History of Kenmore Park School

In William the Conquerors Doomsday Book the area of Harrow is mentioned. Over the years there were a few large houses or mansions built in the area, Harrow and Kenton were farmland.

As London expanded more and more house were built around Kingsbury, when that was full they moved towards Kenton

Up until the early 1900’s the school site was farmland, which was owned by Lord Queensbury Just after 1900 some of the area was turned into a grass airfield. This was probably to support the local aircraft factory in Kingsbury.

After the 1st World War the area was designated to become a housing estate. It was around 1930 that the first houses were built on the Kenmore Park Estate to cope with London’s expanding population. The land was then purchased by the London County Council so to support the housing development Middlesex County Education Department agreed to build a school in the estate to educate the children on the estate. Harrow later took over the role when the Borough was created in 1954.

Kenmore Park Schools actually opened in 1938 but the official opening wasn’t until 21st April 1939. When the school started it was designed to educate 434 infant children and 436 Junior children. The school cost £33 000 to build.

The first Headteacher of the infant school was called Miss Lovelock and the first Headteacher of the Juniors was Mr V Wells.

Currently, there have been five previous Headteachers of the school:- Mr Wells, Mr Walker, Mr Warrick, Mr Hildrew, Mrs Vaz and Mr Baumring.

As there was a connection between the aircraft industry and the area many of the roads around the school were named after famous aviators.

The school recently had a volunteer adult supporting reading in the school. She was a child who began her schooling here on the very first day that the school opened. She has told us stories that during the Second World war when the sirens went off all of the children had to put on their gas masks and go into the bunkers in the playground. She distinctly remembers reciting her times tables in the bunkers whilst wearing her gas masks. When the new extension was recently added the workmen think that they found the foundations to those bunkers.