13-17 December 2010

A hectic final week of term has been filled with Christmas music in all the divisions of the school! Not least in the Girls' Division where the Middle School Choir has won the Bolton News' X-Mas Factor Song for Christmas! The competition showcased the musical talents of young people across Bolton and involved 7 schools who offered a variety of Christmas songs in a range of styles. The Bolton News came into school and filmed the 75 strong Middle School Choir, conducted by Mrs Carter, singing "Something Told the Wild Geese". The seven song videos then ran on the Bolton News website followed by three days of voting by the people of Bolton to choose their favourite. The video can be viewed on the Bolton News website here.

Earlier in the week the girls performed this song at the Girls' traditional Ceremony of Carols in front of a full to capacity Great Hall as a large congregation of parents, governors, former pupils, staff and former staff, gathered for the event. The service featured enchanting performances from all the school choirs along with a variety of beautiful readings, and the congregation joined in with a number of well loved carols throughout the service. Festive sounds also filled the Boys' Division Great Hall at their annual Christmas Festival where the audience were treated to a spectacular evening of seasonal celebration with performances from the choirs interspersed with readings and reflections. During the evening, audience participation was called for and the Great Hall resonated to stirring renditions of popular carols. All monies collected on both evenings will be donated to charity.

Junior Boys too held their Annual Christmas Carol Service treating family and friends to performances from the Upper and Lower School choirs along with vibrant performances from the Recorder Group and the Strings Group, and several Christmas readings from the boys. Their end of service collection was for Ondukuta Combined School in Namibia which the Junior School is now partnered with.

From Music to Classics - three Bolton School boys have been successful in the Jowett Sendelar Classics National essay competition. Year 10 pupil James Chia was ranked 5th for his essay on the Greek Gods, Year 8 pupil Mohammed Fazal was ranked 22nd for his essay, also on Greek Gods, and Ben Tillbrook, also Year 10, was ranked 38th for his essay on Warfare.

Also this week pupils handed over a cheque for £703.49 to Debbie Dowie of cancer charity ‘Boot Out Breast Cancer’. The donation was the combined result of fundraising efforts by pupils in Boys' Division, Girls' Division and Junior Girls' School.

And if you are looking for a different kind of holiday or weekend away - Tenacity, the boat built by Bolton School pupils is now available for commercial hire. The boat is a 60 foot ketch which can take 10 crew and her 2 professional crew, and we have a number of weeks availability over the 2011 sailing season –you can view the sailing programme here and find out further details of how to book.

From everybody at Bolton School we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year.

6 - 10 December 2010

The School is already starting to get into the festive spirit as we head towards Christmas, none more so than the Girls' Division Middle School Choir which has entered the Bolton News' X-Mas Factor Song for Christmas. The competition will involve about seven schools, some entering full choirs and others just a few singers, and aims to showcase the singing talents of young people across Bolton. The Bolton News came into school this week to film the 75 strong Middle School Choir, conducted by Mrs Carter, singing "Something Told the Wild Geese". The Years 7, 8 and 9 girls were busy rehearsing the song for the Ceremony of Carols, which will take place in the Great Hall on Tuesday 14 December at 7.30pm. The school was featured in the Bolton News and the video can be viewed on their website here. Voting via text or phone will commence on Monday 13 December.

This week has been a great week for charity efforts in the School! Our sixth form boys donned their wackiest and craziest shirts in order to raise money for Boot Out Breast Cancer – the day was organised by Year 13 pupil Ollie Dowie in order to raise funds for the charity, which was recently founded by his mum Debbie Dowie after she beat breast cancer herself.

Pupils at Beech House have been busy collecting toys and gifts to donate to the Bolton Lions, who distribute the gifts to less fortunate families who cannot afford to buy presents for their children this Christmas. Volunteers at the Lions collect toys from local schools, churches and businesses as part of the 'Caring Christmas Appeal' which is run each year.

And four Bolton School teachers are clean shaven once again after sporting moustaches for the whole of November to raise funds and awareness for men's health by taking part in 'Movember' - a worldwide moustache growing charity event that raises funds for The Prostate Cancer Charity.

Elsewhere, Year 10 Spanish students were treated to an authentic Spanish banquet to help immerse them in the culture and food of Spain. As part of their GCSE course, the year 10 pupils learn all about Spanish food and drink, fiestas and celebrations so it seemed only fitting that they should try out the food for themselves.

29 November - 3 December 2010

Minds Exercised in Physics Olympics
Gifted and talented Year 9 pupils from fifteen schools from across the borough had a day of fun and learning on Friday as Bolton School hosted a Physics Olympics. The event was organised by Mr Mark Ormerod, who is Bolton's Ogden Physics Teaching Fellow based at Bolton School, and aimed to spark an interest in Physics among local 11-16 year old pupils. Teams of four pupils from different high schools moved around the laboratories undertaking a range of Physics-related tasks, ranging from designing and building, taking measurements and testing.

And it wasn’t just local high schools visiting Bolton School this week as we also gave primary school children the chance to try out a range of foreign languages including Russian and Japanese, with the annual Primary Schools' Modern Foreign Languages Festival. This is the second year the event has been held and it was open to Year 5 pupils from the Bolton LEA. The day involved a series of workshops where pupils gained an introduction to the language and culture of five different countries and peoples. Small groups of boys and girls from 9 local primary schools took part in the day, sampling French, Russian, German, Spanish and Japanese. The aim was to awaken a love of languages in young people, and inspire them to want to learn about other cultures, people, and the languages they speak.

Good news as a team of Bolton School Sixth Form Boys has won the regional heat of the eleventh annual Target Two Point Zero - The Bank of England and The Times Interest Rate Challenge. The competition gave the team of Year 13 pupils the chance to take on the role of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee by analysing UK and global economic data, making decisions on interest rates and presenting their conclusions to a panel of Bank of England judges. They will now go on to the area final to be held in February/March 2011, with the national final to be held on 18 March at the Bank of England in London.

And Bolton School Junior Girls got into the spirit of Christmas with their Nativity Celebration 'Following the Star' in which they told the nativity story through song, music, narration, poetry and dance to a packed audience of parents.

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.

18-21 October 2010

Back to A Level Reality for Silver Medallist
A short week this week for Bolton School as our half term approaches, and yet it was back to earth with a bang for Year 12 pupil Emma Saunders as she returned to Bolton School to catch up on the three weeks of A Levels that she missed whilst at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Emma was the youngest member of Team England to pick up a medal and not just one but two (in the 4 x 100m Freestyle and the 4 x 200m Freestyle), but now reality hits as she catches up with her coursework whilst continuing her training schedule at the City of Manchester pool – where she trains nine times a week! Joining Emma for a photocall with the Bolton News this week was Old Boy, Daniel Sliwinski, who also picked up a bronze medal at the Games in the 400 x 100m Medley Relay.

And there was more national sporting recognition for Year 9 pupil Jonathan Williams who has been invited to the Great Britain kayaking trials after winning a national freestyle competition at Holme Pierrepont, the National Water Sports Centre.

In the Sixth form, Year 13 pupil Sam Chisnell is the owner of a brand new IPad thanks to his marketing brain which helped him win a Business Studies competition to help the School market 'Tenacity of Bolton' - the Ketch built by boys in school which is now used for sailing expeditions for pupils and is also available for the public to hire for teambuilding or adventure weekends. Sam had to design a Marketing Plan for the boat in which he identified possible target markets, conducted a market analysis, researched the background of the boat and its competitors and produced a financial summary.

Week beginning 11 October 2010

Record Numbers Attend Open Morning
We are pleased to say that our 2010 Open Morning was a hugely successful event with a record number of families visiting the campus. The morning offered a chance for enquirers to learn more about the school with a number of presentations from Head Teachers and pupils. Senior teaching staff were on hand to answer any questions and the Clerk and Treasurer dispensed information packs about the School's bursaries.

Sixth Form pupil Emma Saunders returned from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi this week with not one but two medals! She helped England's 4x100m freestyle relay squad claim silver to add to the bronze she won in the 4x200m relay. Old Boy Daniel Sliwinski also won a bronze medal in the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay against some of the World's most successful swimmers.


Senior Girls from Years 7 and 8 have been transported back to the age of the dinosaur with a hands-on workshop run by the Bolton Museum and Archive Service. Alex McLeman from the museum visited the school and brought along Prehistoric casts and fossils, artefacts and specimens from around the world including a cast of part of a T-Rex's skull!


In sport Bolton School First XV rugby team produced their best performance of the 2010-11 season when they beat Hutton Grammar School at home 27-12, putting them through to the fourth round of the Daily Mail RBS competition - the largest school sports competition in the world. The side will face a difficult away game at Stonyhurst College on 10 November.

And Junior Boys have made a donation of £2,802.22 to Cancer Research UK - money raised back in June when the whole school of 200 boys undertook their annual Fun Run around a 400m circuit for half an hour.

4 - 8 October 2010

The School has been very busy this week as we prepare for our Open Morning, which will be held on Saturday 16th October from 9.30am - 1.00pm. It offers an excellent opportunity for parents and potential pupils to visit the School and the entire campus is open - the Nursery, the new Infants' School (Beech House), the recently extended and refurbished Boys' Division Junior School (Park Road) and Senior School, as well as the newly built Girls' Division Junior School (Hesketh House) and Senior School.

Well Done Commonwealth Stars Emma and Dan!
Congratulations are in order this week to Sixth form pupil Emma Saunders who has won her first medal in the Commonwealth Games in New Dehli! Swimmer Emma joined forces with Rebecca Adlington in the 4x200m freestyle relay where the team picked up a bronze medal and also set a new English record! Emma also made it through to the final of the 100m freestyle, finishing in eighth place and beating her personal best twice in the qualifiers. Congratulations also to former pupil Daniel Sliwinski who finished eighth in the 100m Breaststroke final in what proved to be a very strong field and has also stormed through to the Mens 50m Beaststroke final in the 6th fastest time from the semi finals.

Dr Jim Wild of the Physics Department of the University of Lancaster returned to Bolton School this week to help Year 11 pupils and Sixth Form students from across the borough understand "The Physics of the Northern Lights" in an Ogden Trust Physics Lecture organised by the Girls' Division Able and Talented Programme.

The Junior girls and boys took part in 'The H Factor' - a healthy eating initiative which saw the children making smoothies, researching healthy food options using netbooks, taking part in quizzes and sampling a range of foods. And there was more going on in the Junior schools as once again the Junior Boys' hall was packed out with boys and their parents for the annual Harvest festival in aid of the Drop-in Centre at St Luke's Church, while the Junior Girls had their own Harvest festival and were treated to a Kinetic Theatre Performance.

Old Boltonians and friends enjoyed some sublime weather as they played out their annual President's Golf Day at Bolton Golf Club. Sixteen teams took part in this year's fundraiser and over £3,000 was raised for the School's Bursary Fund.

27 September - 1 October 2010

SHINE Project is Shortlisted for National Award
Good news this week as Bolton School's 'SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturdays' project has been shortlisted for a National Independent Schools Award! The project has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Community/Public Benefit Initiative award in recognition of its involvement with, and benefit to, the local community and winning this award would also mean the School could walk away with the title of Independent School of the Year.

In the Boys’ History Department an exciting new scheme is taking place in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum as Miss Helen Breedon, an interactor at the Museum has begun a two term secondment as the Department's first ever 'Historian in Residence'. Miss Breedon will spend every Friday afternoon assisting the Department in the teaching of the boys' lessons ranging from Year 7 to Year 12 and she will also offer sessions at the weekly History Society meetings on Friday lunchtimes.

Sporting successes are once again plentiful - as the Lancashire Cricket Board celebrated its end of season annual presentation, it became apparent that Bolton School has provided them with enough players to make up a full team! One girl and ten boys have represented Lancashire throughout the year - a full team's worth of players-in what proved to be an excellent year for Bolton School cricket.Bolton School's First XV enjoyed a practice session with a difference when they were joined by the Sale Sharks team and the U12 Water Polo team is celebrating a double victory after winning both the Bolton and District Knockout Cup and the League.

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.

Summer Blog 2010

New Record Set on Results Day
Bolton School is once again celebrating outstanding exam results! A new record was set at GCSE by the Girls' Division, as 40% of grades achieved were A*, and the Boys’ Division saw similar success as one third of all grades were A*s.
The A Level results were just as pleasing as the Boys' Division achieved a fantastic 100% pass rate, with 95.6% of entries graded A*- C and nearly two out of every three grades at A* or A. The Girls' Division also recorded excellent results with 93% of entries graded A*-C, 19% of entries graded A* and more than half of all entries graded A* or A.

European Gold and Commonwealth spot for Emma
Year 11 pupil Emma Saunders has returned from the European Junior Swimming Championships in Helsinki with not one but a haul of four medals, and has now been selected to represent England at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October! Emma stormed to a new Championship record at the Europeans as she claimed gold in the Girls' 50m Backstroke, and not content with taking the individual title, she also helped the Great Britain team scoop three silver medals in the relays.

Other pupils have been busy over the summer - Boys' Division Sixth Form student, Luhua Yang, enjoyed a unique learning experience when he took part in a four day Power Engineering course at Aston University. Luhua had the chance to tackle a variety of practical design-and-build projects exploring the technology behind energy generation and distribution. Girls’ Division Sixth form pupil Thorrun Govind has been helping to tackle the problem of dangerous drivers by making a mini-documentary with the support of ITV. A short section of her film can be seen at http://www.itvfixers.com/ and when completed she hopes to distribute her documentary to test centres and schools.

Back at school, Former England international cricketer Dominic Cork took time out from captaining Hampshire and the commentator's box to offer his coaching tips, enthusiasm and wisdom to boys and girls taking part in the Andrew Flintoff Cricket Academy, while at the school’s Bolton Wanderers Football Academy, Lofty the Lion surprised youngsters with a visit. And there were yet more sporting stars in the grounds as Bolton School helped out the Sale Sharks by providing the school levels for them to train on after the rugby team became stuck in heavy congestion on the M6 on their way to training.

Bolton School Blog: 5/7 - 7/7/2010

Most schools would think about winding down for the last few days before the summer break but it is quite the opposite at Bolton School.

Sixth Form students were mesmerised by the intricate word play of Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate. She was appearing as part of a double bill with Dr Jim Wild of the University of Lancaster, who gave a fascinating presentation entitled "In Search of the Northern Lights". The two talks were part of the Year 12 students' Gifted and Talented programme.

The Boys' Division Senior School celebrated a passion for excellence which has permeated the year at the annual Prizegiving afternoon. Old Boy Professor Malcolm Stevens OBE and FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) was this year's special guest.

In the sporting world, Year 11 pupil, James Roberts, made his debut for England's Cerebral Palsy Development Squad in the Home Nations' Tournament in Dublin, whilst Ben Monks (Year 12) was called up to represent Lancashire Schools once again in the National Schools' Regatta.

Boys from the Senior School also presented a cheque for £2,000 to members of the Halle Orchestra, who were delighted to receive the donation on behalf of Buskaid and in the memory of Mike and Dot Hall. The money had been raised earlier in the year at a Battle of the Bands competition, which had been judged by Old Boy, Mark Radcliffe.

And finally, Bolton School, gave a fond farewell to Mrs Hilary Crawforth, who has given much of her life to the Infant Department, Beech House. She was educated there and, after studying at Cambridge, took up a teaching post there in the mid-1970s. She retired having been Head of Beech House for the past ten years. The School wishes her all the best in her retirement.

Bolton School Blog: 28/6 - 5/7/2010

The last weeks before the end of the Summer Term are always packed full of events and activities and this is no exception!

Bolton School Boys’ Division once again linked up with local primary schools to bring an evening of music to the North-West's premier musical venue the Bridgewater Hall. Over 700 children aged 7-18 years, enthralled a sell out audience on the night with performances from Bolton School's Joint Concert Band, the Senior Guitar Group, the Percussion Ensemble and a stunning piano recital from Year 13 student, Ben Smith.

This week saw the official opening of our new Infant School, Beech House by Mr Warren Smith JP, Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester. The Lord Lieutenant addressed an audience of over 200 boys and girls aged 4 to 7 years old as well as distinguished guests including governors, former Headmistress, Miss Joyce Boston and former and current teachers as well as representatives from Cassidy and Ashton and Seddons - the designers and builders of the state-of-the-art building.

Year 13 pupil Robert Bolton returned from the regional final of the Young Engineer for Britain 2010 competition at the Big Bang Fair in Liverpool, with not one but two trophies! Robert entered his A-level Technology project the 'Progressive Brake Light' into the competition and won the overall regional event in his age category and the best product prize. He was awarded £400 prize money, and has the chance to become Young Engineer for Britain when he attends the national final in London next March.

Also this week Year 11 and 13 students from Bolton School Boys' and Girls' Division have been showing their art work at the University of Bolton, in a showcase exhibition called "Best of Bolton", organised by the university as part of its drive to interact more with local schools.

Old boy and legendary Lancashire captain of the seventies, Jack Bond, was back at Bolton School as the main guest at the annual MCC fixture, where Bolton School First Eleven cricketers took on an MCC club side and came away victorious! And there was more Cricket glory as Bolton School U14 Cricketers overcame Lancaster Grammar School with an impressive performance to win The Harold Bailey U14 Schools' Cup – an inter-school competition involving over 100 schools from Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The boys will now go on to represent Lancashire in the national competition next summer.

In other sport Bolton School's Year 7 water polo team has won the national Bradbury Cup for the first time in 15 years, and the Junior Boys' swim relay team have been involved in the ESSA 16th National Swimming Championship, narrowly missing out on a place in the National finals.

Our Junior Boys' Chess teams competed in the EPSCA (English Primary Schools Chess Association) regional semi-final of the National Primary Schools Chess Team Championship 2010 at Pontins in Prestatyn. The U11 A team played exceptionally well to achieve 3rd place and they are now eagerly waiting to find out if they have made it to the national finals. The U11 B team achieved equal 20th place, while the U9 A and B teams achieved equal 10th place and 23rd place respectively.

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.