Letter from the Headmaster

The Great British QE Showstopper Sponsored Bake Off 2021: get busy baking and then send us your photos for Mel to judge

QE proudly presents The Great British QE Showstopper Sponsored Bake Off 2021, hosted by Mel Giedroyc, former co-host of The Great British Bake Off on BBC TV. Look out for her contribution to tomorrow’s Founder’s Day main broadcast at noon. Budding bakers of all ages, from beginners to experts, are invited to get to work in their kitchen this weekend and make a Showstopper bake. That can be anything, from a truly scrumptious cake, to breathtakingly good bread or a simply brilliant biscuit. And, with fundraising focused this year on equipping the new Music School, bakes with a musical and/or a QE theme will gain extra credit.

Once your bake is ready, take some photos and send them to news@qebarnet.co.uk for Mel to judge. If you are posting to social media, remember to include the @qebarnet1573 tag. And if you cannot do your baking on Founder’s Day itself, don’t worry, you can produce your Showstopper Bake at any time over the whole weekend.

Introducing QE Collections

The School is delighted to announce the launch of QE Collections, an online treasure trove of historic material relating to the School and the local area that is now freely available to all. The launch follows a major project involving the digitisation of the School’s archives and several other collections.

As part of the launch celebrations, a number of Old Elizabethans and other VIP guests took part in a ‘town hall’ event hosted this week by the Headmaster and Surya Bowyer, QE’s Head of Library Services and Curator of Collections. As this week’s news story explains, QE Collections has been made possible through a very generous bequest by former School Captain Richard Newton (OE 1956–64), who passed away in February.

The definitive history of QE: coming soon!

A new book by former Headmaster John Marincowitz (1999–2011) sets out the history of Queen Elizabeth’s School from its foundation in 1573 through to the present day. The culmination of extensive research by Dr Marincowitz, this definitive history is being published to coincide with QE’s 450th anniversary celebrations in 2023, and the School is offering an opportunity to pre-order a copy now through the School Shop.

Spice of life: FQE’s online fundraising fun

The FQE Parent Ambassadors are planning two special online events to raise money towards the £20,000 Founder’s Day fundraising target. First, at 7pm on Saturday 26th June, is the Bingo Night. Join the fun with a donation of £10 for four tickets, or £20 for ten.

Then Saturday 10th July brings a Night of Variety – an evening’s virtual entertainment starting at 6.30pm featuring performances, interactive quizzes, a lucky dip and a game of Catch Phrase. There is also a live auction, where the prizes include the exclusive opportunity to spend an afternoon with Mel Giedroyc, celebrity host of our Great British QE Showstopper Sponsored Bake Off 2021. The ambassadors are also appealing for other prizes: to donate an item or experience, click on ‘Donate item’ on the Givergy website. Tickets for the Night of Variety are priced at a minimum donation of £15 per family. (Pictured: the winning team from a previous FQE fundraising quiz.)

Please support our supporters!

We invite all in the Elizabethan community to take a moment to browse our Founder’s Day Sponsors and Supporters Brochure. Our thanks go to all who have purchased advertising space. Please consider backing businesses that have generously supported Founder’s Day 2021 in this way.

‘Negotiating the tensions’: Anthony on identity

The past year will be remembered not only for the Covid-19 pandemic, but also for the way in which questions of identity have come to the fore through international social movements and protests.

QE’s poet-in-residence, Anthony Anaxagorou (OE 1994–1999), explores these issues in his critically acclaimed work. In a special recording for Founder’s Day, he has shared his poem, A Line of Simple Inquiry, from his latest collection, After the Formalities. Anthony continues to work with boys at the School through his poetry workshops.

QE’s free-thinking scholarship for all to see on TEDx

Coming soon! The TEDx conference at QE took place successfully this week and editing is now complete. Featuring contributions on subjects of academic interest from a number of the boys, the specially licensed TEDx event was produced entirely in-house. It has given pupils the opportunity to demonstrate high-level thinking while also practising public-speaking skills, in line with the TED philosophy of giving a wide audience to ‘ideas worth spreading’. The recordings are (still) being processed by TEDx and will be shared with everyone next week.