The Campion School is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

boys' comprehensive secondary school and coeducational

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 ...

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

, London, England. The school converted to academy status in August 2011, and has a specialism in science.

History

The Campion School was founded in September 1962 by the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

as a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

for

boys from the ages of 11 to 18. The first headmaster Fr Michael Fox SJ died that year. In 1965, after two successive headmasters, administration of the school was handed on to the

Diocese of Brentwood The Diocese of Brentwood () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England. The diocese is a suffragan of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster. Overview The diocese covers the traditional county of Essex, an area of 3,959 km ...

. On opening, some of the original second and third year intake were transferred from

St Ignatius' College St Ignatius College is a Catholic Church, Catholic Voluntary aided school, voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 11–18 in Enfield, London, England, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1894 and completely moved to its present site by 1 ...

, which was then located in

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

. For the first couple of years, Jesuit teachers were in the majority. The Jesuit community lived on the school site in rooms with full facilities in The Community House, which later became the first of three Sixth Form Blocks. Later, only a single, non-residential, Jesuit chaplain was retained as a link to the order. Pupils who attend the school are mainly Catholic and the school has a Catholic ethos. Around 1970, the first girls to attend Campion came from Ilford Ursuline School for specific sixth form classes such as Russian and Greek at the school, but there were not many. The school has an attached Sixth Form which admits a number of girls. The pupils that attend the Sixth Form do not have to be Catholic but have to respect the Catholic ethos that the school represents. The school received an

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

report in May 2012. The inspection judgements were rated as 2 in all five categories. The school was awarded Specialist

Science College Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme (abolished in 2011) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathem ...

status before converting to an academy in August 2011. however the school continues to offer science as a specialism.

Forms

Originally, when the school had around 660 all boys, it had three forms named after Fr Michael Fox SJ and Saints

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1504 to 1535 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Chu ...

and

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

. However, each boy also belonged to a House named

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other Germanic name, early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful ...

, Southwell and

Garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

, denoted by a green, blue or red ribbon strip sewn the length of the top of the blazer pocket edge. The Houses met regularly, had a House Master and competed in sports. For a year or two school blazers even had a different crests for Fourth, Fifth and Sixth forms too. The school currently has five forms: * Fisher * More * Fox * Garnet * Southwell

Sport

The school has an outstanding sporting reputation both locally in Havering and nationally with a tradition of rugby. In 2001, The 1st XV won the

Daily Mail Cup The National Schools Cup (currently known as the Continental Tyres Schools Cup for sponsorship reasons) are a set of annual English schools' rugby union cup competitions, with the U18 Cup being the main competition. The finals of the Cup and Vase ...

, becoming the first comprehensive school to win the competition.

Headmasters

* Fr Michael J Fox, S.J. (1 March-27 October 1962) * Fr William Webb, S.J. (Deputy and Acting) (28 October 1962 – 6 April 1963) * Fr Peter Hackett, S.J. (7 April 1963 – 1965) * Philip J. Moloney (1965–18 July 1980) * Dr John F Rowbottom (2 September 1980 – 1993) * John Johnson (1993–2011) * Keith Williams (September 2011–July 2022) * Paul Larner (September 2022-)

Notable former pupils

Former pupils at the school include: *

Lord Alton David Patrick Paul Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, (born 15 March 1951) is a British-Irish politician, formerly a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party and later Liberal Democrat who has sat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords si ...

– politician *

Ben Dirs Ben Dirs is a freelance writer and journalist. He was a sports journalist for the BBC news website from 2001 to 2017. Whilst at the BBC he covered a wide range of major sporting events. He provided live blogging on sports including boxing, golf ...

– sports journalist * David Cairns – musician,

Secret Affair Secret Affair are a mod revival band, formed in 1978 and disbanded in 1982 during which period their work is predominantly best-known. They reformed in 2002 and have since then produced an album in 2012. Career Formed after the demise of th ...

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...

– Saracens rugby player *

Paul McCreesh Paul McCreesh (born 24 May 1960) is an English conductor. Paul McCreesh is the founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players. With them he has performed in major concert halls and festivals across the world. He has been the ...

– conductor *

Damian Cronin Damian Cronin (born 17 April 1963 in Wegberg, West Germany) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career He is an alumnus of The Campion School and Prior Park College. Before the advent of profess ...

– ex-Scotland rugby player *

Tony Diprose Tony Diprose (born 22 September 1972, in Orsett) is a former English rugby union footballer. He played at number 8. Diprose attended The Campion School, Hornchurch. Club career Diprose signed for Harlequins from Saracens in April 2001 and ma ...

– rugby player *

Colin Lynes Colin Lynes (born 26 November 1977) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2017. He held the IBO super lightweight title from 2004 to 2005. At regional level, he held the British super lightweight title in 2007; the E ...

– IBO light welterweight world champion * John Rudd – rugby player * Alan Soper – scientist *

James McKernan James McKernan (born 1964) is a mathematician, and a professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Diego. He was a professor at MIT from 2007 until 2013. Education McKernan was educated at The Campion School and Trinity Colleg ...

– mathematician * Kevin Sorrell – rugby player *

Alex Iwobi Alexander Chuka Iwobi ( ; born 3 May 1996) is a Nigerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Fulham F.C., Fulham and the Nigeria national football team, Nigeria national team. Iwobi began his caree ...

– Footballer * Ola Aina – Footballer *

Matt Garvey Matt Garvey (born 23 October 1987) is an English former rugby union player. He attended Ortu Gable Hall School completing his secondary school education there. He played as a second row who could also can play in the back row. He played for Lon ...

– Rugby player * Matt Rowe – songwriter and producer,

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

Denis Keefe Denis Edward Peter Paul Keefe CMG (born 29 June 1958) is a British diplomat and former Ambassador to Serbia and to Georgia. Biography Keefe was educated at The Campion School and studied Classics at Churchill College, Cambridge and Hellenistic ...

— Diplomat * Frank Key - Author

Notable popular culture references

Sounds of Silence ''Sounds of Silence'' is the second studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, " The Sound of Silence", which ...

'' is the second studio album by American folk rock duo

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

, released in 1966. The album cover photo features the duo on a trail looking back towards the camera. It was shot at

Franklin Canyon Park Franklin Canyon Park is a public municipal park located near Benedict Canyon, at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles, California. The park comprises 605 acres (245 ha), and is located near the geographical center ...

in Los Angeles. The secondary school scarves they are wearing were from The Campion School, Hornchurch, UK. This school was attended by the boys of the Brentwood family, with whom

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

lodged during his time in the UK.

References

External links

School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campion School, The Educational institutions established in 1962 Academies in the London Borough of Havering Boys' schools in London Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Brentwood 1962 establishments in England Secondary schools in the London Borough of Havering Hornchurch