Queen's College is a public secondary school in Barbados that was established in 1883. It is a multi-racial school with students drawn from a wide cross-section of the Barbadian community. It comprises eleven departments in which approximately thirty-three subject areas are taught. Annually a high percentage of Queen's College graduates enter

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in the

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and the

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History

Queen's College was established as a result of the recommendation of an Education Commission whose report suggested that

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

required a first

grade school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

for girls similar to that in the top educational institutions in

. The school commenced operations at Constitution Road in

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

on 29 January 1883 with thirty-three female students. Their ages ranged from three to nineteen. The school was managed by a Board of Governors. The first headmistress was an Englishwoman, Helen Veich-Brown. The school roll steadily increased, and in 1946 Elsie Pilgrim became the first female in Barbados to be awarded the Barbados Government Scholarship. In 1970, Elsie Payne (née Pilgrim) became its first Barbadian headmistress, and during her tenure of office,

co-education Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

was introduced, when thirty-eight first form boys entered the school in 1980. After Dame Elsie Payne's retirement, Colleen Winter-Brathwaite was appointed headmistress of the school in 1985. She was followed by Coreen Kennedy in 1997. The school's first headmaster, Dr. David Browne was appointed in July 2008. Queen's College existed as an all-girls school until 1981 when it became a co-educational secondary school. It relocated from Constitution Road to its present site in Husbands, St. James, in 1990. Queens College students are sorted into various classes or "forms" in their first year, named for the first 5 letters of the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon, where they remain until their 5th year. In their sixth year, should they choose to return, they are once again sorted into forms. However, at this time, selection is based on students' subject selection for the 6th form.

Notable alumni

* Gabriel Abed, Ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates * Esther Byer-Suckoo, Former Government MP * Jeena Chatrani, Fine Artist * Alissandra Cummins, Chair of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Shai Hope Shai Diego Hope (born 10 November 1993) is a Barbadian cricketer, who plays as a wicketkeeper-batsman for the West Indies cricket team. He is also the current ODI &T20I captain of the Windies. In June 2018, he was named the Men's Cricketer of t ...

, West Indies ODI captain * Daphne Joseph-Hackett * Dame

Sandra Mason Dame Sandra Prunella Mason (born 17 January 1949) is a Barbadian politician, lawyer, and diplomat who is serving as the first president of Barbados since 2021. She was previously the eighth and final governor-general of Barbados from 2018 to 2 ...

, GCMG, DA, QC, President of Barbados * Kay McConney, former Senator and Minister of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology; Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training * Dame Billie Miller, Former Deputy Prime Minister *

Mia Mottley Mia "Ma" Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to h ...

, Prime Minister * Dame Elsie Payne, first female Barbados Scholar * Monica Skeete (1923-1997), poet * Dame Patricia Symmonds * Elizabeth Thompson, former MP, Deputy President of the Senate * Marion Vernese Williams, former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados

References

Schools in Barbados Saint James, Barbados Educational institutions established in 1883 1883 establishments in the British Empire {{Caribbean-school-stub