Queen's College (Barbados)
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 | |
| Coordinates | 13°8′44″N 59°37′26″W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary school |
| Motto | Fiat Lux (let there be Light) |
| Established | 1883 |
| Principal | Dr David V.C Browne |
| Enrolment | approx. 2,000 |
| Colour(s) | blue, red and white(school uniforms are grey, white and blue) |
| Website | www |
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 Pligrim 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
- Dame Sandra Mason, GCMG, DA, QC, Governor-General of Barbados
- Mia Mottley, Prime Minister
- Donna Babb-Agard, QC, Director of Public Prosecutions
- Dame Billie Miller, Former Deputy Prime Minister
- Esther Byer-Suckoo, Former Government MP
- Alissandra Cummins, Chair of UNESCO
- Daphne Joseph-Hackett
- Dame Elsie Payne
- Dame Patricia Symmonds
- Elizabeth Thompson, MP
- Marion Vernese Williams, Central Bank Governor
- Kay Mc.Conney, Senator. Minister of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology
- Lucille Moe, Senator. Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs