Senior pupils from Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School joined A-level Art students at Queen’s Road for special life-drawing sessions during QE’s Arts Week.

Together with the girls’ participation in filming a promotional video and in a Sketch-off event held as part of QE’s Design Festival earlier in the Summer Term, the life-drawing sessions mark an expansion of the work of the QE Together partnership, which had previously focused on community activities.

Head of Art Craig Wheatley explained the sessions’ importance: “Life-drawing is rooted in a traditional and historical practice; students can develop their observational drawing skills and gain a better understanding of anatomy and human form.

“Our Arts Week seemed like a perfect opportunity to re-introduce this extra-curricular activity; inviting the girls was another chance for pupils from both schools to share a creative experience.”

Mr Wheatley paid tribute to the specialist teaching experience of his QE Art department colleagues, Jeanne Nicodemus and Alison Lefteri, who led the sessions. He added that feedback from the participating students was very positive.

Led by pupils from the two schools, QE Together continued its community activities, with musicians coming together for another concert for care home residents.

Pupils from QE and QEGS also teamed up to appear in the  promotional video for School Diversity Week for LGBT+ charity, Just Like Us.

Filmed by Deloitte and shown at a launch hosted by JP Morgan Chase, the film included the senior boys and girls holding up coloured card, with letters superimposed in post-production to spell out key messages for the week.

Not all the pupils who participated are part of the LGBTQ+ community; they are instead allies, supporting the promotion of inclusion in all schools across the country.

QE Together is one of the newest of QE’s partnerships. The School also has firmly established academic partnerships with North London Collegiate School and The Henrietta Barnett School.

During the Summer Term, Year 10 headed to NLCS for an inter-disciplinary symposium on Change and Renewal.

With HBS, in addition to Year 10 and 12 events, 144 selected Year 8 pupils from both schools vigorously debated contentious topics, including This House believes it was right to arrest the protesters at the King’s coronation.

Dozens of Old Elizabethans and other guests turned out to advise Year 11 boys on their future paths in a new-style QE Careers Convention.

The event featured sessions focusing on specific professions, seminars offering guidance on a range of career-related topics, and an afternoon careers fair where the boys could gain one-to-one advice from alumni and other external guests.

In a break with previous years, this year’s event, spearheaded by Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane, was held during the day and was run with a new format.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My thanks go to the many OEs and other friends of the School who visited to support the Careers Convention. It was wonderful to see some new faces alongside veterans from the pre-pandemic years.

“We wanted to give students the opportunity to hear from and talk to people working in a wide range of industries and professions, whether to open up new possibilities for them or to provide insight into areas they were already considering. This kind of support is invaluable as they begin to make decisions about their futures.”

Following a welcome from Mr Kane, motivational speaker and executive coach Kam Taj (OE 2004–2011) delivered a keynote speech to the whole year group on Keeping an Open Mind.

Kam shared with the 180 boys the ups and downs of his own story, including his thwarted ambition to play professional basketball, his success in gaining a place at Cambridge and the personal crisis he went through at the age of 21. “Now, six years later, I have two business – my leadership & coaching services for professionals, and my Exam Success Academy courses for students. I’m doing what I love and what fulfils me most.”

After his talk, and a session on Appropriate Alternatives to University, all Year 11 had a half-hour talk on careers in medicine. They could choose also between sessions looking at careers in law, finance and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).

After lunch, the options were for the following talks:

• ‘Swiggly careers’ – ditch the ladder and discover opportunity
• Essential employability skills
• How your career can help to solve the world’s pressing problems.

The careers fair, which took place in the spacious setting of the Shearly Hall, featured more than 50 guests, most of them Old Elizabethans, covering the following areas: accounting, banking & finance; built environment; charities & voluntary sector; creative industries & media; engineering; law; medicine, dentistry & veterinary medicine; professional & business services; public sector, and science & technology.

Mr Kane, who leads on careers provision at QE, said: “There are many different pathways to success, and the day made clear to the boys that career progression may take unexpected turns along the way. We raised awareness about alternative paths to university, including apprenticeships, which is a route a small number of leavers have successfully followed in recent years.

“Part of the day was to encourage our Year 11 boys to think about careers that hadn’t necessarily occurred to them or been top of their agenda. I was pleased with how they responded.”

Forty-seven pupils have been offered places at Oxford and Cambridge this year, easily exceeding the previous QE record of 40.

Thirty-two offers have come from Cambridge and 15 from Oxford, spanning a huge range of subjects, from Engineering to Medicine and from Languages to Law.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This figure of 47 represents a magnificent achievement both for the boys themselves and for our dedicated team of staff, including those who teach them and those who have used their considerable experience to guide them through the application process. My heartfelt congratulations go to them all.

“To secure their offers, these pupils have demonstrated not just their mastery of their curriculum subjects, but the breadth of knowledge and the free-thinking scholarship that we seek to nurture in all our pupils.

“In March this year, we celebrate the 450th anniversary of the School’s foundation by royal charter: what better way to mark our anniversary year than with this outstanding performance!”

The Oxford total of 15 offers is itself a QE record, as is the total of 32 at Cambridge. QE’s Oxbridge offers come from some of the oldest colleges – such as Oxford’s Balliol, founded in 1263 – and by some of the newest, including Lucy Cavendish at Cambridge, which was established in 1965 and achieved recognition as a constituent college in 1977.

Subjects to be studied include some of the ancient universities’ most famous courses: two students will take Oxford’s Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) degree, while four will read Natural Sciences at Cambridge.

There are offers across the arts, humanities and sciences, with the subjects gaining the highest number of offers as follows:

• Medicine (eight places)
• Mathematics (seven, plus one in combination with Computer Science)
• Engineering (seven, plus two more for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology)
• Natural Sciences (four)
• Economics (two, plus two in combination with Management).

The 2022 School Captain, Theo Mama-Kahn, currently in Year 13, is among the 47, securing an offer to read French and German at Wadham College, Oxford.

Mr Enright added: “I am tremendously proud that, as a state school welcoming very able boys of all backgrounds, we have been able to secure such a high number of offers.

“As ever, there are some strong and highly capable candidates who nevertheless missed out on places at Oxford and Cambridge, but they, like so many of their Year 13 peers are being offered places at other leading universities in the UK and elsewhere.

“I look forward to all these Elizabethans going on to great success in their careers and lives, making a worthwhile and significant contribution to society.”

Ten sixth-formers completed a personal development course designed to help young people take charge of their own lives.

The WhyOhYou programme is run by the DVS Foundation – a philanthropic organisation established by the family of Old Elizabethan Priyan Shah (1991–1998).

Priyan’s wife, Asmi Shah, who is the Programme Lead, said: “When we don’t take time to know ourselves and what we want, it becomes very difficult to make decisions that are truly right for us. We can become victim to passively following life, which over the years can lead us into the wrong professions, friendships and relationships.

“Our ambition with WhyOhYou is to help address this by empowering youth to ask themselves critical questions early on.”

Mrs Shah runs the WhyOhYou (a play on the letters of YOU) programme with a colleague, Rupal Shah, who is the DVS Foundation’s Head of Philanthropy.

The programme runs over five weeks and provides young people with the space and tools to explore who they are, what they want and how to achieve it. It covers topics such as personal values, goal-setting, coaching, having a ‘growth mindset’ and resilience, with an underlying message on the importance of self-responsibility.

It is not the foundation’s only involvement with the School. Last summer, Priyan visited QE, together with his parents, Dhiru and Rami, to present DVS Foundation Awards to ten sixth-formers for excellence across various subjects and in extra-curricular involvement. The family business is a company specialising in UK institutional real estate investment. The foundation was set up in 2012 to formalise the family’s giving.

One of the ten Year 12 pupils selected to take part in the WhyOhYou Programme is Eashan Raja, who said he had derived considerable benefit from participating.

He highlighted various aspects of the course:

• Asking the question, ‘who are you?’
• Practicing meditation in the classroom
• Many creative tasks, such as learning to coach friends, as well as making vision boards
• A ten-minute dance activity at the start of every session to loosen participants up a little: (“Although a little strange to be dancing in the classroom, I feel it was a good activity and definitely made us be more open in the sessions.”)
• Discussions covering topics such as how participants could achieve their goals and how to deal with their emotions.

“Some things were new to me, such as meditation and really deeply thinking about ‘who I am’. There were also some things I already knew, but it was definitely a good reminder to me – such as how to deal with our emotions in positive ways.

“I also feel I have become more confident talking about personal things and feelings in front of my peers, which I believe is very important, especially in our society today, where it is uncommon for men to talk about their feelings and personal things about themselves.”

Eashan thanked the course facilitators: “They were both amazing. They were really kind and considerate, making a safe place for all of us to talk about what was on our minds about the topic at hand.

“They were clearly very keen and passionate about the topics they were talking about, and this definitely showed – and made us more interactive and open. I truly do not think they could have done a better job with us.”

He was also full of praise for the resources they provided, “from the snacks, to the PowerPoint slides, the pens, paper and juggling balls!”

Today the 2023 School Captain, Darren Lee, and his large team of prefects officially take up their posts.

The team, all from Year 12, will enjoy the distinction and honour of being pupil leaders during the School’s 450^th anniversary year.

Darren, his Senior Vice-Captains, Ugan Pretheshan and Mustafa Sayfi, and the wider Vice-Captain team, were all called to the Headmaster’s Study in late November to be offered their roles, following a selection and voting process. They are pictured above with the Headmaster, Neil Enright.

Mr Enright said today: “My congratulations go to all our prefects on their success. By virtue of their appointment in this momentous year for QE, they will, in a sense, themselves become part of the School’s history.

“Darren, Ugan and Mustafa make an excellent trio, contributing fully to the life of the School and displaying exactly the sort of positive character attributes that we prize in our senior Elizabethans. I am sure they will be a great example to their peers and to younger pupils, and that they will help us drive further improvements at the School.

“I with them every success in their respective roles as they follow the sterling example set by the outgoing School Captain, Theo Mama-Kahn, and his team, to whom I offer my thanks.”

Darren is both a keen linguist and an enthusiastic engineer. He has won prizes and commendations in a number of language competitions, while he and his fellow Year 12 student, Yash Patel, were also named as recipients of highly prized Arkwright Scholarships after successfully navigating a long and exacting application process. As Arkwright Scholars, the pair will enjoy financial and mentoring support throughout their A-level studies.

Ugan’s extra-curricular involvements have included Young Enterprise and jointly leading the School’s personal finance society, together with his contemporary, Roshan Patel – a reflection of his keen interest in banking and finance. Ugan has also enjoyed playing cricket and rugby at a senior level. A peer mentor, he plays in the School’s Saxophone Ensemble, while practising his debating skills in the Elizabethan Union.

Mustafa is an aspiring lawyer who is studying Mathematics, Chemistry, Philosophy and French. In his role as the leader of Harrow Youth Parliament, he has recently had a leading role in helping tackle the cost-of-living crisis locally, as he and his fellow parliamentarians hand out hot food and drinks to Harrow residents.

Until recently, Ali Woods was, as one reviewer put it, PR man by day, comedian by night.

Better known to his QE contemporaries as Alister Heywood (OE 2005–2012), he first made a name on TikTok and then gained a big boost when his debut solo show at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe sold out amid five-star reviews.

Now, underpinned by his huge online following, he has given up the day job and become a professional comedian.

The very first time he was involved in performing comedy was at York, where he was reading English & Related Literature. He was part of a university ‘improv’ group called The Shambles. He then first did stand-up in London in 2015 at open mic nights. In 2017, he was runner-up in the Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year competition and was short-listed for a BBC New Comedy Award in both 2017 and 2018.

Alister won Hackney Empire New Act of the Year 2020 – Evening Standard writer Bruce Dessau’s quotation in the headline is from that time. He has appeared on BBC Radio 4, TalkRadio and TalkSport, alongside hosting his own podcast, All I Do Is Fail.

All of this was achieved while he was simultaneously working in PR: he is working his notice as a New Business and Marketing Executive for the Propeller Group (a global PR, content and events agency) and finishes on 21st December.

Alister was planning to do his debut full stand-up show in 2020, but was thwarted by the pandemic. Instead, during lockdown he started making videos, which soon went viral. Today, he has 153,000 followers on Instagram and 113,000 on TikTok. His online comedy sketches under the tag @aliwoodsgigs have gained millions of views and likes, and featured on LadBible and Buzzfeed UK. It is by using this audience that he has now managed to turn professional.

In his comedy, he presents a mix of the ‘everyman’ and the ‘modern man’, displaying sensitivity and a genuine interest in men’s mental health, which gives him a great perspective on the modern ‘lad’ culture. He speaks on topics such as football, the environment, and many social causes close to his heart.

Typically outspoken, he is keen to encourage those interested in creative work to pursue it and get the career they really want: “You can do it, believe that you can. I’ve done it and I’m not even funny!” It was not, he said, an aspiration that was really valued in the QE of his time. “I was never encouraged to take creative work seriously, it was seen as a facilitator for cover letters and CVs.”

Alister, who was among the guests at this term’s OE Association Dinner, therefore feels a special impetus to encourage today’s pupils if they hold similar interests.

“You can work really hard to end up in a job you hate because you thought it was the safe option,” he says. “I would like to communicate to current QE boys that creative arts are a legitimate pursuit which requires the same work as any difficult degree or discipline or career, and will truly be worth it. If you are passionate about it, and you’re willing to be consistent, put yourself out there, learn from your setbacks and not to give up: it will be the most fulfilling journey you’ll ever make.

“Don’t be afraid to take the risk. Believe that you are able to succeed in a competitive, creative field.”

• You can view Alister’s videos at his website.

Just a few weeks after starting at QE, Year 7 pupils headed off to an adventure centre to learn some new skills, test their nerve and have some fun together.

The visit to Stubbers Adventure Centre involved climbing, canoeing, archery and laser tag, with competition aplenty as the boys took on their friends and classmates.

The trip was open to the entire year group, with the Broughton, Harrisons’ and Leicester forms heading east to Essex on one day, and Pearce, Stapylton and Underne making the trip on another.

Crispin Bonham-Carter, Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement), said: “The timing and nature of this trip were quite deliberately chosen: through activities that required teamwork and collaboration, we wanted to give our youngest pupils the chance to cement some of the social bonds they have already formed over their first six weeks here, while also providing them with the opportunity to continue to make new friends.”

The trip was part of the new QE Flourish enrichment programme, which Mr Bonham-Carter oversees.

“We are keen that our boys get out beyond our campus to make the most of our location on the edge of the capital and of the opportunities nearby. Being out of doors and active was another key feature of the day.

“I was pleased that the boys had such a good time – and some of their tutors certainly got stuck in, too!”

The activities were run by the instructors at the centre near Upminster.

Alongside the healthy competition, some of the activities involved an element of trust. In the wall-climbing, for example, participants had to rely on their team-mates who were on the ground holding their ropes.

Siddharth Josyula, a member of Year 7’s Leicester form, said: “First, we went canoeing on the lake. After putting on our life-jackets, we learnt how to balance on the boat and paddle across the lake. My team, which consisted of me, Tahiyan [Khan] and Mr Batchelor [Chemistry teacher Thomas Batchelor], dominated 7L. We even turned around to help others who were struggling. Though my legs got a bit wet, overall, I enjoyed the experience of rowing for the first time.”

After lunch, he headed to the rock-climbing walls and then archery.

“The last activity of the day was laser tag and I was absolutely thrilled as the battlefield looked so cool, like in a movie. Our team lost 3-1, but it was a lot of fun running around and taking cover from shots.

“On the coach journey home, I had my left-over snacks from lunchtime, thinking what fun I had and what memories I made.”

His fellow Leicester form member, Somansh Patro, said afterwards: “That day was unbelievable! Overall, my favourite was rock-climbing – it blew my mind how far I had climbed. I probably stayed up for 10 minutes. Laser tag was fun too and a lot of us scored bull’s eyes in archery  in my team.”

Canoeing was the hardest of all, Somansh felt, because of the “fearsome” demands of paddling successfully. “But I enjoyed it, especially with the good co-ordination between me and Sarang [Venkatasubramaniam], my partner and friend. The amount of fun I had was utterly to the max!”

Last year’s leavers turned out in force to pass on the benefit of their recent experience to current sixth-formers at QE’s annual University Convention.

With the 2021 event moved online because of the pandemic, this year’s convention provided an eagerly awaited opportunity for the School’s newest alumni to meet face-to-face with Year 12s thinking about following in their footsteps.

The day also brought a QE first – a series of afternoon water polo friendly matches involving the Old Elizabethans playing with, and against, the School’s current senior players.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was great to catch up with these, our youngest old boys, as they passed on some ultra-current advice to Year 12 students, whether on university and course choices, gap years or industry placements. My thanks go to all of them for giving their time to support their School.”

Most of the OEs attending the convention are currently in their first years on sought-after degree courses at leading universities, including Oxbridge and the Russell Group institutions.

Those giving presentations included 2021 leaver Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy, who has been spending this year with Springboard Pro, a Cambridge engineering consultancy, after successfully securing a coveted Year in Industry placement. The scheme places around 750 young people annually in engineering, science, IT, and business, where most work full-time before going on to join degree courses.

After the convention, the OEs had the opportunity to catch up with each other and with some of their former teachers over lunch.

Then, in the afternoon 16 visiting old boys headed for the Martin Swimming Pool for the water polo friendlies.

The day finished with two OE sides playing each other, which finished in a well-fought draw.

Head of Aquatics Richard Scally said: “It was a very enjoyable afternoon, with some competitive polo played. There was considerable interest – including from old boys who couldn’t make it on the day – so we would like to expand it in the future.

“I was pleased that a good number of OEs are still playing, whether for their university sides or clubs. Hopefully, by chatting to them, our current team will be inspired to follow suit.”

Businesswoman, author and coach Gifty Enright explained to sixth-formers how ‘gender bias traps’ blight the world of work – and set out ways in which men can act as allies and support women in escaping them.

Her virtual talk was one of a number of activities held at the School during the week of International Women’s Day (IWD), which this year had the theme of #BreakTheBias.

Several discussion societies run by pupils held IWD-inspired sessions, while tutors also covered IWD topics during boys’ Personal Development Time lessons.

Headmaster Neil Enright (no relation) said: “My huge thanks go to Gifty for her insightful and informative talk that highlighted exactly why International Women’s Day is both relevant and important in an all-boys’ school such as ours. Not only did she raise awareness of the issues that women continue to face routinely in society and the workplace, but she also had some very practical suggestions for how young men could make a positive contribution in challenging conscious and unconscious bias in a range of situations.

“Her talk and the other activities during the week complement the work we have been doing to encourage boys to adopt the stance of ‘active bystander’ and thus to oppose injustice and prejudice across society. Hearing from external expert speakers, with their different perspectives and experiences, is a very useful way for our boys to gain a deeper understanding, provoking both reflection and discussion.”

Born in Kumasi, the ancient capital of the Ashanti people in Ghana, Gifty Enright has lived in Hertfordshire for the past 35 years. Having trained as an accountant, she later moved into Information Technology and is today the managing director of a sports events company, and also provides IT consulting services on major transformation programmes to multi-national companies. She is married with two children.

In her Zoom lecture to Years 12 and 13, she outlined six gender bias traps that women face. In each case, she gave a scenario to explain how the trap might play out and then challenged the sixth-formers with a suggestion on what they could do to ameliorate the situation.

Under the topic of ‘attribution’, for example, she gave this scenario: “A female colleague says something in a meeting and is ignored but a male colleague says the same thing and everyone jumps on the idea.” The challenge she passed on was this: “Remind everyone that the idea originated from the female colleague.”

For ‘maternal’, the scenario imagined someone in a business setting discussing whether a particular woman should be entrusted with a major project in these words: “Do you think it is a good idea to burden her with such a big project straight out of maternity leave?” The challenge she gave was to respond in this way: “She still has the same skillset she did before her leave. How can we best support her?”

In a question-and-answer session afterwards, boys asked for advice on practical things such as their approach to what they read, what music they listen to and how that can impact upon their understanding of the issues facing women. Gifty replied that people should read and watch what they enjoy, but try to engage with material from a wide range of artists, including those of different genders, races and backgrounds.

Boys also asked about what she thought the impact of the war in Ukraine may have on women and on gender inequality. She responded that in such situations, gender inequality is usually exacerbated, whilst noting how dreadful the current situation is for everyone there.

With the BAFTAs fresh in everyone’s mind, QE’s stars of the small screen have been picking up their own awards for their work to help fellow pupils.

In a first for the School, QE’s team of peer mentors this year produced a series of short videos to share their wisdom and experience with younger pupils, providing useful tips and advice on topics ranging from coping with stress to how to use a homework diary.

To reward these senior pupils’ talent and commitment, the best of their work was recognised in an informal awards ceremony, when a number of prizes were awarded.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Over the years, our teams of peer mentors have made, and continue to make, a great contribution as a much-valued part of the wider support network at the School. Both mentors and mentees routinely take a lot away from these relationships.

“There was great creativity and skill on display in these bite-sized videos, which communicated some very important and insightful messages. Everyone involved with any of the videos should be proud of their efforts and the way they are helping to support others.”

The peer videos project was organised by Head of Extra-curricular Enrichment Rebecca Grundy and Head of Year 10 Micah King, with the explicit purpose of widening the number of pupils who could benefit from the guidance of peer mentors. The peer mentors began working on their films in November, each selecting a topic that had been identified as a need for pupils within the School, and then teamed up to script, film and edit their videos.

“The boys worked incredibly hard together to produce such high-quality videos, and one particular joy of this project was watching older and younger peer mentors collaborate to share their wisdom with our QE community,” said Mr King. “Each team had to create project proposals and submit multiple drafts of their videos – and  the end results speak for themselves: they are an excellent collection of videos and the boys are a credit to the School.”

• The award for best film overall went to the Year 13 team of Paul Ofordu, Miguel Nieves, Manomay Lala-Raykar and Aadarsh Khimasia, which Paul and Manomay directed, with Paul additionally producing and editing the video, Managing Stress and Anxiety. Paul also took the best actor award for his role in the three-minute production (pictured top). To combat stress, they recommended meditation, journalling, controlling one’s own social media use, sleep and healthy eating. The judges’ comments were: “This film combined superb advice, with great editing, cinematography, acting and presenting. The Year 13 producers of this film are a credit to this school, and their film epitomises the wonderful help, wisdom and guidance they have given to QE. “The judges also commented that: “Paul is a great role model for students on camera. His acting skills are compelling, while he presents great advice wonderfully.”
• Adam Khaliq and Rudra Thakkar, both of Year 12, won the award for best cinematography with their film, Making friends at QE. “This award was given in recognition of the joy that was captured on film,” the judges wrote. “This advice guide would cheer and support students who are struggling, and the filming was creative and adventurous.”
• The best editing award went to Shuaib Adam, of Year 11, whose film was entitled How to prepare a study space at home. The citation for this was: “When we first watched this, Ms Grundy remarked that you could imagine seeing this on the BBC. Superb use of speed up/slowed down footage, great voiceovers and text overlay. A masterful piece of editing.”
• The best producer award went jointly to the Year 12 pair of Haipei Jiang and Nivain  Goonasekera, for How to manage your homework. It was, the judges wrote, an “Excellent stop motion video, which combined great advice with a fun, entertaining and wonderfully produced guide.”
• Darren Lee, of Year 11, was also recognised for his graphic design, with the judges commenting that this work was: “Creative and professional. Darren’s graphic design is outstanding, managing to maintain the School’s branding in his banner, while demonstrating his own creativity in the buttons he designed.”

All the videos are in the support and advice section of eQE, the School’s e-platform and learning platform.