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Queen Elizabeth School’s Junior Awards Day celebrated the “truly outstanding achievements” of boys in Years 7-9.

A total of 114 awards were made to boys at the ceremony. The prizewinners were lauded by the Headmaster, Dr John Marincowitz: “Today’s occasion provides an opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate those junior boys whose academic and extra-curricular achievements have been identified as truly outstanding. In doing so, we set a milestone in the unfolding of interesting careers.

“Truly outstanding achievements warrant a measure and those who have distinguished themselves in a context where standards are generally very high are truly worthy of our celebration. It is these highly talented and committed young men who have demonstrated such exceptional qualities whom we celebrate tonight,” Dr Marincowitz added.

The Guest of Honour was Old Elizabethan (1964-74) Dr Fraser MacFarlane, an acknowledged management expert who is now Senior Lecturer in Health Care Management and Postgraduate Admissions Tutor at the University of Surrey. He is also Programme Director for the University’s MSc in Health Care Management and currently supervises the work of 10 PhD students.

The Junior Awards comprise academic subject-related awards, House awards and awards for outstanding commitment in each of the first three years, as well as endowed prizes and special awards.

Musical divertissements during the ceremony were provided by the School’s young musicians led by Director of Music, Kieron Howe. These included works by Beethoven, Chopin and Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as a recessional composed by Mr Howe.

Thirty students from the Friedrich von Bodelschwingh Gymnasium (grammar school) in Bielefeld spent a week with families of QE boys. The return trip will be in October.

They particularly enjoyed Founder’s Day, for which they have no equivalent at home. They also enjoyed Assistant Head Timothy Bennett’s rugby induction, now an essential part of the itinerary.

QE paired up with Henrietta Barnett School in Hampstead to run a Year 9 debating symposium for the first time.

Fifteen Year 9 boys visited the girls’ school to debate in mixed pairs over a whole day. Nirmal Chohan and Alex Davis made it to the final with their debating partners, with Nirmal and his partner winning the tournament.

In the International Young Debaters Competition, Year 10 students Rishikesh Chakraborty and Callum O’Sullivan beat off stiff competition to reach the finals earlier in the term. They debated against several other schools at the Cambridge Union and were eventually placed in the Top 10. Four Year 10 boys also attended the Great Pharmacy Debate competition and were placed third.

Year 11 debaters have enjoyed similar success at the Rotary Speaks competition. Thomas Elliot, Arjun Sajip and Jesse-Steve Amartey [pictured] passed through the local competition held by the Rotary Club in Finchley and reached the regional event in London at the City of London School, even though they were among the youngest entrants. They were highly commended for their speeches.

School Captain Matteo Yoon [pictured] read one of the lessons at this year’s Mayoral Civic Service for the Borough of Barnet.

The recently elected Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Brian Coleman, who is a QE Governor, was joined by councillors and representatives of many areas of community life from around the borough for the special service.

It took place at Finchley Methodist Church and was led by the Mayor’s Chaplain, Reverend Colin Smith. Open to residents of the borough, the Christian service included the prayers of various religious leaders for the Mayor, the nation and the borough.

Year 7 pupil John Woods beat more than 10,000 students to win first prize in a national language competition.

Le Grand Défi is a quiz competition, organised by Linguascope, for French students aged 11-12. The questions were multiple choice and tested general knowledge of France and of its culture, as well as vocabulary and grammar. John [pictured with his prize] recorded the highest score and won a laptop.

QE’s Year 7 and 8 cricket teams sealed a successful School year by winning the Middlesex Cup Final for the second consecutive year.

Match reports by Head of PE, Peter Coke

QE’s Year 7 and 8 cricket teams sealed a successful School year by winning the Middlesex Cup Final for the second consecutive year.

Following a string of positive results and well taken opportunities, the Year 7 squad, led by PE teacher Nick Bird, reached the finals of the Middlesex Cup Final, where they played The John Lyon School at Old Millhillians Cricket Club. QE won the toss and elected to bat first.

The opening batsmen for QE did a sterling job, especially Romil Depala, who scored a commendable 47 runs. This was supported by an equally good performance from wicket-keeper and leading run-scorer Musaji China, who added 32 runs of his own without losing his wicket. The team managed an impressive 118 for 6 from 20 overs. The Year 7 team bowled superbly and soon took the first wicket courtesy of captain Reuben Chacko. He later took another wicket to add to some impressive fielding, capping a leading performance from the QE captain. John Lyon completed their innings on 101 for 9 wickets – giving QE a much deserved 17-run victory.

For the Year 8 match, The John Lyon School were the hosts, with St Benedict’s School this year’s opponents for QE’s defending champions, who were led by PE teacher Richard Scally. On a very warm afternoon, St Benedict’s won the toss and chose to bat. They made an aggressive start, scoring freely and benefiting from too many extras, racing to 80 runs within 9 overs. This positive approach meant chances were given and, with some excellent catches in the field, wickets began to slow St Benedict’s run rate. A first-rate bowling spell from Jayaram Raghuveer (3 wickets for 5 runs) then reduced St Benedict’s to 113 all out. After losing both openers early, the modest total was beginning to look more challenging. However outstanding batting performances from Sebastian Feszczur-Hatchett (56 not out) and Nikhil Patel (34 not out) saw QE home with an 8-wicket win.

Year 9 also reached their Middlesex Cup Final, but lost to Harrow School.

Although the School stands just on the Hertfordshire side of the Herts/Middlesex border, historically QE has chosen to participate in the Middlesex Cup both because of the stronger competition available in Middlesex and for reasons of accessibility.