St Mark's Catholic School is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

with academy status, having formerly been a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

, situated in

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

, West London, England. St Mark’s is part of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

History

In 1936, Father Wilfred Musgrave, Parish Priest of Ss Michael and Martin's Church, suggested that a mixed Catholic secondary school should be built in Hounslow. His plan was suspended by the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but in 1952, a site was purchased at 106 Bath Road with a house, land, and an orchard. Musgrave died in 1955 and the project was transferred to his successor, Canon John Mackenzie. Building work commenced in 1958, funded by donations from local Catholics. The school, initially called Archbishop Myers Secondary, received its first 279 pupils on 10 May 1960, welcomed by Headteacher Patrick Boland and 11 staff. The builders remained until April 1961 and the school was officially opened in March 1962. In 1972, the school became a

and changed its name to St Mark's. The uniform changed from maroon to navy blue. Originally six forms of entry were planned with a split site – a senior school located at the other end of Hounslow High Street. These plans were dropped and in 1978 the buildings of the old Ss Michael and Martin's Primary School were included in the enlarged St Mark's site. The original parish church, dating from 1886, became a Sixth Form Common Room. Patrick Boland retired in 1978 and was replaced by Patrick Topp. St Mark's contained 800 pupils and 50 teachers. Topp was succeeded by David Sheath in 1986. By the time of Sheath's retirement the School was recognised as one of the best in the London area. Paul Enright took over in 2001, and was succeeded in 2018 by Andrea Waugh-Lucas. , the school had around 1,400 students. A fire took place in the school on 31 October 2023.

Notable former pupils

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

(b. 1954) – songthe school *. 1969) – award-winning saxophonist. * Tim Don (b. 1978) – World Triathlon Champion and Olympian. * Dean Gaffney (b. 1978) – actor * Graham Stack (b. 1981) – professional footballer,

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(b. 1986) – badminton player *

Michael Mancienne Michael Ian Mancienne (born 8 January 1988) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in England, he played for the Seychelles national team. He played for football clubs in Germany, the United States, and England. Sc ...

(b. 1988) – professional footballer,

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

* Dennis Gyamfi (b. 2001) – professional footballer,

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a professional football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadiu ...

* Lewis Richards (b. 2001) - professional footballer,

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Roman Catholic School Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Westminster Secondary schools in the London Borough of Hounslow Educational institutions established in 1960 1960 establishments in England Academies in the London Borough of Hounslow