Students at Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School sharing their views on the future as part of an interview that has helped shape the Lyfta programme that we have been involved with.  All of our students benefit from engaging in the Lyfta programme and experiencing the power of global human stories to strengthen connection, understanding, and belonging in classrooms and beyond.

The traditional Nine Lessons and Carols Service was presided over by Father Samuel. The full congregation included the Mayor, Cllr Danny Rich, along with invited guests from the School’s governance boards and the local community: Debbie Lane, Member of the Board of Trustees; Toyin Aderoju, Chair of the Board of Trustees; Martyn Bradish, Chair of the Endowment Fund Trustees; Vivienne Bell, School Archivist, Endowment Fund Observer and Committee Member of the Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School Guild (Alumna Association); Barbara Taylor, Chair of The Hyde Foundation and Yoshimi Gregory of Yamaha Music London, responsible for cultural relations. Also in attendance were other invited guests, parents and carers of our student performers, staff and friends of the School, as well as members of the wider School community.

The traditional Nine Lessons were read by students from each year group, concluding with the Ninth Lesson read by the Headteacher, Mrs Walker.

Music and carols were enjoyed by all throughout the Service, featuring the Chamber Choir, School Choir, and School Orchestra. They were accompanied by the renowned organist and harpsichordist, Jonathan Gregory who is also the Founder and Music Director of the UK-Japan Music Society. The School was delighted to also have members of Borehamwood Brass contributing to the School’s performance pieces. These included traditional and modern variations of carols such as The Holly and the Ivy, Ding Dong Merrily on High, and Away in a Manger.

The Service concluded on a festive note with the Orchestra performing Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson. Following the Service, refreshments and mince pies were enjoyed by all as a further welcome to the Festive Season!

In addition to celebrating the exceptional achievements of our students, long service awards were issued to staff members who have completed ten or more years of service to the school.  

Commemoration Day Church Service

Following a tradition established over 100 years ago, the Headteacher led a procession of staff and students from Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School to St John The Baptist Church on Barnet High Street.  Several invited dignitaries including Martin Russell, Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London; The Worshipful, The Mayor and Mayoress; Cllr Tony Vourou and Mrs Caroline Vourou; Mrs Gill Williams, Secretary of The Guild; and Mrs Judith Wilson, Chair of The Guild joined the school community for a special Commemoration Day service.

As is customary, the Headteacher read 'The Act of Commemoration' and the school orchestra performed a number of pieces.  In a relatively new tradition, students from our diverse and inclusive community read affirmations from their own faiths.

We are grateful to all who supported the Commemoration Day service and to Father Samuel Rossiter for leading the service at St John The Baptist Church.

Please click here to read a related article by The Barnet Society.

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

In late June, three groups from our school had the opportunity to participate in the Big Bang competition in Birmingham.  It was a huge privilege for our team as it gave us the opportunity to explore our enthusiasm for science and engineering while also developing our cognitive skills.

One of our favourite activities at the fair was to go and visit professional stalls from companies and corporations ranging from the National Grid to Specsavers. It was incredible to appreciate the amount of science and technology behind all areas of the company in question, as well as getting hands-on experience.  We got the chance to also try practical activities such as badge making and even using computer technology to view modern or more futuristic architecture in virtual reality.  The activities were endless!  Quizzes had been set up and were available to try and guide you to several future careers suited to personalities, games to pique your interest and lectures giving insight into careers. 

Altogether, the day was thoroughly enjoyable, giving us many great memories and unique opportunities. 

- By Kayra in Year 10

Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School is incredibly proud of our GCSE STEM students and their participation in The Big Bang Fair.  We are delighted to share that we won the following four prestigious awards:

• An “Energy Institute Climate Change Special Award” for making hydrogen fuel from scrap metal.
• A “Practical Science Special Award” for Mr Bloor-Young’s leadership of the STEM groups.
• A runner up award for the Intermediate Science Category for making hydrogen fuel from scrap metal.
• A runner up award for the Intermediate Engineering Category for a stair climbing wheelchair for dogs project. 

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

As part of the 2022-23 programme, a group of Year 7 students have participated in a series of after school workshops, culminating in a residential retreat at Jamie's Farm to focus on the story of land, food, farming and fashion systems.   During the residential activity at the end of June, our students farmed their own produce and learned about animal welfare and sustainability.  A great deal of fun was had and the group are very much looking forward to continuing this important work next year.

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

The expedition was based in the Chiltern Hills, with students required to complete a 2 day expedition (including a camp out). This was across undulating, challenging terrain in groups of 7 where students put their skills to the test to complete an expedition. They developed map reading skills, compass and navigation skills as well as the ability to cook over an open fire.

The first day saw students recapping the skills learned on the Training day in March, accompanied by instructors from AtoZ Expeditions who could guide and support. AtoZ Expeditions are a dedicated Adventurous Activity Provider (AAP) who specialise in  DofE expeditions and we have worked with for many years. The instructors worked with groups of students to navigate around 12km across the Chiltern Hills to their campsite for the evening, coming across many challenges including fields full of cows and even some horses!

Upon arrival at the camp, students pitched their tents and set to work cooking their meals. There was lots of pasta, noodles and hot chocolate to go around and spirits remained high despite one group managing to burn their pasta and another who spilt theirs over the grass, meaning double cooking for them! We also enjoyed a small birthday celebration for one student with balloons and banners decorating her tent. 

An early wakeup on Sunday morning (6am) ensured students could cook themselves breakfasts of porridge and hot chocolate before their first unaccompanied, remotely supervised expedition. The first group happily left camp at 8:20am to begin their 6 hours of walking, starting up a very large hill toward Ivinghoe Beacon.

Throughout the day all students made great progress, showing their newly honed navigation skills and realised that many things they had packed were not strictly necessary and that being able to fit their tents and stoves for the weekend into their bags was much more important!

Across the weekend our students demonstrated compassion, teamwork, leadership, resilience and improved cooking skills to allow them to successfully complete their training. We are now looking forward to their qualifying expedition in three weeks time, also taking place in the Chiltern Hills.

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. 

Fellow Year 13 English Literature student, Saoirse, described the lecture as:

"A shrewd and acutely perceptive insight into the development of the Novel, and the context in which Jane Austen’s work was produced, Adriana examined the state of the Novel before Austen, from title length to its very narration, with an air of excitement for literature few could do justice to. Alongside relaying a side to Austen as a writer previously unknown to A-level Literature students (her wit and crafty humour), Adriana also afforded her audience a glance into what English Literature is like at a degree level, with all the nuance and complexity the subject matter deserved. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon; I’m glad we got to share it."

Nerys commented:

"I would strongly encourage others to write and enjoy poetry as a form of creative work, an outpouring of emotion, or even to see the world in a different light. Through my love of poetry, I was motivated to independently research and enter this competition. I would like to urge others with a passion for creativity to enter this competition next year, or something similar in whatever form." 

Nerys was invited to attend the awards ceremony and found it very inspiring, gaining the opportunity to listen to the winning entries and to receive advice from the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, amongst others.  

Ahead of its publication in an online anthology next year, Nerys's poem can be read below.

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.

Several follow-up ‘Open Mornings’ have been offered to families who were not able to attend the Open Evening or who want to see more of the school and observe live lessons.

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.

Please click on the following link to read a recent news article published by the Barnet Society.

https://www.barnetsociety.org.uk/former-pupils-fond-memories-of-curtseying-to-the-young-queen-elizabeth-on-her-1957-visit-to-qe-girls-barnet

Vivienne and Gill also featured in a recent BBC News interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRmGRrZiY2Q

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 hope you enjoy this short film we have created to introduce some of the departments your daughter will encounter when she starts school with us. Although you will hear from key staff who support learning across the curriculum in Year 7, only a small number of our talented subject specialist staff were able to be part of the video.

COVID arrangements meant restrictions to students that could be used in the space together with staff too, in terms of numbers and year groups. We do however believe the film gives a good flavour of the school and while none of us are actors, we have developed an enthusiasm to make another short film soon with learning from hindsight! That film will largely promote transition to our Sixth Form. We are already working on safe ways to include more students so that we can truly reflect our diverse community of which we are most proud. 

I look forward to welcoming you personally to our school in the near future.

Violet Walker, Headteacher

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.

Some quotes from student evaluations:

I really enjoyed performing on Tuesday because the atmosphere was very friendly and supportive plus our song was a really fun one to sing.  Singing gives us hope and as we had already learned the lyrics we just had to perfect our performance on the night.  We worked really hard rehearsing every Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime and I personally believe it paid off.

Aoife - Year 7
 

On Tuesday, 21st of June, 2022, I was a participant in the Barnet Schools Music Festival which was held in the ArtsDepot in North Finchley. Our school, Queen Elizabeth’s Girls' School, performed ‘Give Us Hope’ by Jim Papoulis and, after it, I performed a solo ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’ by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This event was really enjoyable to me, for many reasons. One was that despite my strong sense of stage fright, I do enjoy singing and performing for people, loving the way I can make people feel and see things depending on my voice.

It was wonderful performing to an audience after so many years, and I am proud, and happy, to say that it was every bit as enjoyable and thrill-inducing as I remember, if not more.

I can also say that the performances of the other schools were amazing and inspiring and there is some very clear talent and skill that has been learnt, shown through these children and their bravery on getting up on stage and singing.

Daisy - Year 12

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.

It was lovely to see some very creative posters on display throughout the school as part of a house competition.

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.

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 9 demonstrated exemplary strength and teamwork during the CPR lessons. Here is some feedback from students:

"The CPR session was quite challenging at first as it more challenging than I thought when I had to make the button click each time I was pressing into the chest of the Annie doll.  After some practise I found it much easier. I enjoyed having a practical lesson as it helped me remember the steps better and allowed me to practice CPR properly and learn the correct techniques when doing CPR."

- Farima 9PKI

"I found the CPR session great, although I found it difficult to push down hard on the doll. I thought the experience was great as we could all see and practice what we would do if we ever came across a situation where we would need to do CPR. I was surprised by how hard it was to push down 5-6 cm whilst doing it in time with the baby shark song. I loved having a more practical session and I enjoyed the experience as it has taught me a life skill."

- Dania-Nevaeh 9PBE

"I found actually found CPR very very difficult!  I was shocked with how hard it was to press down 6cm into the dummy in order to hear the click. However I did enjoy it very much! It was fun and the theory part helped me to remember the steps."

- Camila  9HNA

Wool4School is an annual student design competition encouraging young designers to showcase their talent. The competition is open to secondary school students in Australia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Italy. The design brief this year was to design an outfit which was versatile, protective, dynamic and functional in order to aid a commute as you travel. Wool should have been the main fibre, making up at least 70% of the outfit, comprising up to 4 pieces.

One of our many school entries was from Hanan Kara.  Hanan's design was selected to be part of the Top 10 entries out of some 100,000 entries worldwide.  She designed a garment to wear whilst scooting to work (please see below) and she was invited to attend a special webinar led by a panel of industry experts where the winners would be unveiled.  Hanan narrowly missed being placed in the top 3 but nevertheless, her shortlisting was a fantasist achievement in itself given that there were over 100,000 competition entries.

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.