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John McGinnis,
Finance Manager at the school said, “Pulse
has always fulfilled our requirements in the
fitness arena. We have
superb
facilities that are used by our students and
the public alike. We can offer state-of-the-art
equipment that fits with our mission for the
school.”
Thornton Grammar School is a Specialist Sports,
Science & Applied Learning School, that
caters for students aged
11-18. Founded in 1673, the school has known
three different homes. The current building
was opened in 1944 by Clement Atlee.
The school has a mission statement relating
to its specialist sports status that says
that the school will help its students
to unlock their sporting and academic potential.
It will develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes
and qualities essential for good citizenship
and will, working in partnership with the
local
community,
maximise the opportunity for participation and
success in sport for all
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Pulse Fitness was called upon back
in 1997 to work in
partnership with the school to provide facilities that
would
not only encourage the students at the school to develop
an interest in health and fitness but would also provide
the local community with a high quality, value for money
fitness facility. The result of this initial partnership
was to
see Pulse Fitness and Thornton Grammar School working
together over an 11 year period to deliver fitness and
sports to the students and local community alike. |
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The first phase of the development was a squash
court conversion where Pulse installed a second
floor giving the school twice the floor space.
This was then used to accommodate 30 pieces
of
fitness equipment in a state-of-the-art fitness
suite for the students to use during
school hours and to be open to the local community
outside of this time.
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Introduction
to sport that pupils can take with
them throughout their life
Increase pupils awareness of healthy living
Profile of gym equipment has been raised
Literacy, numeracy, ICT, science and PSHE
curriculum links introduced
Developed pupils confidence and competence
in sport
Contributed to attendance, behaviour
and attainment
Well received and enjoyed by pupils |
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Later developments at the school in 2001 and
2006 had to take into account the new targets
introduced by the government to encourage children
to participate in more regular physical activity.
Pulse was challenged to provide a facility that
could keep pupils interested and engaged in
sport, allow for cross-curricular learning and
encourage pupils to learn and adopt a healthy
lifestyle that will become a blue print for
their adult life.
The solution was a 78 station state-ofthe- art
gym, containing Pulse’ latest revolutionary
ranges of fitness equipment. Designed to be
versatile, durable and simple to operate, the
equipment, enables children from 11 years plus,
to workout and improve their fitness in line
with their ability, whilst features such as
full colour TFT screens provide the motivation,
fun and excitement.
Pulse’ freedom cardiovascular range also
features polar heart rate monitoring and reads
out data on calories, distance, resistance level,
speed, time and watts. This generation of accurate
data allowed Thornton Grammar to increase coherence
and relevance across the curriculum linking
their practical workout with science,
numeracy, ICT, food technology and PSHE. “Key
stage 4 and 5 pupils discussed in science, the
body and heart and then recorded their own heart
rates during PE.
This data was also used for analysis as part
of a maths lesson. There are many opportunities
to integrate sport across the rest of academic
studies, we use our working gym in many classroom
activities” comments John McGinnis. “Equipment
is becoming increasingly versatile in education
establishments, many sites are looking at how
information can be provided to compliment other
areas of study.
Recognising how important this feature was to
Thornton Grammar we have now gone one-step further
and introduced the Pulse Smart Centre. Now students
and teachers can readily access workout data,
body statistics via a computer integrated with
the equipment”.
The gym environment created at Thornton Grammar
School allows pupils to feel comfortable in
a club setting and as a result, be more likely
to continue participating in physical activity
once they leave school.
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In phase three Pulse provided extra car parking,
new high tech front elevation to the building
with a new reception area, upgraded all the
corridors and doors to solid wood finishes,
plastered and decorated the walls instead of
painted breeze blocks and added on the extension
to the building.
The 220 square metre extension incorporated
a separate junior gym and separate public members
dry changing facilities. Pulse also gave the
existing fitness facilities a face lift, redecorating
and re-carpeting the existing gym, replacing
all the fitness equipment with the latest from
the Pulse Freedom and Evolve ranges and redecorating
the dance studios. The latest development
involved an investment of £800,000 from
Pulse.
Pulse put together
a comprehensive sales and marketing programme
to ensure that the centre continues to attract
new members. Pulse employs a full time sales
person who is responsible for selling memberships
to the local community and aiding the operational
staff at the site.
Pulse also provides staff training, both internal
and external, and marketing promotions including
the use of
promotional material that is provided to the
site on an on-going basis. This level of support
will continue throughout the life of the agreement.
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