Headmistress in Blind Drive Challenge
Mrs Gill Richards, Headmistress of the Girls' Division, was joined by fellow teachers Mr Mark Jones, Mrs Sue O'Kelly and Miss Rose Wilson as they all drove blindfolded around the Three Sisters Race Track at Wigan! The aim of the blind drive was to raise funds for the school to pay for a second puppy to be trained as a guide dog, after raising money for one dog - Rolo, who began his training last year with Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Mrs Richards has announced that she will retire at the end of the Summer Term 2011, and this added an extra level of poignancy to this year's Sixth Form Presentation Evening - an evening of celebration to recognise excellent exam results at GCSE and A Level. Chairman of Governors, Mr Michael Griffiths, opened the evening and congratulated the School on another excellent year and Mrs Richards on her outstanding leadership.

Also this week top author and authority on children's upbringing Sue Palmer told 300 parents at Bolton School: 'Get the TV out of the bedrooms', speaking at the school's prestigious annual Tillotson Lecture. Palmer, author of 'Toxic Childhood' and '21st Century Boys', went on to say that children must be allowed to play out, with friends and without close parental supervision, to develop properly.

In Junior Boys, our U11 Chess team has been named eighth overall in the country, after competing in the EPSCA (English Primary Schools Chess Association) National Primary Schools Chess Team Championship 2010.

And Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been brought to life for Junior girls in year 5 and 6 who took part in a drama Workshop with the Young Shakespeare Company. Young actors worked with the girls to help them understand the story, language and characters, while performing scenes and encouraging the girls to take part and discuss what they see.

13-17 September 2010

New £5m Junior Girls' School Opens
Bolton School Junior girls and staff are now enjoying their new state-of-the-art school, Hesketh House! The new building was ready for the start of the Autumn Term and the girls are now settling in well to their spacious and modern surroundings. The brand new purpose built school comprises eight classrooms, its own large computer suite, a science room, a well-resourced library, an art/design and technology room and a main hall. The £5m school, built by Bolton based contractors G & J Seddon, has taken just over a year to build, and is part of a £12 million investment in new buildings and facilities at Bolton School.

It has been a time of sporting success for Bolton School girls as Year 12 pupil Hannah Furey returned from the United Nations Ju-Jitsu competition with six medals including three golds, making her a triple UNJJ champion and arguably one of the best all round Ju-Jitsu competitors in the world.

Year 11 fencer Emily Ruaux is also making the headlines as she sets her sights on qualifying for the Under 17s European and World Championships. Emily broke into the women's top 30 in Britain after an impressive performance at the Senior National Championships in Sheffield in July, and only missed out on last season's Euros through injury. She is currently ranked fifth at under 17s and eighth at under 20s in the country.

Over in the Boys' Division Biology teacher Mr Marc Tillotson is going the extra mile for his pupils as he gets into serious training in order to run the Kielder Marathon on 17 October. His fundraising effort will raise money so that Sixth Form students can visit Indonesia to take part in Operation Wallacea in July 2011. Operation Wallacea is a series of biological and conservation management research programmes that operate in remote locations across the world. In the first week, students will spend time in the rainforest assisting with conservation work and research, before moving to the Wakatobi National Park to study the marine ecosystems.

6-10 September 2010

Sir Ian Back at Bolton School
GCSE Drama students at Bolton School Boys' Division enjoyed a drama class with a difference when Sir Ian McKellen, an Old Boy of the School, dropped in on their lesson.
Sir Ian was back in his old school to put his name to the boys' drama studio. After a brief unveiling of the plaque on the "McKellen Studio Theatre", Sir Ian gave a talk reminiscing about his days at Bolton School, which he attended from 1951-58. He sat in on the Drama lesson, and along with his companion for the day, fellow actor Antony Cotton (Sean Tully in Coronation Street), offered advice and tips on acting to the boys.

School Ranked Amongst Best in Country
The Daily Telegraph's 2010 ranking of independent schools by A level results has placed Bolton School Boys' Division as 62nd best school in the country and the Girls' Division as 79th. The table reflects the percentage of A level grades at A* and A. The results place the School amongst the best in the North-West and comfortably place both divisions of the school in the top 10 independent schools in the North of England.

At GCSE the Girls' Division has been placed 82nd in a league table of independent schools based on the 2010 results, as released by the Independent Schools Council, and the Boys' Division also performed exceptionally well and were placed at 148th in the table.

Two Sixth Form students at Bolton School Girls' Division, Roxanna Azimy and Megan Scott, have designed a winning fashion collection in the BBC Blast 'Your Label 2010' Fashion Design Competition, and will now get to showcase their designs at London Fashion week in September!
The competition was run in conjunction with the V&A museum and entrants had to use one of the on-line museum collections as inspiration to create their own fashion collection. The girls opted for the 'Japanese' themed collection, and their designs were chosen as one of ten national winners.

In sport, the Boys' Division First XV rugby team have got off to a terrific start for the 2010-11 season as they overcame Audenshaw 36-14.

And the last week in August saw Bolton School pupils, staff and parents join together for the first ever school mountain bike trip which took a sixteen strong group on a nine day trip in the Austrian mountains at Westendorf, Tirol.