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Rising chess star Federico Rocco won the annual Queen Elizabeth’s School tournament for Years 8–11 with a perfect score of 7 points from seven games.

The tournament attracted 47 boys from the middle years of the school and was, said teacher in charge of chess, Geoff Roberts, “an enjoyable and competitive morning of chess”.

“I am very pleased to see the number of highly able and enthusiastic chess players we have at Queen Elizabeth’s. I’m particularly delighted to see England player Federico Rocco secure the title for the first time. Federico, who is in Year 10, is a highly dedicated chess player who attends regional and national tournaments outside of school and has made considerable strides with his game in his time at QE; he is an especially worthy champion, having won all of his games against a high-quality field.”

Sixth-Form chess stalwarts Ananth Balaji, Rishul Kari, Elan Ilango and Yuri Evdokimov made invaluable contributions to the smooth running of the tournament, Mr Roberts added. Not only did they administer the pairings for each round and act as arbiters when there were queries over the rules, they also provided sagacious chess hints and advice to the younger boys throughout the day.

“All of the competitors undoubtedly enjoyed receiving coaching and advice from Sixth Form boys who have been highly successful at chess over many years, including Ananth Balaji, himself a two-time winner of this title.”

Other top performers in the tournament were:

• Jamie Watkin-Rees and George Ivanov who tied both for second place overall and for the title of Best in Year 10, with 6 points apiece
• Joel George – Best in Year 11 (5 points)
• Ari Karthiyeyan – Best in Year 9 (5 points)
• Om Deshpande and Ish Chhabra, who tied for title of Best in Year 8 (5 points)

Shakespeare expert Ben Crystal gave Sixth-Formers studying Hamlet valuable guidance when he visited the School.

The actor, author and producer underlined the importance of considering the play as a performance, of taking into account the original setting of Shakespeare’s plays in the Globe Theatre and of pronouncing the language as the bard himself would have spoken it.

Librarian Ciara Murray said: “I first heard Ben speak at a conference with his father, the linguist David Crystal, where they discussed Shakespeare’s language and choice of words in depth. They revealed ways of thinking about Hamlet and its performance that I – despite having studied it on several occasions! – hadn’t considered. The boys enjoyed this experience of seeing how a professional actor interprets the intricacies of Shakespeare. Performance is a key element to consider when studying drama.”

Ben has written Shakespeare on Toast, Hamlet: Before, During, After, and, with his father, the Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary, all of which are available in The Queen’s Library at the School.

He spoke to 61 boys studying Hamlet at A-level and gave them a taste of the original pronunciation of Shakespeare’s language, for which he and his theatre company, Passion and Practice, are known.

To demonstrate the importance of considering the play as a performance and of sticking closely to Shakespeare’s own stage directions, he used the opening lines of the tragedy and invited pupils Mark Sturge and Keenan Dieobi to act out the guardsmen scene, with input and instructions.

Pupil Ravi Karia found the event “all-round excellent and very eye-opening”, while his Year 12 classmate, Ahmed Al-Sallakh, said: “He showed us that we should be studying Shakespeare more as a play rather than a book, and that every line of Shakespeare was written to make it easier for the actors to portray the ideas he wanted to show.”

QE boys did battle in debate with pupils from a leading girls’ school in a specially arranged workshop.

The Year 8 debating day with The Henrietta Barnett School (HBS) involved 50 pupils and three staff from QE. The debaters had a maximum of only 45 minutes to do their research and marshal their arguments after learning the topic to be discussed.

Academic Enrichment Tutor and Geography teacher Helen Davies said: “The purpose of the workshop was to provide challenge for the students and put them in a situation where they were required to take academic risks.”

The morning began with two of QE’s experienced Year 10 debaters, Alex McNamara-Beard and Saifullah Shah, giving an introduction to debating to the younger pupils.  “This was excellent and thought-provoking; it included an interactive teaching session, which really got the Year 8s engaged and fired up for the day,” said Miss Davies.

The debates took place in three rooms and were chaired by the pupils themselves. The topics were:

• This House would use animals for experimentation
• This House believes that all owners of large dogs should have to pass a test to prove they are able to control them
• This House would abolish homework.

“That final topic caused some quite extensive and heated debates, with interesting points being made on both sides of the argument!” said Miss Davies. “In fact, throughout the debates, everyone got involved, with pertinent points being raised by the floor as well as by the speakers.”

At the end of the morning, the best QE and HBS debater from each room was chosen and they then had just 20 minutes to prepare for a final debate in front of all of the other students. The topic was This House believes that the death penalty is an acceptable form of punishment for the most serious crimes. During the debate, the participants considered what constitute ‘the most serious crimes’, as well as asking if death was ‘an easy way out’ and exploring whether an executioner who puts someone to death is morally guilty of murder. 

QE is involved in a number of joint events with leading girls’ schools, including workshops and academic symposia for senior pupils. “The QE and HBS boys and girls clearly enjoyed the day – not only working together and hearing different opinions from other students, but also socialising together over the lunch that was provided,” said Miss Davies.

QE’s youngest rugby players enjoyed an opportunity to sample the famous Varsity Match at Twickenham, the English home of the sport.

The 37 Year 7 boys relished their day among the 25,000 spectators at the historic annual fixture between Oxford and Cambridge universities.

PE teacher Luke Jacobs said: “For most in the group, it was their first experience of Twickenham. We hope it has inspired them that they could one day be running out on the hallowed turf wearing the Blue of Oxford or Cambridge.”

The ranks of Old Elizabethan Oxford or Cambridge Rugby Blues include Edward Andrews (OE 1996-2003), who played for Cambridge in its victory over Oxford in 2006.

On arrival, the Year 7 boys were given time to explore the stadium and take in the atmosphere of a day that is steeped in tradition. The match was first played in 1872 and, with interruptions only for the two world wars, has been played ever since. It first took place at Twickenham in 1921.

A women’s Varsity Match was first played in 1998. This was the second year that it has taken place at Twickenham on the same day as the men’s game.

“The boys were treated to two games of rugby that varied in style,” reports Mr Jacobs. “First was the women’s fixture, which proved to be a cagey affair and a battle of attrition in which Oxford made a record-breaking 236 tackles. It finally ended in a narrow 3-0 victory to Oxford.  The men’s match proved to be a higher-scoring spectacle, ending in a close 23-18 win for Cambridge. The boys seemed to appreciate the hard-hitting tackling coming in from both sides.

“I am sure the day’s events will last long in the memory of the players we invited: although tired after a long day, on the coach journey back to School they were clearly inspired both for their own forthcoming fixtures and for their longer-term rugby-playing careers.”

Festive music from the traditional to the new – and from the sublime to the droll – heralded the start of the Christmas holidays for boys at QE.

First came the Christmas Concert in the Shearly Hall, which is held in association with the Rotary Club of Barnet. Some 240 boys performed in a programme featuring old favourites, including O come, all ye faithful and Hark! The herald angels sing, and new arrangements of traditional carols, such as the Carol of the bells. There were contributions from the Senior Indian Ensemble, while the School Choir raised the rafters with the hit, Let it go, from Disney’s Frozen.

Among many highlights were the Concert Band punching their way through some of the best-loved numbers from the musical, Chicago, and the Chamber Choir’s performance of The twelve days after Christmas – a comical imagining of what happens after the events described in the original song; it starts with the lines ‘The first day after Christmas / My true love and I had a fight/And so I chopped the pear tree down/ And burnt it, just for spite’!

Minced pies and mulled wine were served at the interval, after which the Rotary Club’s raffle was drawn in aid of the organisation’s charitable causes. Senior Music Colours were also awarded to a number of boys for their commitment and excellence by the Director of Music, Cheryl Horne.

Guests at the Christmas Concert included The Mayor and Mayoress of Barnet, Councillor David Longstaff and Gillian Griffiths, while at the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in St John the Baptist Church, Barnet, the VIP party included the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Sury Khatri, as well as former Headmaster Eamonn Harris and former Second Master Eric Houston.

The traditional service of congregational carols, readings and carols performed by the School Choir and Chamber Choir is attended by all Year 7s and their parents. The introit ranged from I look from afar, by the 16th century Italian Renaissance composer, Palestrina, to Benjamin Britten’s A hymn to the virgin.

During the service, outgoing School Captain Varun Vassanth read the sixth lesson, in which St Luke tells of the birth of Jesus – his last formal public duty in office before Year 12 pupil Oliver Robinson takes over as the new School Captain in the New Year. Headmaster Neil Enright gave the final reading, the famous prologue to St John’s gospel in which he unfolds the mystery of the incarnation.

The final week’s festivities also included Christmas lunch in the Dining Hall: staff and boys came together to enjoy turkey with all the trimmings.

Fifteen recent old boys of the School were among 35 representatives of a wide range of occupations who attended QE’s Careers Convention.

Boys and their parents were able to choose from a number of 20-minute talks, during which experts gave an overview of careers in medicine, dentistry, investment banking and engineering research. There were also talks about working for Amazon as well as one on the benefits of studying abroad.

The event, which is for Year 11 boys and their parents, aims to help boys prepare for their future by presenting them with extensive information on possible career paths. Armed with this information and with a realistic assessment of their own aptitudes and abilities, they can then plan their Sixth Form studies and extra-curricular activities confident in the knowledge that they are investing their time wisely in pursuit of a fulfilling professional life.

A diverse selection of employers in both the private and public sectors were represented at the event, including:

• Amazon
• Balfour Beatty (engineering)
• Capgemini (a management consulting company)
• Collyer Bristow and Dentons (law firms)
• EY (formerly Ernst & Young)
• MHA (a national association of independent accountants)
• National Audit Office
• Pentland Brands (brand management)
• Public Health England
• Shell
• Transport for London

Among the Old Elizabethans who gave up their time to attend the convention was Alex Koizia (OE 2007-2014), who discussed the medical school application process with QE’s aspiring medics. Alex is in his third year at St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London.

Nick Holgate (OE 1995-2002), an Exploration Geoscientist with Shell, enjoyed discussing geoscience as a career with the boys.

Another Careers Convention participant was Krishan Dave (OE 2002-2009), who is an investment performance analyst at Northern Trust Corporation, an American financial services company.

And Drew Williams (OE 2005-2012) spoke about EY’s five-year School Leaver Programme, which he joined after leaving the Sixth Form and through which he is studying towards his ACA Chartered Accountant qualification.

The autumn Careers Convention is one of a number of ways in which the School helps pupils prepare for their future. Many Year 11 boys take part every year in The Challenge, part of the National Citizen Service. This involves a three-week summer holiday programme and three autumn weekends, during which young people from a wide variety of backgrounds work together on a range of projects, developing new skills and building on existing ones. All QE boys undertake work experience placements at the end of Year 11, while in Year 12, boys are expected to commit 40 hours per year to serving the wider community through the School’s voluntary service programme.