Pimlico Academy
| Established | c. |
|---|---|
| Type | Academy |
| Sponsor | Future (John Nash) |
| Location |
Lupus Street Westminster London SW1V 3AT England Coordinates: 51°29′17″N 0°08′13″W / 51.488°N 0.137°W |
| DfE number | 213/6908 |
| DfE URN | 135676 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1262 |
| Gender | Male and Female |
| Ages | 11–20 |
| Houses | Apollo, Athena, Hera and Zeus |
| Colours | Apollo Blue, Athena Green, Hera Red, Zeus Yellow |
| Website | Pimlico Academy official website |
Pimlico Academy (formerly Pimlico School) is a Mixed-sex education secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in the Pimlico area of Westminster, London.
The previous school building was designed by John Bancroft 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.
In the face of opposition from the Twentieth Century Society, and that of prominent architects and critics including Richard Rogers,RIBA president Sunand Prasad, Stephen Bayley, and John McAslan, the school was 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.
After many years of underperformance, culminating with Ofsted's 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 council's strategy. Staff, students, parents and former school governors held the view that the school's 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.
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