Name announced for long-awaited new Catholic school in London

St Richard Reynolds Catholic College

St Richard Reynolds Catholic College is the name of the new Catholic School Community for boys and girls in Twickenham, west London. The College includes a Catholic secondary school, St Richard Reynolds Catholic High School and a Catholic primary school, St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School. The schools will open in September 2013.

The long-awaited Catholic secondary school will meet a significant demand in the area for Catholic maintained secondary education. Children who, in the past, had to travel many miles to the nearest Catholic secondary school will now be able to apply to the school which will be situated in Clifden Road, Twickenham. The new Catholic primary school will be on the same site. The College will be voluntary aided within the trusteeship of the Diocese of Westminster. It will have a strong Catholic ethos and a policy of inclusivity.

Applications are invited for places in Reception at St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School for children born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009 for entry in September 2013. 10 places in the primary school will be allocated on the basis of distance from the school and not on the religion of the child. The remaining 20 places will be allocated with priority given to baptised Catholic children.

Applications for places in September 2013 at St Richard Reynolds Catholic High School are also invited for children currently in Year 6 at primary school. Children from all faiths and none will be very welcome at the school but if the school is oversubscribed, priority will be given to baptised Catholic children living in the Richmond parishes within the deaneries of Mortlake and Upper Thames.

The Admissions Policy and Supplementary Information Form are available from the London Borough of Richmond www.richmond.gov.uk and the full oversubscription criteria for can be found on the Diocese of Westminster website www.rcdow.org.uk

Open Day

An open day about the schools will be held in the main hall at Clifden Road on Saturday 20 October. The event will be spilt into two sessions; 9am - 11 am for the primary school and 11am - 1pm for the secondary school. This will provide parents, children and other interested people to find out more about the schools and to ask questions. All are welcome.

As a Catholic school, Catholic teaching and practice will permeate every aspect of the College's activity and daily prayer and worship will be integral to the curriculum. The College will provide an education that aims at excellence in academic achievement in which personal and spiritual development are of paramount importance. Pupils will be given every opportunity to develop their talents to the full and to discover how they can use these gifts for the good of society. The College will promote equality and diversity and prepare pupils for life in a multi-cultural, multi-faith society.

In collaboration with other schools within the borough and with close links to the six existing Catholic primary schools in Richmond and other primary schools in the local area, the new schools will eventually provide 210 primary school places and 1,050 secondary school places including 300 sixth form pupils in five forms of entry. Each year an additional year of entry will be admitted until the full complement is reached in 2019.

The College is seeking a Principal to lead both schools and expects to make an appointment by the end of October.

Bishop John Sherrington, Chairman of the Education Department at the Diocese of Westminster said: "Local people have been pressing the Diocese for a Catholic secondary school in Richmond for more than ten years. The local Catholic community has been encouraged by the support over that time from successive administrations in Richmond. The new schools will work together with the network of schools in the borough to help provide the highest quality education for all Richmond children."

Saint Richard Reynolds

The College has been placed under the Patronage of a saint with local connections: Saint Richard Reynolds. Saint Richard Reynolds O.Ss.S, was a Bridgettine Canon of Syon Abbey, founded in Twickenham by Henry V. He was born in Devon, educated at Cambridge, and joined the Abbey in 1513. He was martyred at Tyburn on 4 May 1535 with three Carthusian priors for refusing the Oath of Supremacy. He was beatified in 1886 and canonised by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales on 25 October 1970. His feast day is 4 May.

Judicial review

The British Humanist Association and one of their local members, Mr Jeremy Rodell, have initiated court action to try to prevent the new schools from opening next September. The BHA promotes a secular form of humanism and campaigns for a completely secular state and an end to all Catholic schools (and all schools with a religious character). They have applied for a Judicial Review into the council's decision to approve the proposals from the Diocese of Westminster. The Council and the Diocese are each confident that they have acted lawfully throughout what was an extended consultation exercise and democratic process, and they are confident the Court will confirm this.

The Director for Education for the Diocese of Westminster, Paul Barber said: "In the meantime, the law imposes a statutory duty on both the Diocese and the Council to implement the proposals that have been approved. We will therefore be complying with that duty to ensure that the schools are ready to open in September 2013."

Source: Archbishops House