Camden School for Girls

Comprehensive school in London, England (founded 1871)

The Camden School for Girls

Address

Sandall Road

Camden Town
London

NW5 2DB

England

Coordinates| 51°32′46″N 0°08′05″W﻿ / ﻿51.546°N 0.1347°W﻿ / 51.546; -0.1347
Information
Type| Voluntary aided
Motto| Onwards and Upwards
Established| 1871
Founder| Frances Mary Buss
Local authority| Camden
Department for Education URN| 100054 Tables
Ofsted| Reports
Chair of Governors| Janet Pope
Headmistress| Kateryna Law
Gender| Girls; coeducational sixth form
Age| 11 to 18
Enrolment| 1,034
Colour(s)|   Camden green   White
Publication| Friday News, Sixth Sense
Affiliations| Camden Consortium
Website| http://www.camdengirls.camden.sch.uk/

The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialist-school status as a Music College.[1] The school has long been associated with the advancement of women's education.

## History

[edit]

Founded in 1871 by the suffragist Frances Mary Buss, who also founded North London Collegiate School, the Camden School for Girls was one of the first girls' schools in England. Although not a fee-paying school by then, girls in the mid-20th century wore a traditional uniform of dark green, with blue and green striped ties. The blazer badge showed a type of ancient sailing ship called a 'buss' to commemorate the founder's surname, with the motto "Onwards and Upwards". No entry exams were held, in its pre-comprehensive era; however, entrance was by interview.

### Evacuation in the Second World War

[edit]

352 girls were evacuated to Uppingham School in September 1939, but it did not work as hoped. So, on Thursday 19 October 1939 the girls were moved to Grantham in Lincolnshire to be educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, but 450 girls were intended to have been evacuated; Margaret Thatcher, Conservative prime minister from 1979–90, was one of the girls at the Grantham school.[2][3][4] The music teacher Grace Williams, a Welsh composer, arrived with the Camden school, and composed pieces while at Grantham. Zoologist Hilda Mabel Canter, of the British Phycological Society, was one of the 352 girls evacuated. Girls from Grantham were taught in the classrooms in the mornings and the Camden girls were taught in the afternoon. The Camden school moved to Stamford High School, Lincolnshire in March 1941, having stayed in Grantham for five terms. The girls stayed in Stamford, Lincolnshire for seven terms, leaving in summer 1943.[5][6] Stamford people were quite unaccustomed to city dwellers and local people noticed the distinctive green school uniform.

### Grammar school

[edit]

One of its most formative headmistresses, Doris Burchell, took on the school in the post-war years and developed it in both science and music, overseeing new building on the site. The Sir John Cockcroft science wing was built from funds raised by many means, including a series of Celebrity Concerts held at the school and involving many eminent musicians. The school was damaged in the war but rebuilt in 1957, the architect being John Eastwick-Field OBE.[7] In 1973, the assembly hall roof collapsed following deterioration of its roof beams due to problems with the high-alumina cement concrete used.[8]

### Comprehensive

[edit]

It became a comprehensive school in 1976, although only year by year. It was not fully comprehensive until 1981.

## Academic performance

[edit]

A 1999 Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) report called it "a unique and very effective school in many ways". Another, written in March 2005, said it was an "outstanding school with excellent features", and the most recent report said that it "rightly deserves the outstanding reputation it has among parents and in the community". Its GCSE results are excellent, and its A-level results are the best in the Camden LEA outside the private sector.[9]

## Notable former pupils

[edit]

See also: Category:People educated at Camden School for Girls

The following people were educated at the Camden School for Girls. Some of them only attended the sixth form.

* Sally Beamish (born 1956), composer[10]
* Johnny Borrell (born 1980), musician[11]
* Sarah Brown (born 1963), PR consultant, wife of Gordon Brown[12][13]
* Sara Annie Burstall (1859–1939)[14]
* Bessie Carter (born 1993), actress [15]
* Julia Cleverdon (born 1950), charity worker[16]
* Charlotte Coleman (1968–2001), actress, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, expelled at the age of 16[17][18]
* Athene Donald (born 1953), Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge[19]
* Julia Donaldson (born 1948), author[20][21]
* Lily Donaldson (born 1987), model[22]
* Catching Flies (born 1991), musician[23]
* Nubya Garcia (born 1991), jazz musician[24]
* Georgia Gould (born 1986), Labour Party politician, leader of Camden London Borough Council[25]
* Eileen Greenwood (1915–2008), artist, printmaker, and art teacher[26]
* Tamsin Greig (born 1967), actress[27]
* Geri Halliwell (born 1972), singer, Spice Girls[13]
* John Hassall (born 1981), musician, The Libertines[28]
* Julia Hobsbawm (born 1964), PR, author and networking engineer
* Edith Humphrey (1875–1978), inorganic chemist, thought to be the first British woman to obtain a doctorate in chemistry.[29]
* Daniel Kaluuya (born 1989), Oscar-winning actor and comedian[30]
* Kate Kellaway (born 1957), journalist for The Observer[31]
* Lucy Kellaway (born 1959), writer and journalist for The Financial Times[31][32]
* Beeban Kidron (born 1961), former film director (including of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit), and peer in House of Lords[33]
* Sally Laird (1956–2010), editor, writer and translator[34]
* Lilian Lindsay (1871–1960), first woman with a British qualification in dentistry, having graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1895[35]
* Jodhi May (born 1975), actress[36]
* Natascha McElhone (born 1969), actress
* Fiona Millar (born 1958), journalist and education campaigner[37]
* Deborah Moggach (born 1948), novelist and screenwriter[38]
* Ellie Rowsell (born 1992), lead singer and guitarist in Wolf Alice[39]
* Anna Shaffer (born 1992), actress[citation needed]
* Marianne Stone (1922–2009), actress, notably in Carry On films[40]
* Cleo Sylvestre (born 1945), actress, first black woman to play a lead at the National Theatre [41]
* E. G. R. Taylor (1871–1966), geographer and historian[42]
* Emma Thompson (born 1959), actress[13]
* Sophie Thompson (born 1962), actress[citation needed]
* Lowri Turner (born 1964), presenter & journalist[43]
* Arabella Weir (born 1957), actress, comedian and author[13][44]

### Fictional pupils

[edit]

* Prudence Harbinger, fictional character in The Sunday Telegraph, created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran[citation needed]

## Notable former teachers

[edit]

* Carol Handley née Taylor - Classics teacher, Headmistress (1971-1985)[45]
* Annie E. Ridley \- governor[46]

## Further reading

[edit]

* Doris Burchell, Miss Buss' Second School, 1971.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Camden School for Girls". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
2. ^ Nottingham Evening Post, Tuesday 10 October 1939, p. 6.
3. ^ Grantham Journal, Saturday 14 October 1939, p. 8.
4. ^ Grantham Journal, Friday 23 February 1940, p. 4.
5. ^ Grantham Journal Friday 1 August 1941, page 2
6. ^ Holloway Press Friday 30 January 1942, page 4
7. ^ "John Eastwick-Field". Timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2013.[dead link]
8. ^ Hill, R. N. (1997). "Are Old High Aluminia Cement Concrete (HACC) Roof Structures Still a Problem?".
9. ^ "Education | League Tables | Secondary schools in Camden". BBC News. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
10. ^ "Sally Beamish: collaborative artistry". Incorporated Society of Musicians. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
11. ^ "Johnny Borrell (1980)". www.mn.mediatly.com. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
12. ^ Gaby Hinsliff, "Lady in waiting", The Observer, 2 October 2005, Retrieved 30 March 2008.
13. ^ a b c d Max Davidson, Town vs gown: north London, The Daily Telegraph, 6 September 2008.
14. ^ "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/45782. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
15. ^ Parker, Kate (17 August 2019). "Bessie Carter: 'MRS Hatton gave me a taste of drama'". tes.
16. ^ Ashton, James (9 February 2015). "Dame Julia Cleverdon interview: 'The price we all pay if children". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
17. ^ "Obituary: Charlotte Coleman", Daily Telegraph, 17 November 2001.
18. ^ Valentine, Penny; "Obituary: Charlotte Coleman", The Guardian, 19 November 2001.
19. ^ "DONALD, Prof. Dame Athene Margaret, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012; online edn, November 2012".
20. ^ "Press Cuttings". The Camden School for Girls. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
21. ^ Duerden, Nick (16 August 2015). "Relative Values: The Gruffalo, author Julia Donaldson, and her sister, Mary". The Times. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
22. ^ Eyre, Hermione (17 February 2011). "How the world fell in love with Camden girl Lily Donaldson". London Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
23. ^ Evans, Laura (29 November 2018). "Catching Flies: watch this video set around NW5 and beyond". Kentishtowner. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
24. ^ https://www.camdengirls.camden.sch.uk/news/?pid=1183&nid=83&storyid=778 [dead link]
25. ^ "Georgia Gould selected for Camden seat | London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
26. ^ "Greenwood, Eileen Constance ARCA" in Who's Who in Art, Volume 32 (Bernard Dolman, Art Trade Press, 2006), p. 398.
27. ^ Sale, Jonathan (8 January 2009). "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of the actress Tamsin Greig". The Independent. London. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
28. ^ Galton, Bridget (12 July 2017). "Best of the fest: London's summer parties in the park". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
29. ^ Bunting, Judith (2023). "Humphrey, Edith Ellen (1875–1978), chemist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382359. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
30. ^ Irish Writing, Corkucopia (22 February 2018), "Call me Kaluuya?", WordPress, retrieved 4 December 2021
31. ^ a b Williams, Sally (25 April 2010), "Lucy Kellaway interview for In Office Hours", The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 28 April 2010, retrieved 19 December 2011
32. ^ Interview by Jonathan Sale (1 February 2007). "Lucy Kellaway". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
33. ^ Ward, Helen (15 September 2018). "The Tes profile: Children's rights campaigner Beeban Kidron | Tes Magazine". www.tes.com. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
34. ^ Kellaway, Kate (10 August 2010). "Sally Laird obituary: Writer and translator of Russian literature". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
35. ^ Haines, Catharine M.C. (2001). International women in science: a biographical dictionary to 1950. ABC-CLIO Inc. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-57607-090-1.
36. ^ Culture (4 September 2001). "The anonymous celebrity". Telegraph. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
37. ^ Sale, Jonathan (6 May 2010). "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Fiona Millar, journalist". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
38. ^ Rustin, Susanna (16 February 2013). "Deborah Moggach: a life in writing". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
39. ^ McCormick, Neil (27 August 2015). "Wolf Alice interview: 'I never felt much like a girl'". The Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
40. ^ "Marianne Stone". Timesonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
41. ^ Bakare, Lanre (15 October 2020). "Cleo Sylvestre: The incredible life of the black actor who should have been one of Britain's biggest stars". TheGuardian.com.
42. ^ G. R. Crone, "Obituary: Professor E. G. R. Taylor, D. Sc.", The Geographical Journal 132:4 (1966), pp. 594–596.
43. ^ https://uk.linkedin.com/in/lowri-turner-77655145 [self-published source]
44. ^ Jonathan Sale (22 January 1998). "Arabella Weir". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
45. ^ Pat Easterling, "Handley, Eric Walter (1926–2013)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2017.
46. ^ Ridley, Annie E. (1896). Frances Mary Buss and Her Work for Education. London: Longmans, Green & Co.

## External links

[edit]

* EduBase[permanent dead link]

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Schools and colleges in Camden

Primary schools|

* Fitzjohn's Primary School
* Torriano Primary School

Secondary schools|

* Acland Burghley School
* Camden School for Girls
* Hampstead School
* Haverstock School
* La Sainte Union Catholic School
* Maria Fidelis RC Convent School
* Parliament Hill School
* Regent High School
* UCL Academy
* William Ellis School

Independent schools|

* The Academy School
* Devonshire House Preparatory School
* Fine Arts College
* The Hall School
* Hereward House School
* North Bridge House School
* St Margaret's School
* St Anthony's School
* South Hampstead High School
* Southbank International School
* University College School

Further education|

* City Literary Institute
* Mary Ward Centre
* Working Men's College

Defunct schools|

* The Royal School
* St David's School
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Authority control databases

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