Headteacher’s Update

QE NEWS March 2016

Delivering Academic Excellence

Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends

Many apologies for the late circulation of our Spring newsletter but as you will see there is so much in this edition that we have been, “holding the front pages” for weeks whilst the next great achievement comes along! The only problem with that is that we have a whole host of stories to report on over the Easter holidays! The next newsletter is almost already written.

I think that every aspect of school life is featured in this edition with “pride” of place going to the fabulous production of the Lion King. It was an amazing production and as I said in my programme notes , the co-operation between students and staff is the key. A similar story is told in almost every other item with the possible exception of our award winning golfer. Many of us would love to be able to emulate Georgina’s swing but none of us can claim any credit for her achievements!!

I hope you have as much pleasure reading the newsletter as our editorial team have had in collating the stories.

Best wishes for a successful Summer term.

Martin McLeman

Headteacher

THE LION KING:

In July of 2015 our school’s Performing Creative Arts Department started auditioning QE students for roles in The Lion

King Jr.

We auditioned in September, along with our new year nines - it was wonderful to see all the talented students QE had gained, and how excited everyone was about performing. By September 2015, the cast

had been chosen and rehearsals were underway.

Rehearsals were every week, and the teachers and staff members were amazing in making sure we got through what we needed to. Independent rehearsals and one on one sessions, made it very efficient and fun for everyone, as dedication from all 150 participants was never lacking! The process of creating a musical is extremely hard work, but the commitment of all students, teachers and staff made it

such an enjoyable process, as well as very rewarding.

Opening night was the 3rd of February, but previous matinées were performed to local first and middle schools, a St Michael’s teacher said “it was very inspiring” for students in their up-coming production of The Wizard of Oz. Beaucroft and Montacute School also came on the Tuesday and Wednesday matinées and it was great to perform to them as well as take hundreds of photos with them after the show. Seeing the children’s faces as ‘Scar’, ‘Rafiki’ and ‘Simba’ took photos

with them was wonderful.

If the audience is engaged with the performance, and it’s clear to the actors they’re enjoying themselves, performing becomes exhilarating;

both Beaucroft and Montacute provided this.

Not only were QE students involved but Cranborne, Allenbourn and St Michaels Middle school students were a part of the chorus on alternate nights. Performing alongside the Middle school students was; their enthusiasm was tangible, and their talent was clear to see. Also, teachers from all faculties took part, from Geography to IT, PE to History and

they released their inner performers.

The costumes, staging and LED screen rounded off the outstanding performances given by students (and staff). Working with such wonderful equipment gave very professional standards, as

well as enhancing the production.

LION KING

Luke Smith was the vocal direc-tor for the Middle schools, Stage Manager and the Assis-tant Director. Alistair Goudie was the Musical Director, and Rhianna Elsden was the Produc-er and Director. Amy Cherrett looked over all the extravagant hair and make-up, with a team

of student and staff volunteers.

Every night was a success, and the hard work had undoubtedly paid off. There was a huge buzz on closing night and fortu-nately the adrenaline kept us going until half term - when we

could finally relax.

Written by: Bella Brown and Rebecca Watkins

LION KING continued

Here are just some of our reviews:

“WOWWWWW!!! Totally blown away by this mornings performance. Such talent, musicality, humour and

strength. You should all be so, so proud”

“I just wanted to say a huge thank you for inviting the students from Montacute to see The Lion Kins today.

They all came back completely full of the whole experience and said that the show was amazing”

“It was outstanding, everything about it from acting to costumes to dancing and signing, music, lighting, back-

drops etc etc were just brilliant”

“I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful evening’s entertainment. Each and every member involved in

the production should be so proud of themselves”

“The show exceeded all our expectations and was brilliantly executed by all who were involved.”

“The whole show was professional and a joy to watch” “It was an absolutely phenomenal performance,

way above what we expected. It was exciting to see the range of skills on show from the musical performanc-

es, the singing, the dancing and of course the acting”

“Over the years I have seen many musicals from West End productions to Drama Groups to various school pro-

ductions, but last night was something else. Oh what a joy to watch and listen to so many incredibly talented

students of varying ages.”

“What an inspirational group of young adults you have” “roaring success!!”

Queen Elizabeth’s School were delighted to take part in the annual Wimborne Minster Pancake Race

on Shrove Tuesday.

Races took place across all age groups from toddlers to adults but the biggest cheer of the day went

to students from Queen Elizabeth’s School for their sporting gesture in the upper school finals. A

delighted student from Beaucroft School was first across the line with our students encouraging him

all the way.

We are very proud of the way our students represented the school on that day in particular:

Callum Rylance

Drew Whitter

Dan Hunt

Many thanks go to Anthony Oliver, the Pancake Race Day organiser.

ROCK CHALLENGE

WINNERS

With tears of delight the dancers and crew of QE's 2016 Rock Challenge team were overjoyed to hear that QE was awarded first place in the Bournemouth's Rock Challenge at the Pavilion Thetare on Tuesday 1st March. After a gruelling day of rehearsals, production meetings and final amendments to costume, choreography and set design the 41 dancers, technicians, crew members and make-up artists from years 9 to 13 presented their powerful and thought provoking dance 'The Lost Brother'. Another 9 schools also performed at the event yet QE was recognised for demonstrating excellence in 13 of the 14 awards and despite tough competition from Twynham School and The Gryphon School (who were place sec-ond and third respectively) QE were crowned winners! In the run up to the event rehearsal time had been restricted due to preparing for the school musical less than a month earlier and GCSE and A- Level Practical dance exams also being just days away - yet the students all put every ounce of effort and energy into their performance and now have the honour of competing in the Southern Finals at Portsmouth Guildhall on Tuesday 21st June. Each and every student was a credit to the school in the professional way they conducted themselves back stage, during rehearsals and whilst performing. Well done and huge congratulations QERC16 and Good Luck at the finals in June.

The awards received in addition to first place were as follows: Award of Excellence for Choreography Award of Excellence for Costuming Character Award of Excellence for Set Design and Function Award of Excellence for Entertainment Award of Excellence for Performance Skill Award of Excellence for Drama Award of Excellence for Visual Enhancement Award of Excellence for Stage Use Award of Excellence for Video Performance Award of Excellence for Lighting Award of Excellence for Concept Award of Excellence for Soundtrack Award for Performers' Choice

Students involved: Ella-Rose Green Kate Green Ruby Pavey Ellie Jardine Ella Harris Laura Helliker Jennifer Matcham Sarah Mantell Amelia Bowey Naomi Booker Georgie Burleigh Megan Bryan Vicky Heaslip Fern Morrison Hetti Fox Lucy Sommervile Millie Gadd Jemma Janes Amelia Clarke Maddie Trueman Susie Hawker Emily Wright Abigail Ford Millie Watkinson Freya Burn Isobelle Mitchell Isobel Hadden Aimee Forward Jasmine Lukey Josephine David Freya Hurlestone Emily Pitcher Will Burry Oli Angell Dylan Saberton India Doyle Laura Naylor Charlotte Goult Mollie Heyworth Alex Whitmarsh Sam Draper India Browning James Butler

“CIRCA TSUICA” AT THE

LIGHTHOUSE

Eleven gifted musicians from Queen Elizabeth’s School, Wimborne, took to the

Lighthouse stage in Poole on Mothering Sunday as part of an incredible live

performance by French troupe Circa Tsuica, fusing music, acrobatics, humour

and seemingly impossible circus-style feats.

Guided through this crazy maze by QE’s music teachers Laurie Payne

and Steve Glover, and under the overall direction of Circa Tsuica’s

Camille Secheppet, the young musicians engaged in the techniques of

Soundpainting, creating improvised musical compositions based on the

conductor’s hand gestures, as well as playing from memory various

Circa Tsuica pieces in front of around 500 paying members of the

Lighthouse audience.

Lighthouse CEO Elspeth McBain said “The students from QE did bril-

liantly... The audience seemed to love it and the young band really did it

well. I was impressed with them.” Parents too were equally enthralled:

“We all thoroughly enjoyed it and at times couldn't believe what we

were seeing! What an experience for the students and they were, of

course, a credit to the school.” “What a fantastic show yesterday!!The

students were so professional and came across as regular cast mem-

bers. They were so at ease! Well done to all. A wonderful way to spend

a Mother’s Day afternoon!!”

The QE Musicians – Hannah Conway, Chris Coomes, Jaz Ashley (saxes); Jason Hayter (trumpet);

Josh Eaton (trombone); Josh Plummer (euphonium); Hannah Gibb (clarinet); Kate Miller-Sparkes

(bassoon); Amy Hornsby, Becky Jenkins, Philippa Almond (flutes) – were handpicked from various QE

bands and have worked since last September learning and memorising their music in preparation for

this professional performance. Musical Director of QE’s Jazz Orchestra, Steve Glover, was blown away

by the show: “This was a full-on and mesmeric spectacle in front of a large audience on a professional

stage, and I am so proud of our students who were not fazed by the magnitude of it, but instead

embraced it, allowing their exceptional musical talents to be enjoyed by a very appreciative crowd. QE

can always make a big splash musically, but this was off the scale, and we are so grateful to Dan

Somogyi, the Lighthouse team, Crying Out Loud and of course to Camille and the amazingly talented

Circa Tsuica performers for giving us this brilliant and unforgettable experience.”

Contact: Steve Glover, Head of Creative Academy,

Mathematics Mathematics Problem Solving Day

In January, we held a problem solving day for our Year 12 and 13 students here at the school hosted by

the Further Mathematics Support Programme. The day was very successful and we were delighted to

receive the following comments from the Coordinator the following day:

Dear Mr McLeman,

I wanted to drop you a note to express my appreciation for the enthusiasm, commitment and good-

natured attitude demonstrated by a group of your students at the Year 12 and 13 Mathematics Problem

Solving day held yesterday, Monday 25th January, at Queen Elizabeth’s School.

As part of my role with the Further Mathematics Support Programme, I organise a number of enrichment

events across the region but yesterday’s event was several orders of magnitude more fun than most: this

was down to the demeanour of the students who attended and I applaud them.

The mathematics with which they were engaging yesterday was at the very limit of the challenge which

students in Year 12 and 13 would be expected to handle, and they handled it with grit and thoroughness,

and didn’t give up even if a problem took a considerable time to solve (or even wasn’t solved at all!)

The group were a true credit to the school and I thank you for enabling them to make the trip.

Best wishes,

Jo

Jo Sibley

Online Professional Development Coordinator

South West 2 Area Coordinator, Further Mathematics Support Programme

We are delighted to announce that Matt Wreyford in Year 13 is the winner of the Exeter Mathematics School Challenge for November 2015. His solution has been published on Exeter Mathematics School’s website.

http://www.exetermathematicsschool.ac.uk/news-and-events/

Special mention also goes to Abigail Jeffs in year 13 for her solution.

Miss Lucas Teacher of Maths

Well done to all our students who took part in this challenge!

Southampton University

Chemistry Twilight

Mega Team, comprising Matt Tayler, Will Main, Sam Lawton and Cameron Hockaday of Year 12, have proved

themselves to be the most successful of the 96 budding QE stock market entrepreneurs from Years 9 – 13 who

volunteered to take part in this year’s national Student Investor Challenge. They have progressed to the semi-

finals as a result of the successful management of their Active Investor portfolio. They are now part of a select

group of 500 teams from over 10,000 teams across the country who aimed to make money from a virtual

£100,000 over the last 4 months of volatile trading.

Special mention needs to go to 4Guys 1 Trip (Alex Vine, David Snelling, Jaya Martin and Oliver Pay) who

produced the best Combined Results of a QE team and Duncan Bantertyne (Ben Lawes, Connie Hassall, Adam

Cole and Tom Nicholson) who produced the best managed Strategic Investment portfolio at QE.

All 12 students mentioned have been presented with certificates and prizes in assembly.

All QE students will be invited in September 2016 to form a group of four and outperform this year’s results.

Start following the Stock Market now to get ahead.

This link will take you to the QE league tables http://www.studentinvestor.org/portfolio-league.php?school=1696 . Clicking on the team name will allow you to see how teams performed against the FTSE 100. Mrs Brenton

Teacher of Business Studies

In January, 16 of our A-Level Chemistry students were invited to attend an afternoon and evening at

Southampton University . Professor David Read had organised a practical session where we were

extracting a substance called trymiristin from nutmeg. The experiment gave students the opportunity to

use a range of organic practical techniques and experience life in an undergraduate chemistry lab. There

were a large number of demonstrators on hand to assist the students and answer their questions about

university life. Most of the session was spent with students working in pairs on the practical, with

guidance from lecturers and undergraduates and as a result the evening flew by. A lot of the equipment

was unfamiliar and it was an amazing opportunity to work in a university chemistry lab. After the

trymiristin was extracted students were able to analyse their product and test for purity, to give them an

understanding as to how well they had carried out the experiment.

We are now eagerly anticipating the

university visit in June when we will be

using the SIAS (Spectroscopy in a

Suitcase) equipment to carry out a range

of analytic techniques under the guidance

of the university staff.

Mr Howard and Mrs Miller

Eggheads

Eggheads Competition

Friday 5th February was the date of the Wimborne Rotary Club’s annual Eggheads competition. With a generous prize of £120 pounds up for grabs, QE entered a team of five year 12 students; Thomas Gee, Ryan Pickup, Rebecca Jenkins, Philippa Almond and Lauren Coleman. There were four rival teams (two of which from St Edward’s school) and four rounds of mind-boggling questions ranging from politics to food, science to films. The evening ended with a tense final round between QE and one of the St Edward’s teams, testing our knowledge on general trivia. After extracting every piece of almost useless trivia from our brains, we won the round and the competition, winning the £120 First prize which we split between us. The only thing left to say is to thank the Rotary Club for organising refreshments, supplying the prize money and creating a fun and engaging evening.

Philippa Almond

“Any Questions”

BBC Radio 4 ‘Any Questions’ at the

Purbeck School

Charlie Bonnington, Buster Cassin, Eddie Tyson-Brown, Charlotte Bond and Elena Tutton with Jonathan Dimbleby and below with Caroline Lucas (Green MP)

Debate will always flourish under dire

circumstances, and the context of our

visit to the Any Questions recording at

Purbeck School in Wareham was no

exception. A small group of lucky

students managed to witness, first

hand, a spirited discussion containing

a myriad of current topics, they

ranged from the suffocating bureau-

cracy in education to the decision to

remain in the European Union. The

audience contained an extensive

range of different ages, putting to bed

any ideas that young do not have a

part to play in political discourse.

Present was Peter Hennessey an

English historian and academic

specialising in the history of

government; John Redwood,

Eurosceptic Conservative Party

politician and Member of Parliament

for Wokingham; Gisela Stuart, Labour

MP for Birmingham, and Caroline

Lucas, the only Green Party member

of parliament and MP for Brighton.

The evening was a perfect marriage of

good-hearted satire and information

on the most explosive topics we face

together.

U15 Girls Football

The U15 girl’s football team played The Gryphon School (4/2/16) in the County Cup.

A really competitive match which ended in a 3-0 victory to QE. A goal in the opening 10 minutes

from Charlotte Ayton gave the hosts a deserved lead going into half time.

Gryphon got back into the game during the second half and some great defending from the girls and

some outstanding saves from Mia North in goal helped keep the score line in QE’s favour.

With 5 minutes to go Alannah Aldridge cut inside from her wing, took the ball past a defender and

slotted in calmly past the keeper’s near post to make it 2-0.

Then with the last kick of the game Charlotte Ayton had a shot from outside the box and it curled

past the keeper to make it 3-0. Great performance from the girls. Well done!!!

Team Top row, left to right

(Becca May, Lauren White, Danni Till, Lexi Tryon, Mia North, Becca Hayter, Amy Hewitt, Holly Scott (Yr13 coach)

Bottom row, left to right (Maia Di-Miceli, Lucy Prest, Charlotte Ayton, Ellie Stark, Emily Banfield, Alannah Aldridge)

CHAMPION GOLFER

Congratulations go to our Champion Golfer, Georgina

Wrixon in Year 12, who has received the following

accolades recently:

Winner of a gorgeous Christmas Hamper for

coming fist lady in Ashley Woods Turkey trot

competition

Winner of Dorset Girls Order of Merit

Winner of Ashley Woods Captains Day competition

longest drive

Became junior captain for 2016 for not one but

two clubs, the first female junior captain ever for

both clubs Ashley Wood & Crane Valley

Gained her ASQ Level 1 Certificate in coaching

golf

Winner of most improved junior golfer in 2015

Very impressive— we will continue to support

Georgina wherever we can

Making waves at the EGA Championships

East Dorset District Council

Budgetary Exercise

PRESS RELEASE

Students from Ferndown Upper School and Queen Elizabeth’s School, Wimborne have taken part in an exercise to help the Chairman of East Dorset District Council, Cllr Steve Lugg, decide on how to spend £1,000 of a ward budget.

The students, four from each school, were given the task of coming up with ideas on how best to spend the money to benefit the local community in the district. They put forward some initial ideas and were then invited to come to the council offices in Furzehill to discuss possible suggestions together and agree between themselves on the winning idea.

The Chairman and officers from the council were on hand to lend any advice that may have been needed. The High Sheriff of Dorset, Mrs Jennifer Coombs, also came along to find out about the project, given her interest in young people.

Ideas initially suggested included a road safety initiative based around the Volvo LifePaint concept where cyclists’ clothes and bikes could be sprayed with a paint that is invisible during the day but glows white in car headlights.

Another idea was to do with promoting the ParkRun which is held at Moors Valley Country Park every Saturday while a third was for an art project which could be worked on by students from middle and upper schools to break down barriers between them.

After some debate, the students decided to incorporate two of these ideas by holding a night-time run at Moors Valley where runners could be sprayed with the LifePaint to promote the safety aspect of the product. The course would be lit so that the runners would glow when hit by the lights.

A further project around the artwork idea would see students from middle and upper schools come up with different parts of a larger artwork. Each part could be displayed in public spaces in a different town in the district on a revolving basis before coming together to form the whole piece.

Cllr Steve Lugg said: “This was a very inspiring exercise and I’m very grateful for the hard work that the students un-dertook to come up with a decision in such a short space of time. This sort of event brings to life for the students the spending decisions which councillors have to make on a regular basis using the scarcer resources being allocated every year.”

Steve Collins, Enterprise Coordinator at Queen Elizabeth’s School, said: “This exercise has given the students an understanding of how they can have an influence on decision-making. You never know where some of their ideas may go in the future.”

Sarah Bird, Assistant Head at Ferndown Upper School, added: “This was a very real exercise in which they had to think deeply about what would make a good project. Although the students from the two schools hadn’t met before they worked together well to come up with great ideas. It shows that if you give students an opportunity they will fly with it.”

Musicians play at Montacute School

Some of our talented Sixth Form musicians and singers were delighted to be invited to attend the Montacute school Open Morning recently and perform for their visitors. The performances went down amazingly well with staff, students and members of the public, all of whom said how brilliant QE students were and that they really made their open morning come alive. We were delighted to invite students from the Montacute School to see our Lion King show re-cently and we are looking forward to working more with this lovely school and its students.

Some of the performers: Bella Wyatt, Sam Stone, Hannah Nash,

Tom Hobson, Buster Cassin, Callum Pearce

Our school Jazz Band, JOQE were privileged to be invited to play at the South West Regional Schools’ Confer-

ence in Exeter. The Band accompanied by our Head of Creative Academy, Steve Glover, set off before 6am to

travel there in time to open the Conference. This was hosted by Sir David Carter, Regional Schools Commis-

sioner, and was attended by 400 headteachers and Department of Education officials. The Band were on top

form and the organisers thanked them as follows:

“I’d just like to say a huge thank you for coming all the way to Exeter to play for us, you were absolutely bril-

liant and all the delegates were very impressed……… hats off to you all for getting up at 4.30am ……. You’ve got

a great teacher in Mr Glover and we’d be happy to have you all back again”

Delegates also tweeted as follows:

“fantastic opening music from QE School” “Amazing band from QE Wimborne”

“great music from talented QE students” “fantastic band to launch the day”

It was an extremely proud moment for Mr McLeman who was at the Conference.

JOQE play at Regional Schools’ Conference

Success in South Africa

Making waves at the EGA Championships

Young and talented swimmer Savannah Barman (16) broke the 200m butterfly record at the Eastern Gauteng Aquatics (EGA) Championship Gala, at the Delville Swimming Pool, Germiston, on December 7.

The record had been standing since 1988.

She won 12 gold medals, one silver, one bronze, and also received the victrix ludorum for the 16 and over female group and was recognised as the best overall senior swimmer.

The St Dominic’s Catholic School pupil said she never expected to achieve so much at the championships.

“I am beyond happy with my results and all my team mates’ results,” said Barman.

She added that her highlight of the championships was hearing her club’s name being announced as the overall winner of the championships for the second year in a row.

The Farrarmere resident started swimming at the age of seven, with the Boksburg Aquatics Saints Club, coached by Bev and Wade Marshall.

She said that, since she was born, she has always been a water baby.

“I feel it’s an escape from all the stress of school and life; I feel completely free,” she explained.

“The pool is my happy place.”

Barman recently qualified for the Olympic trials which will be held in the Kings Park Pool, in Durban, in April, and the Open Water Nationals, which will take place in March, next year.

When asked what her future plans are, she said: “My family and I will be relocating to the United Kingdom (UK) at the end of the year.

“I will carry on swimming in the UK, but I will still be representing South Africa in the pool and I hope I will attend the Olympics trials in April.

We are delighted to welcome Savannah Barman and her brother Aiden to Queen Elizabeth’s

School from South Africa . Savannah is a very talented swimmer as shown in the newspaper

article produced in South Africa recently.

Young Sportsperson of the Year

Oliver Simonot (Year 9) was named Young Sportsperson of the Year at an awards ceremony in London recently.

Oliver was congratulated by BBC Sport commentator and former international gymnast, Gabby Logan, who hosted the awards. Oliver was treated to a private viewing at the Shard and met some in-credible Olympians too.

Amazing achievement—congratulations Oliver

FUND RAISING

Mosaic – Supporting Bereaved Children is a Dorset wide Charity offering a pathway of support for

bereaved children, young people and their families. Alongside the individual and family counselling, every

child is invited to a residential weekend where they can share their experiences, learn how to express

overwhelming emotions safely, make new friends and have fun.

The money raised by the NCS team (Lauren Andrews, Amber Bassett, Lottie Emerson, Abi Griffiths, Anna

Holman) will go towards one of the weekends and make a real difference to the children and families we

support.

Well done £700 in 3 weeks is amazing!

Margaret Hannibal CEO

www.mosaicfamilysupport.org.uk

info@mosaicfamilysupport.org

Careers

With ice on the mini bus roof, Mrs Jones and six students headed off to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital for a Careers in the NHS day. Only a small number of schools from around the Bournemouth & Poole area were all invited to attend however as QE invited Bournemouth Hospital to our Careers Fair, the invitation was recipro-cated and we were the only school invited from this area.

The day was action packed with medics giving talks on their professions including a junior doctor, therapists, matrons and a psychologist. Students were encouraged to ask questions and to meet with the professionals on a 1:1 basis during the exhibition sessions to discuss their individual careers pathways.

I thought the NHS careers day was very informative and would highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they may be interested in a career within the NHS. It gave us the opportunity to get an insight into the different job roles, meet current health care professionals and talk to like-minded students. Therefore, I found the day very beneficial and would urge year 12 students to take part next year if given the chance to go – Sophie Wathen Y12

I found the day very informative and interesting. It built up my knowledge of the NHS and gave me more of an insight into the different types of jobs available within in it, which I feel was really helpful for me to keep my options open in the future. Also, the NHS staff who took the presentations and had stands were very friendly and approachable.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to go! – Rebecca Jenkins Y12

As part of Sodexo’s Quality of Life programme, staff and students were all treated to lunch cooked by international Chef Bilal Eido from the United Arab Emirates who worked with our team to produce and serve a selection of Arabic dishes.

Dishes included the following and all were thoroughly enjoyed by all:

Marinated Fried Fish

Vegetable Salona

Kuwaiti Chicken Biryani

Kofta Bil Siniya

Yemeni Rice

Okra with Tomato Stew

Fattoush

Tabouleh

Global Chef Day

Restaurant Manager Steve Beasley and Guest Chef, Bibal Eido

Student Success

Congratulations to QE musi-cian Philippa Almond who passed her grade VII flute exam recently with a Distinction, scoring a fabulous 95%!

Congratulations to the students listed below who have been successful in the Poetry Trials Competition. Their work will be published in the book “The Poetry Trials—Southern Voices” which will be available in libraries from June.

Laura Helliker

Gemma Smith

Annie Hughes

Becca Legg

Brooke Piper

Dominique Varvouni-Giatrakou

Asher Bassford

Callum Whitehouse

Alice Hawker

Issariya Harrison

Carys Deeble

Martha Appleby

Short Story Competition Two talented students recently had their short stories published as a result of the “Spinechiller” competition. A

fantastic achievement and congratulations to them:

“Hello easy target, don’t you just smell delicious. Such a shame you are not alone. Who is this, a friend? Don’t

mind if I take her as well. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt… for long at least. It will be over quickly, I promise you that.

You do just smell simply irresistible, and you look truly juicy and as ripe as a pear. That’s it; just take a few steps

closer. Any second now, and you will be gone. Don’t scream little girl, don’t fight little girl. You can’t outrun me

even if you try. Escape is impossible, you’re mine. “

Laura Helliker— Year 10

Congratulations to Annie Hughes whose poem is being published in the Young Writers’ anthology

World-Wise Geographical Quiz

Year 10 Geography students

claim third prize

This month, the Dorset Geographical Association

organised a Worldwise quiz for year 10 students to

compete against other schools in teams of three.

The Geography Department at QE managed to

round up 6 enthusiastic students to represent our

school.

Both teams were given a website to study past quiz

questions in the weeks running up to the quiz and

we were all quite astounded by the difficulty of the

questions. This was no standard pub quiz Geogra-

phy round!

Finally the day arrived and all of us were quite

excited as we drove up the two mile long drive way

leading up to the school itself. The grounds are

quite something and the students were so

impressed with the grandeur of the school buildings

and the welcome feast that were presented with

upon arrival.

Soon the quiz was underway and after the first

round one of our teams was leading the way with

full marks! The rounds were a mixture of capital

cities, image destinations to recognise, specific topic

quizzes, map work and very specific statistics

questions! The final round on statistics proved to be

the trickiest!

Both teams did themselves proud and the quiz or-

ganisers sent me a personal email to say how im-

pressed they were with our students. Overall one of

teams claimed third prize (out of 11 teams) winning

a box of Lindt chocolates and all students took

home a certificate and some Geography goodies.

Well done Charlie Holt, David Hiner and

Asha Ambasna for third prize and for participation

– Hannah Tayler, Hollie-Ann Wood and Holly Cor-

nish.

On Tuesday 1st March, Miss Dean took a group of

10 students from years 11 and 12 to Exeter for a

Pixl conference about getting into medical and

dental universities.

Once we had got through the traffic, we had a

very informative afternoon where we received

useful information about applying for medicine

and dentistry, This included guidance on possible

interview types and questions and tips on how to

answer them; in particular, the need to portray

what we have learned from any type of work

experience, how we can apply this knowledge

rather than just to stating what we have done.

We were first separated into groups with other

schools in order to highlight the social skills

needed for the interviews and the future careers.

We discussed why we wanted to become medics

or dentists before beginning the presentation.

(Saying you want to help people is not a good

enough answer we learnt, as this is not specific to

medicine or dentistry!)

We were given a few ethical scenarios and dis-

cussed them in our groups. This was a very

thought-provoking section, as it made us think

deeply about how we would respond in certain

situations, and gave us a real insight into the day-

to-day decisions that have to be made when

working in a medical profession. One such

scenario was how people who smoke, drink

excessive alcohol and do damage to their bodies

in other ways should be treated when it comes to

transplant lists: are they treated like everyone

else, or should a certain hierarchy be put in

place?

In addition to this, we were told that forming a

Medical Society in school would be a very good

idea, so we are now in the process of setting one

up.

All in all, the day was thoroughly insightful and I

know I feel much more prepared for writing my

medicine application, and hopefully, approaching

any interviews. Rebecca Jenkins

Future Medics or

Dentists

On the 29th of February our year 12 geographers visited Highcliffe, Naish Farm, Barton-On-Sea and Hurst Castle Spit.

We went with Leeson House’s Barry and his dog Ziggy. Our aims were to understand the scale or protection and management on the coast-line. As well as to study the effects of coastal erosion on the local com-munity and the environment.

Our day started in our classroom where Barry reconstructed a mini cliff out of the real rock types along the Barton-On-Sea coastline. It was ex-tremely interesting and I now understand how slumping (a type of

mass movement) works. When he was constructing the ‘cliff’ it did look like some kind of cooking programme, but that just made it more enjoyable.

Our first stop was Highcliffe and Naish Farm, where we discovered the huge difference between the management strategies of holding the line and ‘do nothing’.

Barry talked us through why these strategies have been used, and we annotated photos and drew a field sketch at Naish Farm.

We then had lunch, where Miss Dean was very generous and bought us all ginormous hot chocolate to warm us up.

We next stopped at Barton-On-Sea, where we saw the effects that the strategies at Highcliffe and Naish Farm had further along the coast. The strategy here was also hold the line however, Barry showed us and explained how and why it wasn’t working.

Our final stop was Hurst Castle Spit, where we thoroughly enjoyed the rock armour, as the rocks were really sparkly. Despite the wonderful rocks, we all listened to Barry, as he explained why coastal defences had to be used along the spit.

The funniest part of the trip was when Mrs Boyes (our Director of Sixth form) had her sandwich eaten by Barry’s dog Ziggy.

Overall it was very useful and we are all much more knowledgeable about coastal management, and I feel prepared for our exam in May. We are all very thankful for Leeson House and Barry. Arabella Brown Year 12

Geography Trip

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY The Dorset Young Leaders Day was an amazing event! I learnt lots of new skills ranging from how to adapt games for physically challenged players to making tasks more difficult and rewarding for more able players. The day was extremely beneficial and having been lucky enough to go there over the past few years this year has been one of the best! We started off the day with team building exercises and challenges to improve our communications within a group of people we haven't met before! These kind of courses become really important as when participating in events with people you have no relation to it can be difficult for a leader to appear but with exercises such as the ones we did it becomes much easier! Later on in the day we began learning a new sport, sit-down Volleyball! We had already made up games during the day but this was much more complex! We went over rules and guidelines and thought about the techniques we had used to adapt a game depending on someone's ability and tried to implicate that into this! We finished the day off with a tournament! Sit-down Volleyball was getting competitive! We all wanted to win but by the end of the day nobody was bothered because we had had such a great time playing it! Now I have the chance to officiate at a school games county event which is an amazing opportunity. The day was amazing and one I shan't forget, on top of that I met some new people who I hope I will meet again at upcoming events as they were genuinely lovely to work and play sport with! Big thanks to QE for taking me and to the whole of the School Games team for organising such a great Day! Jack Musselwhite - Year 9

Our day at Bryanston was really enjoyable, as sports ambassadors we spent the day learning about coaching and leadership in a range of different fun workshops. The workshops taught us about the right ways to lead and coach teams, how to be an effective leader and what qualities you need. One of them was led by a former South-African rugby player Thinus Delport. Thinus spoke to us about how people learn so we could coach correctly, that we are not too harsh and not too soft, and what a good coach can do for a team. All of the things that we picked up throughout the day were valuable skills that we will use for our sports leadership and teams at school.

Elisabeth Stevens - Year 9.

Pictured above are some of the QE leaders who attended the conference along with guest speak-er for the day ex south African rugby union player and Worcester warriors Thinus Delport.

Left to right: Jemma Janes, Lucy Somerville, Hetti Fox, Freya Hurlstone, Elizabeth Stevens, Aaron Drew and Ollie Snell

Table Cricket

Table Cricket

Hosted at Queen Elizabeth’s School

Queen Elizabeth’s School hosted the Level Three School Games Table Cricket Event. This involved twelve

teams, some of whom travelled from as far away as Weymouth, competing throughout the day.

In preparation for the event 16 QE sports leaders had trained to become the umpires and scorers for the

day. The leaders did a fantastic job throughout the tournament and many staff commented on how efficient

and organised they were. All the teams showed great team spirit and sportsmanship during their matches and

the hall was buzzing with excitement. As the tournament progressed into the second stage there was some

very close games and tense moments as each team batted to try and win the gold medals. The final results

were category A Gold Victoria School A team, silver The Bourne academy A team and bronze Victoria

School B team. In Category B competition after a very close and competitive final QE 1 team took the Gold

medals , the silver went to QE 2 and the bronze medals to The Bourne academy B team.

Everybody enjoyed the experience and was a great opportunity for the participants as well as the leaders.

Many skills were learnt whilst at the same time being a very enjoyable day for all, we are very pleased to

have taken part.

Congratulations to both Victoria school and Queen Elizabeth’s school on their success and many thanks to all

the staff who work hard to organise, plan and run an amazing event for us all. We are already looking for-

ward to next year.

CU Debating Club!

Does God exist?

How do we

know?

What do we mean

by evidence?

These were just some of the deep and intriguing questions surrounding the CU

(Christian Union) debate. Andy Acheson, QE’s Chaplain for York house lead an

excellent debate, attended by over 30 students, unpicking some of the common

philosophical arguments on the existence of God and other wider ideas.

Miss Forster chaired the debate, taking questions from students from all Year

groups. The debate grew with students responding to one another with some

really mature and thoughtful contributions.

This is proving to be a popular lunchtime club.

Christian Union

Bake Off meets WW1

Not a combination usually associated

together, WW1 trenches and baking were

seen in perfect harmony in many Year 9

lessons recently. As part of their exploration

into WW1 students were asked to research

and present a project on life in the

trenches. Many different forms were taken

including models, power point

presentations, posters, leaflets and cake!

Students were encouraged to be creative

and present their findings in any form they

chose. Cake was obviously encouraged…

Staff were impressed with the creativity of

students and their in depth knowledge of

conditions and daily life for soldiers in

trenches. The attention to detail across the

cakes was excellent; with kit-kat fire steps,

duckboards and trench-ladders made of

matchmakers, sugar model sandbags and

particularly impressive chocolate barbed

wire! Mary and Paul would be donning their

puttees, picking up their entrenching tools

and going over the top about these

creations.

Pictured are 9E4 taught by Miss Male and Mrs

Willis.

REVISION BOOKS

Be exam ready! Discounted copies of the Science and MFL revision books are available to

buy from the LRC, along with exam stationery including calculators, pens, pencils,

compasses protractors etc.

Please allocated funds to the LRC Shop account when logged on to ParentPay for all LRC

shop purchases.

£5 each £3 each

Spanish available shortly (Publisher reprinting)

EXAM CERTIFICATES Exam Certificates for last year’s Year 11 and Year 13 students are

available to collect from the school.

QE are proud to announce that the School will be hosting our first ever

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths ) Family Challenge

on Thursday 5th May, 2016.

What is the STEM Family Challenge?

The STEM Family Challenge is an event organised by the Engineering Development Trust

(EDT) where students and families can learn more about the benefits of STEM-related

careers, as well as enjoying hands-on team competition as a whole family. This year, the

activity is called Elastic Racers.

Why companies should be interested in this event:

The profile of STEM across QE has really taken off this year, and we have an increasing

population of keen scientists, mathematicians and engineers. We have growing numbers of

students in these subjects at both GCSE for Triple Science, and at A-Level. We can also boast

trophies awarded for:

Most Entrepreneurial Project – Go4Set Scheme, July 2015

Best Overall Project – Tank Museum Engineering Challenge, Jan 2016

This event would provide a fantastic platform to both promote STEM as a concept to

students and their supportive families, and to advertise your own company about your

products or to future apprentices and employees that may be present and keen.

Your support can help reduce the costs to the families for this event, which could become a

barrier for students attending. In return for your support, we can offer:

5-10 minutes for a keynote speaker from your company at the beginning of the event of

120 keen students and parents

An opportunity for an exhibition stand and other advertising material to be distributed.

Full acknowledgement of your support in letters that will be emailed to all parents of Year

9-11 students

To get in contact:

If you are interested in supporting Queen Elizabeth’s School in this new

venture, please contact Joe Cunningham

jcunningham@qe.dorset.sch.uk

01202 885233

STEM Family Challenge

Collect FREE donations for QE FAMILY every time you shop online.

Join here:

easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/qefamily

The QE Family, a group of parents, student’s

family members, friends and community members,

students and staff is now well underway, meeting in a

more structured way since September. Anyone is

welcome to join us, at as many meetings as you can,

virtually with thoughts and comments, and/or joining a

specific task group. We will keep you updated via the

QE newsletter and website.

Put the dates in your diary now and come as often as

you can - monthly meeting dates for the coming year at

6.30 -7.30 at the school in room A204/5 are: 20th April,

18th May, 23rd June.

The overall aim is to strengthen links between school

and its community in order to enrich both, in particular

by joint fund raising initiatives.

We are in the process of registering as a charity in

order to fund raise, becoming a member of the national

PTA organisation for access to advice and guidance,

and, working with students, considering a logo to ensure

people know who we are a distinct part of the school’s

support, as well as our core business, developing fund-

raising approaches and identifying projects to assist.

We will soon be starting a 50/50 club which many will be

familiar with: a simple lottery with allocated numbers,

half the monthly money collected going to the school,

and half as prize money to the winners. It’s a stress-free

way to support the school, with the added bonus of cash

prizes. Details will be available shortly- do think of

supporting it, and by doing so the school.

The school has identified a canopy over the restaurant

area courtyard as a need that will extend the use of this

summer teaching and social area, providing both sun

and rain protection, as well as being a striking and

colourful design addition. This is likely to be our first

project, but won’t be cheap – all you can do to support

us will help enhance the school in this way.

We also hope to act as a wider forum and sounding

board for parental debate and consultation by the

school, and would love to hear your views on ways we

can do this – would an annual QE Family Forum be a

useful way to go about this, or not?

Do contact Sue Sparkes. acting chair, via Assistant

Head Sally Dean sbdean@qe.dorset.sch.uk with

your ideas and thoughts, or for more information –

we look forward to hearing from you.

QEF is celebrating its first success! Lorica Insurance is giving £500 to sponsor QE’s annual presentation awards in

December, by way of a competition organised by the national Parent Teacher Association. The school is looking

forward to developing a long-term relationship with Lorica, a financial planning and insurance company, and both

QEF and the school are extremely grateful for their support.

News on how to join the QE Lottery and be in line for its cash prizes will be available shortly - it’s a stress-free way

to support the school, and maybe win some cash!

We are currently exploring both the range of fund-raising approaches available, and asking staff, students and fami-

lies what they see as their ‘top three’ of possible projects to aim to support – all ideas are welcome!

The QE Family is made up of student’s families, friends, community members, staff and students whose aim is to

strengthen links between school and its community in order to enrich both, in particular by fund raising initiatives.

Anyone is welcome to join us at our action update meetings, or virtually with thoughts and comments , and/or by

joining a specific task group.

Put the dates in your diary now and come as often as you feel you can - 6.30-7.30 at the school in room

A204/5) on: 20thJan, 24thFeb 16thMarch, 20thApril, 18thMay, 23rdJune (please note the February date change be-

cause of half-term),

Do contact Sue Sparkes.acting chair, via Assistant Head Sally Dean sbdean@qe.dorset.sch.uk with your ideas and

thoughts, or for more information – we do look forward to hearing from you.

Term Dates 2015/16

Term Dates 2016

Spring Term 2016

Monday 4th January First day of term

Monday 15 February to Friday 19th February HALF TERM

Thursday 24th March Last day of term – normal finish time

Friday 25th March to Friday 8th April Easter Holiday

Summer Term 2016

Monday 11th April First Day of Term

Monday 2nd May Bank Holiday

Monday 30th May to Friday 3rd June HALF TERM

Tuesday 19th July Last day of Term - early finish at 12.50pm with buses

leaving at 1.00pm

Wednesday 20th July Staff Training Day

Amendment:

Please be advised that in the previous newsletter it was stated that the Wimborne

Minster Trustees donated the funds for our “Sign” sculpture whereas it was in fact

the Queen Elizabeth’s School Trust that kindly donated.

ADVICE FOR PARENTS/CARERS

Please see the latest Share Aware campaign from the NSPCC giving advice for parents and carers on helping your child stay safe on so-cial networks, apps and games:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware

Term Dates 2016-17

Term Dates 2016/17

Autumn Term 2016

Thursday 1st September Staff Training Day

Friday 2nd September Start of term for Year 9 & 12

Monday 5th September Start of term for all

Thursday 29th September Open Evening – early finish at

12.50pm with buses leaving at 1.00pm

Friday 30th September Staff Training Day (Following Open Eve)

Monday 24th October to Friday 28th October HALF TERM followed by:

Monday 31st October Staff Training Day

Thursday 15th December Last day of term – early finish at

12.50pm with buses leaving at 1.00pm

Friday 16th December Staff Training Day

Monday 19th December to Monday 2nd January 2017 Christmas Holiday

Spring Term 2017

Tuesday 3rd January First day of term

Monday 13th February to Friday 17th February HALF TERM

Thursday 6th April Last day of term – normal finish time

Friday 7th April Staff Training Day

Monday 10th April to Friday 21st April Easter Holiday

Summer Term 2017

Monday 24th April First Day of Term

Monday 1st May Bank Holiday

Monday 29th May to Friday 2nd June HALF TERM

Friday 21st July Last day of Term - early finish at

12.50pm with buses leaving at 1.00pm

Queen Elizabeth’s School

Wimborne

Dorset

BH21 4DT

Tel: 01202 885233

Email: office@qe.dorset.sch.uk

Website: www.qe.dorset.sch.uk