16 December 2011

Thirty two A level students from the Girls' Division jetted out to India this week in what promises to be a life-changing experience as they continue the School's efforts in supporting street children in India. The girls will spend 8 days based in Vijayawada City in Southern India and will help out with the Street Kids' Community Villages (SKCV) project. They will offer help in any way that they can, be it teaching English, playing football or helping run dance classes. Whilst out in India they will be assessing where best to spend money that they have raised back home in a variety of fundraising initiatives which include a sponsored fast, a sponsored swim, cake sales, charity lunches, an Indian night and a car boot sale.
Bolton School pupils were joined by pupils from other local schools this week for a Royal Society of Chemistry Christmas Lecture entitled 'Chops n All'. Dr Steven Rossington from the University of Salford led an investigatory look at the chemical elements that constitute human life through a series of fun and explosive chemical demonstrations. While the Year 10 Percussion Ensemble put on a performance for local primary school pupils at Tonge Moor Primary School, consisting of some excellent solo and ensemble performances that were well received by the whole school.
In sport, the Under 14s water polo team are the winners of the Manchester and District Water Polo league this season, despite having one game left to play. And two Year 11 boys, Luke Eccles and James Beardsworth, have been selected for the national U16s' Independent Schools' Football Association (ISFA) team. The two boys have made it into the England squad which comprises the best players from the country's independent schools. The boys were four points clear at the top of the table after winning six out of their 7 games played. And as we approach the Christmas break, a whole host of festive music filled the Great Halls as the Girls' Division, the Boys’ Division and our Junior Boys all held their annual Christmas Carol Concerts. Offerings from our numerous and varied choirs and ensembles provided wonderful evenings of Christmas music, prayers, reflections and readings. And our Sixth Form Girls’ Prefects have been raising money for charity with their 'Prefects Panto'! Students wrote the pantomime themselves and took on the roles of their teachers in the show, watched by Lower school pupils, Sixth Form girls and staff, who each gave a donation at the door.

9 December 2011

At first there were nine candidates…but now there is just one Bolton School Apprentice! Since the start of term in September, nine boys from Years 11, 12 and 13 have been vying to become the Boys' Division's first ever 'Bolton School Apprentice'. The candidates have been gradually eliminated following a series of tasks based on those undertaken in the hit BBC TV show, leaving three boys in the spectacular Grand Finale in the School's Arts Centre on the evening of Tuesday 6 December, at which the candidates pitched their ideas for a new fruit-based premium soft drink to an audience of pupils, staff and guests. Following much deliberation, Sam Ball was declared the first ever Bolton School Apprentice and was awarded an iPad as his prize.
A team of Bolton School Sixth Form Girls has won the regional heat of the twelfth annual Target Two Point Zero - The Bank of England and The Times Interest Rate Challenge. Teams of four students from each competing school or college had to analyse UK and global economic conditions and decide what level of interest rate they would set to achieve the Government's current inflation target of 2.0 - just as the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee does each month. Once they had made their decision the girls had to prepare and give a short presentation, arguing a convincing case for their conclusion, to a panel of Bank of England judges. Two Junior Boys have also triumphed in a local competition which took part amongst primary school children to provide artwork for Keoghs Solicitors' 2012 calendar by designing Olympic mascots.
Pupils at Beech House Infant School have been busy collecting Christmas toys and gifts for local children that are less fortunate than themselves. The Bolton Lions visited the School this week to collect new and second hand toys brought in by the children, which will now be distributed to families who cannot afford to buy presents for their children this Christmas.
While Bolton School's U13s' football team has won their Independent Schools' Football Association (ISFA) quarter-final tie 2-0 against Cheadle Hulme - a win which puts Bolton School into the last 4 sides in the whole country. In order to book a place in the final at Burton Albion FC's ground, the boys will need to overcome Brentwood School in the semi-final in an away fixture at the Essex school on 24 January.

2 December 2011

Anjali Pathak of the Indian food giants, Pataks, was back at Bolton School this week to deliver a captivating cookery demonstration. Anjali, who is Brand Ambassador for the family business, Pataks, was delighted to return to her former school where she met up with her former classmate, Natalie James who is now part of the Food Technology Department, which organised the lunchtime seminar. The packed audience of students and staff were engrossed and inspired as Anjali explained about her family business before treating the audience to a demonstration of how to cook perfect onion bhajis.
Also in school this week we welcomed Year 5 pupils from across the local borough to a day of foreign language lessons at this year's Modern Foreign Languages Festival. The whole day event gave local youngsters the chance to try out a range of new languages including Japanese and Russian, as well as building their understanding of French, Spanish and German. Sticking with languages, our Junior Girls have launched a new lunchtime German Club, adding to the extensive range of activities available to them! The club is run by Head of German in the Senior Girls' Division, Mrs Sheaff, with the assistance of German speaking language assistants, and serves as an introduction to basic German words and culture.
Girls from Middle School and also some Junior Girls were transported back to the age of the dinosaur this week with a hands-on workshop run by the Bolton Museum and Archive Service. Alex McLeman, the Formal Learning Manager from the museum, visited the school and brought along Prehistoric casts and fossils, artefacts and specimens from around the world. Alex spoke to the girls about the origins of the objects and when they lived on the earth, and encouraged them to pick up the pieces and ask questions.
In Senior boys, the amount raised by one form for Children in Need has all been collected and totalled - Harry Bevan and Sam Hassall of 8d wanted to show their support for the BBC's annual Children in Need appeal, so they galvanised the other members of their form into a sponsored run back in November. Their co-tutor Mr Rich was so impressed by this initiative that he promised to donate £10 for every goal his 2nd XI football team registered that same weekend. The boys raised a superb £611.94 by running around The Levels for a lunch time; and this amount was increased by a further £50 through the 2nd XI's impressive 5-0 away victory at Repton School!
And at the weekend Hesketh House successfully hosted the AJIS Chess Congress. The day was a huge success with Sharon Daniel winning the U10 section and Mahima Raghavendra winning the U9 section. Hesketh House and Bolton School Junior Boys' School shared the 2011 Team Championship Shield. The girls also did an excellent job with the organisation and welcoming of visitors to school.