[1] Its pupils travel from across the local education authority mainly from Brixton, Streatham and Vauxhall and a small proportion from neighbouring boroughs.

[citation needed] Although the buildings on Gipsy Road were originally designed to hold a large number of pupils (up to 1000)[4] the premises were deemed to be insufficient to house the two schools during the 1960s and it was agreed that another site would have to be found to at least accommodate the senior year groups.

[5] Building began of a new Upper School on Crown Dale,[5] near the junction with Elder Road in West Norwood, opposite Norwood Park, a relatively short distance from the school’s current site on Gipsy Road, which ran down another side of the same park.

The only piece of furniture allowed in the new building from the old was the kneehole desk from the Head’s room in Gipsy Road.

[7] Eventually, the first and second years moved to the site on Crown Dale in the late 1980s where the school remains to the present day.

[3] Outside of the academic the school had a number of societies and of particular pride were the choral and orchestral music, drama and dancing activities, a trend that continues today in the school’s designation as a Specialist in Performing and Visual Arts.

[3] Today, the school teaches the national curriculum but its specialist status in Performing and Visual Arts (awarded in September 2005) means that younger students receive weekly lessons in art, dance, drama and music, taught by specialist teachers in state-of-the-art studios.

[1] Older students continue in one or more expressive arts subjects at key stage four, and students can continue their studies in the sixth form, as part of an Arts pathway, or in combination with other academic and vocational subjects.