Ratcliffe College

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Ratcliffe College

Motto	Legis Plenitudo Charitas (Charity is the fulfilment of the law)
Established	1845
Type	Independent school
Headmaster	Mr. Peter Farrar
Founder	Father Antonio Rosmini-Serbati
Students	750 (approx.)
Location	Ratcliffe, Leicestershire England
Website	[1]

Ratcliffe College is an independent Catholic boarding and day school in Leicestershire, England. The College, situated in 100 acres of parkland on the Fosse Way about six miles north of Leicester, was founded on the instructions of Father Antonio Rosmini-Serbati in 1845 as a seminary. In 1847, the buildings were converted for use as a boarding school for upper-class boys. The College became coeducational under the Presidency of Father Tony Baxter in the mid 1970s, and there are now 756 students on roll at Ratcliffe, from ages 3-18.

The school buildings were designed by the Victorian Gothic revivalist Augustus Welby Pugin. Pugin, who is associated with Catholic architecture throughout the Midlands and north of England, is also noted for his collaboration with Charles Barry in the reconstruction of the Palace of Westminster. The Square was designed by Joseph Hansom, the designer of the Hansom cab. various building works over the years have contributed to Pugin and Hansom's work, and modern buildings include a "new" gothic refectory (constructed in the early years of the twentieth century) and a Byzantine-style church.

1 Management
- 1.1 Former Presidents and Headmasters
2 House system
3 Old Ratcliffians
4 External links

[edit] Management

The school, operated officially by Rosmini's Institute of Charity, originally used the title "Father President" for the most senior member of staff who, up until 1996, was always a Father of the Institute. In 1996, the school appointed its first lay President, Tim Kilbride, and the position was renamed Headmaster. he was succeeded in 2000 by Peter Farrar, who still holds the position.

The head is presently assisted by a Deputy Headmaster (presently Darryl Wideman) and a Deputy Headmistress (Mrs Clayfield), who take responsibility for pastoral and academic concerns respectively. They are joined on a 'Senior Management Team' by the Head of Sixth Form and the Curriculum Co-ordinator.

Ratcliffe College

[edit] Former Presidents and Headmasters

Father Peter Hutton IC 1851 - 1880
Father Joseph Hirst IC 1880 - 1895
Father Joseph Cremonini IC 1895 - 1919
Father Aloysius Emery IC 1919 - 1923
Father Cuthbert Emery IC 1923 - 1948
Father Claude Leetham IC 1948 - 1962
Father John Morris IC 1962 - 1973
Father Anthony Baxter IC 1973 - 1982
Father William Fearon IC 1982 - 1983
Father Lancelot Hurridge IC 1983 - 1993
Father Keith Tomlinson IC 1993 - 1996
Mr Tim Kilbride, BEd (Liverpool) 1996 - 1999
Mr Peter Farrar, MA 2000 - Present

[edit] House system

Although the College has used various house systems throughout its history, the current system was resurrected in 1991. There is no strong house rivalry, as in many other independent schools, due to the nature of the school as both coeducational and containing a mix of boarding and day students.

The refectory

Currently, there are four houses named after major figures in the College's history:

Emery (named for Father Cuthbert Emery, a former President)
Leetham (named for Father Leetham, a former President)
De Lisle (named for Ambrose De Lisle, early patron of the College and Catholic revivalist)
Arundel (named for Lady Arundel, an early patron of the College and relative of Catholic Duke of Norfolk)

[edit] Old Ratcliffians

The Old Ratcliffians - that is, the alumni of Ratcliffe College - currently count among their number:

The Rt. Hon Lord St John of Fawsley, PC, former Conservative minister under Margaret Thatcher
Sir Anthony Holland, Chairman of the Standards Board for England, former Chairman of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission and former President of the Law Society of England and Wales
Sir Gordon Reece, former advisor to Margaret Thatcher
Major General David Jolliffe, CB, QHP, CBE, former Head of Royal Army Medical Corps
Patrick Nuttgens, noted architect, CBE
Peter Caruana, QC, Chief Minister of Gibraltar
The Very Reverend Father Ted Mullen, IC, Provincial of the Institute of Charity in England
The Very Reverend Father Cuthbert Emery, IC, former Provincial of the Institute of Charity in England
The Very Reverend Father Anthony Meredith, IC, former Provincial of the Institute of Charity in England
The Right Reverend Bishop George Burton, former Bishop of Clifton
The Right Reverend Bishop Edward Ellis, former Bishop of Nottingham
The Right Reverend Bishop Cyril Restieaux, former Bishop of Plymouth
The Right Reverend Monsignor John Arnold, IC, Titular Bishop of Lindisfarne and Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster
Ian Bannen, noted Scottish actor and Oscar Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (1965)
Patrick McGoohan, American-born actor of Irish parentage who rose to fame in the British film and TV industry: starring in the 1960s television series Danger Man and cult classic The Prisoner.
Richard Wallace, Editor of the Daily Mirror
Louis Deacon, England and Tigers rugby player
Tony Gibbons, barrister, refugee advocate, philosopher and author