Kingswood Primary School

History of the School

Building of our school commenced in 1878 by G. Ward of Dulwich. At this time, the school was designed to accommodate 600 children. The school opened on 12th April 1880. During the period of 1904 – 1905 the building was considerably extended and enlarged to accommodate 1200 children. Architectural drawings of the school at this time are on show around the school. It was known as ‘Salters Hill School’ after the adjacent road. We are very fortunate to have such an attractive and well-proportioned school building, which remains in excellent condition. Our building is of local historical importance and has been ‘listed’ by English Heritage.

Between 1933 - 1934 the school changed its intake from an all age school for 7 – 14 year olds to a Junior school catering for children aged 7 – 11 years of age. At this time, however, the school was still divided into separate Boys’ and Girls’ Schools. The Boys’ School was closed on 31st August 1939 due to the Second World War and reopened on 20th September 1945 with a roll of 240 children.

The name of the school changed from Salters Hill to Kingswood in 1951. The name ‘Kingswood’ originates from the fact that our local area used to be heavily wooded. The southern area was known as South Wood and the northern area as North Wood, resulting in Norwood. During the reign of King Henry VIII the woodland was owned by the king for hunting and the woods became known as “King’s Wood" giving rise to the name Kingswood Primary School.