Archbishop steps into Vaughan Catholic school row
Parents accuse Westminster diocese of diluting ethos of high-performing Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School
The most senior Roman Catholic in England and Wales has intervened in a bitter and protracted dispute between a diocese and parents who claim Britain's highest-ranking Catholic comprehensive is watering down the faith basis of the school.
Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School has six applicants chasing each place and regularly tops league tables, sending more pupils to Oxford and Cambridge than almost any other state comprehensive.
But some parents have accused the Diocese of Westminster of interfering with the school's governing body. They fear officials want to "change the way the school operates, to dilute its Catholic ethos and to turn it into a local comprehensive", and are fighting for greater parental involvement in the running of the school. They are planning a candlelit protest outside its west London premises tomorrow night.
Today the archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, sought to reassure them there was no risk to the school's Catholic identity.
He said: "I am fully committed to the flourishing of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. This includes maintaining its fine traditions of academic rigour and musical excellence. I thank God for the work and achievements of the school, which are always to be understood as an expression of Catholic faith and a part of the life and mission of the Diocese of Westminster.
"The Catholic character of the school, of which it is rightly proud, should be evident in all aspects of its life."
Last month, a group of parents won leave to appeal to try to overturn new appointments to the governing body. The group is also seeking 30,000 in donations to finance the next stage of its courtroom battle with the diocese.
The vigil has the support of a former headmaster, Michael Gormally, who in a letter to parents said: "We have to show the diocese just how determined we are to prevent the s! chool be ing changed irrevocably and beyond recognition. Please come with your rosary beads and torches, and bring as many friends and family members as you can.
"Like Rome, the Vaughan was not built in a day. But unless we take decisive action now, it can and will be destroyed almost overnight."
The lawsuit and protest marks a new low for relations between the school and the diocese.
In 2009, Catholic education officials referred the school to the admissions watchdog amid claims that its points-based policy was elitist and effectively penalised the less devout.
Boys had to prove that they and one of their parents had attended weekly Sunday mass for at least three years, that they had been baptised within a year of their birth, had made their first confession and first holy communion before their ninth birthday, and that they had either attended a Catholic school for the whole of their statutory education or that their parents had made formal provision for their Catholic education outside school.
The schools adjudicator ruled in favour of the diocese, forcing the school to change its entry criteria for 11-year-olds after being told parts of it were "unlawful" and "unfair".
The diocese, which can appoint up to 11 of the 20-strong governing body, introduced other changes too, removing three governors in favour of four new appointees.
In September 2010, it was disclosed that Paul Barber one of the key players in the admissions row was among the new governors appointed to the school. Parents claim his role is a conflict of interest with his other job diocesan director of education and have questioned why he was brought in as a governor, pointing out that he has no such role at any other Catholic school.
The acting headmaster, Charles Eynaud, told the Guardian the school was a "vibrant Catholic community with a comprehensive intake". He attributed the school's popularity and success to its Catholic ethos.
He said: "We've been accused of being elitist but there ! is a lar ge proportion of ethnicities and we have around 44 different languages spoken here. There is a secret formula here. I'm not sure it's easy to put your finger on it.
"A very good pupil will become excellent, a poor pupil better. There aren't schools as successful as this within the vicinity. Our fame precedes us, and sometimes we have been victims of our success.
"I have been a Manchester United fan for hundreds of years but they are hated for their ability. It's that winning formula, and people want to bring them down. It's the nature of the world." He did not comment on the continuing legal action.
The school has a history of clashes with the Catholic hierarchy. In the 1980s, Cardinal Basil Hume attempted to close down the sixth form but backed down after a parental revolt. Several years later, there was a disagreement between him and the then headmaster, Anthony Pellegrini, about the proposed closure of the Inner London Education Authority. More recently, the former chair of governors Sir Adrian Fitzgerald vigorously opposed attempts to change the admissions policy, and describing the church's victory as a "betrayal" of committed Catholics.
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