Robert Symons

Queens Park Community School (commonly abbreviated to QPCS) is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Queen's Park, north west London, in the borough of Brent, England.

There are, as of January 2015, 1202 pupils aged between 11 and 19 on roll who come from a range of backgrounds. QPCS is situated south of the A4003, in Brondesbury Park, about a mile west of Kilburn.

Former schools

Kilburn Grammar School was founded by the Rev. Henry George Bonavia Hunt in 1897. The former building became the Islamia Primary School on Salusbury Road near Brondesbury Park railway station, which was founded by Yusuf Islam, and which opened in 1983.

Merger

Opened in 1989, Queens Park Community School is the result of an amalgamation of three schools during the 1980s. The three schools that were merged were South Kilburn High School (formally Percy Road School), Aylestone Community School and Brondesbury and Kilburn High (commonly abbreviated to B&K, formerly Kilburn Grammar School). The new school's logo, an image of three trees, represents this union of the three schools. The headteacher chosen to head the new school was Ms Mary Norton. Ms Norton headed the school from its formation through to her retirement from education in 2002.

Front view of QPCS

The school is located in a relatively middle class area of Brent, but many less affluent communities lie within its catchment area. Initially many parents held back from sending their children to the school but once the school began to achieve results heading towards the national averages, the school became heavily oversubscribed.

The school benefited from a brand new block funded through the millennium National Lottery fund at an estimated cost of £34.3 million. The building of this block involved demolishing one of the existing buildings. The new building was officially opened by Ken Livingstone with a plaque commemorating his visit. The school has been granted specialist school status in Business and Enterprise.

QPCS secured additional funding through the government's Excellence in Cities programme, which provided resources for schools, to provide extended activities and work for gifted and talented pupils.

In March 2012, QPCS applied for Artsmark status – it received the Gold award.

Queens Park Community School converted to academy status in September 2012.

QPCS City Learning Centre

The QPCS City Learning Centre (CLC) was one of 105 CLCs built by the DfES throughout the country.It was completed in 2003.

In 2015, funding for CLCs ceased and the CLC building has become part of the school’s teaching accommodation.

Uniform

Before the school opened, there was a consultation with parents about whether a uniform should be introduced or not. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of a school uniform. The Queens Park Community School uniform was featured in the local press for its unconventional uniform, consisting of a black tracksuit bottom, with a red or black T-shirt featuring the school three trees logo, a red or black polo shirt with the three trees logo in small on the top left hand side, and a black tracksuit jumper. The design of the uniform was intended to be comfortable, attractive, practical, economical and one that students would enjoy wearing. In the academic year of 2012/13, the school decided to change the uniform, but only the tracksuit bottoms with a more formal tailored trousers.

Tutor group naming

QPCS uses a lettering system to divide the eight tutor groups in years 7–11. The letters are taken from the full name of the school. For example, year 9 would be the following:9Q 9N 9P 9K 9C 9Y 9S 9L.

The QPCS sixth form (referred to as years 12 and 13) has fewer tutor groups than the rest of the school, due to having fewer students. Nevertheless, the same naming scheme is used.

QPCS teaching staff that have received recognition in the National Teaching Awards:

• Sue Wales winner of the Lifetime Achievement Teaching Award, for London and the Southeast of England in 2001
• Alison Hook came second for teacher of the Year Award, for London in 2003.
• Luna Rupchand won Teacher Support of the Year, at the ACE Project Diamond Ball Awards in November 2012.

February 2012 - A global link is being developed between QPCS and Kayamandi High School, Stellenbosch in South Africa. This is part of the British Council Global Schools project.The project is a natural extension of QPCS's partnership with the Lexi Cinema who raise funds for the Lynedoch Community in Stellenbosch. The aim is to explore different ways that the two schools can potentially share valuable learning opportunities for the mutual benefit of the two communities.

Side view of school

This morning with Richard and Judy

QPCS was featured on This Morning with Richard and Judy for its uniform which was seen as an 'original' idea for a uniform.

Robert Symons

QPCS was featured in the media in 2004 as the school at which Robert Symons, who left his high paid job to give back to his community, taught as a newly qualified teacher. Robert Symons was murdered in his home in October 2004 defending his family from Yousef Bouhaddaou when Yousef attempted to rob his house.

Classroom Chaos

QPCS was also one of the six schools featured on the controversial 2005 Channel 5 programme Classroom Chaos in which a retired teacher under the pseudonym 'Sylvia Thomas' returned undercover as a supply teacher after 30 years. Her stated objective was to show the 'chaos' which teachers must deal with in the modern classroom. With the use of hidden cameras, she filmed chairs being thrown, pupils fighting in class and swearing at teachers and other such behaviour.

• Tafari Moore
• Osman Kakay
• Maria Lawson, R&B singer and X-Factor, 2004 finalist
• Seal (musician)
• Paul Merson
• Dominic Thompson (footballer)

Kilburn Grammar School

• Jarvis Astaire OBE, Boxing promoter, film producer, chairman from 1993-2005 of the Greyhound Racing Association
• Richard Baker (broadcaster) OBE, BBC newsreader from 1954–82
• Prof Clifford Ballard, Professor of Orthodontics from 1956-72 at the Institute of Dental Surgery, and President from 1957-8 of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics (since 1994 the British Orthodontic Society)
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beavis KCB CBE AFC, AOC from 1981-4 of RAF Support Command
• Prof Henry Beker, Chief Executive from 1988-99 of Baltimore Technologies, and President from 1998-9 of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)
• Keith Bloomfield CMG, Ambassador to Nepal from 2002-6
• Sir Samuel Brittan, economic journalist
• Harold Carlton, writer and journalist
• Prof Ronald Coase, Chief Statistician from 1941-6, economist and Nobel prize winner
• Michael Cockerell, broadcaster
• Sir Morris Finer, judge
• Sir Frank Gibb (engineer), civil engineer
• Sir William Glanville CB CBE, civil engineer, President from 1950-1 of the Institution of Civil Engineers
• Prof Karl W. Gruenberg, Professor of Pure Mathematics from 1967-93 at Queen Mary College
• Gil Hayward, wartime cryptographer
• Bernard Holley, actor
• Ken Howard (artist) OBE
• Prof. Jonathan Israel, historian
• Leslie Kaye, art consultant
• Laurence Keen OBE, President from 1989-2004 of the British Archaeological Association
• Paul Kriwaczek, BBC TV producer, of The Computer Programme
• Howard Lew Lewis, actor
• David Merlo, Director of Research from 1983-9 of British Telecommunications plc
• Max Morris, educationist and pioneer of comprehensive schools, and President from 1983-4 of the NUT
• Osborne Peasgood CVO, organist of Westminster Abbey from 1941-6, and for the wedding of the Queen in 1947, and the 1937 and 1953 coronations
• Simeon Potter, Baines Professor of English Language and Philology from 1945-65 at the University of Liverpool
• Jonathan Rees-Williams, Organist and Master of the Choristers from 1991-2002 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle and organist from 1978-91 of Lichfield Cathedral
• Bernard Shrimsley, Editor from 1971-5 of The Sun and from 1975-80 of the News of the World
• Alexander Silverleaf CB, Director from 1971-80 of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, and Chairman from 1981-6 of the UK Council for Computing Development
• Reginald Stafford, aircraft designer of the Handley Page Victor
• Sir Guenter Treitel, Vinerian Professor of English Law from 1979-96 at the University of Oxford
• Sir Hugh Weeks CMG, Chairman from 1970-4 of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)
• Prof. Robert Wistrich, historian
• Brian Winston, Lincoln Professor of Communications since 2007 at the University of Lincoln

Brondesbury and Kilburn High School

• Julie Covington, singer, notably of Don't Cry for Me Argentina
• Margery Hurst OBE, founder and Managing Director from 1947-76 of Brook Street Bureau
• Doreen Miller, Baroness Miller of Hendon
• Twiggy