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Two Old Elizabethan friends returned to their alma mater to recount an inspirational story of success in the face of extreme adversity.

Johan Byran, who is a successful London GP, has from the age of 18 struggled with the painful and debilitating condition of rheumatoid arthritis, yet this year he completed one of the toughest endurance challenges of them all – the Marathon Des Sables, a 156-mile ultra-marathon across the Sahara Desert.

He was filmed throughout the race by his QE contemporary, Johnny Ho (1997–2004), a professional film-maker who has recently secured investment to complete a documentary about the adventure, to be entitled Grit.

They came to the School to deliver a lecture to senior boys in assembly. The pair addressed themes of taking on challenges, of being resilient – a quality that comes from the experience of testing yourself in uncomfortable environments – and of needing to draw intelligently on the support of a team around you.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Johan and Johnny’s account was truly inspiring: I trust our boys will have taken to heart the message that if they have the belief, the persistence and the determination, they, too, can achieve extraordinary things.”

Johan works in a conglomerate of doctors’ practices in Enfield, which is innovating by taking healthcare into the community in places such as gyms. Having been a photographer, Johnny now makes videos, with a portfolio that includes music videos and corporate work for major firms.

Although he continued with his studies and eventually qualified as a doctor, Johan’s condition, which first developed in the summer holidays after he left QE, quickly left him unable to accomplish basic tasks such as getting dressed, nor would he shake people’s hands because it hurt too much. Moreover, the condition took a mental and emotional, as well as a physical, toll. In response, Johan wanted to prove that he could still conquer big challenges.

“I initially had a failure mind-set, but moved to a growth mind-set, where I saw failures as challenges. I decided to do things that I found hard and compete against myself, not others.”

So he took up long-distance cycling, scuba-diving and marathon-running. And while he did not see himself as competing with fellow participants, he did draw inspiration from them, such as his companion on a bike ride from London to Barcelona – a man who had cystic fibrosis and was on the lung transplant register.

He progressed from multiple marathons to Iron Man events, to running 100km to Brighton for his stag celebrations, and ultimately to the Marathon Des Sables. “It was absolutely awful… really hard… and then, for the documentary, after ten hours on the go, Johnny would ask ‘Can we do that last bit again?’ No! But it was part of the process. I had to follow a routine each day, including the filming. It provided structure.

“A lot of the time you were on your own in the desert with a map and some markers, and you have to draw on everything you have.” He likened it to the feeling of isolation around examinations when your classmates are no longer there and you have got to do it yourself.

A huge physical challenge for Johan, the event was also tough for Johnny. He had never actually made a documentary before, so had to learn the specific skills involved, as well as coping with 50-degree-plus heat and the challenges posed by sand, including occasional sand storms, which caused problems with the camera equipment. This required plenty of problem-solving along the way.

He, too, drew inspiration from what he saw: “As humans we like things that are comfortable, but these guys are in a place where no one would feel comfortable. But to learn and be successful you have to put yourself in these positions.”

Johnny showed a trailer of the film to the boys and made clear how appropriate its title, Grit, is, given the way Johan had overcome his difficulties.

He also spoke about not needing to know what you want to do when at school and the merits of taking a different path from the norm. Johnny took Photography at A-level at QE, taught by Alison Lefteri, who is still in the School’s Art department. “Trust in your own beliefs and what you are interested in – it doesn’t matter if it’s not like what others are doing. Opportunities will arise,” he told the boys. He found a passion for photography, developing his skills and discovering an interest in documentary-style photography at university. Eventually, however, he moved into film and found he loved that even more.

Johan reinforced Johnny’s advice, saying: “Never look to the side of you, as you’ll only end up keeping up [with others] – you should look ahead of you.” He added that “arbitrary markers of grades or salary are not important for life satisfaction”. Nor was natural aptitude necessarily essential for achieving fulfilment, he said, claiming not to be a great marathon-runner: “I tended only to run when on camera!” Instead, what was important was self-belief – without it, he simply would not be able to run marathons.

One of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers gave QE boys some thought-provoking insights into the complex area of British attitudes towards discrimination and the law.

Rebecca Hilsenrath, who is both Chief Executive and Chief Legal Officer to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, was a guest speaker at QE’s Politics Society. Her son, Adam Hilsenrath, (OE 2008–2015) is a former School Captain who won a place to read History at Oxford.

The commission, which is Great Britain’s national equality body, exists to “make Britain fairer…by safeguarding and enforcing the laws that protect people’s rights to fairness, dignity and respect”, according to its website.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I am most grateful to Rebecca for visiting us. The boys were clearly very engaged in the discussion that ensued and it is a great strength of the QE community that we can draw on people like her to come in and provide their knowledge, advice and inspiration to the boys. Her insights on the importance of voluntary work and of generally contributing to society accord fully with the tenets of our School mission.”

Ms Hilsenrath began her talk with a story of hill-climbing in Wales, where she thought she could see the top but realised that each time she got there, she had been deceived by the angle and there was in fact much further to go. A similar situation obtained with human rights in the UK, she said.

As the country of Magna Carta, Britain has “a fantastic tradition of leading on human rights and the development of law,” (which is why people in Brussels are so devastated at Brexit, she added.) The UK has done well in dealing with ‘direct discrimination’, but there are still many challenges around ‘indirect discrimination’. This results when groups are adversely affected by factors which, at face value, are not about them, but which particularly affect them. These groups often comprise those who do not enjoy high levels of public sympathy, such as gypsies or transgender people. Even with indirect discrimination, the picture is not altogether negative: there have been significant improvements for some groups as a result of cultural change, including much greater acceptance and equality.

The public, Ms Hilsenrath said, are generally supportive of single-issue matters of equality, but “people are scared of the big picture” and are negative on the advancement of human rights as a whole. There may, she believes, be some correlation between this and periods when Government finances are especially stretched: “People tend to be nastier to each other at these times, to hit out. Unhappiness can be manifested as xenophobia.”

The other important context is the continued prevalence of terrorism in the public and political discourse. The 9/11 attacks happened soon after the Human Rights Act came into full force in the UK. “Debate about human rights has been wrapped up in discussions of terrorism ever since,” she said. The public’s focus has often been on asking whether the country is being too lenient on terrorists, and there is a corresponding reluctance to grant terrorists rights: “It is much easier to give rights to those we like.”

Ms Hilsenrath argued, however, that it is possible both to have human rights and to implement robust measures to deal with terror, since many rights are “qualified” in relation to matters such as national security.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s last report two years ago showed big improvements for many, but made clear that there was still work to do. Some groups seemed to have fared worse than others as a result of policy and tax changes. She clarified the organisation’s mission: “We are not aiming for total equality – trying to make two people the same – instead we are after equality of opportunity.”

The boys asked a host of questions covering everything from her views on communism as a tool for trying to make society more equal and whether there should be a codified British Bill of Rights, to whether income inequality is necessarily a bad thing and whether some rights are more important than others.

She also provided some more general advice about working in law and public life, explaining that changing jobs can be a way to progress, as it helps you get a rounded experience.

She stressed the importance of voluntary work and encouraged boys to do as much of it as possible. Helping others was a key theme here: “Everybody needs to do what they can for other people out of love, to reach out and make a difference. Success in life is about being ‘the best you’, and to do that you need to do more than the day job.”

Broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Paxman brought with him his trademark combination of forthright frankness and well-informed opinion when he visited the School. He also brought his dog, Derek!

The 67-year-old question master from the BBC’s University Challenge made his name with his tough interviewing style on the corporation’s Newsnight.

When he came to the QE Politics Society event, the shoe was on the other foot, with boys from all year groups seizing the chance to grill the famous interviewer. However, that did not prevent some boys, including Politics Society Chairman Tej Mehta, from being ‘Paxmanned’ – robustly taken to task for the slant of their questions – albeit in very good humour.

The format of the visit, which was arranged by Head of Politics Liam Hargadon, was a question-and-answer session. Mr Paxman answered questions on a wide variety of subjects, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, pollsters, the 2017 general election, social media, Donald Trump and, of course, Brexit.

The Headmaster said: “Mr Paxman was typically forthright, proffering honest and entertaining opinions on many of the key issues of the day.

“Such visits give our boys unique opportunities to learn from national and international experts. They also foster our pupils’ skills in asking good questions, which we see as an important aspect of developing boys’ intellectual capabilities – and who better to learn from than the master questioner himself?”

“Through interacting with somebody of Mr Paxman’s stature, they learn to think carefully and analytically, to articulate clearly and to stand firm in their arguments, while remaining willing to listen to differing views.

“I would like to thank him for his visit and also for the surprise visit of his cocker spaniel, who was a big hit with the boys.”

A leading economic journalist kept his audience of GCSE and A-level pupils enthralled with a talk that covered topics ranging from pension thefts more than a decade ago to the global stock market falls of recent weeks.

Liam Halligan is Economics Commentator with The Telegraph Group. He is also a Permanent Panellist for CNN Talk, a commentator for UnHerd – a weekly internet publication edited by Tim Montgomerie, formerly of The Times – and Editor-at-Large at bne IntelliNews, a source of English-language news and analysis about 34 countries, from Poland to Turkey and Mongolia to Russia.

In his talk to the School’s Economics Society, he recalled some of the news stories and issues he has covered, as well as giving advice on the rewards and challenges of journalism as a career. His latest cover story for the Spectator, headlined The Crash We Need, welcomed this month’s sharp falls in the markets as a necessary correction.

Thanking Mr Halligan after the talk, Headmaster Neil Enright, who is a fellow Governor with Mr Halligan at The John Lyon School in Harrow, said: “I know that the boys greatly appreciate the opportunity to hear from and question those who hold prominent positions in fields such as journalism. I am sure they will have taken away a good insight into aspects of print and broadcast media.

“It is particularly important for our boys to hear from those who, like many of them, may not have grown up in highly academic or professionally networked families, but have nevertheless achieved notable success. The persistence and dedication that it takes to establish oneself in an industry whereby such heritage is almost the norm is something that we work to cultivate and support in our boys.”

During his visit, Mr Halligan, who took a first-class class degree in Economics at the University of Warwick and an MPhil at Oxford, recounted how he helped to exonerate RAF pilots blamed for the 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook helicopter crash many years after the disaster and how he exposed pension thefts in 2007. His career also included covering post-Soviet Russia for both The Economist and the Wall Street Journal in the turbulent period in the early 1990s after the break-up of the USSR.

He particularly highlighted the stress of deadlines and the need to be able to work under time pressure. He once received a call from the editor of the Spectator asking him to write the cover story in just four hours.

“You need to be able to entertain, as well as educate and inform, have a spirit of adventure and be willing to challenge decision-makers,” Mr Halligan told the boys. “Success follows those who are confident, driven and versatile. You also need to be a good colleague, as well as being informed about a wide range of topics.”

There were a number of questions from the audience. Year 12 pupil Parth Gosalia said: “When asked about his views on the state of the Government, Mr Halligan told us that politics is very vibrant and that this is, indeed, a very promising time for the UK.”

The questions turned to the effect Brexit would have on the UK economy – an issue about which Mr Halligan was optimistic. “He argued in favour of a clean break from the EU and the Single Market,” said Parth. “His case for Brexit seemed to epitomise the entirety of his talk, in that it provided a fresh perspective to the assembled students.”

A Lower School lecture about the role and experience of women led to lively debate amongst the boys.

Alice Fookes, an Awareness-Raiser for UN Women (the United Nations organisation dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women), gave a wide-ranging talk on issues ranging from the limited access women and girls have to health care and education in certain parts of the world to the leadership & political participation of women. Amongst other topics she brought forward were: negative cultural practices; how to end violence against women and girls; economic empowerment, and HIV & AIDS.

She asked the boys at QE to talk to the women in their lives – whether mothers, sisters or cousins – about their experiences and to try to understand how they felt about issues.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Alice brought an important and thought-provoking contribution, which engaged the boys. We aspire for our boys to be among the leaders in their generation; to do so effectively they will need to be able to understand issues from a broad range of perspectives and to analyse how others are affected by them.”

Ms Fookes talked about the work of the United Nations and its flagship programmes for women, including promoting safer cities, providing decent work and social protection, and the development of female humanitarian programmes in refugee camps. She outlined the UN’s desire to end discrimination and violence against women and girls, to eliminate harmful practices, such as child marriage, and to encourage women’s participation and leadership in decision-making.

In the Q&A session, there was a discussion of what feminism means and whether there are different versions of it. She averred that men could be feminists, stating that her husband and son would describe themselves in that way, and that feminism does not have to be about being anti-male, suggesting it is more about genuine equality.

“This was also another opportunity for boys to practise asking effective questions,” said Mr Enright. “It enabled them to explore issues more deeply and to challenge an aspect of an argument.”

A pre-eminent political journalist took boys at the Year 12 formal luncheon on a journey through pivotal moments of recent British history.

George Parker, Political Editor of the Financial Times, was the guest speaker at the annual meal, which is arranged to give sixth-formers experience of the sort of formal social occasions that will become more frequent at university and in their careers beyond.

Mr Parker, who has previously been named in the top five of the Press Gazette’s Top 50 Political Journalists, looked back at the end of the Thatcher era and touched on significant political events right through to Brexit.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “He spoke entertainingly and in engaging fashion, relating anecdotes which kept the boys enthralled, and then answering their questions.”

Mr Parker told one light-hearted story about how a front-page story he had run with the FT on a new haircut of Tony Blair’s had sparked a minor media frenzy and a rebuke from No 10! He discussed weightier matters too, in particular talking about the Brexit negotiations, from the project’s very feasibility through to the possible economic benefits of a trade deal with the US.

He gave thoughtful answers to all the boys’ questions, which included whether the referendum had led to increasing xenophobia; whether the country is headed for a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit, and whether he thought Brexit would happen at all. The FT is a very pro-Europe newspaper, the most widely read in Brussels, and Mr Parker predicted that the advantages of Brexit would be meagre. Other questions related to specific issues such as the desirability of the Government pursuing a balanced budget.

“It was a real pleasure to welcome him to the School,” said Mr Enright. “The boys clearly appreciated hearing his insights and had some very pertinent questions. This was another opportunity for them to benefit from a guest speaker’s expertise.”

The luncheon followed a format of a three-course meal, with Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s volunteers assisting the School’s catering team. This was followed by toasts and speeches. School Captain Aashish Khimasia presided over the occasion as master of ceremonies, leading the toasts to The Queen and the ‘loyal toast’ to Queen Elizabeth I; as is customary, this was taken in silence. One of the Senior Vice-Captains, Aditya Ravindrakumar, introduced Mr Parker, with Vice-Captain Parth Gosalia delivering the vote of thanks at the conclusion of the event.

“Mr Parker declared that he had enjoyed himself and said he was heading off to go and think about tomorrow’s front page!” said Mr Enright.