Local children rise to the QE challenge

Children from local primary schools enjoyed the opportunity to find out what life is like as a QE pupil in a new initiative featuring competition in English and Mathematics.

Year 5 pupils from eight Barnet primary schools were invited to take part in QE’s new Primary Challenge Day. Teams from the schools spent a morning pitted against each other, each aided by a Year 7 QE boy, who was on hand to provide any assistance required and chat to the children during the refreshments.

While all the visitors received a certificate for taking part, there were additional certificates for the winners of each round and for the overall winning team, Whitings Hill Primary School, who were assisted by Year 7 boy Guy Flint. Second Master Colin Price presented the certificate to the Whitings Hill children.

Mr Price said: “Although Queen Elizabeth’s School draws pupils from a wide area, we are always very keen to receive applications from boys in local schools. The Primary Challenge Day constituted an ideal opportunity to open our doors to boys and girls from the local area and give them a taste of what it would be like to be a pupil here, while also reminding them that places are, of course, only available to those who apply.

“We hope they all enjoyed the day and now look forward to receiving applications in the autumn from some of the boys’ families for admission in September 2016.”

The event was the brainchild of Assistant Head of Mathematics Wendy Fung, who also organised it. A number of English and Mathematics teachers at QE were involved.  “In addition to the opportunity it gave us to build relationships with local primary schools, the Primary Challenge Day enabled us to build a sense of responsibility among our Year 7 boys by giving them a guiding role,” she said.

There were four rounds:

• Poetry games, during which children were given props and asked to write a limerick and recite it
• Number Puzzles, including finding solutions to a cross-number (similar to a crossword)
• Spelling bee
• Logic round.

The participating primary schools were: Christ Church, Foulds, Livingstone, Monken Hadley, Trent, St Mary's C of E, Underhill and Whitings Hill. Foulds entered two teams, making a total field of nine.