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While coronavirus restrictions have forced the cancellation of the School’s normal Year 11 Careers Convention, QE has ensured boys do not miss out in this challenging time by giving them opportunities to join a series of internal and external special events.

The centrepiece of the careers programme was a day-long virtual convention for Year 11 in their form groups, with six video sessions featuring speakers on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to cyber-technology.

Assistant Head (Pupil Progress) Sarah Westcott said: “We tried to replicate the experience students usually get at the Careers Convention, where they meet representatives of different professions one to one, albeit this year it had to be done virtually. The aim was for them to hear not only about the sectors these professionals work in, but also about the challenges faced by young people entering the work place and the need to be flexible in terms of outlook and skills.

“It is important that QE students take the opportunity to develop their personal attributes as well as their academic ones in order to be as attractive to employers as possible. The Covid crisis has highlighted the fragile nature of some employment sectors, and it is important we equip our students with all the skills they will need in the future,” added Dr Westcott.

Organisations represented during the day included Google, KPMG, Cass Business School and Rakuten, the electronic commerce and online retailing company. The speaker for the final session, on engineering, was Old Elizabethan Karan Dewnani (2006–2013), who has enjoyed a successful career as a civil engineer after graduating with a Master’s degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from Sheffield in 2017. Karan, who is pictured, top, on the big screen, recently took up a post with global professional services consultancy, WSP.

Reflecting on all the sessions afterwards, Dr Westcott said: “The overwhelming take-home message from all of our speakers has been: ‘Do what you love, and a fulfilling career will follow!’”

The virtual convention was preceded by another careers event for Year 11 – a virtual assembly given by ASK (the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools and Colleges programme), a Government-supported body whose focus is promoting alternative routes to degrees through work.

These programmes mean a student gets a degree paid for by an employer, on-the-job experience and a boost to their career from the moment they finish their A-levels.

“The aim of the virtual assembly was to demystify what an ‘apprenticeship’ is and explain to the boys how they can access on-the-job degree programmes with a diverse range of companies and organisations, such as PWC, EY, the NHS, Ministry of Defence, BBC, BAE, Army, Cisco and KPMG,” said Dr Westcott.

There was also a special careers initiative offered to a limited number of sixth-formers, which began with a Careers Accelerator virtual assembly fed into all the Year 12 classrooms using Zoom. Career Accelerator was established in 2017 by social entrepreneur Mayur Gupta, who says: “My goal is to help shape a world where hard-working young people from diverse backgrounds are empowered to realise their full potential and become the future leaders of society.”

Dr Westcott said: “This is a mentoring initiative for Year 12 students with companies from across the digital sector – a brilliant opportunity to expose them to professions they may not have considered within the digital sector and get work experience in companies such as Google, Vodafone, Just Eat, Cisco and LinkedIn, alongside exciting tech start-ups. They will also benefit from advice on CVs, interviews and networking. The programme aims to level the playing field, opening up such careers to young people from all walks of life.”

Following the assembly, boys completed competitive applications to secure one of around 20 places available to QE on the programme in the Spring Term.

Those who successfully secure places will take part in at least three one-hour virtual mentoring sessions to help them prepare for their future careers.

With coronavirus restrictions precluding a repeat of last year’s inaugural University Mock Interview Evening at the School, QE’s old boys and supporters have instead been turning out in force online to make sure current pupils don’t miss out.

Using the School’s QE Connect social media platform, Assistant Head (Pupil Development) Michael Feven paired up Year 13 boys with Old Elizabethans happy to conduct virtual interviews via Zoom and Skype.

“Whilst we are disappointed not to be able to hold our Mock Interview Evening in person this year, the value of these interviews in supporting boys with their university applications cannot be overstated,” said Mr Feven.

The Autumn Term is a busy time for Year 13 boys, with UCAS applications due in, university admissions tests taking place for Oxbridge places and for degree subjects such as Law and Medicine, and with Oxbridge interviews being held in the run-up to Christmas. Mock interviews constitute an important element of the detailed programme of support that the School provides to help senior pupils secure places on the best courses and at leading universities.

OEs have been helping out sixth-formers with interview practice for many years, but last year’s dedicated mock interview evening at the School, which was attended by nearly 40 alumni and supporters of QE, was the first of its kind. This year, dozens of online-only mock interviews are instead being held; they continue throughout November.

Among those paired together for the mock interviews were Zac Howlett-Davies (OE 2006–2013, pictured) and Year 13’s Zeke Essex, who is applying to read Modern Languages at Corpus Christi, Cambridge. Zac, who read Modern Languages at Durham, uses his French and German on a daily basis in his role in European copyright licensing for printed music publisher Hal Leonard Europe.

“Mr Howlett-Davies gave excellent feedback based on his own experiences and it was great practice before the real thing. He was very knowledgeable and was very easy to have a conversation with,” said Zeke.

Sai Bodanapu, who is among QE’s aspiring medics, pointed out that the specific benefit of meeting his interviewer via Zoom in this pandemic year: “My mock interview helped me as it gave an actual representation of how online interviews will take place.” Sai was interviewed by Andleeb Ahmed, who is an NHS GP and mentor; her son, Fozy Ahmed, who left QE this year, is studying Medicine at Gonville & Caius, Cambridge.

“I am hugely grateful to the longstanding support from our Old Elizabethan community and from other Friends of the School who each year so generously give up their time to support our Year 13 students in this way,” Mr Feven added.

Year 9 pupils not only found out about careers in STEM and had lots of fun on a special three-day course, but also gained a new qualification, too.

All five boys who attended the Engineering Development Trust’s Routes into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) course in London, prior to social distancing measures, qualified as EDT Bronze Industrial Cadets.

Assistant Head Sarah Westcott said: “This was a valuable opportunity for these boys to discover the breadth of STEM careers open to high-calibre candidates and to find out about pathways such as apprenticeships. The organisers successfully inspired them and made it an enjoyable experience by devoting time to some exciting and creative aspects of STEM.”

The five boys were: Aadi Goel; Ajand Sasikumar; Laksh Sharma; Paras Mehrotra and Pranav Jayakumar.

Over the three days, they attended sessions which included computer science activities, a presentation skills workshop and groups looking at film-making, coding and forensic science.

The Engineering Development Trust, a national charity with more than 30 years’ experience, offers young people learning experiences in STEM-related careers. Its Industrial Cadets framework, with levels from Challenger up to Platinum, allows participants to demonstrate experience and progress in STEM activities.

After the course, the boys produced short reviews of the three days.

Paras wrote: “Overall I found this course to be a very enjoyable experience, as it was a perfect balance between learning and having fun, which was evident in all three days. For example, on the first day at New City College [in Tower Hamlets], we practised drawing on Photoshop and also learnt how to do HTML coding.

“Moreover, on the second day we played many VR games, but also learnt how to make them, teaching me that there is a creative side to STEM jobs. One key thing which I learnt was the variety of jobs that come under STEM, such as the many career options within engineering, including mechanical and software engineering, inspiring me to be open… the possibilities are endless.”

Pranav likewise found that the course gave him fresh insight into the many options available to him. These included apprenticeships: he confessed to not having previously considered these because his understanding of them had been “blurred”.

“The course helped me comprehend the wide range of jobs just in one sector,” he said, adding that it had been a “fantastic experience” which he would highly recommend to others.

Similarly, Aadi acclaimed the course as “an extremely fun experience”, praising the wide variety of activities in which he was able to participate. “My favourite one was the virtual reality experience and the game-coding using the Unreal game engine, because it was fun and also interesting to see the level of work that goes into designing the games we play regularly. Another interesting activity was learning how forensic science works and the different techniques that police officers use, such as heating water and superglue to show any residual fingerprints.”

Aadi particularly appreciated the information and guidance on finding an appropriate apprenticeship.

“All in all, the Routes into STEM course is one that I would definitely recommend for others as it was an interesting and eye-opening experience,” he concluded.

A QE team who tested the commercial appeal of their beeswax-based, eco-friendly product at a Young Enterprise Trade Fair are planning to continue with the venture, even when the competition ends.

The team, who have named their firm The Green Bee Company, are producing re-usable wraps as an alternative to plastic kitchen film. Managing Director Mansimar Singh, of Year 12, said: “We believe very strongly in the product and in its potential for success.”

In addition to utilising natural beeswax for the film and for smaller beeswax sachets, the team sourced their other materials from local producers and also made sure their packaging was 100% plastic-free. “With recent youth activism in favour of sustainability and against climate change, we felt these should be issues our product should address, said Mansimar.

The team took their product to Old Spitalfields Market (before the current coronavirus restrictions) to sell at the Young Enterprise Trade Fair held there. Enrichment Tutor Alex Czirok-Carman said: “The boys worked very hard both in the run-up to the fair and on the day itself. They devoted their lunchtimes and time after school for many weeks to manufacture the product by hand.

“At the fair they sold all day and had a great time talking to the public and to the other teams. I was particularly impressed by how they explained their product to people – they were so confident and assured. They all gained a great deal from the experience.”

Mansimar agreed: “Many of the challenges of running a business are well-documented so when, as a team, we came up with a solution to an issue – that sense of achievement was unmatched. The selling experience was rewarding.”

To fulfil the Young Enterprise requirements, the boys had to establish a brand, create a scrapbook and generate an online presence for their company. “They chose the name The Green Bee Company because they wanted both the name and their product to have a message and a story. This was also reflected in their excellent logo,” added Mr Czirok-Carman.

The profits the boys made from the event at Old Spitalfields Market have been ploughed back into the business.

The Green Bee Company comprises:
Mansimar Singh – Managing Director (Year 12)
Ansh Jassra – Financial Director (Year 10)
Sudhamshu Gummadavelli – Marketing (Year 10)
Abhiraj Singh – Marketing (Year 10)
Haipei Jiang – Marketing (Year 10)
Anubhav Rathore – Product Development (Year 10)
Dylan Domb – Product Development (Year 10)
Yashaswar Kotakadi – Product Development (Year 10)
Ashwin Sridhar – Team member (Year 10)
Heemy Kalam – Team member (Year 10)
Shreyank Thottungal – Team member (Year 12)
Siddhant Kansal – Team member (Year 11)

• Update 9th May 2020: The Green Bee team won the Best Team Journey award at the North London Regional Finals, which were held virtually. The award will be presented to the School once the lockdown period is over.Judge Or Paran, a Vice President at Citi Bank, said the judging panel had found the QE team to have done a “really great job”, with “fantastic work that was evident throughout the duration of the competition” – work that was “well-coordinated and with beautiful attention to detail”.

  The overall Best Company award went to a team from The Henrietta Barnett School, who progress to the next round.

An industry-led event to promote degree apprenticeships proved popular with Year 12 boys, with the 15 available places soon snapped up.

The Young Professionals Industry Event, held at the South Bank’s IBM building, comprised a number of workshops with speakers from organisations including Ernst & Young, PwC, Capgemini UK and the RAF.

Degree apprenticeships, which were launched by the Government in 2015, combine higher education and vocational training, enabling university study and the on-the-job training. Training costs are co-funded by the government and the employer, while the apprentices are employed and paid throughout the course.

Head of Year 12, Helen Davies said: “The event offered boys an immersive experience of what it’s like to work in different sectors and to hear from current graduates, apprentices and business professionals.”

Established through a crowd-funding exercise in 2018 by a then-teenage entrepreneur, Dan Miller, Young Professionals aimed to fill a perceived gap in careers advice, making young people aware of “amazing opportunities… right on their doorstep”.

Young Professionals now has links with at least 35 global brands and has launched an app to help young people identify apprenticeships and work experience opportunities.

Miss Davies added: “The boys were interested to learn that the RAF, for example, offers degrees in a number of engineering disciplines and even medicine, alongside sporting opportunities for its staff.”

“Many of the top companies made it clear they expect their apprentices to move to the capital, which put our boys in a strong position as they are already in London.”

PwC representatives highlighted psychometric testing, some of which involves virtual reality headsets. Some of the tests aim to ascertain how candidates deal with frustration. “This was something again which the boys found interesting,” said Miss Davies.

“Overall, they clearly enjoyed the event and found the keynote lecture and workshop from Ernst & Young particularly engaging.”

There was standing room only in several of the expert talks delivered as part of the 2019 Year 11 Careers Convention.

The convention – a major event in the QE calendar – this year featured an increased number of talks. The speakers for these were among representatives of 35 companies and organisations attending in total, including Old Elizabethans and other visitors.

They came from professions ranging from medicine to app development, and from chemical engineering to the law.

All gave their time to meet boys and their families as Year 11 start to consider their future career paths.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was another tremendous evening. I am grateful to all those who helped our current pupils in this way, whether old boys or other friends of the School. The boys benefit immeasurably from the advice that they receive, not least because seeing alumni thriving in their various careers is in itself a source of inspiration and confidence to them.

“At this stage in their education, it is as important for the boys to develop the soft skills they will need when planning for life after school – in order that they can actually achieve their desired outcomes – as it is to provide insight into the many different options available to them.”

The main Careers Convention was held in the Shearly Hall, while the nine talks – several of which were repeated three times during the course of the evening – were delivered in classrooms. The talks included:

• Dental surgeon Dr Nirmal Wilwaraarachchi (OE 1996-2002) on dentistry
• Joseph Vinson (OE 2007-2013), an Associate Product Manager for US software firm, Granicus, on Getting a job in Tech
• Ramesh Pari (OE 1997-2004), who took up a senior role in engineering for online grocery company, Ocado, after more then a decade as an architect, on Architecture and its transferable skills.

Other talks were on general topics such as studying abroad and about choosing and progressing a career, such as the presentation by Kam Taj (OE 2004–2011) on How to find your ideal career.

The evening also benefited from experts attending from organisations with which the School has strong partnerships, such as the National Citizen Service (whose summer programme is always popular with Year 11 boys), the STEM Ambassadors programme and the RAF.

Alumni had a chance to catch up with each other at a reception hosted by the School before the event.

Countless hours spent jamming with friends in the Music block at QE sowed the seeds of Sergio Ronchetti’s career as a composer and sound designer for video games and films.

Returning to the School to deliver a careers lecture to Senior School pupils, Sergio (OE 2004–2011) recalled that when he decided to go into music instead of taking a place at university, everyone around him said he was making a mistake.

But, he told the boys, he had no regrets about his chosen path, since it had put him in control of what he was doing. He loves practising music six-to-eight hours a day as he finds it therapeutic and it gives him direction. He had been true to himself, his career giving him opportunities to learn from, helping him to mature and making him happy. “It’s more about the journey, rather than the end game. Every day I get a little bit better at something, I progress.

“Give yourself time to make decisions – meditate and do something productive,” he advised the boys gathered in the Shearly Hall. “If you don’t know what to do for a career, take a year out, work, take a course. There’s no rush!” Just as in rugby, you must actually take steps forward in order to achieve your career goals, particularly if those goals are ambitious, he said.

Sergio spent the first four years after leaving QE as a professional musician, culminating in the release of a full-length album. During this time, he achieved several accolades, including an artist endorsement from ESP Guitars and Laney Amplification, while also performing at major festivals and at sold-out shows in both UK and mainland Europe.

He did eventually go to university – but in his own time and as the next logical step in his career plan. Although he came from a rock background (influenced by his uncle’s heavy metal collection), he decided to eschew a possible future in a touring band playing guitar, because he “wanted to be a part of something bigger”. He loves the indie game scene and says his ambitions include working on “the biggest video game in history”. Asked what his ten-year goals were, Sergio staed: “I would like to score a couple of good jobs in film – possibly become head of a music production department”.

Thus, in 2016, in order to facilitate this burgeoning ambition to become a film and game composer, he went to Goldsmiths, University of London, to study Music, from where he graduated with a First.

Today, Sergio works as a freelancer, describing himself on his own website as a ‘composer/sound designer’. His recent work on the indie game Eldest Souls was showcased at E3 Los Angeles, the premier trade event for the video industry.

He is a regular supporter of the School and gave a presentation on sound design in video games at last year’s Year 11 Careers Convention.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Sergio’s story is a very interesting one – through a combination of determination and talent, he is successfully forging a career in a highly competitive industry. Of course, unlike him, a very large majority of our boys do go on to university immediately on leaving the School or after a gap year, but we are keen to make sure that pupils are fully informed about all the different options available to them so that they can make the choices that are best for them.”

Sergio advised any boys interested in following in his footsteps not to rely on making money from such a career in the beginning. “Freelance work takes a while to build up. Do it as a hobby first. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, either; you can use your laptop or iPhone.”

Sergio was happy to dispense a little technical advice – he suggests Logic or Ableton software for music production, using Logic himself, while Pro Tools is good for film-editing.

Asked about the skills required for a career similar to his, Sergio urged the boys to be open to possibilities and to be prepared. “If someone comes to you and says ‘are you ready to mix this album?’ you need to take the challenge.” He does not believe in luck: “It’s all about work ethic and discipline.”

There were also questions about the UK grime & rap industry and whether it incites violence. Sergio said he believed not; artists were merely expressing the violence going on around them. He added, however: “As a musician you do have a level of responsibility and need to be aware of what messages you’re spreading.”

Around 60 of last year’s leavers who are now two terms into their degree courses came back to QE to contribute to the School’s Universities Convention.

With fresh experience of university life, and with the Sixth Form and university application process such a recent memory, they were well-placed to give some first-hand advice to current Year 12 pupils.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “There is always a good turnout for the convention, and it is excellent to see that that each new cohort of OEs is so willing to stay connected with the School and to actively support it.

“These, the youngest of our Old Elizabethans, are able to provide very current insights into their various courses, clubs and societies and their chosen universities. As such, they are a trusted and valuable source of information for our sixth-formers.

“Staff always enjoy the opportunity to hear how these recent leavers are getting on – even if it can sometimes be hard to recognise some, with their ‘civilian’ clothes, beards and new, non-QE-approved hairstyles!”

The returning alumni had the opportunity to catch up both with each other and with their former teachers in a buffet lunch held for them in the Main Hall, which was provided with assistance from the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s.

The Year 12 boys were encouraged to be quite specific with their questions to the alumni, asking, for example whether there was anything the students wished someone had told them before they applied.

The current pupils also quizzed the OEs on topics such as the cost of accommodation in university cities.

The Universities Convention is part of QE’s University admissions Support Programme (USP), which is designed to ensure boys receive the best advice, guidance and assistance in preparing university applications.

This sits alongside the broader careers provision, through which boys can look at the jobs, professions and industries they might wish to pursue after university, or what other paths they might want to take upon leaving the School.

Some of the students at the convention had also been in to the School the previous week in order to speak to Year 13 on similar issues: Abbas Adejonwo, Rehaan Bapoo, Dhruv Kanabar, Yashwanth Matta and Oliver Robinson gave advice based upon their experiences as first-year undergraduates at Cambridge, Oxford and Warwick.

The first Elizabethan ever to go to California’s Stanford University sang the praises of studying stateside when he returned to speak to senior pupils at QE.

Stanford comes at or near the top of most global university rankings, with Times Higher Education naming it as one of its six world ‘super-brands’, together with Cambridge, Oxford, Berkeley, Harvard and MIT.

Valavan Ananthakumaraswamy OE (2009-2016), who chose to follow a mixed Liberal Arts programme for the first two years of his degree, told the current QE pupils that he had been particularly attracted by the wide range of subjects available through the US university system and by the closer relationships with professors.

He appreciated the excellent facilities and also the flexibility available to students when choosing classes, giving them more control over their own workload.

Valavan applied to Stanford after winning a place on the Sutton Trust’s US Programme – a scheme delivered by the educational charity in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission to give bright British state school pupils a taste of life in American higher education. His profile for the programme recorded that his family originally come from Sri Lanka, but were displaced by the civil war.

The report also stated that Valavan saw his community service as “the most important part of him”. In 2014, Valavan helped found The Youth Project, a global movement of young people striving to make the world a better place, which now operates in 14 countries.

Extensive extra-curricular opportunities are a feature of the American system, he told the QE puipls on his recent visit, recalling his involvement with charity work while at QE and saying that this is something he has been keen to continue with at Stanford.

Palo Alto’s 300 days of sunshine each year were undoubtedly another attraction, as was the campus culture and the sense of community that this fosters. Valavan said he has been enjoying ‘dorm life’, adding that in his first year, he went on a skiing trip that was actually funded by the dormitory.

Valavan offered guidance on the application process, covering the nature of the aptitude tests, including SATs and ACTs (the two different tests that applicants are required to take for admittance to a US university). His main piece of advice was that applicants should just keep practising!

He advised boys to look into the possibility of financial aid for study in the US, covering the difference between ‘need-blind’ and ‘need-aware’ – terms used in the US, with the former meaning a university admission policy under which an applicant’s financial situation is not considered when deciding admission. A big advantage for those able to secure such financial aid was that, unlike in the UK, there was then no need for a student loan, Valavan said.

When asked about challenges he had faced, Valavan spoke about how he had to adapt to the culture of America. TV shows, shops and sports are all different there. He mentioned that President Trump was elected in first the two months of his studying there. He added that he likes the challenge of adapting and finds it exciting.

Boys were shocked to discover how much money is deducted at source when they learned how to decipher a payslip in a financial capability workshop, reported Head of Pupil Development Sarah Westcott.

The Year 8 boys also learned about the types of bank account they could access both now and in the future, as well as finding out about the importance of budgeting.

The exercise which saw them analysing a payslip to work out how much salary is deducted and for what purpose was particularly enjoyable, notwithstanding the shock it brought, Dr Westcott said. “Many of them expressed surprise at how much is taken before you even get paid!”

Further tasks then required the boys to think about different kinds of debt – what is a ’good’ debt, such as a mortgage, and what is a ‘bad’ debt, such as a store card or payday loan.

The event was organised with leading international and UK bank HSBC. It took place during one of the boys’ Personal Development Time (PDT) sessions. PDT lies at the heart of QE’s comprehensive pastoral support system and is focused on making pupils ‘confident and responsible’, in line with the School’s mission. All boys receive 90 minutes of PDT each week.

Besides learning about personal finance, there was another purpose in holding the workshop, Dr Westcott explained: “The event was part of a wider strategy at School to encourage more employers to come in to talk to students to provide a balanced careers perspective.”