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Leading poet John Mole gave Year 7 boys plenty to ponder during a special visit to the School.

As part of the Year 7 enrichment programme, the Poetry Society’s Poet in Residence to the City of London was invited to QE to speak to pupils on writing poetry.  Mr Mole, who is also an accomplished jazz clarinettist and jazz reviewer, is renowned for poetry that seeks to make political themes accessible to young people.

The aim of the event, which was organised by English teacher Victoria Maule, was to inspire pupils to think more creatively and imaginatively about poetry.

Mr Mole has won several prizes for his work, including an Eric Gregory award, Signal Award and Cholmondeley Award. He began by introducing the pupils to a number of riddles, which they were asked to interpret using their creative thinking skills.

“Our Year 7 boys were undaunted by the challenge and came up with some inspiring and highly original interpretations that demonstrated their ability to think metaphorically and imaginatively,” said Ms Maule. “John went on to read a range of his longer poems, often enlightening us as to the planning and creative processes behind the finished product, and from where he found his sources of inspiration. The event was very popular and our boys clearly benefitted from the lively question-and-answer session which rounded off the visit.”

John Mole had to face a range of challenging questions, which he answered with a series of anecdotes that provoked much thought and laughter.

“Introducing our boys to this calibre of guest speaker is exactly the way to inspire them to engage more creatively and originally with the often neglected curriculum area of poetry,” concluded Ms Maule.  “John Mole’s immensely personal approach, and highly entertaining delivery, left our boys inspired, energised, and eager to go forward and create poetry of their own.”

This term’s major theatrical production marks another step in the renaissance of drama at Queen Elizabeth’s School.

Entitled All the World’s a Stage, the play is a series of scenes that have been assembled using the stimulus of Jacques’ famous Seven Ages of Man speech from Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

“In order to bring these scenes together, we have used the long history of Queen Elizabeth’s School to weave an imaginary debate between past students about which scene best represents one of the Ages of Man,” explained Co-ordinator of Drama, Elaine White.  “The initial project and ideas came from me, but as we have rehearsed, the boys have come up with both improvised and scripted scenes.”

The Headmaster, Neil Enright, congratulated Mrs White, her colleagues and the boys on their efforts.

He said: “I fully intend that drama should be a strong element of life at QE. There is a long tradition of an annual play at the School and I am delighted that we have been able to revive this in the past couple of years.  Last year’s production of The Tempest was a significant development, and I feel confident that All the World’s a Stage will mark another step forward for drama at QE, not least because it is the first play to be staged in the Shearly Hall.

“The boys involved have worked hard to hone their skills, to rehearse and to prepare themselves for the challenge of performance. A fine balance of analytical skills, imagination and practical work has been required and I am sure that the boys have enjoyed the testing but fulfilling process of staging the play. Of course, these major productions complement a range of other drama clubs and activities organised by the English department and through the House system,” Mr Enright added.

All the World’s a Stage takes place at 7.30pm on Wednesday 29th February and Thursday 1st March 2012. Tickets are available from the School Shop.

Two Year 12 students who each achieved 11 A* grades in their GCSEs have been presented with Outstanding Achievement Awards 2011 for Academic Excellence. Mohammad Moinuddin and Salman Khan received their awards at a special reception at the Bangladeshi High Commission in London.

The competition is open each year to UK pupils of Bangladeshi origin and recognises high achievement at GCSE and A-level. Mohammad and Salman received their plaques and certificates from the High Commissioner, Dr M Sayeedur Rahman Khan.

“The reception was a very encouraging and enjoyable event,” said Mohammad. “There were pupils from all parts of the United Kingdom. My parents were very proud of me and were thrilled to be able to take part in the reception.” (Mohammed and his parents pictured below with Dr Rahman Khan.)

There were 106 award-winning students in total: 60 received awards for their GCSE achievements and 46 for A-level. Mohammad hopes to repeat his GCSE success when he takes his A-levels in 2013.

“I am currently studying Chemistry, Biology, Maths, English and Critical Thinking, and I wish to study Dentistry at University – preferably at King's College London, which was recently voted the UK's best university for dentistry in 2012,” said Mohammad. “Getting into King's is a major aspiration of mine.”

Alumnus Jamie Sherman (2002-2009) is hoping to raise thousands of pounds for charity by running the London Marathon in April.

Jamie, who is in his second year at Durham University studying Physics and Philosophy, is raising money for the Homestart charity. Homestart provides practical support for families who are experiencing difficulties, whether due to illness, financial hardship or isolation. The charity also supports families who face parenting challenges.

“I’m training five times a week to get myself ready for the big day,” says Jamie. “I’m aiming to raise £2,500 over the next few weeks, so please consider sponsoring me at www.virginmoneygiving.com/jamiesherman – I’d really appreciate any contribution at all.”

Music that might be encountered during an evening out formed the backbone of the School concert entitled A Night on the Town!

QE Director of Music Kieron Howe explained that the repertoire chosen featured music to dance to, as well as that which might simply be heard.

The concert opened with a performance by the Junior Indian Ensemble, rehearsed by two Year 12 boys, Praveen Prathapan and Janan Sathiendran. “Praveen and Janan have worked extremely hard with the ensemble to prepare for this concert. The ensemble is the largest it has ever been and this is testament to the commitment and manner of Praveen and Janan,” said Mr Howe.

The first half of the programme featured The Training Band who performed part of John Williams’ score for Raiders of the Lost Ark as well as music featured in the television programme Glee, whilst the Choir sang an arrangement of Nina Simone’s Sinnerman from the film The Thomas Crown Affair. The Junior Strings performed a medley of hits from Lady Gaga, and the first half ended with a rousing performance, by the Choir, of the perennial favourite New York, New York.

In the second half, the Big Band performed a wide variety of music, from Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca and Sway to numbers by Robbie Williams, Phil Collins and Van Morrison, together with themes from the films Mission Impossible and Rocky. The concert ended with the Big Band’s performance of Brooklyn, a piece from the Youngblood Brass Band from the village of Oregon, Wisconsin.

Mr Howe paid tribute to the directors of the ensembles for their dedication. He added: “Ajay Patel and Alex Brown worked the sound and lights, contributing to the success of the concert, while Arjun Paliwal, Zac Howlett-Davis and Matthew Chew, fronted the marketing team and did a brilliant job in designing the tickets and posters.”

Thirty Year 12 boys joined 30 girls from Henrietta Barnett School to work on the Extended Project Qualification.

During an initial one-day symposium, the students were placed into groups of four, comprising two boys and two girls, according to whether their subject interest was science or humanities-based. Each student brought an academic article or text of interest for consideration by their group. The teams then had to agree a research question for collaborative work before presenting their findings to their peers and staff at the second stage of the event some weeks later.

“This event built successfully on previous collaborations between the two schools,” said Dr Sarah Westcott, Head of Pupil Progression at QE. “The aim was to get our boys and Henrietta Barnett students, who are normally used to the single-sex environment, working together to research, analyse and then present their ideas on a number of high-level academic topics. Events of this kind are key to ensuring that students develop the research skills and analysis techniques necessary throughout their A-level studies as well as preparing them for the mixed environment of higher education.”

Research questions at the QE/HBS collaboration event ranged from The hygiene hypothesis – are humans too clean? to an analysis of whether the methods China has used to enjoy worldwide economic success could be replicated in African countries.

“The presentations were of a particularly high standard, with students enthusiastically delivering their analysis on their chosen research topic,” added Dr Westcott, who oversaw Science topics. Tahmer Mahmoud, Head of History and Academic Enrichment at QE, oversaw pupils studying an arts or humanities topic for the EPQ.

• The EPQ is a qualification equivalent to an AS Level which aims to help students pursue their interests by exploring topics in depth.