Victory! QE triumph in competition debut

QE has won the regional heat of an international children’s literature competition in the School’s first-ever year of entry.

Four Lower School boys successfully fought off challenges from the host school and from a previous national winner.

Siddhant Kansal and Lev Shafran, of Year 7, and Aadam Choudhary and Desh Ganeshamoorthy, of Year 8, lifted the trophy after a close-fought battle in the North West London Heat of the Kids’ Lit Quiz: it ended with just half a point between them and their closest competitors, the team from Arnold House, the school where the heat was being held.

They comprised Team 1, who were one of two QE teams in the competition. They were battling against 16 other teams from schools across North London, including City of London School for Girls, which has won the round for the last four years and was national champion in 2013.

Librarian Ciara Murray, who had prepared the teams, said: “To win the first time we’d entered the competition was just brilliant. Their energy was fantastic, I could see them all conferring busily after each question and there were some educated guesses that made all the difference!”

Team 1 member Desh said: “It wasn’t until we had a couple of really good rounds towards the end that I started to think we could actually win.” His teammate Siddhant added: “The five minutes that we spent waiting for the result to be announced were so nerve-racking!”

The Kids’ Lit Quiz competition first started in 1991 and has spread across the world, with national competitions held annually in the USA, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the UK. The competition is principally about celebrating young readers aged 10-13, enabling them to show off their book knowledge and compete for great prizes.

The North London heat featured ten themed rounds of ten questions each, and the boys scored particularly highly on both the Wings and Wizards rounds, with judicious use of their joker to double their points at a crucial time.

Participants also had the chance to square off against other competitors to win books and cash prizes. Lev Shafran came away with the biggest haul for his lightning-quick answers, and even teacher Geraldine Booth, who came to support the boys, walked away with a prize for her knowledge of Sebastian Faulks’ novels.

The regional heat victory gave Team 1 a place in the national final at Oxford, which included a celebration tea for all participants.

Ms Murray also congratulated Team 2 “for their valiant attempt and their committed involvement in the preparations”.