The original Roman road, which ran north from London, was built by the Romans about 2000 years ago. In later years this was called Watling Street. The foundations for this road are still there under the Edgware Road, not far from Colindale School.
Colindale was mainly farmland until the 1930s. In 1911, Claude Grahame-White invested in building London’s first Aerodrome (Hendon Aerodrome) in what is now the Grahame Park Estate. It was later sold to the Royal Air Force and was used in World War I and World War II. On the same site there is now an RAF Museum which houses a reconstruction of Grahame-White’s factory interior.
In the 1930s, the extension of London Underground brought the suburbs out to Colindale. When new houses were built, Colindale School was constructed to provide for the new population boom to the area. The wings on the old school logo symbolised the aerodrome built by Claude Grahame-White. Until the 1960s there used to be bomb shelters at the bottom of the playing fields. These shelters were used during World War II (1939-1945) by the school children and teachers.
In 2011, the new school was built on the old school’s playing fields. The old school had grown too small for the ever-increasing population in Colindale. In December 2011, the old school was demolished and the new outdoor areas were established.
Colindale is only 40 minutes away from the city centre. It has been a popular residential area for people from all over the world and we have as many as 40 different mother tongues spoken by children in our school.