| Type | Foundation school |
|---|---|
| Headteacher | Jo Shuter |
| Specialism | Technology |
| Location | Marlborough Hill St John's Wood Greater London NW8 0NL England |
| Local authority | Westminster Education Authority |
| DfE number | ???/4295 |
| DfE URN | 101149 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1312 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours | Pale blue |
| Website | QK School |
The best school in the world 'Quintin Kynaston ('QK) is a local comprehensive secondary school in the St John's Wood area of north London. It became a Specialist Technology College in 2001.[1] The school became an academy in September 2011, however it did not change its name.[2] Quintin Kynaston School was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted in both of its most recent inspections, both in 2008 and December 2011.
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The school is known for the ethnic diversity of its students and the cultural harmony amongst them.
The school's head teacher Jo Shuter was awarded the CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours announced on 12 June 2010.[3]
It 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.
The school was founded in 1886 by Quintin Hogg[4] (grandfather of the mid-20th-century politician of the same name) as the Polytechnic Secondary School, part of Regent Street Polytechnic. It was named the Polytechnic Boys' Day School from 1886-1919. It was a voluntary aided school.
In 1944 the school became a grammar school, and in 1946 was renamed the Quintin School after Quintin Hogg, who founded Regent Street Polytechnic in 1882. It was a voluntary controlled school. A new building was built in 1956 in St John's Wood. It had around 550 boys.
The school was re-named Quintin Kynaston School in 1969 after Sir Kynaston Studd OBE, a former president of the Regent Street Polytechnic, and Lord Mayor of London in 1928. It was a boys' comprehensive school when the school merged with the next-door Kynaston Technical School, known as the Paddington Secondary Technical School before 1956. It became co-educational in 1976.
In September 2003 the British prime minister, Tony Blair, launched the 'Extended Schools' scheme at Quintin Kynaston. [5] Recently QK has become known for its Student Voice 'faculty.' This faculty consists of a Prefect team, a School Council, a Student Leadership Team, Peer Mentors, Community / Subject / Pastoral Leaders and Assistant Youth Workers and an SEN Student Forum. Tony Blair visited the school again in 2006.
In May 2005, the school featured in the 30-minute long 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, although this was strongly denied by Debbie Shuter.[6][7]
| Headteacher[8] | Era | School |
|---|---|---|
| Dr V Butler-Smith | 1886 - 1892 | Polytechnic Day School for Boys |
| Mr Charles Mitchell and Mr David Woodhall | 1892 - c.1918 | Polytechnic Commercial School and Polytechnic Technical School respectively |
| Mr Percy Abbott | 1919 - 1934 | Polytechnic Secondary School |
| Mr Frederick Wilkinson | 1934 - 1937 | Polytechnic Secondary School |
| Dr Bernard Worsnop | 1937 - 1958 | Polytechnic Secondary School and The Quintin School |
| Mr A J Holt | 1958 - 1969 | The Quintin School |
| Mr T G Jones | 1956 - 1959 | Kynaston Technical School |
| Mr G H Harmer | 1959 - 1969 | Kynaston Technical School |
| Mr A J Holt | 1969 - 1972 | Quintin Kynaston School |
| Mr Peter Mitchell | 1972 - 1983 | Quintin Kynaston School |
| Mr Laurie Goodhand | 1983 - 1986 | Quintin Kynaston School |
| Ms Shiela Madgwick | 1987 - 1994 | Quintin Kynaston School |
| Mr Nicholas Elliott-Kemp | 1994 - 2001 | Quintin Kynaston School |
| Mrs Jo Shuter | 2002 - present | Quintin Kynaston School |
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 characterized QK as "an outstanding school and exceptionally well led by its inspirational headteacher".[9]
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.