Queen's College, St James

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.

Queen's College
Location
Husbands

Barbados
Coordinates13°8′44″N 59°37′26″W
Information
TypePublic secondary school
MottoFiat Lux
(let there be light)
Established1883 (1883)
PrincipalMrs. Mitchell Maxwell
Enrolmentapprox. 2,000
Colour(s)blue, red and white(school uniforms are grey, white and blue)
Websitewww.qcbarbados.com

Annually a high percentage of Queen's College graduates enter universities in the West Indies, Great Britain, Canada and the United States.

History

Queen's College was established as a result of the recommendation of an Education Commission whose report suggested that Barbados required a first grade school for girls similar to that in the top educational institutions in Great Britain. The school commenced operations at Constitution Road in Bridgetown 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 and the first headmistress was an Englishwoman, Helen Veich-Brown.

The school roll steadily increased and in 1946, the place of Queen's College as an institution of academic excellence was firmly established when Elsie Pilgrim became the first female in Barbados to be awarded the prestigious Barbados Government Scholarship.

In 1970, Elsie Payne (née Pilgrim) became its first Barbadian headmistress, and during her tenure of office, co-education 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.

Notable alumnae
  • Gabriel Abed, Ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates[1]
  • Donna Babb-Agard, QC, Director of Public Prosecutions
  • Dr. Jeanease Badenock, Dean - Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the West Indies
  • Dr. V. Rene Best, Chief Medical Officer, Caribbean Premier League (CPL T20)
  • Natalie Burke, soca singer
  • Esther Byer-Suckoo, Former Government MP
  • Jeena Chatrani, Fine Artist
  • Alissandra Cummins, Chair of UNESCO
  • Daphne Joseph-Hackett
  • Dame Sandra Mason, 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
  • Dale Mr. Dale Rudder, soca singer
  • Michael Mikey Mercer, soca singer
  • Dame Billie Miller, Former Deputy Prime Minister
  • Lucille Moe, Senator. Former Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs
  • Mia Mottley, 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
  • Keeley Holder, Chief Agricultural Officer
  • Shai Hope, West Indies ODI captain
  • Matthew Wright, gold medallist in 2023 Pan American Triathlon Sprint Championship

References
  1. "Abed goes back to his roots, plants twenty new trees | Barbados Advocate". Retrieved 2023-01-12.


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