Viewing archives for Uncategorized

Founder’s Day, the highlight of the Queen Elizabeth’s School calendar, proved a great success this year, with a programme that combined cherished tradition with a number of innovations.

After the downpours of 2013 and, indeed, several recent years, Founder’s Day 2014 was bathed in glorious sunshine throughout, ensuring a festive atmosphere among the many hundreds of visitors.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was a splendid day from start to finish; from the morning’s service at the Parish Church and the Reading of the Chronicle at lunchtime, through to the fete and cricket match in the afternoon, Founder’s Day was a fitting climax to our School year. I would like to thank the scores of people whose estimable efforts contributed towards making the day a success, whether staff, parents, pupils or other supporters of the School.”

Old Elizabethan Kiran Patel (OE 2000-2007) was Guest of Honour at the Thanksgiving Service. In his address, he drew parallels between his current life as a junior doctor at Barnet Hospital and memories of his School days. Even in the Lower School he had held the ambition of attending medical school. He spoke of the importance of the rapport he developed with his teachers and of how, as a young boy, “casual conservations with prefects…offered me a unique and unrivalled insight to the groundwork and preparation needed prior to reaching these important milestones”.

“Our School is blessed to have teachers who deliver a bespoke education tailored to each individual’s needs, and who are passionate, caring, and wholeheartedly dedicated to their pupils’ success. I would encourage every pupil to use this resource to its fullest potential,” he told the congregation in St John the Baptist Church.

The VIP party included: QE Chairman of Governors, Barrie Martin, and his wife, Perin; Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Hugh Rayner, and his wife, the Mayoress Susan Rayner; Martin Russell, Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London and Representative Deputy Lieutenant for Barnet; and Hans-Wilhelm Lümkemann, Headmaster of Friedrich-von-Bodelschwingh-Gymnasium (a German grammar school with which QE undertakes language exchanges) and his wife, Frau Gabriele Lümkemann.

“I was particularly pleased to welcome Herr and Frau Lümkemann, who seemed greatly to enjoy the day’s festivities and, indeed, their whole weekend in London,” said the Headmaster.

After the service, guests repaired to the area around the steps of the QE Main Building for the Roll Call and Reading of the Chronicle. This tradition, established by Headmaster Ernest Jenkins in 1930, involves the Headmaster reading aloud a formal history of the School, which is updated annually. This year’s Chronicle recorded the awards of MBEs to Mr Martin, the Chairman of Governors, and to the Head of Mathematics, Fauziah (Gee) Scarisbrick.

With the formal proceedings concluded, guests enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on Stapylton Field, at the Founder’s Day Fete organised by the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s.

Visitors strolled happily in the sunshine among more than 50 stalls, enjoying refreshments ranging from jugs of Pimms to a vegetarian barbecue and the delicious and varied delights of the ever-popular international food area. Many of the attractions were those of a traditional summer fete, such as hoopla, a plant stall and a coconut shy, but there were also faster-paced activities, including ‘laser mayhem’, a bungee run and Scalextric in the Main Building.

The Fete programme included some new entertainments this year, including an excerpt from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed by teachers, and Irish dancing in the Performance Arena. “The Shakespeare actors brought great amusement to the proceedings, helped by some rather extravagant costumes,” said Mr Enright. The Irish dancing was organised by the Murchu Duiginn School of Irish Dancing, owned and run by a QE family. The School Concert Band also performed during the afternoon.

The hot weather not only emboldened a number of teachers to take their turn in the stocks and suffer a soaking, but also enabled the Stanley Busby Memorial Cricket Match to be played on the Third Field, where there was a beer tent for the Old Elizabethans and Indian food was served. In this long-awaited ‘past vs present’ match, the School First XI beat the OE XI.

QE pupils have achieved both individual and team success in a trio of national chemistry competitions. 

In the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2014 Olympiad, three Sixth-Formers were awarded gold medals, while a further four received silver. The competition is described by the RSC as an event that will ‘stretch and challenge your brightest students’.

Madhi Elango achieved one of the highest scores in the first round and progressed to the second round held in Cambridge, but just fell short of selection for the UK team for the International Olympiad. The other gold medallists were James Dborin and Aniruddh Raghu. Neil Lenus, Jack Page, Constantinos Savva and Ankeet Tanna all achieved silver. All the medallists are in Year 13.

“The boys have done very well and deserve congratulations,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “We are very pleased to be able to make these valuable opportunities available to our boys, whom the staff then coach to a high standard.”

In the RSC’s Top of the Bench competition, QE narrowly missed out on victory in the local round, scoring 83 points, just two behind winners Highgate, who scored 85. The QE team, which comprised Daniil Slavin, of Year 11, Bushry Basheer, of Year 10, and Milan Hirji and Yousuf Khalid-Aziz, both from Year 9, were placed second.

And in the RSC’s Year 10 Challenge, Bushry Basheer, Tochi Onuora, Nitharsan Sathiyalingam and Maaz Shahzad (pictured) competed as QE Moles. They achieved third place in the Chilterns & Middlesex regional round.

QE’s Combined Cadet Force proudly played their part in celebrating national Armed Forces Day.

Led by Lieutenant Howe (Kieron Howe, the School’s Director of Music), the CCF cadets marched in the Borough of Barnet’s parade together with Sea and Air cadets, with adult soldiers and reservists, and with military veterans from a number of conflicts. The Air Cadets provided the band.

After assembling at St Joseph’s School, the parade marched to Hendon Town Hall, where the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Hugh Rayner, took the salute. The Mayor, who raised an Armed Forces Day flag above the Town Hall, praised the “fine contingent”, which he said was one of the largest among the London boroughs.

The VIP party also included Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Martin Russell, Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London and Representative Deputy Lieutenant for Barnet.

Prayers were said and the National Anthem sung before the troops marched off. Afterwards, the parade participants were invited for refreshments at the Town Hall.

First observed in 2006, when it was called Veterans’ Day, Armed Forces Day aims to raise public awareness of the contribution made to the country by the Armed Forces. It also gives the nation an opportunity to show support for those in the Services. The national event this year took place in Stirling.

The Year 8 cricket team have been crowned U13 county champions. The team, led by captain Ameer Khan, beat Twyford C of E High School in the final of the Schools’ Cricket Association of Middlesex U13 Junior Cup.

In a closely fought game, Essam Rama was named Man of the Match for his contribution of 34 runs and three wickets. Rohan Shah and Ayush Sha took catches at crucial stages to keep QE in the game, before Twyford lost their last wicket in the final over, still needing 12 runs.

“I am very pleased for the boys and congratulate them on their success,” said Headmaster, Neil Enright. “This achievement crowns an unbeaten season for the boys, who have exemplified the qualities of individual effort and teamwork.”

The Year 8 XI reached the final at Old Actonians Cricket Club in Ealing having successfully overcome opposition from Christ’s College in the semi-final.

Their successful season included victories over The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School; Berkhamsted School; Watford Grammar School and Enfield Grammar School. Niam Patel and Essam Rama led the batting figures and followed that up with five-wicket hauls on separate occasions.

“I am incredibly proud of the boys,” said PE teacher Nicholas Bird (pictured right, with the team). “They have all played their part this season, with many of them making significant contributions to matches, justifying their place in the team. I look forward to them continuing their cricket journey next year.”

The team will go forward in Year 9 to represent the county against the winners of the London Schools Trophy in the prestigious Gubby Allen Cricket Challenge Cup next summer.

This year’s guest speaker at QE’s Junior Awards Ceremony advised boys to trust in their teachers, believe in themselves and try to be the best they could. Former School Captain Matteo Yoon (2003-2010) is currently at the BPP Law School taking the Accelerated Legal Practice Course, following his graduation from Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he read Law.

In his address as Guest of Honour, he recalled attending Junior Awards as a Year 7 student, almost 10 years ago to the day, and his pride at winning a prize. “It gave me the confidence to know that I was doing at least some things right, to be myself, to keep working hard, and to put my all into everything I did, be it sport, music, or classwork.

During the ceremony in the School Hall, more than 100 prizes were awarded to boys from Year 7 to Year 9. These cover not only academic subjects, but also house awards, prizes for commitment and a number of endowed prizes and special awards. The audience comprised the Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Hugh Rayner, QE Chairman of Governors Barrie Martin and his wife, Perin, as well as staff, Governors, parents, Old Elizabethans and the junior award-winners.

The awards themselves should be seen as conveying a message, Matteo said: “These awards are your teachers telling you that you have the same potential as your predecessors; predecessors who are starting careers in the most exciting areas of industry; predecessors who are inspiring change.”

Matteo, who achieved two A*s and two A grades at A-Level, reflected on the support he had received from staff: “Trust in your teachers, because they know how to get the best out of you even when you feel at odds with a subject. Be it through lunchtime workshops, or quick chats after class, I owe a great deal to those sat in front of me today for helping me achieve examination results I could be proud of. If you put the same trust in them as I did, I know that you will do the same.”

He exhorted the boys to recognise the special position they find themselves in at QE, not just compared to schools around the country, but compared with young men of their age around the world. He recommended that they grasp every opportunity presented to them, whether it be sporting, musical or intellectual, and know that in doing so, their future paths would be assured.

Matteo was captain of his college’s Second XI football team and also played rugby for Pembroke. He played for the Cambridge University Colleges rugby XV and also represented the University at water polo. He won the Crowden Award, given for making a distinguished contribution to college life, and was twice awarded the Pembroke College Book Grant for Good Academic Performance; Matteo was also twice nominated for Pembroke College Sportsperson of the Year.

At QE, he was a member of a number of musical ensembles, and was a finalist in the English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition. He also won a number of School Bursary Awards for outstanding commitment.

After the ceremony, the award-winners and their families mingled with the Headmaster and teachers over refreshments.

An Old Elizabethan taking part in the 2014 Mongol Rally brought his vehicle into School to show the boys. Prasana Uthayakumar (2003-2010) is part of a team of four planning to drive 11,000 miles from London to Ulan Bator in Mongolia in a 13-year-old Skoda to raise money for charity.

“Prasana brought the car in to Red Square during lunchtime, partly to inspire the boys and partly to promote the team’s chosen charities – WaterAid and Cool Earth,” said Extra-Curricular Enrichment Tutor, Martin Bassett Jones. “The event provoked a great deal of interest amongst the boys, who were fired with enthusiasm by the nature of the challenge, which has been described as the greatest adventure in the world by its organisers.”

The Rally is run by The Adventurists, a group organising various arduous activities around the world, and is billed as a challenge rather than a race. No support teams are permitted and there is no recognition for those who finish first. The route traverses as many as 24 countries across rugged terrain. The rally has been running since 2004; each year a number of vehicles have failed to complete the journey.

But Prasana, who has just graduated with a MEng (Mechanical Engineering) Master’s degree from Southampton University, is confident of a successful outcome: “I’m the only engineer on the team. My team-mates are all Physics graduates, so I’m the one who's meant to know all about cars if, or should I say when, we break down! There’s a lot resting on my shoulders, but I’m confident that my engineering abilities coupled with the personal skills I learnt at QE will stand me in good stead.”

Boys were invited to ask questions about the challenge, the route, the charities and the Skoda Fabia Estate. They were able to have their picture taken with the car in return for a £2 donation to the chosen charities.