Building on Distinction Priorities for Development 2021-2025
Building on Distinction Contents
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Introduction from the Governors
Preface from the Headmaster
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Our Mission
Our Priorities
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A Remarkable History
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The roots of Queen Elizabeth’s School’s current position of eminence run deep. For some four-and -a-half centuries, the School has striven to remain true to the tenets of our 1573 Charter. In the following
Enabling the Vision
pages, we highlight a few of the significant figures and events in our rich and remarkable history.
Queen Elizabeth’s School has in the past three decades risen to a place of honour and distinction as one of Britain’s finest schools. Our forebears more than four centuries ago laid an excellent
As we look forward to our 450th anniversary, we launch
and broad foundation for this, ensuring that pupils were
this plan from a position of strength. The values and
“instructed, brought up and taught” at the new grammar
priorities within these pages set out a clear direction.
school in Barnet, as our 1573 Charter required. The Charter,
In pursuing it, we seek to build on our distinction, so that
with this requirement that intellectual accomplishment go
this School continues to provide an excellent education
hand-in-hand with the development of character, continues
well beyond the anniversary in 2023 to generations of
to serve us well.
Elizabethans still to come. We commend this plan to you.
We are inspired by this heritage, not burdened by it. In fact, the School’s recent history has been characterised by bold decision-making. After first carefully identifying
Barrie Martin MBE
what was needed in order for the School to progress,
Chairman of the Governing Body
we have then followed through with determination in
delivering it, whether, for example, by creating a succession
of exemplary buildings, by providing a curriculum fit for
the 21st century, or by funding a host of exciting activities
Vice-Chairman
Nick Gaskell
beyond the classroom. The consultation process ahead of the development of this 2021–2025 School Plan was very thorough. We really wanted to know what people were thinking. The School, therefore, commissioned an independent survey of parents by educational research specialists RSAcademics, as well as conducting staff workshops and focus groups, and a pupil survey. Happily, the results revealed huge levels of parental satisfaction.
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BACK
Queen Elizabeth I The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I was the last of the Tudor monarchs and was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, founded in 1573, is one of relatively few grammar schools to have been established during her long reign. Her generally moderate policies brought the country a welcome period of stability, while the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the emergence of literary figures including Shakespeare helped forge a sense of national identity.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
In this School Plan, we aim to stay true to our Tudor tenets and tradition, while ensuring that our mission remains relevant for the School’s future. spotlighted by the international Black Lives Matter protests. The plan is our roadmap, too, for a world that has been deeply marked by the Covid-19 crisis. The following pages reflect our determination not to stand still, but to embrace beneficial innovation alongside valued tradition. We seek to make adventurous and judicious choices that will enable Queen Elizabeth’s School to strengthen our current position of eminence as we pass the significant milestone of our 450th anniversary and move For the last few generations, that mission has
forward into a still more illustrious future.
been articulated as producing young men who are “confident, able and responsible”. Over that period,
Neil Enright
countless Elizabethans have lived out these values,
Headmaster
establishing themselves in society as people of principle and distinction. The plan re-imagines that mission for the 2020s, giving careful consideration to the combination of timeless qualities and new skills that Elizabethans will need to thrive and to lead in a world that is changing in rapid and sometimes unforeseen ways. We seek to promote open-mindedness, tolerance, kindness, commonality and diversity – priorities which we have fine-tuned in the light of the issues
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BACK
Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester It was at Robert Dudley’s request that in 1573 Queen Elizabeth granted the charter to establish the School. The ambitious son of the Duke of Northumberland, he was a long-term favourite of the queen and a leading statesmen. His connection with QE came through Henry Knolles, a courtier, privateer and MP, who was both his brother-in-law and the queen’s cousin, and who joined with other men of local influence to actively promote the founding of a school in High Barnet.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
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Building on Distinction OUR MISSION
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
Queen Elizabeth’s School aims to produce young men who are confident, able and responsible.
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BACK
Civil War and the Restoration Several QE Governors suffered severe consequences from remaining loyal to the Crown during the 1642-1651 English Civil War, including imprisonment and confiscation of wealth. The School, however, not only survived, but went on to adapt successfully to the changing times of the mid-17th century. Parental preference led to the introduction of more practical, useful subjects; moreover, these were taught in English, in place of the Latin that had previously dominated.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
A confident Elizabethan is adaptable to different contexts and secure in his own identity. He is principled, always open to learn, and prepared to challenge himself as well as others. • We encourage boys to discover, develop and express a resilient identity that is based on their own values, interests and personality. • We nurture intellectual, verbal and social skills, giving pupils poise – the ability to act appropriately in any situation. • Thus, we equip each boy to present himself as a person of substance, communicating his views powerfully but without arrogance, aware both of his strengths and his weaknesses. • We instil in boys a ready willingness to embrace challenge and change and to consider viewpoints different from their own, before acting consistently with the courage of well-formed convictions.
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An able Elizabethan exemplifies that combination of a vigorous love of learning, of adaptable, high-level thinking and of an unquenchable intellectual curiosity which we call free-thinking scholarship. • We lay the foundations of academic excellence by expecting our boys to work hard, by nurturing perseverance and emotional resilience, by rigorously challenging their thinking and by stimulating their genuine academic interests. • Pupils benefit from being part of our vibrant academic community; we also instil in them habits of independent study: in this way, we prepare them to thrive at university and beyond. • We nurture broad, analytical thinkers who are ready to seize the opportunity presented by their rapidly changing world to shape new solutions to its new problems. • We celebrate diverse talents and aptitudes, encouraging boys to discover and develop these beyond the classroom, especially through participation in our extensive range of extra-curricular activities.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
BACK
300 years on, the modern school is born In 1873, exactly 300 years after Elizabeth I founded Queen Elizabeth’s School, it fell to another queen, Victoria, to sanction a scheme from QE itself to transform the “private country boarding and day school”. With a reconstituted legal foundation and funding from the public purse, boarding was abolished and the School reborn, opening on an enlarged site with new classrooms. This was the first stage in its mid-Victorian expansion into a state-sponsored suburban School to which boys gained admission on the basis of performance in entrance examinations.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
BACK
From Tudor Hall to Queens Road The School’s original Tudor Hall site had served it for threeand-a-half centuries, but by the 1920s, it was clearly inadequate. Hertfordshire County Council duly purchased the current site, adjoining the School’s existing
A responsible Elizabethan is kind and considerate. Wise and compassionate, he seeks to change things for the better, both in his own community and in society at large.
playing field bought in 1886 by Chairman of Governors HE Chetwynd Stapylton. Prince George, the Duke of Kent, opened the new building in 1932, ushering in a period of growing academic and sporting success under the long tenure of Headmaster Ernest Jenkins (1930–1961).
• We help boys to consider and understand the consequences of their words and actions, encouraging them to listen carefully to other people’s perspectives and to treat others as they would like to be treated, and thus to play their part in fostering a happy, inclusive community. • We teach pupils about looking after their own physical and mental wellbeing and similarly watching out for the needs of others. • We foster self-awareness and self-development, helping boys to be realistically ambitious and to become the best version of themselves. • We promote generosity of spirit alongside civic engagement, so that pupils go on to deploy their abilities and accomplishments for the greater good.
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BACK
Saved from closure After the pupil roll declined in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the School was slated for closure by the London Borough of Barnet, but, under the direction of Headmaster Eamonn Harris, appointed in 1984, its fortunes began to recover rapidly and the threat was lifted. During his tenure, QE opted out of local authority control, gaining Grant Maintained Status in 1989, and then re-introduced a fully selective admissions policy in 1994, reversing the move to comprehensive status made in the 1960s.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
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Building on Distinction OUR TEN PRIORITIES
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
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Foster academic curiosity through encouraging high-level thinking and intellectually rigorous activity.
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Provide bespoke support to assist learning and remove barriers to progression.
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Deliver personalised feedback, encouraging boys to learn from their own successes and failures, and respond appropriately.
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Create opportunities for pupils to experience a broad range of social and cultural activities and to facilitate greater participation in a wide variety of academic enrichment activities.
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Celebrate the diverse skills, talents, and achievements of pupils in all year groups, with the goal of recognising what is unique about each individual.
Queen Elizabeth’s is highly rated by parents. They are extremely happy with QE’s educational provision – most particularly the academic provision. Their sons achieve excellent results, the School is well managed and is considered to be a safe environment where traditional values are maintained. When choosing the School, the key determining factors were the academic standards, teaching facilities and resources, together with the School’s approach to discipline and manners. Taken from the summary of main findings of the parent survey conducted by independent educational consultancy RSAcademics. www.qebarnet.co.uk
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Support boys with their emotional challenges, including any that
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Strengthen literacy and develop research and revision skills to
might be linked to learning in a high-achieving environment.
support academic achievement and ensure pupils’ readiness for the next stage of education.
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Provide support and guidance to equip pupils to be broad-minded in considering the pathways open to them and to make decisions strategically for their future.
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Develop skills of both leadership and collaboration.
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Emphasise the importance of civic engagement and of cultivating positive relationships within the community.
Whilst parents believe QE’s academic performance is exceptionally strong, they also value the pastorally strong environment and the approach of the excellent teaching staff. QE enjoys extremely high levels of satisfaction and advocacy amongst its parents. The vast majority (96%) would recommend the School to their friends. Taken from the summary of main findings of the parent survey conducted by independent educational consultancy RSAcademics. 19
Priorities for Development 2021-2025
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
Building on Distinction ENABLING THE VISION We will be committed to the following:
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Excellence and advancement on merit We will unrelentingly pursue our ambition
We will work to ensure that all are highly
to do our best and to be the best, achieving
motivated and to empower all to achieve
sector-leading outcomes in all areas. Through
their potential, while supporting their
careful attention to staff recruitment and pupil
mental and physical wellbeing.
admissions, we will gather the best talent, irrespective of background.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
Open-mindedness, tolerance and kindness We will promote and live out the values which
We will foster a safe environment in which
reflect our Elizabethan traditions and the best
boys can share their experiences with those
of the modern world. While looking beyond the
from diverse backgrounds, and will encourage
immediate and the reactive, we will engage with
thoughtful and open conversation about societal
different perspectives in areas such as race and
issues. By thus broadening pupils’ horizons, we
discrimination as we seek to pursue higher,
will nurture an atmosphere of friendship and
shared human values.
friendliness in which we both learn from our diversity and recognise commonality.
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Valuing and seeking inspiration from our heritage The School celebrates its 450th anniversary during the period covered by this School Development Plan. We will draw on this long history in order to build on the accomplishments of our predecessors, mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards, improving the School for future generations.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
Community building and partnerships Working closely with the Friends of Queen
The School is proud to belong to our local
Elizabeth’s and our alumni, we will support
community of Barnet and recognises that it is
the whole Elizabethan community, comprising
also part of wider society: we will work with other
current pupils, their families and our staff,
schools and organisations for mutual benefit,
as well as old boys and other supporters.
while also promoting a culture of philanthropy among present and past pupils.
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Maximising the advantages of our campus and location We will invest strategically in the continual upgrading of our estates, anticipating future needs and planning accordingly for the timely provision of high-quality learning, working and social spaces. Our School is located in one of the world’s great capital cities: we will ensure that the artistic, intellectual and sporting benefits of being educated in London accrue to our pupils.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
Operational efficiency We will be ambitious in making investments
We will work to generate income from a variety
into our physical and digital infrastructure,
of sources. We will give a high priority to excellent
recognising the cardinal importance of, firstly,
communications, ensuring that we convey our
maintaining an excellent learning environment
values and report effectively on the School’s
on our campus, and, secondly, of pursuing a
activities and achievements; we will seek and
continuous programme of digital development
implement appropriate solutions for ensuring
to facilitate boys’ education, whether at School,
optimal contact between staff and parents.
at home, or anywhere else. At the same time, in all our operations and investments, we will take a prudent approach, seeking to avoid unnecessary waste.
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Strong governance The Governing Body will provide both support and effective challenge to the leadership of the School. Operating in a transparent manner, the Governors will make considered, yet clear, decisions that will encourage bold innovation, while having due regard to mitigating risk. The Governing Body will meet or exceed the regulatory requirements applicable to the School.
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
Sustainability We will exercise good environmental stewardship, endeavouring at all times to make ethical choices and to reduce the negative impact of our activities. We will instil a sense of responsibility for the environment in the boys.
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The path to Academy status and beyond The School continued to flourish as the 21st century dawned, winning a national reputation for academic excellence. With financial support from the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s, high-quality new buildings were added, while conversion to Academy status in 2010 further consolidated the School’s autonomy, providing a platform for QE to build further on the distinction it enjoys today.
BACK
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Priorities for Development 2021-2025
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Queen Elizabeth’s School Queen’s Road, Barnet Hertfordshire EN5 4DQ
020 8441 4646 enquiries@qebarnet.co.uk @qebarnet1573
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