Kingsford Community School

Languages specialism

In 2005, the school became a Specialist Language College. The Specialist Schools Programme helped schools to develop identities through their chosen specialisations; this was achieved in partnership with private sector sponsors, notably HSBC, and through additional government funding. Specialist schools focussed 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 was 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 and Hanban (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 unique partnership with Brighton College, 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, Kingsford 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 MP (Secretary of State for Education). Former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, 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 inspection was in Feb 2013, when it was judged to be “good”. This was a positive result given the Ofsted report in 2011 which was only considered the school to be "Satisfactory" and highlighted concerns in several areas including the "considerable variation in quality [of teaching] between and within subjects".