A Short History of Quintin Kynaston School (Page 26)
Apart Again: Grammar v. Technical (1956-69)
The two secondary schools occupying the new buildings in St John's Wood brought together the elements of the original Polytechnic Day School - the Commercial Division as The Quintin School and the Technical Division as the Kynaston Technical School - and were named after two key figures: Quintin Hogg, founder of the Polytechnic School, and Sir Kynaston Studd, one-time President of the Polytechnic Institute. Echoing the 1892 schism, they were separate schools but shared a School Hall, dining areas and other facilities. The boys were to be strictly separated.
Some sixty years earlier Deputy Head George Dench had reported that rivalry between boys at the two Polytechnic schools "sometimes took unpleasant forms". Now, Quintin boys wore conspicuous green blazers with red piping and caps to match, while Kynaston boys were adorned in black and grey uniforms. A recipe for rivalry?
Just two years after The Quintin School arrived at St John's Wood, the long serving Headmaster retired. Appointed in 1937, the energetic academic Bernard Worsnop had seen the school though evacuation, post-war homelessness, gaining grammar school status and occupying brand new buildings. His successor A. J. Holt, appointed in 1958, was a kind and quiet man who presided over a period of consolidation. But he was perceived by many to be old-fashioned and remote and failed to prosper after the 1969 formation of a comprehensive school.
Once again, history seemed to be repeating itself when the two schools merged - half a century after a similar event at the Polytechnic - this time to create Quintin Kynaston School.