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QE held its traditional act of commemoration on Armistice Day, while members of the Combined Cadet Force took part in High Barnet’s Remembrance Sunday parade.

Through the two events, today’s Elizabethans remembered the 113 old boys who lost their lives in the 20^th century’s two world wars and those who have been injured or died in wars since.

The ceremonies followed some ten days of poppy-selling within the School and a History trip during which Year 8 boys had the opportunity to see the World War I display at Hampton Court Palace, which focuses on the Indian regiment who camped there after taking part in the conflict.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “By collectively commemorating and honouring Elizabethans of the past who have fallen in war, we recognise their ultimate sacrifice while also encouraging the present generation of pupils to reflect on the School’s tradition of service.”

QE’s traditional 11.00am act of remembrance took place at the School’s World War I memorial in the Crush Hall. It was led by representatives of the School’s Combined Cadet Force, who were joined by Colour Sergeant Rhys Peto, the CCF’s School Staff Instructor, who is a member of QE’s Facilities Team.

Wreaths were laid on behalf of the School and the Old Elizabethans, the Last Post played on the trumpet by School Captain Theo Mama-Kahn, of Year 13, and the poem, Taking a Stand*, read by Mithil Parmar, also of Year 13. There followed the national two-minute silence, which was observed around the School. Those out of earshot of the Crush Hall could watch a video featuring the Last Post which used images from the National Memorial Arboretum. At 11.02am, Theo played the reveille and the cadets fell out.

Two days later, 36 of the School’s cadets and CCF staff representatives participated in High Barnet’s Remembrance Sunday events. After assembling at Barnet Army Reserve centre in St Albans Road, they paraded down Barnet High Street and joined the church service at St John the Baptist Church, where there was the playing of the Last Post and a wreath-laying ceremony. Events concluded with a march-past, where Martin Russell, the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Barnet (and the parent of an Old Elizabethan) took the salute.

In the run-up to Armistice Day, pupils had visited form rooms with poppies and cash tins. For the first time, boys and staff could also make donations via contactless transaction in reception and via Parent Pay in the School Shop.

During the same week, Year 8 visited Hampton Court Palace for a history trip. In addition to exploring Tudor life at the palace, they enjoyed finding out more about the Indian soldiers who camped there for two months in the summer of 1919. They had returned to Europe by ship from Mumbai (then known as Bombay) and were brought to the UK to join in the national peace celebrations with soldiers from around the British Empire who had fought alongside each other.

Helen Edmunds, Head of History & Politics, said: “Hampton Court provides excellent contemporary sources, including a display of diaries and letters written by the soldiers who were there just over a century ago. This links in well in with the work our pupils will do next year when they enter Year 9 on the role and importance of Empire troops during World War I and World War II.

“We enjoyed lovely weather and, despite traffic hold-ups, we made it in time for a good visit and were able to enjoy a picnic lunch in the sunshine and a visit to the gift shop, which always goes down well!”

Year 8 made the trip over two days. With the M25 shut on one of the days because of the Just Stop Oil protests, the group instead went via the North Circular, giving the boys the opportunity to take in some extra sights along the way – Wembley Stadium, Kew Gardens and Twickenham Stadium.

* This is the poem that Mithil read:

Taking a Stand

I ask you to stand with me
For both the injured and the lost
I ask you to keep count with me
Of all the wars and what they cost
I ask you to be silent with me
Quietly grateful for our lot
As I expect you’re as thankful as me
For the health and life we’ve got

I ask that you wish them well with me
All those still risking their all
And I ask that you remember with me
The names of those that fall
I expect that you are proud like me
Of this great nation of ours too
So enjoying all its freedoms like me
Support those upholding them for you

I hope that you are hopeful like me
That we’ll soon bring an end to wars
So you’ll have to stand no more with me
And mourning families no different from yours
‘Til then be thankful you can stand with me
Thinking of those who now cannot
For standing here today with me
At least we show they’re not forgot

By John Bailey

Senior boys from QE and their counterparts at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School went on a litter pick – the latest event in the community-oriented QE Together partnership.

Shocked by the amount of plastic waste discarded in the Dollis Valley, twenty sixth-formers from the two schools decided to take matters into their own hands, heading into the great outdoors armed with protective gloves and bin bags.

Since the start of 2022, QE Together, a new partnership led by the QE and QEGS sixth-formers themselves, has organised a series of successful community events.

Sushant Deshpande, who is in Year 13 at QE, said: “Our motivations were high and we were enthusiastic to clean up the park.

“We managed to collect quite a lot of litter and thoroughly enjoyed the process, with both schools having a memorable time.

“We look forward to doing more events in the future, perhaps even involving more schools within our community.

“We’ve taken pride in giving back to our wider circle and have had multiple successes so far. We hope to sustain these initiatives for many more generations of QE Together,” he added.

Pupils from the two schools have met regularly over the past two terms, organising a string of events and activities:

• Singing at Abbey Ravenscroft Park Nursing Home in a joint visit that built on a tradition of past visits by boys from QE
• Running a joint assembly for Year 6 children at Whitings Hill Primary School, where the team discussed the move to secondary school, including both its challenges and the things to look forward to
• Campaigning together for safer roads.

Crispin Bonham-Carter, Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement), said the QE Together team were grateful to their sponsors, Signature Care Homes, who donated the gloves and bin bags for the litter pick.

With the BAFTAs fresh in everyone’s mind, QE’s stars of the small screen have been picking up their own awards for their work to help fellow pupils.

In a first for the School, QE’s team of peer mentors this year produced a series of short videos to share their wisdom and experience with younger pupils, providing useful tips and advice on topics ranging from coping with stress to how to use a homework diary.

To reward these senior pupils’ talent and commitment, the best of their work was recognised in an informal awards ceremony, when a number of prizes were awarded.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Over the years, our teams of peer mentors have made, and continue to make, a great contribution as a much-valued part of the wider support network at the School. Both mentors and mentees routinely take a lot away from these relationships.

“There was great creativity and skill on display in these bite-sized videos, which communicated some very important and insightful messages. Everyone involved with any of the videos should be proud of their efforts and the way they are helping to support others.”

The peer videos project was organised by Head of Extra-curricular Enrichment Rebecca Grundy and Head of Year 10 Micah King, with the explicit purpose of widening the number of pupils who could benefit from the guidance of peer mentors. The peer mentors began working on their films in November, each selecting a topic that had been identified as a need for pupils within the School, and then teamed up to script, film and edit their videos.

“The boys worked incredibly hard together to produce such high-quality videos, and one particular joy of this project was watching older and younger peer mentors collaborate to share their wisdom with our QE community,” said Mr King. “Each team had to create project proposals and submit multiple drafts of their videos – and  the end results speak for themselves: they are an excellent collection of videos and the boys are a credit to the School.”

• The award for best film overall went to the Year 13 team of Paul Ofordu, Miguel Nieves, Manomay Lala-Raykar and Aadarsh Khimasia, which Paul and Manomay directed, with Paul additionally producing and editing the video, Managing Stress and Anxiety. Paul also took the best actor award for his role in the three-minute production (pictured top). To combat stress, they recommended meditation, journalling, controlling one’s own social media use, sleep and healthy eating. The judges’ comments were: “This film combined superb advice, with great editing, cinematography, acting and presenting. The Year 13 producers of this film are a credit to this school, and their film epitomises the wonderful help, wisdom and guidance they have given to QE. “The judges also commented that: “Paul is a great role model for students on camera. His acting skills are compelling, while he presents great advice wonderfully.”
• Adam Khaliq and Rudra Thakkar, both of Year 12, won the award for best cinematography with their film, Making friends at QE. “This award was given in recognition of the joy that was captured on film,” the judges wrote. “This advice guide would cheer and support students who are struggling, and the filming was creative and adventurous.”
• The best editing award went to Shuaib Adam, of Year 11, whose film was entitled How to prepare a study space at home. The citation for this was: “When we first watched this, Ms Grundy remarked that you could imagine seeing this on the BBC. Superb use of speed up/slowed down footage, great voiceovers and text overlay. A masterful piece of editing.”
• The best producer award went jointly to the Year 12 pair of Haipei Jiang and Nivain  Goonasekera, for How to manage your homework. It was, the judges wrote, an “Excellent stop motion video, which combined great advice with a fun, entertaining and wonderfully produced guide.”
• Darren Lee, of Year 11, was also recognised for his graphic design, with the judges commenting that this work was: “Creative and professional. Darren’s graphic design is outstanding, managing to maintain the School’s branding in his banner, while demonstrating his own creativity in the buttons he designed.”

All the videos are in the support and advice section of eQE, the School’s e-platform and learning platform.

QE today announced its biggest-ever prefect body – 120 sixth-formers led by the 2022 School Captain, Theo Mama-Kahn.

Theo, pictured centre, and his two Senior Vice-Captains, Ansh Jassra (right) and Antony Yassa will take over at the start of the New Year at the helm of a Year 12 team that includes Vice-Captains, House Captains, Deputy House Captains and Prefects.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to all who have been appointed to this, our largest-ever group, reflecting the current size of our Sixth Form. There were very many strong candidates.

“To be named in such positions at this School represents a significant honour and is reflective of the standing in which they are held by their peers and staff. They serve as role models and ambassadors for QE and our shared values. The prefect roles are aligned with the development priorities in our 2021–2025 School plan; these senior students thus make a lasting contribution, assisting us in our progress as an organisation.

“It was no surprise to see Theo, Ansh and Antony emerge out of the prefect selection process ­- all are hugely talented, hard-working, and epitomise what it means to be ‘confident, able and responsible’,” Mr Enright added. “They are each role models in their own way for other QE boys, whilst they complement each other well with their differing personalities.

“Their ability to take on the leadership responsibility that these roles bring with them cannot be questioned. Already, they have each demonstrated that they can juggle significant extra-curricular involvements with academic study at an impressive level.”

Mr Enright also thanked the outgoing 2021 School Captain, Siddhant Kansal, and his team. “During another disrupted year, they coped admirably with the vicissitudes of leading in the midst of a pandemic, and successfully made an impact in a number of areas of School life.”

Assistant Head (Pupil Development) Michael Feven detailed the attributes and accomplishments of the new Captain and his Senior Vice-Captains.

“Theo is notable for his altruism: he is kind and enjoys selflessly helping others. He is a star of the Music department, with wide involvement in a number of ensembles, including one which he leads. At this year’s Senior Awards Ceremony, he not only won an impressive trio of prizes – for Music and Geography and a year-group award for overall commitment – but also entertained the audience with a trumpet voluntary. In addition, he is a one of our eco representatives and helps out in the French & German clinics.

“Ansh is a hard-working, determined and focussed individual. He gives up his own time to tutor Mathematics to youngsters in deprived areas, while also running clinics in Maths and German here, and he has enjoyed success with LAMDA public speaking awards.

“Antony is outgoing and confident: he will undoubtedly bring new ideas to the group. Like Theo, he is heavily involved in Music, having sung in the School Choir and Chamber Choir for a number of years. He also exemplifies the School’s ethos of service: he is intending to work at an old people’s home as part of our Sixth Form Voluntary Service Programme.”

The roles of the ten Vice-Captains have been expanded and enhanced this year to support the new School development priorities. New leadership positions for the environment have been added, while the existing community engagement role has been strengthened. As a result, there are now two Vice-Captains with responsibility for each of the following areas:

• Charity & Community Engagement
• Enrichment & Involvement
• Environment
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
• Student Voice.

The second picture shows the Headmaster and the Head of Year 12, Helen Davies, with the School Captain, Senior Vice-Captains and Vice-Captains. The Vice-Captains are: Victor Angelov; Suraj Cheema; Sushant Deshpande; Dylan Domb; Aryan Jindal; Heemy Kalam; Mithil Parmar; Olly Salter; Ryo Sato; and Jao-Yong Tsai.

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.

QE’s Combined Cadet Force led staff and visitors in a ceremony of remembrance for Elizabethans who have fallen in conflict, including the 70 who died in two world wars.

The cadets paraded into the Crush Hall, the area just outside the Main Hall, at 10.55am to take up their positions ahead of the 11am silence. They were led by Cadet Staff Sergeant Lucas Lu, of Year 13, who gave the commands and laid the wreath at the World War I memorial on behalf of the CCF and School.

Boys throughout the School observed the silence, with a three-bell advance warning at 10.59, followed by a single bell to mark the start and finish of the two minutes.

This year’s 11th November event took place shortly after last month’s ceremony at the School to mark the centenary of the unveiling of this memorial in October 1921.

It comes as the Royal British Legion celebrates its own 100th anniversary and also marks 100 years since the nation’s collective remembrance traditions were first brought together – the poppy, two-minute silence, Armistice Day, the service for the Unknown Warrior, and the march-past at the Cenotaph .

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We attach great importance to commemorating all our old boys who have fallen in war.

“In saluting th0se Elizabethans from generations past who gave their lives for a cause greater than themselves, we firstly pay tribute to their sacrifice and secondly encourage our current pupils to reflect on the School’s long and continuing tradition of service.”

The ceremony included a short reading by Anubhav Rathore, of Year 12, while Theo Mama-Kahn, also of Year 12, played the Last Post and the Reveille on the trumpet either side of the silence.

The message on the wreath laid by Lucas read: “We commemorate those who gave their future to protect ours.”

Teachers of classes too far away to hear the trumpet at the ceremony were given the option of playing a video from the National Memorial Arboretum.

A range of resources was also provided to tutors so that they could explain the event to their tutor groups.