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Two Year 12 students became ambassadors for the School by participating in the Lessons from Auschwitz project. Kane Evans and Makoto Takahashi flew to Krakow and visited the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) before moving on to the site of the Nazi death camp. The project aims to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust.

“Going to Auschwitz was a moving experience and impressed on me the potential consequences of apathy,” said Makoto. “The memory of visiting a place that experienced such widespread hatred and death will surely be one that I retain forever,” added Kane.

The project encourages the Ambassadors to return to their schools to lead assemblies on the dangers of racial hatred and xenophobia.

Award-winning author, Sophie McKenzie, came into School to talk to Year 8 boys about her novels ‘Girl’, ‘Missing’ and ‘Blood Ties’ as well as discussing her new book series The Medusa Project. The comic writer, David Smith, also visited QE. He talked to Year 9 boys about his life as a freelance stand-up writer. His work has appeared on Radio 4’s Home Truths and in The Sunday Times.

The end-of-year show featured outstanding work by QE artists – with newly acquired frames to display it. Selected Sixth-Formers have continued with the Royal Academy’s Attract programme. Makoto Takahashi, Benedict Douglas-Scott and Gideon Levitt had work selected for inclusion in the School Artists Portfolio published by School Artist – Express Yourself.

Queen Elizabeth’s School’s new Eric Shearly Memorial Hall has been formally opened by Diane Mason, Secretary of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s.

Mrs Mason, an FQE stalwart and steadfast supporter of the School over many years, unveiled a commemorative plaque at an official opening ceremony preceding QE’s annual Christmas Concert.

The hall is named after Eric Shearly (1920-2005), a former pupil and master who dedicated 76 years to QE and in doing so became a great figure in the life of the School.

Its completion marks a significant milestone in the development of Queen Elizabeth’s School: a majority of the pupils – some 850 boys – can now be assembled; the hall has allowed the introduction of table tennis and badminton to the curriculum; it houses the School Shop and 250 boys can take examinations there. Importantly, with good acoustics integral to the design, the hall is an impressive venue for concerts and recording sessions, further strengthening QE’s reputation as a specialist Music College.

However, it is significant for another reason too: the tremendous generosity that made it a reality. The £6.5m total cost of building the Shearly Hall and the Martin Swimming Pool was met entirely through the fund-raising of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s (FQE), the donations of Old Elizabethans and, most of all, the regular giving of parents through the Covenant Scheme, overseen by the FQE Trustees.

In his welcome, the Headmaster, John Marincowitz, compared this achievement with President Kennedy’s announcement in 1961 that the United States were going to put a man the on moon, “not because it was an easy thing to do but because it was a hard thing to do, and doing hard things makes you better”.

“Fittingly this Hall is dedicated to the memory of Eric Shearly and of the many other Old Elizabethans who have given selflessly to their country and to this school. This splendid facility will have a truly beneficial impact on the education of our boys,” said Dr Marincowitz.

In addition to Dr Marincowitz and Mrs Mason, the audience were addressed by Ken Cooper, Chairman of the Old Elizabethans, who attended the School from 1942-50, and the Deputy Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Hugh Raynor.

The Chairman of Governors Barrie Martin added: “Our new multi-purpose hall is a wonderful addition to the facilities that have been made possible over the past few years by the covenants and fundraising activities of our parents to the Friends. It is a joy to show it to visitors.”

Guests at the ceremony included Jodi Sweeney from Boston, Massachusetts, who is Vice President for Market Solutions of Avid, the company whose sponsorship gave the School Music Technology equipment worth more than £10,000. QE is Avid’s Beacon School for Europe, it has been announced.

• Immediately after the opening, the Christmas Concert took place. The concert is by tradition a fund-raising event for the Rotary Club of Barnet. The School’s musicians were joined by Barnet Choral Society for the traditional singing of the Old Hundredth. Ensembles performing included the Concert Band, Senior String Orchestra, Camerata, Senior Indian Music Ensemble and Bollywood Orchestra. It finished with carol-singing with the Symphony Orchestra and Massed Choirs.

To view these photographs, click on one of the thumbnails to start a slideshow.

Sixth-former Ariel Weiss has been awarded a certificate of distinction in a competition for the country’s top young mathematicians.

The certificates are given to the top 25% of entries in the first round of the Senior UK Maths Olympiad, which is organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT). There were 1,309 entrants this year. Most participants in this round are selected to take part having first achieved success in the UK Senior Mathematics Challenge, also organised by the UKMT.

QE’s Head of Mathematics, Gee Scarisbrick, said: “This is a considerable achievement by Ariel, who has been offered a place to read Mathematics at Queens’ College, Cambridge.”

Three QE pupils have won a national competition which aimed to find the country’s brightest young businesspeople and entrepreneurs.

Step into Business is a new competition launched last June by the b-live Foundation and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). It was designed to build key employability skills.

Jaymin Thakrar, Akash Gandhi and Kapish Dave from Queen Elizabeth’s School have been named winners in the Years 10-11 category. A total of 159 schools nationwide entered the competition at this age group and in the Years 12-13 category, with 3,250 individual pupils taking part in the Step into Business lesson plan.

Step into Business was delivered as part of the Business Studies curriculum. It placed participants in the position of would-be investor – much like the ‘dragons’ in the successful BBC series Dragons’ Den. Teams were shown three new product ideas and given an imaginary £50,000 to invest in the one they considered most likely to succeed at market.

Through analysing each of the products’ financial viability and marketability, students were able to exercise key Business Studies skills including numeracy, literacy, teamwork, reflective learning, decision-making and leadership.

Tanja Kuveljic, Managing Director of the b-live Foundation, added: “The Step into Business initiative is an example of how we join up relevant organisations who are committed to supporting young people, education and schools to provide a curriculum-based exercise which helps schools to reach their attainment targets but also develops the employability of young people.”