Shearly Memorial Hall
QE's new Eric Shearly Memorial Hall was formally opened just before Christmas 2009.  A commemorative plaque was unveiled at the start of the school's annual Christmas Concert. The hall is of course named after Eric Shearly (1920-2005), a former pupil and master known to several generations of us old lags.  He had only fairly recently begun his teaching career in the days when he was struggling in vain to get some basic mathematics into the reluctant head of your webmaster, but he carried on teaching at the school for another half century - until well past retirement age.  In fact he was there for a total of 76 years, if you count his time as a pupil.  There are a number of other references to him on this site, including an obituary.	The completion of the hall means that 850 boys can now be assembled.  The hall has also allowed the introduction of table tennis and badminton into the curriculum and now accommodates the school shop. Amazingly, considering my own experience of music 'teaching' at the school, QE seems to have a bit of a reputation as a specialist music college these days - I bet that will surprise a few of you regular visitors to this site ! - and the Shearly Memorial Hall is expected to enhance that reputation, due to its good accoustics and general appearance.  The £6.5 million it cost to build the hall was met entirely through the fund-raising of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s (FQE), the donations of OEs and donations of parents through the Covenant Scheme.	Said Headmaster John Marincowitz: "Fittingly this Hall is dedicated to the memory of Eric Shearly and of the many other Old Elizabethans who have given selflessly to their country and to this school.  This splendid facility will have a truly beneficial impact on the education of our boys".