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Ratcliffe College

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Ratcliffe College
Location
Leicester
,
Leicestershire
,
LE7 4SG
England
52°43′46″N 1°04′33″W / 52.7294°N 1.0758°W
Information
Type Public school
Private day and boarding
Motto Legis Plenitudo Charitas
(Charity is the fulfilment of the law)
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic (Rosminians)
Established 1845
Founder Blessed Father Antonio Rosmini-Serbati
Department for Education URN 120316 Tables
Headmaster Jonathan Reddin
Gender Coeducational
Age 3 to 18
Enrolment 920
Colour navy blue
Publication The Ratcliffian
Former pupils Old Ratcliffians
Website http://www.ratcliffecollege.com/

Ratcliffe College is a coeducational Catholic private boarding and day school near the village of Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Leicestershire, approximately 7 miles (11 km) from Leicester, England. The college, situated in 200 acres of parkland on the Fosse Way about 6 miles (10 km) north of Leicester, was founded on the instructions of Blessed Father Antonio Rosmini-Serbati in 1847 as a seminary. The college became coeducational under the presidency of Father Tony Baxter in the late 1970s. As of the 2023–2024 academic year, there were 920 students on roll at Ratcliffe, from ages 3 to 18.[1]

History

Ratcliffe College was founded in 1844 on the instructions of Blessed Father Antonio Rosmini-Serbati, founder of the Institute of Charity, as a noviciate for his newly founded (1828) Congregation. Three years later, in 1847, the noviciate was moved and the building was used as a boarding school for middle-class Roman Catholic boys. The first two pupils arrived in June 1847.

The school is operated by Rosmini's Institute of Charity. Until 1996, the school's senior leader used the title "Father President", a position held by a priest of the Institute. In 1996, Tim Kilbride became the first lay headmaster and in due course the non-executive title of Father President was restored to the senior Rosminian priest working in the college. Peter Farrar succeeded Kilbride in 2000, followed by Gareth Lloyd in 2009 and Jonathan Reddin in January 2017.

Ratcliffe College became coeducational in the late 1970s during the presidency of Father Tony Baxter. As of the 2023–2024 academic year, the school had 920 pupils aged between 3 and 18. The college also maintains a partnership with the Leicester City Football Club Academy Programme, with academy players studying and boarding at the school during Years 10 and 11.

Buildings and architecture

The original 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 Charles Francis Hansom, brother of 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 1912–1913, and a Byzantine-style school chapel in the early 1960s.

Site

Ratcliffe College is situated near the village of Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Leicestershire, approximately 7 miles (11 km) north of Leicester, England. The campus occupies around 200 acres (0.81 km2) of parkland along the Roman Fosse Way.

Management

Former Presidents and Headmasters

Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI)

Ratcliffe College is regularly inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). This is the body approved by the Department of Education for the purpose of inspecting schools belonging to the Independent Schools Council (ISC) Associations and reporting on compliance with independent school regulations.

The school received an excellent report in all areas during the latest ISI Inspection, 2022 – Focused Compliance and Educational Quality Inspection. The Educational Quality Inspection reports on the quality of the College’s work.[2] It focuses on two key outcomes:

1. The achievement of the students, including their academic development. 2. The personal development of the students.

The College was judged “Excellent” for both outcomes, the highest grade possible.

Cricket ground

The college cricket ground is used by the college cricket team. The first recorded use of the ground came in 1948, when Ratcliffe College played King Edward's School, Birmingham.[3] The ground has also played host to a single List-A match, when the Leicestershire Cricket Board played Denmark in the 1st round of the 2003 Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy which was played in 2002.[4]

Notable former pupils

Former pupils of Ratcliffe are known as Old Ratcliffians. They include:

Bibliography

  • Ratcliffe College 1847–1947 edited by Rev. C. R. Leetham with an Appendix at the back entitled 'Alphabetical List of Students 1847–1950'[5]

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Ratcliffe College
Notes
Granted 23 September 1936.[6]
Crest
On a wreath Argent and Azure, A pelican in her piety affronte argent, vulning herself proper, the nest Or.
Escutcheon
Azure, six mullets, three, two and one, argent; on a chief Or three pellets, the centre one charged with a lion rampant of the third, the dexter with a lily and the sinister with a swallow both of the second.
Motto
'Legis Plenitudo Charitas'

References

  1. Back to citation "Teacher of Religious Studies at Ratcliffe College - TES Connect". www.tes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011.
  2. Back to citation "School Inspections".
  3. Back to citation Other matches played on Ratcliffe College
  4. Back to citation List A Matches played on Ratcliffe College
  5. Back to citation From a copy of book published by the Ratcliffian Association in 1950 which contains black-and-white photographs
  6. Back to citation "Ratcliffe College". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
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