5 Reasons to Work at @QKynaston

This is a blogpost to share our own school job advertisements, beyond traditional recruitment methods.

5 Reasons to Work at QK:

In this blog, I write 5 reasons why the reader should consider applying for a post at QK, or why you should share the jobs advertised with a colleague.

As the job season begins to reach a canter, at Quintin Kynaston we had just advertised the following positions. They are all here.

If you would like to find out more about these positions, please contact the school: recruitment@qkynaston.org.uk

Reason 1:

The first reason to apply, is to work with our students. We are a larger than average-sized secondary school, and have more boys than girls. The vast majority of students are from minority ethnic groups, which is much higher than the national average. The largest groups are from Bangladeshi background, any other White and any other Black and African heritages. You will read from the Ofsted Data Dashboard, that we work with some of the most challenging students in the country.

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Reason 2:

The second reason to apply, is to work with a fantastic group of professionals. You would join a highly talented and motivated staff dedicated to meeting the needs of our diverse student population, and ensuring they reach their potential. Our teachers are incredibly hard working and have seen the school evolve through a difficult period over the past 2 years. The resilience and dedication of our staff can be seen in our staff who have worked here for many years. As you would expect with any school, our teachers are also supported by a talented and highly-skilled group of support staff. You only need to see how together we all are as a community, when staff gather for end of term celebrations or dress up for World Book Day.

QK is a very rewarding place to work.

Reason 3:

The third reason to apply, is that we have just moved into a new £30M building. The project has been split into two phases:

Phase 1: The demolition of a part of the old school and 24 months building of the new school. This is now complete and a new state of art building is providing us with cutting-edge facilities, including larger classrooms, a lecture hall, interactive workshops and laboratories, performing arts studios and multi-purpose sports halls. The building has 4 blocks:

• Marlborough Hill side (bottom-right of photo below) and Finchley Road side (bottom-left of photo below).
• A 3-storey building containing the double-height academy hall and art classrooms.
• A single storey containing the dining hall and a plaza, creating additional breakout space for the students.
• A 3-storey building where the sport hall will be located.

Phase 2: 10 months of demolition of current school building and landscaping. This phase will see the entire ground of the (old) academy being re-developed to offer extensive outdoor spaces and playgrounds, including Astro-turf football pitches and tennis courts.

We are also having an exclusive new sixth form building.

Facing north with Finchley Road (A41) on the right hand-side of the building.

Reason 4:

The fourth reason to apply, is the support you will receive as a professional. We have rejuvenated our CPD programme, which aims to encourage all staff to develop to reach their full potential at QK, as well as prepare staff for new jobs within the school and elsewhere. We have a strong newly qualified teacher programme, as well as a popular Schools Direct programme. Our middle leaders are encouraged to take part in NPQML and NPQSL action research, as well as MAs and PhDs. We are also developing all teachers with IRIS Connect and our Good in Ten programme in the summer of 2015. Our support staff are encouraged to develop their knowledge and skills, through various online and internal CPD programmes.

Reason 5:

The fifth reason to apply, is to be part of our values. You can see our new building display these in the photographs below.

Aspiration: we want all of our students to have high aspirations, knowing that they too, can attend the best universities in the country.

Resilience: we want all of our students to be resilient. To be prepared for whatever life throws at them. To be strong-minded so that they can be flexible, hardy and have strength of character.

Community: we want all our students, including those who will soon join us and those who have left, to be part of the QK community. Our school has a very long history, dating back to 1886. We have an extensive alumni.

Quintin Kynaston School today, is the direct descendant of the Polytechnic Day Boys’ School founded in 1886 by Quintin Hogg at London’s Regent Street. Six years later it was split into separate Polytechnic Commercial Day School and Polytechnic Technical Day School but re-united in 1919 when Percy Abbott became Headmaster of Polytechnic Secondary School. His successor, Bernard Worsnop, oversaw wartime evacuation, the return to London in 1944, gaining grammar status four years later as The Quintin School and the building of a new school in St John’s Wood to end a dozen years of ‘temporary’ accommodation. Paddington Secondary Technical School, which dates back to the 1920s, moved into new buildings next door to become Kynaston Technical School. In 1969 the two schools merged to form a boys’ comprehensive Quintin Kynaston School and in 1976 Peter Mitchell admitted girls for the first time. You can read the full school history here.

I have written more about the school history here; Something Old, Something New.

Further Reading:

You can read our Ofsted report (September 2014) here and my blogs about the experience and judgement.

• Observing the Observers.
• @OfstedNews Say Sorry.
• Our (soon to be revamped) website is here.
• Contact the school here: recruitment@qkynaston.org.uk

Quintin Kynaston – New Building Official Opening – March 2015

Click to open.