St Oscar Romero Catholic School

Contents

St Oscar Romero Catholic School (formerly Chatsmore Catholic High School; formerly Blessed Robert Southwell High School) is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school located in the Goring-by-Sea area of Worthing, West Sussex, England.[1]

It is a voluntary aided school administered by West Sussex County Council and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. The school is named after Archbishop Óscar Romero.

Óscar Romero

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador and became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on March 24, 1980.

After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Monsignor Arturo Rivera y Damas. In 1997, a cause for beatification and canonisation was opened for Romero, and Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the title of Servant of God. His canonisation was finalised in 2018.[2] He is considered by some of the unofficial patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador and is often referred to as San Romero by Catholics in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honoured by other religious denominations of Christendom, including the Church of England through the Calendar in Common Worship. He is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London.[3] In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy by the Europe-based magazine A Different View.

Controversies

In 2008, the school banned the drink Red Bull as it believed that the drink had an adverse effect on the behaviour of the pupils.[4]

In 2019, a teacher was suspended after telling 14-year-old girls to take condoms on a school trip.[5]

In 2026, the school introduced a policy prohibiting pupils from bringing smartphones onto school premises, including Goring-by-Sea railway station. Under the policy, any smartphone found in a pupil's possession could be confiscated by staff and withheld for a period of at least two weeks before being returned.[6]

Notable former pupils

  • Brenock O'Connor, actor[7]
  • Leo Sayer, singer[8]

References

  1. 1."St Oscar Romero | Catholic School". stromeros.co.uk.
  2. 2."Murdered Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero canonised". 14 October 2018.
  3. 3."Westminster Abbey: Oscar Romero".
  4. 4.Clout, Laura (6 June 2008). "School bans Red Bull after bad behaviour rise". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media group. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  5. 5."Teacher suspended over condom comment to underage schoolgirls". BBC News. BBC. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
  6. 6."Smartphone Policy – Romeros 2026" (PDF). Romeros. 2026. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  7. 7.Holloway, Henry (2 April 2014). "Schoolboy lands Game of Thrones role". The Argus. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  8. 8.Sayer, Leo (24 January 2014). "What I learnt at school". Teach Secondary. Retrieved 8 October 2025.