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The winner of QE’s summer competition, The Big Read, has been announced.

Boys and staff were encouraged to choose books from a reading list and photograph themselves reading in an extreme – though safe – way during the holidays.

Mipham Samten, of Year 8, (pictured left) came out top for his photo of himself on the archery course at a chateau on the School’s Normandy trip; he will be awarded with a copy of The Guiness Book of World Records during assembly. Head of English Susannah Sweetman’s shot of herself in front of a volcano in Tenerife (bottom picture) was one of a number of interesting entries from teachers.

“Mipham was pictured reading with an apple in his mouth and an arrow coming out of it – a nice allusion to the William Tell story!” said English teacher Yioda Menelaou, who organised the competition.

“The Big Read is a fun way to encourage pupils to engage with reading, prompted by our very eclectic reading list. Of course, boys may choose to read books that aren’t on the list, but we’ve certainly tried to ensure there is something on there to appeal to all tastes.”

The list included work by more than 80 different authors. It mainly featured fiction and included books as diverse as Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Kerouac’s On the Road, Tolstoy’s War and Peace and George R R Martin’s Game of Thrones series.

QE’s young rugby players enjoyed the opportunity to play at the newly opened Allianz Park in Mill Hill – home to the mighty Saracens.

The refurbishment of the stadium was only completed in February, when Saracens defeated Exeter Chiefs 31–11 in an Aviva Premiership match before a capacity crowd of 10,000.

QE’s U15A XV, comprising boys from Year 10, played against Trinity School from Croydon – the first such fixture. “It was a wonderful experience for the boys,” said Jonathan Hart, Head of PE. “The facilities are first-class and the playing surface allowed our boys to perform well, showing some fantastic adventure in attack and commitment in the tackle.”

“The team was captained and led extremely well by Nabil Haque, and there were some notable performances from Neroshan Mariabalanayagam, Sabesan Thayaparan, Obi Ojji and Jeremy Simanjuntak”, he added.

The stadium is equipped not only with the latest in synthetic turf, but a state-of-the-art LED scoreboard. During Premiership matches fans can keep track of statistics and look at replays on their mobile devices by logging on to the wifi and downloading the ground's ‘app’.

“Although we went down 22-0 to a very physical and skilful side, the score by no means reflects the balance of the game or QE’s rugby,” said Mr Hart. “Our boys were very unfortunate not to score and after the game the Trinity School coach suggested that we should look at making it a regular fixture.”

QE is hoping to be able to play further games at Allianz Park this season.

QE's young Economists gained valuable insights into how to manage the economy during a visit to the Bank of England – and were rewarded with gold chocolate coins when they successfully broke into a safety deposit box!

All 135 Year 11 boys studying Economics enjoyed a morning tour of the Bank’s museum, which not only offers historical information but also allowed the boys to interact with some of the artefacts.

They learnt how much a single gold bar weighs (28lb) and were surprised both at its weight and its value – £333,000 on the day of the visit. They flew the inflation balloon simulator and explored the security features on bank notes.

The tour was followed by a presentation on the role of money, interest rates and inflation in the UK economy. The lecture explained the Bank of England’s role in managing the economy and its financial markets. Boys also gained further insights into how monetary policy is used to control inflation.

QE young musicians enjoyed a golden opportunity to see a sell-out performance of West Side Story – the first London revival of the ever-popular musical since 2008.

The show, featuring famous songs including Maria, America, Somewhere and Something’s Coming, was staged at Sadler’s Wells for just six weeks from the middle of August before setting off on a UK-wide tour.

“We were fortunate enough to obtain tickets to a sell-out performance,” said QE’s Director of Music, Kieron Howe. “Our boys were able to appreciate the Edexcel set work Something's Coming first-hand and in its true context, an opportunity denied to previous classes as the show has been absent from London's music scene.”

The award-winning West Side Story has gained legendary status since its first performance in 1951, with conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins. It features a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and, in his first big break, song lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. This 2013 production was choreographed by Joey McKneely, who has worked extensively on Broadway and is a former assistant to Jerome Robbins.

The show opened to rave reviews: “The brilliance of this powerful Romeo and Juliet adaptation is rediscovered,” – Guardian 9th August 2013; and "Ground-breaking choreography with exhilarating drive," – Evening Standard 9th August 2013.

The group of Year 10 musicians were accompanied on the trip by Mr Howe and Music Teacher Rebecca Lancelot. “It was an excellent opportunity for boys to experience and appreciate a world-class live musical only an hour's journey from school; a most enjoyable time was had by all.” said Mr Howe.

Year 12 Politics students saw at first hand the scene of Britain's greatest political debates – and then had the chance to engage in one themselves.

A tour of both the lower and upper houses, together with the lively debate with pupils from other schools, were the highlights of the trip to the Palace of Westminster.

“The aim of the trip was for our students to discover at first hand our Parliament works,” said teacher Helen MacGregor, who organised the trip. The Palace of Westminster organises various tours and workshops specifically tied to particular key stages of the National Curriculum.

The tour started in the Members’ Lobby, where the boys saw the 650 MP pigeon holes and identified the slot for the Barnet MP, the Right Hon Theresa Villiers. “We then went into the House of Commons and stood next to the famous green seats. We were very tempted to sit on them, but we weren’t allowed!” added Miss MacGregor.

“The boys were surprised how small the Commons was in reality. We saw the dispatch boxes and the Speaker’s chair and enjoyed imagining the history that had taken place in that room. We then went through the lobby, where the television broadcasts are made from, into the House of Lords. The glowing red seats stood out against the shining gold of the monarch’s throne. We saw the cross-benches and the woolsacks in the middle of the House.”

After the tour, the 26 boys from QE participated in a lesson with 50 pupils from other schools on how politicians make decisions and the difficulties they have to deal with, culminating in a vote. They were given a scenario where, as a constituency MP, they had to vote on a motion that prisoners should be given jobs. They were given relevant data, such as unemployment statistics and information from employers, and then asked to vote on whether to allow the proposed bill to pass. With each vote, the boys had to justify their decision, which led to a debate.

“A number of our boys presented their points very convincingly, and the debate was very lively and interesting,” said Miss MacGregor. “Most of our boys were against the motion, but we did have some spirited defence of it, too.”

QE boys will perform an abridged version of Macbeth for this year's Shakespeare Schools Festival.

The team of 24 actors, technicians and marketing assistants from Years 9-12 have been working on a cut-down version of the play in readiness for a public performance next week.

They have worked alongside three other schools at a special drama workshop run by experienced actors and theatre technicians at The Abbey Theatre in St Albans. While others chose King Lear, Henry V and The Tempest, QE selected Macbeth, renowned for its psychological study of the corrosive effects of ambition, betrayal and guilt.

“The workshop provided the boys with an excellent range of techniques and tips to improve their performance skills,” said Head of English, Susannah Sweetman. “These included the visually spectacular techniques of ‘withering’ – where actors slowly melt to the ground as though dying, after a battle, for instance – and ‘blossoming’ – where they slowly stand up and grow like a tree.”

The Shakespeare Schools Festival is the UK's largest youth drama festival. It aims to give young people “the opportunity to engage with their cultural heritage, their education and their future” by performing Shakespeare in professional theatres. This year, around 1,000 schools are taking part, performing in 125 theatres across the UK.

The four 30-minute productions, including QE’s Macbeth, will be performed on Monday 14 October. “We would very much welcome support from family and friends,” added Ms Sweetman. Tickets are available at the theatre’s box office on 01727 857 861, or from www.abbeytheatre.org.uk.