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QE’s highest achievers were rewarded for their endeavours at the School’s Senior Awards Ceremony.

Well over 100 prizes were awarded to boys from Year 10 to the Sixth Form at the event in the School Hall, one of the academic highlights of the QE calendar.

In his welcome, Headmaster Neil Enright pointed out that winning awards in the highly competitive context of QE requires truly outstanding performance that combines ability with sustained, focused effort.

The Guest of Honour was Professor Chris Brink, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle. Born in South Africa, he not only has a distinguished career as a logician, but also successfully led the transformation of that country’s Stellenbosch University from an institution closely associated with the former apartheid regime into a multi-racial, academically strong university.

Professor Brink grew up in a small town on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, with no opportunities for travel until he left South Africa at the age of 24 to start his PhD at Cambridge. “It doesn’t matter where you come from; it is where you end up that matters”, he told the audience of parents, guests, staff and boys. However, while highlighting the importance of boys “overcoming disadvantage” by making the most of their abilities, he also stressed that they should not lose sight of the need to contribute to society as they became successful in life – “overcoming advantage”, as he put it.

The Headmaster said: “Professor Brink gave an inspirational speech which drew on his own experience, yet resonated perfectly with our own ethos as a School which is both a meritocracy and is also committed to developing in our boys a sense of social responsibility.”

The evening was punctuated by a series of musical interludes from some of the School’s leading musicians. The repertoire ranged from pieces by Brahms, Bozza and Saint-Saëns to a recessional composed and directed by QE’s Director of Music, Kieron Howe.

Old Elizabethan Lucian Grainge is consolidating Universal Music’s position as the world’s biggest recording company amid signs that, after years of decline, the music industry is starting to grow again.

In a major interview with the Sunday Times, Los Angeles-based Lucian (OE 1971-78) was bullish about the prospects for EMI – owner of famous labels such as Capitol Records and Virgin – which has been the subject of a controversial £1.2bn takeover by Universal. Concerned about a threat to competition, the European Commission forced Universal to sell a third of EMI.

Speaking of his plans to revive EMI now that the takeover has been secured, he said: “I tried to get my first records recorded at EMI and I really want to make a difference to it. For me, this is a duty and a responsibility.”

Lucian was an early starter in business terms: he walked out of a history A-level examination at QE to cut his first record deal, although he still passed his A-levels. His interest in the business is said to have been sparked in childhood, when he would study which records customers selected in his father’s TV, radio and record shop.

He is due to bring together many of his British labels into a new company called Virgin EMI, while also launching a Capitol Records UK label. In addition, he plans to invest millions of pounds into signing unknown acts.

Figures released recently showed that the recorded music industry’s global revenue grew 0.3% to $16.5bn last year – the first increase for more than a decade, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Revenue was boosted by growing sales from legal downloading and streaming of music.

He is sanguine about Universal’s prospects: “We were the first to be disrupted by the internet and we will show that we are the first to power out. When you lift the carpet there is an extraordinary transformative explosion of new rights, new distribution, new content and new ways of acquiring and finding it.”

Lucian was awarded the CBE for services to the creative industries in the 2010 New Year’s Honours. Married with two children and a stepdaughter, he is known both for his formidable business ability and his disarming style. He remains a keen Arsenal supporter.

His brother, Justin (OE 1978-81), is understood still be to living in Finchley and is a photographer.

Year 12 pupil Michael Zhao has reached the national final of the British Informatics Olympiad – an annual computer programming competition for schools and sixth form colleges.

Michael, who is one of only 15 entrants from across the country to progress to the final, will now compete for the chance to be one of four students who will represent Britain at the International Informatics Olympiad in Australia, in July.

The first stage of the British Informatics Olympiad (BIO) is a three-question, three-hour examination sat in the candidate’s school, in which participants solve problems with the aid of a computer. It was taken this year at QE by Michael and his fellow Year 12 pupil, Gabriel Gendler. The examination is marked by a teacher and then submitted to the competition organisers for moderation. 

Michael, who learned to program outside School, will travel to Trinity College, Cambridge, for the BIO final in April. It will involve solving more difficult problems, some written and some involving programming.

The four top performers will then qualify for the all-expenses-paid trip to Brisbane.

A team of QE mathematicians reached the final of an élite competition for the first time in the School’s history.

The QE pupils were defeated by just three points in the final of the Hans Woyda competition, which has traditionally been dominated by leading independent schools.

Bhavik Mehta from Year 11, Rahul Mukherjee, of Year 13, Gabriel Gendler, of Year 12, and Nitharsan Sathiyalingam, of Year 9 (pictured below from left to right) defeated City of London School in the quarter-final and Harrow School in the semis of the competition. In the final they encountered St Paul’s School, the winners of 14 of the previous 21 tournaments, and were defeated 46 – 43.

The contest went to the last Race round, at which point QE was trailing by five points. Despite winning this round the team could not close the gap. “Although it was obviously a little disappointing to lose, it was good to give St Paul’s a close game,” said Mathematics teacher Geoff Roberts. “In the past they have won many times by substantial margins, so our boys all acquitted themselves really well to achieve such a narrow margin of defeat and to be runners-up in such a prestigious event.”

Each of the boys received a Mathematics book inscribed with their name, sponsored by the London Mathematics Association.

The annual competition attracts entries from 64 schools from London and the south east region. Competitors must be able to apply a wide range of high-level mathematical skills – often against the clock.

A Year 12 student has progressed to the final 16 in the British Physics Olympiad, competing mostly against students a year older than him.

Madhi Elango now has the opportunity to win a place in the final four who will go on to represent the UK at international level. He has been invited to a special training camp where he will compete against the other finalists.

Madhi and fellow Year 12 student Aniruddh Raghu were both given gold awards after achieving top 50 places in the first round of the competition, which attracted more than 2,000 entrants. After the second round, which involved a three-hour examination, Aniruddh was awarded a Merit – placing him in the top 30, whilst Madhi achieved a top-16 finish.

“Both the boys have done exceptionally well to get to this level, especially as they are Year 12 boys in a competition primarily aimed at students in Year 13,” said Physics teacher Ashley Dyson. “There is no doubt that Aniruddh and Madhi have spurred each other on through working together to prepare for the competition.”

The examination-based competition’s stated aim is to challenge and reward the best physicists in British schools.

Year 9 boys saw the Spitfire and its Battle of Britain arch-rival, the Messerschmitt 109, during a visit to Imperial War Museum Duxford.

Duxford, near Cambridge, is one of the largest air museums in the country and boasts an impressive array of aircraft, including notably a large number of Spitfires.

Organised by the History department, the trip took place over two days, with boys from three Houses visiting one day, followed by those from the remaining three Houses on the following day.

History teacher Helen MacGregor said: “The boys on one of the days were lucky enough not only to get up close to a Spitfire, but just as we were leaving, it took to the skies in an impressive display of dramatic turns and loop-the-loops.”

The QE boys saw aeroplanes through the entire history of aviation, from the early days in World War I to aircraft recently decommissioned from the RAF. They explored the Battle of Britain display and saw the 1940 Operations Room – a reconstruction of the facility from where RAF Duxford’s fighter aircraft were directed into combat during the battle against the fearsome Luftwaffe threat. The exhibits included the Messerschmitt, which was flown during the battle until forced down in Sussex by engine failure.

They also saw how weaponry, particularly tanks, had developed. “This aided their understanding of the changing nature of warfare; their topic for the year,” said Miss MacGregor. “Despite the wind that whistled across the working airfield, both days were very enjoyable.”