The school was evacuated to Denbigh during the Second World War,[4] and was a centre for children to sit the eleven-plus in the 1940s and 1950s.

[9] A local resident said that the problem with children not being offered places at Holly Lodge happened every year.

[14][15] Keith Joseph, Secretary of State for Education, intervened and said the school must stay open.

[22] The school ran adult education classes, also open to pupils aged 16+, with a nude model.

[23] In 2002, the director of art at the school received the BT and Tate Modern art-in-education award.