All Saints Catholic School, West Wickham
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| All Saints Catholic School | |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Location | Layhams Road West Wickham Kent BR4 9HN England |
| LEA | Bromley |
| Ofsted number | 101677 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11 to 18 |
| Coordinates: | |
All Saints Catholic School was a Catholic secondary school located on Layhams Road, West Wickham, London Borough of Bromley. Formerly known as 'St. John Rigby Catholic College', its name was changed in 2004 as a rebranding because of falling pupil numbers and substantial debts following the departure of former headmistress Colleen McCabe.
McCabe was convicted in 2003 of stealing around £500,000 from her school over a period from 1994 to 1999, which she spent lavishly both on herself and on gifts for her friends. The story was the subject of the 2006 BBC docudrama, The Thieving Headmistress [1].
It has been reported that money required for the education of the children was diverted away from being spent on books, cleaning and fuel, resulting in the children being without books in a dirty unheated school. Only when the Labour Party abolished the grant-maintained school and returned it to local education authority control was the fraud detected. McCabe was sent to prison by Judge Christopher Elwen after a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court.[2][3][4]
The story of the events at St. John Rigby College should be compared with those at Langley Park School for Boys during the time. Mr. R.V.P. Sheffield, the headmaster of this boys' school, had been very keen on expecting high moral standards from his pupils and was later subject to investigation for "financial irregularities".
After a consultation period, in April 2006 Bromley Council approved the proposal to close the school with effect from August 2007.
[edit] References
- School closure - Bromley Council
- Headteacher's legacy jeopardising school - News Shopper
- Head 'spent £7,000 on shoes' - BBC News
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Map sources for All Saints Catholic School, West Wickham

