 In 1971, the school was the amalgamation of De La Salle, an independent Grammar School,  Cottesmore Secondary Modern School , Lourdes Convent , Blessed Sacrament Convent , and eventually the Fitzherbert school  all became part of the new Cardinal Newman Catholic School.Its first headmaster was Anthony Smith, a plaque in the chapel celebrated the first ten years of the school's inauguration.In February 2015, Cardinal Newman’s new sixth form centre, Newman College, was opened by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (1932–2017).