St Bede's College, Manchester

Infobox School2
name = St Bede's College
latin_name = Latin: Baeda


motto = "Nunquam Otio Torpebat" (Latin: "Never known to be idle")
established = 1875
type = Independent, Catholic, co-ed.
head_name = Headmaster
head = Michael Barber, MA, MSc (Oxon)
head_name2 = Senior Deputy Head
head2 = Rosamund Meehan
r_head_label = Deputy Headmasters
r_head = Matthew Bartlett
D.J. Kearney
city = Alexandra Park
state = Manchester
country = England
teaching_staff = 76
students = 920
school_colours = Blue and gold
free_label = Houses
free = St. Alban, St. Chad, St. Cuthbert, St. Wilfred
free_label_2 = Former pupils
free_2 = Old Bedians
website = [http://www.stbedescollege.co.uk/ St Bede's College]

St Bede's College, Manchester is an independent Catholic day school situated on Alexandra Road South in the Whalley Range area of the city, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

The school was founded in 1875 by the then Bishop of Salford, Herbert Vaughan, and moved to its present site a few years later after the acquisition of the former Manchester Aquarium building.

The diocesan junior seminary, Salford Catholic Grammar School, merged with St Bede's in 1892. Since then over 500 priests have been educated at the school. Although few pupils now go on to enter the priesthood, the school retains an underlying Catholic ethos.

History

The original school was located at 16, Devonshire Street, Grosvenor Square, off Oxford Road and was set up in 1875 by the then Bishop of Salford, Herbert Vaughan, later Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. Originally, the school was conceived as a "commercial school" to prepare the sons of Manchester Catholics for a life in business.

This was the first school under the patronage of St Bede: possibly the name was chosen because the Cardinal's brother, a Benedictine and the Archbishop of Sydney, was Dom Bede Vaughan. In August 1877, the Manchester Aquarium on Alexandra Road and the plot of land around it was purchased by the then Bishop Vaughan for College purposes. On 10 September 1877, St Bede's College re-opened in the Manchester Aquarium with 45 pupils who were taught by 11 staff, 8 of them priests.

In the late 1870s and early 1880s, the Vaughan building was constructed (see pictures). The original plan was for a symmetrical building, with five-storey towers at each end. Only one half of this design was ever carried out, but the main ground floor corridor of the Vaughan building is an impressive centrepiece for the school all the same. An imposing entrance on Alexandra Road (decorated with ceramic mouldings by Tinworth [ [http://www.tilesoc.org.uk/tacsdatabase.htm Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society Database of Ceramic Locations] ] ) leads into a corridor adorned with mosaics and marble. The original aquarium building (now the school's Academic Hall) leads off the main corridor directly opposite the main entrance. Appropriately the decorative scheme includes plaster mouldings of fish and other marine animals.

In 1892, Salford Catholic Grammar School (the Diocesan Junior seminary) amalgamated with the College which duly became the place where over 500 priests, not to mention several bishops and archbishops, were educated.

The College Chapel was built in 1898 and the Henshaw Building, named after the fifth Bishop of Salford, was opened around 1932. The Beck Building, named after the seventh Bishop of Salford George Andrew Beck, was opened in 1958 while the Regis Building, built in the first decade of the twentieth Century as a retreat house for the Cenacle Convent, was bought by the College in 1970. It remained empty until 1984 when the Governors took the decision to make St Bede's co-educational. Over the next three years, the Regis building was completely renovated and allowed the College roll to increase from 630 at the beginning of the 1980s to just under 1000 today.

English Martyrs

From the time of the school's move to Alexandra Road, the College supported the nearby St Bede's Mission, and priests on the school's staff worked to provide for the spiritual needs of the Catholic population in Whalley Range. In 1893 the Bishop of Salford, John Bilsborrow, appointed Father James Rowan, a former teacher at the college, as priest in charge of the district. The new [http://www.empc.org.uk/pages/parish_church.html English Martyrs Parish Church] was consecrated on the Feast of the English Martyrs, May 4, 1922.

The School Today

The school now admits children from families of whatever Christian denomination. It provides a wide range of subjects and pupils perform well at GCSE and A-level. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/05/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/352_6032.stm BBC News School League Tables] ] Since September 2005 the school has adopted a two week timetabling system, with alternate weeks operating on schedules named after the school colours — that is, Blue Week is followed by Gold Week and so on.

Although St Bede's is a fee-paying independent school, until 1999 many pupils had their fees paid by the Trafford Local Education Authority. Despite lying outside Trafford the school provided education to families from the metropolitan borough as part of the grammar school system in operation there. [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo970718/debtext/70718-11.htm House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Jul 1997 (pt 11)] ] This peculiarity resulted in the school having a wider social mix than many in the UK independent sector. The St Bede's College Educational Trust attempts to maintain this broad entry despite the end of this arrangement and the Assisted Places Scheme, by providing bursaries on a means-tested basis.

Several notable television series have been filmed in and around the school buildings. For example, the school featured in Granada Television's "The Jewel in the Crown" [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086739/locations IMDB Filming Locations] ] and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", [ [http://my.core.com/~jcnash/sherlock_places.html The Tourist's Sherlock Holmes] ] My Wonderful Life and Clocking Off.

Former students of the school are known as Old Bedians, and the Old Bedians Association organises regular events including an annual dinner and golf tournament. Alumni of the school founded the Old Bedians Rugby Union Football Club [http://www.oldbedians.co.uk/] in Didsbury in 1954.

Reports of Abuse

On April 17, 2008 it was reported that a former teacher and priest at the school, William Green, had been charged with various counts of indecent assault and indecency with pupils at the school in the 1970s and 1980s (a separate charge related to an incident at a school in Moston). [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7353618.stm|title=Man charged with 28 sex offences|publisher=BBC News|date=2008-04-17] On August 21 Father Green admitted 27 assaults at the school and was told to expect a significant prison sentence. A civil case is now being considered against the Catholic Church who said that the incident was regrettable. They also said that they had co-operated with the police and that safeguards against this happening again had long been in place. [cite news|url=http://www.southmanchesterreporter.co.uk/news/s/1063621_priest_faces_jail_for_abusing_youngsters|title=Priest faces jail for abusing youngsters|publisher=Manchester Evening News South Manchester Reporter|date=2008-08-21] . Father Green was jailed for a total of thirty years on September 30 but will only serve a maximum of six years as the five terms will run concurrently. [cite news|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1069987_pervert_priest_jailed|title=Pervert priest jailed|publisher=Manchester Evening News|date=2008-10-01]

Famous Old Bedians

Famous former pupils of the college include:

* Colin Baker — actor; the sixth Doctor Who
* Henry Bonsu — journalist and broadcaster
* Clint Boon — musician and DJ
* Terry Christian — radio and TV presenter
* Ed Docx — writer and broadcaster
* George Patrick Dwyer — Archbishop of Birmingham
* Paul Goggins — politician
* Rob Gretton — manager of Joy Division and New Order
* Mike Harding — folk singer and DJ
* Nicholas Kenyon — BBC Proms controller
* Sir Ian Kershaw — historian
* Sir John Lyons — linguist and semanticist
* Thomas McMahon — Bishop of Brentwood
* John Maher — drummer, Buzzcocks
* Neil Mellor — Preston North End footballer
* Mike Milligan — footballer
* Peter Noone — singer, Herman's Hermits
* Bernard O'Donoghue — poet
* Andrew Steele — athlete [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/6926294.stm]
* Derek Page, Baron Whaddon

ee also

*Catholic sex abuse cases

References

External links

* [http://www.stbedescollege.co.uk/ School's Website]
* [http://www.oldbedians.co.uk/ Old Bedians Rugby Union Football Club]