The first cut was made in the ground on December 5th 1999 using a ceremonial spade, wielded by then Bishop of Bradford, The Right Reverend David Smith. The following year Later, on 4th April 2000, a foundation stone was laid by the Bishop, who was joined by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Harry Mason. This stone is now part of the wall in our main hall.
Building work progressed speedily, allowing some of the thousand students to occupy part of the building at the beginning of the new term. The rest of the students were housed in a closed Middle School in Idle.
This was an interesting time of ‘making do’ with the younger students all squeezed into B Block: eating lunch in classrooms which had to be quickly returned into teaching spaces afterwards. The students at the old Thorpe Middle building were equally having to use less than ideal facilities designed for much younger children.
Eventually, the whole school building was completed. The process from inception to completion had taken two years and, on 5th October 2001, the Archbishop of York, the most Reverend David Hope, in front of the TV cameras and the press, opened the school and released hundreds of balloons carrying prayers of hope from Immanuel students.
Since that time, thousands of young people have joined the Immanuel College family, whose name means ‘God with us’ as they start their journey into adulthood.
