Kingsford Community School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Bark ...

in the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

, East

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. It opened in September 2000, and educates full-time students from the ages of 11 to 16. The current headteacher is Joan Deslandes, who was appointed an OBE in 2017 in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to education.

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

has described the school as "a harmonious community in which everyone lives and breathes the school’s values of aspiration, achievement and excellence."

Languages specialism

In 2005, the school became a Specialist

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successf ...

Confucius Classroom

In 2001, Kingsford became one of the first schools in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to introduce lessons of Mandarin to its

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

. In 2007, the school became the first Confucius Classroom, a 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 SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It ...

and

Hanban Hanban (), also known as Confucius Institute Headquarters, is the colloquial abbreviation for the Office of Chinese Language Council International (). It was originally called the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language ( ...

(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.

Link with Brighton College

In 2006, Kingsford formed a partnership with

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

, one of the country's independent schools. The most notable part of this link is the

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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, headteacher 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 22 January 2010 Kingsford hosted the 100 Group's second annual conference, on the subject of social mobility. The event included contributions from

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet a ...

MP and

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...

MP (Secretary of State for Education). Former Prime Minister,

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

, 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

In February 2017,

rated the school in a short inspection as "good" and reported on the high "number of pupils who, after leaving Kingsford, achieve very well in their A levels and go on to top universities". The previous

inspection was in February 2013, when it was judged to be “Good", with the Behaviour and safety of pupils and the school's Leadership and management being classed as "Outstanding".

References

External links

School Website: http://www.kingsfordschool.org.uk {{authority control Educational institutions established in 2000 Secondary schools in the London Borough of Newham 2000 establishments in England Community schools in the London Borough of Newham Beckton Specialist language colleges in England