22-26 November 2010

Unbeaten Boys Win Presidents Trophy
A great week for sport as Bolton School Under 13s water polo team celebrated winning the prestigious 'President Trophy' tournament where they remained unbeaten in all their games to take the title! The boys won all of their five games to become the champions, against top class teams from all over the country. The last time the school won this trophy was back in 2005. Over the last two years the team has only lost one game and in that time has won five trophies - the Bradford Cup, City of Manchester Tournament, Bolton and District Knock out and league, and now, the President Trophy.

Continuing the sporting achievements, a team of Bolton School girls competed in the Northern England and Scotland Aegon Team Tennis Regional Quarter Finals, narrowly missing out on a place in the National final. The Senior girls progressed through the North West league and knockout stages to get to this level of the competition where they snatched victory in an extremely competitive semi-final match but lost out in the final.

Our Year 9 Percussion Ensemble took part in a Community Music Event this week, performing a 30 minute concert to the children of Brownlow Fold Primary School. The concert consisted of some full ensemble items, some solo items and some audience participation involving the children, who were given the opportunity to try out some of the percussion instruments, in what was a very worthwhile event both for the Bolton School students and for the children at Brownlow Fold.

Old Girl and author Mrs Pat Turner returned to the school this week to personally donate a copy of 'Head Girl at Vivians' to the Girls' Division library. This is the second book in her 'Vivians' series which is being published after 60 years!

Infant children at Beech House celebrated Children in Need day with a really spotty non uniform event raising over £700 for the charity. And as part of the Parents' Association's fundraising activities, all this week they have held a Breakfast Club for the Junior Girls to come along to school early and choose from a selection of pancakes, mini doughnuts, pastries, fresh fruit, muffins, hot chocolate, orange juice and blackcurrant juice.

15 - 19 November

Centenary Celebration of Bolton School Photography
Bolton School was delighted to welcome Old Boy Ian Jones back to school this week to judge a photography competition being held to celebrate 100 years of photography at the school. Ian left Bolton School in the early 1980s and has become one of the world's most respected photographers, photographing the Royal Family and major global events for 18 years in over 100 countries, winning numerous awards including News Photographer of the Year and Royal Photographer of the Decade. Pupils from all age groups took part in the competition and there were categories in Portraits and People, Sport, Still Life, Landscape and Wildlife, along with a staff competition and a competition for children from other schools. Ian also brought along his own stunning display of photos, including the photograph he had taken earlier in the week of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement.

Also this week, local schoolchildren from nearby primary schools, Castle Hill and St Bernard's, joined the pupils of Bolton School to produce a sensational Boys' Division Autumn Concert. The Year 5 and Year 6 pupils joined Bolton School Year 8 boys and a number of soloists from Years 8-13 in producing an upbeat Rock Medley grand finale!

Girls and boys from both the junior and senior schools of Bolton School met with success at the English Schools' Biathlon event held at Wavertree Sports Park in Liverpool. The competition sees Years 5, 6 and 7 biathletes run 500m and swim 50m and the older girls and boys run 1000m and swim 100m, and our pupils’ efforts take many of them to the Semi-Finals in the New Year.

Fundraising efforts have been full steam ahead this week as Head of the Junior Girls' School, Mrs Ruth Brierley, got in to the spirit of raising money for Children in Need by dressing up as Buzz Lightyear. The girls held a non uniform day to raise money and paid a little extra to see Mrs Brierley in fancy dress, raising over £270! Two Year 5 girls also held a 'Boot Out Breast Cancer' Charity Event earlier in the week and raised a fabulous £187.23 by selling perfumes, pens and raffle tickets.

And Junior Boys at Bolton School have made a donation of £2,802.22 to Derian House Children's Hospice - half of an amount raised back in June when the whole school of 200 boys undertook their annual Fun Run in fancy dress around a 400m circuit for half an hour. The other half of the money was donated to Cancer Research.

Blog 8-12 November 2010

School Offers Local Children a Chance to Shine
'SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturdays' kicked off again this week at Bolton School as forty two pupils from five local primary schools attended the opening session of the second running of the annual programme. The scheme is run in partnership with the SHINE charitable trust and aims to encourage Year 5 pupils (both boys and girls) to participate in fun, educational sessions run by Bolton School staff on Saturday mornings each week between November and February. The activities encompass a wide variety of curriculum areas such as Maths, History and the sciences, as well as other more unusual offerings such as Russian, Japanese and Martial Arts.

Teams of Sixth Formers from Bolton School took part in the Northern Schools Modern Foreign Languages Debating Competition and managed to reach the final of all three language competitions! The girls won the Spanish debate, were runners up in the German category and semi-finalists in the French category, while the boys were runners up in the French debate and semi-finalists in the German category.

Also this week the Girls' Division annual Autumn Concert showcased the depth and breadth of musical talent that is on offer at Bolton School as over 300 pupils took part in a rapturous evening of music-making which brought cheer to a wild, windy autumnal evening.

And an Old Boys' Lunch at the School brought together Old Boys and international swimmers old and new, Daniel Sliwinski and David Aspinall - giving them the chance to compare experiences both of the School and what it is like to swim for your country over 50 years apart! Recent leaver Daniel has just returned from representing England in the Commonwealth Games in Dehli, and David Aspinall, who attended Bolton School from 1948-1953, represented both the Great Britain and England teams at swimming between 1954 and 1957.

1 - 5 November 2010

Bolton School has submitted a request for planning permission to the Council to build an exciting new facility for its Sixth Form pupils within the main school site on Chorley New Road. If plans meet with the Council's approval, the new, shared Sixth Form building will sit in the centre of the campus. Lessons will be taught in a single sex environment, but the Centre will be for both the Sixth form girls and boys to enjoy and will provide top-quality facilities to complement the excellent academic teaching that students already receive. If planning is granted, it is hoped that building work will commence in Summer 2012. The School anticipates that the project would take one year to complete, allowing Sixth Formers to move in to their new facility in the Autumn Term of 2013. The proposed Centre will be an outstanding facility and represents the final phase of a carefully planned and well funded building project, which has already seen the completion of a new Infant School, a new Junior Girls' School and an extended Junior Boys' School. Plans can be downloaded from the website.

In the meantime - prospective Sixth Form Girls for next year and their parents are invited to visit the School next week on our open evening on Tuesday 9 November at 7.00pm. Staff will be on hand to explain the AS and A Level courses and to offer advice about subject choices. For further information please contact Mrs Julie Holland on 01204 840201.

The School has gained a mention in Stephen Fry's latest memoir 'The Fry Chronicles'! In the book Stephen talks fondly of his University friend Kim Harris who is an Old Boy of the School and the extracts can be read on our website.

Also this week our Senior Girls handed over a cheque for £769 to the Guide Dog for the Blind Association meaning they are well on their way to sponsoring a second guide dog. The money was raised by Headmistress Mrs Gill Richards and fellow teachers who all drove blindfolded around the Three Sisters Race Track at Wigan in September, in exchange for sponsorship. The money will go towards the £5000 needed to sponsor a puppy to be trained as a guide dog.

And the week will end with a bang on Sunday night with the Parents' Association Family Firework display at the school. The gates will open at 5pm, entertainment will begin at 6pm and the firework display will begin at 6.30pm. Tickets will be available at the door at £6 for adults, £4 for children and £20 for a family ticket.