Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls
Encyclopedia
Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls, or Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School (QEGS) is a state comprehensive girls' school for ages 11 through 18, in Barnet
Barnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Admissions

The school has been awarded specialist status as an Arts College
Arts College
Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...

 and Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing Colleges were introduced in England in 2002 as part of the Government's Specialist Schools Programme which was designed to raise standards in secondary education. Specialist schools focus specifically on their chosen specialism but must also meet the requirements of the...

.

History

Queen Elizabeth Girls' has been around since 1888. The school celebrated its 120th anniversary on May 17, 2008. It was administered by the South Herts Division of Hertfordshire County Council until 1965. As a grammar school, it had around 700 girls.

Comprehensive

Barnet schools became comprehensive in 1971 under a scheme known as Plan C. QEGS became comprehensive year by year from 1977.

Subjects

The lower years all have Mathematics, Science, English, MFL (French and Spanish), IT, Technology (food, product design, graphics and textiles), Art, History, Geography, RE, PE, Drama, Music and PHSCE lessons.

GCSE students are also offered Performing Arts, Business Studies, Applied Art, courses at Barnet College
Barnet College
Barnet College is a Further education college in North London, England in the United Kingdom. It has two main sites and two other learning centres in the London Borough of Barnet, and is a member of the 157 Group of schools....

 (Hairdressing and Health and Social Care) and Media studies

The subjects that are offered in the 6th form are: Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Critical Thinking, Dance, Drama, English Lang & Lit, English Literature, Film Studies, French, Geography, Government & Politics, History, ICT (AGCE), Mathematics, Math GCSE, Media Studies, Music, Philosophy and Ethics, Physical Education, Physics, Product Design, Product Design (Textiles), Psychology, Sociology and Spanish.
There are also one year courses offering Level 2 qualifications

Special Events

Around the 17th of May each year QE holds a Commemoration Day Assembly in the
Sports Hall to celebrate the schools ‘birthday’. Usually the whole school is present apart from those on study leave. During the assembly the Head talks about how and when the school was founded and why girls should value their education and the freedom they have today. There is usually a guest to assist with the presentations and awards. There are many different awards given to students who have excelled themselves or improved greatly.
The Assembly is not the only event to take place on the day, there is a cake competition open to the whole school including teachers and there is a special cake and drink event held in the library for those who won awards.

Media Arts at QE

The annual Media Arts Evening is a chance for students and teaches from the school, plus those who have worked with the school to showcase their work, whether it is dance, singing, films or animated films. The 2009 Media Arts evening was said to be the best yet, with a warm atmosphere to it and a wonderful variety of performances ranging from: two local primary school choirs, local dancers, Indian and Irish Dance
Irish dance
Irish dancing or Irish dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Ireland which can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dances can be divided further into céilí and set dancing...

 fusion performed by two year 10 students from QE, animations produced by students on the Olympics, a range of humorous animations made by teachers from QE, 6th form media work and several other dances.

Concerts

QEGS holds four musical concerts per academic year: Junior Concert (middle of Autumn Term), Seasonal Celebration (last week before Christmas), Spring Concert (end of Spring Term), and the Summer Chamber Concert (towards the end of the Summer Term). The concerts are organised by the music staff; H.Tierney, C. Horne and C. Sugden as well as various other members of staff.

Theatre

Students from the school do theatrical performances several times a year in one of their three acting spaces. These include the "new hall", a traditional proscenium arch stage, and the "drama studio", a black box acting space.

Performances include the April 2009 'Spices of India' show, where people from Asian culture portrayed distinct areas of Indian Dance. The money raised (approx 26,000 Rs.) was taken to an orphanage in Kutch, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 in person by the organisers. The show was open to everyone, from all backgrounds and cultures. The main aim of the show was for the whole school community to join and celebrate different Asian cultures. The feedback from the audience was outstanding, with many people hoping that there will be a show next year!
'Spices of India 2010' has already begun rehearsals, with many more girls participating. Spices of India 2010 is rumoured to be spectacular, with more than 15 dances of bollywood, classical, and traditional dance, not including other marvellous acts of talent, such as singing and instrumental talents.

In November 2008 QE ran its first whole school production in many years. The performance was of Daisy Pulls It Off
Daisy Pulls It Off
Daisy Pulls It Off is a comedy play by Denise Deegan. It is a parody of wholesome adventure stories about life in a 1920s girls' English boarding school, such as those by Angela Brazil...

. It ran for three performances – two that parents etc. could attend and the other for a local primary school. Over all the production was a great success.

A Black History performance is performed by many every year and is an annual tradition of the school as well as the new Spices of India performance.

Sport

QE has three tennis courts, three fields, a gym (equipped with climbing apparatus), a fitness gym, a swimming pool and a sports hall. The annual sports day is held at Barnet Copthall
Barnet Copthall
Barnet Copthall is a leisure complex in Hendon, London NW4, near the border with Mill Hill.Today, the complex houses a local authority-owned swimming pool, athletics stadium and gymnasium facilities...

, usually in June/July.
There are frequent student v student, teacher v teacher and student v teacher matches, however student v teacher football matches are not permitted. Every other year QE holds a sponsored jog that the whole school are encouraged to participate in.

Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ Grammar School

  • Margaret Biggs
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    Margaret Biggs is a popular and collectible exponent of the girls' School story. She is best known for her Melling School series of books, first published by Blackie in the 1950s. The series is set at a weekly boarding school and is unusual in that it shows boarding school life and home life side...

    , children's author
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    Isobel Black
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    , actress
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    Patricia Broadfoot
    Patricia M. Broadfoot, CBE was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire from 2006 to 2010, and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol from 2002 to 2006.-Interests:...

     CBE, Vice-Chancellor since 2006 of the University of Gloucestershire
    University of Gloucestershire
    The University of Gloucestershire is a university primarily based in Gloucestershire, England, spread over four campuses, three in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester...

    , and Professor of Education from 1991-2006 at the University of Bristol
    University of Bristol
    The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

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    , writer
  • Emma Bunton
    Emma Bunton
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External links

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