Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Alford - A Selective Academy

Tom Bhaduri joined QEGS in 2002 and was a keen on his Sciences and History. Joining the 6th Form on the completion of his A levels and becoming Spanning House Captain. He left QEGS in 2009 after passing his A Levels. At the age of 18, he started his application to join the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer. A process that would last 6 years. Within that time, he graduated from the University of East Anglia with a BSc in Biomedicine. Whilst at university he joined the Cambridge University Royal Naval Unit to gain an insight into the Royal Navy that would help him in the future. After graduating he worked at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby as a Pathology Scientist. To gain new skills he trained and worked as a Special Police Constable for Humberside Police which he found was eye opening and on one occasion, was nearly stabbed and blown up during an arrest. In November 2014 he joined Britannia Royal Naval College and during his training spent his Initial Sea Acquaint on HMS Bulwark helping her in her damage control exercises during a busy training period for the ship. Upon commissioning in the summer of 2015 and the completion of his Initial Warfare Officer (Foundation) course, he joined HMS Lancaster for his Basic Fleet Time in order to gain an understand of all the departments on board a Royal Navy warship. During his time on board he visited Togo, Algeria and Sierra Leone. In addition, he took part in Counter Narcotic operations around Cape Verde and participated in the hunting of a Russian Submarine off North Africa. Whilst on board he was promoted from Midshipman to Sub Lieutenant. Upon passing Basic Fleet Time, Tom joined the Initial Warfare Officer Navigation course at HMS Collingwood in January 2016 where upon completion, began his Specialist Fleet Time on HMS Richmond. On board HMS Richmond he participated in the escort of the Russian Aircraft Carrier, The Admiral Kuznetsov, and her Task Group of 6 Russian Warships including the Nuclear Power Missile Cruiser, Peter the Great. HMS RICHMOND along with Standing NATO Maritime Task Group comprising of 5 allied warships escorted the Task Group from Norway, through the English Channel and into the Bay of Biscay. On his last few months of his Specialist Fleet Time, he joined HMS Ledbury and took her from Portsmouth to Bahrain in the Middle East. His time on board HMS Ledbury involved him visiting 9 countries ranging from Crete and Sicily to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti. Recently, Tom has passed his Officer of the Watch examinations and has now received his first appointment as the Gunnery Officer of Mine Countermeasure 1 Crew 1 who are based on HMS Ramsey. He has aspirations to become a Mine Clearance Diver disarming everything from mines to IED’s and is considering doing the All Arm Commando Course so he can be deployed with Royal Marines on operations. In his spare time, Tom is a keen runner and gym enthusiast. He also enjoys cooking, Tom Clancy novels, LEGO building and is an avid Star Wars/Star Trek fan.

Jonathan "Jono" Brine is an experienced radio presenter and producer, who has worked for the BBC since 2010. He’s currently the Executive Producer at BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Jono was part of the team that originally started a radio station at QEGS, which is where he discovered his passion for radio. As well as working for the BBC in Lincolnshire, Jono spent time working at Eurovision in Liverpool, and also worked for 2 years as a BBC trainer. He graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2013 with a degree in Journalism.

Sally has wanted to be a doctor for as long as she can remember and, whilst being an active member of the school community and Spanning House Captain during her sixth form years, focussed on gaining admission to medical school during her time at Queen Elizabeth’s, with the support of many teachers and staff. Despite receiving an offer to study medicine at Lancaster University, unfortunate extenuating circumstances during her A-Level examinations led to her taking an unexpected foundation year (Pre-Medical Studies) at Lancaster instead. She excelled on the course and gained more confidence and experience, easily meeting offers from three different medical schools. She decided to remain at Lancaster University and began her medical training in October 2016. Sally is enjoying her medical studies and performing well, focussing this year on anatomy, medical sciences, communication skills and mastering core clinical examinations. In her subsequent clinical years, she will embark on a curriculum consisting of hospital and GP rotations, as well as supplementary teaching at the university. Her favourite part of the course so far has been interviewing patients with chronic illnesses in a GP setting to learn about how co-morbidities affect lives whilst practicing communicating with patients. Sally is also an active member of the medical school community, having recently been appointed as co-coordinator of Lancaster MedSoc’s Teddy Bear Hospital. This sub-society involves students visiting local primary schools to treat and diagnose children’s teddy bears, with the aim of helping children feel less scared of doctors and visiting hospital. Sally is looking forward to progressing through the medical degree and eventually graduating as a doctor. She is an aspiring paediatrician and hoping to continue working in the North West after finishing her degree. Sally is keen to act as a mentor to students who are considering careers in healthcare sciences or applying to medical school and hopes her experiences prove that, even if you don’t succeed the first time, if you are determined and work hard you can achieve your dreams.