Pimlico School
Encyclopedia
Pimlico Academy is a secondary school in the Pimlico
area of Westminster
, London
. The school is a specialist Arts College
.
of the Greater London Council
's architecture department and was built in 1967-70. It was a noted example of brutalist architecture
, constructed of concrete and glass without decorative claddings or ornament, and its appearance had been controversial since it opened. A contemporary critic likened it to a battleship, describing it as a "100-odd metre long, turreted, metallic grey thing lying in its own sunken rectangle".
Over time, deterioration of the building's fabric and drawbacks of its glass construction led to complaints that the building was often excessively hot in the summer and very cold in winter. Council authorities also expressed concern that the building's seventeen exits and entrances made it difficult to secure the site, and that the site lacked disabled access.
Over the opposition of The Twentieth Century Society
and prominent architects including Richard Rogers
, the school has been rebuilt to a design by Architecture PLB as part of the Building Schools for the Future
initiative. The last remaining part of the old building was demolished in Summer 2010.
decision to place the school in special measures
and the retirement of former head teacher Phil Barnard in December 2006, Westminster council controversially voted in March 2008 to transform Pimlico into an academy. This decision was contrary to consistent expression from the school's stakeholders (teachers, students and parents) that they wanted the school to remain a community school. The Westminster NUT voted in favour of strike action to express their objections to Westminster councils strategy. Staff, students, parents and former school governors held the view that the schools underperformance was due to long term neglect by Westminster council. During the process of Pimlico's change to an Academy, the council argued that the borough's community education needs could be sufficiently served by preserving the existing community school status of Quintin Kynaston School
. However since then QK
has switched to a community foundation school, meaning that there are no longer any community schools in Westminster akin to the traditional inner-city comprehensive.
The charity Future, set up by John and Caroline Nash, was chosen as the academy’s sponsor in 2008.
Pimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
area of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, 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...
. The school is a specialist Arts College
Arts College
Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...
.
Architecture
The previous school building was designed by John BancroftJohn Bancroft (architect)
John Bancroft was a British architect noted for his Brutalist designs for the Greater London Council.He joined the Architects’ Department of the GLC in 1957 and led the project to build Pimlico School from 1964 to 1970....
of the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
's architecture department and was built in 1967-70. It was a noted example of brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
, constructed of concrete and glass without decorative claddings or ornament, and its appearance had been controversial since it opened. A contemporary critic likened it to a battleship, describing it as a "100-odd metre long, turreted, metallic grey thing lying in its own sunken rectangle".
Over time, deterioration of the building's fabric and drawbacks of its glass construction led to complaints that the building was often excessively hot in the summer and very cold in winter. Council authorities also expressed concern that the building's seventeen exits and entrances made it difficult to secure the site, and that the site lacked disabled access.
Over the opposition of The Twentieth Century Society
The Twentieth Century Society
The Twentieth Century Society is a British charity which campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. The society's interests extend to buildings or artefacts, whether important or humble, rare or commonplace, that characterise Twentieth Century Britain.The Sociey was...
and prominent architects including Richard Rogers
Richard Rogers
Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside CH Kt FRIBA FCSD is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs....
, the school has been rebuilt to a design by Architecture PLB as part of the Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future is the name of the previous UK Government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England. The program is very ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicians from all English political parties supportive of the principle but...
initiative. The last remaining part of the old building was demolished in Summer 2010.
Conversion to Academy
After many years of underperformance, culminating with Ofsted'sOfsted
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 ....
decision to place the school in special measures
Special measures
Special measures is a status applied by Ofsted and Estyn, the schools inspection agencies, to schools in England and Wales, respectively, when it considers that they fail to supply an acceptable level of education and appear to lack the leadership capacity necessary to secure improvements...
and the retirement of former head teacher Phil Barnard in December 2006, Westminster council controversially voted in March 2008 to transform Pimlico into an academy. This decision was contrary to consistent expression from the school's stakeholders (teachers, students and parents) that they wanted the school to remain a community school. The Westminster NUT voted in favour of strike action to express their objections to Westminster councils strategy. Staff, students, parents and former school governors held the view that the schools underperformance was due to long term neglect by Westminster council. During the process of Pimlico's change to an Academy, the council argued that the borough's community education needs could be sufficiently served by preserving the existing community school status of Quintin Kynaston School
Quintin Kynaston School
Quintin Kynaston is a local comprehensive secondary school in the St John's Wood area of north London. It became a Specialist Technology College in 2001. The school intends to become an academy in September 2011.-Admissions:...
. However since then QK
Quintin Kynaston School
Quintin Kynaston is a local comprehensive secondary school in the St John's Wood area of north London. It became a Specialist Technology College in 2001. The school intends to become an academy in September 2011.-Admissions:...
has switched to a community foundation school, meaning that there are no longer any community schools in Westminster akin to the traditional inner-city comprehensive.
The charity Future, set up by John and Caroline Nash, was chosen as the academy’s sponsor in 2008.
Notable Alumni
- Elisha CarterElisha CarterElisha Carter is a British chef who appeared in the BBC television series Great British Menu in 2008. He is Head Chef at the The Landau restaurant located in The Langham, London.-Biography:...
, chef. - Matthew FreudMatthew FreudMatthew Freud is head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
, public relations executive. - Tony GaleTony GaleAnthony Peter "Tony" Gale is an English former footballer who is now a regular pundit on Soccer Saturday...
, footballer - Julian GrayJulian GrayJulian Raymond Marvin Gray is an English footballer who currently plays for Nea Salamina Famagusta.He previously played in the Football League and Premier League for Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Cardiff City, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Fulham, Barnsley and Walsall.-Club career:Gray was born in...
, footballer - Patrick HarringtonPatrick HarringtonPatrick "Pat" Harrington is a British Politician, currently General Secretary of Solidarity – The Union for British Workers an organisation affiliated to the British National Party, and a Director of the Third Way think-tank...
, trade unionist. - Suzanna HamiltonSuzanna HamiltonSuzanna Hamilton is an English actress. She is most famous for her performance as Julia in the modern film adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.-Early career:...
, actress. - Elly JacksonElly JacksonEleanor Kate "Elly" Jackson is an English singer-songwriter and the lead singer of the electropop duo La Roux. She is well known for her red hair and androgynous style.-Biography:...
, member of pop duo La RouxLa RouxLa Roux are an English electropop duo made up of singer, keyboardist, co-writer and co-producer Eleanor Kate Jackson, and co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their relationship as "very much a half and half sharing situation... not like a singer producer outfit", but also... - Amy JenkinsAmy JenkinsAmy Jenkins is an English novelist and screenwriter. She is the daughter of the late political journalist Peter Jenkins and the stepdaughter of The Guardian columnist and author Polly Toynbee....
, novelist and screenwriter. - Alan JohnsonAlan JohnsonAlan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was...
, Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician and former Home SecretaryHome SecretaryThe Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
. - Ella JonesElla JonesElla Jones is a British actress. After a few small roles, she became a household name when she was cast as Sam in The Queen's Nose, following the departure of Victoria Shalet from the programme. That same year, she played the younger version of Holly alongside Anna Popplewell in Me Without You....
, actor - Graeme Le SauxGraeme Le SauxGraeme Pierre Le Saux is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.After...
, footballer for Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers. - Toby MottToby MottToby Victor Mott is a British artist,designer and sometime Punk historian known for his work with the Grey Organisation, an artists' collective that was active in the 1980s, and for his fashion brand Toby Pimlico...
, artist and designer. - Antonio PappanoAntonio PappanoAntonio Pappano is a British conductor and pianist of Italian parentage.Pappano's family relocated to England from Castelfranco in Miscano near Benevento, Italy in 1958 and at the time of his birth his parents worked in the restaurant business, but Pasquale Pappano, his father, was by vocation a...
, conductor and pianist. - Johnny RoganJohnny RoganJohnny Rogan is an author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He has written influential biographies of The Byrds, The Smiths and Van Morrison. His writing is characterised by "an almost neurotic attention to detail", epic length and a sometimes hostile...
, author. - Thomas SangsterThomas SangsterThomas Brodie Sangster is an English film and television actor, best known for his roles in Love Actually, Nanny McPhee, The Last Legion, and voice of Ferb Fletcher in Phineas and Ferb.-Personal life:...
- Frank SinclairFrank SinclairFrank Mohammed Sinclair is an English-born Jamaican footballer who plays for Hendon in the Isthmian League Premier Division.-Chelsea:...
, footballer for Chelsea and Leicester City. - Rodney Smith (aka Roots ManuvaRoots ManuvaRodney Hylton Smith , better known by his stage name Roots Manuva, is a British rapper from Stockwell, South London. He is currently signed to Big Dada.-Biography:...
), musician. - Abigail ThawAbigail ThawAbigail Thaw is a British actress. She was born in London to actor John Thaw and his first wife, Sally Alexander. Her stepmother is actress Sheila Hancock...
, actor. - Steve WalshSteve Walsh (disc jockey)Steve Walsh was a British disc jockey. He died following a car crash in Ibiza, Spain.Walsh began his radio career at the first soul music pirate radio station, Radio Invicta, alongside his friend, the late Bob Tomalski. From there he moved on to JFM , where his style first began to shine through...
, disc jockey - Ashley Walters (aka Asher D), musician and actor
- Josh Faulkner, Professional Wrestler,