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Sixth-former James Tan is believed to be the first QE boy ever to reach the final of the country’s premier coding competition.

James, of Year 12, made it through to the 2020 final of the British Informatics Olympiad after scoring highly in the first round of the annual competition, which was a three-hour examination sat in school.

The residential final had been due to take place at Cambridge University’s Trinity College, but was switched to an online event because of the Covid-19 restrictions. The results have not yet been announced.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations to James on making QE history by getting through to the final. It is not only in this competition that he is making his mark with his programming skills: he is also the programmer for our highly successful HYBRID VEX EDR robotics team and is teaching coding to primary school children as part of our Year 12 volunteering programme.”

James first developed his interest in coding by building websites in his spare time. He then learned the Python language, which, he says “opened up a whole new realm of possibilities”. He has taken part in a number of programming competitions, including the online Google Code Jam.

“I enjoy the puzzle-like aspect of coding, where each small section of code fits together to solve a much large problem. There is also a great sense of satisfaction when I find a particularly elegant solution, especially after spending a significant period of time on a programming project.”

James’s weekly volunteering work involves teaching Scratch (a block-based programming language) to primary school children in Years 3 and 4.

He found the first stage of the British Informatics Olympiad challenging but enjoyable, and professed himself very pleased with his score of 79 out of 100. “My preparation mostly consisted of trying to solve past questions in my spare time, which proved to be sufficient, given my prior experience with competitive programming in online contests.”

In the five-hour online final, contestants had to tackle four problems, based around scenarios involving settings such as a training ground for spies and a film studio. Each problem required a complete program as a solution. “In the end, I managed to solve two of the four, which I am quite pleased with,” said James.

In previous years, following the national final, the best four competitors were selected to represent Britain in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).

This year, however, the IOI has also been postponed, so the British Informatics Olympiad organisers are planning to run some further selection activity over the coming months, the details of which have not yet been disclosed.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan is putting the School’s 3D printers and laser-cutters to good use by manufacturing protective visors for the NHS – part of a co-ordinated effort to support the national fight against the Covid-19 virus.

In addition to coming into School twice a day to set up and run the machines, which would otherwise be idle, Mr Noonan is also co-ordinating 3D-printing efforts among volunteers from schools and individuals. The face shields and ventilator components are being produced for hospitals, GP surgeries and social care organisations.

He is being supported remotely by boys (many from the School’s robotics teams), who are working from home using their own 3D printers to boost production still further.

Mr Noonan says: “It’s a wonderful example of how design and innovation can help solve some of the big problems we face in the world.”

Headmaster Neil Enright added: “We are very proud to be able to play our part in supporting doctors and other medical staff – who include many of our old boys – working on the frontline to combat the virus and save lives. At a time of great national uncertainty, it is good to be able to report on something positive.”

QE staff are currently working from home because of the crisis, but Mr Enright was happy to grant Mr Noonan’s request to make short, twice-daily visits to use the machines in the School’s Fern Building.

The face shields are part of the Personal Protective Equipment (or PPE, in medical jargon) which are currently in short supply because of the heavy demand as the number of people confirmed as having the virus continues to grow rapidly.

Welsh engineer David Sims initially came up with the idea of using his home 3D printer to make the shields after a discussion on Facebook with others around the world working on designs to help health workers. He was quickly contacted by NHS doctors from around the country who placed orders with him.

The idea was then picked up by Tony Ryan, Chief Executive of the Design & Technology Association, who appealed to school Design & Technology departments to help.

Mr Noonan, who is a specialist in Computer-aided Manufacture and Rapid Prototyping using 3D printers, 3D routers and laser-cutters, immediately stepped in, not only producing the specialist masks and ventilator components, but also setting up dedicated a Facebook page and Twitter feed  (‘Design and Technology Education – Helping to fight the spread of coronavirus’) to guide other teachers.

“The idea is simple”, says Mr Noonan. “Individuals or schools use their 3D printers to print the visors using one of the many files that have been developed by teachers and designers around the country.”

After filling in their details on an online spreadsheet, they are then paired with a hospital close to them through the 3dcrowd, a volunteer group who are leading the national effort.

“I was one of the first London people involved, so I just kind of fell into coordinating,” Mr Noonan added.

“So far we here at QE have printed 20 visors, but now that we have the design finalised we are hoping to ramp up production to about 50 per day.

“We even have some of our wonderful QE students who have 3D printers at home helping us out.”

Eight QE boys are currently 3D-printing at home to help the effort: Year 9’s Niyam Shah and Soumil Sahjpal; Dillan Shah, of Year 11; Year 12’s Thomas Mgbor, Ukendar Vadivel, Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy and Devin Karia, and Akram Ahmad, of Year 13.

Several of these boys were recipients of this year’s Arkwright Engineering Scholarships and used their award money to fund the purchase of their 3D printers. Thomas is pictured, above, at work.

UPDATE: 3rd April 2020. Mr Noonan has now donated the first consignment of face shields to the NHS locally, handing over the supplies to Dr Ahmer Farooqi, Director, Barnet Federated GPs (and a QE dad), who have posted a thank you message on their website.

In recent days, the School has also donated its supply of 228 pairs of eye protection glasses to Dr Farooqi for use by GPs in Barnet.

To read more about the story of how and why Mr Noonan got involved, read Technology teacher Sean Kelly’s account, Designing a better tomorrow.

For more information on the national scheme, visit http://3dcrowd.uk

QE’s 2020 School Captain – Ivin Jose – and his two Senior Vice-Captains head the School’s biggest-ever team of prefects.

A total of 114 prefects drawn from Year 12 take up their positions tomorrow at the start of the new term. The team’s increased size reflects the strength of the QE Sixth Form, which continues to grow.

Ivin, together with Senior Vice-Captains Guy Flint and George Raynor, lead a group that includes Vice-Captains, House Captains, Deputy House Captains and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Ambassadors.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to all those whose qualities have been recognised through their appointment as prefects. They play an important role in the daily management of the School. Prefects help in the running of key events and, through specifically allocated responsibilities, support the School’s development priorities. In addition, they serve as vital role models for younger pupils.

“Ivin thoroughly deserves the honour of being our 2020 School Captain. He secured outstanding GCSE grades and is known for being polite and showing respect. He throws himself fully into School life, especially in sport and in Music – he participates enthusiastically in a number of School ensembles. He has already set his sights on Medicine as his future career. As a recent School report justly describes him, Ivin is a ‘model QE student’.

A pastoral report on Guy Flint described him as a “very helpful, co-operative and confident young man”. His extra-curricular involvement has included water polo – a sport at which he has frequently represented QE in matches and competitions involving other schools. He is a keen musician, playing the piano and having sung with both the School Choir and Chamber Choir. He has also helped with the School’s Élite Maths groups, including regular mentoring of Year 8 boys.

George Raynor is a senior rugby player and enjoys drama. Like both Jose and Guy, he also devotes time to Music, having played in the Saxophone Ensemble and sung with the Choir, Chamber Choir and Barbershop group.

“I thank our outgoing School Captain, Bhiramah Rammanohar, and his team for their excellent service during 2019,” Mr Enright added.

Hadleigh Rush’s career has taken him from local charity fund-raising to a key role with software giant VMware, from working in Watford to a new life in the deserts of Arizona.

Yet throughout his professional life, there is one common thread: “I have found a passion for giving back and serving.”

Today, he and his wife, Christa, work for several charitable organisations and he is heavily committed to Make-a-Wish, a non-profit organisation founded in the United States that fulfils life-changing wishes for children with a critical illness.

Had (OE 1985–1990), who recently paid a visit to QE, says memories of his School days remain clear. Coupled with the appointment of Eamonn Harris as Headmaster in 1984, it was the arrival mid-term of a class from another county whose school was closing that played a key role in saving QE, which was itself slated for closure at the time. “That was my class!” says Had.

“I was a trumpet player with Mr Ellis’s band for most of the time I was at QE. We toured a fair amount to other schools, competitions, the opening of ToysRUs Brent Cross, and we even played on the stage at the Royal Albert Hall – I think we played twice that day.”

His parents were, he says devoted to QE, organising the first coach system (“…as the horrors of the 107 route from QE to Stanmore still haunt me today!”) They also donated Music stand covers for both the band and orchestra. “I was really thrilled to see Music is such a huge part of QE now: our Music room back in the late 80s was just the small area to the left of the main stage by the only computer lab we had at the time.”

Had was in the cast for the drama production, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, along with several of the classmates pictured in his class photo. A member of Pearce House, he recalls spending a great deal of time enjoying Drama and Music, as well as in the computer lab and in the library. “I attempted Latin. I received detention a few times in my day and was called into our Headmaster’s [Eamonn Harris] office once, but generally was a well-behaved pupil.”

On leaving, he studied at the University of Hertfordshire. After that, he embarked on his first career, working for a Watford-based charity with a mission to raise £1m, and then £1m every year, to turn a derelict hospital built in 1925 into what is now the Peace Hospice.

“I spent about six years working for the Hospice, managing a group of about 40 awesome volunteers who never seemed to tire as we raised money through charity shops and holding, or helping to organise, hundreds of public fundraising events. The hospice opened a temporary day care centre in mobile offices, until HRH Princess Michael of Kent opened the main facility in 1996.

“I also was an active member of the Radlett Round Table. During this period, I made so many friendships and relationships with volunteers, local mayors, doctors, celebrities, press, MPs, members of the clergy, JPs and an OBE, some of whom I still communicate with today.

“In 1999, I found myself uprooting my small village way of life and moving to the dry heat of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.” Unable at the time to afford the cost of transferring his UK qualifications to the US, he went to college there, while also starting a job as a critical accounts specialist for a small, family-run credit counseling agency.”

“This agency grew ten times larger by 2002. Within a year, I found myself passing five IT industry certifications and being hired in the IT department. The following year, I took an active role in designing the IT infrastructure in their new 40,000sq ft state-of-the-art call centre here in North Phoenix. This was my first exposure to some newfangled technology called ‘virtualisation’. I was hooked on VMware.”

[In computing, virtualisation refers to the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, including virtual computer hardware platforms, storage devices, and computer network resources. VMware is a global company providing cloud computing and virtualisation software and services.]

“After spending ten years at this agency and working my way up the IT ladder, I had completed another degree and a series of updated IT certifications specialising in virtualisation and security.”

Although he had no thought of leaving the company, since he enjoyed the friendly work atmosphere, he applied to, and was interviewed for, all kinds of jobs in order to gain experience in application-writing and interviewing tactics (“Something I recommend if you have the time.”)

“I was contacted by an HR firm in New York who were looking for a Support person for a Phoenix-based company. On the phone, I found out the company, 10ZiG Technology, was across the street from the agency I was working at, so I took the interview with the CEO. The interview lasted an hour: we talked little about the company or position; we talked about life, England and moving to America. The owner of the company was originally from Leicester; the company had offices in the UK, Israel, Sydney and Italy, and was now headquartered in Phoenix. That evening the CEO sent me a rather nice job offer through email. I took two days to think about the offer and graciously wrote back and declined. The next day I received a substantially increased offer to take on the role of Support & Technical Manager of 10ZiG Technology – which I jumped at.

“I spent five years with this company, continuing my passion for virtualisation. I had the pleasure of travelling the US – and a few times back to England – for meetings, dealer presentations/conferences. During this time, I specialised in many different virtualisation solutions, but mainly focused my talents on those from VMware.

He had no intention of leaving “the 10ZiG family”, where the perks included paid visits back home to the UK, until he was contacted by a recruitment officer for the one company that he had dreamed of working for, VMware itself. “The gruelling interview process lasted four months of phone and of one-to-one and panel interviews, which included on-the-spot whiteboarding demonstrations.”

In December 2015, he was offered a position with VMware within its prestigious Technical Account Organization. Today he is a Senior VMware Technical Account Manager, engaged with a small set of VMware US’s large Enterprise customers. “I am my customers’ single point of contact for all their VMware-related questions, and I provide them with enablement, recommendations, coordinate projects, issue-management and problem-solving resolutions from my experience and skill sets. I am constantly building my knowledge and expertise on the latest and future technological solutions that transform traditional IT shops to the next generation of hybrid of on-premises and cloud-based datacentres.”

Three-and-a-half years ago, Had married Christa. They recently moved to an area outside the Phoenix metropolitan area “nestled in the mountains, away from the city life”. Had relishes this environment: “There is a beauty to the Arizona landscape, with the natural hardscaped desert, rock and abundant plant life and animals that survive here. We both enjoy hiking around the mountains in our area, but also enjoy taking a break from the heat by going just 100 miles up the road to the forests.”

That heat can be considerable: on the day he wrote to Alumni News, it hit 111F (44C). “It is something to get used to. Also something to get used to is that Arizona is still considered the wild, wild west, founded just 107 years ago. We have active cattle ranches, bull-riding, gold and silver mines, real cowboys and [the historic town of] Tombstone; gold-panning is still a thing here.

“In my spare time here in Arizona, my wife and I continue our shared passion for giving back and serving. We have spent 10 years volunteering with multiple charitable organisations, such as Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), who breed and train highly skilled service dogs, providing them free of charge. We get to spend time with our puppies in training and also to spend a day golfing with celebrity pro-golfers and even Alice Cooper (pictured with Had).

“Another big volunteering passion of ours is Make-A-Wish, founded in Arizona. My wife and I are on track to grant a total of over 70 wishes for our ‘Wish-Kids’ this year as volunteer ‘Wish-Granters’.”

There is even cross-over between his charity work and his professional career, thanks to VMware’s own ethos of service and its partnership with Make-A-Wish. “Since the beginning of 2019, I have been volunteering my VMware expertise with Make-A-Wish HQ here in Arizona under the guidance of Make-A-Wish’s CIO and Senior IT Director by providing pro bono VMware Team Account Management services. So now I get really get to combine my career and my passion for giving back.”

In addition, VMware takes an active interest in all his charity work, encouraging him to log his hours not only with Make-A-Wish, but also with CCI and church ministries with which he is involved. “Once I reach 40 hours a year (which doesn’t take me long), VMware awards me with $1000 to a send to a charity. This year I have selected The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s to receive the grant.”

On his recent trip back to QE, he enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with the Headmaster, Neil Enright, and to take a tour. “I thoroughly recommend to any OE to reach out and book time for a visit if you have not been back in the last 10-plus years. I think you will be amazed at the recent history and achievements of Neil, his team and the pupils.”

Broughton have been crowned this year’s top House at Queen Elizabeth’s School, following intense competition in fields as diverse as architecture and dodgeball.

A strong performance at Sports Day helped Broughton overtake Pearce to claim overall victory as the leader of QE’s six houses – a victory announced to great excitement at the end-of-year House Assembly.

Broughton’s House Captain, Saifullah Shah, and Deputy House Captain, Jamie Watkin-Rees, both of Year 12, were duly presented with the coveted House Cup by Headmaster Neil Enright.

Mr Enright said afterwards: “It has been another year of outstanding endeavour among the Houses, which play such an important role in fostering teamwork and friendship. My sincere congratulations go to all Broughton boys on their hard-won victory.”

During the assembly, Year 12’s Kieran Dhrona and Rishi Shah gave a presentation on the extensive fund-raising that takes place during the year in support of various charities as well as QE’s long-running Sai School Appeal, which aims to help the Sri Sathya Sai English Medium School in Kerala, India.

QE’s overall charity this year was the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, while there were also Christmas collections of food for the Chipping Barnet Foodbank and of clothing for a charity helping some of the 168,000 people homeless people in London.

Among the charity events staged were an inter-House dodgeball tournament run by Broughton and Harrisons’ for Years 7–9, which raised £280. Leicester and Pearce ran an interactive quiz for Years 7–10, raising £168. And Stapylton and Underne organised a guess-the-teacher baby photo competition, raising £87.70.

For the Sai School Appeal, a FIFA Tournament saw staff and pupils battle it out, games controllers in hand, in what was perhaps the most popular charity event of the year. One notable match included that between the Headmaster and the 2019 School Captain, Bhiramah Rammanohar.

The tournament raised £120.60, while a swimathon raised £609.65 and a guess-the-number-of-sweets-in-the-jar challenge at the Founder’s Day Fete brought in £62.

The House competitions reported on during the assembly included the:

• Year 7 House afternoon won by Stapylton
• In the Scoop news contest for Year 8 won by Pearce
• Languages competition, in which boys were challenged to design a poster about an influential linguist or speaker of German. French or Latin
• Architectural Enrichment Competition, won by Harrisons’
• QIQE quiz, won by Broughton in a tough final against Stapylton.

The assembly also reviewed other activities of the year.

For drama, as well as looking back at the performances at the Shakespeare Schools Festival and at the School Play, Lord of the Flies, the presentation revealed the names of boys who have successfully auditioned for roles in next term’s Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice.

Hundreds of boys have taken part in musical extra-curricular activities during the year. There are currently more than 20 ensembles, many of them pupil-led, involving 150 singers and nearly 200 instrumentalists. The 35 winners of Music colours from across the year groups were announced.

The assembly celebrated the winners of the separate QE chess championships for Year 7 and for Years 8-11, as well as those who performed strongly in the UK Chess Challenge. Junior, intermediate and senior chess colours were presented.

A report on the Duke of Edinburgh Award revealed that 87 Year 11 boys completed their bronze awards. Twenty-six Year 12s finished their silver awards, while 11 Year 13s completed D of E at gold level.

In sport, the assembly covered the following highlights:

• Cricket: The Year 8 team reached the quarter-finals of the National Cup, where they lost on the last ball
• Rugby: The U16s won the Hertfordshire plate; several boys gained county honours and a successful tour to Holland took place
• Eton fives: Record levels of participation at QE brought encouraging successes at the sport’s national finals
• Athletics: Combined Year 7 & 8 and 9 & 10 teams reached regional finals, and stand-out individual performances were listed
• Water polo: Both the seniors and Year 10 reached their respective national cup plate finals.

‘Teams of the year’, comprising selections from across the year groups, were announced for cricket and rugby.

QE pupil and Channel Four’s reigning Child Genius Rahul Doshi ‘blew away’ both children and staff when he spoke at a literacy festival run by two local primary schools.

In an inspirational message, Rahul, who won the most recent series of the TV competition in 2017, told boys and girls at Edgware’s The Orion and Goldbeaters primary schools that academic success was “something to be proud of”, urging them to work towards it.

Rachel Shear, Co-Headteacher of The Orion Primary School, paid tribute to Rahul when she wrote to QE to thank the School for allowing him to visit. “Rahul gave an absolutely wonderful talk at both of our schools and truly blew the children and staff away with his accomplishments.

“He is a true role model for hard work, commitment, diligence and the opportunities that being smart can bring you. He spoke flawlessly and with lots of humour in front of a group of 480 children at The Orion and about 30 staff, which is a remarkable achievement.”

In reply, QE Headmaster Neil Enright wrote back: “I am delighted that Rahul was so positively received and that the children benefited from the occasion. He is indeed an impressive young man.”

Mr Enright also said: “We are keen to further expand our outreach and partnership work with local schools, and I am delighted that Rahul served as a successful ambassador for both his own talents and the School on these visits.”

Orion and Goldbeaters, which are only half-a-mile apart, are part of the same federation and jointly hold an eight-week Word Up Festival. Rahul was invited by the schools after he was heard answering questions on Capital London’s breakfast show, where he has become a regular guest.

Rahul’s speech was primarily about Child Genius and the learning techniques he employs, such as memorisation through creating ‘memory palaces’ and building stories personal to you in which to place the information you need to remember, or by finding connections between what you are learning to make it more interesting.

In addition, he spoke about some of his key values, including always giving your best and being resilient.

Having had his confidence boosted by his involvement with Child Genius, Rahul said he no longer finds speaking in public to be a daunting prospect, even to such large audiences. He said afterwards that he would be keen to deliver this message similarly in other schools.

Rahul reflected on his appearance on a Child Genius Christmas special broadcast in December 2018 alongside comedians Jimmy Carr and Shazia Mirza, TV presenter Rick Edwards and newsreader Charlotte Hawkins. He commented that the celebrities were “quite clever” and that he was surprised by how much they knew.

Ms Shear has made a donation to Great Ormond Street Hospital in Rahul’s name as a gesture of thanks.