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The School’s new Dining Hall and Café 1573 have opened in time for QE’s Christmas festivities.

First to sample the facilities were the staff and boys. Parents and guests are due to be served mulled wine and mince pies in Café 1573 at the Christmas Concert.

Both the Dining Hall and the café are decorated with graphics relating to the School’s history. Café 1573 provides senior pupils with a pleasant coffee shop-style environment in which they can relax and it will also be used by the School for special occasions.

Together, the opening of the Dining Hall and Café 1573 represent the completion of the second phase of a major building project centred on the area between the Shearly Hall and the Mayes Building. Phase I was completed last year with the opening of the Food Technology Area.

The final phase, the new Queen’s Library, is proceeding well. The furniture is due to arrive next month; then the process of installing IT and loading the shelves with 13,000 books can get underway. The library will open later in the academic year, providing 100 computer terminals and 40-50 additional study desks. There will thus be ample space and facilities both to accommodate independent study by Sixth-Formers and to allow its use by pupils from lower in the School.

The Headmaster said: “I am delighted that the second phase of this programme has now been completed: the Dining Hall and Café 1573 are certainly living up to our expectations. Of course, none of this work could have been completed without the generosity of The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s: I pay tribute to their giving in support of the School.”

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Click on any of the thumbnails below to start a slideshow of photographs.

   

   

   

   

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A US-based Old Elizabethan and former senior executive of one of the world’s best-known companies met the Headmaster during a flying visit to QE.

Top management consultant Stuart Blinder (1961-68), former Chief Operating Officer with Unilever, approached QE because he was keen to bring his wife, his 13-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter to see where he had been educated.

“I was delighted to welcome Stuart and his family to the School,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “It is always satisfying to welcome back old boys, especially when they have gone on to considerable success in their own field. We spent a very pleasant hour revisiting the older parts of the School and presenting the considerable building improvements and additions.”

 “I didn’t want to cause any disruption and was looking for an informal visit,” said Stuart. He is based in Wilton, Connecticut, where he is a partner in Equus llc, who specialise in providing business solutions, particularly relating to the supply chain.

Stuart took his first degree, in Chemistry, at Birmingham University before moving to Manchester University, where he took a Finance and Marketing double major MBA from Manchester Business School.

He joined Unilever in 1973, where he undertook several roles. He faced a number of challenges, not least to create shareholder value at a challenging time. He achieved an all-time record high income that exceeded the prior year by 30%, with profits up by 35% the following year and double the year after that.

After leaving Unilever he was in constant demand as a supply chain consultant and worked for a number of companies Insight Consulting, Succendo and Lornamead N.A. Since 2008 he has been a partner with Equus IIc, a boutique consulting and advisory services firm in the Americas.

Because of a heavy work schedule, Stuart has few opportunities to visit the UK, but enjoyed his return to QE. “A late word of thanks to the School for making the time to take us round,” he said. “QE has clearly returned to top form, and congratulations on creating an exciting vision to keep it at the forefront of UK secondary education and in the process instil in the students a spirit of life-long learning and excellence in all they do as individuals and as members of teams.”

During his visit, he offered to provide support for former pupils when they are studying in the States, such as Ramsey Kobeissi, who is in his last year at Yale, and Joseph Vinson, a 2013 leaver who has a place at the same Ivy League university. In fact, since visiting the School, Stuart reports that he has already had an enjoyable meeting with Ramsey.

Sixth-Former Surya Bowyer’s modern take on Beowulf has won him plaudits in a national poetry competition.

His poem was among 85 commended from among the record-breaking 7,500 entries for this year’s worldwide Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, which is run annually by the Poetry Society. Surya, of Year 13, attended a ceremony, at which the commended young poets as well as the 15 overall winners were honoured. The top 15 poems will be published in an anthology.

QE’s Head of English, Susannah Sweetman said: “Surya’s poem demonstrates his talent for creative writing. I am very proud of his achievement and I hope that he inspires other students to take up creative writing as a hobby.”

Surya’s poem:

Meanwhile, a thane of the king's household, a carrier of tales, a traditional singer deeply schooled in the lore of the past, linked a new theme to a strict meter

So. Whilst you're partying

In LA with all its acid lighting

And forgotten rules

            and piling into cars

Belonging to strangers

            commandeering worm-driven vehicles

                        snaking

And while

Overburdened is just another word for proximity

            another excuse, a yawned arm-movement

Your face no longer goes red

"It's a flag!" I said,

            "It's a sign!"

She says: "I want the ice-cream on top of those cookies,

I want you, mine"

 

 And I finally start listening to what my parents say

Telling me I need a car

and

"Why don't you wonder normal things?"

Oh how I am indebted to those paired old sparring boars

"Because they've all already been wandered, before."

Four QE mathematicians have taken the School into new territory by qualifying for the national final of the Senior Team Maths Challenge. The team of Bhavik Mehta (captain), Akash Amalean, Tianlin Zhang and Vaheshan Ramaneswaran (pictured, left and right) from Year 12 came first out of 19 schools in the regional heat at Merchant Taylors’ School. 

“We congratulate the boys, who performed exceedingly well,” said Assistant Head of Mathematics Wendy Fung. “They overcame strong challenges from a number of independent and state schools, beating Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School into second place and Highgate School into third.

“It is very satisfying to have reached the national final for the first time: this is a feat which reflects the ability and application of our boys. The team had an enjoyable afternoon, meeting, and competing with, other keen young mathematicians.”

The competition, which is organised by the UK Mathematics Trust and the Further Maths Support Programme, combines mathematical, communication and teamwork skills. It offers pupils an alternative way to express and develop their enjoyment of mathematics. The final takes place in February at the Camden Centre in King’s Cross.

The School’s Chamber Choir are looking forward to singing a modern carol at QE’s annual carol service – after receiving a few tips from the composer.

Will Todd, a British composer best known for writing an anthem, The Call of Wisdom, which featured in the Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving Service, came to QE to give a workshop.

Music teacher Rebecca Lancelot said: “The boys learnt how to add nuance to their singing in the way Mr Todd intended, and were left with a real sense of achievement when he complimented the singers on their sound.”

The Chamber Choir will sing Mr Todd’s My Lord has Come at the Service of Nine Lessons & Carols at St John's Church, Barnet, on Wednesday 18th December at 7.30pm.

Mr Todd, who is also known as a pianist, has worked at the Royal Opera House, The Lincoln Center in New York, London's Barbican and with award-winning choirs The Sixteen and the BBC Singers.

His jazz-inspired choral work, Mass in Blue, has been performed more than 100 times since its 2003 premiere. The Call of Wisdom was sung by the specially formed Diamond Choir at St Paul’s Cathedral at the Diamond Jubilee service.

For the first time in many years, Broughton has won QE’s House competition. Leicester and Underne tied for second place, followed by Stapylton, Harrisons’ and Pearce in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

“I congratulate Broughton on their victory” said Martin Bassett-Jones, House Co-ordinator. “They have shown consistent performance this year across the field of events, leaving a clear gap to second place.”

The cup was presented by the Headmaster, Neil Enright, at a special ceremony to outgoing House Captain Ife Adepegba and Deputy House Captain Abhishek Mukherjee, who together oversaw the victory for Broughton. The assembly was entertained by Year 8 Broughton boy John Tan, who plays the jazz saxophone.

The House Cup is an annual competition in which boys accumulate points for their house over the year. The competition incorporates a broad range of disciplines, including not only academic attainment but other activities and events as diverse as music, sports, merits, charitable work, quizzes, debating and chess.

“It is very rewarding to observe the enthusiasm boys have for their houses and the efforts they make to accumulate points. This year’s competition for the minor placing was particularly close, with Stapylton in fourth place only 3 points behind Underne and Leicester,” added Mr Bassett-Jones.