As I approach the end of my first term as Headmaster of Queen Elizabeth’s School, I am acutely aware that I have inherited the mantle of an outstanding predecessor whose great leadership and energy have hugely enhanced and enriched the School, and who has thereby ensured that our mission to produce young men who are “confident, able and responsible” continues to be fulfilled.
This summer’s exceptional public examination results marked a fitting postscript to Dr Marincowitz’s headmastership. For any school to attain its best-ever results at both GCSE and A-level in the same summer is an achievement; for a school such as QE to do so, when it already has a record of several years of consistent high academic success, is remarkable indeed. At GCSE, 90% of examinations taken this year were awarded A* or A grades, with almost all the others (8.9%) at B. The proportion of boys achieving five or more A* or A grades continues to rise: 97.8% of the 179-strong Year 11 achieved this benchmark, compared with 96% last year and 92.1% in 2009. Our A-level results were equally impressive, with 98% of grades at A*-B and an average points score per pupil of 504. Encouragingly, close scrutiny of the A-level results reveals strong performance across the curriculum: for example, more than three-quarters of our English candidates gained A*, as did seven of our 11 Art students. Economics and Mathematics were among other departments for which very good results were reported.
QE pupils – including Sam Sherman, profiled elsewhere in this e-newsletter – took the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) for the first time this year and here, too, there was success, with 26 of the 27 candidates (96%) gaining A* or A grades. I am keen to foster academic enrichment beyond the sometimes narrow confines of the National Curriculum and of examination board syllabuses; the EPQ is thus a welcome addition to our Sixth Form programme, alongside other enriching activities such as our academic symposium with students from North London Collegiate School.
Just a few weeks after receiving news of our summer examination successes, the School was able to announce that we had been awarded the prestigious Prince’s Teaching Institute Mark in four subjects. The PTI Mark, which is awarded retrospectively for 2010/11, was awarded for the first time to the English, Geography and History departments. The Science department gained it in the previous year and had it renewed, while the School’s Modern Foreign Languages department is now working towards gaining the mark. To gain the mark requires considerable commitment from the departments concerned: they have to demonstrate how they have fostered their students’ enthusiasm and understanding, while also showing commitment to increasing teachers’ subject knowledge. Furthermore, senior QE teachers have begun to play a significant part in the PTI’s work. Assistant Head, Anne MacDonald, and Head of History, Tahmer Mahmoud, have been appointed as mentors for the institute’s Schools Programme and have helped other schools agree their targets.
Our wide variety of extra-curricular provision intentionally encompasses both academic endeavour and worthwhile activities beyond the classroom. Debating is of course a proven way of putting boys on their mettle academically. Under the leadership of our Head of Debating, Nisha Mayer, it is now taking place throughout the School from Year 7 upwards and I am particularly heartened by the re-establishment of the Elizabethan Union, the School’s formal debating society. Exchanges and overseas visits constitute another important facet of our life as a School. This term for the first time we hosted French and German schools in the same week. The end-of-term Carol Service in the Parish Church and the Rotary Christmas Concert are important both for the opportunities to perform that they afford our musicians and for the role they play in upholding the traditions of the School.
Another key event has been the successful biennial inspection of our Combined Cadet Force. The Reviewing Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Alan Cliffe, of the Royal Engineers, commended the cadets’ “exceptional personal standards” and the unit’s “cohesion and enthusiasm”. The unit’s Captain, Mev Armon, who also teaches Biology at QE, was singled out for praise for “his inspiring personal leadership style and sacrifice, which, together with the School ethos, sees the cadets being given responsibility and developing very good leadership and military skills”. Lt Col Cliffe concluded his report: “Queen Elizabeth’s School is a first-class example of how cadet units can produce first-class young men. With co-ordinated support, I am certain that the unit will continue to flourish.”
During a busy term, Professor A C Grayling’s impassioned address to our Sixth-Formers on the importance of studying the humanities stands out as both timely and significant; it is a necessary corrective to the excessively utilitarian approach to education that has grown around the world in recent years. I consider that it is entirely legitimate to pursue learning for learning’s sake; to develop oneself before developing one’s career. Practical applications can come later: we strongly encourage QE pupils to seek fulfilment by following their genuine academic interests both here and at university, whether those interests lie in science or the arts. The School is in rude health at a time when many great challenges loom: cuts in public spending; economic hardships and uncertainty facing many of our families, and unprecedented competition for university places. What is important at such a juncture is that we remain true to our mission and resist any calls – from whatever quarter – to sacrifice the arts and other non-vocational areas of study in the misguided belief that these are useless fripperies which must be cut away in order to stay competitive in the market.
I am also determined to continue QE’s notable success in contributing to social mobility. This School is a needs-blind meritocracy, where all boys of ability can and do succeed, regardless of their background. In a recent essay, Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, stated that while many more children from poorer backgrounds now reach nationally expected levels at age 11 and stay on at school after 16, when it comes to university entry there remain big gaps between the destinations of children from poor families and those from affluent homes. This discrepancy is due not to discrimination from universities, but to the under-achievement nationally of poorer children at A-level. Queen Elizabeth’s School continues to buck this trend, with a large majority of our leavers going on to Russell Group universities, even though our pupils are described by Ofsted as of “average deprivation”. I am pleased to report that the construction of the first phase of the building which will house our new Library and dining hall is progressing well. It is also good to be able to report that our School Shop enjoyed a successful first season, not only in terms of commercial performance but also in the way that it enabled us as a School community to meet our new intake of Year 7 parents early on.
Similarly, I valued the opportunity which the 116th Old Elizabethans Annual Dinner gave me to meet some of our old boys in my first term as Headmaster. It was interesting to hear the thoughts of our guest speaker, Zaid Belbagi (2000-2007). As many of you will know, the cohort who will be marking the tenth anniversary of their leaving the School at the end of the current academic year are among those who are especially invited to the Annual Dinner. This year, they included Paralympian rower Tom Aggar (1995-2002): I am sure that his fellow old boys will join me in wishing him every success as he seeks to repeat his Beijing successes by winning gold at London 2012.
I would like to conclude by giving all our alumni my best wishes for a happy festive season and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
Neil Enright
All boys from Years 7–10, together with staff and many senior pupils, took part in the ceremony, which featured music, poetry and a procession by the Combined Cadet Force.
erritorial gains for either side.
Alumni continue to support QE by giving careers talks. This term’s included a lunchtime lecture by Samir Manek (OE 2001–2008), a litigator working at the heart of the UK’s financial regulatory system as an Associate (Solicitor) with the Financial Conduct Authority. He urged on QE’s aspiring lawyers the importance of a genuine passion for the Law.
And Civil Service economist Andrei Sandu (OE 2007-2014) told senior boys that he was already advising a Government Minister at a European summit, just a few short months after starting his job. Andrei joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of the economists’ group of the Civil Service Fast Stream in August last year. In the autumn of 2017, he was called upon to attend a Council of Ministers summit in Brussels, where he advised Lord Henley, of BEIS, throughout the session.
Piers Martin was part of a relay team that successfully swam the English Channel in rough conditions and raised more than £6,000 for Autism East Midlands. Yet, even though the team were eminently suited to the challenge – Piers (OE 1987–1994) is a high-performance sport and business consultant and a former national-level swimming champion, while two of his fellow team-members are water polo coaches – the swim almost didn’t happen. Because of worsening weather, the authorising organisation, the Channel Swimming and Piloting Association (CSPA) had called off the swim, only to give the team an eleventh-hour reprieve after they had already left Dover and were heading home.
George the Poet (George Mpanga, OE 2002–2009) has raised his already-high profile still further by appearing on TV screens in both the public and private spheres. A keen advocate of social justice, George investigated how and why the capital’s poor residents are losing out as council homes disappear for an Inside Out London current affairs programme on BBC1. He also starred in a new commercial for O2 reflecting on the wonder of Planet Earth and the transitory nature of human life.
Akshay Ruparelia’s fast-expanding online estate agency, Doorsteps.co.uk, launched a second crowdfunding round during the autumn – and smashed its £400,000 target within seconds of the offer going live. Akshay (OE 2009–2016) made national headlines last year after the first fundraising, with the young entrepreneur’s age attracting journalists’ admiration.
New records were set in August, with the number of GCSE examinations awarded the A* grade hitting 78%. At A-level, we recorded our highest-ever total of A* grades, while 2018 was the 13th consecutive year in which the proportion of examinations awarded A*–B grades – a commonly used benchmark figure – has topped 95%.
More recently still, QE was crowned the country’s top state school in the Sunday Times Parent Power survey, overtaking the 2017 winners, The Henrietta Barnett School, to head the table comprising the 150 leading state schools. This highly influential survey determines ranking based on the percentage of examination entries gaining A* to B grades at A-level (which is given double weighting) and the percentage of entries awarded A* and A grades at GCSE.
It is tremendously important that boys develop and maintain a broad outlook alongside their achievement of very strong academic results if they are to thrive. One foundation of such a holistic approach is that boys begin reflecting upon their own lives and attitudes as they start finding their place in the world. Two of our alumni, poet Anthony Anaxagorou (OE 1994–1999) and Bilal Harry Khan (OE 2003–2010, featured elsewhere in this newsletter) explored the sometimes-tricky areas of identity, masculinity and gender roles when they visited this term, with Bilal speaking to Year 11 and Anthony delivering a Sixth Form assembly. Alongside and related to these areas, we recognise the importance of boys looking outwards in their relationships, adopting habits of kindness, thoughtfulness and respect for others. By so doing, not only do boys establish better relationships, but they also stand to gain themselves.