Viewing archives for Trips

Ten Art & Design pupils from Year 13 spent a day exploring some very different exhibitions in London to gain inspiration for the final stages of their A-levels.

First stop was the Tate Britain, where they visited the very recently opened Requiem exhibition by British painter Chris Ofili. Huge and colourful, it commemorates the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire and the life of Khadija Saye, a fast-rising Gambian-British photographer who died in the 2017 blaze.

Head of Art Craig Wheatley said the boys had been moved by what they saw there: “The scale and beauty of such a poetic piece that highlights the tragedy was very poignant and a reminder of the impact art can have on the viewer.

“Overall, the art we saw during the day was diverse and thought-provoking; the pupils experienced areas and spaces of London for the first time, and I believe the day was a great success – even the weather was kind to us!” Mr Wheatley explained that the focus of the trip was to shape the final-year students’ ideas and thinking for ‘Component 1’ – non-examined coursework involving ‘personal investigation’ which is worth 60% of their eventual A-level grade.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “At Queen Elizabeth’s School, we are keen to take advantage of our position in one of the world’s great capital cities, and this trip was an excellent example of our boys taking advantage of the exciting cultural, intellectual and sporting opportunities that London affords. I wish I had been able to join them!”

Moving on from the Tate, the group walked to Newport Street Gallery and enjoyed the glass work of British artist Brian Clarke.

“Vast in scale, the work offered an opportunity for the boys to consider material use and a wide range of visual themes, from motifs and patterns to more literal representation using combinations of colour, glass, print and lead,” said Mr Wheatley.

Then it was a further walk to the South Bank to take in the bamboo installation by Indian Asim Waqif on the Hayward Gallery terrace. “The juxtaposition of the natural forms of the bamboo against the brutalist design of the South Bank gave the boys interested in architecture and sculpture a fantastic first-hand experience that they will be able to respond to in their own work,” Mr Wheatley added.

A bus ride followed to look at Ethiopian American painter Julie Mehretu’s solo exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey. Entitled They departed for their own country another way (a 9x9x9 hauntology), the paintings used images taken from current affairs media as her subjects, especially the war in Ukraine and the US Capitol insurrection of 6^th January 2021.

The exhibition explored themes of conflict, displacement and the asymmetry of power. Mr Wheatley said: “The large abstract pieces challenged the boys’ understanding of artwork that makes numerous social and political references without the use of a literal visual narrative.”

After crossing London by tube, the boys’ final stop was the Sadie Coles HQ gallery, just off Regent Street, for an exhibition of the work of London-based Alvaro Barrington, the son of a Grenadian mother and Haitian father. “The vibrant sculptures inspired by memories of shacks in Grenada, combined with video and photographic imagery of Notting Hill Carnival, functioned as a visual tool and signifier of cultural and political histories that the pupils could engage with,” Mr Wheatley concluded.

Twenty-three boys whose work was chosen as the best in the QE 450^th anniversary research project were treated to a rare look at one of the nation’s most treasured documents on a trip to the National Archives.

Among the artefacts viewed by the group during their visit to Kew was the actual letter – known as the ‘Tide Letter’ – written by the future Queen Elizabeth I, founder of Queen Elizabeth’s School, as she battled for survival following her arrest in 1554.

Jenni Blackford, Curator of QE Collections and Head of Library Services, said: “It was amazing to see such fabulous documents close up and it was a testament to our students’ conduct, interest and behaviour that they brought the Tide Letter out to show them at the end of the session.”

The visit was a reward for the boys who submitted the best entries to Project 1573. This involved small groups of boys being given three primary sources relating to a particular aspect of QE’s history and then asked to produce a three-minute presentation after accessing QE Collections – the School’s online archive – and other archival materials.

The winners were:

• Navieeneish Kirubaharan, Param Kapadia, Aarnav Mahajan and Advay Zore, all from Year 8 Pearce form, who researched Timothy Edwards, Headmaster 1961–1983
• Kelvin Chen, Ethan Yao, Jonas Dawit and Rishi Sen, also of Year 8 Pearce, researching E W Harrison, a long-serving teacher who retired in 1950 and is one of the two unrelated people after whom the Harrisons’ House is named
• Shravanth Sadheesh, Pranav Nayak, Arya Ratnakaram and Sriram Muthukumaran, from Year 8, Stapylton, who looked into QE’s 350^th anniversary celebrations in 1923
• Snehal Das, Samir Cheema and Ozgan Cakir, of Year 9, Stapylton, who researched QE becoming a grant-maintained school in 1989, giving it new freedoms to govern its own affairs
• Keeyan Shah, Alex Stack, Shlok Gajjar and Pranith Turaga, also of Year 9, Stapylton, looked into the foundation of the School
• Aahan Shah, Abhinav Sandeep, Jack Tan and Tunishq Mitra, of the Year 9 Broughton form, who investigated the history of Eton Fives at the School.

They saw the Tide Letter, which was written by Elizabeth to her half-sister, Queen Mary I, when the princess was arrested following Wyatt’s Rebellion, an attempt to overthrow the queen, in 1554. Mary gave orders for Elizabeth to be taken to the Tower of London.

“The students were able to see the neat handwriting at the start of the letter become larger and messier as she was likely made to hurry by those waiting to escort her to the Tower. Fearing her enemies might alter the letter, Elizabeth struck lines through the blank space above her signature,” said Mrs Blackford.

“It is called the Tide Letter because it is believed Elizabeth deliberately wrote the letter to buy time so that the daylight low tide that enabled boats to pass safely through the narrow arches of London Bridge would have turned and she would avoid being taken to the Tower for an additional day.”

Eloquently protesting her innocence, the future queen finishes the letter: “Your hignes most faithful subject that hathe bine from the beginninge, and wylbe to my ende. Elizabeth.”

Her stratagem was successful: she was not taken to the Tower until the following day. Elizabeth was eventually released and then succeeded to the throne on Mary’s death four years later, in 1558.

The Year 8 and Year 9 boys saw a variety of later documents from Elizabeth’s reign, including letters, speeches, Plea Rolls (parchment court records) and the queen’s second Great Seal.

QE’s founding Royal Charter of 1573 was authorised with Queen Elizabeth’s first seal. This, however, wore out during her long reign, and, Ms Blackford said, the boys enjoyed finding out about its replacement: “It is noticeably more elaborate, as Elizabeth had started to closely monitor her image.”

The boys also learned about how the National Archives came into existence, hearing how in the 1830s, civil servant Henry Cole submitted to the Government a dead mummified rat with a stomach full of chewed documents among his evidence of the unsuitability of the premises where public records were then being stored.

QE boys mixed pleasure with plenty of language-learning on the first German exchange since the pandemic.

The Year 9 trip to the north German city of Bielefeld saw the QE party enjoy the high life at one of the world’s tallest and fastest roller-coasters, at a tree-climbing adventure park and at the mediaeval Sparrenberg Castle (known locally as the Sparrenburg), which towers over the city centre.

They savoured more down-to-earth attractions, including a town trail and a football match between local teams in a city stadium, while sating their appetites at a food factory and at a barbecue organised in their honour.

And they worked hard during their week abroad, helping their exchange partners and their classmates by serving as language assistants in English lessons, while also participating in History, Music, Art and PE projects.

Burgunde Lukasser-Weitlaner, QE’s Assistant Head of Languages (Modern), said: “The first exchange after COVID turned out to be a great success: some boys asked why we did not go for two weeks! We were presented with a fantastic programme in Bielefeld, an excellent mix of fun and learning.”

The exchange, which began in 2005, is with a co-educational grammar school (or ‘Gymnasium’), Friedrich von Bodelschwingh Gymnasium in Bielefeld. The school is named after a German pastor, theologian and public health advocate, who ran large homes for people with learning difficulties and refused to comply with the Nazis’ euthanasia policies.

The boys spent a day at the Heide Park Resort in the town of Soltau and rode on the Colossos: Kampf der Giganten (Colossos: Battle of the Giants) roller coaster. “They enjoyed that tremendously,” said Miss Lukasser-Weitlaner.

The headquarters of the German multinational food company, Dr Oetker, is in Bielefeld. The boys relished both a guided tour of the factory, and the free treats they were served at the end. There was more food at a barbecue for the whole exchange group organised by the German parents.

The QE boys’ programme included these four projects, which gave them ample opportunity to practise their German:

• History: looking at the fall of the Berlin Wall and the peaceful demonstrations leading up to it. “I was impressed with the contributions some of our boys were able to make,” said Miss Lukasser-Weitlaner;
• Music: the boys created their own digital music using GarageBand software. One of the party, Peter Atanasov, said: “We made our own beats on iPads to accompany a melody and learnt about new music genres as well.”
• PE: the boys sampled a few different sports, Peter reports, such as “dodgeball with a German twist”. They also developed their teamwork abilities with a few memory-focused team games;
• Art: for a project based on a theme of ‘exploration’, the boys used ink to portray faces showing different emotions. The project included listening to music and then drawing faces to match the music, with, for example, slow music being represented by a sad facial expression.

QE’s team heads for June’s national chess finals after seeing off local rivals in a keenly fought regional final.

Their hard-won North London zonal final victory over Latymer School followed a more comfortable 5½ – ½ semi-final defeat of Mill Hill School.

The six-strong team drawn from Years 9–13 now take on 15 other regional winners in the national final of the English Chess Federation-run National Schools’ Chess Championship. QE has enjoyed some success in the national finals in the past, but not in very recent years.

Teacher in charge of chess, Geoff Roberts, said: “Qualifying for the national final of this tournament is a real achievement and one that confirms our place amongst the élite chess-playing schools in the country. This competition is the one which every school has aspirations to win, so for Queen Elizabeth’s to have made it through to the national final is especially pleasing.”

QE’s 2022–2023 team comprises: Yash Mahajan, of Year 13; Joshua John, Year 11; Jason Tao, Year 11; Andreas Angelopoulos, Year 11; Daiwik Solanki, Year 10, and Nishchal Thatte, Year 9.

“My congratulations to all the boys who have represented the School in this competition and a particular mention to the captain, Yash, in his last year at Queen Elizabeth’s, for his role in creating the strong team environment which has underpinned our success.”

Their place in the national final depended on the boys beating Latymer School in their zonal final. It was, said Mr Roberts, “an exciting match of high-standard chess with the result in the balance throughout – and in a dramatic finish with both players short on time, Jason Tao secured the winning point for a 4-2 victory”.

The competition has been running since the 1957–1958 academic year, with QE marking its first success there the following year, when it came third. It was another 41 years before QE next appeared on the leaders’ board, with a fourth place in 1999–2000. It last won a top place – joint-third – in 2016–2017. QE’s record also includes successes in the Plate competition, in which the trophy goes to the School with the best result from among the first-round losers. QE was a Plate runner-up in 2012–2013 and in 2013–2014, with a third place in 2006–2007.

The national final of the competition takes place at the University of Nottingham on 29th–30th June.

As the School as a whole marks QE’s 450^th anniversary, the Languages department has its own landmark to celebrate – ten years of its French exchange.

Twenty-one boys headed to Bourg-en-Bresse this month, a town which lies northeast of Lyon at the foot of the Jura Mountains. Their exchange partners came to Barnet last term.

The QE boys enjoyed a week of activities that ranged from trips to local attractions to attending classes in the partner school, Collège St Pierre. This tenth exchange follows a three-year gap because of the pandemic.

Head of Languages Nora Schlatte said: “We were particularly excited for the 2023 French exchange, having not had an exchange run since 2019, and the trip was a great success.

“The QE boys and their French partners got on really well and it was great to see them sharing experiences and speaking more and more French as the week went on. Families on both sides said how happy they were to have been able to take part in this experience and we are thrilled to be maintaining our strong link with Collège St Pierre.”

The first exchange with Bourg-en-Bresse was in the 2010 Summer Term, when 13 pupils from Years 8 and 9 visited Collège St-Pierre, the alma mater of a QE French teacher of the time, Océane Jullien, who now teaches in Thailand.

On this year’s trip the QE boys flew in to Geneva and then took a coach over the border to Bourg-en-Bresse, where they were met by the host families. They were accompanied by Ms Schlatte, Languages teacher Katrin Hood (who is also Head of Year 8) and Cover Supervisor Joan Anderson.

Their busy week included a:

• Visit to the local ‘parc des oiseaux’ (bird park) with their partners
• Day trip to Lyon, taking in a museum visit (Musée du Cinéma et de la Miniature), picnic lunch, shopping and a funicular railway ride to the cathedral, where they could enjoy the views from the hill
• Weekend spent with the families – activities reported include bowling, trips to the cinema, cave visits, and visits to the Chamonix mountain region
• Scavenger hunt through the town and a woodland adventure activity
• Day in school, taking part in a quiz, and, with their exchange partners, in an Art lesson, Mathematics lesson, PE activity and going to a basketball match in the evening
• Trip to the market.

Among the QE party was Dhruva Arjun, who said: “My highlight was watching the basketball match on the last night. The atmosphere was really fun and it was great to be there with our exchange partners.”

Fellow member of Harrisons’ House, Aaryav Sharma, said some of his most memorable moments took place above ground level: “We had a great afternoon doing accrobranche, which is a treetop adventure activity,” adding that he and two friends all “managed the really difficult black run, which was great!”

Tanish Nori, a member of Underne House, relished spending time with his partner and the family. “At the weekend, they took me to the Alps and we went to the Aiguille du Midi, which was amazing.”

Last term, Headmaster Neil Enright joined key staff involved in the exchange in celebrating a decade of successful trips with a special afternoon tea.

The sands of time may be slipping away for the crumbling coast of Essex – but not if QE’s A-level geographers can help it!

Braving a biting chill on the beach, the Sixth Form group investigated not only the threat posed by rapid coastal erosion at Walton-on-the-Naze, but also evaluated steps being taken by the town’s authorities to check it.

Geography teacher Chris Butler said: “Fieldtrips like this are so important in bringing to life what can be rather abstract concepts, such as coastal erosion and management. I was delighted with the boys’ approach across all three days of the trip. They worked extremely hard in challenging conditions and were a credit to the School.”

Walton has one of the fastest retreating cliff lines in the British Isles: on average, the cliffs are retreating between one and two metres every year. That the cliffs are falling away so rapidly is due largely to their geology.

“The fossiliferous clays and sands exposed in the Naze area belong to the London Clay and Red Crag formations, and provide evidence of prehistoric life and conditions 54 million years ago and 2.5 million years ago respectively,” said Mr Butler. “Fossils, such as those of shark teeth and mangroves, occur commonly throughout both, and the area has attracted fossil-hunters since the 19th century.

“However, the formations unfortunately represent a relatively weak barrier to coastal erosion.”

Local officials have implemented a large number of strategies in a bid to slow the rate of erosion and protect the town and its services.

As well as looking into the impact of the erosion on both landforms and the built environment as part of their A-level studies, the boys also investigated the relative success of each management strategy the town had introduced and the impact that these techniques have had on both physical and human environments.

“Although no fossils were recovered, the fieldtrip was a great success, and despite the weather being bitterly cold, the boys demonstrated admirable fieldwork skills in sampling and collecting their data before analysis back in the classroom,” said Mr Butler.

The party stayed just over the Suffolk border in the Field Studies Council’s (FSC) Flatford Mill, which was once owned by John Constable’s family. He immortalised the Mill in his famous painting, The Hay Wain, in 1821.

Mr Butler added: “The boys were complimented on their positive attitudes, outstanding work ethic and manners by FSC staff and teachers from other visiting schools.”

Top to bottom, the pictures show: Year 12’s Sabbir Hossain using a level to chart platform gradient; boys profiling the protected beach and ‘slope toe’ at Walton; Red Crag and London Clay formations; Flatford Mill, as depicted in The Hay Wain, and the mill as it is today.