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The 2018 Careers Convention set new records, with more than 50 volunteers visiting QE to help Year 11 boys plan their futures.

Several visiting experts gave structured presentations, while on the main conference floor, boys and their parents seized the opportunity to ask questions of volunteers.

Many of these volunteers were Old Elizabethans, including a good number of young professionals who have left the School in the past decade.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We want our boys to be as aware as possible of the many different possibilities that are out there for them, and I am pleased to say that this convention did exactly that, showcasing a very broad range of opportunities. There was a real buzz out on the convention floor. It is always incredibly useful for the boys to be able to seek advice from those who have been at the School and who have had the experience of establishing themselves in their chosen fields.”

Among the advisers and volunteers were representatives of all the major professions, including law, banking & finance, medicine, dentistry, architecture, science and engineering.

Delegates were also able to hear from several alumni who have taken a more unusual career path, such as:

• Sergio Ronchetti (OE 2004-2011), who gave a presentation on Sound Design in Video Games
  Kane Evans (OE 2003-2010), who, after working for Manchester United, now works as a business analyst for Formula 1
• Phil Peters (OE 1997-2004) who leads e-commerce operation Zing Zing, vying to be ‘the best Chinese takeout in the world’
• Civil Service Economist Andrei Sandu (OE 2007-2014) who found himself advising a Government Minister at a European summit just months after beginning his career upon graduating
• Ashish Patel (OE 1997-2004), a medical doctor who is now Head of Research at a venture capital firm. He gave a presentation on Medicine, AI and Venture Capital.

The volunteer helpers were invited to a reception and networking opportunity in Café 1573 before the convention itself got under way.

Home teams and visiting players alike overcame the challenge of muddy pitches at the 42nd annual Queen Elizabeth’s School Rugby Sevens to deliver a high standard of play.

With 128 teams booked for the event from 45 schools nationwide, the 2018 tournament was, as usual, a landmark event in QE’s sporting calendar.

Old Elizabethans in attendance included former School Captain Aaron Sonenfeld (2000–2007), a leading First XV player of his era. Aaron, who spent some time talking to the Headmaster, read Political Science and Government at Cambridge and is now an Engagement Manager for international management consultancy firm, Oliver Wyman.

Sevens organiser James Clarke (OE 1999–2004), a PE & Games teacher at QE, said: “There was a very high level of rugby. Conditions were tricky, with muddy pitches, but the rain largely held off throughout most of the day.” He was assisted by a team including two former Heads of Games, who returned to QE to lend their support. Mark Peplow was at the School from 2002–2016, while David Maughan, Head of Games from 1974–2003, was instrumental in founding the tournament in 1976.

Richard Scally, also of the PE & Games department said: “Our U16s had an exciting opening match against Gunnersbury from Brentford, although a second-half resurgence was not quite enough to overturn the deficit from the first half. They then had to play the eventual winners, Tonbridge, before putting in a controlled display to beat The King’s School, Gloucester, 12-0, with a brace of tries from Year 10’s Jeff Hagan. “They displayed commendable intensity, particularly in that final game, which will set them up well for joining the senior XV next season.”

QE’s U14s began with defeat to Wimbledon College and were awarded a 25-0 walk-over win against absent Colfe’s School [from south-east London], before drawing 12-12 with Gunnersbury.

The U16 Cup was won by Tonbridge School, who triumphed 19-14 over Whitgift School, of South Croydon, in the final. In the U14 competition, it was Whitgift who won, beating Berkhamsted 25-22. Berkhamsted recorded a convincing 47-0 victory against Langley School, of Norwich, to take the U16 Plate, while Trinity School, Croydon, beat The Judd School, from Kent, to win the U14 Plate.

• In the next age category down, QE’s U13s headed to Berkhamsted School for its Sevens tournament on the same day. PE & Games teacher Luke Jacobs said: “They performed very well, playing six matches, winning five and losing only one, to a strong side from The Perse School, Cambridge. They beat tough schools along the way, such as Barry School from Wales, Campion from Essex and notably Whitgift, a very prestigious rugby school whose older boys were doing so well at our own Sevens.” Notable performances came from Year 8 boys Oke Onyebuchukwu and Vinesh Sritharan who were “outstanding throughout the day”, Mr Jacobs said.

The 53rd annual Elizabethan Union Dinner Debate not only proved enjoyable for alumni and current sixth-formers alike, but the ongoing furore over Facebook and Cambridge Analytica made it highly topical, too, writes the Headmaster.

As usual, although it was a formal occasion, the dinner came with a healthy serving of fun and good-natured banter.

An invitation

After such an excellent evening, I would now like to invite all our old boys to the next major event in our calendar, Founder’s Day, which takes place on Saturday 16th June 2018.

Founder’s Day represents a great opportunity for OEs to catch up with old friends in a relaxed atmosphere. Moreover, the Founder’s Day Fête really brings the whole QE community together to celebrate and support the School – and Old Elizabethans are a key part of that.

The afternoon begins with a buffet lunch open to all Old Elizabethans at approximately 1pm, immediately after our traditional reading of the School Chronicle. Re-launched a few years ago, our Founder’s Day Past XI v Present XI match (the Stanley Busby Memorial Cricket Match) on the Third Field now draws many cricket fans from among our alumni. And of course there is something for everyone among the attractions at the Fete on Stapylton Field. It will be possible to seat a small number of Old Elizabethans at the Founder’s Day service, which begins in St John the Baptist Parish Church at 11am.

If any old boys would like to make contact with particular members of staff, present or past, at Founder’s Day, do please email my office and we will do our best to make it happen. In fact, as we plan our welcome, it would be helpful if any former pupils who expect to be at Founder’s Day could let me know by email in advance, especially if you would like to attend the service or lunch.

Dinner debate report

Old Elizabethans Jonathan Hollingsworth and Pravin Swamy (both 2006–2013) secured a decisive victory opposing the motion: This House believes that in the digital age we should not expect our online activities to remain private.

Pupils Akshat Sharma and Tej Mehta put forward the motion for the debate, which is attended by all Year 12 boys and which this year was held on the day of the 445th anniversary of the founding of the School. In reply, Jonathan opened, with support from Pravin. Jonathan and Akshat did the summing up.

Captain of the School Aashish Khimasia proposed the customary toasts to Her Majesty, the Queen, The Pious Memory of Queen Elizabeth 1, and to the visitors. Ross Lima (OE 1995-2002) proposed the toast to The Elizabethan Union.

Ross read Law at Sheffield and now works for Shell as Lead Legal Counsel for the sale of catalysts across large areas of the globe. In his speech, he reminisced about his first day at QE and meeting friends Laurence Burrows and Panicos Peter Petrou, both of whom attended the dinner debate as his guests, along with Ross’s wife, Sarah. He remembered how the then-Headmaster, Eamonn Harris, told them to look around at the prefects: “He told us we were wearing the same blazers, but we hadn’t earned ours yet.” Looking at his Dinner Debate audience, Ross said: “You are now in the same position as those very boys that I looked up to on that day, and through your achievements at this School you have earned the right to wear that blazer.”

Ross recalled some of his own past challenges, including overcoming his fear of heights to complete the descent of a South American mountain in treacherous wet conditions, where a false move would have sent him over the edge of a 3,000ft drop.

“I know my friends from QE have also faced, overcome and learnt [from] difficult challenges as well,” he said. “Laurence cycled 450 miles in three days across a mountain range with a 40,000ft climb; Panicos has set up a successful business in Africa despite having only been there a few times before. The toughest challenge, however, all three of us have faced is being Arsenal fans for 20 years!”

He spoke of the challenges the boys at the debate had already faced in their School careers and encouraged them to continue to seek out new ones, and to learn to overcome their fears.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The debate itself was a typically lively and good-humoured affair.

The whole event serves to help prepare boys for handling similar such formal, but social, occasions as they progress through university, their careers and life more broadly.”

The indicative vote at the outset indicated that the floor was leaning against the motion, and although the motion was indeed later defeated, the intervening debate was by no means completely one-sided.

It began with Akshat putting forward the proposal. He and seconder Tej set out their case that it was, in fact, a reality that our online activities are not private – using state surveillance, as an example. They also argued the importance of being aware of how others use the data they hold, via social media or online gaming. They put forward the view that if people agree to the terms of surveys and ‘apps’ they use, then companies like Cambridge Analytica had, in law, not necessarily done anything wrong.

They also expounded the case for the positives of monitoring online activities, for the purposes of detecting and preventing crime and acts of terror.

The opposition countered these arguments, claiming the price of giving up our online privacy would be to give up part of our humanity, including our freedom of speech. Facebook came in for criticism, and the alumni said that even Mark Zuckerberg has now opined that such companies need regulating. They argued that people would not expect more traditional forms of communication – the Royal Mail or faxes, for example – to be open to others to view, so why should the internet be any different?

They also questioned whether the good citizens represented on the floor should be subjected to privacy breaches by the state in the name of security, advocating a higher threshold. They proposed a series of policy interventions to ensure better data protection online.

The floor debate saw enthusiastic contributions from OE guests and Year 12 speakers alike. These ranged from the question of how to monitor and deal with the terrorist threat, through to the different expectations there should be for users in terms of the sharing of social media posts and messages between, on the one hand celebrities (and those who court social media attention) and, on the other, ordinary users. Boys also raised the already-strict financial and criminal penalties that exist for those who breach data laws.

Neil Enright