Boys took on their teachers in a fiercely fought quiz to raise money for a charity supporting children in Sri Lanka.
In the final of the competition, which was modelled on ITV’s The Chase, the winning teams from the Year 7, 8 and 9 heats each competed against a teacher ‘chaser’ as they tried to make it through to the last round.
After some determined quizzing, the teams from Year 8 and Year 9 needed a tie-break to separate them. The representative of Year 8 was fastest on the buzzer with the correct answer, so Year 8 duly progressed to face off against Mathematics teacher Geoff Roberts and Economics teacher Sheerwan O’Shea-Nejad in the final chase, where the boys’ strong general knowledge and speedy teamwork saw them emerge as the winners.
Headmaster Neil Enright, who came to the final, said: “This event was great fun and was for a very good cause. My thanks go to our Sixth Form charity team for organising it and to all the members of staff involved, including the ‘chasers’ who cheerfully put their credibility on the line for charity!
“At QE, we have a long tradition of supporting both local and international charities. I am pleased to see that our current prefects recognise the importance of seeking to change the world for the better and that they are carving out time in our busy School life for such work, and are doing so with enthusiasm and commitment.”
The lunchtime final in the Main School Hall followed preliminary rounds held during lunchtime breaks over the previous week.
Year 12’s Shriram Mahesh, the charity team Vice Captain said: “This event was an overwhelming success, not only in raising more than the targeted £200 (the amount raised eventually tallied up to £214.50 across all the rounds), but also in bringing together many members of the School community, including Lower School students, Sixth Form students and members of staff.”
Planning for the quiz took just over half a term and was a team effort, with members of the charity team variously writing quiz questions, organising rehearsals, arranging publicity and promoting the quiz by calling in on Year 7, 8 and 9 form rooms during morning and afternoon registration periods.
Shriram paid tribute to the role of charity team captain, Lourdes Kumar, of Year 12, and of Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter and Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Katrin Hood in liaising with the recipient charity, Teach Sri Lanka. Ms Hood was also the host and quizmaster.
The ‘chasers’ included Languages teacher Gillian Ross, Biology teacher Hinesh Shah (OE 1996–2003) and Physics teacher Isaac Frost.
“It was extremely pleasing to see so many people turn up to watch the event, including many teachers from a variety of academic departments,” said Shriram, adding that the appearances by Mr O’Shea-Nejad and Mr Roberts in the final had been “very well received by the younger students”.
Founded in 2012, according to its website, Teach Sri Lanka aims to help “educational organisations in equipping and enabling children unlock the transformative potential of education in a sustainable manner”.