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Tom Aggar (1995-2002) has taken the Gold medal at the World Rowing Championships at Lake Bled in Slovenia – his fifth consecutive title.

He was chased hard by Russian newcomer Alexey Chuvashev but finished strongly with a clear lead to take gold in the Adaptive Men’s Single Scull event.

Tom, who is a member of the GB Rowing Team for the London Paralympics in 2012, says that standards are getting ever higher as rowers from all countries are focusing on next year’s games.

Having recently been named the 2010 World Rowing Adaptive Crew of the Year, he is enjoying a double celebration following his marriage this month to a former adaptive rower, Victoria Hansford. Vicki achieved two World Championship Golds and one Silver medal and set two world records during her career. During her time as a top-flight athlete she also worked at the University of Surrey as a sports psychologist, managing the élite sport programme. In July 2011 the British Paralympic Association announced her appointment as Athlete Services Manager.

“We would like to congratulate Tom, both for his success at the World Championships and on the occasion of his marriage,” said Headmaster Neil Enright.

“Tom was a talented sportsman during his time at QE and we follow his achievements very closely at the School. Tom exemplifies many of the attributes we try to develop in all our pupils: excellence, commitment, persistence, hard-work and team values. We will all be cheering him on at next year’s Paralympics.”

Tom started rowing as part of rehabilitation programme, following an accident in 2005 that left him paralysed.

The School has been awarded the prestigious Prince’s Teaching Institute (PTI) Mark in four subjects, with a fifth expected to follow.

The award, which is given retrospectively for 2010/11, recognises and rewards school departments that develop inspirational ideas and activities which enhance the teaching of their subjects.

In addition, senior Queen Elizabeth’s School staff have been appointed by the Institute as mentors and are now helping other schools in their work with the PTI, an independent educational charity created by the Prince of Wales. Recently, QE’s Assistant Head, Anne Macdonald (pictured), was one of four geography mentors selected from schools across the country to meet the Prince.

“We are delighted to receive the PTI Mark, which reflects our excellent teaching practices and the creativity, dedication and knowledge in depth of our staff,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. "We gained the PTI Mark for Science last year and we are particularly pleased that not only has this been renewed, but an additional three departments have now gained the mark, namely English, Geography and History. Following this year’s PTI summer school at Cambridge, the School’s Modern Foreign Languages department is also working towards gaining the mark."

The PTI’s Schools Programme, which was launched in 2007, is open to all state secondary schools in England. To become members, school departments must demonstrate their commitment to increasing teachers’ subject knowledge. They must also show how they have furthered their students’ understanding of, and enthusiasm for, the subject, regardless of the students’ background or ability.

Mrs Macdonald, who has been involved in the programme since an early stage, outlined the long and rigorous process that QE has had to follow in order to gain the PTI Mark. “In the beginning we had to fill in an application outlining the current strengths of our departments and setting and agreeing targets for the year ahead with a Schools Programme mentor,” she said. “Once the targets were agreed we worked towards them over the following academic year. On 4th July we had to present and discuss our achievements. As we were successful in achieving our first-year targets and have set challenging targets for improvement next year, we have been awarded the PTI Mark,” she added.

In 2009, Mrs Macdonald was accompanied to the PTI Summer School by QE’s Head of Pupil Progression, Sarah Westcott, representing the Geography and Science departments respectively. Tahmer Mahmoud, QE’s Head of History, and Susannah Sweetman, the Head of English, took part in the 2010 Summer School. All four achieved the Prince’s Mark and are continuing their work with the School’s Programme.

A Year 13 pupil has won second prize in a national essay-writing competition. David Alam was amongst 500 entrants to the 2011 Royal Economic Society Essay competition.

The participants were given a choice of topics, all with an economic theme. For his prize-winning essay, David chose to write about An NHS free at point of access is unsustainable in the 21st Century and an alternative funding model is needed.

“We are delighted for David as it is a significant achievement to be placed second in such a prestigious, national competition,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “David is a particularly talented student. In 2010 he scored the highest mark in the country for his Geography GCSE and was awarded a prize by the Royal Geographical Society."

The judging panel for this year’s Economic Essay prize comprised Professor Richard Blundell from the RES, Charles Bean, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and the BBC’s Stephanie Flanders who commented on the “high standard of entries this year”.Fellow Sixth-Former Akash Raja also reached the final with his essay about the economy of China.

A Year 9 pupil has been invited to take part in a top junior chess tournament in the Czech Republic in April next year.

Thirteen-year-old Jake Breindel has been asked by the English Chess Federation to represent his country at the annual Young Talents competition at Frydek-Mistek. The competition is entering its 76th year and attracts the brightest and best young players from across Europe. Previous participants include current and former grandmasters David Howell, Monika Socko and David Navara.

“This is a tremendous achievement,” said Geoff Roberts, the teacher in charge of chess at QE. “Jake was invited to take part in an international chess tournament in Gibraltar back in the summer, but unfortunately it clashed with another sporting event. Jake had already been selected to play basketball in Philadelphia for the England Maccabi U14 team. I’m confident he will do very well.”

Jake has been winning chess championships since primary school, including the Hertfordshire U9, U11 and U14 Championships. He captained his team to win the English Primary Schools’ Chess Association U9 and U11 Championships. He was the England U10 Rapidplay Champion and won the U11 England Championship, going on to represent England against Flanders. In December 2010 he came second in the prestigious U18 London Classic at Olympia, competing against boys who were up to five years older than him.

“Jake is a talented boy and a chess player of great promise,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “It’s very important to us that we give our students the opportunities and time they need to excel at extra-curricular activities alongside their studies. We are proud of Jake’s achievements and will follow his chess career with interest.”

An old boy has helped his team progress to the second round of a prestigious BBC quiz.

Ben Pugh (QE 2002-2009) was part of the Pembroke College, Cambridge, team who beat St Anne’s College, Oxford, in the first round of University Challenge. Ben, who is reading German and Russian, put in an impressive individual performance, answering questions on a diverse range of subjects. He was also on the receiving end of presenter Jeremy Paxman’s trademark mockery for his ability to recognise the girl band Girls Aloud in a music round.

Ben, 21, studied English Literature, French, German and History at A-level at QE, securing a grade A in all four subjects – the top grade at the time. He was also placed in the top five in the UK in AQA’s GCSE German and French courses.

“Ben is a natural linguist and was a positive contributor to the community of QE,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “During his time here he was a great asset to the weekly language clinics – supporting younger boys with their studies and homework. It is no surprise to see him performing so well for his college. We wish him and the team success in the remainder of the competition.”

The episode is on BBC iPlayer until 3 October and can be seen by following this link.

Queen Elizabeth’s has been cited as ‘one of the highest performing schools in the country” in a feature in The Times.

The article, which appeared in the newspaper’s Saturday colour supplement, featured a large photo of the two sets of twins from this summer’s Year 13 leavers – Jin-Min & Jin-Xi Yuan and Anup & Amit Desai – together with comments from the Headmaster, Neil Enright.

Both sets of twins exemplify QE’s emphasis on boys developing extra-curricular interests alongside a high level of academic achievement.

Jin-Min and Jin-Xi Yuan, who are 18, comfortably exceeded the grades they needed for their places to read Medicine at Cambridge: Jin-Min achieved four straight A*s, while his brother gained three A*s and an A.

During their seven years at QE, they made time to pursue both sporting and musical interests at a high level. Both reached grade VIII in piano and both played clarinet for the school’s Concert Band. And the pair also represented the school at swimming.

They were also among the 27-strong group who took taking the Extended Project Qualification at QE for the first time. Jin-Min chose as his EPQ topic Comparing the education system of Finland and the UK and his brother explored Sibling Rivalry.

Anup Desai achieved three A*s and one A grade and secured his place to read Economics at the London School of Economics. Amit’s one A* and three As also gave him his first-choice course, Economics and Geography at University College London.

Like the Yuan twins, Anup and Amit, who are also 18 , have by no means confined themselves solely to their studies at QE. Both have represented England and the school at chess. Amit told The Times’ chief political correspondent, Anushka Asthana, that they had worked hard at improving their chess ever since they were in primary school.

The feature in the Saturday Magazine centred on the achievements of Asian children and the attitudes of their parents, but Mr Enright emphasised that QE encourages all its pupils to home in on similarities, not differences, and not to focus on ethnicity.