Maidstone Grammar School for Girls held the grand opening of its new Sports Hall on Monday, 11th April when Olympic gold medallist and former head student, Lizzy Yarnold – who attended MGGS from 1999 to 2007 opened this brand new facility. The new sports hall will be called ‘The Molly Tipples Sports Hall’ in recognition of Mrs Tipples’ role as school governor for over 12 years, with most of this time spent as Chairman of Governors.
Sadly, Mrs Molly Tipples, passed away on 6th April 2016. She had been unwell for some time and her last time in school was in February of this year. Molly was an old girl of the school and represented the Old Girls’ Society on the Governing Body. She was always a staunch ally of the school, and understood its values and ethos. Headteacher, Miss Deborah Stanley said, “I am personally very grateful for the support she gave me over the time I have been at MGGS, and in particular in the last 12 months as Headteacher. Molly was always determined to achieve the best for the school and she fought hard over many years to secure funding for Buckland House and more recently the sports hall.” It was, therefore, a fitting tribute that at the end of 2015 the Governing Body decided that the sports hall should be named after Mrs Tipples, with Mrs Tipples herself having been a PE teacher, and someone for whom sport was a true passion.
Mrs Tipples had been determined in her last weeks to see the opening of the sports hall. Sadly, that was not to be. Molly was able to see photographs of how the finished sports hall would look. She was thrilled, and so pleased that students at MGGS would at last have the sports hall they deserve. The opening ceremony was attended by the Tipples family, KCC officials, governors, several local primary school Headteachers, staff, and members of the PFA and Old Girls’ Society, along with friends of the school, parents/carers and guests. A number of students performed in various sporting activities at the ceremony.
Guests were shown the new sports hall by some of MGGS’s national sports performers and were able to observe performances by MGGS’s very own dance group G-Fix (students from year 10-13), a contemporary dance routine, netball and rowing exhibitions, and a finale of a Year 7 Charleston dance.
Work on the sports hall began during the second week of July last year. The school is very grateful to WW Martin for taking over the contract from the original contractor which meant that there was a minimal delay in completion and was handed over to the school on 4th April 2016. The sports hall is equipped for the following sports: badminton, basketball, netball, 5 a side football, gymnastics, rowing, volleyball and trampolining.
The sports hall has a Taraflex™ sports flooring which has been used for 10 Olympic Games since 1976 and most recently at the London 2012 Games. Leading sports events organisers and national governing bodies believe this specialist flooring offers the highest levels of performance, comfort and safety.
The main sports hall can be divided into 2 discrete floor areas to enable two classes to have indoor PE lessons at the same time. In addition to the main sports hall there are two additional rooms, a small office and a viewing gallery on the first floor and a large storeroom, reception area and toilets on the ground floor. Stairs and a lift connect both floors. These facilities are also available to hire out of school hours and details can be found on the school’s website: http://www.mggs.org/connected-community/lettings.
Students and staff are very much looking forward to utilizing this wonderful new facility.