(Lest We Should Appear Ungrateful) , established = , closed = , type = 16–19 academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Interim Principal , head = David Naisbitt , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder =

Thomas Rotherham Thomas Rotherham (24 August 1423 – 29 May 1500), also known as Thomas (Scot) de Rotherham, was an English cleric and statesman. He served as bishop of several dioceses, most notably as Archbishop of York and, on two occasions as Lord C ...

, specialist = , address = Moorgate Road , city =

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, county =

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. ...

, country = England , postcode = S60 2BE , local_authority =

, dfeno = 372/8600 , urn = 145230 , ofsted = Yes , staff = , enrolment = , lower_age = 16 , upper_age = 19 , gender = , houses = , colours = , publication = , free_label_1 = , free_1 = , free_label_2 = , free_2 = , free_label_3 = , free_3 = , website = https://www.trc.ac.uk/ Thomas Rotherham College is a college for 16- to 19-year-olds, founded in 1967, in

, England.

History

Grammar school

The college has its origins in

Rotherham Grammar School (Lest We Should Seem Ungrateful) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar school, becoming County school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

(founded 1483), whose buildings it took over. In the 1960s, the grammar school had around 600 boys and was administered by the County Borough of Rotherham Education Committee.

Sixth form college

The Thomas Rotherham College took its name from the fifteenth-century

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

and statesman

, the original founder of the grammar school. Thomas Rotherham was

archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...

from 1480 until his death in 1500. He was at various times an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

, and keeper of the Privy Seal. Twice, he was

Lord Chancellor of England The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister ...

. The Thomas Rotherham College took its first intake of students in September 1967. It was formally inaugurated on Friday 15 March 1968 by Thomas Rotherham's successor as Archbishop of York,

Donald Coggan Frederick Donald Coggan, Baron Coggan, (9 October 1909 – 17 May 2000) was the 101st Archbishop of Canterbury from 1974 to 1980.

. Dr Coggan was appointed

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

in 1974. For the first few years, the grammar school and the new Thomas Rotherham College operated alongside each other in the same buildings, until the last of the grammar school boys reached the sixth form (c. 1971). The last intake of grammar school boys was in September 1966. By the early 1970s the college had 400 students, and 500 by the mid-1980s. Incorporation Along with all other colleges, TRC was incorporated and left local authority control on 1 April 1993. Incorporated status for the college lasted from then until 2017. Academisation Thomas Rotherham College converted from being a sixth form college to a 16–19 academy, within the Inspire Trust, on 1 November 2017. A new logo – similar in style to other establishments in the trust, while retaining aspects from the college's (and grammar school's) old logo – was introduced in September 2019. In the initial stages, no new principal was appointed to replace Dr Richard Williams. Dr Stephan Jungnitz, previously of Hartlepool College, was then appointed. By summer 2018 Thomas Rotherham had its first female headteacher, Shirley-Ann Brookes-Mills. She left after six months in the post. Eventually it was decided to continue long-term without a principal.

The college building (1876)

The main building of what is now the Thomas Rotherham College is a Grade II Listed building. It was built as a theological college training ministers for

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

churches. The site (originally 8.5 acres) had been bought in 1870, for £3,200.Wadsworth, Revd Kenneth W ''Yorkshire United Independent College - two hundred years of training for the Christian ministry by the Congregational churches of Yorkshire'' Independent Press, London, 1954 But, the building project was delayed owing to the commercial upheaval arising from the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war. The foundation stone was eventually laid on 23 April 1874. The building was executed in "

collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

" at a cost of £23,000, and it was opened on 20 September 1876. The building was designed by William Gillbee Habershon and Alfred Robert Pite. Their architectural practice was in London. However, WG Habershon was from the Habershon family of Rotherham. The Habershons were a Congregational family. WG's grandfather and two of his uncles were the founders of the Habershons steel rolling mills (JJ Habershon & Sons). WG's first-cousin Alderman John Matthew Habershon was the first mayor of Rotherham (1871 and 1872). John Matthew's grandson was mayor in 1922. WG's father (also an architect) had designed the Kimberworth Parish Church. WG's younger brother was the architect Matthew Edward Habershon. The new Rotherham Congregational College was in use for only twelve years. In 1888, it amalgamated with the Congregational College at

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

and the merged college operated from the Bradford premises. The Rotherham building was no longer needed and it was sold to become the premises of the Rotherham Grammar School. The School moved into the building in around 1890.

Inspections

Like all colleges, Thomas Rotherham College underwent two Further Education Funding Council inspections in the 1990s. Since the inspection of colleges was transferred to

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, incl ...

in 2001, the college has undergone six further inspections:

Principals

* Arthur Prust, September 1967–December 1982 (previously the last headmaster of Rotherham Grammar School) * James C. Garton, January 1983–???? * Nigel Briggs, ????–December 1997 * Giles Pepler, January 1998–August 2006 * Dr Richard Williams, September 2006–December 2017 * Dr Stephan Jungnitz, January 2018–June 2018 (interim principal) * Shirley-Ann Brookes-Mills, June 2018–December 2018 * David Naisbitt, December 2018–present (interim principal)

Notable alumni

Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed ( ur, , born 24 April 1957) is a former British Labour politician of Pakistani origin. He was appointed a life peer in 1998 by the Labour Government. Many of his political activities related to the Muslim communi ...

Justine Greening Justine Greening (born 30 April 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, Secretary of State for Transpor ...

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme '' Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also ...

* Tracey McDermott * Mike Riley *

Jamie Vardy Jamie Richard Vardy ('' né'' Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Leicester City. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Vardy is known for his prolific goalscoring aide ...

David Wetherall David Wetherall (born 14 March 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is as head of youth development with the Football League. As a player, he was a central defender, he played most of his career in the Pre ...

References

External links

Thomas Rotherham College

photo of the school
{{Authority control Education in Rotherham Sixth form colleges in South Yorkshire 1483 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 15th century Buildings and structures in Rotherham