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While candidates in Barnet and other London boroughs today celebrate their election as councillors or lick their wounds after losing their seats, QE pupil Avi Aggarwal is savouring his own electoral victory.

Year 10’s Avi has been elected to Barnet’s Youth Assembly. It is understood he garnered some 1,800 votes from across the borough’s schools.

Avi will be serving as a Youth Ambassador, seeking to advance financial education in the curriculum in schools across Barnet and beyond.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I offer my congratulations to Avi and commend him for the initiative he has shown. We wish him every success in his role.

“Ever since Queen Elizabeth I granted our founding charter in 1573 for ‘the establishment of the Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth in Barnet’, we have maintained strong local roots at QE: it is therefore great to see pupils taking part in local democracy. It’s also very much in line with being ‘community-orientated’ – one of the six priorities of our Boundless School plan.”

Delivering financial education is a statutory obligation in UK secondary schools. In England, it covers topics such as budgeting, credit & debt, insurance, savings, and pensions. At QE, aspects of personal finance are taught in Maths lessons and, through the Personal Development Time Curriculum, in tutor groups.

Nationally, there is growing recognition across the education system of the need for more innovative and collaborative approaches to ensure pupils gain the financial literacy skills they need for the future.

In a curriculum review that is currently under way, the Government is placing a strong emphasis on strengthening financial literacy in schools as part of its overall aim of giving young people the skills for life and work. The new curriculum is due to be implemented for first teaching from September 2028.

Avi said: “Financial education is something people are always talking about, but which still has a long way to go to give all young people vital skills they need to succeed professionally and financially later in their lives.”

He secured one of two Youth Ambassador seats, fighting off a challenge from four other candidates. He plans to use his new position to lobby for change.

“To help out with the journey, for the last few months I have been campaigning to become Youth Ambassador so that I can create lasting change at both a grassroots level throughout my own borough’s schools and also throughout the rest of the UK through the upcoming 2028 curriculum refresh.”

He will now work to deliver on his campaign’s promises through his two-year term of office.

Barnet Youth Assembly is this year celebrating its tenth year of operation, having been originally established in 2015, before stopping and then re-starting in 2023.

Avi’s friend and fellow Year 10 pupil, Siddharth Kumar, also stood in the election, narrowly missing out on a seat. Siddharth’s manifesto policy was on Improving Transport in Barnet, looking at how roadwork repair could be more efficient, and introducing more cycling and walking pathways, as part of urban greening.

QE’s Chamber Choir teamed up with a pair of Old Elizabethan choral scholars to sing Evensong at Christ Church, the historic cathedral in Oxford.

It was the latest prestigious booking for the choir, who have in recent years sung in some of the country’s most iconic settings, including Westminster Abbey and King’s College, Cambridge.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This was a tremendous privilege and a great opportunity, and I am glad to say that the Chamber Choir rose to the occasion. They sang impressively, with poise and discipline, accompanied by our own Noah Morley, of Year 12, on the organ.”

Having sung its first-ever Evensong at Barnet parish church as recently as the autumn of 2022, the Chamber Choir has, in addition to Westminster Abbey and King’s College, since sung at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and Southwark Cathedral,

The Evensong marked a further deepening of QE’s ties with Christ Church, which enjoys the unique distinction of being both a college of the University of Oxford and the cathedral church of the city, the only dual foundation of its kind in the world. Earlier this year, 45 boys from Years 7 & 8 visited the college, which is the Borough of Barnet’s partner college at Oxford.

The choristers were joined by Old Elizabethans Arjun Patel and Nikhil Mark, both now choral scholars at Oxford, who not only sang alongside the boys, but also provided tours of Merton College and The Queen’s College. Arjun took up his place to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Merton in October 2024, having completed his A-levels that summer. Nikhil (OE 2018–2025) is reading Materials Science at The Queen’s College.

Dan Clark, Founding Principal of Queen Elizabeth’s School, Dubai Sports City, which is due to open this summer, joined the Headmaster in the congregation. Also there was Old Elizabethan Isher Jagdev (2017–2024).

Noah played throughout the service, except for the anthem. Seated at the cathedral’s Rieger organ, he also played the pre-service and post-service music: Eventide by Hubert Parry and Sun Dance by Bob Chilcott. Noah performed these pieces in his recent Grade 7 examination, for which he scored 141/150.

The service was redolent both of the traditions of Oxford and of Evensong in the Church of England.

In keeping with Christ Church’s observance of historic Oxford time, five minutes west of Greenwich, Evensong began at 6.05pm BST.

The boys sang the works of three English composers closely associated with English and Anglican choral music:

• The Tallis Responses, from Preces and Responses by Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis
• Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D minor by 19th-century organist and composer Thomas Attwood Walmisley
• I am Alpha and Omega by John Stainer, published in 1878.

The cathedral stands on the site of an ancient Saxon church, founded in the eighth century by Saint Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford. The present building was constructed in the 12th century as an Augustinian priory.

In 1524, just prior to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Cardinal Wolsey gained permission from the Pope to close down St Frideswide’s Priory to use the land to build a vast new college for the university. Following Wolsey’s fall, the college was duly opened in 1546 in the name of Henry VIII.

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “This visit exemplified the transformational experiences the Music department provides. We are very grateful to Arjun and Nikhil for singing with us and for inspiring potential future choral scholars to follow in their footsteps.”

Afterwards, some of the boys also reflected on the day. Sixth-former Leo Sellis, who has just been offered a choral scholarship at Jesus College, Cambridge, said: “I enjoyed how we were able to explore Oxford with the OE tour guides and then have a guided tour of Christ Church Cathedral before we did the service, meaning we could learn about the building (and the city) that we were singing in.” The choristers included another sixth-former with a choral scholarship offer: Adam Liang has been offered a place at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge.

Julius Collins, of Year 8, said: “The performance was outstanding and I am very grateful that I was able to take part in it, as I managed to develop my skills as a singer in an ensemble and demonstrate these in a formal setting with more resonant acoustics.” Year 9’s Krish Bhatia was impressed by the buildings:  “Some main highlights were visiting The Great Hall at Christ Church, which really fulfilled my inner ‘Hogwarts’ experience. I also thoroughly enjoyed the tour given by the OEs and learning different types of traditions and customs there, as well as seeing all the fascinating architecture. Overall, our visit to Oxford was nothing short of brilliant.” And Rishi Watsalya, of Year 12, added: “I really enjoyed the guided tour of Oxford with Nikhil, who also gave specific advice about the application process and his experience in Oxford as an OE. I also really appreciated the opportunity of, once again, singing in such a beautiful and historic cathedral.”

The Evensong was led by the Sub-Dean, Revd Canon Peter Moger. The Psalms for the service were numbers 126 and 127.

• Click on the thumbnails to view the images.

Year 10 linguists and historians teamed up to explore how Berlin emerged from a 20th-century history stained by Nazism and the Cold War to thrive as a modern capital.

Forty boys – 15 more than last year – headed to the German capital for the four-day trip, with German linguists this year joining GCSE History students.

The Deutschlandmuseum – an immersive museum of German history opened in 2023 – was added to the 2026 itinerary, together with a cruise down Berlin’s River Spree.

History and Politics teacher John Haswell said: “The entire landscape of Berlin is marked by its traumatic past. I hope visiting will have given the students a taste for further travel in Germany, but also helped them see how the ruptures of the 20th century continue to shape this dynamic city.

“Given our Year 10 historians have covered both Nazi Germany and the Cold War, there really isn’t a better place to visit.”

Day 1 began with a walking tour, which ended at the Reichstag – Germany’s historic legislative government building – where the group enjoyed stunning night views of the famous Brandenburg Gate landmark.

On the second day, it was time for a closer look at the Third Reich: the boys and their accompanying teachers visited: the Jewish Museum Berlin (the largest Jewish museum in Europe); Topography of Terror (a history museum on the site of the SS and Gestapo headquarters); and the German Resistance Memorial Centre.

Day 3 brought a whistle-stop tour of Cold War history. The party took in iconic sites such as the Berlin Wall, which from 1961 to 1989 divided East and West Berlin, also visiting the DDR Museum (covering the former East German republic).

On the final day, the group took a sunny walk along the East Side Gallery – the most famous section of the Berlin Wall, which is today one of the world’s longest outdoor art galleries.

Pupil Shuo Zhen Long said visiting different parts of the Berlin Wall had underlined for him its significance in the control that the East German government, supported by the USSR, had been able to exert over the city. He added that he enjoyed the guided tours “where we visited many historic and recently built buildings and learnt about the history of the areas surrounding them”.

Click on the thumbnails to view the images. 

The spirits of QE’s Combined Cadet Force remained high during their spring training camp, despite their getting ambushed and enduring freezing nights in a forest.

During the two-day exercise in Mereworth Woods in Kent, the cadets focused on learning and practising 1 Star Fieldcraft – training which includes looking after yourself and your equipment, being self-reliant in the field, and the basic skills of a rifleman.

Contingent Commander (and the PE & Games department’s Head of Aquatics) Richard Scally Said: “Alongside 1 Star Fieldcraft, they learned a range of important military skills, including camouflage and concealment, movement in the field, and working effectively as a team.

“The training helped cadets build confidence, discipline, and leadership abilities while also strengthening their understanding of how to operate in outdoor conditions.

“Although cold at night, the weather was mostly kind during the exercise, allowing activities to run smoothly throughout the day. Despite the cold, everyone showed great resilience and enthusiasm.”

Among those taking part was Year 10’s Niketh Putta, who recalled the highs and the lows of his time at the military training facility near Sevenoaks.

The first day involved walking through the forest carrying 15kg Bergen rucksacks. “We got ‘ambushed’ within the first hour, so we had to dive into the leaves and camouflage ourselves –we spent a full hour just waiting completely still, hidden in the bushes.”

After that, the cadets set up camp in triangle formation, built ‘bashas’ (simple army-specified shelters) and “tried to sleep in negative temperatures with insects crawling around us. It was a rough day,” said Niketh.

The night was not yet finished, either: there was still sentry duty to be faced. This, Niketh said, involved “waking up at 2am to keep watch in complete silence in the pitch black. It had us rethinking our life’s decisions!”

To stay connected, one of the boys would make a ‘cacaw’ sound into the darkness. If a reply came, the cadets would meet up secretly.

Afterwards, Niketh reflected on the whole camp: “It was one of those experiences you just don’t forget. Both days were spent shooting blank rounds at enemies through trees, crawling through mud, eating rations and doing things on paper that sound absolutely miserable. And yet we were still laughing the whole way through.

“Nobody tells you this, but it’s never really about the experience. It’s about who you’re in it with. The cold felt less cold. The long nights felt shorter. The hard moments turned into jokes before they even finished happening. Surround yourself with people who make the hard stuff worth it. That’s everything you’ll ever need.”

After pupils and staff put their back into weeks of work at the new QE allotment, the School has been given the RHS School Gardening Award Level 1.

The QE plot at the Byng Road community allotments is already planted up with potatoes, strawberries and asparagus.

The School chose today to announce its receipt of the award because it is internationally recognised as Earth Day – a day dedicated to raising environmental awareness and encouraging sustainability.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Our new School plan, Boundless, has as one of its six priorities that we will help our pupils become ‘sustainability-literate’: what better example of that could there be than this gardening project?

“It is good to see that our allotment has so quickly become a vibrant hub of learning, teamwork, and environmental action.”

Among those enthusiastically backing the project is Year 13’s Shailen Patel, who has contributed the grant he won as part of a Jack Petchey Foundation Environmental Award.

Others, both inside and outside the School, have variously donated time, tools, materials and encouragement.

The work has involved much preparation of the ground. Those involved enjoyed some early encouragement with the emergence of asparagus spears; the asparagus had apparently been planted by a previous user of the allotment.

The RHS  level 1 award recognises: that those involved understand the benefits of gardening; that the growing space is accessible for those with disabilities; and that the gardening work has actually started. Recipients are sent a copy of Your Wellbeing Garden, an RHS book, and a packet of seeds.

Earth Day, which this year has the theme of Our Power, Our Planet, is concentrating on collective, citizen-led actions to drive environmental change.

Earth Day marks the climax of Earth Month, which is celebrated every April.