QEGS Savilian Magazine 2020/2021

THE SAVILIAN

THE MAGAZINE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH GRAMMAR SCHOOL WAKEFIELD 2020

C E L E B R AT I N G S U C C E S S

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01 Introduction 02 QEGS At Home 03 Subjects Art Photography Design & Technology Biology Business and Economics Chemistry Classics Computer Science Drama English Geography History Mathematics Modern Foreign Languages Music Plays Writing PE and Sport Religion, Philosophy & Ethics Science 04 Sports Reports 05 Events 06 QEGSetera

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01 INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS

144 148 150 152 153 155 158 162 186 188 190 192 208 248

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Introducing the New Head: Dr Brookes The Savilian Magazine, running since the 19th Century, is our school’s oldest and most prominent magazine, withstanding the many tests and vagaries of time.

Hitherto, it has only focused on the Senior section of the school, highlighting its many successes and accolades.

However, this year, to mark the integration of both the Junior and Senior sections of QEGS into a single institution, headed by our new Head, Dr Brookes, who will be ably supported by Mr Thompson from the Junior School, the first-ever ‘joint’ edition of the magazine has been released. It will cover the events and achievements of the whole school under its new framework and will be just one of the many exciting changes our school has undergone over the past year.

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1 Where did you grow up, and what were you doing before coming to QEGS?

New Head – Dr Brookes

I grew up just west of Birmingham. I attended my local primary school, then went to a school very similar to QEGS called King Edward’s School. After completing my A-levels, I went on to study Chemistry at Oxford University (Worcester College) and also gained my DPhil there (in Theoretical Chemistry – Computer Simulation of Network Liquids). The first school I worked at was Whitgift School in Croydon, and, after a short while, I returned to King Edward’s as the Head of Chemistry, where I had to oversee the very teacher who had taught me A-level Chemistry! Continuing my teaching journey, I then became part of the Senior Management Team at Tonbridge School in Kent, and my last role before coming to QEGS was as the Senior Deputy Head of City of London School. There, I was, for a while, also Interim Head – it was a role I very much enjoyed, partly informing my decision to assume the same position at QEGS.

2 Why did you decide to come to QEGS? QEGS struck me as a setting I would be familiar with, having already worked at many independent boys’ schools, so the opportunity to work here was immediately of interest. I was also drawn to the school’s academic ambition and determination to help each boy make progress, complemented with the plethora of co-curricular activities available to partake in; QED, music and sport being just a few examples. Moreover, the interconnected nature of the whole Foundation, and the opportunity to work alongside the Junior Section and the Girls’ High School, was also one of the factors which made working at QEGS, and its larger community, a very enticing prospect.

On a personal level, my wife (Emma) and I also wanted a change from the heavily urban London environment to enjoy the scenic beauty of the Moors and the Dales, or even just to explore the countryside around Wakefield. Excursions to the Lake District and the Peak District are also more viable since they are no longer on the other side of the country!

3 What are your first impressions of QEGS – the students, the staff, the community as a whole?

One of the first things I immediately noticed about QEGS was the warm and welcoming nature of the whole community; the staff, the boys, the parents, the governors. I was also very excited to see the buzz of activity around school since the start of term as COVID restrictions have been eased. Particularly noticeable was the boys’ renewed enthusiasm as they were finally able to start playing team sports like rugby again and interact with different year groups through QED, instead of being ‘bubbled’ into separate year groups. For me, this has formed a very positive and exciting atmosphere around QEGS. Yet, what struck me the most was the humble and downto-earth nature of the students. I remember asking a Year 7 pupil about what to talk about in my address to prospective parents on Open Morning, and he simply told me to state that QEGS students are ‘ordinary’, by which he meant down-to-earth, grounded, not posh. Perfectly encapsulating my initial impressions of the school, this mindset within the pupils confirmed QEGS’ position as a unique and remarkable institution.

4 What is your own favourite school memory?

I have two memories that I remember fondly from my time at school. Firstly, although I only started playing rugby in Year 10, and it was not until Year 11 that I was selected for a school team, I managed to represent the School 2nd XV. But a major contribution had to wait until our very last game, where, in the dying moments of the match, I managed to score my first ever try for the school.

Another favourite memory came from the Senior House Athletics Competition when, being the”supreme athlete” I was, I managed to cruise to an easy victory in the 110m hurdles race. But what you will never hear me say is that I only won because my best friend, also part of the race and leading by about 10 metres, crashed into one of the hurdles just before the finish line, allowing me to cling on for the win.

It is memories like these that remind me just how important the co-curricular life of the school is, as it is through those activities that friendships are formed – these memories are as much about playing sport with my friends as they are about my own achievements.

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INTRODUCTION

Dr Brookes

Dr Brookes

5 What do you think has been your greatest personal achievement, both as a student and as an adult?

A very proud moment for me during my time in school was finishing 5th in the country in the Chemistry Olympiad competition.

This meant that I was the reserve member of the national team and would have been able to represent the UK in the International Chemistry Olympiad, which took place in Norway that year, had one of the top four been unable to attend. It wasn’t to be, however, but at least the absence of a trip to Norway meant I was able to attend my school’s Sports Day (at which I managed to win the hurdles race mentioned before).

As for my adult life, it has been full of fond memories and great achievements. Yet nothing comes close to meeting my wife and being able to start a beautiful family.

6 What advice would you give to students, after having gone through such an unprecedented experience (the pandemic), to stay motivated and committed to lessons?

The pandemic has stripped away many of the norms that I know most students depend upon. I, too, have felt the pressures of the uncertainty and doubt that COVID has brought, forcing us to continue without being able to rely upon a fixed schedule or plan.

Nobody knows what the next few months could bring, so I would advise students to focus on the present rather than worrying about things beyond their control. This includes trying your best in every lesson or piece of work you have been assigned and not seeking to save up your full potential until an exam period that may never arrive. Don’t view any activity you partake in solely as a stepping stone or a lead up to a future event. We cannot change the past and we cannot fully predict the future, but if you take each lesson and activity as it comes and try your best, then I hope you will find some stability and motivation in these turbulent times.

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9 Who inspired you growing up, and who do you currently look up to?

Throughout my childhood, my mum was my biggest inspiration and role model. She was always there for me and supported me through some very challenging times, not least through my parents’ divorce and later her serious illness.

When I reached secondary school, one teacher stood out to me more than any other. Notwithstanding the great personalities that my Chemistry and Maths teachers were, Dr Hosty, the Head of English at my school, was the most inspiring and memorable. I was never a fan of English, but he somehow managed to make it click; all the essays we had to write, the books we had to read, the poetry we had to decipher, were made to seem worthwhile and, even, enjoyable (I vividly remember one 40 minute lesson just discussing alternatives to using the word ‘nice’ when describing things).

More recently, I have also been inspired by some of the other Headmasters I have had a chance to work alongside. In particular, the Headmasters during my time at King Edward’s School and Tonbridge School both shared a passion for looking after pupils and pushing them to be the best version of themselves and to reach their full potential; but doing so with humanity and compassion too.

Moving forward, during my time at QEGS, I will try to mirror these qualities, hoping they will help our pupils grow and succeed too.

10 What are you looking forward to most about being an adopted Yorkshireman?

I am already settling into my new environment and am already a proud owner of a flat cap (although I haven’t yet managed to acquire a dog – everyone seems to have one!). Most of all, I am looking forward to spending time with some genuinely down-to-earth people, far from the ‘London politics’ I have previously experienced. And I look forward to escaping from London’s ceaseless commotion and hubbub and enjoying the beauty and tranquillity of the natural wonders in this part of the country.

7 In your opinion, what will be the benefits of the recently introduced House system for the Senior School?

I think that the house system will bring a wide range of benefits to the school. Not only will boys have a greater chance to participate, through house events and competitions, than they might have had as one of a select few representing the whole school, but it will allow students to develop key skills which will be useful in later life as well. This includes leadership and organisational skills accessible to the whole school – from the House Captains in the lower years to the Heads of House in the Sixth Form, everyone has a chance to benefit. It would also be possible to motivate and inspire other pupils, promoting teamwork to ensure that your house wins.

Most importantly, however, having a house system will allow pupils to have a lot of fun. The friendly (and sometimes more passionate) competition during the various events will also perhaps lead to some great memories and experiences, like some of mine already mentioned, which will stay with pupils long after they have left school.

8 What are your hobbies and interests outside of school? (do you have a secret talent?)

In my spare time, I love to walk and cycle and will definitely try to make the most of the opportunities I get to explore the beautiful local region. However, now having a fifteen-month-old daughter, Lucy, I have to say that these opportunities will probably be fewer and further between.

I have recently shifted my focus more towards reading. I enjoy detective and crime-related stories and novels; my all-time favourite has to be Inspector Morse, with Jack Reacher not too far behind. I am currently catching up on Inspector Rebus. Sherlock Holmes is also on the list, as it’s where this interest started, although I do prefer the Benedict Cumberbatch TV series to the Robert Downey Jr films.

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Introducing Mr Thompson

1 When did you start working at QEGS and what do you remember about your first day at work in the school?

I joined QEGS in September 2009 after teaching in a village primary school near York. My first role was as a Year 4 class teacher with responsibility for chess in the Junior Section. It is fair to say that, although I understood chess, I was by no means a ‘Grand Master’ so there was some quick learning to be done ahead of organising the HMC Chess event which QEGS hosts each year. There are two things I remember most vividly from my first day at QEGS. Firstly, how different it was from the school I had been used to in terms of size, facilities and organisation – I felt incredibly excited about being involved in the many large events that were hosted/attended by the school. Secondly, I distinctly remember arriving at 6.30am on my first day to ensure I wasn’t late after Mrs Gray told me the story of a previous new teacher who had arrived late on the first day and never lived it down!

2 What is your most cherished memory from your time, so far, in the Junior section?

Difficult question, but up there has to be my 2012 trip to the National Schools Rugby Tournament at Epsom when my team of Year 3 ‘Tag Rugby Titans’ became joint National Champions after playing through freezing rain, sleet and snow to tie in the final. I was so proud of the way the boys showed true QEGS grit and battled-on, despite barely being able to feel their arms, let alone their fingers. The team photo from this day is still displayed in my office... much to the embarrassment of those boys who are now in Year 13!

3 And, any embarrassing ones?

This is perhaps a little easier to answer and is a story which Mrs Gray relished telling during a recent Speech Day. Imagine the scene, the school inspectors have been in for a day and a half and it’s lunchtime. Things seem to be going well and there is not much of the inspection left so we are all feeling a little jaded yet encouraged that it will all soon be over. I hurried into the dining room, no doubt after just delivering another excellent lesson(!), and proudly said, “It’s ok, you can relax, I’ve seen them all going into the Governor’s Office for their lunch.” I thought being the bearer of this good news would earn me a few thank yous and pats on the back but, no, everyone just kept their heads down eating their lunch. Slightly annoyed, I piped-up again, louder this time... ”I said, they’ve all gone off so there’s no need to be on your best behaviour.” Still nothing. I turned to Mr Coughlan who was sat next to me and he looked up at me slowly over the rim of his glasses then nodded his head sideways to his right... I looked to his right, and felt a sudden overwhelming heat course through my body as, of course, the Lead Inspector was sat right there, kindly ignoring my comment and gracefully sipping his soup. Not my finest hour, but it certainly gave everyone some light relief when the story was relayed in the staff room at the end of the day!

4 Which features of the Junior school do you love the most?

I really love the sense of positivity and fun that there is around the place. I noticed this from the first day I arrived at the school and I am pleased to say that it has continued. The boys, and indeed staff, all seem to be enjoying themselves and I think learning is much more pleasurable and memorable as a result. There is a great team-spirit and people are proud to be here. I love the events that happen in the school, from the trips, residentials, and fixtures to the charity days and more formal occasions like Speech Day and the Carol Service, they make the school a very special place. I have to say that I also very much enjoy the chats over a hot chocolate that I have in my office with boys who have achieved something significant that week, and getting stuck in with a playground cricket match is also a very pleasant way to spend a lunch duty!

5 What, in your opinion, has been your greatest achievement at QEGS? Something I am particularly proud of is the establishment of our Forest School programme. This all began with me undertaking a 2 week course, (which turned out to be much more gruelling than I expected) to learn the theory, philosophy and techniques involved in the delivery of Forest School. We developed the ‘Owl’s Den’ outdoor learning area, had regular visits to a local woodland and even built the ‘Owl’s Nest’ outdoor learning room. Forest School is a fantastic way to learn and a vital method through which children can connect with the natural world and develop key ‘soft skills’, such as communication, collaboration, empathy and how to care for their own mental health, all of which are particularly important in the current times.

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6 Who or what has been your greatest source of inspiration growing up and as an adult?

It sounds simple to say but it would genuinely be my parents who were my greatest source of inspiration growing up. They were always active and had a can-do attitude, unafraid to take on challenges. My dad can pretty much turn his hand to anything: he designed and built our family home from scratch, converting it to a B&B when us children flew the nest and he is a musician and proudly tells me how he played the same venues as Jimi Hendrix and Rod Stewart (regularly proving more popular than the main act... or so he says). My mum had boundless energy and, as well as working and volunteering, somehow found the time to keep three somewhat unruly children on the straight and narrow. They really are great role-models and I like to think that some of their skills and attitude rubbed off on me.

Another source of inspiration has to be Sir David Attenborough for all of the amazing work he has done throughout his life in raising awareness of the natural world and the challenges we all face. On a recent Charity Day, with the theme of ‘Inspirational People’, I came dressed as Sir David, and was heartened to see a good number of boys also chose this remarkable person as their inspiration.

7 What are your hobbies and interests outside of school (do you have a secret talent)?

I play the guitar and keyboards and have always enjoyed being in bands/groups and interacting musically with other people. In terms of a secret talent, I have tried to keep it secret but it did somehow escape that I play the accordion and Mr Cheffins latched onto this by strongarming me into the role of ‘Parisian Cafe Accordionist’ in one of the recent Y6 Productions. I enjoy sport and play cricket in the Nidderdale League. I also try to keep up a regular 5-a-side football spot, ankles and knees permitting. I very much like spending time outdoors: walking, cycling, camping, wild swimming and gardening are all things that I find relaxing and help me to reset after a busy week.

8 What do you think will be the benefits of the transition into a new, joint school structure?

I am very excited about the Junior and Senior Sections coming together as we transition to a through-school. The sharing of staff and facilities has already given many benefits through building an understanding of the relative curricula and priorities for the different age ranges. It has been great to see the specialist staff from the Senior Section enthusing and inspiring our Junior boys in lessons and around school, and we have had many fruitful discussions about the benefits to students’ learning that can come from seeing the ‘whole picture’ in terms of an individualised 7-18 education. The house system becoming a huge part of life in the Senior Section has also been very pleasing to see as our boys are able to continue their passion for their house and maintain that positive competitive spirit, based around teamwork and a shared goal. We speak to the boys a lot about the importance of learning from each other and the opportunity to share expertise between staff from the different school sections will be hugely beneficial.

9 Is there anything you will miss from the older school system?

I have thought about this for some time and I can’t really think of any drawbacks or things that I will miss. There is always some uncertainty when things change and there are new routines to embed and relationships to develop, but it is very exciting to see the opportunities that are created by this system and the learning that can come as a result.

10 What are you most looking forward to when working with the new headmaster and being in charge of the Junior section?

I have formed a very good working relationship with Dr Brookes (I hope he agrees!) and I am looking forward to shaping the throughschool experience for our boys to make their education the very best it can be. There is a lot of work going on in looking at our curriculum as a whole and I am looking forward to seeing this develop. Having spent all of my educational career working with children between the ages of 4-11, learning more about the Senior Section is something I am looking forward to and being able to closely follow students’ paths through the school will be rewarding. I consider myself very fortunate to be in the position to be able to continue the excellent work that has been going on in the Junior Section for many years and I am looking forward to leading our fantastic staff to take the school forward into this new phase. Oh, and having a very smart office is also a perk!

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome from the Director of Junior Section

What a year it has been! We’ve had last-minute-lockdowns, classes being taught with half of the boys at home and half in the classroom, and a learning curve for staff that was steeper than the North face of the Eiger! But we got through it relatively unscathed (albeit with quite a few more grey hairs) and learned a huge amount in the process. The pandemic has undoubtedly made these very challenging times but one thing that it has confirmed to me is how lucky we are to be part of such a strong QEGS family and I am hugely grateful to you, parents, for your support and positive messages throughout the year. I made a point of reading these messages out to the staff and they really kept us going during lockdown and during our Friday afternoon staff briefings (perhaps when motivation was dwindling slightly as we were all hunched over our chromebooks for the 40th hour that week). It was great to be able to end the week on a positive note. Restrictions have meant that we have been unable to run many of our special events this year, or we have had to adapt them to suit the current situation. The result is that certain sections will be somewhat reduced this year but there is still plenty to look back on with fondness and it is important to mark this historic period.

To mark the establishment of QEGS as a through-school, this year we have combined the Junior and Senior magazines to form one publication. We are incredibly excited by the opportunities becoming a through-school will bring and I look forward to seeing the many developments and initiatives come together as we begin the 2021-22 academic year.

2020-21 certainly was an academic year like no other I can remember, starting in early August with planning for a new way of working. This included: working in bubbles, staggered start/ end times, cleaning, wiping, leaving fallow, distancing, and all the other considerations from the schools’ guidance. Parents, I’m sure you fondly remember the long and rambling letter with all the various details! When we devised the new timetable – we called it ‘Covid considerations for autumn term’...little did we know it would last all year!

Bubbles went home and teachers were delivering lessons with half the class in the room and half at home. Some staff had to isolate and beamed in lessons from the living room to an audience initially more interested in the picture in the background and how long and unruly their teacher’s hair had got, than the content of the lesson. Halfway through the term, we changed from year group bubbles to class bubbles in order to get through to Christmas.

We enjoyed a wonderful Charity Day, raising enough money for a Variety Minibus; ran Founders’ Day with a speech from our very own Mr Darnton; had our first virtual parents’ evenings and a virtual Christmas Carol service too. And, of course, the term ended with Mrs Gray retiring (more about that later).

As the spring term began, I took over the day-to-day running of the Juniors, only to find out on the day before INSET Day that we are being plunged back into lockdown...Mrs Gray always did have an uncanny knack of predicting the future and impeccable timing!

We carried on, got the remote learning up and running as quickly as possible, and worked hard on enriching and developing the provision, acting on the very useful feedback from parents.

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We held theme days on a number of topics (Nature, Mental Health, World Book Day), and tried hard to keep adding-to and developing our provision to keep things as interesting as possible.

The positive messages we received from parents really helped and I would like to say a huge thank you for these – I shared these with staff during our weekly briefings and they were a huge boost at the end of a challenging week. We returned to school on the 8th March and, it’s probably fair to say, somewhat dragged ourselves through the 3 weeks to Easter.

The better weather and steady relaxing of restrictions in the summer term meant that we could engage in more activities and being able to restart inter house competitions was great – it gave a focus, something to look forward to and a way to share success and enjoyment as a team.

Sports Day was as competitive as ever and it was great to see so many staff from the Senior Section out to cheer-on their house. At this point I would like to mention a couple of notable achievements from Sports Day. Nathan Banda broke the Y3 50m record, only the second school athletics record I have seen beaten in my time at QEGS so very well done, Nathan. Joshua Akintolu gave another outstanding all-round performance and once again won the Victor Ludorum, meaning that he has achieved this accolade in every year of the Juniors.

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pushed out of your comfort zone and achieving things you might not have thought possible the year before. But it is also important to acknowledge that it has been hard, at times very hard, and we should not feel bad, or that we’ve been weak, to feel that, at times, it’s all got a bit on top of us and a challenge to bear. Boys, give yourselves a pat on the back for getting through this year and for the knowledge that you will come out stronger for your experience.

I am so thankful to be part of such a supportive and caring school community and, as the cover of this year’s Speech Day programme said, ‘thank you everyone’ for helping us not only get through this year but achieve a great deal in the process.

As I read through the Y6 Memories Book entries, it was unsurprising to see that lots of the funny moments and ‘what I will miss about Junior School’ comments featured Mrs Gray. In a year of change, this is probably the biggest change felt by the boys. A force of nature, Mrs Gray is certainly missed by all of us and when planning her leaving day (well, it was more of a leaving 18 months really after her ‘roadmap to retirement’ was subject to a number of ‘extensions’) it was wonderful to look back on all of the developments that happened at the Junior School under Mrs Gray’s leadership and all of the fun that was had, often at my expense!

I’d like to finish with some more thank yous. Thank you to our wonderful parents who have supported us through these turbulent times. Thank you to the staff for their unwavering effort, positivity, willingness to learn new skills and go the extra mile to make this as positive an experience as possible. Thank you to the governors and the wider Foundation staff for their support, encouragement and for keeping things running amidst all the craziness. Thank you to our amazing and inspirational boys for being your enthusiastic, energetic and always interesting selves.

You are what makes QEGS the very special place it is and what makes me love the place so much.

Floreas Wakefieldia.

Richard Thompson - Director of Junior Section

Many plans went by the wayside but, again, we found different ways of doing things which taught us a great deal. The year was rounded off with a very different Speech Day, being beamed live to families at home who we sadly could not invite into school to share the event with us. It was wonderful to be able to continue this tradition and be able to celebrate the fantastic achievements of our boys during what was a very challenging year for them.

In summary, it was certainly a year of change but also, most definitely a year of learning.

It is important to acknowledge the learning and skills that have been built up through necessity over the past year, the resilience, independence, creativity and the strength that comes from being

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Staff Leavers

David Craig

My first memory of David Craig was when Les Hallwood and I sat down over a brew to discuss the short list of candidates who we had just interviewed in 2009, all of whom had applied for the post of Headmaster. We were running through what we thought were the likely signs of a strong candidate for Head. David was our favourite of the 4 candidates and after what seemed like an age, his appointment was confirmed. At that time, I was acting Deputy, and this is where David made his first major error in somehow locating Luke Francis in a new promoted post “up North” and making me permanent as Deputy here and to be fair it was all downhill from there for him...!

Wolverhampton Grammar where he and his colleagues damaged several smoke alarms, injured colleagues and broke a window, and at one point received a summons from the Deputy Head. If you look carefully in his office here at QEGS you will see various grubby marks on the wall, and the odd picture damage, where a tennis ball has been launched across the room, either by boot, hand or bat and if you listen carefully you can often hear the tennis ball flying around the room. The more that ball bounces is generally an indicator of whether it is a good idea to go in and see him, ...or not.

So we find ourselves, ten years on, saying goodbye to a Geographer who loves the indoors, a talented office sportsman and, of course, our Headmaster.

David, or Wibble, or Craigy as he has been known at various points in his career, is a complex character. He joined us from Merchant Taylor’s in Liverpool where he had been, I think, for seven years, residing solely in a bed and breakfast, having initially used it as a temporary base, then making great friends with the owners and deciding to stay there for good. It was therefore no surprise when he opted to take advantage of one of the Foundation’s illustrious, luxury penthouse flats on St John’s, complete with coin operated electric meter which was then upgraded to a card which he was regularly to be seen topping up at Northgate stores. At that stage, he was a fit young buck and his spritely dance along Northgate each morning was no doubt preceded by ten press ups, ten situps and ten star jumps. The job of a Headmaster, though, is not an easy one, and as the years passed he had to moderate and differentiate his exercise regime and it has more recently included ten Swan menthol filter tips and a frothy coffee, and no sit ups at all...

David is undoubtedly a “dark horse”. Perhaps my one greatest regret is that I have only now, in the last few years of working with him, started to work him out and at the same time he has felt able to open up about how he feels. He is a truly wonderful bloke and perhaps one of the kindest men I have ever worked with. His approach to everything in school is underpinned by a kindness, integrity and compassion for children and adults, the like of which I have rarely seen in my career.

a leaving do, this time for Lindsey Firth, up in the Cumberworth HD8 wilderness. We had enjoyed an evening of Lindsey’s cooking (and one of her infamous multi coloured and highly contrasting outfits) when I announced that I had brought my mobile cocktail bar to brighten the evening up. I proceeded to make a range of hideous drinks, building up to the piece de resistance, my fireball Whisky and Red Bull special, but then I became aware that David had disappeared.

David will go mad at me if I go over the top here – we have both often discussed how the people we hear described at leaving do’s or in the Old Sav don’t always seem to match up with the people we really know – but with David it is easy because the man we all know IS the real David. He has managed me (no easy task), and latterly Cathy, Mark and Angela (even more difficult...), in a way that we both appreciate and will never forget.

David has worked at a huge range of different schools, enough to make it perhaps worthwhile for me to list them all in one breath like David does for our QED activities. This was brilliant the first time, and remained impressive throughout that year – but it became slightly less so when he was still doing it 3 years later...

A quick walk through David’s career takes us from St Thomas’s College in New Delhi, to Bottishan Village College in Cambridge.

From there he went to Great Barr Grant Maintained in the Midlands, where he somehow ended up by default as Head of Geography (there were not any other candidates I understand) and where Lindsey Firth also worked (before she went on maternity leave for about nine years after joining QEGS!). After that came Edgbaston High School, again as Head of Geography, Wolverhampton Grammar, as Head of Geography – a job he was now starting to work out and understand – and then on to Merchant Taylors in Liverpool as Deputy Head Academic.

Geographers, in my experience, tend to be good guys and as a rule, in most of the schools I’ve worked in, they have been outgoing, outdoor type people who I tend to at least have a love of the outdoors in common with. I had this in mind when I arranged Les Hallwood’s leaving do – a weekend in Llangollen where I had planned some good walks, admittedly centred on various pubs.

On arriving at the accommodation we were staying in, the newly appointed DNC informed me that he had forgotten his walking boots and wouldn’t be able to join us for the walk, but instead would have a look around the bookshops and be, I imagined, very studious and academic – the sort of thing one associates with a learned Headmaster with an impressive academic pedigree. The truth, of course, was less impressive and it became clear that he spent most of the first (and second) day in the cafe and cake shop next door. I had further problems with David’s mobility, again at 14

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However, we carried on – Head’s are, after all, resilient characters who need to look after themselves – and it was only at about midnight when it became clear that DNC had still not reappeared that various members of the group were dispatched into the surrounding fields and bogs of HD8, with Lindsey coordinating the operation in her orange trousers (they weren’t hi-vis they were her normal ones) and Mark Fitzimons with a head torch which he had stolen – again, true to form. DNC was eventually found at about 1am on the other side of the wall at the bottom of Lindsey’s very steep and rather bleak garden where he had explained that he had ended up being only able to walk downhill and was definitely not capable of going up. Hypothermia hadn’t yet set in according to Mountain Rescue leader Lindsey, so we dumped him in a taxi and hoped for the best.

As we all know, David also loves his sport and in particular – cricket. It has always amazed me that Yorkshire has such a wonderful reputation for cricket, given that there is rarely any weather nice enough to allow anyone to play it; but that doesn’t stop David as he has the largest office in the school and has a range of cricketing challenges that can be carried out within the confines of his study – all whilst tuned in via internet radio to the test match. This love for indoor sport, similar to his love of indoor walking, has got him into trouble before – in particular at

CELEBR ATING SUCCESS

Over time, as a Deputy Headmaster and Headmaster must if they are to work together effectively, we established a way of operating and whilst at times, as you might expect, this could be frustrating for both of us, we slowly worked each other out and in particular we tried to focus on our strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Not long after David appointed me he encouraged me to go over and see his old boss at Merchant Taylors in Liverpool, David Cook, an experienced and highly regarded head who, after chatting to me for a while and recognising that I was on side and already actually quite fond of David, proceeded to ask me – “so, old David’s been Head for quite a while now” – he then looked at his watch dramatically and said “has he made a decision yet”...

And yet what David has taught me over the years is that actually, in many cases, you can buy time to make a decision, and that this time, far from being a luxury, is critical. In the time that I have known him, over ten years in school, I bet I can count the number of poor decisions he has made on one hand, the good ones you would need all of our pupils’ hands to count. Strategically, he is a mastermind and a genius, and treats school management like a cross between the two games he loves the most – Risk and Battleships. He compared battling the coronavirus in September, as the negative test results flew in by email, to the great game battleships – 7DRD – miss, 8MLA miss, 9RTE – boom and when

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discussing the acquisition of the Clayton site compared it to a cheeky move on Kamchatka – at times seemingly not significant but possibly, one day, of huge importance!

David leaves behind lots of lasting memories and, more significantly, real and significant change at QEGS. QED was perhaps his first major structural change and that has gone on to influence the lives of thousands of children, but he has also developed the academic and pastoral management of the school, embedded the role of faculties, led the school through two superb inspections, invented a whole raft of memorable (and not so memorable) schemes and acronyms – QPD, Radcliffe Scholars, Club 9, ...

My greatest memory of David will be as a kind and thoughtful man who cared deeply and understood the importance of his role and, more importantly, the impact it had on others. At times, this worry and concern has overtaken him and when you work in a role like this, your own head becomes like a glass of wine that some kind soul at the dinner table keeps topping up without you noticing it. At first you can keep up but slowly the level starts to advance closer to the rim and the prospect of it spilling over becomes very real.

David leaves the school in great form, albeit in a horrible year. He has taken the very real possibility of a dwindling roll following the collapse of the economy and dispatched it like he would a full toss outside the off stump. Now numbers on roll are incredibly healthy and on the rise, exam results are strong and he leaves a staffroom and pupil body who will miss him enormously and who he has very much carried with him rather than fought against. He is quick witted, a superb orator and a master of the well timed one liner.

He also has an enormous presence in any room you put him in, whether that is reprographics or Wakefield Cathedral, and his voice when addressing the school or parents is one the like of which I expect never to hear again in my career. For us as a team, we are losing a friend, and someone I hope, when he has more time, we hope to have many a beer with in the future.

I, like many others in the school, have learned a great deal from David over the years I have worked with him and I was proud to call him my boss for the last time when we finished for the December break, but more importantly my friend forever. Of the many worries David had, I know one of them that constantly resurfaced was the battle between being kind and being tough and David worried that staff would confuse his kindness and care for children with a lack of rigour or failure to meet “standards”.

Sometimes, I think these quandaries are best resolved by people far greater than any of us so, David, I leave you with the very wise words of Franklin Roosevelt – words that I think for me define your time here: “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fibre of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”

Jim Palin Deputy Headmaster

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Staff Leavers

Staff Leavers

Elaine Merckx’s reluctant resignation from the WGSF Development Office ends 38 years of distinguished service. All of that service was spent at QEGS, where both the library and the Archives which she served are to be found.

Elaine Merckx

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Janine Phillips

Elaine was appointed as the QEGS librarian in 1983 and in 2010 care of the school’s archives came within her remit. Building on the legacy of others, most particularly Ronald Chapman and John Wilkinson, she created a formidable resource. With the support of the then Headmaster (David Craig), the Governors (most particularly John Mcleod, then Chair of Governors) and Andrew Beales (the Foundation’s newly appointed Development Director) she expanded the role to become Archivist for the whole Foundation. With the backing of the Governing body and of Andrew Beales, Elaine recovered WGHS records from the West Yorkshire Archives Service and added them to the QEGS materials. From all of these resources she built up an exceptional service, responding to the queries of the Foundation’s schools, academic departments, Old Boys and Girls and their families and academic researchers. Elaine’s commitment to the cause was such that she offered to continue her work in a voluntary capacity, leaving the Development Office to focus on its own priorities. Unfortunately, this offer went unheeded and her resignation thus came as a surprise to many.

A number of things need emphasising. First, to be Librarian in a first class northern Grammar School transitioning from Direct Grant status to Independence was a matter of considerable importance. Eminently well qualified, including a Masters degree, Elaine Merckx met the demands of academic departments and individual students. She provided advice and resources, dealt with textbooks, offered guidance on reading, produced newsletters and competitions and organised events, including visits by authors and study groups. Over the course of her career she helped to organise the modernisation of the old library in what is now the Reception area, a project named the Parker Library in recognition of the then Headmaster, Geoffrey Parker. When the time came to create a new library, Elaine not only oversaw the transfer of materials but, with the support of the then Headmaster Michael Gibbons, significantly contributed to its design.

This area remains in use, though changing times mean that what was once a Library became known as the LRC and more recently as a Learning Hub, though some books are still housed there.

Difficult to convey in these changed times is the collegiate atmosphere in the QEGS Common Room of which Elaine Merckx was so long a part. No list of her contributions can be complete, but she was involved in staff drama productions, ski trips, outdoor pursuits and such splendid occasions as trips to Twickenham in support of the U15s and First XV. When Junior Rugby fixtures might have been lost for shortage of staff, Elaine was amongst those to step forward and save the day.

There is no easy way to end an attempt to recall other days and other ways, but perhaps one story may suffice. In 2014 I was delighted to be asked by Elaine and the then Head (David Craig) to help with the Foundation’s commemoration of the Great War. Much resulted from this, including changes to the QEGS War Memorial, now accomplished. Both of us had anticipated still being involved when the next November ceremony takes place. In spirit at least, we will be.

Neal Rigby

In the 33 years of exemplary service, Janine progressed from being a part-time General Assistant to QEGS 6th Form Centre Manager.

In between, her journey entailed going to college at the age of 40. She gained her NVQ level 2 in Professional Cookery. This paved the way for further progression to Assistant Cook and then finally the 6th Form Centre.

This is where Janine proved herself to be a very competent professional by running the cafeteria on her own. She managed the Senior pupils with charm, great wit and a warm smile.

Janine is also a grandmother and loves to spend time with her young grandchildren whom I know bring her so much pleasure and happiness. Retirement will allow Janine and her husband Ian to spend more time pursuing leisure activities and visiting the coast.

Janine will be missed by those who worked with her and she will be fondly remembered by the many 6th Form Boys whom she looked after so well. We all wish her and Ian a long and happy retirement.

Peter Janine’s retirement from QEGS marks the end of an era. I first met Janine when she worked in the main staff room, providing the breaktime treats of tea, coffee and cake. It was very clear to me straight away that she was always highly organised, supremely efficient and that she had a friendly and personable manner that made her the perfect antidote at break time to having had a morning dealing with difficult classes!

Janine will no doubt remember some of the staff idiosyncrasies at break time (the biscuit set aside on a special plate for a certain more experienced member of staff springs to mind!), although her professionalism ensured that she always took even the most bizarre requests in her stride.

Janine was, therefore, the perfect fit for the role of Sixth Form Centre Manageress in the new Sixth Form Centre that was opened in 2005.

This is where Janine excelled – indeed, she became the beating heart of the Sixth Form Centre. Janine has been like a ‘surrogate mum’ to hundreds of QEGs boys. Famed for her paninis, the Sixth Form Cafe, known as ‘Janini’s Paninis’, has acquired legendary status. There has always been much more to her role in the Sixth Form than her catering role in providing paninis, wraps, toasties, cups of tea, ice pops, caramel slices and a range of other well-received snacks. Janine was a constant reassuring presence to the boys, someone they could talk openly to, a sympathetic ear and a great source of advice. She has undoubtedly had a hugely positive influence on many of our Sixth Formers and the regard in which she is held can be seen by a quick look at the messages written inside the Cafe as a tribute to her qualities.

Janine will be sorely missed, but I wish her all the best for a long and happy retirement, spending time with her beloved grandchildren and on the east coast in her caravan. She has been my ‘eyes and ears’ for many years and I will find it strange to come back in September without the warm glow of her cheery smile. Thanks for everything Janine, you have been a real star.

AMR

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Staff Leavers What did you do before QEGS (school, university, jobs, etc)?

Have you any special/stand out memories of colleagues/events/experiences over the years?

65-71 Oxbridge Lane Junior and Infant

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1st hockey tour to Amsterdam with James East, taking Y10 & 11 boys round some of the ‘notorious’ districts as we felt that it was better they didn’t go on their own.

76-78 Stockton Sixth Form College

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Being called over the tannoy to sort out QEGS boys & French girls on the ferry back to Hull

78-81 Cambridge Uni (natural Sciences Biochemistry)

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Friday lunchtimes with MF playing bar billiards and hot beef sandwiches and beer.

81-82 Smith & Nephew, Hull

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The Head’s end of year garden parties

82-88 DDD Ltd, pharmaceutical & toiletries. Started as Production Chemist, then Manufacturing Manager, Production Manager, Technical Manager

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An eventful U14 rugby trip to Ireland

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Leading the 1st school expedition to Bolivia, the crash, the cholera, the bus journey on the world’s most dangerous road, the kids, the lawless town, the rainforest.

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Being in Ireland the Friday of exam week, watching the world cup, sampling Irish culture with colleagues who are friends

91-93 Articled Teacher Scheme based at Leeds Uni & Horsforth School

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Writing reports late into the night around the tables in the Quiet Room

93-98 QEGS

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The middle table in the Common Room and the great chat with lovers of rugby

98-00 Teaching in NZ

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Tour to NZ, chasing lost baggage around world

00-20 QEGS

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Beating a Dutch team 10-0 after they criticised us for being “Rubbish English”

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Various Twickenham QEGS visits, especially with family

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Mountain biking with DTB trying to injure me but loving it

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JRB, a total legend

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GJK and the plate smashing restaurant in Leeds

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Helping to set up QED was the most satisfying thing I have done professionally

71-76 secondary school (Grangefield Grammar School became comprehensive Grange School in 73)

Geoff Tingle

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88-90 travelled to Australia, various casual jobs in hospitality. Learnt to SCUBA dive on Great Barrier Reef. Traveling and falling in love with Australia 90-91 A H Marks manufacturing manager for agrichemicals

When did you get your job at QEGS and who interviewed you?

93. George Korosi interviewed me. What a character! Didn’t want the job as I had been indoctrinated against private education, but I was persuaded to take it by staff at Horsforth and “a job is a job”.

But, QEGS, what a place!!

What will you miss most when you leave QEGS? The interaction with the boys, the friendly people from teachers to office staff, cleaners, kitchen staff, porters, games staff

And least?

The bells, the constant discipline required to be on time for everything and the marking

Do you have any specific plans for September/ the future?

Traveling to various mountains and to sporting events Lots of walking and seeing friends Sorting the garden out at long last.

GDT

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Staff Leavers What did you do before QEGS (school, university, jobs, etc)?

I went to school at Garforth Comprehensive from 1969-1976 where I did as little work as possible and as much sport as possible; representing England Schoolboys at Rugby Union.

After that I attended Hull University 1976-1979 gaining a 2:1 joint honours degree in Geology and Geography.

Gary Pickersgill

Next my travels took me to Exeter University where I gained my PGCE. My education then took me to the University of Alberta, Calgary, Canada to do a Masters degree in Petroleum Geology.

I was there for 18 months but after leaving my Masters to undertake a position in the Oil industry, I was deported for not fulfilling my visa requirements! – a long story for another time!!!

On return to the UK I went into teaching, working at Castleford High School and Adwick School, Doncaster before starting at QEGS in Sept 1987.

When did you get your job at QEGS and who interviewed you?

September 1987. I was interviewed by the then Headmaster, Robert Mardling, the deputy head David Birkenshaw and had a chat with JP Cholewa and T Barker! It was advertised as a History/Hockey/Cross Country role but I think it was soon understood that this was not me!

QEGS was then, and still is, nationally renowned for its rugby and that was the main attraction for me to the School.

Have you any special/stand out memories of colleagues/events/experiences over the years?

Far too many to mention all here, both experiences and colleagues! I had a fantastic, challenging but most rewarding 33 years.

Pastorally I was fortunate to be first selected in post as a Specialist HOY when taking on Year 7; working with a team of tutors. At the time this role was on a rotational standing and following this I took over the role of Head of PSHE throughout the School.

Academically, working as Head of Geography closely with ANR and seeing the department grow and develop and seeing so many special scholars fulfil their potential was extremely rewarding. It was difficult at times remaining one step ahead of our brighter boys! Neil was a great support to me and is now developing and extending the role in his time at the helm, extremely well supported by both James and Hannah. The Geography dept is very lucky to have such excellent and committed staff members, who also have a great sense of humour. We managed to have many laughs whilst working very hard as friends do, which is what it’s all about for me! Great memories here of hard working but fantastic Field Trips and not so hard working but equally enjoyable Geography trips to Iceland and Morocco. Teaching my son A level Geography was a ‘different’ challenge!

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My major qualifications are in Geography and Geology but an equal, if not greater, passion throughout my life has been sport and especially rugby. I have been so lucky to work with and under both JPC and TB who I consider not only to be colleagues but also very good friends. It was inspirational to come into work every day into a positive but challenging environment with John and Trevor. Under both, the department thrived and excelled. Ian and Owen, along with Christian now drive this outstanding department in their own ways and all have become good friends. Great memories of early pre-season training with the Senior rugby squad at Pontins, Blackpool and watching some of the ‘tougher’ lads suffer on the compulsory ride on the Pepsi Big Max roller coaster!

We then spread our wings and toured the Isle of Man; both Rugby and Cricket! Over the 33 years this led to 2 trips around the world and numerous tours to Africa, the Americas and Europe: too many to mention. Common themes throughout were the excellent camaraderie and friendship of all the many staff who gave up their holidays to tour. The many QEGS boys who benefitted from these tours never failed to be outstanding ambassadors for the School whichever part of the world we were lucky to be visiting. It’s all they want to talk about when they return to Old Savs Dinners!

Double figures of Ski trips and Summer Water Sports trips were also squeezed into this busy itinerary!

The focus in rugby over the last 25 years has been the Daily Mail Cup/Nat West Cup, both at 1st XV and U15 level. 10 National Cup Semi-Finals and 5 National Cup Finals at U15 level culminated on March 25 2015 at Twickenham when the U15s won the NatWest Cup. If there is one moment to pick out of the last 33 years then this has to be it. All these experiences throughout the years have been made all the more special by the outstanding coaches and friends that it has been possible to share these experiences with, both highs and lows. Apologies to any other individual staff who maybe should have been mentioned here!

The strength of the School has always been in its people. Hard working and conscientious staff working together with outstanding boys and young men.

What will you miss most when you leave QEGS? The people. The staff, teaching and others, and the boys. It’s been both a pleasure and a privilege to work with both. The craic and the banter! There is no doubt the School has changed greatly in the time I have been here and I wish all good luck for the future, whatever it holds.

Do you have any specific plans for September/the future?

I have a bucket list of places that I want to visit around the world. Where possible I will link these holidays to as many major sporting events as possible. I hope to remain in contact with the School in some form or another, most likely on the Sports field, both coaching and supporting. Need to find a way to keep my vocal cords in good shape! I also have an 18 month old Cocker Spaniel called Bertie who keeps me on my toes and gives me little rest so I think I will find plenty to do.

GP

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Staff Leavers

Staff Leavers

What did you do before QEGS (school, university, jobs, etc)?

I went to school in Morley (Morley Grammar School - now Morley Academy).

Marcus Fascione

From 1980-83 I did a Physics degree at Manchester university. Holiday jobs included cleaning out the chemical tanks at a local mill, which literally involved climbing in the tank and scrubbing it clean.

I don’t think health and safety regulations existed at the time, or if they did then they didn’t apply to students. I also remember working for a Skip company owned by my mate’s dad. It was rubbish (sorry!)

Post university my first Job was in the defence industry for Marconi Space and Defence Systems ltd, developing part of a radar jamming system. Sounds exciting but it turned out to be really boring and I gave it up after 1 year. I had never even considered teaching as a career up to this point, but decided to give it a go. I took my PGCE at Leeds University and have never looked back. I have been a physics teacher at Colne Valley High School and Batley Grammar School, and Head of Physics at Heckmondwike Grammar School, Greenhead College and finally QEGS. This adds up to a total of 36 years in teaching and I have enjoyed every single establishment that I have worked in.

When did you get your job at QEGS and who interviewed you?

I joined QEGS in September 2005. The interview process was a haphazard affair. For previous job interviews I’d had there had been a clear itinerary usually consisting of an informal introductory chat, a tour, lunch and one or two formal interviews. There may have been a planned itinerary for the process at QEGS, but if there was then no-one thought to tell me what it was! So when I arrived and sat down with Les Hallwood in his office, I assumed it was to say hello and give me an outline of the plan for the day - a nice, relaxed start. It was only after about 5 minutes that I thought “hold on, I’m being interviewed here”. This was swiftly followed by separate interviews with Jim Palin and Mike Gibbons and a “see you later, we’ll let you know”. Fortunately on my way out I bumped into Helen Sheard, an ex-colleague from Colne Valley High School, and she invited me to stay for lunch. I can confirm that the interview process at QEGS has improved vastly since then!

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What will you miss most when you leave QEGS? Just the everyday company of and banter with both colleagues and pupils. The lockdown periods really brought home to me how important face-to-face interactions are to both quality of life and quality of teaching. Remote learning is not the future in my opinion. Oh yes, I will also really miss the school dinners. And snow days, which are now almost certainly a thing of the past due to the disruptive technology that enables remote learning!

And least?

Basic stuff that’s annoying whatever job you do, such as getting up at 6am to avoid having to drive in heavy traffic, driving in heavy traffic despite getting up at 6am, and generally not being able to do the stuff you would like to do because you have to work. The thing that is specific to teaching that I will be delighted to see the back of is the hours of marking and preparation that have to be done at home having already spent 9 hours at school. It is only during the school holidays that you realise what a massive intrusion this is on your “real” life. I also hope to never have to wear a tie again - what is the point?

Do you have any specific plans for September/the future?

In the short term I desperately need to sort out my garden - a big project that could take all summer.

I am also intending to train to be a motorcycle CBT instructor, possibly leading to a new part-time career. When travel restrictions are lifted I’m planning a couple of big trips to Vancouver Island and New Zealand to visit family, but in the meantime I will do a bit of touring round the more scenic parts of Britain on my motorbike. I also enjoy walking, running and cycling.

In the longer term I have a vague ambition to learn to play a musical instrument, something I have never done and have no natural talent for. There is a saxophone at home that needs a bit of repair and I’d love to be able to knock a tune out on it. Other than that, and watching Leeds United develop into European Champions, I’ll take it easy and see what exciting opportunities and challenges life throws up.

Have you any special/stand out memories of colleagues/events/experiences over the years?

Libel laws mean that my most stand out memories will have to be restricted to forums other than this publication. I have really enjoyed the opportunities outside the classroom that a career in teaching has provided. Running soccer teams; ski trips; innumerable D of E expeditions; gaining a mountain leadership qualification; leading a group of students on the Yorkshire 3 peaks and the National 3 peaks challenges; being an officer in the Combined Cadet Force (shooting, sailing, flying, climbing, skiing); caving trips; trips to CERN in Geneva; walking Hadrian’s wall. These experiences and many others I’ve forgotten have not only enriched my life but more importantly those of the students involved. There can’t be many jobs that offer such a variety.

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Staff Leavers

Staff Leavers

What did you do before QEGS (school, university, jobs, etc)?

Tom Brunt

Before QEGS I was at QEGS… (QEGS, Blackburn that is), although this is probably not the forum in which to re-ignite any trans-Pennine rivalry. I then studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge for three years as an undergraduate, and not feeling remotely ready for any kind of serious work stayed on for another three years for a PhD. This involved developing a new technique for measuring the miniscule forces between atoms - it took 18 months of tinkering to get the experiment to work (a fact that always astonishes boys who get frustrated in lessons when experiments don’t work instantly). After 6 years in the flatlands of East Anglia I only considered jobs located closer to the hills and mountains of the north so I ended up working as a research scientist with Unilever based in Port Sunlight on the Wirral. Five years later I decided a change of direction was called for and after dipping my toe in the water at King’s Chester I arrived here in Wakefield.

When did you get your job at QEGS and who interviewed you?

I started at QEGS in September 2003. I was interviewed by Mike Gibbons and Andrew Derbyshire and the then head of Physics Geoff Anderson. I dimly remember teaching a sixth form lesson, which can’t have been too disastrous seeing as I was duly appointed. This was back in the Dark Ages when independent schools could employ unqualified teachers, and I think it is fair to say that staff induction wasn’t quite as rigorous as it is these days… So I was left to sink or swim. There was definitely a fair amount of sinking at first, but with the guidance of initially Geoff Anderson and subsequently Marcus Fascione, I started to work out what teaching Physics was all about, and perhaps more importantly what teenage boys are all about

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in the QEGS Common Room has been one of the defining features of my 18 years here. Break times around the table at the “Darts Board End” of the Common Room were always a highlight of the school day (politics, sport, the absurdities and minutiae of school life were frequent subjects of debate) and very entertaining - and illuminating - conversation was guaranteed. More seriously, it has been a pleasure to work with a group of colleagues who support one another and will invariably go out of their way to do their very best for the boys

And least?

The online GDPR training course was a particular low point…. In fact, online training courses in general… Year 9 Period 6 Drama cover lessons when the boys announce “Miss said we could rehearse our plays - ours is about a gangland revenge killing, sir”… The sinking feeling of seeing a pile of Year 8 books on a Sunday evening, checking your timetable and finding out that you have the class on Monday Period 1...

Do you have any specific plans for September/the future?

Apart from the time-honoured politician’s response of “Spending more time with my family…” I’m also expecting to be out and about running, climbing and cycling in the Peak District and further afield. Beyond that I have a few tentative ideas… Watch this space...

Have you any special/stand out memories of colleagues/events/experiences over the years?

Lots of good memories from trips - watching Mr. Dean effortlessly shepherd an assorted mixture of QEGS boys through the maelstrom of cars and scooters as we made our way around Rome on foot was to witness a true master at work. Particularly, as he would then dive into a church and expound at length on the use of trompe l’oeil in post-Renaissance art. As a Francophile immersing myself in the French language and culture on the French exchange was a pleasure, as were outdoor pursuits trips to Snowdonia with Messrs. Anderson and Grieve. D of E trips were notable mainly for the dubious navigational ability of QEGS boys and the remarkable spreads of food invariably assembled by Mr McWilliam.

What will you miss most when you leave QEGS? The clichéd answer is “the boys”… and indeed there are many who have been a genuine pleasure to teach and to tutor. I have been fortunate to teach some really bright and highly motivated A-Level Physicists, plenty of good honest “grafters” and more than a few “likeable rogues”. However, when thinking about what I will miss most when I leave my answer is definitely “the staff”. The camaraderie

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INTRODUCTION

Staff Leavers

Staff Leavers

Mrs Gray Hangs up her Pink Barbie Comb

My two-term stewardship of the school has raced by quickly, and I must say, I’ll be sad to leave at the end of the academic year. I have been warmly welcomed into the Foundation by all colleagues, students and of course, the Old Savs. It was an honour to be asked to take on the role of Headmaster and it will have been an honour to work with so many people with a passion for education both past and present.

In December 2020, after 13 (and a bit) illustrious years as Head, leader and chief fun-maker at QEGS JS, Mrs Gray finally hung up the pink Barbie comb to begin a very well-earned retirement.

Mrs Gray loves to have fun and wanted the boys at QEGS to have as much fun as possible during their time here. The twice-yearly Charity Day has become a focus for this fun-loving attitude and has been a hugely enjoyable aspect of school life under Mrs Gray’s leadership, whilst also instilling in the boys the understanding of the importance of helping others. To say that Mrs Gray agonises over her costumes is an understatement. Our favourite is a close call between the pink gorilla and the Queen! The day is always an enjoyable and fulfilling experience and it is heart-warming to think of the amount of money that has been raised over the years for good causes.

Some of you may not know that Mrs Gray began her teaching career as a P.E. teacher and her love of sport has been clear to see over the years. The pink wellies were a permanent fixture on the touchline and through howling gales, freezing temperatures, driving rain and the occasional glimmer of weak Yorkshire sunshine, Mrs Gray would be cheering the boys on, making more noise than the players, referee and other spectators put together! Your enthusiasm will certainly be missed but we do have plans to ship in a coachload of town criers with megaphones for every match to try to fill the void!

QEGS has a great many traditions which help to make it the very special place it is. Founders’ Day, Speech Day, the School Song: Floreas Wakefieldia all build the QEGS spirit and make us proud to be part of the school.

There have also been some new traditions established under the leadership of Mrs Gray, perhaps the most memorable amongst the boys being the infamous ‘harvest cabbage’! In the lead up to the Harvest Festival, Mrs Gray was always at pains to remind the boys that the produce donated was to provide party food for the Variety Charity Christmas parties so we wanted items such as cakes, crisps, sweets, small toys, etc. and definitely not perishable items such as the traditional fruit and vegetables – certainly no cabbages! A mischievous prefect (under the guidance of a not-so-mischievous Deputy Head) saw an opportunity for fun and smuggled a cabbage into the harvest assembly, carefully hiding it behind his back and waiting for the perfect moment... Mrs Gray entered the room and just before she began to speak, the offending item was rolled across the hall and came to rest perfectly just in front of Mrs Gray, resulting in hysterics from the boys and Mrs Gray herself. Every harvest since has had some sort of appearance from the ‘QEGS cabbage’ and the tradition has snowballed into cabbages being placed strategically in Mrs Gray’s office, dotted around the school, cabbages being presented on velvet cushions and even items of clothing made out of cabbage. The tradition of the noble cabbage is here to stay, driven by the tradition for fun and enjoyment that Mrs Gray has created.

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My contact with the Old Savilians has been closer than many of you may expect given that Alistair McKinlay (OS 1990 and President Old Savilian Club) is a Governor and also the Chair of the QEGS General Purposes Committee and our frequent discussions often drift into chats about the Old Savs.

More importantly, I’ve been presented with a tie as in fulfilling this role I become a member.

Mrs Gray

It’s obviously been a strange year but one of the best moments was back in early April, on a sunny spring morning, to see some of the younger boys in their cricket whites out there practising. It somehow felt we were back to normal. Since then cricket, football and athletics have been taking place daily. We just need to make sure that we are all fully focussed on our learning, particularly important for the Year 11 and Year 13 boys as they complete their final assessments in this second year without public examinations.

Martin Shevill

The bigger news this term has been about the re-introduction of the House System (at the time of writing one competition has already taken place). Bentley, Cave, Freeston and Savile have re-emerged in the Senior Section obviously with continuity from the Juniors. I am really pleased that this initiative has sparked such enthusiasm; I thought it would but must say I am surprised by the amount. I’m frequently stopped by boys in corridors, in the yard and on the field to say how pleased they are and obviously tell me that ‘Freeston’ or... or... is best. The staff have demonstrated equal enthusiasm. The most serious conversations with staff appear to have been around the House System... ’My dad came to this school and he was in Bentley, I must be in Bentley’, and so it goes on. The Houses will have sister houses at the Girls’ School for occasional joint competitions, such as debating and we may well have a Foundation Champion House as well as an individual School Champion House.

My first and last contribution as Headmaster; it’s been a great opportunity and I pass the baton onto Dr Richard Brookes knowing that QEGS continues to flourish.

Martin Shevill Outgoing Headmaster

We couldn’t write about Mrs Gray without mentioning the amazing Speech Days that she has led over the years. They were always full of surprises with many hurried and stressful rehearsals behind the scenes to make sure everything would run smoothly on the day. In recent years there has certainly been an ‘up-levelling’ of the visual effects and pyrotechnics (along with increased levels of worry about inadvertently setting-off the fire alarms) and this culminated with an inspired rendition of the Alice Cooper anthem: ‘Schools Out’ by the QEGS JS staff, with Mrs Gray shredding the riffs on lead guitar!

Mrs Gray, you certainly are irreplaceable and you will be missed by everyone at the school.

We don’t need to say enjoy your retirement as we know you will and please don’t forget your little QEGlets that turn into proper Old Savilians and they certainly will not forget you.

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QEGS JS Staff

Staff Leavers

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This year saw the departure of some very well-loved staff, although some did not travel far... just a few hundred yards across the road to Wakefield Girls’.

Miss Morris, our resident history enthusiast, became a class teacher at Wakefield Girls’ and our loss is most definitely the girls’ gain. I’ll miss our slightly geeky chats about the Egyptians, Victorians and, of course, the freezing trips to Eden Camp, but not as much as the boys will miss Miss Morris’s calm and caring manner and her passion for the subjects she taught. Miss Morris, if you read this, please make sure you pop back whenever you get a spare minute to see how we are getting on.

Mr Rowley also moved across to Wakefield Girls’ as the Director of Junior Section. I would like to say just how much Mr Rowley will be missed at QEGS – he achieved a huge amount during his time here and WGHS are lucky to have him on board. I have enduring memories of our trips to Prestatyn for the national chess competition (although I can’t say I will miss the standard of the accommodation!). I look forward to working closely with Mr Rowley in our respective roles and I expect an invitation for coffee as soon as the new office is set up with the obligatory chess sets and mathematical posters!

Samantha Morris

Alison Smith

Sam Rowley

Mrs Gray

Mrs Smith was part of the Centenary House team for the last 7 years, working in many different classes, initially covering maternity leave and culminating in taking a lead in the Reception team. She has inspired many boys with her creative teaching and exciting activities. Her motherly approach and in depth knowledge about each boy in her care enabled her to lovingly support and guide the children. Her attention to detail cannot be faulted and we will miss the weekly knock on the door after the Monday staff meeting to go through her list of extra questions. Thank you, Mrs Smith, for your dedication to the school, your humour and your Scottish phrases. It would be great to see you at the Pre-Prep at some point in the future.

Finally, I could not write about the staff without paying tribute to Mrs Gray who retired at the end of the autumn term. Much has already been written about Mrs Gray but some of the most powerful messages came from the Y6 boys in their Y6 Memories Books. While reading through these I was struck, but perhaps not surprised, by how many of the boys wrote that the thing they would miss most about Junior School was Mrs Gray. She also featured in many of the ‘funniest moments’ sections too which, given her unstoppable desire for fun, I am sure she would be very proud of. Mrs Gray will certainly be missed by the whole school community. We are grateful for her legacy and will continue many of the traditions established during her time here...although the birthday kiss is one tradition that is certainly on the way out!

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Year 13 Leavers

Year 13 Leavers’ Breakfast

This has been a rather frustrating and difficult year for our Year 13 students, who had little opportunity to experience the traditional social events that we all take for granted. I have been hugely impressed by the resilience and character displayed by the boys in the face of such difficult circumstances – they invariably just ‘got on with it’ in true QEGS fashion. Without the May Ball or the traditional end of year fancy dress football tournament you might be forgiven for thinking that there was a real downcast atmosphere amongst the students; but this just wasn’t the case.

They continued to work hard, to laugh along the way and to set an excellent example to the younger boys and I congratulate them on their positivity and commitment during the most difficult period in my 27 years of teaching!

AMR

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On Friday 21st May, Year 13 students were treated to a hearty breakfast on their last day of formal education at QEGS. Together with their form tutors and members of the pastoral and senior management teams, the boys were welcomed into the main dining hall for the last time on what was a poignant occasion for them – some having been in the Foundation for the majority of their young lives! The boys were amused (and occasionally embarrassed) to receive their original Year 7 letters that they wrote back in 2015, with an outline of what they hoped to go on and achieve. I’m fairly certain that none of the letters predicted a global pandemic!

Mr Alistair McKinlay, President of the Old Savilians, welcomed the newest members of the organisation with a brief speech and the boys received their Old Savilian ties. I have no doubt they will go on to wear these with pride in a wide variety of successful careers in the future.

The Senior Prefects had their annual ‘socially distanced’ dinner in May and, for many, it was a nostalgic return to the ‘Owls’ Den’ which was first in use in their final years of the Junior School.

The boys were treated to a fabulous takeaway meal courtesy of Kashmiri Aroma who provided enough food for a battalion! Thanks to Jack for the music and Swapnil for a rousing Headboy speech which he prepared in about 2 minutes.

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Reception 2020–2021 The year began slightly differently for everyone and it is with pride that we say Reception boys adapted to their new and very different surroundings, very quickly and sensibly. Hand sanitising hands, ‘bubbles’ and being germ aware, became routine really quickly. Being dropped off at the gate and entering their classroom independently was a huge challenge. However the boys proved to be resilient and rose to meet it . Despite the unusual start to the year and its necessary restrictions, the boys still enjoyed a wide, varied and exciting curriculum . We kick started this off with ‘Reception are the Greatest Showmen’. Here the boys showed us what skills they had, both indoors and outdoors. Great fun was had pretending to be acrobats, jugglers, plan walkers/tightrope ! The boys recorded pictures of their best skill as they saw it. Some were amazing at jumping, whilst others were fantastic at juggling. The outside area was set up with two circus tents.

One for circus puppet shows with tickets and times for performances and the other for more physical challenges. Reception boys were indeed ‘The Greatest Showmen’!

Photo1 Throughout the year, the boys were introduced to many books, both fiction and non-fiction. One very popular book was Flo of the Somme which followed the adventures of Flo, a war dog, who saved lives. This promoted and resulted in great role play and highlighted the use of writing as a means of expression. The boys were soldiers sending written notes for help, reporting injuries, and asking for supplies. So loved was this book that the boys continued to read it many weeks later.

Photo 2 As part of raising awareness about healthy eating and our senses, the boys tasted foods which were strong in taste and provided great pictures of surprises good and not so good !!

Photo3 Soon Christmas was upon us and this brought many new challenges for both staff!! and the boys . Due to the circumstances, the location for this moved outdoors at Owl’s Den. The setting was perfect and lent itself really well to the atmosphere we wanted to create. It also brought different challenges ! However the boys were fantastic and they sang and acted to the best of their ability and had lots of fun along the way.

Photo 4 We had a bit of a disaster in the run up to Christmas as all of Santa’s reindeer went AWOL. The boys were given the challenge of finding them via a reindeer hunt . Clues were found and read and eventually Rudolph... the final one, was found over at Owl’s Den. As well as finding all the reindeer, the boys were so excited to also find Santa Claus in the wooden cabin along with his sack with a gift for everyone.

Photo 5 and 6 Never say never! We had a Danceathon! The boys loved it and we all put on our dancing shoes and danced the day away . We raised lots of money for the sponsored 15 minute time to dance. The boys all dressed up in their favourite music themed clothes and went for it. We had a few rock stars, some DJs, an Elvis and a line dancer.

Photo 7 /8/9

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We welcomed 2021 with a bit of a difference . WFH/ CWC and Google classroom . It was all a bit different for everyone. Boys staff and parents.

However we still continued to have an exciting curriculum with many challenges for the boys. Adapting to speaking via Google Classroom was a learning curve in itself for us all. The boys learned how to mute and un mute their device and talk to each other and staff. The boys in school worked in small groups and also spoke via Google classroom. We held weekly PDR sessions where the boys shared work they had done during the week and asked each other questions. One really fun activity was when the boys were challenged to design a healthy meal/snack in the style of Archmboldo. Here are Charles’ and Zackaria’s examples... looking good enough to eat!

Photo 10 and 11 Once back in their usual environment, the boys quickly settled back into their routine. We looked and discussed positivity and change. The boys made a group flag to share what they were good at and how they felt about themselves. This was an activity to aid re-establishing themselves as part of a group in a wider environment after Lockdown.

Photo 12 The boys were engaged in topics involving Den Making and Rhyme Week where the Wicked Witch stole their pie but later recognised the error or her ways and baked a new one for the boys to share.The boys followed clues as to where she might be, wrote notes, made recipes and enjoyed some pie!

Photo13 The boys went back in time when they visited Grandma’s Attic and explored all the different artefacts from past times. Old style phones and cameras which were not digital and you couldn’t see photography instantly were fascinating for the boys.

Photo14 March saw the end of Spring term finish with a bang... it was time for Science week. The boys’ conducted experiments with expanding balloons, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, learned how to make a rocket zoom along a zip wire, developed an understanding of forces when making a ping pong ball popper, and looked at changes when they heated and chilled food.They learned about different inventions and designed their own marble runs and domino trails. It was MEGA exciting.

Photo 15/16/17/18 Having spent time exploring the past in Grandma’s attic, we zoomed forward to space travel. The boys commanded space exploration with gusto. They learned all about the solar system and named all the planets.

They recalled facts about space and visited planets via their hand built rockets and the role play space station.

Photo 19 The boys had not really experienced birthday parties for a long time, so we had our own Big Big Birthday Party for everyone. There were competitions, games, ice creams and cake eating. What a party it was ! This ran in conjunction with Money Week, where the boys were busy in the Space Shop buying and selling items using real coins. When it was their party, they had to buy their party bag using coins to the value of 5p.

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Reception 2020-2021

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Then along came WOW WEEK! The week started off with a WOW reception for the boys as they came into school, welcomed by Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. They quickly flew in through the ‘open window’ and entered NEVERLAND , where they would be engaged in fantastic adventures for the week. There was Hook’s Pirate ship ready to take them on treasure hunting adventures across the seas in search of the elusive Peter Pan. They visited the calming Mermaid’s Lagoon complete with mermaids, water, shells, bubbles and small world equipment. The Native American Indians showed bravery and skillful planning in saving TigerLilly from Hook, and Tinkerbell visited each day with new and exciting challenges. The week ended with a water fight where we all were suitably targeted and then we dried off and had a drink, a cookie and a film in our pyjamas. A WOW WEEK it certainly was.

Towards the end of June the whole school enjoyed Sports Day. Luckily the weather held and the sun came out . Reception proved themselves to be super sportsmen in every event. Supporting each other, challenging themselves, learning new skills and having fun. All finished off with a visit to the ice cream van !

So at the end of the year it is time to say goodbye and good luck to a truly amazing year group. We have had lots of fun together during what has been a very testing time . The boys have been brilliant and we wish them all the very best in their next steps forward.

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Reception 2020-2021 John Frederick Wilkinson (1937–2021) A famous writer once said: “We make a living by what we earn, we make a life by what we give.”

If this is true, John made a very good life. As a teacher, a magistrate, a parish councillor, a church council member and church organist he gave his time generously to serve the local community.

John was born on 18th June 1937 in Yorkshire. The son of Colin and Freda, he grew up with his brother Michael in the village of West Bretton. As a boy he attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield, a school he was to return to as a teacher and School Archivist. After graduating from Birmingham University and following a brief career as a Methodist minister he entered the teaching profession, teaching Religious Studies.

John was a prominent member of the Church in West Bretton, serving on the Church Council and as Church organist. He became a magistrate and rose to become chairman of the juvenile bench as well as serving on the West Bretton Parish Council. He developed a keen interest in local history and having completed a second Masters degree wrote two books on the history of West Bretton and the surrounding area.

John married Judith in August 1962 and together they had two sons Andrew and Simon. He was immensely proud of his grandchildren, Emily and George.

Whilst we are very proud of his service to the community, our fondest memories will be of ‘Dad’. Our childhood was very happy and Dad’s hobbies and interests (or crazes as we called them) were a big part of this.

He was a very keen gardener and created a beautiful garden, though he was often seen trudging around it in an eclectic mix of old clothes reminding us of Compo from Last of The Summer Wine. Dad grew all our vegetables, but one year hit upon the idea of growing his own tobacco for his pipe. The plants were grown and the leaves hung to dry on bits of string hung up in the conservatory. The tobacco was cured in the kitchen oven in molasses and smoked with something he called ‘herbs’; we were a little worried we might get a visit from the drugs squad!!!

He had a period of baking his own bread and brewing his own beer – until one of the brews exploded in the airing cupboard.

Our holidays were mainly UK based, sometimes camping or sometimes bed and breakfast hotels, but were often in places where there just happened to be an interesting church nearby.

Our holiday in Northumberland was particularly memorable for his relentless search for a Celtic cross to wear around his neck.

John made his life by what he gave to the community, but perhaps more importantly by what he gave to us as a family.

The happy memories, the funny memories, the security of a caring and loving upbringing.

He made his life by what he gave.

Andrew Wilkinson

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Well, where do we begin with Lockdown Learning?!

These pages show just a smattering of the amazing learning that the boys engaged with during lockdown. Boys, we were so incredibly proud of the way you dealt with this and made the most of the experience. Parents, we cannot thank you enough for the support you gave during this very challenging time.

Events and topics included: Mr Drury Challenges Nature Day Live and Recorded Assemblies Feel Good Friday Photography Competition Fun Finish to Fridays Mental Health Week Live Physical Activity sessions

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Art This Spring Term was a busy one in the Art Department, with students completing their practical work after many weeks in lockdown. The inability to access the Art studios undoubtedly put increased pressure on the students, but they responded fantastically to the challenges presented.

Our Year 13 A-Level students completed their personal investigations, and many chose to produce a painting on canvas that pulls together all of the skills and expertise that they developed over the last two years of the course.

We were extremely impressed with their efforts and look forward to seeing some of this work on display around the school in the Autumn Term (if the restrictions allow it!). Lower down the School, some of our Year 9 students made masks inspired by birds.

They made for quite an unusual sight, hanging to dry on makeshift washing lines! The boys then painted them using acrylic paint, practising their ability to blend colour. Our QED Sculpture option continued to be very popular. Would you believe me if I told you that none of the donuts pictured below were real?

All hand crafted and expertly painted by our team of QED sculptors! A display that looks good enough to eat! Other sculptors were busy making colourful mod-roc hands, inspired by the work of Joan Miro.

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Photography Our future GCSE Photography cohorts have a hard act to follow! Looking through the photographs taken by our ‘class of 2021’ has been a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours, and has been a reminder of the incredible depth and range of topics covered. The course begins with a look at ‘Composition’, and ‘what makes a successful image’. Whether studying art, photography, graphic design or architecture, understanding what is aesthetically pleasing and why is crucial to success.

Our students have considered the rule of thirds, leading lines and balance.

An in-depth understanding of these elements has helped them to produce outstanding images throughout the rest of the course. The course teaches students to understand how to use the manual settings of the camera, rather than the ‘auto’ setting, opening up a whole new range of possibilities. | A long shutter speed can capture light trails in a dark room, or the blur created by a quick twist of the lens, mid-photo.

A short shutter speed can capture a drop of water hitting a surface, or the moment a person leaps into the air, or a bird passes by.

Towards the end of the course, the personalities of our students really start to shine through their photographs. The selections that they make, to present to an audience, reflect not only their photographic skills, but also the message that they want us to see.

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Design & Technology

Design & Technology

Design & Technology Away from the (virtual) classroom, D&T students got involved in a series of interesting activities. Ayan Sinha (7WLS) prepared a meal for his entire family, Felix Milner-Moore (9RTE) produced a Banksy inspired photo frame, William Fletcher (9RTE) and Christopher Barnett entered the Hornby 100mm Centenary Challenge making their own dioramas.

In Year 12, Design and Technology students began a new project, where they were asked to design and make a kitchen utensil or product aimed at improving the preparation, cooking or cleaning experience of elderly customers. We hoped to encourage students to consider inclusive products that could focus on helping users with physical, visual, auditory or sensory impairments. Students

began to produce their first pages of design ideas, focusing on quality of communication, rendering and presentation techniques.

In Year 10, Design and Technology students worked on designing a self assembly home lighting device, a task that was sponsored by IKEA and which they began before the Christmas holidays. Students developed their work through the use of CAD programs in order to finish their final design and working drawings. Students had a brief to design and make a lighting solution that could be stored flat pack in IKEA branded packaging, before being assembled at home.

Students produced a fantastic range of creative ideas using the full range of sophisticated manufacturing methods available in the department, such as 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC routing.

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Meet our D&T Student Teacher Spending two years working in a customer services department really makes you question your sanity. So, with a Product Design degree under my belt from the University of Huddersfield, I embarked on finding a career that wouldn’t involve being grumbled at for six hours a day. Teaching D&T I’ve been able to sample the fantastic facilities here in the department. I’ve made it my mission to encourage my pupils to be as diverse and creative as possible in their projects to utilise the workshop to its full potential, where they’ve ultimately produced artefacts I would’ve assumed beyond their conception.

My first serious foray into D&T was when I discovered my love for sketching during high school, and by the time it came to choose my A-Level options, a subject that awarded marks for drawing was a no-brainer. I took these skills to university where things like lasercutters, 3D printers and CAD software became very much my life for three years- and in teaching I am thrilled to make a return to the world of design. Working at QEGS has been a thoroughly fulfilling experience where I’ve been able to teach six year groups across four different Key Stages.

I have taught a vast range of Design & Technology projects from IKEA lighting briefs to ping-pong ball trebuchets. During the past six months I have also had the opportunity to run or co-run Games and QED sessions, where I’ve found it greatly rewarding to see the pupils develop and grow.

After leaving QEGS this June, I will be continuing my teaching journey at Campsmount Academy in Doncaster where I will commence my ECT (Early Careers Teacher) years, specialising in D&T and Engineering. Looking back, I’d like to give a big thank you for all the supervision and support I’ve had during my time here.

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Year 9 Year 9 boys spent much of the year designing and making a portable speaker system, aimed at young students either at school or university. This project gave students the chance to utilise the vast range of manufacturing and CAD/CAM facilities within the department, in order to produce their bespoke solution.

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Year 11

Year 12

Year 11 students completed their Non Examined Assessment (NEA) during the year. Students designed, developed and manufactured a solution for a given context.

In the Winter term the Year 12 students completed a project focused on using natural forms to inspire their designing. Students produced a range of prototypes including lighting devices, storage containers and kitchen appliances.

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Year 13 Year 13 students completed their Non Examined Assessment (NEA), which involved writing their own design brief based around solving a specific problem for a chosen client. Students then designed, developed and manufactured a solution for this problem.

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Design & Technology Year 3

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Biology

Biology

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Biology In the Spring Term, a number of students in Biology took part in a range of Royal Society of Biology challenges. Our Year 9 and 10 students took part in the Biology Challenge which included 2 online papers assessing their knowledge of the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curricula. Our Year 12 and 13 students took part in the British Biology Olympiad which included 2 online papers assessing their knowledge of A level Biology. These challenges are designed to engage and stretch students of all abilities by offering them a range of problems to solve. The key aim is that students enjoy taking part and are encouraged to do more Biology!

British Biology Olympiad Results 8476 students from 622 schools worldwide took part in this year’s competition. Massive congratulations to Dami Olawoye who got gold which puts him in the 5% of all entrants! Biology Challenge Results 26,828 students from 348 schools worldwide took part in this year’s competition. In QEGS we had 47 boys take part and out of those 27 gained a certificate. Massive congratulations to Arsh Gupta and Sheron Hamelesshanar who got gold which puts them in the top 5% of entrants! The other boys who certificated are: Silver (top 14%): Oliver Mitchell, Srichand Myneni, Arthur Broadbent, Aditya Krishnan and Faaris Khan Bronze (top 28%): Samee Aksar, Jason Kamposioras, Fergus Kelly, William Fletcher, Chester Lomas, Daniel Preston and Bhargav Chand Myneni Highly Commended (top 42%):

Ethan Chan, Oliver Hobbs, Daniel Robinson, Christian Kay, Harvey Bolton, Haris Ng, Abhinav Vutla and Adam Vania Commended (top 56%): Kieran Sak, Shivansh Mani, Ismaeel Khan, Peter Maher and Joshua Liwonde.

The other boys who gained certificates are: Silver (top 15%): Swapnil Sahoo. Bronze (top 25%): James Willard. Highly Commended (top 50%): James Ackroyd, Matthew Tam-McMillan, Musa Sherwani and Alexander Roe. We hope that the success of these boys encourages them to explore Biology further, and inspires others to take part in future challenges. Look out for future information on the various challenges we hope to run next year.

Esa Butt Competition Winner Esa has won the QEGS element of the Royal Society of Biology’s prestigious photography competition.Esa perfectly captured the theme of this year’s competition, which was “Interconnected”. Esa has now been entered into the main competition and has the chance of winning £500.

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Business and Economics

Business and Economics

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Shares 4 Schools Competition

Enterprise Education at QEGS

Over the last four years, our Year 12 students have been taking part in the ‘Shares4Schools’ competition run by The Share Centre. This competition allowed students to invest real money in the stock market and experience the peaks and troughs of the financial world. Thanks to the generosity of the Parents Association by providing most of the capital, the students were able to make over £250 profit which will now be reinvested back into the school by the students. Unfortunately, due to COVID 19 the competition has changed its format and The Share Centre is merging with another company, but we continue to teach our students the advantages (and dangers) of investing!

QEGS Senior Section has been embedding aspects of Enterprise Education into the curriculum over the last few years and we have been thrilled with the appetite that the boys have demonstrated for the opportunities provided; these include the Y7 Apprentice Chocolate Challenge, the Y9 Tenner Challenge, the Yr 10 York Enterprise Challenge and of course the introduction of Enterprise into the 10 PSHE curriculum. The trophies won and the money raised are of course commendable but more important is the range of skills demonstrated during the tasks: the ‘can do’ attitudes, the risk taking, the innovation, the organisational skills and, in many cases, the ‘learning from failure’ – these are all important enterprise and employability skills that will improve the boys’ future competitiveness. Next term, we very much hope to run a Y8 National Enterprise Challenge drop down day. We are confident it will be a fantastic and invaluable opportunity and we can’t wait to support the winning team of students in representing QEGS on a national platform in front of industry experts such as Theo Paphitis and Lord Alan Sugar at the Finals (albeit virtually this year unfortunately). We are confident that the Yr 8 Enterprise experience will have a long lasting impact and motivate the boys to pursue other enterprise opportunities throughout their time at school.

Young Financial Journalist of the Year Competition 12 students from across the Foundation entered the Young Financial Journalist of the Year Competition, taking on hundreds of other budding young columnists from across the country. The London Institute of Banking and Finance and the Financial Times were seeking well-argued articles from students aged 14-19 with winning entries to be published across their world renowned websites and/or in an edition of FT Money. The winner of each age group was also in line to receive a £150 cash prize. To help our potential journalists prepare, Mr Chatterton managed to snaffle award winning writer Marianna Hunt from the Daily Telegraph. She joined the students on a Google Meet, where they were able to field some questions and take away some top tips to help shape their entries. Entries were judged by a panel of judges, including FT Consumer Editor, Claer Barrett...

Young Economist of the Year In April the Economics and Business Department launched the annual Young Economist of the Year 2021 competition in association with the Financial Times. Following in the footsteps of Ankur Desai (2015) and Gautam Mahapatra (2017), whose essays were shortlisted in this prestigious national competition, students were invited to write 1,000 words on one of five topics of their choosing. Students were able to explore the ways in which Brexit might impact the economic geography of the UK, or perhaps research how the legacy of the Covid pandemic might be one of increased poverty and inequality, and how that will impact the UK in future years As regards to the policy response to the current economic crisis, students could have chosen to examine the notion of negative interest rates and when (if ever!), this might be a good idea, or finally more tech savvy students might have considered how technological advances might change the wage gap between skilled and unskilled.

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Business and Economics

Chemistry

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Chemistry Part of the challenge this year in Chemistry was to try and replicate laboratory experiments at home – in a safe and appropriate way!

When we went into lockdown after Christmas, the Year 7 students had been doing practicals that taught them how to accurately make measurements of mass, volume and temperature. They were all invited to make a cake or pie at home which involved all of these, as well as thinking about an important bit of health and safety – oven gloves! Mohamed went to a lot of effort and sent in these pictures of the process involved in making his crumble!

Another experiment that we asked pupils to have a go at was the ‘Red Cabbage Indicator Experiment’. An indicator is a substance that changes colour when in contact with acids or alkalis. Year 7 pupils study acids and alkalis and learn about litmus and universal indicators. However, there are lots of natural indicators found in fruit and vegetables that give them their bright colours (beetroot is one example). We asked students to use a red cabbage (it’s actually purple!).

Ingredients: + 1 Red cabbage + Warm water + Food blender + Sieve + Tall glasses + Household chemicals to test

Method: + Chop about 1 quarter of the cabbage (parental supervision required) + Put in the blender with warm water.

Blitz in the blender. + Pass through a sieve so that you now have a purple solution of indicator ready to use. + You can then test different substances to see what colours your indicator will go. + Possible liquids are: vinegar, baking soda, fizzy drinks (Sprite), bleach, lemon juice.

Pupils were asked to watch the Youtube video listed here to see how it’s done: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=OMXMlWybv8A There were some excellent examples – clearly showing that QEGS scientists know what they are doing in their ‘home’ laboratories!

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Classics

Classics

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Classics It has been an interesting period in the life of the Classics Department.

Although the most traditional of subjects, we have for a long time been innovators and quick to embrace new ways of doing things.

This has been melded together with familiar activities such as learning vocabulary and grammar, but at the core of it has always been the belief that the Classical World has much to say to the Modern World. This has been borne out in a number of ways in the last year, and what follows is a brief description of three of them.

The first of these is the Youtube channel which Mr Dean created during Lockdown 1.0. This had the aim of creating learning materials for different groups, but with a familiar “teacher face” and personality which textbooks lack. Materials were prepared and uploaded each day from the announcement of school closures until the end of term.

They included items related to familiar topics such as the eruption of Vesuvius, the Roman occupation of Britain, and Greek Tragedy, but also included thoughts on plague in Athens, building a Great Big Border Wall, and what it takes to be a good leader in times of crisis. Also popular were less school related topics such as Roman Executions, and the relationship of the Classical World and Judaism. There were even three cookery “programmes” with advice (and demonstrations) on how to cook Roman army bread, leek and barley soup and almond stuffed date sweets. To date the channel has had over 17,000 views, including some from Old Savilians, but also many from the USA! Who knew such a market existed?

Related to this has been a recent cookery competition open to boys in Years 10 and 11 studying Latin or Classical Civilisation.

This challenge asked pupils to research, cook, and review Classical recipes, with photographic evidence. Prawns glazed with honey,

Roman pancakes (these went badly!) and wild boar stew were all cooked. The winner was Oliver Mitchell of Year 10 Latin and Classical Civilisation, whose wild boar stew was a real standout!

We also contacted a number of former pupils and asked them to film a short video describing what Classical subjects they had studied, and how they had led them to their current career. These have been edited together and shared with current pupils, to show real examples of where the wonderful world of Classics might lead.

Thanks to Old Savilians Adam Priest, Harry Taylor and Rory Jones for their contributions in this enterprise.

School work continued online for much of the year, and while we enjoyed using our new skills and ways of working we were very happy with the return to the classroom in Spring. Year 9 and Year 10 pupils took Graded Test exams, and earned themselves certificates from the Cambridge Schools Classics project for their successes – all nine Year 10 boys did very well in the Stage 28 test, with some very high marks indeed, and twenty six boys from Year 9 passed the Stage 16 test. All of this shows that traditional learning is going on alongside the newer pastures of online lessons and Youtube. Classics is proud of its past, proud of its present, and excited about its future.

CLASSICS

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Computer Science

Drama

Computer Science is a relatively new subject at QEGS and we have recently introduced a project based computer programming approach. The boys have been given the opportunity to see the full software lifecycle from the initial discussion regarding project requirements right up to the delivery of working source code.

Embarking on a longer project over a series of lessons gives the students invaluable experience of the problems that a real software engineer might face at work. One project focussed on the software that might form part of the till that you would find at the checkout in a typical supermarket. This work had some excellent cross curricular links with mathematics as a result of the various calculations that were required.

Another project involved students designing and making their own kahoot quiz application. They focussed primarily on the random friendly name generation elements of such a project. The ‘football cup’ project introduced some of the logic that might form part of the source code for a typical football manager game. We looked at the manipulation of nested lists to process through a cup competition. This involved selecting and pairing teams together randomly in order to allocate a winner.

The 100% Club Students are beginning to develop real programming skills and a number of boys have joined the exclusive “100% club”. Membership of this club requires the handing in of a project that has all of the following features: + All basic project requirements have been implemented and are working. + Source code is readable and has a good structure usually involving the use of functions.

Lockdown has affected so many areas of life during the last few months, and the shutting down of the entertainment and theatre industry has been a major issue with venues shut and artists struggling to connect with audiences when indoor venues are closed.

This has equally been the case with Drama at QEGS and the Foundation, especially during those dull few months inside.

Fortunately, the show must go on, and students have been finding a way to show off their talents in all kinds of new and exciting ways, such as our Virtual Christmas Carol production using G-Meet in December and, more recently, the Virtual Monologue Evening in the Spring Term.

Students also took part in Watchalongs, where they were able to comment together on streaming theatre productions such as the National Theatre’s Frankenstein. Drama Clubs carried on during lockdown with virtual meetings and, on the return to school, Year Bubble Drama Clubs in the QE Hall. Now, with things cautiously opening up again, we are looking forward to bringing audiences back into the school again with our big plans for the future. Spring 2022 will see the return of our big musical production and this year we are really excited to bring Sister Act The Musical to the Foundation! Based on the famous hit movie, this show brings the spirit of soul and disco to the traditional world of a convent as a cabaret singer hides from a villainous gangster. As our first through school production, this show will involve all four schools with lots of roles for everyone, both on stage and behind the scenes, with our Sound and Light Team and stage crew being critical to the success of this full-on show. We hope that you will be able to join us in the QE Hall on February 9-11 and celebrate the relaunch of live drama back in the Foundation!

+ Source code is thoroughly commented on. + The student has gone the “extra mile” by adding additional functionality to their project that is beyond the scope of the initial project brief.

This is no mean feat and I would like to congratulate the following boys for making it into the “100% club”: Rohan Mathew, James Higgins, Nicholas Marshall, Mohammed Loonat, Srichand Myneni, Timothy Spawforth, James Teufa Awounang, Toby Hobbs.

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English

English

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Poetry In the Spring Term, students in English were getting to grips with poetry, working on poems for submission to the annual QEGS’ Poetry Promenade, an evening where boys can showcase their creativity to other students and parents. The theme of this year’s poetry recital was gardens and nature – particularly fitting given the time we have been spending outside in gardens this term! Using nature as a springboard for their ideas on this theme, some students used photography to capture elements of nature in the school grounds to inspire their classmates’ imaginations. They have also been encouraged to think about nature beyond the stereotypical ideas of nature poetry, to more extreme ideas – for example, extreme weather, and endangered species (see the poem on the endangered rhinoceros).

PROUDLY PRESENTS

UPLIFTING Words

English Whilst much of the year was spent online, the English Department made sure that there were plenty of opportunities to spark the students’ interest and creativity. Dr Winborn launched a fabulous project entitled ‘Uplifting Words’ celebrating favourite passages of inspiring writing to bring some hope and positivity during a time when many people were feeling uncertain about the future.

Michael Morpurgo

Huge thanks to Niall Williams for editing the wonderful submissions received. You can enjoy the final project here: https://youtu.be/NReWZ7zexqo Boris Johnson’s new Shakespeare book may have been delayed but celebrated author Michael Morpurgo has adapted some of the best-loved Tales from Shakespeare into wonderful stories. In collaboration with the RSC, these special events for schools introduced students to plays including Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet. A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest.

The stories are told by both Morpurgo himself alongside members of the acting company and students were able to access these on demand with the links from their teachers.

The Department, in partnership with the Economics and Business Studies Department also launched a creative writing competition for aspiring financial journalists run with FT Schools and The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF).

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Endangered, by Daniel Bjelk (9DJP)

Endangered

By Daniel Bjelk (9DJP)

Sudan doesn’t know, doesn’t know, Beneath theSudan sinister sky, the sinister His eye as aBeneath sad black dot,sky, His eye as a sad black dot, Massive wrinkled face, wrinkled face, Wanders theMassive reserve, A MarvellousWanders thing,the reserve, A Marvellous thing, Majestic rectangle, Majestic rectangle, Leathery flesh, Leathery flesh, Pure strength, Strong bone,Pure strength, Strong bone,

Vulnerable. Vulnerable.

Weighed down by fate,

Literary Success We are delighted to announce that our very own Learning Hub Manager, Lynn Bauman-Milner has been successful in being appointed as support worker for the CILIP Information Literacy Group. She is looking forward to volunteering her time with CILIP, and contributing to the Information Literacy Group as she develops her own skills in this area, with the goal to share her experience with our students, as well as other librarians who wish to teach Information Literacy in their settings. Information Literacy is defined as the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to reach and express informed views and to engage fully with society. We wish her every success in this important venture.

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Weighed down byBattered, fate, Armour Armour Battered, Old warrior, Old warrior, Fading.

Sudan doesn’t know.

Fading.

Sudan doesn’t know.

Shakespeare Success Arsh Gupta in Year 10 was selected to take part in the regional final of the Performing Shakespeare Competition, an outstanding achievement. Arsh performed a dramatic monologue from the play ‘Romeo and Juliet.’

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Geography

Geography

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‘7 Wonders of the Modern World’ project Over Lockdown the Year 7 Geographers did a “7 Wonders of the Modern World Project”. In this project they developed their research skills by producing fact-files for each of the 7 Wonders – The Great Wall of China; The City of Petra, Jordan; Christ the Redeemer, Brazil; Machu Picchu, Peru; Chichen Itza; The Colosseum, Italy & The Taj Mahal, India. They also expressed their creative sides by making a model of one of the locations. All boys did a fantastic job with their models, which were created in many different ways including using clay, Lego, Minecraft, cake, cardboard and Sketchup amongst many other innovative media.

From QEGS student to student teacher Upon leaving QEGS in 2010 to attend Staffordshire University studying Geography, I never thought I would see myself back in education, never mind being back at QEGS. However after two years working in the construction industry I found my calling with coaching cricket and teaching PE to primary school children. A few more years passed and I slowly began to wander into secondary PE teaching, which then led on to being able to teach the odd Geography lesson here and there. This is where I brought back my love of Geography, and the realisation I needed to qualify as a teacher. Coming back to QEGS was a nobrainer when I found out that it was an option through my university, and, yes, I did beg to come back! From the moment I walked back through the doors I have hugely enjoyed the placement. During the past two months I have had the opportunity to teach across all year groups and have been able to get involved on the sports field again once more through Games and QED. My next venture is working at Hanson Academy in Bradford as a teacher of Geography, where I will be able to hopefully use the skills that I have learnt on this placement. Finally, I’d like to give a big thank you for all the supervision and support I’ve had during my time here, especially to the Geography Department.

Adam Brooke-Smith

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History

History

Castles Project As part of the Year 7 course in the Spring Term and after having covered castles as part of their study of the Norman Conquest and the Crusades, the boys were asked to research a castle of their choice and create a presentation covering the castle’s architecture and military design, its history and its relevance to the local area. There were some excellent examples covering castles the length and breadth of the country and I hope that some of these projects inspired the boys to visit them during the summer holidays!

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Young Historian of the Year Essay Competition 2021 – QEGS Entries History Essay Competition

The Chindits in Burma - The Forgotten War

This year a number of boys from Year 7 to Year 10 will put their historical skills through the ultimate test by competing on a national scale in an attempt to be named the Historical Association’s Young Historian of the Year. Boys were entered into multiple categories ranging from writing an essay on British involvement in World War Two with the prize being funded by the Normandy Trust; to researching and writing about the Great War. Pupils with a more creative flair were encouraged to enter the Historical Fiction Prize where the task was to write a ‘pageturner’ set in any period of their choosing. Who knows, QEGS may have the next Hilary Mantel, Ken Follett or Bernard Cornwell within its ranks, so this was the perfect opportunity for the boys to express their literary excellence. Some of the extracts from the fantastic entrants are included here for you to enjoy!

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by Arthur Broadbent

How successful were the British Forces in North Africa?

by Charlie Newton

How did railways affect the First World War?

by Christopher Barnett

From Smyrna to Athens

by Christopher Poulios

Razzle Dazzle Camouflage

by Ilyas Formuli

Were the Normandy landings a success?

by James Maddison

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Japan Project In the Summer Term Year 7 boys carried out a research project on Japan, with focus on four areas: feudal Japan, Twentieth Century history, Japanese geography and, finally, language and culture. Once again, the boys surpassed themselves with some fascinating and well-researched projects. This undoubtedly gave them the edge on others when watching the Tokyo Olympics this summer!

Aspiring Beyond QEGS The Department is keen to prepare its students for life beyond QEGs, so it has established a discussion group for those Year 12 historians and humanities students who are interested in exploring historical, cultural and political issues beyond the syllabus.

This will help them prepare for applications in History and/or related subjects to Oxford and Cambridge or Russell Group universities. With departmental advice, the students have been extending their personal reading around their subject areas and participating in seminar style discussion groups based on degree level articles. There are plans to extend this for the next academic year with essay competitions and online Future Learn courses, so watch this space!

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Modern Foreign Languages

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Language Assistants Bonjour! Halo! ¡Hola! We were very privileged this year here at QEGS to have working with our boys’ three language assistants from France, Germany and Chile! Even throughout phases of remote learning, our assistants were logging into Google Meets to work in “breakout rooms” with our budding linguists. It was a fantastic opportunity for boys to put into practice the language they have been learning in the classroom with a native speaker. Each of our assistants also added their own input into our lessons, sharing with the boys aspects of society that may be different in their home country to ours and therefore also broadening our boys’ cultural knowledge and understanding. Here they are!

Daniel Grias eich! Ich heiße Daniel Eubanks und bin ein waschechter Bayer und noch dazu ein Landei, denn ich komme aus einem kleinen Dorf namens Garching an der Alz. Da ich schon immer an Sprachen interessiert war, habe ich Sprachwissenschaften studiert und eine Ausbildung als Übersetzer absolviert.

Mathematics On Thursday 4th of February students from Years 9, 10 and 11 took part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. This is a highly prestigious national event which this year took place entirely online. Our boys at QEGS pride themselves on the 5 P’s ( proper preparation and planning prevents poor performance).

As you can tell from the images below, some boys took this preparation extremely seriously indeed! Arsh said: “I thought that this montage best described my experience of the Maths challenge. I initially thought I was really well equipped (notice the spare pencil on the ear) and infallible – with some helpful formulae and theorems ready in my mind. You could almost compare my confidence levels to those of a ‘Karate Master’ before the challenge started, but, then, reality struck and this confidence slowly turned into confusion as the true difficulty of the questions was realised. Unfazed nevertheless, I then began to work my way through the question systematically and, two entire pages worth of working-out later (my actual working

is shown on the pages on the wall) I finally reached what I thought, at least, was the right answer. But you never know with questions like these!”

Célia Bonjour, je m’appelle Célia. Je viens d’un village près de Reims dans la Champagne. J’ai étudié l’anglais pendant 5 ans à l’université.

Pendant mon temps libre, j’aime lire, écouter de la musique, regarder des séries ou des films.

J’aime également les loisirs créatifs (coloriage, bullet journal, crochet, etc). Je suis l’assistante de français à WGSF depuis début novembre.

Roberto

Overall, a fantastic effort from our Yr 9, 10 & 11 mathematicians at QEGS in very unusual circumstances. Of those who took part, 21 of our mathematicians qualified for the second round of the UK Maths Challenge. Only the top 8000 students in the country qualified for the Kangaroo round, where our boys were forced to pit their wits against another 25 questions, designed to test their skills, even further than before. The top 25% were awarded a certificate of Merit, but anyone who qualified has already demonstrated their mathematical abilities.

Roberto ¡Hola a todos! Me llamo Roberto González y vengo de Chile. Estoy recién titulado como profesor de inglés y este viaje a Inglaterra ha sido una experiencia maravillosa. ¡Quiero adoptar el acento de Yorkshire! Me encanta escuchar música de los 80s, salir a correr y andar en bicicleta.

También amo a los perritos. El mío se llama Nanuk y lo extraño muchísimo. Nos vemos pronto.

NSPCC Numbers Day

Foreign Gastronomy

The Maths Department at QEGS Seniors held a charity event for the NSPCC Number Day 2021. This was not only to raise funds to help those less privileged than the boys within our school, but to also raise awareness that some children in this world don’t have the best of upbringings and face daily troubles that they shouldn’t at such an early age. The day saw money being raised through non-uniform, headphone passes to use within lessons and a raffle for each year group to win an E-Voucher of their choice! The day was a complete success and the boys in the school did us all proud in raising £1561!

So, a massive thank you to our boys, our parents and our staff that made the day an enjoyable and successful day!

Our A-level hispanists showed off their culinary skills in a “Great QEGS Cook Off” lesson in which they competed to make the finest tortilla española (Spanish tortilla). As you can see, some were a little more successful than others!

Spanish regional cuisine is a topic studied at A-level and what better way to learn about it than to cook some of the dishes!

A special thank you to our Head Boy, Swapnil, and the Senior Prefects for their help in raising awareness in Sixth Form and around the school: Jacob, Niral and Oliver. The Maths team would like to extend their gratitude to all that took part, brought money in and supported this day. We can’t wait to do it next year and incorporate some mathematical based sponsored events!

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Music

Modern Foreign Languages

GCHQ Language Event In March, a number of Year 10 MFL students attended the GCHQ language event. This was a test of both our linguistic and analytical skills; a chance to expand our knowledge past the regular classroom learning and take a look into how language is used to solve crimes.

Although it was mostly a test of our own abilities, our Spanish, German and French teams were competing against other schools in this competition. Each group was assembled several days before the event. In the Spanish team: Samee Aksar, Joe Dowd, Toby Hobbs, Massimo Mazhar, Tim Perrott and Roman Tempest. In the German team: George Bailey, Esa Butt, Dan Gilliard, Sheron Hamelesshanar, Ed Moran and Mo Qarshi. In the French team: Arsh Gupta, Aditya Krishnan, Mo Loonat, Eli Okingo, Chris Poulios, James Teufa Awounang.

We had a meeting on Tuesday, giving a brief outline of the day and an instruction for half of each team to learn Korean, with the other half learning Arabic. On the day we were instructed to go to E9.

After joining the virtual meet, we were greeted by some members of GCHQ. A brief presentation about simple encryption techniques ensued before we were given our main challenge for the day: uncovering the identity of a UK contact of a cocaine “drug dealer” named Khalif. Throughout the event we were given different hints and clues in order to figure out the mysterious figure’s identity.

Firstly, an “intercepted’’ audio message spoken in the group’s chosen language. A familiar task, yet this was riddled with tricky phrases and unknown words that required precise listening

Wakefield Cathedral Recital and translation skills. Secondly, a jumbled message written in both English, Korean and the chosen language that revealed yet more vital information. Whilst figuring out the clues to Khalif’s contact’s identity, yet more hints would periodically appear on the screen. By combining all the clues, each team was able to create a (somewhat) comprehensive report on the criminal. As part of the fourth task, we were then to write a message to Khalif in order to lure him into a trap. This message was to feature a self-made encryption code, be written in the chosen language and contain some Arabic numbers. Finally, each group took part in an interview with the GCHQ member conducted in the chosen language.

Although the questions were given beforehand, somehow each group managed to miss them and all ended up translating the questions on the spot. Unfortunately, none of our groups won the competition. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the event, and I am sure other participants would agree. Learning about how foreign languages are decrypted to obtain vital information was intriguing to say the least, and the process of encrypting our own messages was very enjoyable. I think this was a completely beneficial event for both our language learning and future careers, regardless of if we were to work in a similar field or not.

On 29th June students from Year 9 at QEGS and Year 12 at WGHS presented a concert as part of the lunchtime recital series at Wakefield Cathedral. This was the first time the students had played in front of a live audience in a very long time. The venue was packed to overflowing (as far as was permitted), with several audience members listening from outside the building.

Year 8 Storyboards As part of the school’s Reading Week last term, our Year 8 linguists produced some fabulous storyboards based on classic children’s stories that they had read in French, German and Spanish.

Some of them were hand-drawn and some of them were created using Adobe Spark Video. Take a look at some snippets of these famous stories. Can you figure out which they are from?

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Michael Dube started off the concert with a suitably laid-back rendition of The Pink Panther Theme on his saxophone and Mia Sedgwick followed with her atmospheric flute performance of Sea Echo (played from memory). A trumpet duet shared by Will Garside and Mr Lewis provided a suitably lively contrast and Kieran Sak’s soothing guitar playing of One Summer’s Day finished off the first set of soloså.

Members of the Year 9 Vocal Consort have been busy rehearsing during QED sessions this term and they leapt at the chance to perform in their first concert. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot opened up the set and this was followed by an impressive performance of If Ye Love Me (Thomas Tallis) and the group finished with Blue Moon. Eleanor Bowen (trumpet) started the next set of solos,

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with her lyrical and technically impressive realisation of the first movement from Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, Philip PoultonHaselier followed with a very fluid Tango ‘Till You Drop and Charlie Trueman completed the solos with his sublime singing of Schubert’s Du bist die Ruh. The newly-formed Year 9 Swing Band completed the concert in rousing style with three wellrehearsed jazz arrangements: Tuxedo Junction, Woodchopper’s Ball and Louie, Louie, with a good number of the band members trying out their improvising skills for the first time. Many thanks to all the performers for taking part, and to Mr Bowstead and Mr Urbanski for directing and accompanying. Thanks also to Will France for recording the performance itself. We all look forward to performing again in the Cathedral next term.

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Music

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Due to the lockdown and the pandemic this year, the inter-house music competition/QEGS Young Musician of the Year has run a little differently and has followed a simplified format.

All boys were actively encouraged to enter the competition, as this was a great way of representing their house and taking part in an inter-house activity at home as well as being an important part of a team effort and earning a lot of extra points for their respective houses.

There were many excellent entries sent in this year. Boys had clearly not squandered their time at home and instead were busy practising their pieces for entry into the hotly contested competition. The format has also changed slightly this year and we decided it would be best if we offered an overall year group winner alongside the lower and upper Junior trophies. Huge congratulations to all who took part but in particular to the winners who were as follows: Year 3 – Oliver Lee Year 4 – Luke White Year 5 – Matthew Chen Year 6 – Siddarth Saravanan Overall Under 9 winner was Geroge Varley Overall under 11 winner was Joseph Shepherd The winning House this year was Bentley House

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Play Year 2

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‘Pantastic’ by 2T Based on the story by J M Barrie ‘Peter Pan’, the familiar characters came to life at Centenary House for our play ‘Pantastic’. Following our amazing Wow Week, we used the different areas in Centenary House as our set. Things were a little different this year with no mums and dads in the audience, instead we had a film crew! This did not stop us performing and we even took to the night skies of London using a green screen. For one week the clashing of cutlasses, the swigging of rum, the gnashing teeth of a hungry crocodile and the ticking of a clock could be heard as we were transported to Neverland.

When the despicable Captain Hook (brilliantly played by Parker) kidnaps Wendy (aka Nathan), and holds her to ransom, can Peter (Arthur – perfect for the part) find a way to rally the Lost Boys, mollify the angry Natives and defeat the pirates once and for all? So join us as we explore Neverland, from the mermaids’ cove to the Lost Boys’ camp, to the magical lands where nobody grows old. Watch the video and see!

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Nativity Year 4

The Year 6 play 2021

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The Magical Christmas Jigsaw

‘Skits and Sketches’

It’s been the most challenging and puzzling time this year to get the Year 4 Nativity play up and running.

We have all had to find new ways of working, get to grips with new technology and find new solutions to problems, all of which has made for a very special production this year. It has also been a production which has created lots of memories and one which I certainly won’t forget in a hurry!

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’... well pupil, as Seb Patel battled through the mire of acting ability in his ceaseless and, some would say, fruitless search for talent. With ‘Macbeth the Musical’ proving, yet again, its reputation as an unlucky play as Covid restrictions meant it couldn’t be performed, it seemed likely that for the second year in succession, the Year 6 play would not be able to go ahead.

Nonetheless, the Year 4 boys have once again done themselves proud with their version of “The Magical Christmas Jigsaw” and even though they didn’t get to perform it live on stage in front of a live audience, their performances were absolutely fabulous and they all really came to life on the screen.

Because of the pandemic, we rehearsed for the play this year in class bubbles and filmed the entire play using green screen technology (which had its own challenges) and then edited the play together in post production.

The results were wonderful and the Year 4 boys rose to the challenge and performed with the greenscreen brilliantly. I think we were all so happy with the results too. All the boys were outstanding in their performances and showed huge levels of determination and resilience to get this done to the very best of their ability. Some special mentions go out to Seth Fortas for his role as the angel, and to Harry Beck, Will Anderton, Rehmat Ghouri, Samuel Reynard and Raamis Zaki as the other lead parts.

Well done to all of our Year 4 boys this year too – you were simply stunning and this was one of the most enjoyable productions to make, once all the pieces of the puzzle came together!

We decided to try something different. I remembered an idea I had had some time ago, writing a play about the difficulties of… writing a play. We decided to do a review – ‘Skits and Sketches’ – a series of comedy routines giving Mr Renshaw and myself the unenviable task of rewatching and adapting masses of classic TV and film comedy for the boys to reinact. Morecambe and Wise?

The Two Ronnies? Dave Allen? Peter Cook and Dudley Moore?

Monty Python? If you don’t know who these comedians are then hold your head in shame and get onto You Tube!

It was great to see Oscar Lambert hopping about on stage echoing the great ‘One leg too few’ Cook and Moore sketch; Dexter Cooper, Harry Boswell and Freddie Bullas recreating the famous ‘Four Yorkshire men’ sketch from the ‘At last, the 1984’ show and later ‘Monty Python’ and Tanaka Katema bullying his incompetent firing squad in tribute to the great stand-up or should that be ‘sit down’ comedian, Dave Allen. Throughout the jokes, we had the running gag of the accident-prone Orin Wood and his increasingly unfortunate mishaps.

Having enjoyed filming the autumn term 6C assembly, I turned to Seb Patel and William Priest – its stars – two reliable, talented characters who I knew could perform their leading roles enthusiastically. Seb’s unending search for QEGS talent would be the linking spine of the film with periodic dramatic stumbling from Will, keen to but never impressing and meeting Seb’s high standards.

We were honoured to have a performance from the legendary ‘Ashton Murray singers’ who murdered, er performed that Mamas and Papas favourite ‘California Dreamin’ rightly retitled ‘California Screaming’, which many of us did. I was particularly pleased with all three classes performing the intended opener for the abandoned ‘Macbeth’ – ‘In the Fields’ which they ‘sang’ with gusto.

The amount of time we had to film various combinations of boys acting was incredibly small. We were hardly Paramount Studios but we put to shame the typical two to three minutes of film time that they generally achieve a day with huge amounts of cleverly filmed, green-screen sketches being produced in a few short hours.

There were many more. It would be unfair to single out anyone for special praise so I won’t and just let the finished Firefly film display the comedic talents of the past performed by the talents of today.

And Seb’s tireless search for talent? There was a lot – a surprising amount. The magic of ‘the play’ has always been its ability to find and showcase new talent. Many boys over the years have discovered and enjoyed noticeable acting ability that they never knew they had and such was the case, yet again, this year. We were keen that everyone performed in at least one good sketch and everyone consequently got their thirty seconds of fame.

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A huge amount of well-deserved praise should go to Mr Renshaw who provided his considerable filming and editing skills, giving up huge amounts of ‘spare’ time including having to have an orange-juice-soaked laptop quickly repaired but whose dedication proved that whether on film or the stage, QEGS boys yet again can add dramatic performance to their rainbow of talents. I sincerely hope that they will follow their predecessors and enjoy more conventional stage performances in the years to come.

C Cheffins

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Writing Year 2

Centenary House School Council by bloggers Olly and Jacob The five members of the School Council, Timothy, Edward, Emaad, Jaxson and Nathan did a great job this year. Not only did they hold successful School Meetings for all of the boys in Year 2, Year 1 and Reception, but had some great ideas and put them into action.

In their Autumn meeting suggestions such as a Christmas Quiz and disco took place for all boys in Centenary House. More baking happened with Christmas cookies being baked and enjoyed by the Year 2 boys. And finally, following requests from the boys, Mrs Taylor bought more Dog Man books for the library.

In their Summer meeting, the suggestion for the boys at Centenary House to ‘Take Over the School Day’ has been planned with all of the boys taking over the school and planning their own activities for one day. Requests for lessons on modern art, story writing, researching sea creatures with a games lesson playing football, cricket and a firm favourite, Capture the Flag were carefully planned by the boys themselves. It was certainly a day to remember!

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Ned McCann is interviewed by Rita Skeeter about his Forbidden Forest design Why did you put it on stilts? asks Rita Skeeter “Well!” I said “It could fall over and if it did poor old Hagrid might hurt himself.

“Why a pond?” she demands.

“Well you don’t want any muddy animals walking around your house would you?” I answer back.

“No” answered Rita Skeeter. “Why are there plants on Hagrid’s roof?”

“We couldn’t reach the roof, that’s why,”I answered back.

“Ok,”said Rita Skeeter “What about the other animals in the Forbidden Forest?”

“Well Aragog, (the big spider) has a big hole in the ground closeish to the students.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” interrupted Rita Skeeter “No.” I said. “He swore he would not eat a human ever again.”

The Girl in the Clock Tower

Tragedy of Titan that sank

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a village. In the village was a clock tower, and in the clock tower there was a ballerina. She spent her time dancing in the tall clock tower. She wanted to explore the outside world, so one day she walked down the wooden steps and opened the door.

‘This is strange’, she thought. Everything was blank and dark.

The ballerina noticed that she was the only one in colour.

Suddenly, she spotted something at the tower. It was light.

She slowly walked back into the tower. There was a thud as she ran up the stairs. When she had reached the top the ballerina took a big breath and started to dance, and the town came to life again. She had been dancing for a few hours when something hit her... The past. And how she’d been locked up by a witch.

The Titanic was only 4 days through its journey and then it hit a huge iceberg. It took over an hour to sink. They said it was unsinkable; they were wrong. It skimmed the iceberg and had a 3 foot tear and started to fill up with water. Captain Edward John Smith estimated they only had an hour left. There were 12 dogs aboard the Titanic and only 3 survived. Around 1,800 people lost their lives.

We spoke to a survivor; she said “I was putting my children into bed and I heard a devastating scrape. We were forced into lifeboats.” Perhaps this is the greatest tragedy of all time. All that remains of the Titanic lies at the bottom of the north Atlantic ocean.

by Cameron Newsam

by George Fearnley

“My Dress is coming loose!” It fell to the ground with a clank.

The ballerina saw someone or something... it was a prince!

Surprisingly the cogs were still turning on the dress. “Let’s get out of here m’lady” said the prince. They walked to America, and ever since the clock tower had been turning, thanks to the dress. They lived happily ever after.

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Writing Year 3

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The Magic Brush

The Wave

The animals are looking at you

The Magic Macaroni Pot

Long ago in Japan, there was a boy named Ameer who loved drawing. One night whilst Ameer was deep asleep a boy woke him up by tapping his hand.

I gripped onto the paddleboard and squeezed my eyes tight shut. The huge, curling wave was heading straight towards me. I was terrified! The sounds I could hear were like a swift tide. When the waves arrived I wished I was back on shore. The waves were treacherous. They grew and grew. Water was dripping into my boat. What was I to do...

A lligators snap at you,

It all happened when a little girl was out in a bright and flourishing wood picking berries and gathering nuts. The bony girl and her mother were so poor that nuts and berries were all they could afford. After a while, an old woman appeared through a curtain of golden rays of sunlight and said worriedly to the little girl.

by Ameer Hamza 3R

by Eesa Nadeem 3R

Ameer shot up like a bullet. The boy gave Ameer a box and then he went away.

By Eisa Mohmed 3R

B aboons munch near you, C amels just ignore you, D ogs growl at you,

The next morning, Ameer opened the box and saw a brush. He drew a cat and the cat became real!

E lephants snort at you,

“Wow,” cried Ameer! For the whole week he helped villagers with their needs. Then the cruel Empress found out. She ordered her guards to capture Ameer.

G orillas boom their chests at you,

“Make me a dungeon!!!” ordered the Empress.

I guanas spit at you,

Ameer had an idea.

J aguars prowl towards you,

“Ok,” he answered in a calm voice.

K angaroos hop to you,

He made an indestructible dungeon. The Empress checked one of the cells.

L lamas run at you,

F lamingoes wave their long legs at you,

H orses click their hooves at you,

M ammoths point their horns at you,

“This is good,” said the Empress.

Quickly, Ameer closed the cell door, locked it and ran back to his village.

William’s Whopping Medicine

by William Jones 3R

List of ingredients 5 twigs from a flourishing birch tree A computer from a manager’s large office 4 aliens from a galaxy far away The claws of a large male lion A skull from a strong human A large racing car from Italy 2 bones of shard Jaguar bones The lava from a steaming volcano The venom from a snakes tooth 9 spoons full of grass from a meadow Instructions First you need to turn the oven on to 250 degrees. Leave the saucepan on to boil for half an hour and then let it cool for 10 minutes. Stir it for 5 minutes and then it is done!

N ewts leap at you, O ctopi slap you with their tentacles, P olar bears stalk you, Q uokkas look cutely at you, R odents carry diseases towards you, S nakes hiss at you, T arantula creep towards you, U nicorns dance with you, V oles hide from you, W hales leap in the water at you, X ray fish stare at you, Y aks bare horns at you,

By Oliver Lee 3R

“My! You look like you haven’t eaten for days.” “You’re right. My mother and I can’t afford any food,” sobbed the little girl. “Here, take this special pot,” offered the kind old woman. Carefully, she handed over a compact cast iron cooking pot. “When you want to eat, just command, ‘Cook little pot, cook!’ It will magically fill with scrumptious creamy macaroni cheese. When you are full, just command, ‘Stop,little pot, stop!”

Delighted, the little girl sprinted home with the pot and joyfully placed it on the wooden kitchen table in front of her shocked mother. “Cook, little pot, cook!” she commanded, and immediately the pot filled with hot, steaming, creamy macaroni cheese. The little girl and her mother scooped the delicious food into their mouths like shovelling sand into a bucket. When they were full, the little girl commanded, “Stop, little pot, stop!” and the pot stopped cooking.

Next day, while the little girl was visiting a friend, the mother took out the pot and commanded, “Cook, little pot, cook!” The mother filled herself up with macaroni cheese and fell asleep next to the warm fire.

Unfortunately, the pot carried on cooking and jammed the house with creamy, gooey macaroni cheese. The house exploded like a bottle of shaken fizzy pop.

A torrent of macaroni cheese gushed down the hill towards the village. Just then, the girl came home and bellowed, “Stop, little pot, stop!” At last, the pot stopped cooking.

The little girl, her mother and everyone in the village had a fantastic party enjoying scrumptious creamy macaroni cheese!

Z ebras gallop towards you.

What will happen when you take this medicine?

You will start frying very quickly and then every minute you will get smaller then bigger and finally you will explode!

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Writing Year 3

Desert Island

Beyond The Door

The 12 days of Alliteration

I am on a desert island with my friends, the temperature is nice and high and I love it. The sand is so soft and cozy, like my bed at home. So I put it in my bed here.

Beyond the red door, A fluttering beautiful butterfly, Then it flew away.

To my horror I awoke to a colossal, aggressive, unimaginable, storm so I went to wake up my friends Saleh and Zac “Come on!” I said. Saleh said, “Okay, what’s all the fuss about?” “THERE IS A STORM!” I said echoing into the distance. “AAAAAAAAAH!” Said Zac after I told him what’s happening. We ran to the cave, we have a lot of weapons in there that Saleh found.

Beyond the orange door, A juicy tangerine awaited, A hungry boy!

One waking white werewolf, (Muhammad) Two tall, twinkly twisty twigs, ( Edward) Three fierce furry firemen (Maahir) Four flaming fiery phoenixes, (Saleh) Five funny thoughtful fairies, (Alexander) Six scary slightly slithering snakes, (Liam) Seven slimy slippery slugs, (Luca) Eight apples are arranged, (Aidan) Nine nuclear nerf bullets, (Teddy) Ten tangled up terrible tigers, ( Bertie) Eleven electronic educated robots, ( Rahim) Twelve tantalising twisty tombs. (Zachary)

by Ilyas Hussain 3P

by Edward Daw 3P

Beyond the green door, A sour apple cut into slices, And was then devoured.

Beyond the pink door, A pearl attached to a clam, With its eye catching patterns.

Next to the weapons were a lot of materials. There was an engine, iron, windows, and wings, basically everything to build a boat or an aeroplane. So we crafted and crafted and crafted and finally made a boat. Using a rope we found, we pulled the boat out of the cave. The storm was still cracking as we pulled the boat out to sea, and we sailed back home.

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Portrait of a Unicorn

Portrait of a Unicorn

Beyond the Door

The Uses for a Ruler

For his head, I’d need the stuffing Of a teddy Bear.

For his horn, I’d use a golden cone, Like a sun in the sky.

Beyond the blue door, A windy powerful sky, I dived into the strong wind.

For his body, I’d have a Wobbly scoop of jelly.

For his head, I’d need a big muffin!

Beyond the red door, A ruby red rose on the floor, I picked it up and sniffed it!

A rail for a miniature train, A catapult to fire boulders, A ramp for my toy car, A propeller to go faster, A shoehorn, to get my rugby boots on!

by Zachary Fowode 3P

by Saleh Hayat 3P

For his hooves, Some aquamarine bracelets.

For his body, I’d have a long, Delicious baguette.

For his tail, I’d use multi coloured feathers.

For his tail, I’d use stringy rainbow wool.

For his horn, A crystal blue, Razor sharp diamond.

For his hooves, I’d use big, Circular pencil pots!

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by Alexander Sprenger 3P

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by Teddy Bentham 3P

Beyond the gold door, A vault with shimmering gold, My dream come true!

Beyond the pink door, A piece of bubble gum, It went POP! Beyond the white door, A delicious creamy ice cream, Soft like a teddy!

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Writing Year 4

French Roast Prequel

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Hungarian Elephant Horntail

by Joshua Badri

by Edward Daw 3P

One a dark, foggy Tuesday morning, a little old lady had promised herself that this gloomy, horrible weather would not even stand a chance preventing her putting her menacing plan into action, she was going to have a wonderful time today.

Oh! The police and government would be furious, but do you think that even put a doubt in her mind? These 24 hours would be the best and wildest of them all! This cunning lady was going for the bank, but not just any bank, she was going for the world famous Capital Bank.

Armed with turrets and guns and even lazers, this bank robbery was going to be almost impossible but this evil, old lady was willing to take this dangerous risk.

“This bank is as good as mine!” she exclaimed with excitement, evilly laughing at the same time. The reason she wanted to rob the bank is complicated but, in summary, she has light sides and dark sides and the way those sides get activated depends on the weather and since the weather was gloomy today, her dark side got activated.

This half maniac, half angel slowly walked towards her grappling hook and her alarm disarmer because this is the sort of equipment you need for wild adventure. She grabbed both in an instant and grappled her camofladge armor towards her. While putting on the metal armor, she got her most expensive phone out and called her robbery

team, team SIMULATION. She promised her team that she would take the blame and would be the only one wanted because that was the type of daredevil she was. This lady loved the adrenaline rushing through her and only wanted herself to be on the run because if the others were as well, they would share the blame so that’s why she made the bet.

Once she finished collecting her equipment, she burst out laughing evilly and like spiderman, she grappled from building to building and finally got on top of the Capital Bank where she found her teammates. One of her teammates got out the laser gun and lasered open the top of the bank in a flash. While jumping in the hole, they got their weapons and disarmors out just in case they got spotted by some eagle eyed guards. Once they got in, one of the teammates got a bomb out and BOOM, a big explosion right in front of what used to be a vault door, now just a pile of metal debri. They dashed into the money room and took all the valuables, diamonds, gold and even emeralds were all taken to the SIMULATION truck, hopped right in and stepped on the accelerator as much as they could to get away from the extremely furious police. The little old lady emptied her entire diamond purse except some money and her mask because she was going to try to frame some poor soul at the cafe, so she opened the door and casually walked right in.

Name: The Hungarian Elephant Horntail gets its name from an incident a long time ago.

It was the first ‘Tri Wizard Tournament’ back in the Ancient Greek times, when the Hungarian horntail was first used in the challenges. He was trying to get one of the three competitors out of the tournament.

When the Hungarian horntail was trying to get Bob The Brave out of the tournament he banged his wing on the rock and went flying towards an enchanted elephant and they both started spinning uncontrollably and the elephant’s body replaced the Hungarian horntails.

And that is how the Hungarian horntail became the Hungarian elephant horntail.

Appearance: The Hungarian elephant horntail’s appearance is unusual. He has a light terracotta coloured head and wings, a revolving mouldy red bruise, a sort of hideously plain grey body and yellow teeth (so it’s clear he doesn’t brush his teeth).

What it protects: The Hungarian elephant horntail protects a shining golden dragon egg, because the Hungarian elephant horntail thinks it is going to hatch with a new son in it.

The Hungarian elephant horntail has been thinking that the egg is going to hatch for 1 million years and its life span is 900 million years.

Its powers: The Hungarian elephant horntail’s powers are breath as smelly as rotten milk, fire as hot as the sun, a horn as sharp as barbed wire and feet as hard as rock.

Happiness

by Rehmat Ghouri It is like the radiating golden sun beaming onto the world.

It sounds like my favourite hysterical pun.

It tastes like the sweet crunchiness when you munch a crunchy gingerbread man.

It smells like a new handsome perfume.

It looks like all the children in the world are laughing.

It feels like a fluffy cloud being drifted by the cool breeze.

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Writing Year 4

The Curtains Opened

The Fairground

The Wood

Flames

Inside the tent, there were only six or seven people.

At the back was an aged, cracked stage. In the middle of the stage was a small, wooden stool with a black box which had silver writing on top. At the end of the stage, were two blue curtains. There was some golden tinsel draped over them. As I looked up, I saw some red lanterns lighting the golden room with a warm red glow.

There wasn’t anything on the floor, just the earth and grass. Then suddenly, all went black. It went quiet, all except for a few rustling sounds. I licked my chapped lips because they were dry. My heart pounded in my chest like a big, booming bass drum. Then the crimson light came on. The light blue curtains started to part slowly.

Then they suddenly opened...

The fairground was a magnificent and wonderful place.

Around me, I could see a bright ferris wheel with dazzling lights on it and a gigantic, monstrous helter skelter looming over me and the fair. A fast, bullet-shaped roller coaster whizzed past me with ecstatic, energetic children and adults screaming with excitement. The aroma of sweet-smelling, juicy, fresh burgers and yummy hotdogs drifted through the air. In the distance, a petrifying, scary ride called the ghost train sent shivers down my spine.

Behind the ride, there was an underground train going miles and miles. The myriad of coloured lights hung from every stall and made the fairground look magical. To the right of me, I could see a tent with an old chewed sign in front of it. An everlasting, snaked queue coiled around the tent.

The huge, glistening lake stretched out as far as the eye could see, rippling as the rain struck. Towering, majestic trees stood beside it like proud soldiers standing to attention. Their gold and bronze leaves were falling and the sweet, woodsy smell of autumn filled the air.

In the distance they could hear the mournful call of a bird and this, together with the occasional crunch of a twig, indicated that they weren’t the only ones walking through the forest. “I wonder who lives here?” said the boy. The muddy, uneven ground was very hard to walk on and the rain lashed down on them, drenching the ground but not dampening their spirits. “This is so exciting!” said the mole. Just then they heard the howl of a wolf. Bravely, they carried on walking.

Tom woke up abruptly. At first he was startled but then settled down. Tom sat up in his bed, looked around and straight away hid himself under his blanket. He could hear a horrible, scratching whisper that broke the calm, peaceful silence. The tall, thin trees leant over Tom’s small, crooked bed. The trees groaned, talked to each other and groaned again.

Hearing this was enough to make Tom freeze. The wrinkles on the trees seemed to twist and turn and form into mouths, repeating the words – COME WITH ME! Cautiously, Tom turned his head to face a sight that would make him run! A bunch of chattering mushrooms made him scream! They whispered and shouted to each other. A mysterious blue light shot through the sharp, thin branches. A mist started to walk down the trees towards him. This was more than fear! Flames, dancing blue flames, were eating the unsuspecting trees! Tom cried out in fear! He looked back at the mushrooms, but they were burning. The horrible, destructive flames licked the dead, brown branches that littered the floor. Tom was horrified, he started to cough and splutter.

by Luke White

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by Pratham Dwarakanath

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by Seth Fortas

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Writing Year 5

A Strange Week

A Strange Week

A Strange Week

A Strange Week

A Strange Week

by Elliott Smith

by Aiden Pannu

On Sunday morning I went downstairs And I was surrounded by monkeys

On Sunday afternoon I visited my Grandpa Under London Bridge

On Sunday morning I finished my breakfast and Sat on a dopey dinosaur

On Sunday morning I was playing a game and my house was falling out of the sky

On Sunday, morning, I ate my breakfast and walked on thin air Casually to my room.

On Monday afternoon My army action figures Started to attack my homework

On Monday morning I wrote a note And it flew to my friends house

On Monday lunchtime I sat on the floor and A chair sat on me

On Monday evening I went to bed and it sucked me in

On Monday, dinnertime, I cooked a chicken breast but it jumped up, Ran around the kitchen and jumped out of the window.

On Tuesday lunchtime A blue dodo was eating berries On a red banana

On Tuesday evening A blue bird fell On a purple dog

On Tuesday afternoon A teal talisman floated swiftly Off a green god of envy

On Tuesday tea-time I walked up to my black wardrobe and took out a red jumper

On Tuesday, after school, My Mum dyed my dog blue but I said, “MUM I wanted him to be PURPLE!”

On Wednesday tea time Luke Skywalker beat me at Star Wars Monopoly whilst eating a burger

On Wednesday tea time Darth Vader Bought me fish and chips

On Wednesday tea time Horrid Henry and I sat On the carpet eating pizza

On Wednesday lunchtime the Wimpy Kid made a treehouse with me

On Wednesday night, Tony Stark slept on my sofa and snored very loudly.

On Thursday evening Fear shook And its temperature drops

On Thursday lunchtime Pain gave me a knuckle punch in the back When I fell down the hill

On Thursday evening Rage roared and Screamed and yelled

On Thursday afternoon anger smashed a piece of wood into smithereens

On Thursday evening, Cowardice screamed and Hid behind a wall.

On Friday night Caesar came to my birthday And bought me a sword

On Friday night Henry the 8th delivered McDonald’s from Just Eat

On Friday night Caligula, who was an emperor of Rome, Bought me a McDonald’s meal

On Friday Night Bloody Mary was chopping my dog’s head off

On Friday afternoon Queen Victoria in a dazzling pink apron Made home-made pizza!

On Saturday during the night A purple panther Pounced perfectly

On Saturday during the night A daft dog dug down, down and down Into the dirty dung heap

On Saturday during the night An obese ox Over ate and exploded

On Saturday, during the night, a silent slithering snake, sat sadly beside the seat.

On Saturday afternoon, My pet gecko licked my face and said “Thanks for adopting me.”

by Henry Giles

by James Bird-Smith

Persionification Poem

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

The blazing sun remembers your presence The shimmering moon guides your spirit to Heaven The sparkling stars tell the planets what they know The bright blue sky listens to your cause The scary sea sleeps of fame and fortune The sleepy stone reminds the grass that it is cold The never-ending night dreams of things that it loves The magnificent mountains murmur as trees push them down The dexterous dawn awakens as it feasts on light The mischievous morning dances in the sun.

Peeling the plastic from the top of a cookie dough ice-cream tub The wind in my face as I ride my bike An Amazon delivery with my name on it The happy feeling I have when I build with Lego The smooth texture of the brush when I paint The especially lovely feeling of sliding down the slopes on my skis Hugs, laughs and fun with my family Creating animations and watching them move Watching a movie for the umpteenth time and still seeing something new The sound of music as it flows around the room

by Luke Marples

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Writing Year 5

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The Tailor and the Graveyard

The Tailor and the Graveyard

At the stroke of midnight, when the tailor was making clothes for the Laird, he sat still on the uncomfortable grave.

When he had finished sewing the clean, folded clothes, he got up and was about to set off back home, when the church door slowly opened with a disturbing screech. He decided to investigate. He approached the tall, cracked, abandoned building. His bright, flickering candle revealed an old-fashioned room covered with cobwebs. The walls were covered with well-crafted dark oak panels. The door of the church slammed shut. The chandelier above him lit up and then the whole church was filled with ghosts. They were seated on the church’s seats. The tailor, who was drenched in sweat and filled with fear, slowly and silently stepped backwards trying not to draw attention to himself. He stepped on the floorboard behind him which gave a loud screech that filled the church. All of the ghosts turned their fleshy ghoul-like faces towards him. The tailor burst through the doors and ran past the graves. Then zombies barged up out of the ground towards him.

He ran to the black rusty gate. A gory zombie, that was missing patches of his skin revealing his mangled bleeding fresh, grabbed the tailor’s foot which made him stumble to the ground. He noticed that the sun was rising. The zombie, which had bulging white eyes, was about to chomp on his leg, but suddenly, because of the daylight, the zombies were on fire and in seconds they were all disintegrated into ashes. The tailor sighed with relief.

After the bell had chimed eleven times, the tailor heard the enormous spruce door crack and then it fell. The tailor looked at the door and then he looked inside the church and saw a ghost. The confidence of the tailor faded in an instant. His legs started to shake. He said, “Hello, hello. Are you alright?”

by Edward Fenwick

by James Bird-Smith

The ghost looked at him with her black devil eyes. The tailor stood up, walked slowly and nervously to the church and said, “I need the money from staying here all night for my family. Just leave me alone for the night and then I will leave here and go home.”

She screamed at him, “Leave now, or you will never wake up from this sleep!”

“No! I will not go. I need the money for my family,” said the tailor, “we are very poor!” Then he blacked out. When he woke up, he was sleeping on the gravestone that he had been sitting on before. He thought to himself, ‘It must have just been a dream!’ He got up and went back to the Macdonald clan castle with the finished trews and said, “My Laird, the graveyard is not haunted but it is a bit scary. Here are the velvet red and blue trews you have requested.”

“Thank you for this,” replied the Laird, “now here is your money and have a lovely day.”

The Tailor and the Graveyard

by Shoaib Yaseen

After he finished sewing the trews, the tailor (who pretended he was brave but he was scared) had a fearful dream about the church. In his dream he woke up and heard a screech from the eerie church, so he walked up to it. As he walked inside it, the bell (which was as big as an elephant) chimed ten times. Suddenly, there was another screech, so the tailor followed the screech. As he was walking, it got darker and darker. The tailor saw a pull switch. He pulled it but only a box fell down so he carried on walking. He saw a dead body that booed him and then died again. He woke up on a gravestone and ran to the laird and said that there was nothing in the graveyard. The laird snatched the trews and said, “There is no gold for you”, so the tailor walked out of the castle, quit his job and learnt never to trust anyone.

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Writing Year 6

A Ghostly Christmas Tale

Dead or Alive

Ebeneezer Scrooge.

It was an unusual day, for winter at least. No frost covered the lawn and an orchid had grown on the pavement, which was distinctly odd.

The embodiment of death stalked the empty expanse seeking any more souls for him to rightfully take to the land of the dead. His withered skeletal hand clutched at his murderous devilish scythe. This scythe had been fashioned from the most rotten, blackened and infected wood he could lay his lifeless eyes upon. On long, wooden sticks, he impaled the skulls of all those who defied him. The blood of the last mortal who had tried still dripped from his abhorrent scythe. His tattered black cloak fluttered as he moved, as though seeking another life to take; another light to dim; another candle to snuff out.

He was the devil walking; the representative of the underworld. Corrupted and soulless, pertrifying and haunting, he was neither dead nor alive.

Thin, silky wisps of pale, white hair were straggling across his wrinkly scalp. Rolling down from his hair, sideburns encased his wart-covered, ghost like skin. Bushy, untamed eyebrows protruded over his scarlet rimmed judgemental eyes. His grimy forehead encased an ocean that drowned out any thoughts of remorse or empathy. Above his shrivelled lips, a knobbly nose twitched with disgust at the foul sewer-like stenches that swept up it from the street. His heart was as dead as a desolate cave, where no echo could be heard.

At first, you might think that he looked rather grumpy, but in fact, the reality was much, much worse. This was, after all, Ebeneezer Scrooge.

by Yusuf Ahmed

by Isaac Lotia

I was just sipping my tea and dunking my biscuits when there was a faint, slow rattle on my old, oak door.

As I opened the door, a tall, slim boy appeared. He was holding a parcel and looked like he had hyperthermia. ”Come in, come in,” I said hurriedly, desperate to get him into the warmth.

He limped in, closed the door and gently lay the parcel on the table.

“Thank you,” he said, practically whispering. He was unusual to say the least.

“No problem,” I said, “Come through here and have some tea and biscuits.” He gratefully sat down and sipped his tea. I examined his clothing: a grey coat and black trousers, not normal wear for such a wintry day.

We talked, and after a while he told me that he should leave as he had other deliveries to make. After complimenting my Christmas Eve, he stood up.

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by Theo Ostrowski-Jones

“I’ve heard stories about this street and this house. It’s haunted, people say!”

He walked through the door, turned his pale ghostly face towards me to say goodbye and disappeared over the threshold.

I shook my head. Haunted indeed!

I turned to look at the mirror, but there was no reflection.

Enchantment

by Oscar Roberts

As the burnt-orange autumnal sun sank low between the harsh, rocky mountains, the bright sunny day slipped into a cold, crisp evening.

“Sha-wether twon ou fet-na twon ee Saaharon...”

The spell was released! The once unanimated leaves descended slowly to the decrepit cabin, drawn magically towards the ancient, dusty book. Much time had passed since the fragile, yellowing pages were read, releasing the magic and allowing the shapely saplings to grow faster and the magnificent leaves to come to life.

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Writing Year 6

I’d Like a Hamster

Should Junk Food Be Illegal?

Dearest Mummykins,

The subject of junk food is interesting. It can be quick and easy but can also be unhealthy. Some people want junk food suppliers to be banned, however, others want to keep them all open. This is a very controversial topic as of recent times and must be dealt with.

by Oliver El-Khoueiry

by Theo Ostrowski-Jones

I’m writing this letter to answer your concerns about owning a hamster. Firstly, hamsters eat almost anything and they’re not expensive to feed. We could feed it the leftover vegetables that we usually throw away. Dad never eats the carrots on his plate, and a hamster would just love those.

Approximtely 91% of the children in my school own a pet. Would you want me to be one of the very few children without a furry companion by their side?

By owning a hamster, I would learn important life skills such as caring for a pet. This is an important part of my education. Wouldn’t you agree? A hamster doesn’t need a lot of looking after. Caring for it won’t affect my school work. I would only need to set my alarm clock five minutes earlier than usual, to have enough time to look after it before school. During this five minutes, I can tame it and even teach it do tricks. I will always make sure that it is secure in its cage, so that he doesn’t escape, and has plenty of toys, so that he doen’ want to gnaw the furniture.

Finally, I promise that I will forfeit my pocket money every week if I should fail to clean out its cage at least once. Also, you were concerned about the smell, but if I clean both the hamster and its cage regularly, as I have said that I will, then there will be no unpleasant smell at all, I sincerely promise. I will take good care of it until the day it dies.

Love you lots and lots, From your favourite son,

xXxXx

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Firstly, people who support the idea that junk food should be banned, state that the life expectancy of people would rise very highly because there would be less intake of sugar, fat and salt. We would all want a population that live a long time, right? Some people believe, that fewer people would be obese leading to less fat shaming, resulting in feeding people’s mental health, which would make the world a much better place. They also claim that it can be addictive! A terrible habit to get into, don’t you think?

However, on the other side of the argument, there is strong support that say that if you make junk food illegal, millions would lose their jobs, having a devastating effect on the economy. There might also be an overpopulation of animals that emit greenhouse gases which would have a destructive effect upon the atmosphere. Possibly their strongest argument yet, is that if you banned junk food establishments, you would be violating human rights as you wouldn’t be able to choose what you wanted to eat.

To sum up, both sides have shown strong arguments making you want to support both sides, although you might be more persuaded to keep your ideas open, in order to avoid being involved in violating human rights.

Oliver

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Writing Year 6

Into the Woods

The War for Humanity

by Edward Hulme

by Charlie Rock

It was a cold, dull Saturday as we headed into the dark, dingy woods. There were no noises except the crunching of Autumn leaves under our tyres. We were excited, excited because this was the first time in a while that we had been cycling through the woods together. A few minutes later, I saw a flash of red go past me. The flash of red was the coat of my friend as he went past me. The trees were waving at us as we went through the forest. Suddenly, I realised my friends had gone round the bend.

When I went round the corner, I saw that their bikes were lying on the floor and the front wheel of one was still spinning. My friends had disappeared. There were no noises apart from the thumping of my heart and the sound of my breath.

I didn’t know what had happened. Where were my friends?

My heart was in my mouth. Maybe it was a joke or maybe they had disappeared. Worried but confused, scared but annoyed, I had no idea what had happened. I had no idea what to do next. Ahead there was a gap in some rocks.

I shouted, “Sam, Chris!”

I hastily dropped my own bike to the ground and walked to the mouth of the cave. I hesitated for a moment then stepped inside. There were cobwebs dangling from the ceiling and ivy grabbing at my head. Droplets of water dripped off stalactites that clung to the rocky roof above my head. I could hear bats fluttering around me as I silently crept through the cave. I saw a blue light ahead of me and thought I heard some muffled voices coming from the far end of the cave. As I was listening, I did not realise that I was reading through water and my feet were soaked. The voices were getting louder. All of a sudden, a stalactite fell down from the roof of the cave into the water.

Splash! Touching the wall of the cave with my fingertips, I continued forward. The smooth feeling of bones was under my fingertips: it was the decaying bones of a bat. I could still hear the muffled voices but could not understand what they were saying.

The bluish light was glowing brighter than ever and as I stepped into it, I found myself in an enormous cavern.

There were two round discs on the floor creating a glowing blue that was almost blinding me. My friends were trapped inside them screaming, “Get the crystal and set us free!”

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There was an oil drum, some rope and a metal hook on the floor. I turned around to see a crystal on a clump of rock in the centre of a deep dark pool. The rocks from the roof of the Kevin The cavern had started crumbling above me.

I sprinted over to the pile of things. I tied the rope to the hook, picked it up and rolled the oil drum into the edge of the water. I balanced on the empty oil drum and flung the rope and hook at the rock. It missed! As soon as the hook touched the liquid it started to corrode. It was acid.

When I heaved the rope out of the acidic water, I found it was starting to crack. This was my last chance. I didn’t have much time before the cavern would cave in on itself. I flung the rope one more time before it cracked completely. This was my last chance. The rope clung to the rock, so I pulled myself closer. The crystal was in my reach.

When I had pulled the crystal off the rock one of my friends shouted, “Soak the crystal in the liquid to set us free!”

When I tried to do this I accidentally dissolved my glove in the liquid, yet I carried on soaking the crystal. Once I had finished, the crystal shone a beautiful blue colour and the discs were replaced with my friends.

(Year 3020 - planet: Endon) BANG! ZAPP! ZAPP! The human spaceship was about to explode. The war between mankind and the aliens had been going on since 2021. The war was on the planet Earth which was now called the planet Endon. The small, green aliens who fought fiercely against the brave humans had been fighting against each other for centuries. Many humans had died. Many more were onboard their spaceship ready to be taken to the aliens’ planet.

There was a brave soldier called Paul. He had a family of three: his wife and his two children who were hiding in the bunkers that were provided by the Prime Minister and the government.

He saw the soldiers fighting and dying so he grabbed a pack of grenades in fear and ran across ‘no man’s land’. Lasers flashed passed him as he held the grenades in his hand.

Scared and frightened, terrified and afraid, he pulled the pin of a grenade and threw it at a group of aliens. It blew up. Most of the aliens at that part of the trench were killed. He ran back, grabbed his gun and started firing and throwing more grenades.

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion – BOOM!!!!!!!!! The spaceship had exploded with 200,000 people who were in that ship, now dead.

“We need to get out of here,” I suggested.

ZAPP! ZAPP! BANG! BANG! The fighting became more ferocious.The fighter jets zoomed passed like eagles zooming down on their prey. Spaceships fought the fighter jets as the humans fought for humanity. The alien mother spaceship had a laser beam that shot to the surface of Endon.

“There is a shortcut that leads to our bikes,” they explained.

BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!! BOOM!!!!!!!!! In a blaze of burning rocks, the planet Endon was no more...

The cavern started rumbling.

RING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“We should get out of here,” we agreed .

It was the alarm. It had all been a dream!

We sprinted through the gloomy muddy-smelling cave as bats flew out over our heads. Light seeped through the ivy that seemed to have grown in the time that we had been there.

Paul turned off the alarm, got up and went down stairs. Quietly, he turned on the tv. He sat, watching his favourite channel. Then there was a news story. “Breaking news... the world is under attack by ali...“.

Then we were out.

We picked up our bikes, hopped onto them and cycled away from the cave. We were extremely relieved to be out.

My heart was thumping as quickly as a cheetah runs, and I think my friends’ hearts were too.

When I got home I went straight to my mum and dad to tell them all about it.

CELEBR ATING SUCCESS

The power went off. Paul was anxious and worried. He was the only one awake in the house. Everything was silent and quiet. Suddenly, the silence was shattered into a million pieces by a crowd of people running for their lives. The noise grew louder and louder.

Screams. Terrified people. Paul got up, ran to the door and opened it. He stood in the middle of the street. It was true! It wasn’t a dream! It was the end of the world as we knew it. Skyscrapers collapsed as houses were blown into a thousand pieces. Cars were squashed like bread squashing peanut spread...

It was the end of the world and this wasn’t a dream!

The end!

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Writing Year 6

The River

The River

The River

The River

The river of joy, meanders Through a town of sorrow Like a dream overpowering a nightmare

The river of nature, slithered Towards a town of the comet’s tail Like an energetic eel

The river of opportunities, tip-toed Beyond a woodland valley of enchantment Like a puppys’ imagination

The river of joy, trickles Under a bridge of love Like a magical fairy tale

The river of love, flows Beyond a dense forest of hate Like braveness destroying fear

The river of dread, drizzled Into a water wheel of death Like a duck swimming from a shark

The river of enlightenment, crawled Through the castle of shadows Like a ghost that danced in the moonlight

The river of happiness, slides Around a boulder of anger Like an amazing snake

The river of imagination, slid Onto the castle of death Like an evil knight

The river of dreams, trickled Among a well of nightmares Like a cracked lightbulb in a neglected building

The river of imagination, winds Into a terrain of dullness Like a celebratory firework exploding

The river of curiosity, drooled Down to the ocean of air Like a tired snail

The river of intelligence, folds Towards a windmill of perseverance Like the ocean singing to a faraway village

The river of health, thrusts Under a bridge of disease Like a person creating a vaccine

The river of molecules, trickled Above the floor of anger Like a car on tarmac

The river of gracefulness, swayed Beside a countryside moor of thankfulness Like a child finally able to reach his desires

The river of confidence, creeps Onto a huge hill of uncertainty Like a sound going from quiet to loud

The river of disease, writhed Under the bridge of deception Like a sneaky assassin

The river of tranquility, drifts Around a church graveyard of hopefulness Like the last day of eternity

The river of luck, crawls Towards the sea of misfortune Like a Chinese lucky cat giving rewards

The river of wisdom, glided Down to the city of emptiness Like a traveller exploring the world

The river of shadows, crept Under a bridge of misery Like a holy angel dying out

by Edward Hulme

by Jamie Best

The river of peace, flows Into an ocean of anger Like two colours mixing The river of nightmares, creeps Towards a castle of dreams Like a lion stalking its prey The river of depression, tiptoes Through a park of misery Like a frightened child The river of aggression, crashes Besides a school of calmness Like the first gunshot of a war The river of wealth, glides Next to a house of desperation Like a disgusted adult The river of slyness, drifts Around a hotel of evil Like a slimy eel

Character Study

Character study

Link Tricity gazed at Skyloft Academy for the first time, showing no feelings at all. He stepped into the school. It was a friendly place, where teachers always welcome you in class, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any bullies. Now you might be thinking that it sounds like a normal school, but it isn’t. All the bullies have dark purple eyes which shows they aren’t normal. Link was welcomed by his jolly happy class but he couldn’t stop noticing the bullies in the far corner. They stared at each other. It was like they were waiting to kill each other.

On a dark, gloomy night, Jake Rubble was rocking back and forth on his messy, stained carpet floor. He was shocked, shocked because he had just discovered he had a magical power. A couple of minutes later, (which felt like a decade for Jake,) he lifted himself off the floor. He slowly dragged himself down the stairs, grabbed a raincoat, opened the door and drifted into the abyss of the night. He didn’t know where he was going, all he knew was that he was travelling far, far away from where lived.

Orion was flying above the pine trees. His sharp eagle eyesight was scanning the damp mossy ground but he still could not find his target, even though the snow yeti was rumored to be camping there. Orion flew on, spotting snow foxes and lynxes but no snow yeti. The mountain goats were mocking him as he circled a frozen lake. Finally, he saw it, the snow yeti: it was feasting on a particularly large brown bear. He tilted his wings, chose his landing spot and dived towards it. He landed in one graceful motion transforming on the spot into a large muscular man. He shimmered as he transformed. When the light steadied, his body was clad in iron armour. His face was hidden by a bandana and his long bow was in his hand with an unnecessarily large arrow in the other.

by Freddie Lumb

As his first day of secondary school came to a close, Link decided to stay in front of school in case there was any suspicious activity. Ten minutes later he heard a roar and a scream from inside. He sprinted inside. Not being surprised at all, he could see four werewolves with a massive purple werewolf in the middle.

“Julius,” Link whispered under his breath.

“Oh...so you do remember me,” the monster exclaimed.

“Let them go..” Link whispered. His hand glowed blue. He clicked his glowing fingers. ZAP! Electricity came from the sky, electrocuting everything.

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Writing Year 6

The River

The River

The River

The River

The river of life, trickled In a valley of calmness Like a white fluffy cloud

The river of misery, slips Under of bridge of despair Like a squiggly line drawn by a toddler

The river of life, flowed Smoothly among a jungle of nature Like a waterslide

The river of nature, slithered Towards a town of the comet’s tail Like an energetic eel

The river of hurt, rushed Upon a city of jealousy Like meteors attacking the sea

The river of life, runs Through a jungle of animals Like a piece of rope tangled in knots

The river of misery, drifted Off into a pond of happiness Like a speedboat

The river of dread, drizzled Into a water wheel of death Like a duck swimming from a shark

The river of depression, swirled Into a waterfall of loss Like life disappearing

The river of death, trickles Next to a castle of hell Like the tail of a rat

The river of nature, ran Behind an ocean of dreams Like a Lamborghini in sports mode

The river of imagination, slid Onto the castle of death Like an evil knight

The river of happiness, bounced Up to a lake of joy Like smiling children playing in the meadows

The river of happiness, skips Past an ocean of joy Like the path of a maze

The river of happiness, slid Into a bucket of depression Like spill from a bottle

The river of curiosity, drooled Down to the ocean of air Like a tired snail

The river of memories, falls Into a waterfall of happy moments Like a young boy jumping off a high wall

The river of love, fell Directly into an abyss of hate Like colours mixing

The river of molecules, trickled Above the floor of anger Like a car on tarmac

The river of luxury, slides In front of a land of poverty Like first place beating second place in a race

The river of sickness, crawled Into a forest of encouragement Like salt and pepper

The river of disease, writhed Under the bridge of deception Like a sneaky assassin

The river of worries, crawls Next to a field of freedom Like an animal missing its prey

The river of death, sprinted Into a ravine of hell Like a cheetah chasing its prey

The river of wisdom, glided Down to the city of emptiness Like a traveller exploring the world

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

I have a lot of family around the world But my closest ones live all the way in London Which is very far away from me so I wish I could see them and drink some iced tea whilst we watch a movie It all feels like a dream that won’t come true ‘Til we all start following the guidelines So please follow the rules that we have right now so Then we can all see our wonderful families soon, And we can all play and forget About how terrible 2020 was When we were enclosed in our rooms.

The view of a beautiful orange sunset from the top of the hill.

Hitting a small but dangerous ski jump.

Wind blowing through my hair when I cantered for the first time.

When mum makes my favourite breakfast.

Someone getting better in my family after being ill.

Hugs with my mum when I have just woken up.

Messing about with Seb. When my Nan lets us look after her dog Bess.

Finishing a big lego set or a puzzle.

Tickle fights with my dad.

My guinea pig squeaking Cycling, with the wind rushing through my hair Meeting my Gran and Grandad after lockdown Playing board games with my family Visiting a friend Walking in the snow Knowing that people care for me Going back to the cinema The atmosphere at a football match The warm sensation of swimming in a pool.

Thinking about the wonderful times I shared with my dad Baking apple cake and banana loaves with my mum Playing games online with my friends Listening to calming music to ease stress Swimming, whilst water folds around my fingers Being normal, after what seems like an eternity of being sick Seeing the wide-ranged success of the Coronavirus vaccine Successfully learning a new skill for the very first time Going for a walk and sensing nature around me Practising things to make them perfect

by William Priest

by Sam Rock

The river of love, folded Along side a village of blossom Like a sea of bumpy waves The river of sorrow, moved Through a city of helplessness Like a child with nobody to talk to The river of death, slithered Across a country of blackness Like life being unfulfilled

by Makavo Togobo

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by William Priest

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by Arthur Brearley

by Jamie Best

by Benjamin Wale

by Theo Ostrowski-Jones

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PE and Sport

Politics

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Politics On Friday 23rd April we were delighted that Baroness Wilcox of Newport spoke to the Year 12 Politics students as part of the ‘Live with the Lords’ initiative, that has been put together by the UK Parliament Education and Engagement Team.

day responsibilities in the House of Lords and her role as the leader of Newport City Council. The students thoroughly enjoyed having a ‘proper’ politician in the room and appreciated the level of detail that she gave in her answers...

She answered a variety of questions posed by the students and was very complimentary about their level of knowledge and interest in the UK political scene. A former teacher, she gave a very clear picture of her day to

It was an invaluable experience and one which I hope gave the students great food for thought and will help to keep them interested and motivated to understand more about UK Politics.

The politician Deborah Ann Wilcox, Baroness Wilcox of Newport (born 1969) is a Welsh Labour councillor, and former teacher, who served from May 2016 until September 2019 as Leader of Newport City Council.

She is also head of the Welsh Local Government Association, a role she has held since 2017.

PE

In 2016 she was appointed as the first female Leader of Newport City Council, replacing the outgoing Bob Bright and in 2017 she became the first female Leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, succeeding Cllr Bob Wellington OBE, the former leader of Torfaen County Borough Council. In September 2019, it was announced that she would be made a Labour life peer in the 2019 Prime Minister’s Resignation Honours. She is referred to widely as Baroness Wilcox, but takes the exact name, style and title of Baroness Wilcox of Newport. On 4 November 2019, she was introduced to the House. Since 2 March 2020, she has served as an opposition whip.

PE and Sport Over the last academic year the Covid situation has prevented us from doing many of the things we’d usually enjoy, such as participation in sports, exercise, and social activities, but it gave us the opportunity to pay additional attention to our health and wellbeing. The Wellbeing Hub aimed to provide a variety of resources available to all members of the QEGS community and the feedback we received was very positive. We also started a Sports Hub, with the aim of inspiring students (and parents) to replicate the type of physical activity that takes place in school in the home environment.

Every Wednesday at 08:20 am, the Sports & PE Depts held short ‘Weekly Wellbeing’ events. All sessions were hosted remotely on the Wellbeing Wednesdays events page (https://qs-wgsf.fireflycloud. net/sport/sports-andexercise-remote-learning-hub--/wellbeing/ wellbeing-wednesdays). Areas covered included Children’s Mental Health Week, Time to Talk Day 2021, QEGS PE Porridge, Deskercise, and the Wellbeing Workout Challenge (how exercise improves learning).

Right from the start of lockdown, the PE Department delivered live PE lessons for the boys (not quite Joe Wickes, but not far off!). The lessons included fitness challenges, flexibility development and HIIT and we were thrilled by the involvement and enthusiasm of all the boys (and some parents!). The lessons also linked into the wellbeing and personal development that the department has been promoting for some time now.

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We were aware that students have different individual needs and face a variety of circumstances – the information and activities within Hub aimed to enable students to continue their development within their chosen sports/activities. Our priority was to encourage students to achieve the Physical Activity Targets, which support health, fitness, well-being and even academic development. The Hub was under continual development and we actively encouraged constructive feedback and specific requests.

Over the February half term holidays we encouraged all students, staff and parents to get involved in the ‘7 in 7 Challenge’. The event was inspired by Leeds Rhinos’ Kevin Sinfield who completed seven marathons in just seven days to raise money for and awareness for motor neurone disease. We challenged everyone within the school community to do 7 positive things in 7 days and through the process, engage in activities that support wellbeing, spend time with family doing something positive, strengthen the connections across our Foundation and make a donation to an extremely worthwhile cause.

Team QEGs Get Connected Sports and Exercise Activities have long been central to school life. Whilst we have a strong history of excellence and achievements, we firmly believe that participation in Sport is not about ‘winning’, it’s about building and maintaining a strong, healthy, happy and safe community. The Team WGSF Get Connected event aims to strengthen the connections across our foundation by encouraging and celebrating individual forms of expression through sport

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The students’ perspective – or written by 1 specific student Year 12 Politics students were recently given the amazing opportunity to ask member of the House of Lords and former Leader of the Newport City Council, Baroness Wilcox questions about her life as a peer.

of the LGBTQ+ community. These questions included, “Do you experience any misogyny in the House of Lords?’’, to which the answer was “none at all”, and “Do you feel that there is enough LGBTQ+ representation?”, to which she told us that the representation was slowly growing. Baroness Wilcox answered all Our questions on matters such as female of our queries, even when confronted with representation and political ideology were slight scrutiny in the questions from students answered over a Zoom call. For example, who had done their political research. This when asked about whether she is “more scrutiny involved questions relating to her ideologically aligned with Corbyn or actions since she became a Peer in 2019 such Starmer”, Baroness Wilcox slightly deflected as “Why did you hire a chauffeur driven car the question, answering that she is and is £12,000 good value for money?”. Her “ideologically aligned with the Labour party”. response to this question made it clear that She did, however, explain her reasoning for she felt the events were misconstrued in the avoiding the question. She explained that press through ‘Tory propaganda’, claiming in her previous post, as the Leader of the that she only used the vehicle 13% of the Newport City Council, a united front was vital time. It was especially interesting to see in providing support for the community. She how she, as a Labour Peer, expertly reacted gave us a real insight into life in the House to questions from students with opposite of Lords directly from a peer. Questions party alignments. We all found the session were also asked that helped us to learn not a rewarding experience and are really only what life as a peer entails, but about appreciative of Baroness Wilcox taking the the Baroness’ personal experience in the time out of her busy schedule to speak to us. chambers as both a woman and a member The Savilian Magazine

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Religion, Philosophy & Ethics

Religion, Philosophy & Ethics

Religion, Philosophy & Ethics

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My Place of Worship is called a Culto

In the Spring Term in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics we looked at different places of worship. We have learnt many things about the Christian Church; we now know some of the different features inside it like the Stoup, Font and Pulpit. We also found out some interesting facts – for example, the Greeks did special hand signs which meant Ichthus (fish). Also we have learnt about the Mosque, the place of worship for Muslims. We know about the Minaret, the Qiblah Wall which faces the Kabah in Makkah and how important the Mosque is to Muslims as a place of worship and knowledge. Next was the Synagogue which is the place of worship for Jews. We learnt about the location and names of many of the different features within the Synagogue, including the Ner Tamid and the location of the Ark and Torah. As part of the assessment, the year group was set to make their own place of worship; using the ideas we learnt about we were able to design and create our own place of worship and explain what features we included within them.

My Place of Worship is called a Vineyard of Water

My Place of Worship is called The Peace Sanctuary

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Science Live! Event Report 20 Year 7 boys joined pupils from schools across the country to take part in an online Science Live! Event. Three inspirational lectures led them through a tour of the outer fringes of their senses, to Everest Basecamp for an investigation of physiology at altitude and into the world of colour chemistry. The talks were followed by live Q&A sessions where the boys could submit questions to the speakers. Special mention to Kaleb Peeters (7WLS) who won the quiz and Jack Norvelle (7ANR) whose questions regularly proved popular with other attendees, getting “up-voted” and tackled by the speakers.

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Centenary House Sports Report 2020-2021

Y6 Inter House Cricket Finals – Monday 28th June

At Centenary House, the objective of the sports programme has always been to teach the ‘building blocks’ the boys will require for a lifetime of participation in sport. Run, jump, throw, kick and catch form the basic elements of the programme and this is taught, in the most part, through playing small sided games, problem-solving and completing challenges collaboratively.

The finals of the Inter House Cricket took place on Monday 28th June on the Junior School fields. It has been great for the boys to get some competitive cricket in this season, after little opportunities of the last two summers.

It is fair to say that initially ‘hands, face, space’ was a fairly problematic mnemonic for our standard practice! However, our amazing boys showed us that they could adapt quickly and without fuss to all the rules and changes that have unfolded before them. As they showed such adaptability, we knew that, as staff, we would be able to change things up, try new things and still ensure that the sports programme would continue to build the blocks the boys need, whilst enjoying themselves in the process.

All boys in Centenary House have continued to have their PE and Games lessons throughout this most strangest of years and have excelled themselves week after week. All of the boys have thrown themselves into invasion games, striking and fielding games, gymnastics and athletics. They have also experienced dance, yoga and martial arts (ask them about being ninja warriors!) as well as enjoying a full, if slightly modified, sports day. The Year 2 boys have even managed to compete in the full range of tournaments that they would traditionally do – football, rugby, cross country, cricket and of course sports day.

The Games and PE staff are so proud of all the boys’ sporting efforts, their patience, perseverance and most of all their good humour in the face of adversity. Please remember to give your sons a big hug, commend them for their efforts and let them know that you are proud of them, they certainly deserve it.

With a change in format this year we ran both A and B team competitions for the Y6 Inter House Cricket. The Semi Finals were tight events, with one match going to a super over and was decided by just one run. Cave and Bentley proved to be the dominant Houses making it through to both the A and B team finals.

In the Y6 B Final, the Bentley team, led fabulously by Mathew Nettleton, proved to be too strong for the Cave boys. In the A Final, Bentley set a solid score of 34, with some excellent early shots played by Sam Ilsley, who unfortunately was caught after top edging a pull shot. Krish Daru anchored the innings well, carrying his bat throughout, but Bentley’s steady scoring rate led to a total that looked to be a few runs light. Cave’s Ben Smith opened with a powerfully hit 4 through the leg side, but then was bowled for the second ball. Ashton Murray then took control of the match scoring 20 in very quick time, before retiring. Throughout his innings, he displayed some excellent and powerful shot making.

After Ashton had retired, a couple of quick wickets fell, including

a fantastic catch by Will Priest. This added a little tension to the match, but Will Barr and Harry Boswell saw the Cave team through with an over to spare. To conclude the tournament, Mr Thompson presented Harry Boswell (Cave Cricket Captain) the Inter House Cricket Trophy.

Well done to all boys who took part in the tournament.

Results

A Team Final Bentley 34 Cave 35 B Team Final Cave 23 Bentley 34

Mr Lewis

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Cross Country

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House Cross Country 2021 – 23rd April 2021 After all the postponements and cancellations of sporting events, it was great to see all JS boys competing on the same day. Inter House Cross Country is normally a winter term event, the move to the summer term, brought about favorable conditions for the spectators (staff), but made for hot work for the runners.

The Year 3 boys were in the first race with a packed field for their first taste of this event. Kasper Bevan raced extremely well and held on for a well-deserved win, he was followed by Rahim Ghouri in second place and Aidan Yaqub in the bronze medal position.

Year 4 boys were up next. Henry Roberts ran strongly and finished first, winning the gold medal. Preston Goodair was second, winning the silver medal, with Oliver Marshall being awarded the bronze medal for finishing third.

In the Year 5 race, Elias Locking won the gold medal. Will Taylor ran well finishing second and Leo Fisher finished strongly in third.

Finally we came to the Year 6 boys. Hugo Colver did not disappoint with his usual display of pace, power and perseverance to take another gold medal backing up last year’s victory. Oscar Giles ran well finishing in second. The podium was rounded off with Archer Morten in his first Inter House Cross Country appearance, taking home a bronze.

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House Cross Country is a team event, so each placing is worth that many points, so the House with the fewest overall is the champion.

The final standings were as follows:

4th place, Bentley 3rd place, Savile 2nd place, Cave And the 2021 champions were Freeston.

Congratulations to every single boy who took part – each of them won a point for his house, improved his fitness, demonstrated resilience and, hopefully, had a little fun on the way.

See you next season!

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Inter House Football Finals – Friday 16th April Friday 16th April brought about the first competitive sport in the Junior Section since the latest lockdown period finished and the first of 2021.

We have seen strange times, but it was great to see all boys running and enjoying themselves. Taking into consideration Covid regulations and with the aim to get all pupils involved we changed the structure to include A and B team competitions from Year 3 to Year 6.

In games lessons leading up to the final all boys took part in either a B team round robin tournament or an A team semi final. All boys took part and represented their House with pride. The plan was to run two tournaments side by side, with the Y6 A team winners being presented with the traditional Inter House Trophy and a new competition where all results would contribute to an overall House Football Winner.

Year Group Results Y6 A Winners – Savile B Winners – Cave

Y4 A Winners – Bentley B Winners – Cave

Y5 A Winners – Freeston B Winners – Freeston

Y3 A Winners – Bentley B Winners – Freeston

As always the matches were hotly contended. The whole school came out to watch their relevant year group finals, with all pupils watching the second half of the Y6 Final.

Overall standings (All year groups A and B team results contributed to this points) 4th Cave – 42 points 2nd – Bentley/ Freeston 48 points 1st Savile – 52 Points Well done to all boys involved. A fantastic week of House sport.

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The Queen’s Cup – Inter House Rugby Final ‘you play for School, but you die for your House’ With captains having deliberated teams and positions for months and with the whole school watching, the scene was set for another epic House final. Due to covid the laws the match would be played under the u10 law variations with no kicking, no mauls and only one man allowed in every ruck. Savile were the favourites, going into the final, it would be interesting to see if they were going to play to their potential, or if the underdogs Bentley could spoil the party.

It turned out that the match went with the form sheet, with Savile putting on a masterclass to win the 2020/2021 Queen’s Cup with relative comfort. Bentley couldn’t cope with the pace and power of the Savile team, but battled throughout making this an excellent contest.

Great credit has to go to both sides involved in the final, as all boys demonstrated a fantastic attitude and a very high skill-level. As always this match is a fitting way to help bring the 2020/2021 rugby season to a close.

Inter House Rugby – Friday 14th May Friday 14th saw the first ever Inter House Rugby Finals to be played in the summer term. Of course this situation had been brought about by the Covid lockdowns, but it was great to see so many highly competitive matches leading up to and including the finals. All boys in the school had the opportunity to take part in the competitions with A and B teams with all results contributing towards the overall winners.

Year Group Results Y6 A Winners – Savile B Winners – Savile

Y4 A Winners – Cave B Winners – Cave

Y5 A Winners – Fresston B Winners – Freeston

Y3 A Winners – Freeston B Winners – Fresston

Overall standings (All year groups A and B team results contributed to this points) 4th Bentley 34 points 3rd Cave 48 points 2nd Savile 52 points 1st Freeston 60 Points Well done to all boys involved. A fantastic week of House Rugby.

In games lessons leading up to the final, all boys took part in either a B team round robin tournament or an A team semi final. The plan was to run two tournaments side by side, with the Y6 A team winners being presented with the traditional ‘Queens Cup’ Trophy, which was first presented by the Queen in 1992, and a new competition where all results would contribute to an overall Inter House Rugby Winners.

As always the matches were hotly contended. The whole school came out to watch their relevant year group finals, with all pupils watching the second half of the Y6 Queen’s Cup Final.

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Sports Day 2021

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Blessed with perfect weather, the 2021 Junior School Sports Day was again a highlight of the QEGS JS sporting year, with high level performances and fantastic sportsmanship demonstrated throughout the day. This year saw a change in the traditional format due to the requirement to stay within year group bubbles throughout the day and parents not being able to come and support. The change in format and Covid regulations did little to affect the athletics on show throughout the day. The newly appointed House Leaders were there to add extra motivation and there was certainly a competitive edge to the support!

Throughout the day the finals were very competitive. After the morning session had concluded, the House standings were very close indeed, setting up the afternoon’s events very well. The nailbiting finals continued throughout the afternoon session, finishing with House relays and the ever popular Year 6 Tug O’ War. Savile House were worthy winners. They performed consistently well throughout the day and earned a hard fought victory. It was fantastic to see a long-standing record being broken on the day too - Nathan Banda (3R) broke the 50m record with a sensational run. Credit must also go to Joshua Akintolu for winning the Victor Ludorum Award every year whilst in the Junior School.

A thank you must go to all the boys who competed on the day and behaved, listened and followed the programme of events in such a fantastic fashion. Without such co-operation, the day would not have run so smoothly. Also a big thank you to all staff involved in the organisation and running of the day. Their efforts created a wonderful school sporting event from which the boys were able to gain a real sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Winners of the House Athletics Cup – Savile Victor Ludorum Award Winner Y3 – Nathan Banda Victor Ludorum Award Winner Y4 – Henry Roberts Victor Ludorum Award Winner Y5 – Elias Locking Victor Ludorum Award Winner Y6 – Joshua Akintolu

Finally it would be remiss of me not to mention the QEGS Grounds Staff, Porters and IT Staff for turning out such wonderfully prepared surfaces and making sure all the relevant equipment was available.

J. Tiffany

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Charity Days

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Charities

28 May 2021 – Birthday Party I was really pleased when staff suggested the idea of a ‘Big QEGS Birthday Party’ as celebrations have been sadly lacking for the past year. A very diverse array of outfits arrived at school (some boys were welldressed, some crazily-dressed!) and there was even the wonderful sight of Mr Tiffany dressed as a clown to entertain everyone! There was plenty of birthday cake which gave everyone the energy they needed for Mr Charlesworth’s outdoor disco and the various party games that were playing inside!

A huge thank you to the parents who contributed to charity day – your time and very generous donations are very much appreciated. I hope your sons had a great day and a well-deserved celebration while raising money for a very worthy cause, The Royal British Legion (who are also having a party to celebrate their 100th birthday this year). We received a rather lovely thank you letter from the Royal British Legion which is proudly displayed in the Y6 corridor.

Year 10 student William France was on a mission to help lift spirits during the lockdown by performing a ‘Month of Magic’. The budding young magician filmed and uploaded a different trick to his YouTube channel every day throughout January in the hope that the clips would bring enjoyment and entertainment to all ages, particularly as the restrictions prevented people from being able to attend live performances. Will, who is also an ambassador for the Cleft Lip and Palate Association, believes that his initiative could go some way towards helping people whose mental health and wellbeing have been affected by the lockdown. Will commented that ‘I love magic and performing for the public and thought that this would be a great way to reach out and help cheer people up. It’s really nice to be able to do something to entertain, especially for those who may be finding lockdown difficult. Coming up with thirty-one different tricks has been the hardest challenge, but I think that there’s something there for everyone’.

In January QEGS hosted a special event exclusively for its students in partnership with The Oddballs Foundation. The Oddballs Foundation, founded by Old Savilian Will Cooper, is on a mission to raise awareness of Testicular Cancer nationwide and ambassador George Hobbs paid QEGS students a virtual visit as part of the charity’s ongoing work to educate and inform young people more specifically about the disease. Following George’s whole school presentation, he hosted a live session where boys were able to drop in and field any questions, as well as finding out more about the Foundation and its work. We’d like to thank George for his virtual visit to QEGS and The Oddballs Foundation for providing our students with such an enriching experience.

10SAW Charity Challenge Over two weeks in February 10SAW raised a remarkable £345 by completing a 450 km challenge!

The boys decided to challenge themselves to walk, run or cycle 450km over two Wednesday afternoons and raise the cash to express their appreciation for the work of the NHS during the pandemic. Well done boys, an excellent achievement.

Lockdown Community Stars During the second period of Lockdown, star students Reuben and Ronnie volunteered to support their football club’s local initiative “Westend Community Champions”, providing vital help to vulnerable families and individuals affected by Covid-19 across Huddersfield. Their outstanding efforts have seen them become the pride of the local community, helping thousands of people in need. Some of their achievements include delivering over 2,000 food items to a local foodbank and 2,500 clothing donations to support the homeless, refugees and asylum seekers. The boys also delivered over 350 footballs with kits to children for Christmas, packed and supplied 820 home educational packs for vulnerable children, and supported Neonatal Care Units in Calderdale Huddersfield and Manchester.

Shaun Weatherhead, Chairman of Westend Junior Football Club, was full of praise for the boys and their energy and commitment to helping others. He said: “I’m genuinely blown away. Witnessing their efforts, compassion, care and commitment to help those most in need; during truly unprecedented times in their own young lives, has been truly awe inspiring and humbling through the acts of kindness they’ve displayed. Everyone connected to the club is immensely proud of their efforts, what they’ve accomplished and are both an absolute credit to their family, their school and themselves.” Well done boys!

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16 October 2020 Marathon Challenge and Danceathon We had a wonderful Charity Day on the last day of the October half term. The JS boys were unbelievably brilliant and ran their little hearts out, even though running around a field for thirty minutes isn’t exactly on their top ten list of things they enjoy doing, they absolutely gave it their all. The highlight of the day had to be watching one of the boys running around the field wearing a dinosaur costume – hilarious!

The Senior School boys were out at break time and every time the dinosaur ran past them, they gave him a loud cheer, which I know spurred him on. The CH boys danced ‘til they dropped and there were some legendary moves on display!

There was, of course, the serious matter of the fundraising for the Variety Sunshine Coach... well, we did it! A stupendous effort from everyone meant that we raised enough money to provide this hugely valuable resource for West Road Primary Academy, Doncaster. A huge thank you parents, for your support in this project, it will mean such a lot to so many people.

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Careers

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Despite the restrictions imposed by COVID, the Careers Department continued its work preparing boys to make informed decisions about their future. In February there was a big push on the increasing relevance of apprenticeships and many activities and resources exploring the opportunities provided by higher and degree apprenticeships were shared with the boys in advance of National Apprenticeship Week 2021. Year 9 completed the ‘Careers And My Future’ element of their PSHE programme as part of their preparation for choosing their GCSEs and this has hopefully given the boys the platform for future success as they embark on their new programme of study in the Autumn Term. Year 11 and 12 boys were encouraged to participate in a number of virtual activities during lockdown, including on-line university fairs exploring the Russell group universities, webinars offering advice on admissions to competitive university courses as well as opportunities to engage with employers as part of their work experience portfolio. Year 13 boys submitted their university applications in a very strange and unpredictable year, although, at the time of writing (August), the vast majority have been successful in achieving their university ambitions. This is a real testament to the efforts of both the boys and staff in what has been a tumultuous year.

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The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at QEGS continued to support boys working towards achieving their Award goals despite the lockdown restrictions. Boys were motivated by the Certificate of Achievement, awarded to participants that completed their Physical, Volunteering and Skill sections, all of which were allowed to be completed from home.

The boys who had a Certificate of Achievement were able to get started straight away on the next level of the Award. A great deal of flexibility and creativity was required this year – there were many details and suggestions on Firefly regarding suitable lockdown activities, and a video detailing the process of adding evidence. The usual expedition programme was unfortunately cancelled and replaced with the “DIY Expedition”. As much as we’d all prefer to be yomping across the moors and camping with friends this summer, QEGS DofE staff look forward to seeing the exciting range of DIY Expedition activities in which the boys will engage in pursuit of their Awards as we hopefully get back to normal.

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Head Boy Overview

Individual Sporting Success

Now that I am in the 11th year of my QEGS journey, I have begun to realise how fast time flies. It has truly been a huge privilege to have been elected as the Head Boy of this school and to have been part of the Senior Prefect Team. I applied for this role with the intention to give back to the very school that has defined me, that has shaped me into the person I am and today I am forever grateful for the valuable experiences that the brotherhood of QEGS has had to offer. Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of leading the Senior Prefect Team and I’d like to thank my outstanding team of Deputy Head Boys – Tyler Campbell, Oliver Hulse, Niral Shetty and Leighton Shuttleworth – as they have enabled me to perform my role with their constant support and guidance.

The Senior Prefect Team has always strived to promote a positive team dynamic, and we were able to fulfil our responsibilities by doing so. Reflecting upon these shared values within our team, our roles have shifted due to the national lockdown, however, we still aimed to promote integration during this time. Working with individual year groups, we enjoyed planning, organising and running multiple charity events from the comfort of our homes in January and February. Taking upon these responsibilities has enabled us to work alongside the heads of each year group and engage with younger members of the school, in order to support a variety of deserving causes. It’s no secret that lockdown has

Scott Godden

tested the resilience of every single QEGS student and teacher – it’s been a challenging and unpredictable obstacle that we have each had to overcome in our own way. Lockdown has exercised our adaptability and massively tested every student’s willingness to overcome problems. The lockdown, however tragic, has cast a spotlight on the school’s unshakable community spirit and it’s this togetherness and determination to continue on that really makes me proud to be a part of this school.

With a severely broken leg and the dream of an international call up in tatters, Scott Godden sat on his living room sofa in despair that sombre evening in October 2019 as the stark reality of a year out on the sidelines set in. Following 14 months of rehabilitation and an agonising wait for lockdown measures to ease, the Leeds United left-back finally got to fulfil his dream of playing international football when he pulled on the brand new Welsh shirt – adorned with its customary red dragon emblem – to face England U16s at St George’s Park on Friday 9th April. A dream debut would see Wales fight back from a 2-1 half time deficit to run out 3-2 winners at the final whistle and the QEGS star was delighted with the result.

For myself, I have aimed to keep productive with the flow of my schoolwork in preparation for my A levels. However, I have also taken this time to practise the electric guitar more frequently, to keep myself constantly motivated. Whilst keeping in contact with the Deputy Head Boys, I learned that they also have been involved in various exciting activities during this time. Leighton has been supporting a local farmer during the annual lambing and calving season, which he has found incredibly rewarding. In addition, Oliver has taken part in socially distanced walks and has been involved in the production of a charity event with me and Senior Prefect Joseph Gueli. We created this event to unite Year 8 students to compete in a Quiz Competition to raise money for Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.

Swapnil Sahoo

Jack Blyth David Craig’s final assembly in December 2020 saw him award the Outstanding Achievement in Extra-curricular Activities (fondly known as the ‘starry starry’) tie to Jack Blyth for his fantastic accomplishment in the sport of bowling. Jack had contact from Katie Thornton, the head coach of the SCAD bowling team, who has shown an interest in his bowling talent and offered him a space on their collegiate bowling team at the start of the 2023 school year. We will be wishing him all the best in the future on his American adventure and hope to, one day, see him compete alongside the professionals on the Professional Bowling Association Tour.

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Sunshine Coach Handover

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Well-Being and Mental Health Awareness

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Awareness of the importance of mental health and well-being has increased enormously over the last two years, largely due to the impact of the pandemic and recognition of the difficulties faced by many people in dealing with the various lockdowns. QEGS has been keen to support a number of initiatives in this area alongside its ongoing provisions for those members of the QEGS community experiencing difficulties.

The 1st – 7th February was Children’s Mental Health week and the theme was ‘Express Yourself’. Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts or ideas through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, photography and film, sport and exercise.

The Foundation kicked off this important initiative with ‘Free Your Mind Friday’ where all our boys were encouraged to ‘step away from the screens’ and immerse themselves in something that allowed them to refocus their minds and have a break from academia. In the words of a Year 10 student ‘Over the weeks we’ve been isolating I’ve noticed the main issue with why learning at home is far more difficult than at school: it’s that your brain gets confused between when it’s supposed to be relaxing and when it’s supposed to be working.’ Friday the 29th January was the date for ‘Free Your Mind Friday’. While the majority of boys were at home and were able to get outside, go for a walk or a bike ride, children of critical workers still came to school. They were treated to a range of activities throughout the day which were designed to keep them away from screens – trying out different ideas. Mrs Taylor based her session on science, running an ‘egg race’. The challenge was: to reduce the temperature to 3 degrees centigrade in one minute by adding water to 2 chemicals. Boys had to work out the mixture of chemicals and water needed to complete this task by trial & error and of course scientific knowledge! The winners got the temperature to 2.5 degrees! The second part of the challenge looked at ‘ How many drops of water can fit on a penny’ with the only clue being ‘1 ml of water contains 18 drops’. This was followed

by Mr Palin and Mrs Norgate teaching the boys how to make that Italian classic – the much loved pizza. Boys learned how to make the tomato sauce and had a selection of toppings to select from, cooked them to perfection and then took them away to dine on in style – not much was left to take home but their new found culinary skills can be put to good use at kitchens in their own homes! The final session was a variety of sporting activities with Mr Berry and he made sure that they burnt off any extra calories from all that cheese.

The Senior School introduced Well-being Wednesdays and, of course, in QED there were a range of weekly activities which allowed boys to express themselves. Children’s Mental Health week at both the Senior and Junior sections culminated in ‘Feel Good Friday’ on the 12th February – all were encouraged to incorporate an activity into the lesson that was designed to allow more personal expression.

Mr Wolfenden encouraged all students, staff and parents, both at WGHS and here at QEGS to get involved in the ‘7 in 7 Challenge’ charity event and raise money for MND. This event was inspired

by Leeds Rhinos’ Kevin Sinfield who completed seven marathons in just seven days to raise money (over £1m) and awareness for motor neurone disease.

OL and IAW

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Round 1 – Citrus Biscuits

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Round 3 – Carrot and cream cheese muffins

The Junior Bake Off Prize Giving

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The QEGS Junior Bake Off Winner: Theo Maddy (Savile) Runners Up: Seb Sprenger (Cave) Rowan Tivers (Freeston) Henry Hunter (Bentley)

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QEGS Oscars

Yr 6 Master Chef – Round 1

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Once again this year, boys in Year 5 and 6 had the chance to show off their film making skills by entering the QEGS Oscars competition. The theme of this year’s films was ‘Tomorrow Will be a Good Day’ and all the entries interpreted this theme with their own twist! It was unfortunate that, once again, we weren’t able to hold our celebratory awards night in person, however, the winning young film makers were presented their prizes and Oscars trophies in the final assembly of the year by Mr Sheville and Mr Thompson. There were some fantastic entries this year with many different filming styles, including stop motion animation, green screening and some great costumes!

The winners for this year’s Oscars were: Best ‘Factual’ Film Seb Sprenger with Great Sporting Rivalries Best ‘Fiction’ Film Leo Fisher with Superpig Best ‘Cinematics’ Aurav Vinta, Pranav Nair, and Aiden Fernandez with Tomorrow is a Better Day

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QEGS MasterChef Winner: Subhaan Sarwar (Freeston) 2nd place: Edward Hulme (Savile) Joint 3rd place: Theo Ostrowski-Jones (Bentley) and Oscar Lambert (Cave)

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Poetry Winners

Coronavirus and the Pandemic meant that once again our annual Speaking & Reading Competition couldn’t go ahead in its usual format.

In its place, we held an In-House Poetry Competition. This became an integral part of our English lessons from our return to school on 13th April, 2021.

Each Year group was given a particular poetic focus: Year 3 used colour as a representative of emotions and other objects; Year 4 focused on using effective personification; Year 5 used a range of techniques following a set format that included unusual twists, abstract nouns and alliteration; Year 6 followed a set format that included abstract nouns, verbs relating to movement, prepositions and similes.

An enormous WELL DONE to all of the boys for their entries into the competition. You all worked really carefully on your poems with some fabulous results. It was very difficult to choose all of the winners.

What a fabulous array of talent!

Very well done boys, you rose to the challenge with enthusiasm and produced some super English work.

Mrs Lindley

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A Strange Week

A Strange Week

On Sunday morning I visited my uncle’s farm and saw my favourite fabulous flying cow

On Sunday, morning, I ate my breakfast and walked on thin air Casually to my room

On Monday lunchtime The hosepipe in my gigantic garage Started significantly spraying, all by itself

On Monday, dinnertime, I cooked chicken breast but it jumped up, Ran around the kitchen and jumped out of the window.

On Tuesday afternoon A grass green sea turtle laid next to me On my favourite beach, and began to speak

On Tuesday, after school, My Mum dyed my dog blue and I said, “MUM I wanted him to be PURPLE!”

On Wednesday teatime Bobba Fett and I went skydiving with green gigantic jetpacks

On Wednesday night, Tony Stark slept on my sofa and snored very loudly

On Thursday evening Joy leapt cheerfully Like a frog on a light green lilypad

On Thursday evening, Cowardice screamed and Hid behind a wall

On Friday night Christopher Columbus came to my house and Surprised me with a map of America

On Friday afternoon Queen Victoria in a dazzling pink apron Made home made pizza!

On Saturday doing the night An amazing ape Aggressively attacked an agitated ant

On Saturday afternoon, My pet gecko licked my face and said “thanks for adopting me.”

by Zac Hildeyard

by Aiden Pannu

A Strange Week

by Elliott Smith

On Sunday morning I was playing a game and my house was falling out of the sky On Monday evening I went to bed and it sucked me in On Tuesday tea-time I walked up to my black wardrobe and took out a red jumper On Wednesday lunchtime the Wimpy Kid made a treehouse with me On Thursday afternoon anger smashed a piece of wood into smithereens On Friday Night Bloody Mary was chopping my dog’s head off On Saturday, during the night, a silent slithering snake, sat sadly beside the seat.

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Poetry Winners

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Beyond The Door

by Oliver Lee

Beyond the red door...

There is anger, it is a charging bull with curved sharp horns, It is a herd of leathery rhinos sweeping across the plains.

Beyond the yellow door...

There is a New York taxi, distinctive and bright, it whizzes down narrow streets, Stuck in a fume filled traffic jam, worried tourists in the back seats.

Beyond the green door...

There is a grasshopper, it prances and dances between towering blades of grass, Tracking a restless dragon fly in the mountain pass.

Beyond The Door

Beyond the purple door...

There is a teary onion, rustling skin, a pointy top ready to be shopped, In a dish of fresh healthy salad, finely chopped.

by Rahim Ghori

Beyond the blue door A glimmering blue shiny sea I went in the glittery sea and looked for shells Beyond the red door A beautiful red poppy A brave QEGS boy picked it up and pinned it on his blazer Beyond the green door A green water bottle I held it up and did a bottle flip 3 times

Beyond the blue door...

There is happiness, fluffy white clouds drifting across a calm sunny sky, Birds chirping, people laughing, trees swaying and bees buzzing.

Personification Poem

By Luke White

Beyond the white door A white piece of paper I folded it into an airplane and threw it next door

The old wooden fence cried unhappily as the big furry goat rammed into it The new black and red pencil tiptoed carefully across the yellowed paper The leather, gold rimmed book sang loudly as its new pages turned The clear metal ruler thought to keep the line straight

Beyond the yellow door An astonishing yellow racing car I saw it and it was going 70 miles per hour

The tall dark oak tree danced merrily in the soft blowing wind The smooth blue and white tie hugged the old man’s neck The green frilly leaf shrieked as it floated away from the brown fresh tree The old broken door groaned when the child opened it The blue shiny pen chatted loudly to everything in the multicoloured pencil case The heavy wet rain spat down on the people outside The big leather shoe moaned loudly as it fell on the polished floor continuously The blue wet paint gripped tightly to the white bumpy wall

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Year 1

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The River

by Karam Sekhon The river of death slithered through wide cracks in jagged rocks crashing and overflowing with cold blood from the ages of death and then slowly trickled down a mountain The river of hope flowed calmly down into a small waterfall to cure corrupted hearts that are filled with darkness like a tree being taken over with rot.

The River

The River

The river of despair turns and bends Under a bridge of sadness and depression Like an aura of doom

The river of misery, slips Under of bridge of despair Like a squiggly line drawn by a toddler

The river of rage crashed down Over a ruined farm land of waste and rubble Like a hurricane of power

The river of life, runs Through a jungle of animals Like a piece of rope tangled in knots

The river of destruction smashed Against a city of terror and ruin Like a devastating tsunami

The river of death, trickles Next to a castle of hell Like the tail of a rat

The river of greed steals everything Against people’s will and takes it from the innocent hearts Like a sinister heist

The river of happiness, skips Past an ocean of joy Like the path of a maze

The river of grief moaned Next to a palace of hope Like a bubble of sadness

The river of memories, falls Into a waterfall of happy moments Like a young boy jumping off a high wall

The river of lies kept going deeper Beside the kingdom of Truth Like an interrogation

The river of luxury, slides In front of a land of poverty Like first place beating second place in a race

The river of hope glides gracefully Towards a world with peace Like an angel of Grace

The river of worries, crawls Next to a field of freedom Like an animal missing its prey

by George Garside

by Sam Rock

The river of existence flowed backwards and forwards to slither down the hole of frozen time like clock hands spinning.

The river of hate stabbed through the rocks of love like an arrow piercing a strong shield.

The river of boredom stood still, not moving like a dead animal The river of mindfulness peacefully flowed down into a pond like a frog dancing on lily leaves.

The river of nightmares pierced through the realm of peaceful dreams like a sword stabbing through a brave soldier’s heart.

The Jungle

Samuel Chineme The great, huge trees danced around, While the powerful wind howled in the trees’ face.

The vines whipped around anyone who came near The sun paralysed the silly, long vines The young flowers welcomed anyone and everyone While the grass waved to them.

The calm-looking reflecting river smiles when people swim in her.

The perfectionist leaves dance for her.

The fruits hide in the trees, so the spider web that bounces to catch the delicious fruits doesn’t catch them.

The black, stealth spider sneaked to catch a scared fly.

The fly weeped, for it knew it would get eaten like a tiger catching a bunny.

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The Savilian Magazine

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2020

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CELEBR ATING SUCCESS

The Savilian Magazine

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2020

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CELEBR ATING SUCCESS

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293

QUEEN ELIZABETH GRAMMAR SCHOOL QEGS JUNIOR SECTION 158 NORTHGATE WAKEFIELD WF1 3QY T: 01924 373 821 E: qjoffice@wgsf.net QEGS SENIOR SECTION 154 NORTHGATE WAKEFIELD WF1 3QX T: 01924 373 943 E: qsoffice@wgsf.net www.wgsf.org.uk

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