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QE convincingly beat other leading London schools to win the regional heat of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench competition for the third consecutive year.

The School has now won the heat five times in the past seven years. This year, QE emerged as comfortable victors, with a total of 81 points, beating University College School into second place on 72 points, while Westminster School took third, with 67. The team now go on to the UK final in Loughborough University in April.

As in previous years, the boys were prepared for the heat in Ealing by Chemistry teacher Elizabeth Kuo.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “For the boys to achieve so highly against considerable competition is an extraordinary achievement. My congratulations go to them and their teacher.”

The competition is open to pupils aged 14–16 who are studying Chemistry. QE’s team comprised: Year 9 boys Bhargab Ghoshal and George Popa; Bhiramah Rammanohar, of Year 10, and Tharunkumar Muthu Gurunath, who is in Year 11.

Of the eight rounds, QE won three outright and was placed equal first in round 4.

To be successful, competitors had to know the periodic table very well, Dr Kuo explained. The titles and subjects of rounds included Odd Man Out, General Chemistry Knowledge, Calculations and Identifying Substances from Information Given. Most questions were for the whole team but each team member also had to face a number of individual questions.

Eight Sixth-Formers – double last year’s total – have qualified for the British Mathematical Olympiad, placing them in the ranks of the country’s very best young mathematicians.

They were among 119 Sixth-Form mathematicians who sat the UK Mathematics Trust’s Senior Challenge. To qualify for the Olympiad, they had to score least 106 points out of a possible 125.

The eight included Tochi Onuora, who took the Best in School accolade with a score of 121, and Aneesh Chopada, who was named Best in Year 12.

A further ten boys qualified for the other follow-on round from the challenge, the Senior Kangaroo, which required a score of at least 90 points.
Overall, 103 boys, or 87% of the QE entrants, were awarded certificates – 22 gold, 39 silver and 42 bronze. These are given in the ratio 1:2:3 to the top 40% of participants nationwide.

The challenge involves answering 25 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes.

QE took on some of the region’s leading schools in a national team-based Mathematics competition.

The team of four Sixth-Formers came fourth out of 20 teams in the Senior Team Maths Challenge regional heat, hosted by Merchant Taylors’ School, scoring 147 points out of a possible 180. First place went to North London Collegiate School, second to Merchant Taylor’s and third to Harrow, while the QE boys finished ahead of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ and Watford Grammar School for Boys.

Wendy Fung, Assistant Head of Mathematics, said: “The boys had a great afternoon competing with and meeting other keen young mathematicians, but are disappointed not to have progressed further.”

The competition is run jointly by the UK Mathematics Trust and the Further Mathematics Support Programme, a Government-funded initiative. It includes: a group round, which teams have 40 minutes to solve; a crossnumber round, similar to a crossword, and a shuttle round, in which teams compete against the clock to answer questions correctly in a sequence.

Aneesh Chopada, Oliver Robinson, Vigneswaran Thelaxshan and Abhijeet Vakil, all from Year 12, were selected to take part in the competition.

Team captain Vigneswaran said: “It was a challenging and fun afternoon. We really enjoyed the puzzles and the problems.”

Headmaster Neil Enright has announced the names of QE’s 2017 School officials – including the new School Captain, Oliver Robinson.

Oliver will succeed the current School Captain, Varun Vassanth, when the Spring term gets underway on 3rd January 2017 and will have his name engraved on the Captains of School board in the Main Hall alongside those of every School Captain back to 1876. Working alongside him will be the other senior officials – two Senior Vice-Captains, Keenan Dieobi and Abbeykeith Kugasenananchettiar, together with ten Vice-Captains. These senior officials are supported by 89 prefects, who include House Captains and their Deputies for each of the six Houses. All the appointments are drawn from Year 12.

Congratulating the new team, Mr Enright said: “Becoming a School official is a signal honour which reflects the achievements of these Sixth-Formers and the commitment they have shown throughout their time here.”

“Oliver was Form Captain in his first term at the School in Year 7 and has thus shown leadership from the very outset. He represents the school at rugby and is a particularly strong mathematician, who approaches his studies and other commitments with confidence, yet with humility. Keenan is very committed to extra-curricular activities, especially rugby and drama, and his approach to School life is characterised by diligence and good humour. For his part, Abbeykeith is known for being very academic, focused and responsible.”

The senior officials and prefects have a key role to play in the day-to-day operations of the School, as well as on significant occasions in the School calendar, such as Founders’ Day during the summer.

“These appointments entail a significant responsibility for each of these boys, but it is one from which they will all gain a great deal,” Mr Enright added.

Forty lucky ticketholders were the first to sample hundreds of new fiction books at a special lunchtime event in The Queen’s Library.

During the Book Bonanza, which was hosted by Librarian Ciara Murray and the 25 pupil librarians, the Library was closed to the rest of the School. The fortunate 40 therefore had exclusive access to the new books purchased following a substantial donation from the School’s trustees. Library staff have been busily cataloguing these books since October.

The event also featured a Who’s that author? quiz and the pupil librarians’ Mystery Books – the boys had chosen a little-known book that they had enjoyed, wrapped it in paper (so that people could not judge it by its cover) and written a recommendation, which was stuck on the front of the book.

“The Book Bonanza really highlighted how much reading is treasured here at QE,” said Ms Murray. “There was a lot of excitement, with over 250 applications for tickets in the first two days – I had to pick names out of a hat!

“It was a real pleasure to see the pupil librarians in their element, recommending reading to their peers and creating a buzz around books. We are very grateful to the trustees, whose donation has allowed us to purchase a wealth of up-to-date, exciting fiction.”

Other talking points at the event included the pupil librarians’ Christmas Reading Advent Calendar – with a different book behind each window.

Members of the staff book club and QE’s senior management team were invited to join the boys for mince pies and to chat about what they were reading.

As Britain faces an uncertain economic future, a trip to central London gave QE Economists valuable insights into the role of the Bank of England and into the country’s changing relationship with Europe.

Open to all Year 11 pupils studying Economics, the trip took in a tour of the Bank of England Museum, discussion of the work of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), a ride on the London Eye and a visit to Europe House, the information office for the European Parliament.

The day started at the museum with a presentation on the role of money, interest rates and inflation in the UK economy. The boys found out about the vast vaults holding the UK’s and other countries’ gold reserves and also discovered how to identify genuine banknotes from counterfeits. Economics teacher Sonia Strnad said: “The most popular exhibit by far was the real gold bar: the boys were very surprised at its weight as well as its value.”

There were also direct curricular benefits arising from the day. At the Bank, the boys had the opportunity to discuss factors affecting the MPC when it sets the base rate, thus enhancing their understanding of monetary policy. “This was a valuable supplement to their knowledge and understanding of the Unit 12 topic, Managing the Economy,” Mrs Strnad said.

Next stop was the London Eye – the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel, as the boys learned. After examining the London skyline from their vantage point 135 metres above the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament, the group walked through Westminster to Europe House. There they attended a workshop and acted the part of European parliamentarians in a debate on the UK’s future relationship with the EU, whilst learning about the role of key European institutions.

“The boys took their role-playing as MEPs very seriously and their debate was not only well-informed but delivered with confidence and passion,” said Mrs Strnad. “In fact, they were exemplary throughout the day, displaying a keen interest in all the activities.”