Kingsford Community School
Encyclopedia
Kingsford Community School is a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 in Beckton
Beckton
Beckton is part of the London Borough of Newham, England, located east of Charing Cross.Its boundaries are the A13 trunk road to the north, Barking Creek to the east, the Royal Docks to the south, and Prince Regent Lane to the west. The area around Prince Regent Lane is also known as Custom House...

 in the London Borough of Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...

, East London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England. It opened in September 2000, and educates full-time students from the ages of 11 to 16. The current Head Teacher is Joan Deslandes.

Specialist Language College Status

In 2005, the school became a Specialist Language College. The Specialist Schools Programme helps schools to develop identities through their chosen specialisations; this is achieved in partnership with private sector sponsors, notably HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...

, and through additional government funding. Specialist schools focus on their chosen subject area, providing enhanced learning opportunities in this field. Kingsford has also been accredited with the International School Award from 2007 to 2013. The International School Award scheme is managed by the British Council; it provides recognition for teachers and their schools working to instill a global dimension into the learning experience of all children and young people.

Confucius Classroom

In 2001, Kingsford became one of the first schools in the United Kingdom to introduce lessons of Mandarin to its curriculum. In 2007, the school became the first Confucius Classroom, a recognised centre for promoting Mandarin Language and Chinese Culture, in London and the South-East. Subsequently, the school has worked closely with both the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust is an independent, not-for-profit, membership organisation with headquarters in the United Kingdom, dedicated to raising standards and achievement in secondary schools in England and internationally...

 and Hanban
HanBan
Hanban is the colloquial abbreviation for the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.- Administration :It is governed by the Office of Chinese Language Council International , a non-government and non-profit organization affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the...

 (the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language) in order to develop its own Chinese learning programme and also to promote the teaching of the Chinese language and culture to other schools in the capital and South-East region.

Head Teacher

Joan Deslandes has been the school’s Head Teacher since 2001. She has twice been named amongst London’s 1000 most influential people by the Evening Standard. In 2010, she was awarded the SSAT Confucius Institute Excellence Award for her ‘outstanding contribution’ to Chinese learning within the United Kingdom. The Head Teacher currently sits on a number of governmental forums, including, most recently the Independent and State Schools Partnership Forum and the Teachers’ Standards Review Group, a government appointed independent group who have devised the new teaching standards for the nation’s teachers.

Link with Brighton College

In 2006, Kingsford formed a unique partnership with Brighton College
Brighton College
Brighton College is an institution divided between a Senior School known simply as Brighton College, the Prep School and the Pre-Prep School. All of these schools are co-educational independent schools in Brighton, England, sited immediately next to each another. The Senior School caters for...

, one of the country’s leading independent schools. The most notable part of this link is the HSBC funded scholarship programme that provides 2-3 students from Kingsford each year with the chance to progress into the Brighton College sixth form. In 2009, George Weller, one of the first three scholars, made national headlines by gaining a place at Cambridge University to read Natural Sciences. The partnership also involves Ms Joan Deslandes and Mr Richard Cairns, Head Teachers of Kingsford and Brighton, sitting on the governing bodies of each other’s schools. The link has been praised as being as model of partnership between the state and independent educational sectors.

The 100 Group

The 100 Group is a collection of the 50 leading state school heads and 50 independent school heads selected in discussion between former Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, Headmaster of Brighton College, Richard Cairns, and Joan Deslandes, Head Teacher of Kingsford Community School. The heads were chosen on the basis of their standing in their sectors, their commitment to furthering co-operation between the independent and state sectors and their public contributions to educational debate.

On January 22, 2010, Kingford hosted the 100 Group’s second annual conference, on the subject of social mobility. The event included contributions from Vince Cable MP and Michael Gove
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...

 MP (Secretary of State for Education). Former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

, also addressed the conference via a video message. “I want to congratulate the 100 Group for its innovative role in bringing state and independent schools together to improve education and social mobility and particularly the pioneers of that partnership, Kingsford Community School and Brighton College, whose successful alliance is a blueprint for others”, he said.

Ofsted Report

The school’s last Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

inspection was in March 2008, when it was judged to be “good with outstanding features”.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK