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This year’s Geography tour for Lower School boys went to Sicily. In a packed programme, the boys saw Mount Etna, went paddling in the Alcantara River after descending the gorge and climbed on Vulcano, a volcanic island 16 miles north of Sicily.

“At Mount Etna we were able to see the lava flow that had happened the previous week,” said Geography teacher and Director of Assessment Neil Enright. “Some of the more intrepid QE boys were really quite keen to toast their paninis in the fumaroles!”

The trip also provided the boys with an opportunity to have fun on the beach – burying each other in sand – as well as the chance to pick up some Italian. “I think most of them can now quite confidently order ice cream,” added Mr Enright.

To view these photographs, click on one of the thumbnails to start a slideshow.

Year 7 QE boys swept the board in a competition about World Citizenship. The competition was run by the Baha’i community and was open to all the Barnet schools.

Pupils were invited to submit an essay, poem or poster drawing on their knowledge of what it means to be a good citizen. Niral Malde took first prize in the poster category; James Casey was first in the poem category, while Niraj Shah was adjudged to have produced the best essay. The QE boys won a cup for the School for best overall quality.

“The boys produced excellent work, which covered the causes of anti-social behaviour and ways in which it could be prevented,” said teacher Sarah Gibbons, of the Religion & Society Department. “All the competitors demonstrated their understanding of the need for unity to resolve world problems such as poverty, racism and the preservation of the environment. Their work and achievement was excellent and impressive.”

Sibelius have launched their Student Composer of the Year competition with three varied categories for entries: music for film, contemporary classical and jazz.

There are also two age categories: 10 – 16 and 17 – 18. Mr Howe, Director of Music, would love to see a number of entries from our talented composers throughout the School on this national stage. Further information and links to register for the competition can be seen at Sibelius’ website.

Prizes include master-classes with the judges who are some of the music world’s biggest names including composers, conductors, ensembles and film directors, plus a whole load of great hardware and software for music-making .

Envisage, one of QE’s 2008 Young Enterprise teams, reached the Pan London Finals of the competition and took the prize for the best presentation.

Led by Link teacher Vickash Seeburrun, Envisage developed the Bon Appetit Discount Card – a restaurant card that was adopted by some of London’s top eating places.

Both Envisage and the other QE team, QuEst, reached the North London round of Young Enterprise after success at the initial area round. At the North London round, the teams had to set up a display stand and deliver a presentation in front of eight other competing companies, five judges and parents. “Both companies delivered their presentations in a very professional and sophisticated manner,” said Mr Seeburrun.

QuEst, which developed an e-learning game called Destination Zero designed to make employees more environmentally aware at home and in the workplace, won the award for best display stand. Envisage took awards both for the best presentation and as the best company overall, which meant it went forward to the Pan London Finals as the sole North London school.

Held at the Credit Suisse building, Canary Wharf, the Pan London Finals featured inspirational presentations from Levi Roots, of Dragon’s Den fame, and from Dan McGuire, current Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Managing Director of Broadbean Technology.

The following Y10 boys represented the Envisage team at the Pan London Final: Jed Wilsher, Sergio Ronchetti-Carrete, Nir Shah, Kamran Tajbakhsh and Jonathan Flowers.

Nine boys in Year 13 represented the UK at an International Youth Forum in Istanbul, organised by the European Youth Parliament.

They thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to debate with teams from 15 countries and to formulate solutions to some of the most pertinent problems that the world faces today. New friendships were also formed with equally intelligent and lively delegates from other countries, including Italy, the Netherlands and Russia.

QE boys were highly praised for their professional approach and mature attitude throughout the five-day event, according to QE’s Head of French, Susan Chatterton. The team spent 12 months preparing for the event, holding weekly debating practices and going on visits to the European Commission and the House of Lords. Mrs Chatterton, who oversaw the preparations, took the team from the Regional Forum in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through to the National session in Durham.

The School’s Success in Istanbul has led to several invitations to attend future forums and the team has been accepted on to the International Olympic Forum to be held in Greece in August 2008.

Boys in the lower years of the School have been performing strongly on the cricket field this term.

At time of writing the U12 and U13 teams have reached the final stage of the Middlesex Cup, with the U12s remaining unbeaten this season after ten Saturday fixtures against ten different schools. “Two boys, Daniel Green, Year 12, and Neil Gujar, Year 8, have scored a century each in a school fixture, which is a significant achievement,” said Head of Games Mark Peplow.

In athletics, Barnet Athletics League and Barnet Championships provide the main focus for QE boys.

“We have continued to perform well across the year groups, although Year 7 have struggled to maintain our usual dominance,” said Mr Peplow.

Twenty-five boys were selected to represent Barnet in the Middlesex Championships. A number were then placed in their finals and are currently waiting to hear if they have been selected to represent Middlesex at the All England Championships.