The Camden School for Girls

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. The school has long been associated with the advancement of women's education. History 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'. Although no entry exams were held, in its pre-comprehensive era, entrance was by interview. Evacuation in the Second World War 352 girls were evacuated on Thursday 19 October 1939 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. The music teacher Grace Williams, a Welsh composer, arrived with the Camden school, and composed pieces whilst 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 back to Uppingham in Rutland in March 1941, having stayed in Grantham for five terms. Grammar school One of its most formative headmistresses, Doris Burchell, took on the school in the post war years and developed its renowned strengths in both science and music, overseeing a massive amount of 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. In 1973 the assembly hall roof collapsed following deterioration of its roof beams due to problems with the high-alumina cement concrete used.