams, who racked up scores of 65-0 and 45-0 respectively.

And, with the First XV buoyant after two consecutive wins against St Ignatius College and Watford Grammar School, hopes were high that they could avenge their loss to Habs earlier in the season in the National Vase.

In the end, it was not to be – Habs overturned a half-time 10-0 deficit to emerge as narrow victors on the night – but Head of Rugby James Clarke had nothing but praise for his players: “It was a great game with a monumental defensive effort and a result that could have gone our way on a different night. The squad has come an awful long way from the early season struggles after a year of missed rugby due to COVID. I am extremely proud of the effort, attitude and commitment that the whole squad have shown this year.”

The games proved a big draw across the Elizabethan community. “It was lovely to see so many of our younger boys, parents, siblings and Old Elizabethans in attendance,  and our senior players were most grateful for the vocal support.”

The Year 8 games had been worthy curtain-raisers for the later First XV match, said Mr Clarke, with the convincing victories representing a major improvement by the A team in particular, who had lost 6 tries to 5 earlier in the season in the reverse fixture. The A team is coached by PE teacher Peter Pickford. Alvin Xu was named Player of the Match for the A team, while Faaiz Adil took the accolade for the B team.

In the main match, after repelling an early Habs onslaught, QE took the lead through Alex Diamond scoring in the far corner.

“After withstanding further pressure following the restart, QE eventually worked their way up the pitch via some intelligent kicking from scrumhalf Taro Niimura and were now within striking range of the same corner. The forwards took charge as they tried to drive over the try line from close range but were met with fierce resistance. After recycling possession multiple times and bringing in reinforcements, Aditya Narayan dived over for a well-earned score to stretch our lead to 10-0. We maintained this cushion until the relief of the half-time whistle after some, at times, heroic defending out wide, including a try-saving tackle from Saalif Jilani.

“The second half saw us playing against the elements and into an increasingly strong wind. Habs made full use of this advantage and pinned us deep within our half from the kick-off.  Despite us clearing our lines reasonably well, Habs threw the ball wide to create an overlap and break our defence to go over for the score.”

Habs scored an “excellent conversion”, leaving QE holding a narrow 10-7 lead. “After an injury stoppage, a typically strong QE scrum gave our backline a platform to play from, and the backs showed some excellent skills to move the ball wide behind several decoy runners and stretch and test Habs on the outside, but to no avail. Several penalties were conceded to cost us field position, and the pressure was starting to mount. Habs kicked a penalty in front of the posts to level the score at 10-10 and swing momentum in their favour. Following some initial strong defence, Habs’ again threatened out wide and their speedster slipped a tackle to score in the far corner. Advantage Habs’ with the score now 15-10 to them.

“For the final ten minutes of the match, QE had a sustained amount of possession and were ‘camped’ at the right end of the field. Habs were out on their feet, with players continuously going down with cramp and the game being stopped and started, which only added to the tension of a one-score game. After several penalties against Habs, QE had one final attempt, but couldn’t quite get the ball to stick and were thwarted in their attempts to overturn the early season result.”

“Special mentions must go to the leadership group of captain Alexandre Lee and his two vice-captains Conor Parker-Delves and Ronak Santilale,” said Mr Clarke. Player of the match was Alex Diamond.

The QE First XV squad
1. Ronak Santilale – vice-captain (Year 13); 2. Manav Khindri (Year 13); 3. Victor Angelov (Year 12); 4. Jayden Savage (Year 13); 5. Nnanna Okore (Year 13); 6. Aditya Narayan (Year 13); 7. Alexandre Lee – captain (Year 13); 8. Kelvin Aye (Year 12); 9. Taro Niimura (Year 11); 10. Danny Adey (Year 12); 11. Shadman Rahman (Year 13); 12. Keir Parker-Delves (Year 11); 13. Harvey Lamb (Year 13); 14. Alex Diamond (Year 13); 15. Saalif Jilani (Year 13).

Replacements: 16. Ryan Jayaraj (Year 12); 17. Ishraq Zamee (Year 13); 18. Dilan Patel (Year 12); 19. Aadarsh Khimasia (Year 13); 20. Alex Woodcock (Year 13).

Old Elizabethan Makoto Takahashi, a global expert on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan, gave a group of current sixth-formers a special invitation to an exhibition he has curated.

Featuring photography and a number of essays, the exhibition, which marks the tenth anniversary of the nuclear disaster and the earthquake and tsunami that precipitated it, is being held at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The earthquake and tsunami killed more than 15,000 and triggered a triple meltdown at the power station, forcing 200,000 people from their homes.

Makoto (OE 2003-2010) treated the 13 Art & Design and Geography A-level students to a lecture and a personal tour.

Head of Art Craig Wheatley said: “The exhibition explores the lingering legacy of the 2011 disaster. There is a sophisticated and diverse range of photography that challenged the boys’ appreciation of both the aesthetic and conceptual. Having Makoto’s insight was invaluable; his willingness to explain and unpack the work was matched by the boys’ enthusiasm and desire to learn more.”

“In his QE days, Makoto was himself a talented A-level artist and geographer,” Mr Wheatley said.

He is a lecturer at the Technical University of Munich and will be returning to the Harvard Kennedy School of Governance as a Fulbright-Lloyd’s Fellow in early 2022.

He began work on the Fukushima Daiichi disaster ten years ago, soon after it happened. He received his BA, MPhil and PhD from Cambridge University and was a visiting fellow at Waseda University in Tokyo.

His thesis, which examined how claims to expert authority are made in conditions of low public trust, received the American Association of Geographers’ Jacques May Thesis Prize.

The exhibition, entitled Picturing the Invisible, sees his research interests coming together with his longstanding engagement with the London art scene: while in the Sixth Form at QE, he took part in in the Royal Academy’s attRAct programme and in the Louis Vuitton Young Arts Program; he has also been an Event Manager at the OPEN Ealing community art gallery.

Expressing his gratitude to Makoto, Mr Wheatley added: “As a cross curricular trip between the Art and Geography departments, this was a fabulous opportunity for learning.  It combined detailed analysis of visual language with geological narrative of the ‘worst crisis Japan has faced since World War II’.”

The exhibition is on until 23^rd December.

Leading figures from the QE community today paid tribute to Sid Clark, an important figure at the School for half a century, who died this week.

Appointed as a Chemistry teacher in 1956, Mr Clark went on to play a significant role in maintaining standards at QE through some of the School’s most turbulent years and, before his retirement in 1987, helped newly arrived Headmaster Eamonn Harris in laying the groundwork for its subsequent success.

Having made a huge impact in his staff roles, among them Head of Chemistry and Head of Sixth Form, Mr Clark (pictured, centre, above)  continued to serve the School in retirement, as a Governor, and as a Trustee of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s, who, together with Mr Harris, set up its covenant scheme.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Sid made a truly significant contribution to our School during a long and distinguished period of service. The FQE covenant scheme, with which he was so involved, has formed the foundations for the ongoing transformation of the School site, allowing us to provide ever greater facilities and educational opportunities for the boys.”

Mr Enright’s predecessor, Dr John Marincowitz, Headmaster from 1999 to 2011, said: “I am saddened to hear of Sid Clark’s death. His enormous contribution as an educator over three decades in the Chemistry labs benefitted many boys. It was however, as Trustee and Governor for much of my Headship that I appreciated Sid most. He gave dedicated service as treasurer, securing FQE’s finances at a time of rapid growth and challenging capital projects. As Governor, he provided wise counsel and stalwart support.

“Sid held ambitious aspirations for the School and remained a pillar of continuity from the mid-1950s to the mid-2000s.  This was a time of considerable turbulence in education. It was also period of reinvention and regeneration at Queen Elizabeth’s.  We will remember Sid with gratitude for the part he played in the School’s emergence as a centre of national excellence.”

Former Second Master and President of the Old Elizabethans Association Eric Houston also paid tribute to Mr Clark: “Greatly respected by his colleagues for his formidable intellect, he will be remembered as an outstanding schoolmaster who dedicated so much of his working life to his pupils.”

Mr Houston, who remained in touch with Mr Clark and visited him in New Zealand (pictured left), where he moved in 2008, said: “Sid was so proud of the School’s outstanding achievements but it is true that he had a huge part to play in making this possible. He never sought any credit for his many contributions, but we should acknowledge with gratitude all he did over many years. He leaves a wonderful legacy.”

Having graduated with a first-class honours degree from the University of Wales, Mr Clark was appointed in 1956 by Headmaster E.H. Jenkins to teach Chemistry. He remained at QE for the rest of his teaching career.

Through his teaching, he helped launch a number highly successful and distinguished academic careers.

A one-time athlete of national standing himself, he gave coaching and encouragement to many boys on Third Field and Stapylton, while he also spent a great deal of his time driving the School’s most talented performers around the country for them to compete in national athletics competitions.

He was quickly promoted to Head of Chemistry, and, when the School was reorganised and became a comprehensive in 1971, he shortly after became Head of Sixth Form.

He maintained his insistence on high standards of behaviour and dress, and on the pursuit of academic excellence.

“Many Sixth Form students from that period owe the places they secured at top universities to the individual help and guidance they received from him,” said Mr Houston, who added that when Mr Harris arrived in 1984 and ushered in a period of great change, Mr Clark soon joined with him to form “a formidable partnership that was the foundation of QE’s subsequent success”.

His total commitment to the School did not diminish in the slightest following his retirement in 1987.  After QE opted out of local authority control in 1989, he became a Governor, serving for a period as Vice Chairman, and he unfailingly attended all School functions. He worked on a number of sub-committees and was an influential figure in the School regaining selective status in 1994.

Every major project that has taken place on the School site since 1990 has, to a greater or lesser extent, been made possible because of the covenant scheme he helped set in place and oversaw for many years. Pictured here is the signing for the contract for the Martin Swimming Pool – a demonstration of the impact of the work of FQE and the fruits of the covenant scheme.

In 2008, Mr Clark and his wife decided to relocate to New Zealand to be closer to their daughter and three grandchildren. He died peacefully in the North Island city of Hamilton earlier this week.