Balderstone Technology College
Balderstone Technology College was a school in the Balderstone district of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The school closed 31 August 2010 as a result of the Building Schools for the Future program. The school merged with Springhill High School and formed a new school called Kingsway Park High School. The Building will be used to host Kingsway Park High School until 2012 when a new building will be built on the former Springhill High School site, Turfhill Road.[1]
| Balderstone Technology College | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
Queen Victoria Street , , OL11 2HJ | |
| Coordinates | 53°36′01″N 2°08′59″W |
| Information | |
| Type | Grammar School Technology College |
| Motto | "Dare and you will prevail" |
| Established | 1953 (as Rochdale Grammar School for Boys) |
| Closed | 31 August 2010 |
| Local authority | Rochdale MBC |
| Specialist | Technology |
| Department for Education URN | 105836 Tables |
| Headteacher | Mr Paul Wright Mr Nigel Jepson |
| Staff | 150 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Age | 11 to 16 |
| Enrolment | 785 |
| Former name | Rochdale Grammar School & Balderstone Community School |
| Website | www.btc.ac.uk |
Location
It was situated near the junction of Queensway (A664) and Oldham Road (A671) between Balderstone and Kirkholt. It is in the parish of St Mary, Balderstone,[2][3] which is nearby to the east.
History
Grammar school
The school was once called Rochdale Grammar School for Boys, formerly known as Rochdale Municipal High School for Boys on Church Lane. It was administered by Rochdale Education Committee, and moved to Queen Victoria Street in 1953 at a cost of £180,000. A grammar school had been founded in 1565 in Rochdale by Matthew Parker, then Archbishop of Canterbury. There was also Rochdale Grammar School for Girls on Falinge Road, becoming Falinge Park High School.[4]
Comprehensive
It became a comprehensive in 1969 - the Balderstone High School, then Balderstone Community School in 1972 for boys and girls aged 14–18. In 1992 it became a high school for boys and girls aged 11–16. In 1999 it gained Technology College status.
Alumni
- Fusilier Conrad Cole, youngest British soldier to die in the Gulf War on 26 February 1991 aged 17, when nine British soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were killed by an American missile fired from an A-10 which hit a Warrior tracked armoured vehicle.
Rochdale Grammar School
- James Diggle, Professor of Greek and Latin at Queens' College, University of Cambridge since 1995
- Sir Leslie Fowden, Professor of Plant Science from 1964–73 at University College London, and Director from 1973–86 of the Rothamsted Experimental Station, discovered two plant amino acids (one being methyleneglutamine) not part of proteins, and became a world authority on plant amino acids [5]
- Glynn Boyd Harte, artist [6]
- Sir Peter Ogden, businessman who founded Computacenter in 1981 and Dealogic in 1983
- Sir Joseph Pilling, KCB, Identity Commissioner since 2009, and Director General from 1991–92 of HM Prison Service
- Christopher Ray, High Master since 2004 of Manchester Grammar School
- Frederick Llewellyn Smith CBE, Chairman from 1967–71 of Rolls Royce Motor Cars, and President from 1955–56 of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
- John Sykes, General Editor of English Dictionaries from 1992–94 at the Oxford University Press
- Philip Tinker OBE, President from 1983–84 of the British Society of Soil Science, and Deputy Director from 1981–85 of the Rothamsted Experimental Station
- Cyril Smith MP
References
- Details of the new school (Kingsway Park HS) Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 20 May 2011
- Saint Mary Church, Balderstone Archived 8 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- Parish Church of St Mary, Balderstone. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- History of Rochdale schools
- Leslie Fowden
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1449690/Glynn-Boyd-Harte.html