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A Queen Elizabeth’s School team won the U14 tournament at the National Schools’ Chess Team Championships – and two boys received prizes for their individual performances too.

The QE U14 A team amassed an impressive score of 24 points out of a possible 30, narrowly beating another school with a strong chess tradition, Magdalen College, Oxford.

Year 9 boys Ben Collins and Madhi Elango both won prizes for the leading performance on their board. The other members of the victorious team were: Joseph Levene (Year 8), Jake Breindel (Year 7) and Ram Popat (Year 9).

In addition to the successes of the U14 A team, other QE teams also competed in the U14, U16 and U18 competitions, with Akshaya Ahuja and Jon Hoong (both Year 13) winning board prizes.

“We had two highly enjoyable days of chess, with some outstanding team and individual performances from our boys,” said teacher Geoff Roberts, who leads chess at the School. “After several near misses in recent years, to capture a national chess title is very pleasing. I would also like to thank the Year 13 pupils, Akshaya Ahuja, Jon Hoong and Ravi Popat, who have represented the School with distinction over their seven years at Queen Elizabeth’s.”

The event was held at Pontin’s Holiday Centre, Somerset.

Queen Elizabeth’s School’s First XI gained a hat trick of victories on their tour to the North West.

The tourists played three matches on three consecutive days and, led by captain Nir Shah, they emerged as winners in all three.

In the first fixture, the QE boys took on Hutton Grammar School from Preston, Lancashire. Their 97-run victory included Alex Goring’s 3 wickets for 9 runs from 8 overs and Chandi Uduwawala’s 3 wickets for 22 runs from 10 overs.

Next they took on Liverpool College, in which Paarth Darbar was 49 not out and also amassed a 5-wicket haul for just 13 runs off 10 overs.

Finally, the QE team played their hosts for the tour, The King’s School, Chester. “This was a great team performance and there were also notable individual performances, including the 9th wicket stand of 66 between Alex Goring and Drew Williams,” said Assistant Head Tim Bennett.

“The game went down to the last ball, with QE requiring 33 runs from the last 3 overs. This they achieved, with Alex and Drew hitting 14 off the last 5 balls to win.”

The School’s young high-flyers were able to draw inspiration from an Old Elizabethan just a few years older than themselves when he was invited as Guest of Honour to the Junior Awards Day.

Electrum Anpitan left the School in 2008, having been variously First Form Captain, Games Captain, Colt Lieutenant and Senior Lieutenant, as well as gaining several commendations and School Bursary Awards including the John Owen Prize for House Service.

He is currently in his second year at King’s College, London, where he is reading Physics. A member of the Institute of Physics and the Nuclear Industry Group, he is often employed by Young Enterprise to instruct pupils. He also devotes much of his time to promoting increased knowledge and understanding of the Bible, giving regular public discourses to large audiences, as well as teaching on a one-to-one basis.

The Headmaster, John Marincowitz, welcomed Mr Anpitan as Guest of Honour before congratulating the award-winners from Years 7, 8 and 9 and thanking their parents “for the essential part they play in the education partnership”.

Dr Marincowitz added: “This ceremony reaffirms our values by celebrating those qualities and attributes that motivate able pupils to succeed at the highest levels. In this respect it is not what the boys have won, but what they become by their endeavours that makes the awards worthwhile.”

More than 110 prizes were awarded at the Junior Awards Day, including 23 Endowed Prizes and Special Awards.

The afternoon was enlivened by School’s musicians playing selections from Brahms, Vivaldi and Valassa, as well as processional and recessional pieces composed by Kieron Howe, the Director of Music.

QE held its first-ever Question Time, with influential local people facing questions from Year 10.

The eight-strong panel fielded questions on a wide range of topics selected by the boys, who had discussed suitable subjects in their PSHE lessons. These included:

• Does the education system work for young people?
• Are hoodies stereotyped?
• Is justice too lenient?
• How is London preparing for a greener future?

A committee of boys from Year 10 worked hard over half a term to organise the event on behalf of their peers and to produce posters to publicise it. They also auditioned to be hosts.

Year 12 student Thomas Elliott chaired the end-of-term Question Time, successfully keeping the debate running to time as well as linking questions and answers.

“This was a fantastic event that enabled our Year 10 students to put their questions on current affairs to influential local people,” said Geography Teacher Richard Smith. “We were lucky enough to have a panel who represented a real variety of opinions and experiences. Thomas Elliott did a brilliant job at chairing the discussion.”

The panel comprised: Stephen Barber, political economist from London South Bank University; Hamilton Hay, of Amnesty International; Adrian Bridge, Daily Telegraph journalist (and parent of current Sixth-Former Anton Bridge); Andrew Newby, of the Green Party; Neil Basu, Chief Superintendent and Barnet Borough Commander for the Metropolitan Police; Tom Davey, for the Conservatives (Old Elizabethan 1998 – 2005, who left to read Government & Politics at the London School of Economics; now a Conservative Councillor for one of the Barnet wards); Damien Welfare, for Labour, and Canon Hall Speers, of St John the Baptist Church in Barnet (Canon Hall is also a Governor of the School).

A group of Year 9 boys enjoyed a special preview of the Olympic Park site.

The 27-strong party – all successful entrants in a QE competition to design a logo for London 2010 – were taken around the site and were able to see how preparations for the Olympic Games are going.

“The boys were lucky enough to get a bus tour around the Olympic Park site. This is a real privilege as the waiting list for the tours is long and many people are unable to go,” said Geography Teacher Richard Smith.

The boys were able to see how the new stadia are progressing and how this area of London is being redeveloped. They learned how the development aims to be environmentally friendly: ‘green’ measures include planting thousands of trees across the park, the reintroduction of animal species and the inclusion of space for wild animal habitats.

“This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to go behind the scenes of a major redevelopment in London,” added Mr Smith. “It was great to see them enjoying the tour of the site, listening intently to facts and figures about the immense change happening there. Sensory fieldwork enabled the boys to gain a sense of place of the area in an unusual and stimulating way.”

The fieldwork involved comparing the developed site with unchanged land on the periphery. This included use of the ‘human camera’: the boys pair up, with one person acting as the camera and one as the photographer. The photographer steers the ‘camera’, whose eyes are closed, to an interesting view of the place they are working in. Once the photographer is happy with the shot, he squeezes the arm of the ‘camera’ and the boy opens his eyes for a brief moment. In this way, the boy acting as the camera is able to collect a number of snapshot images of the place to gain a different perspective than he might otherwise have had.

The Secretary of State has approved in principle Queen Elizabeth’s School’s application to become an Academy.

In a letter to the Chairman of Governors, Barrie Martin, Education Secretary Michael Gove wrote: “I am delighted to confirm that I am content in principle to agree to the conversion of Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet to an Academy.”

The change to Academy status remains subject to the Academies Bill (which is still progressing through Parliament) gaining Parliamentary approval and Royal Assent.

In a note to all QE staff informing them of the Secretary of State’s decision, the Headmaster, Dr John Marincowitz, wrote: “The Governors’ committee and School’s solicitors will now set up the requisite Academy Trust and negotiate the fine detail of the Funding Agreement. Provided all is concluded to our satisfaction, the target date for conversion remains 1st September [2010].”

The application for Academy status has been unanimously supported by the Governing Body.

Further information from the Department for Education about Academies can be accessed here.

Those wishing to comment on the School’s plans may email [email protected].