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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].

Broughton gained 4th place overall at this year’s Sports Day – a significant improvement on its 6th place in 2009.

The highlights included John Otugade (Year 10) winning both of his events – 100m A and long jump B; First place for the Year 10 4 x 100m relay team and Alex Ng (Year 7), taking 1st place for the 400m A.

Alex said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my first Sports Day at QE.”

Boys from Harrisons gained six individual track and field victories at QE’s 2010 Sports Day, with the House coming 5th overall in the event.

Among the winners was Josh Tob-Ogu of Year 9, who triumphed in the 400m A race: “I was delighted at winning the 400m and beating Leicester into second place. The entire form performed admirably.”

Leicester triumphed overall in this year’s Sports Day and took the House Cup.

The annual inter-House competition involves all boys in Years 7-10 taking part in athletics, tug of war table tennis or rowing competitions. Leicester won the Sports Day athletics competitions in Years 7 and 8 and was also close behind Underne, who took 1st place in athletics for Years 9 and 10.

Darshan Nagaria, of Year 10, said: “This was my last Sports Day at QE and I was glad to be games captain as I lifted the cup. A huge thank you must go to the Leicester students whose determination enabled this house to be Sports Day winners.”

John Woods, of Year 8, who won the 800m A string race. “As I crossed the line I was elated to see I had won by a considerable margin. I felt a great sense of pride when I was told I had managed to beat my old personal best time.”

Five Pearce boys won their hurdles and javelin competitions at QE’s 2010 Sports Day, at which their House came 6th.

Mithuran Satkunanathan (Year 8) said: “The support of the crowd made it a fun way to spend one of our last days in Year 8.”