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Year 7 geographers had their first experience of fieldwork when they looked into land use in Barnet.

Pupils explored the town to find out whether land use patterns were similar to the Burgess model they had studied in class. They walked from the School to Barnet High Street, mapping the use of the ground floor of buildings by assigning classifications such as residential, commercial or entertainment.

“Fieldwork is an essential part of learning in Geography, giving pupils the opportunity to put what they learn in the classroom into practice in the outside world,” said Head of Geography Anne Flook. “All enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to more fieldwork later in school.”

The fieldwork is being used to prepare an A3 presentation board of the findings, which is a National Curriculum Assessment in Geography.

The Elizabethan Union – QE’s formal debating society – presented the 43rd Annual Dinner Debate. Year 12 pupils Promit Anwar and Richard Alam proposed the motion: “This House believes that the United Kingdom should withdraw from the European Union”.

They were opposed by Old Elizabethans Christos Karaolis, who left the School in 2002 to read Law at Trinity College, Oxford, and Simon Taghioff, who also left in 2002, to read PPE at the University of York.

The chairman at the debate, which was held in the School Hall, was Nicholas Marsh, of Year 12.

During the evening, toasts were made to: “Her Majesty, the Queen”; “The Pious Memory of Queen Elizabeth I”; “the visitors” (proposed by Matthew Rose, of Year 12) and “The Elizabethan Union” (proposed by Old Elizabethan Alan King).

A day of interactive lectures at Imperial College, London, broadened the mathematical horizons of QE students.

Fifty Year 10 boys attended the lectures, which included discussions of practical applications of Mathematics and opportunities to tackle puzzles and problems.

QE students particularly enjoyed the Puzzles, Riddles and Brainteasers lecture given by Dr Simon Singh, writer, broadcaster and author of a number of popular books, including Fermat’s Last Theorem.

“The day opened their eyes to Mathematics beyond the curriculum and allowed them to see some of the many applications of Mathematics,” said Head of Mathematics Fauziah Scarisbrick. “It was an enjoyable and informative event, and we hope it will encourage many of our GCSE boys to study Mathematics at A level and beyond.”

More than 85% of QE entries in this year’s UK Intermediate Maths Challenge gained a certificate.

All boys in the top five sets in Years 9 and 10 took part in the competition – a total of 256 entries. Of these, 61 boys (24%) achieved a gold certificate, with 81(32%) earning a certificate at silver level and 76 (30%) at bronze. Yew Hone Cheung received the Best-in-School certificate.

The Intermediate Challenge is aimed at the top 35% of pupils nationally and is organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. Students who perform exceptionally well are then invited by the Trust to take part in the follow-on rounds, the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad and the Kangaroo (IMOK) suite of papers.

Following the Challenge, held in February 2008, 13 QE boys qualified for the Olympiad, which took place on 13 March. This was a two-hour, problem-solving paper. Twenty-four boys qualified for the European Kangaroo which will take place on 24 April and is a one-hour, multiple-choice paper.

Head of Mathematics Fauziah Scarisbrick congratulated the boys on their achievement and wished those in the follow-on rounds luck.

Fifty Year 12 boys attended an entertaining and informative Mathematics day at the Institute of Education in London.

The day comprised five lectures on Mathematics away from the A Level syllabus, which looked at:

• How Mathematics is used to help protect people from avalanches, explaining how avalanches are formed and how they move once they start.
• The way in which airlines set ticket prices for flights, focusing on the balance struck between economy and business passengers in order to maximise profit. The secret of getting cheap tickets was also revealed.
• Infinity and proof. By common consent, Dr David Acheson of Jesus College, Oxford, gave the best of the lecture of the day: an off-beat look at both Pure and Applied Mathematics, the highlight of which was a superb “proof by chocolate”.
• Lateral thinking – a presentation with an array of problems and puzzles, which kept everyone thoroughly entertained and amused.
• The mysteries of prime numbers. The day’s main speaker Professor Marcus du Sautoy, of Oxford University, examined the fundamental importance of primes and highlighted the prizes awaiting anyone who can solve the biggest problem in Mathematics.

“It was a thoroughly enjoyable day and the Sixth-Formers who attended got an excellent insight into Mathematics beyond the classroom,” said QE teacher Timothy Dalton.

The 32nd Queen Elizabeth’s Sevens tournament proved to be a highly successful day, with 64 teams coming from as far afield as Blackpool, Gloucestershire, Wales and The Wirral.

For the first time in three years, the state of the Barnet RFC pitches permitted both the U14 and U16 tournaments to be held.

"It was a very enjoyable day, with an excellent standard of rugby, all played within the spirit of the game,” said Head of Games Mark Peplow. “The outstanding highlight was the QE U16 team winning through to the main final, where they lost to Tonbridge 26-15 in a tight contest.”

The U14 main tournament was won by The Judd School, from Tonbridge, Kent. Mr Peplow paid tribute to the large number of staff who volunteered to help and also to the QE ‘tea mums’ who not only served but also raised money for a local charity.