Quintin Kynaston Community Academy

Quintin Kynaston (QK) is a secondary school in the St John's Wood area of north London, England. It was created in 1969 by merging two pre-existing schools—Quintin grammar school and Kynaston comprehensive school—both of which had been constructed almost side by side on the same site and opened at the same time, September 1956.

The merged school of 1969 was called Quintin Kynaston School. It became a Specialist Technology College in 2001,^[1] a Foundation School in 2008,^[2] and an Academy in November 2011, keeping its name throughout as Quintin Kynaston School until 2015, when the school renamed itself Quintin Kynaston.^[3]

Quintin Kynaston was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted in two previous inspections, in 2008 and December 2011, but lost its 'outstanding' rating during the most recent Ofsted visit in September 2014. The school was judged as 'requires improvement' because standards are not consistently in line with or above the national average in all subjects. The majority of the individual judgements are ‘good’, including leadership and management, behaviour and safety and sixth form.

Its new building opened to students on 12 January 2015 and was designed by van Heyningen and Haward Architects. The building is situated on Marlborough Hill next to the west side of the A41 in the north of the borough of Westminster in St John's Wood, close to the boundary with the Borough of Camden, and just south of South Hampstead railway station and the junction with the B509.

In March 2015 QK received unwelcome publicity with the revelation that Mohammed Emwazi, the ISIL killer who was portrayed in the media as "Jihadi John", had been a student at the school, leaving it in 2006.^[4]

History

Quintin school was founded in 1886 by Quintin Hogg^[5] (grandfather of the mid-20th-century politician of the same name) as the Polytechnic Secondary School, part of Regent Street Polytechnic. Named the Polytechnic Boys' Day School from 1886–1919, it was a voluntary aided school.

Prior to 1956, in a different location, Kynaston had been known as Paddington Secondary Technical School.

Grammar and Comprehensive Schools

In 1944 Quintin became a grammar school, and in 1946 was renamed the Quintin School after Quintin Hogg, who founded the Polytechnic at Regent Street in 1882 building on the legacy of the Royal Polytechnic Institution. It was a voluntary controlled school. A new building was built in 1956 in St John's Wood. It had around 550 boys.

Also in September 1956, Quintin's next-door-neighbour, Kynaston School, opened as a county comprehensive, named after Sir Kynaston Studd OBE, a former president of the Royal Polytechnic at Regent Street, and Lord Mayor of London in 1928. Kynaston School was among the small number of early comprehensive schools in the U.K., which combined a non-restrictive admissions policy with, in essence, three kinds of education in one—roughly matching that found in grammar, secondary modern and technical schools (Kynaston was equipped with extensive technical labs in part financed by corporate donations).

The Quintin School,1956

This approach allowed children from all social classes and income levels to attend a new kind of school with equal opportunity, something that had often been denied them by more elite traditional grammar schools. Depending on their aptitudes and preferences and work, students could find their own levels. They could advance to university or some other kind of college, or leave school earlier and enter business or become an apprentice. Whichever path they took, they would be well prepared, This philosophy of education would go a long way to providing opportunities and removing class divisions and lack of life chances in general, and it became the basis of the merged Quintin-Kynaston School of 1969.

Comprehensive

Quintin and Kynaston merged in 1969 as a single new comprehensive school, renamed Quintin-Kynaston School, becoming co-educational in 1976.

During the period of 1990s – 2001, the school had issues usually associated with problem schools in inner city areas. This was gradually rectified by new head teacher Nick Kemp.

In 2002 Joanna Shuter was appointed head teacher. In September 2003 the prime minister, Tony Blair, launched the 'Extended Schools' scheme at Quintin Kynaston.^[6] In May 2005, the school featured in the 30-minute BBC documentary Head on the Block, made by the headteacher's sister, Debbie Shuter. It was not broadcast as planned because the BBC decided that it broke their rules on objectivity.^[7][8] Blair visited the school again in 2006.

After being named Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School in 2007,^[9] and receiving a CBE in 2010, Shuter resigned in May 2013 and was replaced by Alex Atherton. In May 2014 Shuter was banned for life from the classroom by the National College for Teaching and Leadership after admitting the misuse of public funds on various personal expenses during her tenure.^[10] After an appeal the decision was revised in November 2014 to allow Shuter to challenge the prohibition order after two years.^[11]

Academic performance

The school has successfully created many 'school systems' that are now being used in other schools. In September 2004 the school received an excellent OFSTED report. The Section 5 Ofsted inspection of 10 December 2008 characterised QK as "an outstanding school and exceptionally well led by its inspirational headteacher".^[12] Following the most recent Ofsted inspection in September 2014, the school has been downgraded to 'requires improvement' because standards are not consistently in line with or above the national average in all subjects.

It gets the third best GCSE results in Westminster LEA with above average results. Results at A level are weaker – below the national average, however the school performs strongly in measures of contextual value added.

Headteachers

Notable former pupils

• Shola Ama, singer
• Architechs, band
• Jak Beula entrepreneur and founder of Nubian Jak
• Richard Causton, composer
• Tulisa Contostavlos, from MOBO award winning act N-Dubz, Former The X Factor judge
• Mohammed Emwazi portrayed in the media as Jihadi John, an ISIL killer^[4]
• Fred Housego, taxi driver who went on to win Mastermind in 1980^[14]
• Ashley McKenzie Judo Olympian & Celebrity Big Brother contestant
• Steve New, guitarist
• Michael Page (fighter)^[15][16]
• Dean Parrett, footballer
• Murad Qureshi, member of the London Assembly
• Suggs (Graham McPherson), musician Madness^[17]
• Moses Samandar, Poet and Writer

Quintin School

• Elkan Allan, television producer and journalist
• Prof Brian Butterworth, Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology since 1992 at University College London
• Sir George Cox, Chairman from 2004–7 of the Design Council, Director General from 1999–2004 of the Institute of Directors, and President since 2008 of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Ian Davies, flamenco guitarist
• Randolph Fields, helped to found Virgin Atlantic Airways
• Prof Andy Hopper CBE, serial entrepreneur, Professor of Computer Technology and Head of Department, Computer Laboratory since 2004 at the University of Cambridge, Professor of Communications from 1997–2004, and Research Director from 1979–84 of Acorn Computers
• Prof Martin Kilduff, currently Professor of Organizational Behaviour at UCL (https://www.msi.ucl.ac.uk/people/martinkilduff),[] formerly Diageo Professor of Management Studies at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, 2008–12.
• John Leckie, record producer
• Harry Zvi Tabor, Israeli physicist and solar energy pioneer

Polytechnic Secondary School

• William Frankel, journalist
• David Gascoyne, poet
• Oswald Groenings, athlete
• Michael Ivens CBE (1924-2001), poet and rightwing/libertarian activist^[18][19]
• Gerald Kersh, novelist
• Jack Parker (cricketer)
• Sir Isidore Salmon CBE, Conservative MP from 1924–41 for Harrow
• L.C.B. Seaman, historian, published works include "From Vienna to Versailles" and "Post Victorian Britain". Scholar from 1923 to 1930, history teacher at the Quintin School ^[20] 1950–1958^[21] The Quintin School 1886-1956, A brief History. Published 1957.
• Rt Rev Albert John Trillo, Bishop of Chelmsford from 1971–85
• Sir Richard Way CB CBE, Principal from 1975–80 of King's College London

References

The Quintin School 1886-1956, A Brief History. L.C.B.Seaman.

External links

• Quintin Kynaston Official Site
• School history
• EduBase