Viewing archives for Careers

It was ‘standing room only’ when two high-profile figures from the world of international and Premier League football visited the School.

Boys and staff alike turned out in force to hear from David Dein, a respected entrepreneur and businessman who was Vice-Chairman of Arsenal from 1983 to 2007 and is also a former Vice-Chairman of the FA, and Gary Mabbutt, a former professional footballer for Spurs and England.

Mr Dein spoke predominantly about the business side of the Premier League, describing its establishment in 1992 and charting its growth. He also touched on his role at Arsenal, where he was instrumental in appointing the then little-known manager, Arsene Wenger, and in the signing of legendary players like Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas. Under Wenger, the club has won the Premier League title three times and the FA Cup seven times.

Mr Dein brought former FA Cup-winning Spurs captain, Gary Mabbutt, with him as a special guest. Mr Mabbutt, who made more than 750 professional appearances for club and country, spoke largely about the role of the Professional Footballers’ Association and the way it supports players both during their playing careers and afterwards.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The boys, my colleagues and I all appreciated the opportunity to hear David’s first-hand account of the birth of the Premier League and enjoyed his insight into many aspects of the modern game. I know that the boys will have been able to take away a good deal of advice relevant to business and their careers, beyond simply the remit of football.”

“They always value being able to put their questions to those pre-eminent in their respective fields and particularly relished this opportunity. Despite our being a rugby-playing School, football is, of course, one of their favourite topics for discussion.”

Mr Dein, who led the unsuccessful England bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018, talked about the importance of teamwork, demonstrating this by inviting a boy to snap a single pencil and then to try again when 11 pencils were banded together.

He also used a can of the ‘magic paint’ used by referees to mark where a ball should be spotted for a free kick and where the players’ defensive wall should stand, recounting being pitched the product by its inventor when visiting South America. After spraying the School’s Conference Centre floor, he joked: “This is designed to last for about three minutes – oh, that’s on grass. On this floor, it should be gone in about three months!”

He involved the boys in his demonstrations, with his presentation stimulating a lively question-and-answer session. “It’s important to always strive to be your best and to get up each day thinking, ‘how can I be better than yesterday?’” said Mr Dein. He noted that at Arsenal, the last two players to leave the training ground were invariably Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, two of the club’s most talented players.

The visit was organised through the auspices of Performing Artistes – an organisation providing speakers from the worlds of entertainment, media, politics and sports – with Mr Dein inviting Mr Mabbutt along to provide some ‘North London balance’.

Mr Mabbutt has been involved with the PFA for a number of years. It was established in 1907 and is the longest-established sports’ union in the world. Its aims are to protect, improve and negotiate the conditions, rights and status of all professional players. In recent times it has supported its members in disputes with the Premier League, the Football League and the Football Association with regard to the PFA’s entitlement to a percentage of television revenue. It is also notable for the work it does to support players and former players who may be struggling with addiction, depression or mental health issues.

“We all learned much about the role of the PFA and the support they give to players both during and beyond their careers. I know that my Spurs-supporting colleagues were especially thrilled to meet Gary,” added Mr Enright.

A leading figure in the world of legal academia inspired boys interested in pursuing a career in the Law when he returned to the School to give a talk to senior pupils. Old Elizabethan Ishan Kolhatkar (1989-1996) is Deputy Dean of Education Services at BPP, a top private university dedicated to Law, business and other professions.

After studying Law himself at BPP following a degree in Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London, Mr Kolhatkar’s career began at the Bar, before he returned to academia to the Bar Professional Teaching Course (BPTC). In addition to writing content and validation documents for a course to help BPTC students bridge the gap between the BPTC and the pupillage, he teaches advocacy part-time and takes on pro-bono work.

He spoke to the boys of the importance of asking questions, of mastering detail and of seeing the “bigger picture”. “Asking questions is the best way of learning,” he said. “Be the ‘brave one’ and ask questions in a learning environment. You will gain from it and so will the room, but you’ll also be the one directing where the discussion goes.”

He explained that being able to see the bigger picture is what sets the best apart. “You might be an expert in a narrow part of the law, but you need to be able to understand how things fit together, and understand the overall process.”

He told the boys that he himself had been attracted to Law because he loved talking and he advised them to practice the art: “Seek out people with different opinions; be willing to debate in the knowledge that they might not change their minds. Keep focussed on the issues – don’t just resort to shouting.”

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Ishan was an inspiring and engaging guest. The boys undoubtedly gain from the opportunity to hear from leaders in their fields. He touched on many of the themes germane to our boys: inquisitiveness and curiosity, intelligent debate, the development of a rounded personality and a desire to contribute to the wider community.”

In addition to his teaching role, Mr Kolhatkar is an External Examiner in advanced criminal litigation for The Bar Standards Board. This work takes in a number of BPTC providers, including City Law School, Cardiff University and Manchester Metropolitan University. His role is to ensure that assessments are properly set and marked in accordance with the intended learning outcomes of the module and the BPTC as a whole. He also speaks regularly at Middle Temple students’ events, on topics such as examination technique on the BPTC. (Middle Court is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers.) In his spare time, Mr Kolhatkar writes a blog for aspiring lawyers.

Year 13 pupil Dhruv Kanabar attended the talk and said: “Mr Kolhatkar provided a detailed insight into becoming a successful and effective advocate. It was particularly useful to hear his views on looking at the Law in the context of a bigger picture and how different elements are inherently linked.”

A QE old boy treated three current pupils to a rare behind-the-scenes tour of Buckingham Palace – and gave them an insight into careers on offer there.

Christopher Sandamas (OE 1978-1983) is Chief Clerk to the Palace and offered the opportunity for three boys and a member of staff to find out more about the inner workings of ‘Buck House’.

“We thought the best way to choose three pupils was to run an essay competition,” said teacher Sarah Westcott who accompanied the boys on the visit. “They all had to write about what it means to be British.” Year 8 boys Hector Cooper and Zakariya Shah, and Ivin Jose, of Year 7, were the winners. Their essays covered a broad range of experience, including growing up in France, how the traditions of British life are interwoven with the increasingly technological world, and an evaluation of the tolerance and multiculturalism experienced in modern Britain.

“After we cleared the security checks at the Palace gates, we had tea in Christopher’s office, where he outlined the duties of the Private Secretary’s office and his role as Chief Clerk,” said Dr Westcott.

“We were given an extensive tour of the Palace, including state rooms and some areas not usually open to visitors. We received the impression very much of a ‘working palace’, where functions of various types – be they investitures, garden parties or state visits – occur on a regular basis.”

The party was also given a ‘back stairs’ view of the Palace – meeting the numerous people who support the Queen in her duties, from handling correspondence with Heads of State or members of the public and acting as intermediaries with various departments of Government to organising her extensive engagements list.

The boys were given an insight into careers within the Palace organisation and the skills necessary for such roles. “The key message of how important it is to study what you enjoy came through loud and clear,” added Dr Westcott. “Many of the staff we met had backgrounds in the arts, particularly History and Politics with experience in research.”

The tour concluded with lunch in the staff dining room, where Christopher was keen to hear about the boys’ current experiences at QE, and to share his own memories. He was interested to hear about the boys’ preconceptions about Palace employees and was amused by Hector Cooper’s comments on how “normal and pleasant” the people working at the palace are.

“I think we were all amazed at the number of people working behind the scenes to support the Royal Household’s work and how welcoming they were when asked to tell us about their roles. It was a wonderful experience and we are all grateful to Christopher for giving us this rare opportunity,” concluded Dr Westcott.

The Tigertones, Princeton’s signature male a cappella group, brought the distinctive sounds of American close harmony to QE in a specially arranged concert.

The group performed for the Upper School as part of their autumn tour of London. They delivered a 30-minute set comprising exclusively their own arrangements of popular songs, ranging from Coldplay’s Viva la Vida and Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours, to the Scottish folk song, Loch Lomond, and an energetic rendition of the barbershop classic, Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby.

The visit was initiated by QE parent Mr Muammer Cakir (father of Batu Cakir in Year 9), who studied at Princeton as a postgraduate. Having learned about the group’s tour through the Princeton alumni network, he got in touch and helped make the arrangements to bring them to QE. Mr Cakir was a special guest of the Headmaster, Neil Enright, for the concert.

The Tigertones were introduced by sixth-former Mehul Meghani and thanked by Nikhil Shah, who, like Mehul, is a Vice-Captain in Year 13.

Mr Enright said: “The Tigertones were very good, delivering a rich and well-blended sound, with lots of confidence and personality both in their performance and when they spoke to the boys. We hosted them for lunch and gave them a tour of the school – they seemed impressed with our history, achievements and facilities.

“I am most grateful to Mr Cakir for his help in making possible this visit, which, I am sure, will have played a part in reminding our boys to consider Princeton and other US destinations when they are making their university choices. Ivy League universities have bec ome increasingly popular with QE leavers; it is a trend we are happy to encourage.”

After their performance, the Tigertones took questions from the boys on everything from matters relating to the group itself – their creative process, the reasons for the ensemble remaining all-male and the auditions system –  through to the differences between the US and UK university systems. One of the main things they highlighted was that in the US, undergraduates can continue to study a range of subjects for two years before picking their major – in contrast to the early specialisation required in the UK.

“We now look forward to an influx of new interest in our own barbershop and a cappella groups at QE!” the Headmaster concluded.

Forty-six Old Elizabethans, parents and other representatives drawn from a broad range of professions gave QE boys and their parents expert help in planning their futures at the School’s 2017 Careers Convention.

A major Year 11 event, it seeks both to pr ovide detailed information about career paths that boys and their parents are already considering and to encourage them to consider fresh options as well.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This was a thoroughly successful evening. We had a very large number of guests, and conversations with a number of boys since the convention suggest that they found it very useful, particularly enjoying meeting our many visiting OEs.

“A significant number of our boys will undoubtedly become lawyers or medics, and the stalls hosting representatives of these professions were certainly busy. However, our leavers, in fact, follow very diverse career options, so I was equally pleased to welcome visitors from the creative industries and the public sector, to name just two.

“My thanks go to all of the guests who gave up their time to assist the next generation and to my colleagues for organising such a large event.”

The Careers Convention was based in the Shearly Hall, where most of the representatives were based for the evening and were available for conversations with the Year 11 boys and their parents.

They were grouped into the following areas:

• • Banking and Finance
  • Built Environment
  • Creative Arts and Media
  • Engineering
  • Law
  • Medicine
  • Professional Services
  • Public Sector
  • Science
  • Miscellaneous

There were also eight 20-minute talks given in nearby classrooms on topics ranging from Dentistry and Life in the City to Study Abroad.

The evening had begun with an opportunity for the OEs and other guests to meet each other for wine and canapés in the School’s Café 1573 prior to the arrival of the boys and their parents.