Viewing archives for Trips

Four QE delegates won awards for their public speaking and debating skills at a Model United Nations conference.

The three-day weekend ‘HabsMUN’ event, hosted by Haberdashers’ Boys’ School, saw a ten-strong QE team take on more than 500 delegates from other leading schools.

MUN gatherings are designed to simulate real UN conferences, with teams representing countries’ interests. Half of the QE group represented Nigeria, while the remaining five delegates had the difficult task – given current political circumstances – of speaking for Russia.

One of the latter, Zaki Mustafa, positively relished the opportunity: “Spending a weekend in the mind of Vladimir Putin was both a thought-provoking and exhilarating experience. I got the chance to defend Russia’s actions in front of hundreds of people without them all walking out on me!”

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter said: “Our students made eloquent and persuasive contributions and were duly rewarded: with four out of ten of them earning awards, QE was among the most successful schools there.

“It was an outstanding result, achieved in spite of the strong competition our boys faced, their relative lack of experience (with so many events cancelled during the pandemic, this was the first in-person conference for all of them), and the lack of time for preparation, since the event came directly after our Year 11 mock exams. Part of the academic challenge of the Model United Nations is that participants are called on to argue from the viewpoint of their assigned country and thus often face the task of promoting causes and outcomes they would not personally agree with.”

The awards went to:

• Saim Khan (Best Delegate in the Security Council – the top award for an individual delegate)
• Zaki Mustafa (Distinguished Delegate in Disarmament and International Security)
• Ady Tiwari and Uday Dash (Highly Commendable Delegates in Special Political 2 and Disarmament and International Security respectively)

In addition to Zaki, the Russia delegation comprised Saim Khan, Koustuv Bhowmick, Keshav Aggarwal and Hari Rathakrishnan. Representing Nigeria were: Chanakya Seetharam, Uday Dash, Kanusan Naveendran, Hari Kumarappan and Ady Tiwari. All are in Year 11, except Keshav Aggarwal and Hari Rathakrishnan (both Year 9).

They fended off challenges from several powerful country delegations, including Habs (representing the USA), Royal Masonic School for Girls (UK) and North London Collegiate School (China).

Saim spoke of his surprise at winning his award, presented in front of all the other delegates – “truly an unforgettable and powerful moment”.

His favourite part of the conference was, however,   “the opportunity to meet some fantastic people with whom I have made some great memories, whether it was clashing horns with the US over the future of Afghanistan, participating in icebreaker challenges where the delegate of Ecuador confidently stated she could defeat a black bear, or just working together with other delegates to achieve some fruitful debate”.

Similarly Uday said: “I have formed connections and met some fantastic people through this conference, which has undoubtedly been the best part of this process. Having debated strongly with and against them (with a little bit of karaoke sprinkled in between!), I have no doubt that I will continue to form stronger bonds with these people throughout my life.”

Uday’s fellow Nigeria delegate, Chanakya, added: “As someone with a keen eye for detail, I found that HabsMUN proved the ultimate opportunity to ‘geek out’ about what were, superficially, the trivialities of international law. Whether it was considering territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the International Court of Justice’s precedent, or the moral responsibilities of corporations towards society, the conference provided a challenging, yet rewarding, forum in which to debate geopolitical issues.”

Boys of all ages chosen as last season’s top rugby players for QE enjoyed a special treat with a visit to watch Premiership side Saracens battle it out with Newcastle Falcons.

Most of the 15 boys selected by their PE teachers for the 2021–2022 Rugby Team of the Year headed to Saracens’ StoneX Stadium, where they saw the host side beat Newcastle 29-23.

Head of Rugby James Clarke said: “For all but three of the boys, this was the first live rugby match they’d seen in person, and they thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and experience, despite having to brave the cold.”

Adding to the boys’ enjoyment was the exciting nature of this top-flight game, with the visitors staging a strong comeback in the second half.

Hosts Saracens were 29-13 up at half-time, while Newcastle were already down to 14 men, since Falcons lock Greg Peterson was sent off after just 16 minutes for a dangerously high tackle.

But in the second half, it was the Falcons who scored the only try. And tensions rose still further when fly-half Brett Connon scored a penalty for Newcastle two minutes into stoppage time (which also earned the visitors a bonus league point for losing by no more than seven points – the value of a converted try). In the end, however, Saracens were able to hold on for the win.

After the game, the QE visitors were able to meet some of the players, including England international Billy Vunipola, the Saracens No. 8.

The QE 2021–2022 Rugby Team of the Year, with their age categories at the time the team was announced, were:

• Backs – Taro Niimura, U16; Thomas Young, U13; Esa Aslam, U12; Isa Sheikh, U12; Ubayd Uddin, U15; Andrew Mbogol, U16; Ubaidah Rahman. U14.
• Forwards – Simardeep Sahota, U14; Aashir Irfan, U13; Soham Bhatnagar, U12; David Hirtopanu, U15; Nnanna Okore, U18; Edward Muscat, U14; Aaron Rodrigo, U15; Theo Moses, U15.

Earlier in the season, Year 8’s leading rugby players had enjoyed their own day out, which included a training session by the coaches at Premiership side London Irish RFC and a visit to Twickenham – the world’s biggest rugby union stadium – where they were able to look around the World Rugby Museum.

PE & Games teacher Ollie Di-Lieto said: “Having had a training session led by the London Irish coaches, we had the opportunity to watch the first team train and meet a few of the players. We met Ollie Hassell-Collins (in the England squad) and Henry Arundell (now also in the England squad: he scored on his England debut last year).”

QE’s first post-pandemic skiing trip saw fifty boys take to the slopes of Canada’s ancient Purcell Mountains, some 4,500 miles away from home.

The group flew to the resort of Panorama in British Columbia on a eight-day trip during which they were able to enjoy five days of “fantastic” skiing.

As well as being able to take in the spectacular views of the Canadian Rockies, they benefitted from their hotel being conveniently close to the slopes.

Trip organiser and PE teacher Richard Scally said: “The Canadian Rockies are stunning, and this resort is considered to be in the top ten places to ski in the world.

“Snow is near-guaranteed there from early December through to late April and we were accordingly  treated to some fantastic skiing conditions, unhampered by the queues and crowded slopes that you often find at half-term in other resorts.”

Announced last summer, QE’s first skiing trip since 2019 attracted boys from across the School – pupils from current Years 8–13.

Their destination, Panorama Mountain Resort, which was founded as recently as 1962, is accessed by road from the town of Invermere, which is 11 miles away. It boasts one of the highest vertical drops in North America – some 1,300m.

The boys had five hours of instruction per day, while lessons had also been available for first-time skiers before departure to ensure participants could get the most out of their trip.

The QE group stayed at the Pine Inn, a hotel chosen because, unusually for North American resorts, it is ‘slope side’ – skiing jargon meaning that it is within walking distance of the ski lifts.

Having ‘slope side’, or ‘ski in, ski out’, accommodation meant it was quick, safe and convenient for the boys. It also had the advantage of being next to the resort’s hot springs, offering skiers great scope for relaxation and recovery after a hard day’s physical activity.

Once the day’s fun on the slopes was over, the boys had a programme of evening activities to enjoy, while a ski school presentation took place at the end of the week.

Reflecting afterwards on the trip, Mr Scally said: “With a high percentage of complete beginners this year, it could not have been a better introduction to skiing and mountain life.

“This is the second time Queen Elizabeth’s has now been to Panorama, and I am certain we will be back, as everyone left with the most amazing memories.”

Two Year 12 squads flew the flag for Britain when they fought against more than 100 competing teams in the Battle for Vegas – an inaugural Vex Robotics Signature Event in the desert resort.

The QE boys, who made up the only teams from outside North America to attend, enjoyed both the competition and the chance to take in Las Vegas’s spectacular attractions.

QE’s team Tempest finished their first day unbeaten, despite some daunting opposition, while team HYBRID struck up a strong relationship with an American partner team on day 2. In their time off, the sixth-formers revelled in the technical and architectural wonders on, around and even under the city’s glittering streets.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan, who accompanied the boys together with Technology teacher James Howard, explained that since the annual Vex Robotics World Championships in the US fall in the Summer Term, boys in years with public examinations are unable to attend. Instead, their teachers looked into suitable US-based Signature Events, which are events designed to provide competition at a level above that typically experienced at regional competitions. The QE teams, who are sponsored by Kingston Technology, opted for the one based at the Westgate Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas – the venue where, in July 1969, Elvis Presley performed two shows a night, seven days a week.

After their ten-hour flight from Heathrow, the AS students first replenished their strength at the Peppermill Restaurant, made famous as the backdrop of films and TV shows including Casino, The Cotton Club, and CSI: Vegas.

They then made their way along Vegas’s celebrated Strip. “One highlight in particular was The Venetian – a resort and hotel, which boasts an indoor network of Venice-style canals, complete with singing gondola drivers!” said Mr Noonan. Further down the street, they took in the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign and marvelled both at the water & light show at the fountain of the Bellagio and at the incredible complexity of the part-roller coaster, part-hotel New York New York attraction. “Racking up close to 30,000 steps over the course of the day was not enough, though, as the pupils made their way to the Area 15 entertainment complex, wondering at many of the audio-visual wonders on offer, and at the surreal Omega Mart [an exhibition billed as ‘an interactive, mind-bending immersive art experience’].”

After an early start the following morning – and a swift present-buying visit to the World’s Largest Gift Shop – the boys began preparations for their first formal day of competition. They started setting up their pit area, fine-tuning their build process and rehearsing their pro-programmed routines.

This day also brought a highly exclusive trip to the cutting-edge loop underground public transport system at the Las Vegas Convention Center created by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company. “The students were able to see state-of-the-art engineering developments, many of which are too secretive to even photograph!” said Mr Noonan.

After this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the boys returned to their robotics, making final preparations for the following day of qualification, as well as taking part in some impromptu practice sessions. “As the only overseas team at the event, the other 100 or so US, Canada and Mexico-based teams were very eager to get to know the QE teams, with lots of potential alliance links formed,” said Mr Noonan. They topped off the day with a visit to the “incredible” High Roller observation wheel at The LINQ Hotel – a 550ft wheel offering breath-taking views over the Strip.

“On the first day of competition, team Tempest had, in keeping with their name, a storming day, despite their division featuring some of the world’s finest teams. They finished the day with a perfect record of five wins, leaving them ranked fifth in their division of 61 teams.”

Things proved a little tougher for team HYBRID, with last-minute fixes and alterations at times resulting in inconsistent robot performance. “However, they toughed it out and managed to finish the day with a record of three wins and two losses,” said Mr Noonan.

With little time to catch their breath, the teams were then off to Battlebots Arena – a permanent area purpose-built to showcase the highly popular Battlebots television show, yet featuring live robotic action. “They were thrilled to see famed robots from the television series, including Witch Doctor, Kraken, Mammoth, HyperShock and Whiplash. At the end of the event, they took photos with some of the engineers and team representatives, gaining an insight into the lives of professional robotic engineers.”

After their disappointments on day 1, team HYBRID began day 2 still determined to finish in the automatic alliance spots in their division. “They succeeded in doing so, finishing the qualification section ranked 21st, and allying with team 3303S Dublin Robotics from Dublin, California,” said Mr Noonan. “They built up a great relationship with them through collaboration and discussion over the two days and were always likely to pick this team. Sadly, there was further disappointment for them, as they were cruelly denied by disqualification on a technicality in their round-of-16 game.”

Having remained unbeaten in the early stages of competition, team Tempest did finally succumb to their only loss of the tournament, and finished the day ranked 13^th. “They chose Team Fizzy, a former World Championship challenger from Omaha, Nebraska, and were unfortunate not to progress past the round of 16, following a loss caused by robot malfunction.”

The boys took in the overall finals, witnessing the “incredible consistency” of the eventual champion teams, Gears from Martinsville, Indiana, and Pink Sparklee Unicorns from Woodbridge, Virginia. “They managed to grab a photo with the champion teams – gaining some essential advice on how to continue to improve.”

As they got ready for their return flight, the QE teams were visibly exhausted, but were already planning that, after a short break, they would be preparing to go into battle once again, their sights set on a first QE VEX Robotics Championship win in three years, Mr Noonan said.

After winning plaudits at Harvard for his performance in a 24-hour ‘hackathon’, 16-year-old Soumil Sahjpall’s entry in an online follow-up event took third place, beating off competition from university teams worldwide.

During his trip to the US, Soumil rubbed shoulders with Ivy League students as he developed blockchain software for cryptocurrency TRON in a coding marathon. His app earned him an ‘honourable mention’ from the judges, who placed him in joint-ninth place out of 55 teams.

He then entered the TRON International Hackathon 3.0, an extension of the in-person event, which featured more than a thousand competitors from across the globe. Soumil said he was proud that his third place was the result of a vote by “a cryptocurrency community of thousands”.

Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane said: “Our warm congratulations go to Soumil. He showed significant commitment in entering these competitions in the first place; he then demonstrated great skill and put in a huge amount of hard work to achieve international success against competitors several years older than him.”

TRON, a leading cryptocurrency with a current market value of $5 billion, set a brief to develop a dAPP, or “decentralized app” – that is, software that runs on the blockchain, as opposed to on a server hosted by technology giants such as Amazon or Microsoft.

The in-person hackathon at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, featured a 24-hour period dedicated solely to developing the dAPP. In addition, Soumil attended workshops, and there was time allocated to presenting and pitching to judges.

Because of his age, even taking part represented a success: the organisers cleared him to compete, based on his performance in previous hackathons. Altogether, 55 projects were presented by some 200 young people, most of them six or seven years older than Soumil.

“I found out about this hackathon with relatively short notice, so I competed solo,” he said. “I was relatively confident in my abilities and knew I’d still be having lots of fun, so that was all right. The average team size was around four members – with a maximum of five – so I was at a disadvantage.”

Although delighted with the honourable mention – one of only ten available – for his presentation, and the $500 cash prize that went with it, he said “the real take-away from this is the experience and the people I met.” These included students from Harvard, Yale, MIT and Boston’s Northeastern University.

In the online event, the TRON International Hackathon 3.0, Soumil submitted his project, which he called ‘Project Pledger’, under the ‘academy’ track, designated for university-level students and his work was voted third.

QE actors mixed the language of Shakespeare with modern costumes and props to create a potent performance for our times.

The boys put on Julius Caesar at North Finchley’s artsdepot in the Shakespeare Schools Festival and then twice in School to Years 9 and 11 as part of QE’s inaugural Shakespeare and Latin Festival.

In his review of the play, Head of English Robbie Hyland said: “This was one of the strongest productions Queen Elizabeth’s has staged in recent years, not only due to the strong individual performances, but particularly due to the strength of ensemble performances.

“Julius Caesar is, among other things, a play about the relationships between leaders and their citizens – our production, featuring most cast members on stage most of the time, clearly demonstrated how impactful one voice can be on the many.”

First performed in 1599, Julius Caesar centres on the assassination of the eponymous Roman dictator in 44BC. In Shakespeare’s telling, Roman general Brutus joins a conspiracy led by the politician, Cassius, to assassinate Caesar, ostensibly to prevent him from becoming a tyrant. Caesar’s right-hand man Antony stirs up hostility against the conspirators, and Rome falls into civil war.

The play contains many often-quoted lines, including:

• Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look: He thinks too much: such men are dangerous
• This was the most unkindest cut of all
• Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

“Many congratulations should go to the whole cast and crew, as the actors allowed some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines to shine – from Mark Antony and Brutus’ soaring funeral orations to Caesar’s resigned acceptance of his fate,” said Mr Hyland.

The director, Gavin Lister, of Rough Magicke Drama, explained in his notes for the production that he originally considered a Godfather-style setting for the play, with the characters as mafiosi. But following the “extraordinary turn after extraordinary turn” in UK politics over recent months, it became “impossible to ignore the modern-day political turbulence and the parallel themes explored in the classical piece we had been given the gift to perform.

“That is not to say our production is specific to Britain. It is not. The unstable political situations over the course of our rehearsal period in Italy, Brazil, China and Iran have provided us with a social background in which the themes of the play can be seen playing out very much in present-day real life.” These he enumerated as “the dangers of autocracy, the clandestine bargaining that takes place in corridors of power, the brutal and clinical nature of conspiracy, and the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the people’s voice”.

“The students have embraced the themes and the concept, and they have provided more pieces of inspired drama and theatricality than I could have hoped for. For that, and for their general work ethic and insatiable enthusiasm, I thank them,” Mr Lister added.

Drama has undergone a resurgence at QE in recent years, and the School is currently raising funds to create The Robert Dudley Studio – a facility devoted to drama and the spoken word.

Many of the cast spoke of how much they enjoyed taking part in the production.

Year 11 pupil Saim Khan, in the title role, said: “Playing the hardened political genius that is Julius Caesar was a very different experience to previous roles that I’ve done and a great opportunity to try something completely new.”

Year 10’s Simi Bloom, who played Flavius, a Roman tribune (a representative elected by the people), said: “Learning how to incorporate the modern world into a centuries-old story has been really fun and interesting, especially drawing parallels between prominent figures or systems of today and those of the Roman Empire.”

Year 11 actor Uday Dash said: “I had to adapt and build Cassius into a manipulative, calculating character, which was both a challenge and a unique experience.”

Riann Mehta, of Year 12, who played Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, said: “It has been extremely pleasant to explore a female character by stepping out of gendered expectations. Embracing feminine stereotypes has been a major development in my theatrical presentation and has been a vastly entertaining experience.”

The play was one of the highlights of the Shakespeare and Latin Festival.

The festival programme also included a very well attended lecture on Decadence in New York and Ancient Rome for senior Latinists and English Literature GCSE and A-level students given by Dr Emily Pillinger, Senior Lecturer in Latin Language and Literature at King’s College London and a talk from UCL Professor of Latin Gesine Manuwald, who explored the real-life characters of Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and Cicero.

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter said: “Dr Pillinger drew out the links between Baz Luhrmann’s film of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s novel and the ancient Latin text, The Feast of Trimalchio.”

“Both academics were hugely impressed by how engaged and knowledgeable our young classicists are.”

The festival was one of a number being held at QE allowing teachers and boys to take time to celebrate a subject beyond the classroom. “Our staff are passionate advocates for the broader-world impact of their disciplines,” said Mr Bonham-Carter.