Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School

Canon Driscoll

Hired at a salary of £200 per year, Canon Driscoll was appointed as the first headmaster. He confessed to having spent the summer months anxiously worrying about how many boys would face him on opening day. Two classes were held in the top rooms. Driscoll took one and Father W. Horgan the other. Driscoll was sparing with praise but bestowed it with such simplicity and sincerity that the recipient always felt he meant much more than he said. His absorption into the life of the school was so intense that he was unhappy when the boys had let for their holidays, leaving him to the quiet, deserted classrooms.

Under Driscoll's guidance, the school found its feet during the Great War. Academic standards were high leading to the School and Higher Certificates of the Oxford and Cambridge Joint Board. Enrollment grew and enabled Driscol to build a young and energetic teaching staff.

In the autumn of 1927 Canon Driscoll's health began to fail and he died 29 December, at the age of 57.

Monsignor Canon Vance

Dr Vance was well known as a scholar and writer when he succeeded Driscoll as headmaster. He ran a tight ship: strict punctuality was expected, students were not permitted to write left-handed without a medical certificate documenting a necessary deviation, and teachers were instructed on a prescribed manner of blackboard writing. He took an intense pride in all things English, instilling a sense of patriotism in the student body.

While the school was evacuated to Windsor for the course of the Second World War, Vance was concerned about the standards of behaviour of the boys under wartime conditions. It was made clear to the boys: that making light of discomfort was manly; that writing cheery and interesting letters home would ease the troubles of their families; and that it was a point of honour to never complain. He later took on a Churchillian tone, to instil the qualities of the English tradition and that of resistance, courage and devoutness.

Following the war, the Vaughan School transitioned from a public school to a state-funded grammar school. In 1947, Vance expressed concerns about the low standards of new admissions, whose primary education had suffered terribly during the evacuation. He resigned as headmaster in 1948.

Canon Butcher

Monsignor Kenefeck

Father Reginald Butcher had served the Vaughan School during its evacuation to Windsor. Under his direction as headmaster, a large programme of activities was established to interest the boys in the world's great artists, musicians and writers. He cared deeply for the religious life of the school and creating a union between the artistic and the spiritual. He was especially pleased by the attention given to religious music, to religious art and to the works of the great Catholic writers. In 1952, Butcher was transferred, appointed as president of St Edmund's College, Ware. He was later nominated as a Canon of Westminster and a papal monsignor.

Father Richard Kenefeck served his entire career at the Vaughan School, beginning in 1938, and was its longest-serving headmaster. He was primarily concerned with the expansion of the sixth form. Advanced A-Level subjects were introduced to a curriculum which had largely been devoted to the Classics, with mathematics and sciences added in 1956. Also of concern was organizing the school into a new building which was opened in 1964 to accommodate the growing enrollment.

Fr Anthony Pellegrini

Michael Gormally

Anthony Pellegrini, the first headmaster who was not a cleric, was appointed in 1976. He had joined the school as a general subjects teacher immediately after graduating from the London School of Economics, and in 1969 was appointed deputy head despite being the youngest candidate. He became headmaster at the age of 36 and was often seen about, knowing every student by name.

Pellegrini saw the school's transition from a selective grammar school to a voluntary-aided school, taking in students with learning difficulties. He also helped to establish a community service unit, which organized student volunteers.

In September 1997, Michael Gormally became headmaster and oversaw continuing expansion of the school. A mezzanine floor in the Main Building was opened to sixth form pupils, new music rooms were opened in 2005, and the school was granted specialist status for mathematics, computing, and science. Examination results remained high, even taking into account alleged grade inflation during these years, and the Vaughan School consistently placed amongst the highest-achieving schools both at GCSE and A Level.

Mr Gormally fell ill in 2008 and retired formally in 2009.

Charles Eynaud

Paul Stubbings

For a two-year period Charles Eynaud was acting headmaster.

In October 2011, the Governors appointed Paul Stubbings as the school's headmaster. Academic standards remained high; The Times ranked Cardinal Vaughan as the highest attaining school at both A-Level and GCSE in the country in 2013 and 2014. The school received an Outcomes Award for the "Significant Added Value the Teaching Offers to Pupils' Education".

11–13-year olds follow the Key Stage 3 curriculum and are required to study (Catholic) religious education, English, mathematics, science, art, citizenship education, design and technology, French, geography, history, information and communication technologies (ICT), music, physical education (PE) and Spanish.[2] The school follows a banding system based on ability. Those in the higher bands study Latin, those in the lower classical civilisation.

In their third year of study (age 13), boys can choose General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) subjects. These are extras to the basic curriculum of religious education, English, mathematics, core science, additional science, and games. The boys choose four subjects from engineering, art, business studies, design and technology, French, geography, history, sciences, music, drama, sociology physical education, ICT, and Spanish.[3] Those boys who are studying Latin have the option to pursue it as well as classical Greek, or classical civilisation.

At the age of 16, lower sixth-former students can pursue four subjects to study further. These include religious studies, philosophy, mathematics, further mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, English, Latin, history, geography, design and technology, ICT, PE, art, French, Spanish, sociology and business studies. The four chosen subjects are taught every day for an hour. The students also have a private study period every day, supervised in the New Building's main hall. Sixth-form students also get an hour of general religious education every fortnight, replacing a private study. Games are not compulsory for sixth-formers, although many often participate in extracurricular activities, such as rock climbing and cross-country running.

In the second year of sixth-form, upper sixth-former students can drop one of their chosen subjects, reducing their timetable to three lessons a day, with two free periods. Students are given a general religious education lesson every fortnight in upper sixth-form. In this year, students also begin to apply to university. This is the last year for students at Vaughan.

Cardinal Vaughan follows a traditional house system. There are four houses named after Catholic figures: Campion, Fisher, Mayne and More. All houses compete in the various sports challenges and events.

Many former pupils go on to play with Rugby league teams after their time at Vaughan. 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 . 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 .

Senior Rugby players also play Saturday morning and midweek fixtures during the Lent term. Rugby training for first, third and fourth form takes place on Monday nights and for second, fifth and sixth form on Tuesday nights at Linford Christie Stadium. In addition to Rugby Union the school also enters various Rugby Sevens tournaments which generally take place during the Lent term.

The school has the use of Barn Elms Boat Club, where boys can learn to row and scull . The school has produced Olympic Rowers. A Fifth Form Crew competed at the National Rowing Championships in Nottingham in 1981 and were attacked by a man with an axe in the streets of Nottingham. No injuries occurred.

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.

The Schola Cantorum at the Church of St Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius, Rome

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 .

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 .