August 2012

Pupils, staff and parents celebrated an excellent set of GCSE results at Bolton School. In the Girls’ Division, there were many individual success stories with 13 girls obtaining a full set of 11 A* grades; a further 3 girls obtained 10 A*s, 4 girls obtained 9A*s and 2 girls obtained 8A*s. All in all, 44 girls out of 110 got only A* and A grades. In the Boys' Division 26.1% of all papers were graded A*, 60.1% were graded A*-A and 85.4% were graded A*-B. Two boys achieved 10 A*s. A further eight boys attained at least 9 A*s. 100% of boys reached the government's benchmark of 5 A*-C passes, including English and Maths.

This follows the success of our Sixth Form students who performed outstandingly well in this year’s A levels with the overall results being almost identical! The percentage of passes at A* or A was 52.4% in both the Girls’ Division and the Boys’ Division. The Girls’ Division saw 79.4% of grades at A*-B whilst the Boys’ Division recorded a pass rate of 74.8% at A*-B. The percentage of passes at A* was very high across both divisions - 17.4% in the Boys’ Division and 16.2% in the Girls’ Division. Overall, the Girls’ Division achieved a pass rate of 99.1% and the Boys’ Division a pass rate of 99%. Well done to all!

Staff from Bolton School Nursery finished in 6th place in the Salford Quays Dragon Boat Challenge! The challenge was between charities ‘Child Flight’ and ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ and Claire Thompson, Amanda Twigley, Sandra Woodbridge, Tracey Cairns and Catherine Manville were part of a team racing for ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’. Out of 29 teams they made the final and not only came away with 6th place raising lots of money for the charity, they also became the Mixed Champions of 2012, receiving medals and a trophy.

And young cricketers got the chance to meet their hero when Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff paid a visit to Bolton School. Freddie's visit was part of a one-week Cricket Academy for local boys and girls, aged 5-16 and of all levels of ability. The week was one of several academies run in conjunction with Activate Sport and the Co-operative, which are taking place across the UK with the aim of inspiring an early interest in cricket. Participants experienced professional coaching and skills sessions, mini-tournaments and, of course, the question and answer session with Freddie.

July 2012

The Summer Term finished in style at Bolton School as over 350 pupils and staff took part in a colourful and spectacular world-record breaking African dance in the School's Centre Quad, sealing a day of fundraising activities. Meanwhile in Africa, Maasai warriors also danced at the same time and each event was relayed on a giant outdoor screen via a Skype link-up. The event was part of a whole day of fundraising activities - including a 10 mile walk to Rivington Pike - for the LivLife charity which provides free education and vocational opportunities to children and adults in Tanzania. And retiring Boys' Division Captain Nick Fairclough and new Head Girl, Heather Harrison, "cut the first sod" as work began on the construction of a new £7m Sixth Form Centre in the heart of the Bolton School campus. Staff from across the campus gathered to watch the symbolic cutting of the turf on the last day of term and work is now well underway on the new centre, which will be ready for Sixth Formers in September 2013.

It’s never a dull moment even during the holidays as Strictly Come Dancing star, Brendan Cole, visited the School to teach Bolton children some of his famous moves. Brendan’s visit was part of The Brendan Cole Dance Academy which took place in the Arts Centre. Students experienced professional choreography with head coach Chris Wilson and sessions include a steps workshop, routine building, an end of course performance and, of course, the question and answer session with Brendan.

While at 08:12 on 27th July, a group of Bolton School girls joined thousands of people across the UK to ring in the first day of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the national event ‘All the Bells’. The event was a London 2012 Festival commission by Turner Prize winning artist and musician Martin Creed, entitled ‘Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes.’ This could be any sort of bell, by anyone, anywhere. The tower at Deane Parish Church took up the challenge and invited girls from Bolton School to take part.