The Sisters of Jesus and Mary purchased the Manor House of Thornton in 1917 and formed a school for girls – Thornton College, Convent of Jesus and Mary. In the beginning the School educated a small number of girls, predominantly daughters from the landed gentry, and most were boarders.
The Sisters were responsible for all aspects of care - everything from teaching to cooking and looking after the boarders. As the number of Sisters declined, the number lay staff (staff who are not part of a Religious Order) has increased and now only a few of the Sisters are actively involved in teaching the girls.
Those who leave Thornton - former pupils, former parents and ex-staff often come back to visit. There is an active former pupil association called the Old Thorntonians who host a reunion at School every year and write an annual newsletter which is distributed to every former pupil we have contact details for. For more information, please look at the Old Girls page.
The School has expanded significantly over the past 90 years and now educates in excess of 340 girls. Every decade has seen a major building development. Most recently two major developments have been opended. The Thevenet Wing housing the Early Years Department, was completed in 2002 and this year we opened a new Creative and Performing Arts Facility.
For more information about the history of Thornton, formerly Thornton Hall, and pictures of school life over the past 90 years, please visit the Thornton pages from the Milton Keynes Heritage site by clicking here. |