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There were three major successes for QE on the rugby field this term – all in the space of one week.

The U12 team won the Broxbourne Festival after a gap of 13 years. Eben Sarpong scored eight tries in the tournament. “This was a wonderful result for boys in the first year of their rugby careers and they were outstandingly led by captain Thomas Archbold,” said Games teacher Tom Vercoe.

In the year above, the U13 Sevens squad took the Hertfordshire County Trophy after six gruelling games at St Albans Playing fields against opposition such as Bishop’s Stortford High School and finalists Haileybury School. Their counterparts at under-16 [pictured] also won their County Trophy, amassing 261 points in six games and only conceding 38. They beat Bishop’s Stortford College 37 – 7 in the final.

The U18 Sevens squad played some good rugby in the county tournament, but were beaten in the semi-finals by the eventual winners, Oaklands College.

• This year, 37 schools entered the QE Rugby Sevens tournament, now in its 34th year. Bedford School won the U14 competition and RGS High Wycombe triumphed at U16 level.

Leicester House is in fresh hands, with an entirely new team in charge. Jin-Xi Yuan has taken over as Captain and Amit Desai as his Deputy.

The new Captain has already earned plaudits from QE’s 2009 Head Boy, Matteo Yoon, who said: “Jin-Xi is the man to take Leicester forward.”

It is hoped that the new team will bring more energy, giving Leicester a new vision and spurring it on in its efforts to win the 2010 House Cup.

Queen Elizabeth’s School was founded in 1573 by Queen Elizabeth I after she was petitioned by Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. The School named a house after the earl and it was thus one of QE’s first three houses.

Leicester House is now looking forward to its forthcoming charity event, Ultimate Frisbee.

Members of the Years 7 & 8 lunchtime Geoexplorers Club had great fun and gained valuable knowledge through their volcano project this term.

The boys learned about how volcanoes are formed and why they erupt. They then designed and constructed their own in 3D using papier maché. They used vinegar and baking powder, mixed with red food dye, to cause their models to simulate eruptions and molten lava. Stick men had been placed in the village at the bottom of the model volcanoes: their extinction brought to life the disastrous impact of a volcano on its local environment. The boys agreed that the highlight was seeing their teacher, Geraldine Booth, covered in lava (red food colouring) after one particularly spectacular volcanic eruption.

As a specialist Music College QE is able to allocate up to 20 Year 7 places on the basis of ability in Music. This term began with 113 new-intake auditions over four days.

Other musical highlights of a busy term included the Year 7 Music Scholarship Competition Evening, with 11 boys delivering an eclectic programme that ranged from Brahms and Vivaldi to works by carnatic music composer Saint Thyegerajah Swami.

The Junior Mid Winter Concert for boys in Years 10 and below provided a showcase for the Junior String Orchestra, the Lower School Choir and the Training Band. Again, the programme was varied, with, for example, the Training Band’s rendition of The Elephant Song from Disney’s Jungle Book juxtaposed with an Indian flute solo, which was in turn preceded by Mozart’s Molto Allegro from Sonata in C Minor.

Later in the term, the School’s String Quartet was invited to perform at an event hosted by Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. The event in the splendour of Lancaster House in the West End was held to celebrate the work of the Learning and Skills Council.

Year 12 boys had the opportunity to try out their skills in a driving simulator following a talk by Andy Milne, of the Red Driving School, who trains driving instructors.

He spoke to the boys about the responsibilities and risks involved in driving, outlining the consequences of over-confidence and poor driving standards.

Year 11 boy Bami Falana is now representing London and South East England in U16 rugby.

His selection represents a great achievement by Bami, a member of Underne House, who is the first QE boy to reach this U16 squad for several years.

He was involved in a key moment in his first game, against a North of England team, making a try-saving tackle on the opposition’s huge number 8 inside his own 5m line.

In his second game, which was against Portugal, he was selected to play as number 11.