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The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School is a Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form in Holland Park, London, England, with approximately 1,030 students.
After the 1903 death of the third Archbishop of Westminster, Herbert, Cardinal Vaughan, an appeal was made to raise funds to found a boys' school to be named as a memorial to him; some £20,000 was subscribed. The school was founded in 1914; the founders included Viscount Fitzalan, the Duke of Norfolk and the Marquis of Ripon. The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School opened its doors in the Victorian building now known as Addison Hall, as a private school, to twenty-nine boys on 21September 1914, appointing Canon Driscoll as the first headmaster.
In the 1920s, the school expanded and it was decided to seek recognition by the Board of Education for the grant as an independent day school. The first Higher Certificates with Distinction were achieved in 1926, the first classical scholarship (at Christ's College, Cambridge), and the first ordination of Vaughan boys to the priesthood. A piece of land, some 6 acres (2.4ha) in North Wembley, was purchased for playing fields. In 1937, this plot was exchanged for the present site at Twickenham, adjacent to the international Rugby Football Union ground.
Enrolment had grown to 220 by 1928, and neared 300 by 1938. The school was evacuated to Beaumont College, Windsor, during the course of the Second World War. It moved back in the summer of 1945. Thirty-nine old boys who were killed in the War are named in the School's Roll of Honour, including the first Victoria Cross of the war in the Royal Air Force, Flying Officer Donald Edward Garland.
School fees were abolished after the war, as The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School transitioned from a public school to a state-funded grammar school under the Education Act 1944. However, there were concerns about the low standards of new admissions, whose primary education had suffered during the evacuation; in 1948, Cardinal Griffin referred to this as a "time of crisis" for the school, though it was alleviated through a series of programmes to inspire the students' interest.
In the early and mid-1950s, the curriculum shifted from the Classics to include Advanced A-Level subjects. A new building was opened in 1964 to accommodate the growing enrolment. In the 1970s, the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) and board of governors considered various reorganization proposals in the amalgamation of schools. The school began to take pupils of all abilities in 1977 and became an all-ability school. Girls were first admitted to the sixth form in 1977. The school became a voluntary-aided public school and drew pupils chiefly, but not exclusively, from Inner London.
In 1998, an article in The Observer described the school as "fast gaining a reputation as one of the top schools" in London, and the authors of the article added that it also was "one of the best in the country."[1]
The school saw expansions in 2000, 2005 and 2014. The school was granted specialist status for mathematics, computing and science.
While nominally a state comprehensive, it has resisted attempts by local governmental and religious authority figures to widen the accessibility criteria for potential pupils. In 2009, the school was referred to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator as there were concerns that its admissions policy was 'elitist' and 'penalised the less devout'.[2] The Schools Adjudicator ruled that elements of the school's admissions policy were "'unlawful' and 'unfair', and the school was compelled to change this.[2]
The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School was the highest-ranking Catholic comprehensive school in a table of A-Level results published on 15 August 2024 by The Times, compiled using data submitted by the 190 UK schools listed. The school has also been ranked by The Times as one of the "happiest secondary schools" based on data collected by Ofsted, with a 98% happiness rating.
The school is divided into four main buildings, Addison Hall (a.k.a. the Old Building), the New Building, the "Centenary Building" and the Pellegrini Building. The later two are adjoined on the main grounds on the west side of Addison Road, with Addison Hall on the east side of the road.
Structural work was conducted on Addison Hall when dry rot was discovered in the late 1940s. At this same time, the outer wall of the main hall was found to be in danger of collapse and steel supports were sunk into the wall to make it safe.
The school chapel was opened on 19January 1915, decorated by Thomas Seadon with life-size paintings of Thomas More and John Fisher Oater, the patron saints of the school.
The New Building was officially opened in June1964. A third floor was later added, housing music facilities with a recording studio, a music technology suite, nine practice rooms, a song school for choral singing, two full-sized classrooms and a large rehearsal hall.
The school's design technology and information technology facilities make up the majority of the Pellegrini Building. The Centenary Building is an extension completed in 2014, with eight classrooms and two art suites.
The school has a sports pavilion and playing fields in Twickenham opposite Twickenham Stadium, the UK's main rugby stadium. The pavilion was rebuilt and opened in January1995.
The school fields seven Football teams and an equal number of rugby union teams. The school's athletes participate in regional and national competitions. Girls in the sixth form play netball.
Rugby
The school's home grounds are positioned adjacent to Twickenham Stadium, the home of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The rugby season commences in September with trials for all age groups [citation needed]. All rugby teams play Saturday morning fixtures for the duration of the Michaelmas term. In addition to Saturday morning fixtures, senior teams are involved in midweek and cup fixtures.
Vaughan boys compete in many competitions across the country and against other schools, and also in annual House Varsity games [citation needed].
Senior Rugby players also play Saturday morning and midweek fixtures during the Lent term. In addition to Rugby Union the school also enters various Rugby Sevens tournaments which generally take place during the Lent term.
Rowing
The school has the use of Barn Elms Boat Club, where boys can learn to row and scull [citation needed]. The school has produced Olympic Rowers.
Football
Football fixtures are played throughout the Michaelmas and Lent terms. Only the 1st and 2nd XI teams play Saturday morning fixtures during the Michaelmas term. The school's football teams are also entered in various local and national cup competitions. Games for these competitions are played midweek.
Pupils founded a music society in 1935. Pupils may, at their families' cost, study musical instruments, including the piano, the organ (of which the school has four, including a Snetzler Chamber Organ on loan from the Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Cathedral), strings, brass, woodwind and percussion. There are also several choirs and orchestras: the Schola Cantorum, the Sixth Form Choir, the School Choir, the School Orchestra, the Concert Band, the Junior String Ensemble, the Senior Strings and the Chamber Orchestra, all of which give regular concerts [citation needed]. The school's Big Band has taken part in national competitions and has toured in France, Spain, Netherlands and the US. It has performed alongside Salena Jones and Jason Yarde and had commissions from Bob Mintzer, Frank Griffith, Jeff Jarvis and Richard Harris[citation needed].
The Schola Cantorum is the School's liturgical choir, founded in 1980 and made up of boys aged 11 to 18. The Schola sings at school Masses, and has frequent external engagements. It has performed at many of London's major venues, twice represented Great Britain at the Loreto Festival in Italy, toured internationally, and performed before the Pope. It has performed professionally with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Choir and the Chorus of the Royal Opera, and been featured on film soundtracks including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Life of Pi and Paddington. The choir has also appeared on BBC Radio 4's Sunday Worship, Vatican Radio, and the religious choral programme Songs of Praise on BBC television[citation needed].
The Schola has recorded a number of CDs, including hymn collection Praise to the holiest, Christmas carol collection Sing in Exultation, and Lauda Sion by Mendelssohn and works by Dupré and others[citation needed].
The Schola Cantorum is currently led by Scott Price, who serves as conductor and director of music at the school.[3]
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article and are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(September 2025) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )
Between 1939-1945, thirty-nine Old Vaughanians gave their lives in the successful struggle against Fascism. "We offer these records with pride."
Peter Bona [f.], Charles Brasseur [d.], Peter Byrne [i.], Geoffrey Chilton [b.], Reginal Coath [r.], John Collins [e.], Terence Culnane [a.], George Dale [a.], Joseph Daniel [e.], Michael D'Arcy [g.], Sydney Darwood [a.], Robert De Sandoval [b.], Thadde D'Hondt [a.], Rowland Ennor [h.], Desmond Garland [a.], Donald Garland [a.], Joseph Gordon [c.], Vincent Halliday-Sutherland [a.], Francis Head [l.], Paddy Finucane [a.], Arthur Hirons [a.], Louis Howard [a.], Harold Jordan [p.], John Kelly [k.], William Lundon [a.], Phillip McErlain [q.], David Monteith [n.], Michael Morton[a.], John Osborne [a.], Henri Phillipe [a.], Stanley Rowe [b.], Anthony Russell [e.], David Sewell [j.], William Sherratt [o.], Andrew Strange [i.], Kenneth Swadling [a.], Frank Vance [a.], Cecil Wall [c.], John Young [a.], Bernard ODonoghue [m.]
[a.] Royal Air Force, [b.] Royal Navy, [c.] Fleet Air Arm, [d.] Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, [e.] Royal Artillery, [f.] Royal Army Service Corps, [g.] Royal Fusiliers, [h.] Royal Naval Reserve, [i.] Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, [j.] Inns of Court Regiment, [k.] Royal Ulster Rifles, [l.] Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, [m.] 3rd Madras Regiment, [n.] Indian Army., [o.] Royal West Kents, [p.] Royal Armoured Corps, [q.] 1st London Irish Rifles, [r.] 5th Beds & Herts
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