Category: School Captain’s Blog

It seems almost surreal that I’m writing this blog during my last ever week at Queen Mary’s. From looking up to almost everyone in the school, I am now coming to the end of my final year, in which I have overlooked the whole school from the position of its most senior pupil. The amount of change since my first year as a ‘Fustie’ is nothing short of remarkable. The spring term activity has only reinforced the degree of change.

This term is the one most often associated with the ‘International in Outlook’ pillar of the school; and while the two main February half term trips took place, the traditional Alabama Space Camp was replaced this year with a trip to Florida and the Kennedy International Space Station. The trip was with QMHS for the first time, as was the ski trip to Canada. The World Challenge, which I was fortunate enough to go on myself last year, has changed its location to Borneo for this summer’s expedition. The students visited the Peak District on a training weekend this term in preparation for what I’m sure will be for them, as it was for me, the most difficult but rewarding thing ever to have done. It is always refreshing to see opportunities available to all members of the school to broaden their experience through travelling for the purpose of a challenge.

While the annual, well-organised CCF Overseas Camp in Cyprus was a success as usual, closer to home the students on the CCF Adventurous Training camp in Farchynys started a new chapter in QM history by being the first guests to use the new cottage, recently purchased through the support of the QMA. Securing this substantial property for generations to come is one of the great success stories of this school year, and exemplifies the considerable changes that have taken place in different aspects of school life over my seven years here.

Another of the highlights of this term was the promotion of mental health awareness for the first time, during national Mental Health Awareness Week. Presentations on the topic were made in both year and full school assemblies, ensuring all members of the school were informed about an extremely important and relevant subject.

For the sixth form, Mr Matley organised a brand new UCAS afternoon, where some leading universities and employers offering apprenticeships came in to run a workshop and deliver presentations. I’m sure this was invaluable for members of Year 11 and Year 12, and added to the numerous events the school runs to assist students with post A-Level choices.

It is wonderfully reassuring as my time here comes to an end to see the school continue to expand horizons and offer new opportunities. I would like to give my thanks to all the members of staff who have made QM such an enriching experience for me, both academically and in terms of developing key life skills; and I wish the new Captain of School all the best for what truly is an extremely rewarding role.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce myself as the new Captain of School. My name is Nayan Bhagvaker and I’m currently studying Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics, with the ambition of reading Economics at university.

Within the school I play hockey and cricket, and take part in numerous clubs and societies. My standout extra-curricular event this year will be captaining the school in the prestigious Target 2.0 competition.

The school hall accommodated almost 1000 people for the first assembly of the year. Along with 150 new Year 7s, there are now well over 150 Year 12s. Both sets of new students have settled in well, with the new-look induction programme for the year 12s run successfully by the new head of sixth form, Mr Mately, who has succeeded the long serving Mr Donnan.

To add to the already formidable list, new opportunities are still being created within the school. Notably, this half term saw the successful introduction of the girls’ house futsal competition – yet another example of diversity within the school community. The new Music Suite has also been a huge hit, especially with the younger members of the school. It is great to see students being given excellent facilities to develop and express their musical talents, alongside their academic studies.

Despite it seeming like much has been changing around me, my role and activities have stayed very similar to those previously reported by my worthy predecessors. These involve assemblies, duties, events and of course, the Old Boys Dinner – without a shadow of a doubt, the hardest address any Captain of School has to give. Fortunately, my speech went extremely well; and I was able to relax and enjoy the evening, which itself was a wonderful and unique experience, in terms of hearing stories and learning about the tradition of the school, and speaking to Old Boys who had been at Queen Mary’s as far back as 1935!

Following on from the traditional date of the Old Boys’ Dinner was of course the closing event of the first half term – Speech Day – the most prestigious event in the School’s calendar. This year, each member of the pupil senior leadership team addressed one aspect of the school’s four pillars, pastoral charter or motto. This allowed the wide range of successes within the school over the past year, from the School’s Mandarin excellence programme to the individual successes of Zak Elliott and Greg Cornes, to be publicly recognised and celebrated.

I look forward to reporting in a future blog on an equally busy, yet equally successful, second half term.

It has been yet another tremendously busy term; it seems that every term is increasingly full of success and new innovations, alongside more familiar school traditions.

Once again the school took a large group of students to the Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. The group represented the school superbly and to the envy of myself and much of the rest of the school had some truly unique experiences, using the only B52 flight-simulators not in the hands of the US military as well as flying their very own space mission.

As part of the rugby 1st XV, I have thoroughly enjoyed the rugby 7s season and it culminated in a superb victory in the Staffordshire Plate. However the success of the Year 7 rugby teams, coming 3rd out of 30 teams in the Staffordshire Cup is an impressive feat, and it is good to see the success of the seniors emulated by the junior teams-they certainly have a promising future ahead of them in school rugby.

It doesn’t seem like a whole year ago that I was on my Geography field trip in Farchynys, however two groups of 61 students have now completed their fieldwork in preparation for their exams in the summer. Project Horizon have also scheduled a launch from the coach house in the summer term but have also been working hard closer to home. The team of ‘experts’ presented the project to members of the public at the Thinktank in Birmingham, and have also been invited back next year, a huge reward for the last few years hard work.

One highlight of the term was a donation of a plaque recognising the school’s new Confucius classroom status. It recognises excellent teaching of Mandarin Chinese in the classroom and the opportunity to promote teaching of the subject in local schools. Members of the school community have also received national recognition in Mr. Sunley’s Tenner Challenge. A special mention should go to Jay Sikka who despite annoying much of the sixth form with his ‘Café 6 express pass’ , was rightly highly commended for his enterprise.

The open evening towards the end of the term provided the school with an opportunity to showcase the successes of the term, and Mr. Vause’s band did well to prepare for the Spring concert which was also a huge success. As my last open evening it filled me with a sense of pride to see the changes and successes on display since my first open evening, spent guiding visitors around the school.

However, perhaps the most publicised successes this year have been those of the DT department with Irfhan Ahmed’s commemorative plaque to Charles Bonner VC being unveiled in Aldridge, a great success for him and the school. It does seem inevitable that at some point the name ‘David Pearce’ is going to come up when describing this term. I would like to congratulate David on his fantastic achievement on designing a side of the new £1 coin. This seems to be a fitting way to celebrate yet another busy, successful and enjoyable term.

Finally, it was a pleasure watching the staff well and truly beaten by the sixth form side in this year’s charity football match, raising money for a great cause, playing in a fantastic match and seeing off a truly amazing term in style.

Summer term

This term (if you can call it that) was actually only a few short weeks in school for 6.2, as the countdown to exams and leaving intensified for the upper sixth.

Sport at school is usually restricted to just cricket at this time of year. However, not only has one the most ambitious cricket schedules ever seen at the school materialised under the leadership of Mr Gibbons, but the return of Mr Taylor has allowed the sports department to offer competitive tennis and golf lessons to members of the community who may not usually be involved in summer sports.

The CCF also played to Air Commodore David Prowse for its biannual formal parade, as he visited to inspect the contingent. He went away very impressed by the commitment of both officers and cadets alike and on the whole, the parade was a huge success.

The first year seven Farchynys weeks also took place as seven years at Queen Mary’s came to a close, adding to the nostalgia no doubt experienced by all of those that will be leaving. My time at Captain of School has been the busiest of any of the seven years I have spent at the school in terms of the sheer volume of things that continue to go on at school. It is clear from my time that the school is continuously changing, and progressing, and I am extremely proud to have been a part of that progress. Finally, I’d like to wish Liam O’Connor the very best of luck as the newly appointed Captain of School. I know that he possesses the necessary character to do an exceptional job.

This half term was another extremely busy one on both academic and non-academic fronts.

It began with, arguably, the biggest QMA event of the year – the Fireworks evening – except that this year, the event was moved to early evening, with the aim of making it more ‘family friendly’. This change, as well as the traditional raffle and wide array of fun games and stalls, made it yet another hugely successful event.

The following weekend saw the CCF’s annual Remembrance Day parade. The contingent conducted themselves extremely professionally, paying tribute to those who had fallen, as well as representing the school and town with pride.

Every day at Queen Mary’s presents new opportunities. Nevertheless, this half term was outstanding in terms of the supra-curricular activities that have been available. Students of all years were given the chance to broaden their academic horizons through Philosophy, Politics, Art and DT trips, to name a few, and also display their academic talents in a variety of events, including the Maths and Physics Olympiads and the Chinese speaking competition.

In terms of house and sporting competitions, this half term saw the start of house basketball and the much-dreaded house cross country.

The term ended with the extremely enjoyable Carol Service on the final Wednesday evening, and Christmas assembly on the last day. Having not attended the Carol service since Year 8, I was pleasantly surprised at the impressive flair of Mr Vause and Miss Sullivan, with the joint talents of the QMGS and QMHS choir and band executing an assortment of impressive works. The Christmas assembly ended the calendar year in high spirits with Mr Matley’s quiz and the Skiffle group, in particular, failing to disappoint.

I look forward to reporting on hopefully another term full of opportunities and successes, despite it being my own last full term at this school.

It is a strange feeling being in upper sixth knowing that a few weeks of school in the summer term would be the last you’d ever have. There was a slight air of sadness that 7 years at Queen Mary’s were coming to a close but it also seemed like it was the right time to end. However, finishing lessons was only the start of a month long exam period which would be filled with stress as it determined the futures of year 11s and sixth formers alike.

The leavers’ party put together by Mrs. Wood went ahead very successfully. Entertainment was provided via a well-put-together photo montage by Daniel Bachynskyj-Bilas, and everyone had the chance to collect their leavers’ hoodies whilst signing each other’s shirts.

Being Captain of School was a great opportunity that I am proud to have undertaken. The experiences gained are invaluable and have put me in good stead for the challenges of University. Additionally, I was pleased to break the trend of School Captains always being rugby captains/players, if only for one year.

Lastly I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Reece Bhatoe on his appointment as our new Captain of School, and wish him the best for the year ahead. I have no doubt he will succeed in this role and I shall enjoy listening to his speech at the Old Boys’ Dinner later this year.

The previous half term was yet another busy one for school, with many successes being celebrated throughout. Indeed two of the biggest events for school came within the same weekend this year.

The annual QMA’s firework event was yet again a huge success making record-breaking profits for another year running, despite the CPA being out of use due to the building works. There was a huge effort from everyone involved including all those on the QMA, as well as all the 6th form helpers, and I’m sure the profits made will be put to great use within the school. The following day after the fireworks event was Remembrance Sunday and the huge turnout from our CCF made up a very large proportion of the parade. The way everyone conducted themselves and the large crowds that gathered round Walsall’s cenotaph made it a very poignant morning remembering those that had fallen.

It was another successful half term for sport for the school. Despite some losses for the 1st XV we have continued to grow as a team and have produce some great performances throughout the half term. There has been continued dominance in cross country from QM with some great wins both individually and as a team.

One of the highlights of the term for me was the carol service in the town hall. Not having been in attendance since year 8 (I definitely feel like I have missed out since being at this one), I was unsure what to expect. This year the choirs and orchestras of QMGS and QMHS were merged into one large one under big plans from Mr. Vause and Miss Sullivan. The event was a huge success with the town hall full of parents and students of the school. The performance of both the choir and orchestra made it a thoroughly enjoyable evening for all, and I am very much looking forward to the spring concert next term.

The term finished with what is now QM tradition. The christmas assembly featuring Mr. Matley’s quiz, as well as one of the most interactive skiffle group performance so far, making it a big hit with the rest of the school. I’m sure next term will again be full of success and surprises, but it will surely go too fast for my last full term at QM.

After a week’s rest over February half term, it was nice to return to school and see the opening of Café 6 in the canteen. This is an area selling food only for sixth formers (hence the name) during break and lunch. With a rapidly decreasing amount of time left at school, I was glad to be able to sample what was on offer.

One of the activities dominating this term was the senior school production of Twelfth Night. With the complexity of the lines demanding rehearsals three times a week, it was clear that this play would be no easy task. I chose to watch the second of the final three performances and can report that it was highly enjoyable and entertaining.

The CCF contingent has been extremely busy over recent weeks, with events including CCCT at Farchynys, Biennial Review day, Cyprus camp at RAF Akrotiri, Adventurous Training, and finally UK camp at RAF Brize Norton. Cadet gliding scholarships would also have featured in this list, were it not for an engineering fault causing every glider across the UK to be grounded. Aside from gliding, I am assured that everything else went as successfully as ever and hopefully any engineering faults will have been fixed by the summer when the next round of scholarships will take place.

Open evening was a little different this time around. As well as handing out the usual information to families who came into the entrance hall, the Vice Captains and I were greeting them with Boost bars. This was part of an advertising campaign led by QM – leaflets had been sent out to primary schools promising a chocolate bar to pupils who came to the evening. It was hard to gauge the success of the campaign, but it certainly was a popular one.

As is always the case, there were a lot of house competitions going on throughout the term. However, the one I am going to talk about is the senior swimming gala which took place on the very last day. Due to coursework commitments a lot of swimmers were unable to attend but that did not stop the contest from going ahead. Some races even featured only a single house participating, simply to gain the points for coming in first place.

The final assembly saw the long-awaited awarding of Hockey colours, with the slight exception that the ties were unavailable to be handed out at the time. Nonetheless, it is uplifting to see the players’ achievements recognised for their dedication to the sport throughout their seven years at Queen Mary’s.