Our annual Christmas Carol Service was held on Monday 11th December.  The event was described as "marvellous" by The Barnet Society in a recent news article on their website:

https://www.barnetsociety.org.uk/christmas-carol-service-by-choir-and-orchestra-of-queen-elizabeth-s-girls-school-a-festive-season-highlight

On Monday 3rd July, students from Year 9 and the Sixth Form had the privilege of listening to a Holocaust survivor named Hedi Argent.  She explained the struggles and challenges she and her family faced and how she was fortunate to escape with her family from Vienna to England.

There were many messages and key themes but the one that really struck me was that bullying and hate often starts with small actions such as name calling.  Despite the fact that we are all unique in our own way, and we are all human, we need to learn not to judge others.  Hedi said that we should aim to spread kindness and do at least one good thing a day as that it can have a positive impact on someone else. This is something that really resonated with me and I will certainly take her advice.

As uncomfortable as the subject was, I enjoyed the opportunity to listen to Hedi and to ask questions about such an important time in our history.

 - Era, Year 9

 

On Wednesday 7th June, Year 12 Physics students went on a trip to Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) in Oxfordshire.

CCFE is home to JET, a nuclear fusion experiment which aims to release large amounts of energy without producing long-lived radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.  JET is fuelled by two isotopes of hydrogen - deuterium (commonly found in seawater) and tritium (much rarer), and reaches temperatures of 150 million oC (10 times hotter than the sun), making this the hottest place in the solar system.  To achieve this, JET consumes an astonishing amount of power (2% of the UK’s entire power reserve when switched on). The “neutral particle beams” used for heating could boil a bath full of water in 0.48 seconds.

To protect researchers from the heat and radiation released, JET is housed in a hanger protected by the second largest doors in the world (after those at NASA), weighing 400 tonnes each.  We were utterly fascinated by JET and had a wonderful experience with the staff, who gave us a personal tour of the facility and a short talk about the faculty.

Two of us will be returning in July to take part in a women in STEM scheme run by the UK Atomic Energy Authority which is definitely something to look forward to.

- By Louisa, Simren, Hannah & Hafsa in Year 12

Our Year 10 Design Technology students partnered with Year 10 students at Queen Elizabeth's School on Wednesday 10th May 2023.  

Over 100 students worked collaboratively to take part in a series of design challenges on the theme of sustainability.  The event commenced with a speech from an old Elizabethan who had recently commenced a degree in Engineering.  He offered an interesting perspective which linked his GCSE studies in Design Technology with his degree.  He then coached students as they worked in mixed teams to produce a series of designs for environmentally friendly children's toys as part of a 'sketchathon' competition.  There was much creativity and a healthy dose of competition in what was a collaborative and supportive environment.

We would like to thank Ms Tomlinson at Queen Elizabeth's School for arranging the event which was enjoyed by all.  We look forward to hosting the event ourselves next year. 

We were delighted to once again host our annual school production, Matilda Jr, which ran on 9, 10 and 11 November. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the shows and well done to cast and crew for a fabulously creative and energetic production!

Bertha Earth is a company working with secondary schools to advocate and envisage a world where every child inherits a healthy, thriving planet. 

Bertha Earth's mission is to grow a diverse network of young environmental leaders and change makers who reignite a love for our planet. Bertha Earth came into the school to deliver an exciting new programme to the year 7 cohort they focused on: activism, confidence and making an impact. The year 7's had a day off timetable exploring how amazing the planet can be through both practical and theory lessons.

In September, a group of Year 13 QE Boys and QE girls swept the Dollis Valley Park for rubbish. There were traffic cones, shoes and a wheel barrow plus some lovely comments of thanks from members of the public.

Between 20 and 23 September, a group of 5 Year 13 geographers visited Dorset to complete a range of fieldwork activities in preparation for their NEA. 

On Tuesday 20, we travelled down to Dorset and started our fieldwork on coastal management in Swanage. The students conducted an experiment to test whether longshore drift was occurring at Swanage Bay by throwing an apple into the sea and calculating the speed and distance it travelled along the coastline. They then undertook a range of surveys to determine how effective each management strategy is. They also interviewed members of the public to find their views. We also managed to squeeze in an ice-cream for our efforts! Later we travelled the short distance to our accommodation, a picture perfect cottage, near Corfe Castle.

On Thursday 8 September, we were delighted to host the Celebration of Excellence event, at our school, to celebrate students whose achievements during 2021 and 2022 were recognised as prize worthy.

We were pleased to invite our guest speaker, Miss Hilda Wiredu, a past student, who gave an inspirational talk to our students. Over 85 prizes were awarded, and the event was well attended by the prize winners and their families.

Congratulations to all of our prize winners!

We were very fortunate that two teams of students (Year 10 and Year 11) successfully made it to the finals of the Big Bang Competition held at the NEC in Birmingham.  The groups showcased projects that they have been working on as part of their STEM lessons this year.

The Year 10 project, a magnetic hydrodynamic drive for marine vessels, made use of the movement of ions in salt water between two charged aluminium plates as a propulsion system for boats.  The Year 11 project, glasses for the visually impaired, focussed on creating a pair of glasses that utilise proximity sensors to give haptic feedback to someone with a visual impairment.  As part of this work, the team were involved in writing a Python program to be run on a Raspberry Pi and then 3D printing a working prototype model. 

Both fantastic projects were recognised by the judges for the innovation and creativity of their ideas.

The 'Magnetic hydrodynamic drive in marine vessels' won a special award sponsored by Network Rail for innovation in transport.

The 'Glasses for visually impaired' were runners up of the whole competition within the engineering category.

A fantastic achievement for all students involved.

 

On Saturday 19th March, 46 year 10 students from Queen Elizabeth's spent their day back in school completing their training day for their upcoming Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award practice and qualifying expeditions.

 

The DofE programme, designed for anyone aged 14-24, consists of physical, skills, volunteering and expedition elements (with an additional residential section at gold level) which can all be tailored to the individual, allowing them to develop many key life skills and express themselves and their interests.  

 

The training day was run by an excellent team of instructors from AtoZ Expeditions who covered four sessions over the day. The first session the girls looked at putting up tents and the type of land they require to do so, including how best to ensure your tent stays dry throughout the night and how to prevent your tent from blowing away by securing it safely.

 

One session was based around packing your bag in a sensible manner to ensure full waterproofness of your items and the ability to carry it for a total of 15 miles. The girls also discussed the importance of different types of waterproof clothing and why a boot with ankle support was much better than one without.

 

The girls looked at Ordnance Survey map reading, with one student commenting that “I never knew there were so many different elements to a map - I thought it only had roads on it!”.  They also had first aid scenarios to practice where they were tasked with prioritising first aid incidents and choosing when they would deal with the incident themselves and when they would contact their instructor.

 

A particular favourite session with the girls was the one involving cooking on a small camping stove, where the girls were tasked to boil water to allow them to create hot chocolate. This was well received with the girls, one commented that “although it was one of the most watery hot chocolates I’ve had, it was really fun to use the Tranjia stoves and make it outside”.

 

All of the students left the day equipped with skills to best prepare them for their expeditions which are coming up in May and June. We wish them the best of luck with those and look forward to hearing about all their experiences from the weekends.

 

 

We all thoroughly enjoyed the Science Fair held in our Sports Hall recently.

On Monday 1st November, our entire school community came together to plant daffodil bulbs at the front of our school as part of a project conceived and led by Sixth Form students.   

As part of a series of projects intended to mark what everyone has been through as part of the pandemic, students requested to plant daffodil bulbs in a very prominent location at the front of our school.  Having raised £450, we purchased 2000 daffodil bulbs and set about digging and preparing the planting area.  In just one day, all bulbs were planted and every member of our community had an opportunity to reflect on the personal impact of the pandemic whilst making a positive impact to the environment. 

Hopefully, when our bulbs flower every March, our entire school community can remember this act of togetherness and can celebrate our strong sense of community with a bright and cheerful display of daffodils in bloom.

In the spring make sure you look out for the blooms on the High Street as you walk past the school. 

Further projects planned for this year include a time capsule, the creation of a mural and various literary competitions.  

If you would like to read the recent article from the Barnet Society website, please follow this link.

On 26th/27th June, a group of 21 girls from QE undertook their Bronze expedition as a part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme. The programme, designed for anyone aged 14-24, consists of physical, skills, volunteering and expedition elements (with an additional residential section at gold level) which can all be tailored to the individual, allowing them to develop as a person and also express themselves and their interests in many different ways.

 

The expedition was based in the Chilterns, with students completing a 2 day expedition requiring them to hike for 14km (8.7miles) on the Saturday and around 12km (7.5miles) on the Sunday. This was across undulating, challenging terrain in small groups of 5 or 6 where the girls put their skills to the test to complete an unaccompanied expedition. They developed map reading skills, compass and navigation skills as well as the ability to cook over an open fire (we had various types of pasta, flapjacks and custard and even hot chocolate being prepared!) 

 

Some notable experiences over the weekend included an impromptu diversion away from a large field of cows and the girls evident excitement every time they saw their teachers at the checkpoints - even sprinting down hills with heavy backpacks to meet them! Across the two days the girls not only completed an impressive distance walking, they also demonstrated many valuable skills: the ability to work together as a team, resilience, confidence, perseverance, and above all how to appreciate the natural environment and its many wonders. All girls finished the weekend full of smiles and good memories from the expedition, and many of them are now looking forward to completing their Silver awards too.

Year 13 Textiles students were recently set a transformation challenge.  They were furnished with a mannequin, newspaper, refuse sacks and tape.  After a very strict 50 minute deadline, some impressive results were achieved!

Year 9 recently had an assembly on the topic "The Legacy of Change", produced by The Stephen Lawrence Foundation.  After watching an excerpt from the recent BBC documentary about Stephen Lawrence, Year 9 spent some time reflecting upon the main themes from the documentary before exploring ways to make a change which involved spreading kindness and engaging in 'random acts of kindness'.  The celebratory assembly at the end of the week showcased contributions from each tutor group.  Posters with positive messages from Year 9 have also been displayed throughout the school.

Our Year 10 students recently completed their Bronze Level practice expedition in the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside.  All groups performed incredibly well and had a fantastic experience.

London Secondary Teacher of the Year

On Friday 14 February, twenty Year 12 students made their  way  to IBM  Head  office to spend the  day  networking  with professionals from  IBM,  PWC,  CapGemini and EY. The day also involved a works

We look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Fair on Saturday 7 December between 11am and 3pm

During the half term holiday, a group of students in Years 10 and 11 were given an amazing opportunity to go to Nice for a one week stay with a French family for an authentic, all-inclusive, and immersive experience.  Of course we were delighted to accept this offer! Going to Nice was an excellent decision.

The day started very early in the morning. After a short flight, the student group arrived at the French airport and were met by the French families who took us back to their homes. A quick drive and we arrived at their lovely houses and we started to get to know the families. Our first dinner with the welcoming families made one successful day complete.

During the coming days came, we woke up around 7am in order to have enough time to arrive at the school by ourselves. Travelling independently was frightening at first, but it soon proved itself to be a very helpful in traversing the city in its entirety.  We had 3 hours of school per day; a different topic was covered during lessons each day, and extensive notes were made. Very quickly, we started to feel more confident in our French skills, both speaking and understanding.

With every passing day, we went to a new activity after school. Day 2 - we had a tour of Nice. The sights were incredible and a breathe of fresh air with interesting monuments and views!  Going into different stores and being able to utilise French skills was challenging, a bit confusing at first but with a bit of practice, we had got used to it

On day 3, ‘la musée océanographique’, the aquarium, as they say in France. We visited Monaco where there were a great many astonishing sights and many new facts along the way.   Day 4 saw us visit Antibes and the Picasso museum. The Picasso museum was quite small, but we appreciated the wonderful arts. Antibes had a lovely community full of shops that were welcoming to us as we attempted our best to quickly form sentences in French, we were able to do so with little effort required! Experience is one of the best forms of learning is what they say, and we agree!

Day 5 - Grasse and the perfume factory. Wherever you were in France, the landscape was not one to be missed. As soon as we walked into the parfumerie, the smell was splendid during our visit, a delightful experience that we won’t forget!  We also went to St.Paul de Vence, a little town with an artistic atmosphere on the hill, we enjoyed it very much!  

On our sixth and final day, we went bowling, as it wass our last day in Nice. We had one final trip around the town square as a group together and had a litlte free time.

All in all, it was a very helpful and informative trip which we all very much enjoyed.

 

This month on Friday 10 May, we celebrated the founding in 1888 of our school. Years 7 and 8 along with representatives of all other years and sixth form officers, processed with their tutors and senior staff, from school, along the High Street, to S

Throughout 2019, Barnet Libraries are holding a Year of Learning with a variety of activities and events tied into a different theme every month. The Art Department are proud to be part of the programme working with Chipping Barnet Library in High Ba

Key Stage 3 students created a Wall Art Christmas tree of seasonal wishes. Their Spanish and French writing is neatly presented on individually decorated Christmas tree shapes. Cross-curricular learning! Their work has brightened up the corridor spac

On the 5th October, Year 8 had a group of presenters in to look at Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management. The students took part in workshops which included a drama production, discussion about self-confidence and positive attitude.

"On Wednesday 18th July, we travelled by coach and ferry to Boulogne-sur-Mer on a school trip which was organised by Mme Brett. 

Shortly after arriving, we started the day with a visit to a bakery in the countryside where we learned how to make croissants and traditional bread.  We were taught by a couple who spoke French to us the entire time (especially the husband!) and so we were able to practice introducing ourselves in French.  At the end of the workshop, we were given croissants and pain au chocolat to enjoy outside in the sunshine.

Next, we went to the Old Town which was full of cafes with people sitting outside and small shops, some selling souvenirs eg berets, key chains, bracelets.  The Old Town was very pretty and we were able to see the sights and eat our lunch outside before heading to the beach.  The beach was sandy and a few of us went into the water as it was a lovely hot day, then most of us ate ice cream!  Finally, we went to a shopping centre on the way home for some last minute shopping before arriving back at school at 11:15pm.  

It was the best school trip that I have ever attended. I would definitely go again!"

- Jessica 8ASZ

The English Department led a Year 12 English Literature A level students to Bath in order to complement the study of Jane Austen's 'Sense & Sensibility'.  Austen herself spent a number of years in Bath and drafted many of her books there, with Bath being mentioned in all her novels.

After arriving in Bath via the train from Paddington, we walked to the Jane Austen Centre and were taken on a guided tour to key venues within the city. We learned a great deal about Austen and her influences, information which will be invaluable when we have to write about the context of the text.

Throughout the course of the day, we estimated that we walked close to 9 miles which, for teenagers, is surely a record! We then spent some time exploring Bath before travelling back to Paddington. 

On Tuesday 3rd July, we held our annual exhibition of GCSE and A-Level student work.  As always, the standard was incredibly high, showcasing hours of work and a great attention to detail.

Below is a small selection of what we had on show.  Sadly, much of the work will soon be adorning the homes of the students who created each piece but thankfully the exhibits are available for our students to view for a few more days.

This week the Year 10 Geographers visited East Finchley High Street as well as The Bishops Avenue to undertake fieldwork investigating variations in urban quality of life which is required for their Geography GCSE. The field trip involved students completing a variety of fieldwork techniques. For example an Environmental Quality Assessment was completed whereby students scored each site on features such as the quality of street furniture, levels of pollution and variety of shops. In addition a pedestrian count was completed at each location whereby the number of people walking past in a minute was recorded. Students also made use of a free decibel app downloaded on to their phones to record noise level at each site. Finally students had to be brave and complete a questionnaire asking members of the public their opinions on environmental quality in East Finchley as well as whether they believe there to be a sense of belonging and community spirit in the area. Despite the weather being extremely hot, the fieldwork was undertaken successfully, ensuring that they are well prepared for this aspect of their exam.

On Thursday the 21^st of June, Year 7 were treated to a special assembly from an ex student and teacher from our school. She told us all about our school history and what things were like some years ago.  We were also presented with a copy of a book about our school called "A School of Our Own" to celebrate 130 years since Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School was founded.  We have read the book from cover to cover and here are some of the things we found interesting when reading the book:

 

Victorian Times

In the Victorian times the children would do many things that we found absolutely amazing! Firstly pupils will partake in sewing classes as it was seen as an important skill for a women to learn.  What’s strange about this is that they had to do it in absolute silence whilst one of the girls would read poetry.

Another thing that shocked us was that they had the opportunity to do roller skating in the hall at lunch and sometimes the Head Teacher would join in. They also had a weekly report card which could be either a red, white or gold coloured report.  If you got given a red report [the worst card] you were not allowed to do PE for a week. Maybe the most extraordinary thing was that pupils had to walk to school on their own unless they had a letter from their parents!

 

World War II

This is when a lot of changes came to our school, it was now a fee paying school pupils had to be 8-18 to attend. During the blitz the school stayed open throughout although not much work was able to take place and, sadly, 3 girls who attended QEGS died.

Many teachers volunteered to be fire watchers; they had to stay overnight at the school and once the aeroplanes had left they went to the top floor to look out for fires. The worst thing late at night would have been the cockroaches and they had to be careful not to step on one or there would be a horrible crunch! 

In the war time, the school canteen was in the Languages corridor! To get the food upstairs they used a dumbwaiter that would pass by the head teachers office.This is still there today and is located outside the photocopy room. 

 

1960s/1970s

QE Girls' became a comprehensive school and went from 3 to having 5 classes in a year group. They stopped Greek and Latin lessons and brought in IT,Technology and Music.  The uniform also changed a lot and girls stopped wearing hats to school.

We read about how the teachers did not like to disturb the Head Teacher so they used to bend down on their knees to see if there were more than two pairs of feet in her office.  On one day the Head Teacher opened the door onto someone and there was an awkward silence.  Due to this they added a little wooden panel at the bottom of her door and that’s still there now [this is now Mr Jones' office].

We really liked listening to the old girls who talked in assembly. It was the best assembly this year and we were really glad to read the book.  In fact during every break on Thursday we tried to read a little more of our book as there were some really interesting stories.

Anna and Millie 7CBS

Since November of last year five of our talented GCSE Art students have been attending Middlesex University for one of fifty National Art and Design Saturday Clubs. Sessions are led by University tutors with students able to take advantage of the techniques, equipment and facilities on site such as photography studios, dark rooms, printing presses and ceramic studios.

The weekly Saturday Clubs are punctuated by other important moments such as the master-class given by British designer Quentin Newark.

At the end of the program Club members and their families attended a private view at Somerset House when each member was presented with a Certificate of Achievement and a Yearbook by Sir John Sorrell founder of the NADSC.

Khouria Bruce, Angelika Kaccouris, Millie Beavis-Adams, Isobel Nethercoat and Amy Jamiesons work is now on display at the Summer Show, a week-long public exhibition held at Somerset House, Embankment Galleries, London until Sunday 17^th June

For more information go to: https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/national-saturday-club-summer-show

Peter Pan tickets now on sale! 

 

Students from across all years groups have been working hard since September to produce this year's spectacular school production.

Peter Pan will be coming to the school hall for three nights: Wednesday 31st January, Thursday 1st February and Friday 2nd February. Buy your tickets now by following these three simple steps:

1)Purchase your ticket through Wisepay 

2)Print off the receipt 

3)Exchange the receipt for a ticket at our Box Office (Room 216)

available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday Lunchtimes 

The Art department recently led a visit to The National Portrait Gallery.  Below is a review from some Year 8 students.

"I loved going to The National Portrait Gallery as the whole experience was very well organised, fun and educational. All instructions given at the beginning of the day were clear and well-structured so we (as students) knew what to expect. When we arrived we went inside the gallery and were given an interesting and interactive lecture in the Ondaatje lecture theatre, about what portraits are. The extremely kind member of the gallery staff made us think and share our opinions. Additionally, she encouraged us to expand on our answers in order to express ourselves fully. Then we got the chance to view and embrace the pieces of art, which was fascinating as we got to see art from the Stuart and Victorian eras. We also saw work by artists such as Julian Opie who we are studying in class. Over all, my year and I had an incredible time visiting the National Portrait Gallery."

- Holly Travi, Hannah Brewer, Eva Culverwell.  8AEA

At Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School, we have focussed on diversity in its widest sense during the month of October, which has coincided with the 30 year anniversary of Black History Month in the UK.  To celebrate this, students have been learning about the achievements and contributions of British people of African and Afro-Carribbean heritage.  

All Students have had an assembly on the theme of equality; where topics such as the lives of Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman, have been explored.  In addition, students have had the opportunity to take part in different initiatives across the school in a variety of subject areas, notably English and Art.  We have held literary and creative quiz competitions and would like to congratulate Jasmine Salt in Year 7 who won the whole school quiz, which had over 100 entries.

The Art department would like to congratulate Jessica Adu-Wiate from 10PKI for winning their competition.  Her entry used a range of materials including, paper, fabric, felt pen and collage.  The poster she designed gave information about Yaa Asantewaa, Queen mother of the Ashanti people. She wins the first prize of a bag of art goodies which includes: Sketch book, paints, brush and colouring pencils.  This should certainly help foster Jessica's creativity!  Her winning entry is shown below.

 

 

Our GCSE Art students have spent some time focusing on observational drawing as part of their course. Below is an account from two Year 10 students.

Talented golfer and current QE student, Elle Gibson, has been featured in The Evening Standard recently.  Elle is passionate about encouraging girls to consider playing golf.  She has also been incredibly successful, with a particular highlight being winning the American Golf Junior Championships earlier in the year.  We are very proud of Elle and look forward to celebrating her continued success in golf. 

Our Music department recently visited the Barbican Centre with a group of Key Stage 3 students to listen to the London Symphony Orchestra.  Below is an account from two Year 8 students who were in attendance.

"On Thursday 18^th May, a selection of students were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to listen to the London Symphony Orchestra perform at the Barbican Centre, one of London’s greatest concert halls. Accompanied by our music teachers Mr Levy and Mr Verma, we travelled in anticipation via the underground (sheltered from the pouring rain) to Moorgate station.

From there, we were only to walk through a couple of London’s busy streets in the heart of the City, past the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, to enter the Barbican Centre. In the entrance hall, that was modern and displayed details for all of the performances to be held there, we were privileged to meet Mr Colin Paris, sub- principal Double Bassist of the London Symphony Orchestra. We asked questions about the life of a musician which was highly inspiring. After a photograph, we enjoyed exploring the grand building before proceeding to listen to the orchestra  play works by Vaughan Williams, Brahms and Holst’s ‘Planets Suite’ in the concert hall.

We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and feeling of a professional concert. It was amazing and we hope to go there again in the future."

On Wednesday 17th May, our Deputy Headteachers, Mr Duffy and Mr Jones, collected two SSAT awards on behalf of Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School.  The awards are in recognition of our best ever examination results at GCSE level in summer 2016.  We were awarded:

• An attainment award for being in the top 10% of non selective schools nationally for attainment.
• A progress award for being in the top 20% of non selective schools nationally for progress.

On the 18th of April, six students from Year 8 went to the University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus, to take part in a competition against 12 other schools from the London area. This STEM competition was coordinated by EDT and the event was sponsored by Network Rail.  It was simply called 'Stations of the future' and students were invited to redesign an existing railway station, developing it to make it sustainable and safe,  incorporating the latest and upcoming technologies.

For over 10 weeks, a group of students worked hard to create an architectural model, a presentation, and full report of their research, design ideas, final solution and testing. The competition was tough and there were many creative ideas but our team's hard work and original ideas paid off as they won the competition for their innovation and practical solution to problems at London Victoria.

The award was presented by a very senior engineer from Network Rail who said that the reason the QEGS team won was because they listened very clearly to what the judging panel were looking for, but also had managed to design real solutions to real problems that Network Rail are trying to address with London Victoria. He also took photographs of the model as he was going to bring it to the table when discussing long term plans for London Victoria incorporating Crossrail 2, which the girls included in their design work.

Having entered the "Big Bang" Science competition for the first time, Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School not only had a particularly large number of groups entered into the finals, but we also left having won a national award!  Two Year 10 students have shared their experience of the process below.

QUEEN ELIZABETH’S GIRLS’ SCHOOL STUDENTS THROUGH TO UK FINAL OF THE BIG BANG COMPETITION

23 Year 10 students from Queen Elizabeth’s Girl’s in Barnet are through to the UK final of The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Competition after wowing judges at the regional heats.

Year 10 Students Niamh Quinn, 14, Kirstie Harrison Dunne, 14, Sophie De Naeyer, 15, Zara Ahmadzai, 14, Muna Badiudeen, 15,  Nima Nor, 14, Zahrah Khan,  14, Loraine Benedict, 14, Paris Baheer, 14, Scarlett Schulz, 14, Sophie Peerless, 14, Akua Asare, 15, Anna Mason, 14, Ana McKenna-Ochoa, 15, Anna Campiani, 15, Emily Siu, 15, Rebecca Rajapakse, 15, Rosalind Cross, 14, Olivia Smith, 14, Maricar Armodia, 14, Ilia Sediq, 14, Dilan Cekin, 14, Afia Antwi, 14 and Riona Mustafa, 14 impressed the judges with their studies into:

·       Mars: Is it Possible?

·       Hydro Electricity

·       City Venture- The Future Of City Journeys

·       Research into the different types of bionics

·       Smart Materials, can they help medicine, transport and infrastructure in the future?

·       The possibility of inserting solar panels on the moon to provide a green source of electricity on the Earth.​

·       An app to help people contact each other without using the Internet after a natural disaster

They will go on to join over 200 other project teams from across the UK in the finals, which take place during The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair at the Birmingham NEC, in mid March 2017.

The Big Bang Competition is an annual contest designed to recognise and reward young people's achievements in all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), as well as helping them build skills and confidence in project-based work.

The competition is open to 11-18 year olds, and gives participants the chance to compete for top prizes such as international experiences worth over £50,000 and prestigious awards such as UK Young Scientist and UK Young Engineer of the Year.

Commenting on Niamh, Kirstie, Sophie, Zara, Muna, Nima, Zahrah, Loraine, Paris, Scarlett, Sophie, Akua, Anna, Ana, Emily, Rebecca, Rosalind, Olivia, Maricar, Ilia, Dilan, Afia and Riona’s success, Paul Jackson, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, which organises The Competition said:

“This year’s entries to The Big Bang Competition highlight how talented the UK’s young scientists and engineers are. It’s easy to see why this project has secured a place at the national finals. We’re now excited about seeing all the finalists come together at The Fair in March, where they will have the chance to impress the judges and inspire other young visitors.”

“Congratulations to Niamh, Kirstie, Sophie, Zara, Muna,  Nima, Zahrah, Loraine,Paris, Scarlett, Sophie, Akua, Anna, Ana, Emily, Rebecca, Rosalind, Olivia, Maricar, Ilia, Dilan, Afia, Riona and good luck for March.”

 

Mr S Randhawa, from Queen Elizabeth’s Girl’s, said:

“Having the opportunity to put theory into practice has been great fun and has given the girls an idea of just how interesting a career in the sciences could be. The project has also helped the students develop technical skills and learn how to work well together as a team. To be through to the national final is the icing on the cake – the girls can’t wait to show off their projects again and hope to come back from the UK finals in March with an award!"

For more information visit www.thebigbangfair.co.uk/competition

During half term, three members of the English Department visited Copenhagen with 29 of our wonderful sixth form students. A review of this study visit can be found below.

We set out at 3.30am from school and arrived bleary eyed in Copenhagen by 10.00am to settle in to our welcoming hostel, The Generator. The first day was spent recovering from a lack of sleep, exploring a brand new city and reassuring ourselves that the wi-fi worked and that Dominoes and TGIs were open. On the second day, we embarked on the main reason for our visit, the trip to Kronberg Castle, the inspiration for Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. We enjoyed a breath-taking guided tour of the castle with the ‘real’ Horatio and speculated as to whether Shakespeare actually visited the castle in his younger life – it looked increasingly likely and pleased us to think so. The third day was spent in Copenhagen. A group of our students enjoyed a bus tour of the city, some intrepid girls ventured out on bikes and the rest of us walked around the city, visiting attractions like the Design Museum and the Little Mermaid. We had lunch in ‘Paper Island’, a wonderful venue full of street food and warmed ourselves on the braziers outside. We left our hopes and dreams on the trees within the art work of Yoko Ono. Never have teenagers walked this far without complaint! The final day was time for final sight seeing, shopping and eating as many pastries as possible.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip spent in the company of our fantastic girls; as always they were a credit to the school, themselves and their families.  Special credit to Ms Kenney Dwyer and those who had to stay for an extra day, coping wonderfully with this unexpected challenge.

'This Girl Can' was developed by Sport England in order to help women overcome the fear of judgement which often stops many women and girls from joining in when it comes to sports.  Two sisters from Queen Elizabeth's, Bleta and Londrita, have been involved with This Girl Can and have gained a lot from the experience by achieving much success in Jui-Jitsu.  Londrita (in Year 12) took up the sport four years ago and is currently a brown belt, whilst her sister,  Bleta, (in Year 11) is a black belt, having been developing her martial arts skills for nine years. They will both be starring in a poster campaign for 'This Girl Can' and have recently appeared in the local press (click here).

Bleta: "I am thrilled to be part of the 'This Girl Can' campaign and to be able to work with other amazing women. It was a very prestigious experience, and I have so many special memories from my involvement with the scheme. Even though being in the limelight was intimidating at times, I managed to stay strong and remember the inspiring cause my sister and I were promoting."

Londrita: "Taking part in an empowering and inspirational campaign, such as the one of 'This Girl Can', will not be something that can be easily forgotten. I was able to meet and work with incredible women of all ages, but with whom we all shared a common goal- which was to encourage more women in sport through this campaign."

The Music department recently visited the Barbican to attend the "Soviet Sensibilities" concert by the London Schools Symphony Orchestra. The theme of this sell out concert was music that had been written under the shadow of communist dictatorship. Some reports from students who attended the visit:

"In early October this year, a competition was set to see who could design the best trophy based on volunteering for the European Volunteering Capital 2017. Every student in Year 8 was given the chance to enter, but only seven could be shortlisted. Miss Davis (Head of Year 8) chose the designs submitted by the following students: Verona (8ANZ), Brigette (8EWT), Amy (8EAO), Yan (8HWN), Madeline (8MEA), Mathilda (8MEA) and Temilola (8MEA). These seven designs were sent forward to the sculptor of the trophy, Mr Guy Portelli. He decided which designs provided him with the most inspiration. Out of many schools from London, Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School was chosen as the winning design.

Our seven students and Miss Davis were invited to attend a special conference in City Hall on Monday 5^th December. We left school feeling excited and travelled to Central London by tube. We were taking many photos as we walked along the south bank of the River Thames towards City Hall. 

When we arrived, we were welcomed by an official and taken through security to meet Mr Portelli, who created the European Volunteering Capital 2017 trophy. We sat down with him as he talked to us about his innovative design, which consists of all colours of the Union Jack and the Irish flag. He explained the influence of our designs on his final model. The trophy is “Hands up for volunteering” which was based on people wanting to help. Two of our students were chosen to help in presenting the trophy to Sligo, Ireland, on stage later in the conference.

After the meeting and group photos with Mr Portelli, we were taken to our seats in the front row of the Chamber at the bottom of the helical stairway. The conference started with speeches from Laura Brown (Member of Team London) and Matthew Ryder (Deputy Mayor of Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement). Prior the presentation of the 2017 award, the announcement of 2018 winner was made – Aarhus, Denmark.

Finally, it was time to present the trophy to the winner of the European Volunteering Capital 2017. Madeline and Brigette were on stage to witness the presentation. After the conference was over, we ate our lunch and started to make our journey back to school, reflecting on the great experience that we all had."

By Amy Li (8EAO) and Yan Lee (8HWN)

On 25th November we held workshops for our Year 10 students to learn about public speaking and to experience working as part of a group.  Students were challenged to devise and deliver a persuasive talk on given topics and were coached by experts on body language, voice and delivery style.  The day was very interesting for all concerned.

"I would never have imagined that within a normal school day I'd be given such an opportunity. We were taught how to speak in public with structure and confidence. These were just a few of the many skills I gained during my time at the Speak Out Challenge workshop. With these atrributes, the foundation on which to build my future is made stronger.​"

Igochi Elechi 10NAL

 

"At the Speak Out Challenge we started by getting to know the other people in the group. We did this by each standing up and stating our names and ambitions for the future. The group leader would then interject every couple of mini speaaches and give us tips on how to interest our audience, such as tellling personal stories and keeping eye contact. By the end of the workshop we were all much more confident at public speaking. After lunch we each delivered a short speech on a topic of our choice. During the day we all became much more confident. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity."

Sara Khafife 10NAL

"On Friday 18th November 2016, five Sixth Form students had the opportunity to go to the Woman of the future Ambassadors Programme and were accompanied by Mrs Walker.  The event was very prestigious and was held in Lloyds bank in central

Well done to the Queen Elizabeth's Girls School cross country teams, who all performed incredibly well in the recent Barnet Schools cross country league events.  These were held at Allianz Park sports fields and we competed against a number of local schools.  

Our Year 7 team came 3rd overall and the combined Year 8/9 team came 5th (and this is a fantastic result as they did not field a full team in race 1 due to last minute illnesses).  We are delighted by the performance of all of our students, in particular our Year 10/11 team who won the Barnet League. 

Thank you to our PE department for their support of our athletes and also many thanks to Victoria Peters 11SKT who has been coaching the cross country team every week as part of her GCSE PE course. 

We look forward to further further successes in the Barnet Schools cross Country Championships on 12th January 2017.

In their Science lessons during this half term, Year 7 have been studying cells as part of the "Building blocks of life" topic.  Each student was asked to make a model cell in order to appreciate their 3D nature and to incorporate some of the learning from this topic.  As can be seen from the image above, our students have been incredibly creative, making cells from fabric (to look like a cushion), paper mache, sponges, plasticene, modelling clay and even cake ingredients!  The types of cells made varied from red blood cells to palisade leaf cells and a range of facts from the topic had been used in the final design. 

The Science department would like to thank Year 7 for their impressive efforts during this project.

Our English Literature Year 13 students recently enjoyed a visit to London to complement their study of Virginia Woolf's novel 'Mrs Dalloway'.  The novel is set in central London and during the walk, the group visited key locations and read and discussed specific extracts. It was a wonderful way of immersing students fully into the context of the novel and it made everyone realise what a fantastic resource we have on our doorstep!

 

Our Head Girl, Samantha Felton, recently won a Jack Petchey award for her service to the school community.  As part of her award, she received a grant for a school based project which would bring a positive impact to a group of other students.  Passionate about dance and keen to reach out to our younger students, Samantha decided to use her Jack Petchey grant to run a masterclass in contemporary dance with the Rambert Dance Company.  A lot was learned and the workshop was fast paced and energetic, with students being incredibly eager to learn; something which was commented upon afterwards by the Rambert Dance Company.

Here are some accounts from students who participated in the workshop:

The shoebox project is a Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School tradition and this year our new Year 7 students have really impressed us with their creativity and hard work.  The project forms part of our transition programme; in July we asked all Year 7 students to create a shoebox  which they would then present to their tutor group during their first week of school.  Here are some accounts from two students along with some of the many shoeboxes which are currently on display in our school.

"Our shoe box project theme was 'looking back and looking forwards'. I created my shoebox in the summer holidays all by myself and I included pictures of my friends and family as well as some objects which meant a lot to me.  I chose to include my first ever swimming goggles as well as my tap shoes.  When other students presented their shoe boxes, I really learned a lot about their Primary School experience and their ambitions.  It was very interesting to find out more about my class mates and I enjoyed creating my shoe box."

Emily McMillan

"My experience at QE so far has been amazing and the best part of it was presenting my shoe box.  In a nutshell we had to take a shoe box, decorate it and then put objects that meant something to us inside the box. This project allowed me to find out something about the other people in my tutor group.  We have lots in common and I learned a lot about other people's personalities, hobbies and interests."

True Fuller

On Monday 4th July – Friday 8Th July I was one of seven Q.E. students who had the opportunity to go to The London School of Economics (LSE) Summer School. This is a prestigious university as well as being one of the best in the UK, which specia

Year 9 had the privilege of listening to the testimony of Holocaust Survivor George Vulkan. We would like to thank our students for being a true credit to the school and for thinking of some excellent questions that made for an even more worthwhile experience. We would also like to thank the Holocaust Educational Trust for helping to organise the event and most importantly, we extend our sincere gratitude to George Vulkan for retelling his very moving story and for delivering some very inspirational messages about prejudice and discrimination to our students. The accounts from students below demonstrate just how much they learned from the experience.

On Tuesday 12th July, we celebrated the individual achievements of a variety of students in the school who have won Jack Petchey awards this year. In addition, Mr Clarkson (Head of History) gained a leadership award having been nominated by his Year 11 tutor group.  Full details for all award winners can be found below.

Cut Films is a peer to peer film and social media project educating young people about the dangers of smoking and Queen Elizabeth's have had a long standing involvement with this project for several years.

We were fortunate enough to host two author visits this week; one from Siobhan Curham and another from Nat Luurtsema.

Our annual "Presentation Matters" day is always a highlight for Year 9 as they learn presentation skills and find out more about the workplace.  Below is some feedback from one of the students involved in the day.

On Wednesday 22^nd of June members of our sixth form represented the school at the “Women of the Future Ambassador’s Programme” conference which was held in The City.  The US Ambassador, Matthew Barzun, spoke of his work in supporting relations between the UK and the USA.  Below is some feedback from a student who attended the conference.

In preparation for their first GCSE mock examinations, our Year 10 students had a seminar from Elevate Education on the topic of "memory and mnemonics".  Below is some feedback from our students.

On Friday 10th June, Barnet Libraries held the annual Carnegie Shadowing Event at Hendon Town Hall. The guest speaker was Tanya Landman, the winner from last year for her book 'Buffalo Soldiers'.

The 8 short listed books were discussed by students and after much discussion a vote was taken with our chosen book being 'Lies we tell ourselves' by  Robyn Talley.  Some students from 9ABL spoke about the event...

Our English department have been working with LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Art) to deliver a qualification in communication and performance.  

The London knowledge quiz is a competition introduced by the Mayor of London in order to help students learn more about the capital city.  Each participating school can enter one team of up to four students and the quiz itself must be taken online and without any teacher support.  Below is some feedback from team QE!

We are delighted that a very large number of our students chose to take part in the UK Mathematics challenge this year.  We are particularly pleased to share their successes in what is our best year yet.  Certificate winners are shown below.

Our annual commemoration day cake competition proved to be incredibly popular yet again with some very imaginative cakes this year!  

On Friday 22nd April, 17 A Level Biology Students along with Ms Myrtle and Mrs Robertson headed off travelling by tube, train and then bus to the wilds of Surrey and Juniper Hall, a Field Studies Council Centre.

Ten of our Year 8 students demonstrated strong team working skills and commitment through writing a novel which has recently been published.  The novel explores many themes including friendship, grief and coping with mental illness and it is currently being sold online to raise funds for charity.

Four of our Year 10 and 11 students were selected to represent Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School and to learn about the democratic processes at Barnet Council.  Over a number of weeks, our students attended various council meetings and took part in debates with local councillors as part of follow on workshop sessions.  The following is an account of Maisie's experience.

On Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th March parent's and friends' had the opportunity to see the GCSE drama pieces which had been examined on the previous Friday.

On Thursday 25th February, Year 12 English Literature students and half of the English Department teaching staff visited the Rose Theatre at Bankside to view  a production of Hamlet. 

Seventy of our girls spent six months preparing and rehearsing for a spectacular production of The Sound of Music which ran for three nights from February 10th - 12th 2016.

We are delighted that Year 8 students have been able to work with the artist Sonia Leong who has introduced them to the world of Manga.  Her presentations are lively and informative and her workshops in the Library have been very well received. 

Year 13 Drama and Theatre Studies students were fortunate enough to take part in 'The Tomorrow Project', run by The Donmar Warehouse Theatre.

We are proud to announce that at the cut films award ceremony we won 3 awards.

On National Safer Internet Day our students were one of only three schools invited to visit the Microsoft Offices in Victoria, London. Read on for Nancy's report on their vist.......

A huge Congratulations to the Year 7, 8 and 9 Combined and Senior QE Cross country Teams who have shown great commitment and have worked tirelessly this year, often contending all kinds of terrible weather to train exceptionally hard and quite deservedly WIN first place in the Barnet League Competitions.
 

A massive well done to the Year 11, 12 and 13 students who helped to make the MiCommunity programme run so well this year.
The ageUk programme has always been successful, however, this year was the most successful yet, with a record 16 elderly learners in one session and all of us struggling to fit into the computer room.

Another year of Fantastic Commemoration Day Cakes