MK Dons Football Club players Rhianne Rush and Stephen Wearne joined Mrs Mandy Legg, Mayoress of Milton Keynes, Chair of Trustees, Sr Helen Haigh, Head Teacher, Dr Shaw, sports scholars, leadership students, staff and Friends of Thornton, the school’s parents’ association, to officially open a brand-new gym at Thornton College.
Student Voice is important at Thornton and the request for a gym was first made by students on the Senior School Council. The sports department worked hard on the vision, plans and proposal for equipment and the project was generously funded by Friends of Thornton.
The gym is now equipped with brand-new state of the art machines and senior students will have the opportunity to use the gym in curriculum time and co-curricular activities. Senior students and staff are looking forward to using the gym facility. Thornton offers sports scholarships for entry into Year 7 and has most recently been successful with cross country county championships, winning two gold medals at the national Independent Schools Association swimming competition and the Thornton Equestrian team are regional champions, subsequently qualifying for national championships later in the year.
Dr Louise Shaw, Head Teacher said “Physical and mental well-being is key to providing an environment where girls can thrive in their educational learning but also as individuals. I am delighted with this brand-new facility, which alongside our Head Girl, Eco and Wellbeing Garden project, provides an additional opportunity for our students to be physically fit and mentally well. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Friends of Thornton for their mammoth fundraising efforts to fund this project and, in addition, thank Mandy Legg, the Mayoress of Milton Keynes and Milton Keynes Dons Football Club for taking the time to officially open and celebrate this new facility at Thornton!”
