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A weather expert combined fascinating insights into the work of the Met Office with some solid career advice when he visited the School to give a talk to senior pupils.

Operational Meteorologist Michael Evans explained how technology is constantly improving the accuracy of weather forecasting, as he delivered the latest in QE’s new series of extra-curricular enrichment lectures for boys from Years 11 to 13. A separate strand of lectures is under way for younger boys.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Mr Evans is an excellent communicator and is passionate about his subject, so we were delighted to welcome him as our guest. I believe our boys will not only have learnt more about meteorology; they will have been inspired by his determination not to let obstacles prevent him from following his chosen career path.”

Mr Evans joined the Met Office in 2013 after graduating in Geography from Exeter University. Although the Met Office headquarters are in Exeter, he is currently based in Northolt, working in the military information division.

He told his audience that Met Office computers analyse trillions of bits of data per hour, taking in readings including temperature, pressure, humidity and wind speed from all over the world. Technological improvements – including a recently installed £96m computer system – mean that a three-day forecast today is as accurate as a one-day forecast was only ten years ago.

His talk highlighted both well-known and lesser-known facts about the Met Office:

• Its data is used not only to predict daily weather, but to look at long-term trends such as global warming, with the information generated being used by governments;
• It conducts research into obtaining and analysing the weather in space;
• The weather forecasts it provides for TV and radio broadcast every day are paid for by Government out of taxation, but the Met Office sells other weather information to customers on a commercial basis – to energy companies and the re-insurance market, for example. Any profits are ploughed back into its work;
• The information the Met Office supplies helps with emergency weather situations in the UK and informs Government planning;
• The Met Office also assists British Armed Forces – Met Office employees are even embedded with military units and have recently been in Afghanistan.

Mr Evans told his audience that he became interested in the Met Office when he did an initial two-week work placement there. In his Geography course, he focused on weather, but he said in fact this degree may not have been ideal: studying Mathematics or Physics gives candidates the best opportunity of obtaining a post there because of the mathematics involved in the job.

However, he got the job, notwithstanding this gap in his qualifications, because of his other strengths, such as communications. He has since improved his mathematical skills by completing various courses.

The whole of Year 9 watched a comedy performed entirely in German by a visiting theatre group.

Entitled Zwillinge (Twins), the play, which is new for 2016, centres on the antics of twin brothers Lukas and Dominik, who change places to play a prank on their friend, Anike, when she is revising for a drama examination.

It was performed by two native German actors, one male and one female, from the Onatti theatre company, who specialise in producing plays written especially for foreign language-learners. Zwillinge is intended for pupils in Years 9–11, so the 180-strong QE audience were at the lower end of this age range.

Christopher Kidd, Head of Languages, said: “When the twins switch roles, it led to much laughter. In fact, for boys who have completed only two years of German, they showed an excellent grasp of the language and they were highly commended by the actors involved.”

The 50-minute production included some audience participation, with a number of boys being selected to join the actors on stage.
Onatti also perform plays in French and Spanish.

Pupils and teachers turned out in force for a talk at the School by political journalist and TV presenter Evan Davis.

Organised by Year 12 pupil Adrian Burbie under the auspices of QE’s Politics Society, the lunchtime lecture drew large numbers to the Main Hall.

Mr Davis, who is a main presenter of BBC’s Newsnight, the host of the Dragons’ Den series and a former presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, delivered his talk in his trademark passionate yet erudite, jargon-free style.

Dragons’ Den takes up only about ten days of his year, yet his appearances on the programme are largely responsible for him being recognised on the street. He therefore began by pre-empting the question which has proved most popular when he has visited other schools – his favourite ‘dragon’ was Deborah Meaden, he said. However, his audience at QE did not, in fact, ask any questions about the show, preferring instead to focus on economic and world issues.

A trained economist whose stock-in-trade is analysis of the global situation, Mr Evans advised the boys to take particular interest in the current economic picture: he told them that we are living through very interesting times – and not all periods of history are either as interesting or as troubling.

During his talk, he gave a run-down of recent decades, beginning with the days prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 when a full half of Europe was cut off and one never met anyone from Poland. We were living in a sort of ‘golden age’ by about 1992, when many nations were in the European Union and tensions over issues such as varying levels of economic development and the pressures of migration had yet to surface.

Two seismic events– 9/11 and the economic crisis of 2007/08 – changed that world, and we were still living with the consequences of them, he said.

In economic terms, the biggest shift over the last 30 years had been the rise of China, where tens of millions had gone from eking out a basic subsistence to having a disposable income and living in homes with luxuries such as TVs and computers.

In his wide-ranging lecture, Mr Davis also turned his attention to migration. This was now occurring from troubled and impoverished countries to stable and developed ones, not just because people were fleeing from war zones, but as a consequence of globalisation in general: with the advent of technology such as smartphones, it was possible for people everywhere to get a glimpse of life in any other part of the world.

Even the old political order, with its binary division between left and right, had changed. Politics was now more about, on the one hand, parties and candidates who represented the status quo and, on the other, those who represented ‘outsiders’ and offered a different and more populist standpoint. They did not split down left/right lines, but represented popular views of groups in society, Mr Evans said. Politicians such as David Cameron and Hilary Clinton were seen as part of the former category, while Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage were all examples of the latter. The question was, despite the passions such outsiders raised, would they gain enough votes across the entire electorate to be voted in?

And Mr Davis said he thought that even if Britain stayed in the EU, it was not a simple matter of ‘in or out’. There were at least three different types of European state at the moment as represented by: Germany – fully in the EU and Eurozone; the UK – not in the Eurozone and wanting various opt-outs, and Norway – not in the EU but having various agreements with EU states. Therefore, the picture was not as black and white as might first appear, he concluded.

A QE Sixth-Form team competed in the national final of a prestigious Mathematics competition, having first won their regional event.

The four-strong team were pitched against other leading academic schools from the independent and state sectors in the UK Mathematics Trust’s Senior Team Maths Challenge final, which was held at the Royal Horticultural Halls in St James’s Park, London (pictured).

They qualified last term by romping through the regional final at Merchant Taylors’ School in Northwood with a score of 174 points out of 180, or 97 per cent, beating off 19 other schools to secure their national final place. It was the second time that QE have qualified for the last stage of the competition.

In the national final, team captain Yuta Tsuchiya and his fellow Year 12 pupils, Nitharsan Sathiyalingam, Brian Kong and Aditya Ramachandran, scored 147 points out of 186, putting them in 39^th place out of 86 schools. The challenge was won jointly by Westminster School, Ruthin School and King Edward’s School, Birmingham.

Afterwards, Yuta reflected on the national final as “a good experience”, while Brian added: “It was fun spending a whole day doing Maths.”

Team organiser Wendy Fung, who is Assistant Head of Mathematics, said: “The boys were disappointed at their placing – although they should be proud that they qualified in the first place.”

QE’s youngest boys enjoyed the opportunity to express themselves in a drumming workshop during a visit from a visiting theatre company.

All 180 boys in Year 7 took part in the event, with half in a whole-morning session one week and the remainder having a similar session the following week.

The workshop, which was on the School’s chosen theme of Expressions of Spirituality, was led by the Iroko Theatre Company – a London-based group which aims to enhance understanding and appreciation of African culture and arts.

QE’s Head of Religion & Society, Jack Robertson, said: "Iroko provided us with a very exciting and educational day. Besides having some fun and expressing their creativity, the Year 7s learned a great deal about music, theatre, and the connections between different forms of spirituality across the globe."

Mr Robertson added that comments from the boys included:

·         "I had an amazing time. I learnt a lot about how to make a story more interesting to listen to. I can't wait to try out my new skills.”

·         "It was great seeing so many people all creating a song together with about forty-five musical instruments."

·         "The Iroko Theatre Company was inspiring. They taught us about African culture, music and theatre. I wish every day was like that."

The Iroko Theatre Company, which takes its name from an African tree, was established in 1996 by Nigerian-born actor Alex Oma-Pius.

Snow arrived right on cue for a School trip to the Italian Alps – so 52 boys were able to enjoy skiing at its very best.

PE teacher Richard Scally, who organised the trip for Years 8-13, said: “After an epic coach journey, we arrived in the resort to find the snow had also arrived with us! For the next three days we enjoyed great conditions as the snow continued to fall. As the clouds moved on, we were then left with near-perfect conditions, which meant everyone got the most from the trip.”

During the trip to Folgaria, the boys enjoyed a solid five hours on the slopes every day, taking advantage of the deep, powdery snow, crisp sunshine and blue skies – conditions described by some of the older boys who had been skiing with the School before as the best they had ever known.

Beginners had been able to benefit from ski lessons run by the School beforehand at a ski centre in the UK, helping them get the most from the trip.

Folgaria, an elegant and historic village resort in the highlands of Trentino, features a ski lift system that has been developed to provide interlinked lifts that cater to all abilities. The boys’ hotel enjoyed a central position near the foot of the ski slopes, close to the lifts.

The price of the trip included not only equipment hire, a lift pass and travel insurance, but also daily skiing lessons.

Mr Scally said the week concluded with a group race, which was enjoyed by all the boys.