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Leicester House is in fresh hands, with an entirely new team in charge. Jin-Xi Yuan has taken over as Captain and Amit Desai as his Deputy.

The new Captain has already earned plaudits from QE’s 2009 Head Boy, Matteo Yoon, who said: “Jin-Xi is the man to take Leicester forward.”

It is hoped that the new team will bring more energy, giving Leicester a new vision and spurring it on in its efforts to win the 2010 House Cup.

Queen Elizabeth’s School was founded in 1573 by Queen Elizabeth I after she was petitioned by Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. The School named a house after the earl and it was thus one of QE’s first three houses.

Leicester House is now looking forward to its forthcoming charity event, Ultimate Frisbee.

Members of the Years 7 & 8 lunchtime Geoexplorers Club had great fun and gained valuable knowledge through their volcano project this term.

The boys learned about how volcanoes are formed and why they erupt. They then designed and constructed their own in 3D using papier maché. They used vinegar and baking powder, mixed with red food dye, to cause their models to simulate eruptions and molten lava. Stick men had been placed in the village at the bottom of the model volcanoes: their extinction brought to life the disastrous impact of a volcano on its local environment. The boys agreed that the highlight was seeing their teacher, Geraldine Booth, covered in lava (red food colouring) after one particularly spectacular volcanic eruption.

As a specialist Music College QE is able to allocate up to 20 Year 7 places on the basis of ability in Music. This term began with 113 new-intake auditions over four days.

Other musical highlights of a busy term included the Year 7 Music Scholarship Competition Evening, with 11 boys delivering an eclectic programme that ranged from Brahms and Vivaldi to works by carnatic music composer Saint Thyegerajah Swami.

The Junior Mid Winter Concert for boys in Years 10 and below provided a showcase for the Junior String Orchestra, the Lower School Choir and the Training Band. Again, the programme was varied, with, for example, the Training Band’s rendition of The Elephant Song from Disney’s Jungle Book juxtaposed with an Indian flute solo, which was in turn preceded by Mozart’s Molto Allegro from Sonata in C Minor.

Later in the term, the School’s String Quartet was invited to perform at an event hosted by Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. The event in the splendour of Lancaster House in the West End was held to celebrate the work of the Learning and Skills Council.

Year 12 boys had the opportunity to try out their skills in a driving simulator following a talk by Andy Milne, of the Red Driving School, who trains driving instructors.

He spoke to the boys about the responsibilities and risks involved in driving, outlining the consequences of over-confidence and poor driving standards.

Year 11 boy Bami Falana is now representing London and South East England in U16 rugby.

His selection represents a great achievement by Bami, a member of Underne House, who is the first QE boy to reach this U16 squad for several years.

He was involved in a key moment in his first game, against a North of England team, making a try-saving tackle on the opposition’s huge number 8 inside his own 5m line.

In his second game, which was against Portugal, he was selected to play as number 11.

Liberal Democrat Kishan Parshotham emerged victorious in the Mock Election at QE after a well fought contest.

Kishan had more first preferences – 34% – than any of the other five candidates and would have been the victor under the First Past The Post (FPTP) system. However, QE adopted the Alternative Vote (AV) system and, since 34% was less than the outright majority required to give him instant victory under AV rules, the second, third and other preferences of lower-ranked candidates were considered until one candidate had more than 50% support. This eventually produced a victory again for Kishan in a run-off against the Labour candidate, Tommy Peto.

The Mock Election attracted wide interest not only from the Sixth Form but also from boys lower down the school. Turn-out was 44%.

To represent their chosen party, boys had to secure five nominees. They then decided on a manifesto and spent time garnering support from all year groups.

The candidates were: Matthew Barrett (Conservative), Tommy Peto (Labour), Kishan Parshotam (Liberal Democrat), Makoto Takahashi (Green Party) and Guy Emanuel (UK Independence Party). David Parkinson was an independent candidate, running for the Independent Left party.

In the run-up to the Mock Election, teacher John Varndell arranged an opinion poll with the help of his form 8S and Politics Club. This poll showed not only the party that the Lower School boys wanted to win – Liberal Democrats, with the Independent and Conservative candidates coming out on top with the older years – but also which policy areas helped them to that choice. In addition, the poll also showed who would have won under the FPTP system and who under the AV system. The AV system is considered by the Electoral Reform Society to be the best voting system when a single position is being elected.

Teacher Helen MacGregor said: “Question time with all six candidates was held a week before polling day. There some excellent points and high-quality debate among the candidates, as well as some good questions from the floor.”

Voting took place on Wednesday 5th May, with the results declared the following day to coincide with the General Election.