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Year 12’s Vivan Paul has been named Young Geographer of the Year in his age category in a Royal Geographical Society competition.

Vivan’s winning entry on the competition theme of Understanding islands, which was created using ArcGIS StoryMaps, won him joint first place in the 16–18 (Key Stage 5) age category.

QE’s Head of Geography, Chris Butler, said: “Vivan’s achievement is a testament to his intellectual curiosity and commitment to understanding the complexities of our world. He represents a new and exciting breed of geographer at Queen Elizabeth’s School who have embraced all that the subject has to offer – from cutting-edge digital tools to critical global thinking.

“We are immensely proud of his success and the example he sets for others.”

The annual competition celebrates outstanding geographical thinking and creativity among young people. This year, more than 400 schools participated, with many holding their own preliminary heats. More than 1,200 entries were submitted to the society.

Entrants were challenged to create posters or ArcGIS StoryMaps that highlighted the unique geographies, challenges, and connections between islands worldwide, as well as the communities and ecosystems they support.

Vivan’s winning entry focused on the islands of Nauru, Haiti, the South China Sea and the Maldives. His work examined the systemic exploitation of these islands by large transnational corporations and the resulting spiral of debt and corruption that binds them together.

The project offered an analysis of how global economic forces intersect with local vulnerabilities, presenting a nuanced view of the risks these islands face at both global and local scales.

The Royal Geographical Society, which was founded in 1830, commended Vivan’s submission for its innovative approach to illustrating island connections and its insightful exploration of the socio-economic and environmental challenges confronting these regions.

Professor Joe Smith, the society’s Director, said: “I’d like to give my warmest congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who entered this year’s Young Geographer of the Year competition. Islands, including the one we live on, are uniquely affected by climate change, but they also have unique opportunities to address these challenges. The high standard of entries we received across this year’s competition gives me confidence that the next generation of geographers is already asking the right questions about the issues facing island communities and how these can teach us about the wider world.”

Vivan attended this month’s awards ceremony at the society’s South Kensington base, where he is pictured with other winners and highly commended entrants. He was presented with his certificate by the society’s Vice President for Education, Alan Parkinson.

• Vivan’s winning entry can be viewed here.

Thirteen Sixth-Form geographers heard Oxford’s Professor Danny Dorling deliver a powerful exposition of the national and global threat posed by poverty and inequality.

His lecture, Inequality: the next crisis and children, was packed with detail and backed with richly illustrated statistics.

Delivered at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London, it proved a revelation to many. Year 13’s Hitarth Patel said: “I found the extent to which inequality is prevalent within the UK astonishing,” and Shravan Jayaprakash, of Year 12, described the lecture as “an exhilarating experience which broadened my perspectives about many issues in our country today, especially the widening inequality we face”.

In promoting the lecture, for the RGS’s school members, the society stated: “The greatest concern worldwide, for the future of where we live, is not climate change and its impacts; it is not extinction and loss of biodiversity, it is not artificial intelligence or asteroids – none of these worries come close to what concerns us most.

“More than any other future issue, most people in the world worry about inequality, poverty, and the cost of living; and they worry, above all else, for their children. Are they right to be most concerned in this way and, if so, what is to be done?”

Prof Dorling is a social geographer who is the 1971 Professor of Geography, attached to St Peter’s College, Oxford, as well as a visiting professor at both Goldsmiths and the University of Bristol. He is known for his support for Labour, particularly when Jeremy Corbyn led the party.

He has spoken on radio, featured on television and written newspaper articles. He is the author of more than 20 books, including two published in 2024 – Seven Children: Inequality and the Geography of a Failing State, and Peak Injustice: Solving Britain’s Inequality Crisis – and one which came out this year, The Next Crisis: What We Think about the Future.

The QE group, drawn from both Year 12 and Year 13, were led by Deputy Head Anne Macdonald (Academic), who teaches Geography.

She said: “Growing inequality in the UK is a complex contemporary issue that cuts across the disciplines of geography and economics (and other social sciences). Danny Dorling’s academic work in this area is so compelling because it is grounded in extensive data-driven research. His work about the impacts of inequality on children from across the income spectrum encourages our students to think about their place in modern Britain and develop empathy for others who might face more barriers.”

Hamza Pasha, of Year 13, shared his fellow pupils’ reaction to the lecture. “I found Danny Dorling’s graphical presentation of inequality statistics helped me realise the magnitude of this issue and I was also surprised to learn how much more unequal the UK is in comparison with other countries.”

Younger boys explored their own family histories during a visit by a team from London’s Migration Museum, while a special session helped older pupils with their GCSE Geography studies.

Before the visit organised by the Geography department, the whole of Year 8 had been asked to interview family members about their own migration stories and journeys.

Then, as part of workshops taking place throughout the morning, the boys used hi-tech ArcGIS mapping tools on their 1:1 tablet computers, mapping all the journeys made by the people they had interviewed.

Head of Geography Chris Butler said: “Many of our pupils’ parents have direct or indirect experience of the process, and we want the boys to celebrate this diversity and include their family and friends through their interviews and experiences within their communities.”

The session for the Year 8 boys ended with a Geospatial analysis of their journeys (using ArcGIS).

There was a session for Year 11 historians in the afternoon, with the boys studying the history of migration as a unit in their GCSEs.

Migration features as a topic in the AQA examination board’s GCSE syllabus’s sections on The changing economic world and on Urban issues and challenges.

The Migration Museum was founded by Barbara Roche, a former Labour Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration.

She believed that Britain’s migration history should be placed at the heart of the national story, arguing for the establishment of the museum based on her time as Minister and on visits to similar museums in other parts of the world – notably Ellis Island in New York.

Since 2020, the Migration Museum has been based in Lewisham Shopping Centre in south London. It has received planning permission for a permanent home in the City of London, close to Aldgate and the Tower of London, which is due to open in 2027.

This will be allied to a network of venues across the UK, and to a digital storytelling platform.

Year 7 pupil Aarav Kumar has been chosen as Young Geographer of the Year in his age category in the Royal Society of Geography’s prestigious international annual competition.

Having first won the initial QE round, Aarav went on to impress the judges with his colourful, information-packed poster on the theme of Choose Geography.

Geography teacher and Enrichment tutor Eleanor Barrett said: “Aarav’s well-researched work perfectly captured the essence of Choose Geography, highlighting how the subject empowers us to understand the world and address its challenges. His win is a fantastic achievement, and we are thrilled to see his talent and hard work recognised at such a prestigious level.”

Pupils aged from seven to 18 were invited to create posters that demonstrated the relevance of Geography and how studying it can help those studying understand the world we live in and the global challenges we face as a society.

The competition aims to inspire young people to engage with Geography and show its importance in addressing issues such as climate change, sustainability, and biodiversity loss.

With schools hosting their own heats and submitting only their winners, the 1,000 entries received by the society represented just a fraction of the overall number of participating pupils.

In a ceremony hosted at the Royal Society of Geography in central London, two winners and two runners-up were announced for each age group – and Aarav was announced as one of the winners in the Key Stage 2 (7-11) category. He is pictured here with other winners in the various age groups.

His poster, which centred around his drawing of the earth, included several features:

• Brief profiles of several Geography-related jobs, including cartographer and climatologist, under the heading ‘Want fun, good-paying, creative jobs related to the world: look here!’
• A summary of ‘the geographer’s mindsets’ , divided into the following categories: ‘create’, ‘evaluate’, ‘apply’, ‘discover’ and ‘understand’
• Descriptions of the educational benefits of taking the subject, including a look at Geography GCSE and A-level.

The society’s director, Professor Joe Smith, praised the quality of the entries: “The students have clearly demonstrated how geographical skills and thinking are vital for addressing global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss.”

Year 13 Geography and English Literature students joined forces on a trip to see John Steinbeck’s Depression-era novel, The Grapes of Wrath, at the National Theatre.

The 1939 novel tells the story of a tenant-farmer family from Oklahoma who struggle to survive during the Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged agriculture in the American prairies during the 1930s.

The book is a set text for the English A-level students, while for the geographers, the story illustrates the inter-relational nature of phenomena such as drought & desertification, mass migration and food security.

Head of English Robert Hyland said: “The Grapes of Wrath is, among other things, an environmental and ecological novel. Teaming up with the Geography department to run this trip was a great way of highlighting how seemingly disparate subjects like English and Geography can shed light on the climate crisis which affects us all.”

He added that it is helpful for English Literature students to see a performance of a novel at the start of their study of it, since it helps them understand the characters and narrative.

Deputy Head (Academic) and Geography teacher Anne Macdonald said: “The novel addresses significant geographical themes linked to people’s relationship with the environment, mass migration caused by climate change and environmental degradation, and the shattered dream of a better life experienced by migrants searching for a new home. While set in 1930s America, its themes are relevant to the current world on the brink of mass migration caused by climate change.”

The Grapes of Wrath recounts the Joad family’s journey west to California in a dilapidated lorry as they pursue a better life. It ends with the story’s protagonist, Tom Joad, going into hiding after killing a policeman who murdered his friend for organising a strike, and with the family’s eldest daughter, Rose of Sharon, breastfeeding a starving man to save his life.

On its publication, it caused considerable controversy because of its negative depiction of the USA of the time.

Epic in its scope, the story was retold in a three-hour performance at the National Theatre, produced by Carrie Cracknell, which followed Frank Galati’s 1998 play, based closely on the novel.

Some of the pupils gave their reactions afterwards:

• Geography student Andreas Angelopolous said: “I found the portrayal of the Dust Bowl migration powerful. The depiction of the Joads’ struggle against poverty and discrimination was compelling and mirrors challenges faced by many migrants today.”
• His fellow geographer, Saim Khan, said: “It brought to life just how deeply influential the topics we learn in the classroom – like drought – are in shaping the lives of people around the world. There are few forms of media more able to capture sense of place than theatre.”
• English Literature student Vaibhav Gaddi said that the story “demonstrated the resilience of the human spirit when encountered with intense hardship. The Joad family endures death, miscarriage and losing family members, and yet are still unbowed at the play’s shocking end.”

Mrs Macdonald and Assistant Head of English Victoria Maule accompanied the boys on the trip to the South Bank.

When Deputy Head Anne Macdonald was watching the BBC’s Our Changing Planet, she was so impressed with the work of the Coral Spawning Laboratory shown in the Restoring Our Reefs episode that she wrote asking for a visit.

The result was a summer trip by 25 senior pupils, who learned about the ground-breaking research at the University of Derby laboratory that aims to save the world’s coral reefs from extinction.

The day-long visit featured two workshops, before ending with the boys playing what Mrs Macdonald described as “perhaps the most complicated board game in history”, through which they learned about how to build a healthy, resilient reef.

“Coral reefs occupy less than 1% of the marine environment, but are home to 25% of all marine life.  They are crucial to marine biodiversity,” said Mrs Macdonald. “They also support a way of life and the livelihoods of millions of people around the world, especially in low-income countries (and so have socio-cultural, economic, and environmental significance).

“The scientists at the Coral Spawning Laboratory are engaged in ground-breaking research with the aim of saving reefs from extinction, specifically in relation to the threats of ocean acidification and warming caused by human-induced changes to the carbon cycle and global warming.

“The aims of this trip included: discovering more about these fascinating ecosystems; seeing first-hand how scientific research is undertaken in a laboratory setting and the positive impacts that uncertain, but ground-breaking, science can yield; supporting boys’ studies for their Biology and Geography A-levels; and providing an opportunity to explore the world of conservation biology, molecular ecology, and marine biology, for those considering taking a degree relevant to these fields. Experiences such as these are invaluable to those aspiring to study science at university.”

The 25 participating students were drawn mainly from the current Year 13, but also from Years 11 and 12. They were accompanied by Mrs Macdonald, a Geography teacher in addition to her role as Deputy Head (Academic), and by Gillian Ridge, who is Head of Biology.

Their visit was hosted by Professor Michael Sweet, professor in molecular ecology and co-founder of the Coral Spawning Laboratory, which is at the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, part of the university’s College of Science and Engineering.

Scientists fear for the survival of coral reefs; their extinction is considered a real and imminent threat.  The work of scientists at the Coral Spawning Laboratory and at universities globally is helping to buy time in the hope that the reefs can be kept in existence while climate mitigation progresses.

As the laboratory’s name suggests, the scientists there are pioneering techniques to maximise coral spawning (including ‘Coral IVF’) and undertaking research to discover the ideal environmental conditions for successful coral fertilisation and growth.

The boys enjoyed a tour of the laboratory, during which they had the opportunity to see the coral-spawning tanks and the new seagrass facility, where scientists recently succeeded in getting seagrass to flower and seed in laboratory conditions.

One workshop focussed on coral biology and threats to corals, specifically coral-bleaching caused by rising ocean temperatures. It included the chance to look at coral through a microscope, identifying the cellular differences between healthy and bleached coral.

The second workshop looked at climate change – at how scientists working collaboratively and with commercial partners can help accelerate the pace of climate-change mitigation and adaptation.

“The boys who attended were very appreciative of this opportunity, with one, for example, expressing interest in the commercial aspects of the team’s work and another enjoying hearing about scientists from different universities working together,” Mrs Macdonald concluded.