The school dates from 1873, when the
London School Board leased the site, although a school had existed there before. The new school was completed and opened in 1877, as "Medburn Street School". In 1904, it was renamed the "Stanley School", though reversed in 1910 to avoid confusion with another nearby Stanley School. It originally took children up to age eleven, later extended to older pupils. After 1938, following various reorganisations, the school no longer took pupils under eleven-years-old. In 1951 it merged with part of the
North London Polytechnic school for boys, based in Prince of Wales Road,
Kentish Town, and became a boys school, "Sir William Collins School", named after Sir
William Job Collins, an eminent surgeon and local politician. During the 1950s the school was considered to be a "technical school", academic studies were taught at the Medburn Street site, technical and science subjects at the Polytechnic in Kentish Town. The school added "Secondary" to its title around 1960 when it became a comprehensive school, though still for boys only. This was part of the London County Council policy at the time for all inner London schools. It then became "South Camden Community School" in 1993. The original
Victorian school buildings were located between
Chalton Street and Medburn Street; Medburn Street was used as the address. Medburn Street was demolished when, between 1958 and 1961, the London County Council extended the site and buildings to Charrington Street, which became the new address with the school offices located on that side. The new extensions were officially opened in October 1961 by eminent engineer
Sir Willis Jackson (later Lord Jackson of Burnley). The extensions had, however, already been partially occupied in 1960 out of necessity with the large expansion of pupils, to approximately 1,100 at the time, which made it one of the largest schools in inner London. The site for the new extension was about . The cost at the time was £375,000, and a further £36,500 for furniture and equipment. The architect was
Mr William Crabtree, FRIBA and the general contractor
Gee, Walker & Slater Ltd. The design consisted of interconnected quadrangles, designed to have as many rooms looking inwards as possible.
Rebranding The school was rebranded and renamed in 2012. The new name was chosen after consultation with students, staff and governors, and the construction of a £25 million new building with classrooms, a fully equipped gym, three all-weather multi-use pitches, science laboratories, a theatre with professional lighting and staging, drama studios, music recital rooms, technology suites, a recording studio, four art studios, a media studies suite and a large library. The school plans to use the new building to become a hub for their community and partner primary schools. == Ofsted ==