Bolton School Blog: 21/6 - 25/6/2010

It has been a very busy week for Bolton School with fundraising and famous faces all round!

Everton Captain and former England footballer Phil Neville and his wife, Julie, made a flying visit to Bolton School Junior Boys' School to thank pupils for taking part in a schools' fundraising campaign in aid of the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. The boys took part in the Tesco Wear What U Want Day - an event in which pupils were encouraged to pay £1 in return for being able to ditch their uniform for the day and as a reward for their charity work, the pupils were given the opportunity to pose quick fire questions to the football star!

In the afternoon, the Junior Boys took to the field dressed in an array of colourful fancy dress outfits in order to raise even more money for Cancer Research and Derian House through their annual Fun Run, and it was quite an afternoon of sport as the Junior Girls were taking part in their own sports festival at the same time.

Pupils also got to meet a Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry this week as Professor Sir Harry Kroto returned to his old school to deliver a day of workshops and talks aimed at inspiring an interest in Science amongst the region's young people. And there was more science on the menu as twenty eight Primary schools visited Bolton School for a Science Festival! The day provided an opportunity for gifted young pupils from Year 5 to make use of Bolton School's laboratories and resources and to absorb themselves in Science for the day with a number of challenging forensic and chemical practical activities including blood testing, fingerprinting, and chemical analysis of soil samples.

Finally, this weekend we would like to wish the best of luck to Year 9 Boys' Division pupil Daniel Sharif who will be representing the North West in the Inter Regional Team Ski Championships at Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre on Sunday 27 June.

Bolton School Blog: 14/6 - 18/6/2010

Over 200 pupils from twenty primary schools from across the region took part in this year's Bolton School Sports Festival on Thursday morning. The annual event, now in its seventh year, saw teams from Bolton and further afield including Preston, Wigan and North Manchester, competing in a variety of sporting challenges including a rugby slalom and penalty shoot-outs as well as having their golf, hockey, tennis, athletics, and cricket skills tested. Schools picked up points in each event they took part in resulting in an overall Festival Winner which this year was St Thomas Chequerbent from Westhoughton.

Also this week Bolton School held an awards evening to honour Sixth Form students who have undertaken work in the local community. Students received bronze, silver and gold certificates for 20, 50 or 100 hours worth of work in the community and one girl had even done over 1,000 hours! In order to establish more links with external groups to increase participation even further, Bolton School is holding a Volunteering Fair on Thursday 9 September at 2.00pm in the Arts Centre. Anyone interested in attending the fair and working with the School and its Sixth Form volunteer students should contact Heather Tunstall on 01204 840201 or email ht@boys.bolton.sch.uk

Year 6 Junior girls have given their opening performance of the Shakespeare play 'The Tempest' which they have been studying in English. The girls gave an outstanding performance to an audience of their families and friends after working hard all week rehearsing, and they will give their second and final performance this evening.

Bolton School's Jazz Band have been performing again this time at the Beech House (Infant School) Summer Fete 2010 - see their performance by clicking here

And we wish a big good luck to our Junior Boys' chess teams, as all four teams of six boys travel to Pontins in Prestatyn this weekend for the Northern Final of the EPSCA (English Primary Schools Chess Association) National Primary Schools Chess Team Championship 2010. If they win the regional competition they will then go on to the National Final.

Bolton School Blog: 7/6 - 11/6/2010

This week Bolton School Senior Girls' Division has been getting ready to open its doors to Year 5 girls, their parents and friends after school on Monday to offer them a chance to learn more about how our School works.

On the Discovery Day there will be a treasure hunt trail around the School with various departments offering short, challenging activities with an emphasis on fun. Pupils are allowed to go around with friends, on their own or with their parents, and current Year 7 girls and Sixth Formers will be on hand to help. Tea, coffee, cold drinks and biscuits will be provided for parents in the dining hall and senior staff will be available to speak to parents and answer any queries. Prospectuses and registration forms are also available on the day.

With the warmer weather upon us, it’s this time of year that groups of pupils head off to Patterdale Hall, our outdoor pursuits centre in the Lake District where they get to try out activities such as abseiling, canoeing, orienteering, climbing and sailing, while building their confidence and team working skills.

Junior Girls have once again been having fun dressing up, this time as Vikings! Even the teachers got involved, and the Year 4 girls were mesmerised by tales from their visiting ‘Viking’. They had the chance to make Viking pottery and play a Viking game, and to learn about warfare.

Completion of the new Junior Girls’ School ‘Hesketh House’ is getting nearer and nearer, and staff were allowed for the first time to take a look inside the building which is set to be their new home and see the classrooms they will soon be teaching in.

Also this week, representatives from the School attended the Award Ceremony for the 2010 Bolton and Bury Business Awards. The school was one of the sponsors of the event and had the tough job of deciding the winner of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category, and of presenting the award to Abdul Rahman of Bilal Poultry who won the title.