When plans to build the school were revealed in 1956, local residents formed an action group to stop the building, among its members was the future poet laureate John Betjeman, who worried about the trees; the naturalist Peter Scott, who claimed the children would frighten away nightingales; and the High Commissioner of South Africa, who feared that his garden parties would be ruined. The "Kensington Post" was inundated with letters from residents who feared that the school would "reduce Campden Hill to Earl's Court". The lobbyists were unsuccessful and the demolition began around 1957 and the first comprehensive school opened in 1958. It was officially inaugurated a year later by Lady Norman.