St Catherine's School, Twickenham

St Catherine's School is a Catholic independent school for girls in Twickenham, London. The school is next to the River Thames and about one kilometre from both Strawberry Hill and Twickenham railway stations.HistoryFounded in a large house near Twickenham Green, St Catherine's then moved to Orford Lodge and in 1919 to Pope's Villa, on the site of Alexander Pope's original villa. By 1961 it was recognised by the Ministry of Education as a grammar school. In 1948 the school bought a house on Cross Deep known as The Lawn, where it is currently located.Up until 1991 the school was home to a number of Sisters who were also members of the staff. They moved out and the school became a charitable trust managed by lay persons in 1992. It is the only independent Roman Catholic girls' school in the Richmond area and is located in the Archdiocese of Westminster. It remains a Roman Catholic foundation but takes students of all religious affiliations. It has a preparatory school and a senior school . Nearly one third of the pupils are of minority ethnic groups, but more than ninety per cent of the pupils have English as a first language.