Queen Elizabeth’s School this year hosted the North London heats of the Geographical Association’s popular Worldwise Quiz.
Eleven schools from both the state and independent sectors competed on the night. Each team comprised three students drawn from Year 10 or below.
QE’s first team of Year 10 boys – Akash Gandhi, James Warshaw and Ryan Murphy – came joint second overall, just four points behind the winning team from Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School.
“The QE team were winning all the way through the quiz until the final round, when they were pipped at the post,” said Geography teacher Sarah Gibbons. “QE enters this competition annually and, in many ways, this year’s performance was similar to 2007, when we came second by just one point.”
There were eight rounds to the quiz, with titles such as Geography in the news, Country Outlines and the OS Map round. All competitors received certificates, a book on the water crisis and dams and a geography badge.
The leading teams from the local heats not only progress to the further rounds of the competition but are also invited to take part in the Worldwise Challenge, a free weekend of activities with schools from other areas of the UK at a Field Study Centre. The QE first team are now waiting for confirmation of whether their scores were high enough to qualify. The School’s reserve team consisted of Matthew Gottrick, Parth Patel and Ruhaid Khurram.
QE’s Assistant Head Neil Enright and Head of Geography Anne Flook were the chief markers, while Miss Gibbons was the local organiser and quizmaster. A group of Sixth-Formers assisted staff during the event.