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St Richard Reynolds Catholic College

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St Richard Reynolds Catholic College is a coeducational Catholic school for pupils aged 4 to 18. It is located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.[1]

St Richard Reynolds Catholic College
Address
Map
Clifden Road

Twickenham
,
Greater London
,
TW1 4LT

England
Coordinates51°26′52″N 0°20′03″W / 51.4477°N 0.3343°W / 51.4477; -0.3343
Information
TypeAcademy
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established2013
Local authorityRichmond upon Thames
TrustAscension Catholic Academy Trust
Department for Education URN149297 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalRichard Burke
GenderCoeducational
Age4 to 18
Websitehttp://www.strichardreynolds.org.uk/

The school is named after Saint Richard Reynolds, a Brigittine monk at Syon Abbey who was executed in 1535 for refusing the Oath of Supremacy to King Henry VIII of England. The feast day of St Richard Reynolds is 4 May.[2]

St Richard Reynolds Catholic College consists of a primary school and a high school: St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11 and St Richard Reynolds Catholic High School for pupils aged 11 to 18. Both the secondary school and the primary school received outstanding grades as the outcome of their first Ofsted inspection in February 2015[3][4] and their second Ofsted inspection in March 2019.[5]

Performance

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As with other schools, latest exam results and related data, for both the secondary school and the primary school, are published in the Department for Education's national tables.[6][7]

Site

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The college is located at a site that was originally Twickenham County School for Girls,[8] and subsequently part of Richmond Adult Community College (RACC).[9] The site was temporarily shared until RACC relocated to its other campus in Richmond towards the end of 2014,[10] vacating the Edwardian main building which was refurbished for use by the school in 2015.[11] A new teaching block was constructed on the site in 2017.

History

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St Richard Reynolds Catholic College was formally proposed by the Diocese of Westminster, in partnership with the Diocese of Southwark, in January 2012 following a campaign by the local Catholic community and others.[12][13][14] It had also been a 2010 election pledge of the local council administration to "work for a Catholic secondary school".[15]

Richmond Council had purchased a site suitable for the proposed school in July 2011 for £8.45 million.[16][17] A local campaign group, Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign (RISC), and local opposition politicians said that a community academy should be considered for the site instead.[18][19][20] However, Richmond Council decided to accept the Diocese of Westminster's proposals on 24 May 2012.[21]

The proposals for the primary school included 10 places that would be allocated without reference to faith and, from 2020, those 10 students would also have priority admission to the secondary school. The secondary school would otherwise prioritise admissions for Catholic children.[22] The local MP Vincent Cable, and Education Secretary Michael Gove, expressed an opinion that both schools should leave 50% of their places open to the community, in line with admissions rules for new Faith Academies, but that suggestion was not adopted.[23]

The establishment of the school was the subject of judicial review proceedings, when RISC, backed by the British Humanist Association, unsuccessfully challenged the legality of the process by which it was set up as a voluntary aided school rather than an academy.[20][24][25] The judgment set a legal precedent for interpretation of the Education Act 2011,[26] and the school's voluntary aided status enabled it to bypass rules applying to new Faith Academies which would have limited the proportion of students admitted using faith selection criteria to 50%.[27]

The school was formally opened and blessed by Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark on 19 September 2013.[28]

In September 2014 the college launched a consultation on conversion to academy status,[29] a move which caused controversy in the light of the school's previous preference for voluntary aided status.[30][31] The school formally converted to academy status in December 2022, and is now sponsored by the Ascension Catholic Academy Trust,[32] but continues to be under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster.[33]

Funding

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The site for St Richard Reynolds Catholic College was purchased by Richmond upon Thames Council for £8.45m,[16] and subsequently leased to the schools on a peppercorn rent.[22]

At the point when the proposals were accepted, the Diocese of Westminster was expected to bear the capital costs, estimated to be between £5m and £8m, of new build and/or adaptation of existing buildings for the new secondary school.[34] £3m of that was expected to be offset by the school governors through fundraising initiatives.[35] As of the end of the 2013/2014 financial year, the Diocesan contribution was recorded in council accounts as £700K.[36]

Richmond Council was expected to meet the costs of the new primary school, estimated to be £1.5m.[34] They did so as part of a wider primary school expansion programme.[37][38]

As the college was established in September 2013 as voluntary aided schools, 100% of running costs, amounting to £690k in the school's first financial year, were met by the state.[39] As the decision to open the school was not driven by basic need, concern was expressed that this would mean that funding would come from money that might otherwise have been available to existing schools.[40]

As with all voluntary aided schools Governors were expected to raise 10% of ongoing capital costs.[35] However, in September 2014 the college launched a consultation on conversion to academy status which, if accepted, would mean that in future 100% of both running costs and capital costs would be met by the state.[29] (The ongoing capital costs of initially establishing the secondary school would remain the responsibility of the Diocese of Westminster, but VAT would be reclaimable on those costs after conversion, giving rise to significant financial savings.)[41]

In February 2015, it was announced that St. Richard Reynolds would receive a contribution to its capital costs from the Priority Schools Building Programme.[42][43]

The schools have also received a substantial donation from the Sir Harold Hood Charitable Trust,[44] which is under the trusteeship of Lord True, who was the leader of Richmond upon Thames Council at the time the school was established, and his wife, Lady True.[45]

Alumni

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References

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  1. ^ "Home – St Richard Reynolds Catholic College". St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Home – St Richard Reynolds". Catholic Online. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  3. ^ "St Richard Reynolds Catholic High School" (PDF). Ofsted. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  4. ^ "St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School" (PDF). Ofsted. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  5. ^ "School report – St Richard Reynolds Catholic High School". Ofsted. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  6. ^ "St Richard Reynolds Catholic High School". Find and Compare Schools in England. Gov.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  7. ^ "St Richard Reynolds Catholic Primary School". Find and Compare Schools in England. Gov.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Twickenham County School for Girls". Twickenham Museum. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Location and Building Programme". St. Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  10. ^ "New Facilities Open – Jan 2015". Racc.ac.uk. Richmond Adult Community College. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  11. ^ "How will the buildings be developed?". St. Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Pre-Statutory Consultation on a proposal to establish a Catholic Secondary School". Diocese of Westminster. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  13. ^ Teed, Paul (12 March 2011). "Parents and churchgoers petition council for Catholic secondary school in Richmond". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  14. ^ Teed, Paul (18 March 2011). "Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Rev Peter Smith, speaks of need for Catholic secondary school in Richmond". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  15. ^ "Putting People First". The Conservative Party Manifesto for Richmond and Twickenham: 2010. Richmond and Twickenham Conservative Party. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  16. ^ a b Teed, Paul (15 July 2011). "Site found for new Catholic secondary school in Twickenham". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  17. ^ Bishop, Rachel (12 September 2012). "Clifton site cost Richmond Council £8.45M". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  18. ^ Teed, Paul (26 September 2011). "Richmond Council's 'divisive' Catholic school consultation comes under attack". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  19. ^ Teed, Paul (5 August 2011). "Campaign group launches petition against Catholic secondary school in Richmond". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  20. ^ a b "The Clifden Road Campaign 2011 – 2012". Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign website. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  21. ^ "Clifden Road Site". Richmond Upon Thames Council. Richmond Council. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  22. ^ a b "Consultation with Richmond upon Thames residents on use of the Clifden Road site, Twickenham" (PDF). Richmond upon Thames Council. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  23. ^ Harrison, Angela (30 March 2012). "Michael Gove calls for faith pupil limit in Twickenham school". BBC News. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  24. ^ Bishop, Rachel (13 October 2012). "New Twickenham Catholic school named, despite High Court battle". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  25. ^ Bishop, Rachel (16 November 2012). "Judicial review backs Richmond Council on Catholic school". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  26. ^ Wolfe, David. "No longer a presumption that new schools will be academies?". A Can of Worms. Wordpress. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  27. ^ Sutcliffe, Jeremy (26 October 2013). "Free but fettered". The Tablet. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  28. ^ "News – St Richard Reynolds Catholic College". St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  29. ^ a b "Academy Consultation". St. Richard Reynolds Catholic College.
  30. ^ "Catholic academy switch plans branded 'cynical'". Richmond and Twickenham Times. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  31. ^ "Letters: Making it a Catholic academy" (PDF). 7 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  32. ^ "The Ascension Catholic Academy Trust - Trust Schools". Ascensioncat.org. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  33. ^ "Introduction – St Richard Reynolds Catholic College". St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  34. ^ a b "Use of Clifden Road Site" (PDF). Richmond upn Thames Council. Richmond upon Thames Council. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  35. ^ a b "Governors Fund". St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  36. ^ Maidment, Mark. "LONDON BOROUGH OF RICHMOND UPON THAMES STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2013/14" (PDF). Richmond.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  37. ^ "CAPITAL BUDGET MONITORING REPORT TO END OF AUGUST 2013". London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  38. ^ "County Education Return to the Education Funding Agency Information on Capital Spend – SCAP2013" (PDF). London Borough of RIchmond upon Thames. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  39. ^ "Schools Forum: icated Schools Grant (DSG) 2013/14 & 20 12/13 and Section 251 Budget Statement". London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  40. ^ "SCHOOLS FORUM: Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 24 January 2013" (PDF). Richmond upon Thames Council. Richmond upon Thames Council. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  41. ^ "Academy Consultation Q&A" (PDF). St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  42. ^ "Priority School Building Programme 2 (PSBP2): list of successful schools" (PDF). Gov.uk. Department for Education. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  43. ^ "Brand new Catholic school that High Court ruled was 'unneeded' gets funds intended for schools 'in urgent need of repair'". Fair Admissions Campaign. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  44. ^ "Support". St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  45. ^ "SIR HAROLD HOOD'S CHARITABLE TRUST". Open Charities. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
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