Q news 48 Trinity 2015

NEWS.
No. 48 Trinity Term 2015
Headmaster’s welcome
As always, I am delighted to introduce Q News. This edition covers life in the school during a very busy Trinity Term, in which there
was a great deal of activity of all sorts but, perhaps most importantly, Years 11, 12 and 13 had external examinations with which to
contend. The results this year were good: at A level we enjoyed a 100% pass rate and the group managed 63% A* - B, three
percent short of the school’s record prior to last year and this group has done well to achieve results that were very much at the top
end of expectations. At GCSE, for the third year in succession the A*/A measure improved, this time to 39%, so that is encouraging.
The only area of concern as a generality, allowing for some inevitable surprises both good and bad for individuals, was AS in which
domain we were disappointed. This has led to some very useful discussion about tightening up in a number of areas and it is to be
hoped we will see the effect of these decisions when next year’s A level results are published. Lest there be any doubt though, the
situation was also affected by some dubious marking and at least one case of grade boundaries having changed significantly, all
of which is rather depressing as it means we cannot be completely confident about the competence of those who judge
examinations (there is, of course, plenty of evidence of this at other schools too).
We remain completely committed to an all-round education here and this edition of the magazine, it that is the right term for an
electronic document, provides both textual and pictorial evidence that this is the case. The range of activities on offer and the
diversity of experiences gained by our pupils go some way to making them the confident people they are; there are very few schools
indeed in which such a wide spectrum of pupils participate and are able to get up in front of their peers and address them. While
such achievements are hard to measure, I have no doubt that all of these things add up over time and make our young people that
much more attractive to employers.
Our links with the Cathedral have, of course, survived our change to Free School status and it was excellent to see such a large
number of pupils (and some parents and old Blackburnians) in the Cathedral for Founder’s Day and, if I am allowed a premature
reference to the Michaelmas Term, at our beginning-of-term service in September. On both of these occasions the school was
addressed by priests who are Old Blackburnians and the services were presided over by
the Dean who is a Governor of the school.
The school roll is now 1032, 644 boys and 388 girls and the atmosphere is a healthy and
enthusiastic one in which there is a real sense of staff and pupils working together in
common purpose. It has been heartening indeed to witness the excellent behaviour on all
public occasions and indeed on a day-to-day basis, confounding those Jeremiahs who had
wrongly thought that good behaviour was the preserve of fee-charging schools and that
this would suffer once we achieved Free School status.
For this coming year the focus must be on Ofsted, as we are determined to make a good
impression on them when they visit, any time after January.
Mensa marvel!
Year 6 pupil Aahil Jouher has gained the highest
possible score of 162 after taking a Mensa IQ test.
‘The Headmaster was delighted to learn of Aahil’s
success. “The School has a long history of
academic success stretching back over 500 years
and it is excellent that Aahil has already made his
mark in this way. We are all very proud of him.”
Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, W est Park Road, Blackburn, BB2 6DF
TEL: 0 1254 68630 0 FAX: 0 1254 692314 EMA IL: headmaster@qegsblackburn.com W EB: www.QEGSblackburn.com

Q NEW S.
NEW S IN BRIEF
Skiing
Summer Concert
The weather could not be described as a balmy summer evening but the heating was on. The scudding
clouds and wind were perhaps more reminiscent of autumn, but the summer concert in Singleton House
was the perfect antidote to the weather and potential election overload, as the mood set by the music
was one to while away troubles and relax.
Opening proceedings was the Jazz Band who manage consistently to produce good performances year
on year, despite the change in personnel. It is, perhaps, one of the most difficult aspects of producing
good musical ensembles; to produce the supply of musicians capable of playing to such a standard on
the required instrument. If, for example, a trumpet player leaves, it is not just a case of handing a trumpet
to a pupil and saying ‘carry on’. It takes a lot of time and dedication to achieve the standard required to
play in public and Director of Music Miss Thomas, along with Miss Berry and the team of peripatetic
teachers should be congratulated for their efforts.
Having already been impressed by the Chamber Choir, it was the turn of the full choir to close the
concert, and how well they did it. They produced a performance full of tonal contrast and dynamics and
were the perfect ending to a wonderful concert. It might have been a bit chilly outside but we all went
home with a warm glow.
Thirty very excited pupils and three staff departed
for the annual ski trip at the start of the Easter
holidays. This year Claviere, Italy, was the destination
for a week of sport in the snow. It was a
little too exciting for one pupil who, after a collision
on the slopes, was airlifted to hospital, but
all was fine except for a few missing teeth.
Jacob makes progress
In only his 3rd biathlon, Jacob Gibson was
competing at The Olympic Stadium. Unfortunately,
nerves did get the better of him and he
was a little disappointed with himself as he
didn't manage to gain any personal best times.
But, Jacob did do well and his overall position
was 79th out of 133. The event was good
experience and should he qualify to compete
next year at least he knows what to expect and
hopefully he will feel more relaxed competing.
For two of our pupils writing looks to be the way forward as
both have won regional prizes for their work.
Year 10 pupil, Matthew Fenton, has been awarded a prize
from the Young Writers company for his work in the ‘Grim
Tales –stories from Lancashire book. His short mini-saga
was selected as the best from this county publication.
For Year 11 pupil, Lucy Hargreaves success came via the
Rotary Club writing competition. A flair for creative writing
is a special gift and this competition promotes and encourages
the work of young people who show talent. The winning
writers are subsequently published in Rotary
magazines.
Lucy Hargreaves was the winner of this year’s Senior Section
of the Blackburn with Darwen Young Writers’ Competition.
The theme was 'Light up the Community' and Lucy is
to be highly commended on her success.
70 pupils and 8 staff enjoyed an
educational trip to Berck-sur-Mer,
France. Language skills were put
to the test during various visits
including the beach, a war cemetery
and a snail farm.
2

No. 48 Trinity Term 2015
Dominic Brown, Jamie Parker, Alfie Jones and Yaseen Khan all played extremely well in the
recent Lancashire Emerging Schools table tennis competition where they were representing
Blackburn, having won the local round.
The first phase of the competition, held at Garstang School, was to compete in a group with
All Saints (Rossendale), St Michael’s (Chorley) and Garstang (Wyre). The boys showed
superior technique and swept all 3 teams away with convincing wins.
They progressed to the semi-final as group winners. Here they came up against stronger
opposition in Broughton High (Preston). After a close start, with Dominic and Jamie dropping
their first sets, the team came through with a 12-4 victory.
The final was against St Augustine’s (Hyndburn).
Dominic played his best table tennis in
the first game up against a skilled player. He
convincingly won the first set, but could not
maintain this level, narrowly losing the second.
The matches from then on followed a similar
pattern with close wins and losses. With just a
little more strength in depth St Augustine’s
came out on top 10-6.
NEW S IN BRIEF
The annual Readathon meant that an extra 400
non-fiction titles were recently loaned out from
the school library. Over £350 has been raised
this year – which will be split between the four
Roald Dahl charities.
In June, East Lancashire Cricket Club came
alive with 60 girls and 2 boys having fun playing
rounders. QEGS Juniors and Year 7 challenged
Westholme School and they kindly accepted.
The games were very evenly matched with
fantastic bowling, batting and fielding from both
sides. The evening finished in a draw with a
cumulative score of 12 ½ each.
The boys did extremely well to get to the final.
It is a measure of how much they have progressed
in the last year. The same team of
players did not progress past the Blackburn
round last season.
Three of our A level PE students put together a fine team performance to achieve second
place in the York Tri Relay last Sunday.
Katie Gaffing started proceedings in the pool with
the third fastest 400m swim in the relay section in
a time of 05.44. Nick Cooper then set the second
fastest 18k bike time out of all the competitors in a
blistering 28.21 before handing over to Katie
Buckingham for the 5k run which she duly completed
in 21.31.
They were competing against teams from established
triathlon clubs and only lost out on first
place to all male team, Jackpot Racing, in a very
competitive event by 35 seconds, 28 of which
were lost in transition. Hardly surprising as it was
their first competition! It was a fantastic result and
I am sure it will inspire other pupils to have a go at team triathlon.
The Sixth Form Uganda Team have been involved
in all sorts of activities to raise money
for the Good Samaritan School in Uganda
including singing for one night at a pub, a
supper evening at home, a film night and cake
sales, running half marathons and packing
bags in supermarkets. They raised over £5000
and while in Uganda they worked hard painting
the new classroom block, clothing needy children
and forming a cohesive and close knit
group whose common experiences will make
them friends for life.
A group of students recently visited Blackburn
Central Library to take part in the annual
tour/end of year celebrations and to join in with
the presentation of awards.
These had been put together for our Carnegie
Shadowing Group, Year 8 Pupil Librarians and
Year 7 Reading Millionaires for Accelerated
Reader. Head of Library, Mrs Dewhurst and
Mrs Barnett, from Blackburn Library, awarded
certificates, badges, personalised sketches by
author and illustrator Chris Riddell (recently
awarded Children’s Laureate) and the ever
popular book bags.
3

Q NEW S.
Champion Athletes 2015
Year 7 boys:
Year 7 girls:
Year 8 boys:
Year 8 girls:
Year 9 boys:
Year 9 & 10 girls:
Year 10 boys:
Senior boys:
Seniors girls:
Fadil Khan
Beatrice Clarke
Charlie Obank
Rebecca Mitchell
Arbaaz Ahmed
Gabriella Martin
Sam Chadwick
Ross Liddle
Katie Buckingham
Final track & field points
1st Drake 397 pts
2nd Raleigh 364 pts
3rd Grenville 362 pts
4th Howard 343 pts
5th Hawkins 324 pts
6th Frobisher 314 pts
New school records 2015
Stephanie Atkinson: Year 7 Discus 12.92m
Khalisa Mahmood: Year 8 1500m 6:53.54
Natasha Olczewski: Year 7 1500m 6:05.93
Julie Matthew: Year 7 Hurdles 16.03
Holly Weatherall: Year 8 Hurdles 16.22
Year Girls 4 x 100m relay – Howard 69.98
Ruth Brown: Year 8 Discus 9.92
Annabel Harvey: Senior Cricket Ball 27.72m
Daniella Duncan:Year 7 Triple Jump 4.60m
Olivia Hussey:Year 8 Triple Jump 5.96m
Elizabeth Fielding: 24.67 Year 7 Cricket ball {A
Harvey 2011}
Katie Buckingham: 4.18m Senior Long Jump {K
Buckingham 2014}
Gabriella Martin:31.07 Year 10 200m {F Green
2008}
Beatrice Clarke: 33.53 Year 7 200m {S Pickles
2012}
Ross Liddle:13.94 Senior Hurdles {O Fayomi
1994}
Hamad Chishti:6.27m Year 7 Standing triple
Jump {J Zarac 2005}
The annual Sport Presentation Evening, this year held at Blackburn Rovers Football Club,
was a resounding success.
250 pupils and parents waited in eager anticipation to see if they had be chosen for the
Players Player Award or the Managers Player Award for their team.
There were also special achievement awards for, sailing RYA Welsh Open youth champion
James Grummett, cross country full Lancashire county honours Katie Buckingham, North
of England U15s and Lancashire CCC Academy Tom Lawson, County breastroke swimming
champion Nathan Smith, National schools biathlon championships Jacob Gibson,
World junior karate championships in Poland Imogen Skipper, Lancashire County octathlon
athletics U17 champion Ross Liddle, and cycling time trial North West regional champion
Nick Cooper.
Three retiring members of staff, who have always been involved in school sport during their
time at QEGS, were presented with Outstanding
Service to QEGS School Sport
Awards. Phil Wooldridge has taken teams for
25 years, Alan Sagar for 34 years and Dave
Hopkinson for 41 years.
The Chief Guest was Vince O’Keefe, former
Blackburn Rovers goal keeper, PFA agent
and now Football Agent, who took part in a
Q&A session which proved to be most enlightening
about the backroom dealings in
football.
Biology
As part of the 25 years of biology at Edge Hill celebrations, the university held a
schools biology competition aimed at AS level Biology students who plan to progress
to A Level. QEGS entered three teams to compete against 14 other North West
schools.
The competition tested Biological knowledge and skills whilst giving a taste of
studying at undergraduate level. The activities were certainly challenging.
In a very close fought competition team ‘Erasmus’ of Beth Cuckson, Christopher
Richardson-Dulling, Suhayl Bahadur and Emma Trevor came runners-up to the
Cheadle Hulme team by just two points.
The other two teams- Charlie D and Alfie Wallace- made up of Beth Ellison, Annie
Johnstone, Chelsea Tupper, Natasha Glen, Bilal Khan, Jamie Storm, Joshua
Broadhurst and Kyle Wells-Stonehouse narrowly missed out on the top three placings
but were highly commended.
Tom Nixon-Taylor, 13, landed a 37lb common
carp on a fishing holiday in France, one
of the largest ever brought in on a rod.
The monster was caught on a boilie - a ball
of fish bait - at Watersmeet Fishery in France,
where Tom hauled in a total of 17 fish, three
over 30lbs and the majority weighing more
than 20lbs.
The oldest piece of school equipment, indeed the
oldest piece of furniture in Blackburn; the school
chest has been put to use once again. Ordered to be
made in 1590 by the governors, for centuries it
stored the most important school documents until
they were moved to the County Record Office in
1960.
It is now used to store time capsules, made each
year by Year 7, to give those in the future an insight
into school life today.
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No. 48 Trinity Term 2015
Vargo
Year 7 have been fundraising to sponsor a Dogs for the Disabled puppy.
Fundraising Administrator, Michelle Roberts wrote,
I am delighted to write and introduce your new sponsor puppy Vargo, a Golden
Retriever X Labrador born on the 3 rd April 2015. Your very generous donation will
be used to support Vargo during his important first year with puppy socialiser Mary,
who lives in Kingswood, Bristol. This includes a puppy starter kit with a crate, bed,
food, water bowls, toys, identification working jacket, lead flash, collar and lead.
It can be hard to comprehend that this tiny adorable puppy will one day provide the gift
of independence to someone. With the guidance and love their host families provide,
together with the technical support from our Puppy and Training Teams, they will
develop the fundamental skills required for their very important future role.
It is, of course, very early days in Vargo’s journey to becoming a trained assistance dog.
We cannot predict how his personality and behaviour will develop but with the love and
support of his socialiser and the team here at Dogs for the Disabled he has every
chance of success.
NEW S IN BRIEF
the Y13 students on the annual Biology field
trip to Malham Tarn Field studies centre to
complete their A-level ecological studies. The
weather was fantastic and allowed long workfilled
days out in the field studying the wonders
of bog succession, tree lichens, the
freshwater invertebrates, the ever popular
Dog's Mercury and, the group favourite, of
crawling around in the grass to work out the
distribution of banded snails.
Vargo
The congregation at the Founder’s Day service and Commemoration of Benefactors was
addressed by Old Blackburnian Reverend Michael Gisbourne, who introduced himself
as a dull, boring old vicar, which is what he thought, when he had attended the service
at the cathedral over 40 years ago. He also recounted how he had been picked as goal
keeper for the U12 football team
by Mr Hopkinson, when they
beat Bury GS 6-4, but he was
never picked again!
The main message that he delivered
was about how individual
elements come together to make
one cohesive whole, from the
original stone piles on West Park
Road that became the school, to
the individual benefactors and
pupils who have made the QEGS
community what it is today.
The contribution by the choir,
readers and organist, made for a
memorable occasion.
The senior school library recently received a
wonderful gesture from author Dan Freedman.
He sent a copy of
his prequel to the Jamie
Johnson series, Born to
Play, to use as a prize
for the most promising
football player in Year 7.
Mr Hindle was consulted
and announced that
Tom McCann was the
student who deserved
this award.
Of Mice and Men
was the drama
production this
term. The cast
was made up
purely of Year
Ten pupils, who
had sacrificed
many a lunch
time and after
school hour with
Mr Ventress to
envelop themselves
in 1930s American ranch life. It was a
real pleasure to see such a young cast taking
on the challenge of such an intense,
claustrophobic play; they managed to
achieve such success even at the end of an
extremely busy term.
5

Q NEW S.
Art exhibition
For many young children colouring in and drawing are favourite pastimes.
It becomes more of a challenge when you try to draw images of the world around you and for some, it is a challenge that is
insurmountable. Luckily, for those who exhibited work at our annual Art Exhibition, the challenge was met head on, and the quality
of their work is an example of what can be achieved.
It was most pleasing to see the variety of visitors, young and old, from far and wide who clearly enjoyed this exhibition.
NEW S FOR FORMER PUPILS
(maiden name Hoyle).
The new Deputy Head (pastoral)
is no stranger to QEGS.
Old Blackburnian, Nick Vyse
who has taken over from
Dave Hopkinson, who retired
in August, came to QEGS in
1979 along with his brother
Neil and future wife, Fiona
A keen cyclist, Nick spent part of the summer cycling from Nice to
Venice a trip of some 353 miles, so the hills of Lancashire shouldn't
pose too much of a problem for him.
Prior to joining QEGS Nick was Head of Wellington Upper School in
Somerset. "I am very excited to be coming back to QEGS", said Nick,
" I have very fond memories of my time here. I remember Mr Whittle
in the role and I have just taken from Mr Hopkinson. Hard acts to
follow! I had some great teachers during my time here. Mr Whittle
was a superb English teacher and I always felt that he wanted me to
achieve my best. When I was 14 I thought rugby was pretty good. Mr
Evans was the coach of our team and we had a lot of fun and even
won occasionally. I used to tell stories about Mr Grogan's teaching
style, but I stopped because I found that no one believed me. "
Head of Economics, Ms
Kate Walmsley, was delighted
to discover that her
department has received a
windfall donation this term.
The gift was made by Mr Jim Bury of Cherry Tree, Blackburn who
was one of many beneficiaries from the estate of Mr Fred Bury,
former Head of Maths and second master at QEGS. Mr Bury
taught at QEGS for almost forty years and was a pupil at the
school from 1931-1939. He was an enthusiastic and successful
investor on the stock market, so it is only fitting that the gift in his
memory will sponsor QEGS students in a national student investor
competition. The competition will not only give students a
chance to win prizes but also to learn valuable skills of working in
teams and risk analysis.
" I am sure Fred Bury will always be fondly remembered at QEGS
and it is only fitting that some of his estate found its way back to
the school, but I wanted to ensure it was used in a both an
appropriate and beneficial way" said Jim, "this competition
seemed to be ideal and hopefully it will continue for many years
to come and, who knows, it may lead to another genius making
money on the stock market."
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No. 48 Trinity Term 2015
NEW S FOR FORMER PUPILS
Our Foundation Director, Mrs
Joanna Lavelle put her thespian
talent on show at Buxton Festival
Fringe in a new play by Alan
Charnley entitled ‘Write Yourself
Free: Female Facts or Male Fiction?’
Best known for her tribute show
‘Choice Joyce’, an appreciation of
the life and work of comedian
Joyce Grenfell, and for her portrayal of Shirley in Shirley Valentine,
Joanna appeared as Belinda Gold in this new play. Adapted from a new
book with the same title Joanna’s character is one that she really
enjoys. “My character is fascinating. She comes across at first as a hard
self-assured woman. But, she reveals herself during the course of the
play to be not as she appears at all.”
The play was performed at the Old Clubhouse, in Buxton in July, before
relocating to the Edinburgh Fringe at The Eerie in the Jekyll and Hyde
Public House.
It's official - Jordan Griffith is one in ten thousand. After graduating from
the University of Northumbria with a First Class degree in Business
Studies Jordan has been joined Marks and Spencer as a graduate
trainee. More than 10,000 hopefuls applied for the coveted trainee roles
of which only 100 were selected. Beating the odds of 100-1. A great
success. Well done, Jordan!
BBC North West Tonight
Sports Reporter, Richard
Askam, is the chief guest at
this year’s Old Blackburnians’
Annual Dinner. After university
in Birmingham, Richard
worked in Japan, and back in
the UK joined the team at
Radio Lancashire before
moving to North West Tonight. He’s covered several major
sporting events including the Olympic Games in Athens and
Ricky Hatton’s world title fight in Las Vegas. Richard is married
to QEGS Psychology teacher, Wendy Askam.
The toast to the school will be made by former pupil, John Leigh
who until his retirement was a well-known local solicitor in
Blackburn. A regular attendee at the Annual Dinner, John is
looking forward to sharing his memories of life at QEGS.
The Annual Dinner takes place in Big School and is open to
former pupils and staff. For the fifth year running the ticket
prices have been held. For those who left school in 2015 there
is a special discount ticket price of just £15.00 for those who left
school between the years 2011 and 2014 the cost is £25.00 all
other tickets cost £30. The tickets are available from the
Foundation Office and a booking form is available to download.
We have searched high and low but the DVD of the 2008 school
production of the Crucible remains lost. Does anyone have a copy
they can lend or donate to the school? Some of the cast members
want to get together and watch it again.
Congratulations to Samuel Tranter (24) who has married fellow Aberdeen
University student, Alexandra McKay from Ireland.
Both Alexandra and Samuel were studying Theology. Samuel's brother
Jonathan another Old Blackburnian was his best man and his father
the Reverend Stephen Tranter helped to take the service (Stephen is
another Old Blackburnian) and when someone needed to step in at the
last minute to take the photographs Samuel's uncle Ian was on hand
and Ian is yet another Old Blackburnian. A real QEGS wedding.
Samuel and Alexandra are living in Durham.
● Gordon Fordyce (1949-2015) Gordon was a pupil at QEGS
from 1958 – 1969.
● Kenneth Bretherton has died at the age of 90 (1925-2015)
● We have been advised of the death, at the age of 101, of
Lewis Harry Roberts (1914-2015)
Congratulations to OB Chris Baldwin who has been awarded a
City and Guilds Medal of Excellence for his Level 5 NVQ on
Occupational Health and Safety.
Chris has recently left the Royal
Navy where his role was MOD
Superintendent of Diving and he
has now joined the International
Marine Contractors Association
(IMCA) as one of their Technical
Advisers. IMCA is an international
trade association comprising
of over 1000 companies
working in the offshore oil and
gas, and renewable sectors.
Chris works as an all – round
adviser but has specific responsibility
for marine security, vessel safety inspection, helicopter
operations, Dynamic Positioning training and remote and ROV
systems. The job involves a fair bit of travelling to the regions
where the members operate, so in Chris's words, "I've clocked
up a few air miles on trips to Brazil, Singapore and the Far East,
Middle East and of course Europe." However, Chris has not
entirely left the navy as he has joined the Royal Navy Reserve
as a Commander in a role as the capability manager for the
Maritime Reserves diving specialisation.
7

Q NEW S.
No. 48 Trinity Term 2015
Big School holds a special place for Old Blackburnians of every age evoking memories of assemblies, school friends and
teachers. Part of what makes Big School so special is the exceptional collection of stained glass windows. The large 5 lancet
window at the end of the hall depicts the granting of the School Charter by Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1567. The first three double
lancet windows are known as the House windows, the first of next two double lancet windows represent Sir Thomas Gresham
founder of the Royal Exchange and Sir Philip Sidney poet and soldier and the last double lancet window represents Lancelot
Andrews, Bishop of Winchester and Roger Ascham tutor to Princess Elizabeth who is thought to be the inspiration of the
Magister symbol. The last window in Big School is a triple lancet window representing William Byrd musician and composer,
William Shakespeare and Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor.
The windows were unveiled almost 90 years ago and are in urgent need of specialist cleaning and restoration. As a Free
School the priority for the government grant is education so the preservation and protection of this important part of QEGS
heritage would not be covered by that, which is why Big School needs your help. The Walsh family has kindly agreed to
sponsor the Charter window in memory of the late Dr Joyce Walsh, a former governor, mother and grandmother.
If you would like to sponsor a window or a single lancet panel please get in touch. Each individual lancet costs £450 and the
total three panel window will cost £1,200.
If you would like to help, please complete the donation form or contact the Foundation Office for further information on 01254
686308 or email jlavelle@qegsblackburn.com
As parents and pupils applauded the prize-winners at this presentation of awards many of them
would be unaware of the stories behind each prize.
This year the sponsor of the Michael Smith Physics prizes wrote to the Headmaster to tell him about
the background to this award.
Michael joined Queen Elizabeth's in 1953 having passed his scholarship exam. He passed his ‘O'
Level exams and started in the lower VIth looking forward to going to University to read Physics. His
aunt, Jean Fielden describes him as "an outgoing boy who made friends easily." He was a loyal and
caring friend and when one of his friends also doing Physics had to be off school for some time,
Michael took it upon himself to go round to his friend's house every Friday after school and go
through everything they had done in Physics that week so this friend would not fall too far behind.
He was cycling home after one of these visits when he had a collision on his bike. He suffered
severe internal injuries and his family were told he was unlikely to survive. However, despite the
odds he did pull through. His prolonged absence from school meant that he had to repeat his lower
VIth year. He began to suffer headaches which his doctors attributed to stress over his school work.
He was re-admitted to hospital but nothing was resolved. He took his A-Level exams whilst in
hospital and passed. He was still unwell and the Headmaster
suggested to the family that they seek a second opinion and a
brain tumour was diagnosed. After an operation to remove the
tumour he failed to come round from an Anaesthetic and died
aged 18 on October 1960.
In a tribute to Michael in the school magazine he was described
as someone who "refused to be daunted and was never heard
to grumble. His loveable personality earned the affection and
respect of his fellow prefects and of the staff." His parents made
a generous donation to enhance the science facilities in memory
of their son and his aunt, Jean Fielden endowed the Michael
Smith Physics Prizes.
In the fifty-five years since his death many QEGS pupils will
have climbed the steps to the stage at King George's Hall to receive the Michael Smith prize without
realizing the personal and tragic story behind the endowment of the prize. No doubt many of them
will have gone on to read Physics at university just as Michael planned to do. Thanks to the
generous legacy of his aunt Michael's enthusiasm for Physics in the 1950s will carry on for
generations to come.
Lost an d Foun d
Help us t o keep in t ouch.
W e regularly add new names to
our missing lists on the website.
Have a look and see if you recognise
anyone and either ask them to get
in touch or send an email with their
contact information.
Get it regularly
The Old Blacks e-b ullet in b rings y ou
t he lat est new s w it h links t o st ories on
t he w ebsit e. It is a good way to keep
in touch with news and events but we
need your preferred email address.
If you are not getting it –we haven’t
got it. Send your email address to
foundation@qegsblackburn.com
together with your full name and
years at school. If you use your work
email don’t forget to let us know if
you change jobs.
Lon don Callin g
W e w ould like t o re-st art t he QEGS
Lond on Group f or Old Blackb urnians
liv ing , w orking or st ud y ing t o hav e
t he chance t o m eet , m ake f riends
and net w ork.
If you would like to help, suggest
ideas or would like to find out more
contact the Foundation Office.
Twitter
There is now a presence
on Twitter just for former
pupils but we need your help to
promote it do follow @joannalavelle
Alum ni
Facebook Page
Have you had a look yet?
QEGS Blackburn Alumni
Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, W est Park Road, Blackburn, BB2 6DF
TEL: 0 1254 68630 0 FAX: 0 1254 692314 EMA IL: headmaster@qegsblackburn.com W EB: www.QEGSblackburn.com