Viewing archives for Alumni Newsletter

The annual staging of a School Play in recent years marks not the beginning of Drama as a major facet of life at QE, but its renaissance. Work recently undertaken on the archives has brought to the fore photos and documentation from large-scale productions throughout the 1950s.

These plays included Shakespeare (Henry IV, Part I, 1953; Julius Caesar, 1959) and perennial favourites, such as George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion (1951), as well as The Would-be Gentleman (1952, adapted from Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme) and the now little-performed comedy by James Bridie, Mr Bolfry (1954).

The performances were reported in the Elizabethan magazine of the day and attracted proper, critical reviews from the Barnet Press – and even, on occasion, in the national papers. In 1958, an unnamed critic for the Times Educational Supplement reviewed Nightmare Abbey, Thomas Love Peacock’s 1818 gothic satire: “Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, is blessed with a healthy and ambitious dramatic tradition, and cursed with a constricting stage.” The reviewer went on to praise the cast for “playing their extraordinary characters as if they believed in them, never allowing them to degenerate into burlesque”, while offering a couple of suggestions to the producer.

For most, if not all, of these plays, that post was filled by English teacher Jack Covington. A glance through the programmes reveals some other familiar names, too, including Captain Absolute in the 1950 production of Sheridan’s The Rivals played by one K R Cooper – current Governor Ken Cooper.

After training as a solicitor with Allen & Overy, one of the ‘magic circle’ of top London law firms, Samir Manek is now pursuing his interest in the regulation of markets in his powerful role with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

“I supervise a global investment bank to ensure adherence with the letter and spirit of the rules and assist with investigations into, and prosecution of, white-collar crime at investment banks,” says Samir (OE 2001–2008).

“Understanding the reasons for the 2008 financial crisis and the regulatory response to it has been the thread that has run through my academic and professional career. Working at the FCA gives me a unique insight into this area, with the opportunity to shape the regulatory landscape.”

Samir, who attended the most recent Old Elizabethans Association dinner in the autumn, remembers his years at the School with gratitude. “QE instilled a strong sense of discipline and drive in me. I have the School’s ethos and all my teachers to thank for this – in particular, Ms Maule [now Assistant Head of English, Victoria Maule] for her enthusiasm and encouragement.

“I graduated with a first-class degree in Law from the University of Warwick, my brother and I being the first generation of my family to go to university.”

During his course, Samir became President of the Warwick European Law Society and was involved in the university debating team. He also spent a year abroad at Utrecht University.

After gaining his Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Samir joined Allen & Overy. He took up his post with the FCA in April 2017.

Santino Boffa has followed a varied career path on his way to becoming the top global recruiter for a fast-expanding technology company.

After reading Law at Sheffield, Santino (OE 1996–2003) first became a professional football coach and then took a number of different posts in recruitment. A secondment in 2014 saw him helping to launch a global banking programme – Santander’s My Rewards – to over 3 million account holders.

Then in March 2016, he began working for Qubit, a Software as a Service (SaaS) start-up company specialising in personalisation, where he is now Global Talent Acquisition Manager. Qubit, which has received more than $76m in venture capital funding, helps more than 300 of the world’s top consumer brands to understand and influence how people interact with them across multiple digital channels, including web, mobile and email. Customers include John Lewis, TOPSHOP and Hilton Hotels.

His London-based job involves recruiting engineers globally, with a specific focus on software engineers and product managers. He is also responsible for shaping and executing global recruitment strategies and building world-class teams.

In July 2017, Santino visited the School to help out as part of a careers event. "It was great being back at QE. The School Hall seems a lot smaller these days - and I was really impressed with the new facilities," he said.

"My memories of the School include early-morning games lessons in the old swimming pool in the middle of winter, with the roof leaking. The students today don't know how good they have it!"

He said: "I like to spend my time outside work travelling to new countries and watching my beloved Arsenal home and away."

In July 2016, Santino married Carmela Vitale, who works in advertising.

Yusuf Sherwani is combining his love of technology with his expertise as a medical doctor to help people give up smoking.

Yusuf (OE 2003–2010) has produced Quit Genius, an app which aims to make therapy for people trying to stop smoking more cost-effective and scalable.

"Quit Genius became a passion during medical school after I saw how difficult it was for clinicians to prescribe effective behavioural therapy that could help people change their habits to help prevent disease,” he said. In an interview with the American technology magazine, Wired, he explained that the problem with the face-to-face support often used to help patients stop smoking is that it is simply not financially sustainable. "We're replacing the patient/therapist relationship with the patient and an app."

Quit Genius is among a number of start-ups seeking to demonstrate that "supportive… treatment can be as effective as reaching for your phone”, the article explained.

The app was developed by Yusuf's company, Digital Therapeutics, of which he is CEO, and backed by a partnership, Velocity Health, set up by two large players in the fields of technology and healthcare, namely Wayra UK (which is, in turn, part of Telefónica) and Merck Sharp & Dohme UK (MSD). Velocity Health is an ‘accelerator’ for innovative healthcare solutions. In addition to the backing from Velocity Health, Quit Genius attracted support from angel investors.

Imran Hamid, chief commercial discovery for MSD, told Wired: "We're witnessing the birth of digital therapeutics as a class of medicine in its own right."

In 2017, Yusuf graduated as a doctor from Imperial College School of Medicine, but opted to pause his clinical training to focus on Quit Genius.

"I probably discovered my entrepreneurial streak during my time at QE," he recalls. I started my first online start-up whilst in Year 9, creating a network of online bulletin boards which quickly amassed millions of monthly visitors, before selling the business in Year 11."

In the Sixth Form, Yusuf asked to study Computing, which the School had not previously offered as an A-level. "I'll always admire the fact that QE agreed to create a class for just three of us who wanted to study the subject!

"During that time, I also founded a consumer electronics e-commerce platform which relied on importing high-end audio equipment from China with a friend and contemporary at QE, Zainul Dhalla, which I carried on working on during my gap year.

"The project was actually very successful for a number of years, helping us pay our way through university. However, eventually, we found it too gruelling an experience to juggle Medicine and Law respectively with a growing business and took the joint decision to wind it down. Several other start-ups have subsequently copied the same model and have been successfully operating for a number of years."

Reflecting on his life so far, Yusuf adds this: "I'll simply say that there's light at the end of the tunnel for those who don't make prefect!"

Sixth-former Eddy Burchett gained a global perspective on work experience with a charity striving to alleviate international poverty at grassroots level.

The Jewish charity, Tzedek, gave Eddy and three fellow students a challenge: they had to select a good cause and then create and deliver a fundraising campaign, bringing in as much money as possible.

“By the end of the week, we had raised over £380 for a programme in Ghana which aims to improve education and reduce class sizes, ensuring children are receiving the best possible education.”

This, he explained, was in line with Tzedek’s philosophy of providing facilities for self-betterment, rather than simply handing over large sums of money. The charity runs a number of projects in Africa and India.

“Our fundraising activity involved visiting as many educational sights throughout central London as we could within a space of two-and-a-half hours. We shortlisted 15 locations, and were dropped in a random location, so we could not plan the route in advance.”

With the boys pitted against a girls’ team, the challenge took on a highly competitive character.  “In the end, the boys visited 11 out of the 15 locations, running 11km, whereas the girls only visited six.” 

Afterwards, Eddy found time to reflect on what he had learned through the whole experience: “The main lesson was to not take for granted the education we receive in developed countries: although I had not been to some of the locations I visited, such as the Natural History Museum, for years, they were all available to me, whilst in Ghana students struggle to have any sort of education.

“I would strongly advise work experience for a charity; it shows that you are willing to do good for the community, rather than simply looking for ways to make money,” Eddy concluded.

This month’s OE Association Dinner was a great success, writes Headmaster Neil Enright. No fewer than 91 old boys and staff past and present – an increase on previous years – turned out for an evening which delivered both an excellent meal and some terrific speeches. The address from our guest of honour, Robert “Judge” Rinder (1989–1994), was characteristically entertaining but also rather profound.

Rob reflected at The Old Elizabethans Association’s dinner on what he has taken from the School, while thanking QE for the “gift” it had bequeathed to him. He especially thanked his Headmaster Eamonn Harris, who was in attendance, together with my immediate predecessor, John Marincowitz.

He praised QE’s burgeoning alumni network, urging that it should be nurtured and utilised: all old boys should get involved to help pay back the “debt” that each owed to the School, he said. QE had, after all, provided them with a “public school education” for free!

Some recalled that when Rob appeared on BBC TV’s Room 101, the pet hate he had consigned to the basement torture chamber as the worst thing in the world was “school reunions”.  I trust that his experience at the dinner – his first-ever reunion event at our School – went some way to changing his mind about this.

It was excellent to see so many of our ten-year leavers (those who started their final year in 2007) back for the occasion. They helped make it a truly memorable evening.

Formed in 1886 as an informal dining club, the association took on its present form in the 1920s. Its current President is Ken Cooper (OE 1942-50).

In my speech, I took considerable pleasure in highlighting the fact that the academic year thus far has been notable for the large number of alumni reconnecting with the School, many coming to visit us for the first time since leaving. They have offered support to the boys by volunteering advice, interview practice, work experience placements or sponsorship. This upsurge has, in part, been a result of our first foray into social media: if any old boys have not yet connected with me on LinkedIn, please feel free to do so.

It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and engagement of our old boys; it is something we hope will only continue to grow as we pursue our aim of building a strong and active network of alumni, focused on supporting each other and, crucially, the boys currently at the School.

Many Old Elizabethans were, in fact, instrumental in ensuring that the School’s 2017 Careers Convention – held the night before the dinner – was our best ever.  This major event in the QE calendar is for Year 11 boys and their parents; it seeks to provide expert help and guidance in choosing and planning career paths.

The evening had begun with an opportunity for the OEs and other guests to meet each other for wine and canapés in the School’s Café 1573 prior to the arrival of the boys and their parents.

More than two-thirds of the 50 or so guests who so generously gave up their time to converse and answer questions were OEs. The range of careers represented included the Law, medicine, the creative arts, engineering, banking & finance and the public sector. I thank all those old boys who were involved.