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Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School is a Roman Catholic comprehensive state school in Holland Park, Kensington and Chelsea, London.

Since 1998, the headmaster has been Michael Gormally. The School has Specialist Status in mathematics and information technology.

The School has approximately 950 students and is among the very best comprehensive schools in the UK. It is ranked as a top Comprehensive School in the country by papers such as The Independent, The Guardian and The Times. The sixth form college is in particular one of the best in the country, this being evident in its very high A-Level grades. The standard of the School's music-making is especially fine and renowned nationally. They do not select year seven pupils on academic prowess, but they do test for Catholicity before choosing who they want.

Contents 1 History 2 Buildings 3 Extracurricular activities 4 Schola Cantorum 5 Uniform 6 Former Pupils 7 External links

Founded in 1914, the School is a national memorial to the third Archbishop of Westminster, Herbert Vaughan. At first a private school, it became a state-funded grammar school in 1944. The Vaughan began to take pupils of all abilities in 1977; girls were first admitted to the Sixth Form in 1980. The School is now voluntary-aided and draws pupils chiefly, but not exclusively from Inner London.

The School is divided into two main buildings. It has a sports pavillion and extensive playing fields in Twickenham. The School's Design Technology and Information Technology facilities are particularly impressive whilst the Vaughan has recently added a third floor to the New Building, creating outstanding new music facilities. This new floor holds a Recording Studio, a Music Technology Suite with 20 computers, nine Practice Rooms, a Song School for choral singing, two full-sized classrooms and a large rehearsal hall.

The School offers a wide range of activities. The School fields seven football teams and an equal number of rugby teams. The Vaughan has five cricket teams, which compete in the London Schools League. The School's athletes participate in regional and national competitions, while netball is now a firmly established sport for girls in the Sixth Form. Two boys have gone on to become Olympic successes in rowing.

Music plays an important part in the life of the School. Boys are encouraged to learn musical instruments, including the piano, the organ (of which the School has three), strings, brass, woodwind and percussion. There is also a variety of 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. The School's renowned Big Band has taken part in national competitions and has toured in France, Spain, Netherlands and the USA. The Schola Cantorum has twice represented Great Britain at the Loreto Festival in Italy and has visited Rome three times, singing Vespers in the Basilica of St Peter and performing before the Pope whilst the School Choir has recently toured both Germany and the USA. Boys frequently perform in profressional contexts and have sung with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Choir and the Chorus of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

School journeys are yearly ski trips, Modern Language trips and French Exchanges; over the years, a great many boys have visited countries as far afield as the United States and Greece. Clubs and societies exist for chess, computers, philosophy and the like.

The Schola Cantorum is the School's liturgical choir. The Schola, founded in 1980 and made up of boys aged 11-18, enjoys a reputation as one of the leading choirs of its type. In addition to singing at School Masses, the Schola also has frequent external engagements and has sung at many of London’s major venues including Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, St John’s Smith Square and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

The choir has also featured in Radio and TV broadcasts, most recently on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship; and on Vatican Radio and 'Songs of Praise'. The Schola has travelled widely abroad, singing in Italy, Spain, Greece, Holland, Germany, France and the USA. The choir's most recent tour, in February 2007, was to Barcelona, which included a concert at the Cathedral and a recital at the famous mountain monastery of Montserrat. In 2002 the Schola toured Rome singing at Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's Titular Church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and at the major Basilicas of St John Lateran, St Mary Major, St Paul's outside the Walls and St Peter's. They were addressed by the late Pope John Paul II with these words: "I am pleased to greet the Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in London. May your music, your studies and your lives always be directed to the praise of God and the growth of his Kingdom." In 2005 the choir returned to Rome giving a concert at Sant'Ignazio and singing Mass in St Peter's. The Schola also visited Assisi and sang Mass in the Patriarchal Basilica of San Francesco.

The Schola have recorded a number of CDs including Praise to the holiest, a CD of hymns, Sing in Exultation, a CD of Christmas carols and the most recent, Lauda Sion by Mendelssohn and other works by Dupré and more.

Uniform for boys in the 1st to 5th form (years 7-11) consists of a black blazer, black trousers a white shirt and a maroon and blue striped tie. For boys in the upper and lower sixth, a grey suit. The girls, who are only in the 6th form, wear maroon blazers with grey skirts.

• Richard Daniel Roman British Songwriter and record producer

• Norman St John Stevas, (Lord St John of Fawsley), Conservative politician and Cabinet Minister, Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

• Donald Edward Garland Irish, Victoria Cross recipient
• Paddy Finucane Irish, Distinguished service order recipient, Distinguished Flying cross recipient with two bars

• Roger Delgado British Actor
• Richard Greene British Actor

• Helen Oyeyemi British Novelist

• Eddie Newton (footballer) British Footballer

• Martin Cross (rower) British Rower

• Kevin Gallen British Footballer

• Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School website
• A 360 tour of the school
• The Schola Cantorum.
• Ofsted Report