Thornleigh Salesian College

Thornleigh Salesian College

Motto	Sicut Cervus (Latin incipit of Psalm 42, meaning "As the hart [longs for running water, So longs my soul for you, O God]")
Established	1925
Type	Voluntary aided secondary school
Religion	Roman Catholic
Headmistress	Mrs. A. Burrows
Founder	Clergy of Bolton
Specialism	Specialist Sports College
Location	Sharples Park Astley Bridge Bolton Greater Manchester England
Local authority	Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
DfE URN	105264
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1506
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–18
Website	www.thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk

Thornleigh Salesian College is a Salesian and Catholic secondary school in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.

History

Thornleigh College was founded in 1925 by The Salesian Order of Don Bosco at the request of the Clergy of Bolton.

It became a boys' direct grant grammar school catering for a wide area in Lancashire. In 1979, following the reorganisation of Catholic schools in Bolton to a comprehensive system, Thornleigh joined with St Anne's High School, to form a six form entry Voluntary Aided Mixed Comprehensive School with a Sixth Form Centre to serve the needs of all Catholic Sixth Form pupils. Catholic Secondary Schools in Bolton reorganised again in 1986, and Thornleigh combined with St Cuthbert's school, which had been founded in 1963, to form a new seven form entry Voluntary Aided Mixed Comprehensive School with a Sixth Form centre which continues to serve the whole of the borough. The school is under the Trusteeship of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

For ten years from 1980 Thornleigh was a split site school. £4 million of investment in new buildings in the years 1986 to 1989 enabled the whole school to consolidate at Sharples Park from September 1990. A new building for the Sixth Form was opened in 1987 and an £800,000 extension was added to it in 1995. A five class room extension for 11-16 pupils plus a new two storey dining room, costing £1.1 million in total, were added during 2000. In 2004, Thornleigh received a Sports College and Investor in People status.

On the same site is the Thornleigh Sixth Form. The head of the Sixth Form is Mr.E. Kirk. In total (2002), there are currently 1624 students at Thornleigh, with 370 studying at the Sixth Form.

Badge & motto

The Latin Motto "Sicut Cervus" is the incipit of Psalm 42, and can be loosely translated as 'As the Hart'. The motto is that of the Hargreaves family, and the head of a hart (a male deer) was the family crest. The crest is worn on the blazers of every student.

The Hargreaves were a wealthy Bolton family who owned the house at Sharples Park which was bought by the Salesians when Thornleigh was founded in 1925. The crest and motto were kept by the school and the school took its name from the house.

Notable former pupils

• Danny Boyle - Oscar winning film director
• Conor McGloin - guitarist in the band Kinesis
• Damon Gough - musician, known as Badly Drawn Boy
• Maurice Lindsay - chairman, Wigan Rugby League Football Club, former chief executive of the Rugby Football League
• Ian McAllister - former chairman of Ford UK, current chairman of Network Rail
• Helen Flanagan - actress
• Frank Finlay - actor
• Brian Finch - television writer
• Lewis Gorse - actor
• Richard Henry McFarlane - poet, known as Hovis Presley
• Bernard Wrigley - actor, comedian and musician
• Norman Prince - guitarist in the folk band the Houghton Weavers
• Tony Berry - vocalist in the folk band the Houghton Weavers
• Mike Pollitt - goalkeeper for Wigan Athletic FC
• Kerry Pollard - politician, former Member of Parliament for St Albans
• David Atherton - entrepreneur, founder of online retailer dabs.com
• Stuart Flinders - Reporter and Presenter on BBC News and BBC North West Tonight
• Danny Jones - singer, member of British band, McFly
• Tom Parker - vocalist from rising boy band The Wanted

External links

• Thornleigh Salesian College
• Salesians of Don Bosco UK