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Two QE musicians have been selected to perform at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Cadet Force movement.

Clarinettists Alex Liangas and Richard Collins, who are in Year 11, are among the 40 cadets chosen from the 131,000 current cadets in the UK to play in the band being assembled for the event, called Cadet 150.

The School’s Director of Music, Kieron Howe, said: “This is a great honour both for the School and for Alex and Richard. I know that both they and their families are thrilled.”

Queen Elizabeth’s School is one of the few state schools to have a Combined Cadet Force (CCF). Established in 1992, it is sponsored by the Corps of Royal Engineers, with support from the Regular Army in training and administration.

The boys have been attending monthly rehearsals with the Brigade of Guards at Wellington Barracks in central London since September and have shown the necessary quality to perform with cadets from across England and Wales.

The two QE boys will join their fellow band members on Saturday 3rd July for three days of rehearsals. They will perform for the In-Pensioners at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, on Monday 5th July in preparation for the Garden Party on the 6th July.

The programme at the Palace will feature a wide variety of music, from a selection of Abba’s songs to Mozart’s overture to The Impresario and the Dambusters March.

In a letter dated 26th May, Michael Gove, the new Secretary of State for Education, invited the Governors to consider acquiring Academy status as soon as possible.

Mr Gove pointed out that as Queen Elizabeth’s is currently rated outstanding by Ofsted this means that the School automatically meets the criteria for Academy status. Details are available on www.education.gov.uk under the Academies tab where interested parties may find the list of frequently asked questions helpful.

The Governing body will now address each of the issues that need to considered at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday 10th June. Those wishing to comment may email here.

QE boys were the toast of the town during a new exchange with a school in France.

Thirteen boys from Years 8 and 9 took part in the week-long French exchange with Collège St-Pierre in Bourg-en-Bresse, near Lyon.

QE Teacher of French Océane Jullien, a former pupil at Collège St-Pierre, said: "During this exchange, the first of hopefully many to come, the boys were warmly welcomed by their host family, the French school and were even honoured at a welcome ceremony in the town hall."

In course of their stay, they enjoyed an intensive immersion into French life. The boys discovered the secrets of wine-making, explored the historical towns of Bourg-en-Bresse and Lyon and shopped at a traditional French market. They also experienced a typical day in a French school, which involved some cycling and a game of Ultimate Frisbee.

Their visit to the ‘salon d’honneur’ in the town hall, where they were each presented with a special information booklet, was reported in Le Progrès, the Lyon area’s daily newspaper.

"The boys were praised for their effort in speaking French, so it came as no surprise when they greeted the English passport control officer in French on our return to London!" said Ms Jullien. "They’re now looking forward to receiving their exchange partners in London on 14th October."

Team-building exercises and a GCSE Geography assessment made for a highly successful field trip to Norfolk.

A total of 132 boys from Year 10 were split into two groups and spent three days at the Kingswood Field Studies Centre investigating the characteristics of the River Glaven. They had to collect data on the width, depth and velocity of the river, observing the downstream changes.

Various team-building activities were run during the field trip; ranging from quad-biking to aeroball. One particularly challenging exercise was the ‘Nightline’ which required boys to wear a blindfold and trust others to guide them through an obstacle course.

“The trip was very successful. The boys worked very hard to plan their fieldwork and collect data, which will help them to achieve very good results in their coursework. It was also very rewarding to see the boys enjoying the fieldwork experience and improving their team work and communication skills,” said Anne Flook, Head of Geography and RS.

Underne House raised just over £150 for charity with three days of space hopper races.

Boys from Years 7-10 took part in the first two days’ races in the gym, with Tom Selek, of Year 7, winning the Year 7 and 8 races and Stuart Tang, of Year 9, triumphing among the Year 9s and 10s.

The teachers’ competition took place in the Shearly Hall – the first charity event in the new building to be allowed by the Headmaster. Organisers unleashed the hall’s new sound system, with some energetic music adding to the lively atmosphere. House Co-ordinator Will Beaumont won the teachers’ event.

“We chose space hopper races as it was an original, innovative idea which diverged from common events such as volleyball and football,” said Shahil Mehta, House Captain of Underne.

The £152.59 raised goes to Community Link Up, a registered charity which supports and promotes friendships between people with a Learning Disability and others in the Harrow community (www.linkup.org.uk).

All Year 12 geographers spent a day in High Wycombe investigating whether the town has its own urban microclimate.

The fieldwork, which is part of the preparation for an A-level examination in January next year, involved testing the temperature, wind speed and the effect of change in relief (elevation) on the heat island created by the town.

“This is an excellent and challenging fieldwork exercise for the A-level geographers; the concepts, equipment and decisions which need to be addressed, used and justified are highly complex,” said Anne Flook, Head of Geography. “It prepares boys well for the examination in January but also for fieldwork that they might carry out at university.”