Thornleigh Salesian College 4.24

Thornleigh Salesian College is a Roman Catholic secondary school in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.HistoryThornleigh College was originally a boys school founded in 1925 by the Salesians of Don Bosco at the request of the Clergy of Bolton. The school uniform (blazer) was brown with the school badge picked out in yellow on the breast pocket.It became a direct grant grammar school catering for a wide area in Lancashire. In 1980, 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. The school now celebrates Don Bosco day on January 31st as was the tradition since the founding of the school.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 2005, Thornleigh received a Sports College and Investor in People status.