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Alumnus Roger Pearce (1961-69) has been putting his experiences as former Head of the Met’s Special Branch to good use, with the publication of his second work of fiction. He has also given a number of media interviews in the wake of recent revelations about Special Branch’s undercover unit.

His latest book, The Extremist, has been launched this summer, the second in a two-book deal with Coronet, an imprint of Hodder and Stoughton. As with his first book, Agent of the State, published in 2012, Roger has drawn on his first-hand experience for his second foray into the thriller genre.

Roger graduated with a BA Honours in Theology from St John’s College, Durham University, in 1972 and originally planned on becoming ordained as an Anglican priest, but instead joined Durham Constabulary before transferring to the Metropolitan Police in 1975. After joining Special Branch he also completed an external LLB Honours degree from London University, qualifying as a barrister-at-law in 1975.

He has been increasingly in demand by the national media as an expert voice, following a number of news stories in 2012 and 2013 about the Branch’s undercover unit. Since he was not only Head of Special Branch from 1999 to 2003 but also a former Director of Intelligence at the Met who authorised surveillance and undercover operations, Roger is particularly well placed to offer informed comment.

All his latest news and a video of him talking about Special Branch as the impetus for his writing can be found on his website: http://www.rogerpearce.info/

Roger has been married to Margaret for more than 40 years. They have two sons, both former QE pupils: Andrew, a composer, and Matthew, an airline pilot. Their daughter, Laura, is a personal assistant.

A trip to Bhaktivedanta Manor provided Year 7 boys with a broad taste of Hinduism. The boys enjoyed dressing up in traditional Hindu clothing, face-painting, a bull-cart ride and a tour of the grounds, as well as a having a vegetarian paneer cheese curry for lunch.

“The purpose of the visit was to develop the boys’ learning and understanding of Hinduism and the practices and culture of Hindu people,” said Guy Boyes, QE’s Head of Religion & Society and Head of Geography. “The boys got a real sense of the importance of community in Hinduism, of its colour and of the dedication of Hindus.”

The Manor near Watford is celebrating its 40th anniversary: former Beatle George Harrison donated the building to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in 1973. The main house is surrounded by five acres of grounds with a lake and a garden of contemplation. Flowers grown in the grounds are used to make garlands for use in the house and temple.

The Inter-House Drama competition was a keenly fought affair as five of QE’s six Houses each produced their own take on a science fiction-themed brief.

For this year’s competition, Harrisons’, Leicester, Pearce, Stapylton and Underne each prepared a short devised piece of Drama based on the stimulus of the first paragraph from H G Wells’ War of the Worlds. “The audience were treated to an entertaining, funny, sometimes scary, but very inventive series of plays,” said Elaine White, QE’s Drama Co-ordinator. “We witnessed eerie aliens brought to life, parallel universes, a frightening alien-possessed genius and an American diner with strange inhabitants.”

“Pearce finally won with a play that had both sound and lighting effects, an evil despicable twin, secret agents, the Queen and even Barack Obama! The standard of the plays was a tribute to the boys’ Year 10 mentors who ensured that the bar was raised for this year’s competition,” she added.

Below is the full list of Awards:

Best Performance: Pearce (Directors; Paavan Sawjani, Timur Salih)

Highly commended: Stapylton (Directors; Ryan Shah, Hersh Kataria, Akash Ruparelia)

Best Interpretation of Stimulus: Leicester (Director; Sahil Handa)

Highly Commended: Zain Danish/Stapylton

Best Actor: Mark Thomas/Pearce

Highly Commended: Keenan Dieobi/Underne

Best Supporting Actor: Jasihan Kanthithas/Stapylton

Highly Commended: Asad Shah/Leicester

Best Direction: Pearce

Highly Commended: Leicester

Best Team Effort: Harrisons’

Highly Commended: Underne

Freelance cameraman and foreign correspondent Joe Sheffer took time out from reporting on the world’s trouble spots to present a talk to Year 13 pupils on setting and achieving goals

Joe (OE 2000-2007) has spent the last five years working in some of the world’s most dangerous territories. He has been covering the ongoing ‘Arab Spring’ in the Middle East, with a particular focus on the Yemen.

Last year, he was detained in, and later deported from, Bahrain whilst covering the country's ongoing civil unrest. Recently, he travelled to Afghanistan to cover the pull-out of NATO troops from the country and was embedded with US troops in the south.

His coverage of the Arab Spring has been broadcast and reported in media outlets including Channel 4 News and The Guardian.

Joe paid a visit to his alma mater to talk about his experiences. He told the boys that it is important to be determined and persistent in order to achieve goals. “It’s true that some people benefit from nepotism, but many decide to carve out their own path,” he said.

Joe followed his own very individual route to success: it was on a gap year of overseas travel that he realised he could use his skills to launch a career as a journalist and cameraman. “I have to acknowledge my Art teacher at QE, Stephen Buckeridge, who taught me the basics of video technology and how to develop my skills as a film-maker. I also learnt at QE that it’s vital to pursue a career that you are passionate about, which doesn’t necessarily have to follow a conventional route.”

Immediately after giving his talk, Joe returned to Afghanistan, moving to a new base in Kabul, where he is continuing to film and report.

Three boys have been awarded certificates of distinction for their achievements in a prestigious national Mathematics competition.

Kiran Aberdeen, of Year 7, Aneesh Chopada and Souhardh Kotakadi, both of Year 8, finished among the top 25% in the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Junior Olympiad – a follow-on round for the best 1,200 among the 250,000 pupils who took part in the Junior Challenge. In addition to their certificates, Aneesh and Souhardh were awarded bronze medals, which are given to pupils who achieve a good score in section A of the two-hour paper, as well as offering two excellent solutions in section B.

“In all, 12 of our Year 7 and 8 were invited to take place in the Olympiad and were thus placed in the top 1,200 in the country, which is very satisfying,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “I must congratulate the boys on their achievements in what is a very rigorous examination of mathematical ability.”

Aneesh Chopada was also in the QE Mathematics team that was placed 11th of 80 in the final of the Intermediate Maths Team Challenge, which is for pupils in Years 8 and 9.

Pupils and staff at Queen Elizabeth’s School celebrated another vintage year for A-levels, with outstandingly high grades achieved and almost all leavers expected to take up places at leading universities.

In 2012, the school recorded its best-ever results as the proportion of A*-B grades topped 98% for the first time. This year, the total was almost unchanged, at 98.3%, while almost four in every ten A-levels taken (39%) were awarded the highest A* grade – again, a similar figure to 2012.

Just over three-quarters of the year group took A-level Mathematics, and of these 110 boys, no fewer than 60 (55%) were awarded an A*.

Twenty-nine boys have offers of places at Oxford or Cambridge.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I am extremely proud of our Year 13: last year’s record results left them with a very tough act to follow, yet they have matched the 2012 figures, achieving truly remarkable grades across the board.”

“Moreover, our pupils exemplify QE’s commitment to a holistic education: they not only achieve well in examinations, but are also articulate, well adjusted young men with wide interests beyond their curriculum subjects and a commitment to contribute to society. We unashamedly place a high degree of emphasis on traditional qualities valued by employers, such as numeracy, literacy, punctuality and personal appearance, while our Sixth Form voluntary service programme ensures that all QE leavers have some experience of the wider world.”

“We take academic endeavour seriously, but we also want our boys to be happy! I am therefore pleased that so many of our leavers tell me that they look back on their time here with pleasure, having had fun both in the classroom and through participation in enjoyable extra-curricular activities.”

The Oxbridge offers are for courses ranging from Medicine (six pupils) and Economics (four) to Fine Art, Computer Science and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies. QE boys are particularly successful in gaining places on highly competitive Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science courses: 31 of the leavers are expected to start courses in these subjects at various leading universities.

“In 2012, the proportion of our boys going on to Russell Group universities was 95% – bucking a national trend of decline among state schools – and we expect it to remain very high in 2013,” Mr Enright added.

Other notable statistics among this year’s results were that: 87% of A-levels taken at QE were awarded A* or A grades, and 100% of boys taking Art, French or Further Mathematics gained A* or A grades in these subjects.

Still top of the class: Boys' school celebrates best results yet again – The Daily Telegraph, Friday 16 August 2013

Top State School – The Daily Telegraph, Friday 16 August 2013

Top Boys' School – The Times, Friday 16 August 2013

Headteacher 'proud' of record-equalling A-levels at Queen Elizabeth's Boys' School in High Barnet – The Barnet & Potters Bar Times, Thursday 15 August 2013