Summer Break 2011

Students and staff at Bolton School Girls' Division celebrated another year of outstanding Exam results. At A level, ninety five per cent of girls achieved A*-C grades with the overall pass rate being at 99.4% and three girls recorded a full set of A* grades. The Boys' Division fared equally well with an overall pass rate of 99.4% and four boys recording a full set of A* grades. It was a record breaking year for Girls’ Division GCSE results as 43.5% of all grades were at A* with an overall pass rate at the A*-C level of 99.8%. Seven girls achieved the remarkable feat of securing 11 A* grades, with 34 of the 120 girls gaining A* and A grades only. The Boys also recorded an excellent set of GCSE results with three boys achieving 11 A*s and an overall pass rate of 5 A*-C grades of 99.2%.
The Girls' Division has also been named one of the top 100 schools in the country for successfully placing students in the top 30 universities in the country, in a report by the Sutton Trust. The School is one of only eight in the North West to be named in the list. The Sutton Trust research examines the success of schools during the last three years in gaining places for their pupils in the leading 30 UK universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial, LSE, Warwick, Durham, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, York, and Edinburgh. Bolton School Girls' Division, with a 79.1% success rate over three years, is placed 67th in the rankings.
During the summer break some of our Year 10 girls experienced the trip of a lifetime when they headed out to East Africa to spend two weeks learning about life in Tanzania, particularly the Maasai culture and helping out at the LivLife Meserani Education Centre. Before heading off on their trip, the girls forged strong friendships with the Maasai via a Skype link up in their Geography lesson and through sending learning materials to help the tribespeople improve their English. Whilst out in Tanzania, the girls helped out at the centre teaching the children and playing games with them, and assisting in the organisation of a Sports Day. They got to know members of the Maasai tribe and their elders and helped to build a traditional Maasai hut. And our Senior Lacrosse and Netball teams enjoyed a tour to Canada and America, travelling to Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Seattle during the two week trip, playing matches against different schools and clubs along the way, as well as fitting in some sightseeing!
Also during the summer Sixth Form pupil James Roberts was selected to be part of the first ever Independent Schools FA Student Management Team for the 2011-12 season. As such, James will be partly responsible for coordinating the annual ISFA Leadership Camp which he has previously attended himself. He will be one of ten student faces for the camp, which this year will take place at Bradfield College on Saturday March 31st to Sunday April 1st 2012. The camp is aimed at developing core leadership skills of young leaders from around the country with National FA tutors guiding them through a range of footballing disciplines.