19th October 2012

Bolton School pupils joined around 20,000 children in over 40 countries across the world to compete in the World Marathon Challenge - a challenging simultaneous relay race in support of Save the Children. Children aged 11-13 raced around a track or suitable area in their country in teams. Each child ran a 200m stretch several times each, passing a baton to their team-mates, each team covering a total of 26.2 miles – a full Olympic marathon. GB Beijing Olympian Tom Lancashire came along to the Bolton Arena to officially start the Bolton School marathon challenge. Our pupils completed their marathon in 2h 22mins and 26 seconds putting them in a very respectable 151st at the present time out of over 400 teams from all around the world. The School also hosted a community football tournament at its Leverhulme Pavilion as part of our Primary Liaison programme. Over 200 children from 24 different primary schools from Bolton and Bury took part in a busy day of football. The year 3/4 tournament was won by Horwich Parish and the year 5/6 tournament was won by St John's Bromley Cross. A trophy was presented to both winning teams by Bolton Wanderers' captain Kevin Davies.

Old Girl of the School Dame Janet Smith is to head up the BBC’s inquiry into the Jimmy Savile scandal. It was announced that she and ex-Sky News executive Nick Pollard will jointly lead the BBC's independent reviews. The former Court of Appeal judge is known for her acute grasp of complex legal matters, highlighted when she chaired the Harold Shipman inquiry twelve years ago. As part of their careers programme, girls from years 10 to 13 at Bolton School Girls’ Division had the opportunity to listen to a number of speakers with successful creative careers, several of whom were old girls of the school. Some pupils were lucky enough to take part in workshops on the day, which allowed the girls to explore the variety of different routes available to them if they decide on a career in the Arts.

Junior girls enjoyed an afternoon of healthy eating with the H Factor - the annual healthy eating initiative which sees the children making smoothies, researching healthy food options using netbooks, taking part in quizzes and sampling a range of foods. One highlight of the afternoon was the Smoothie Bike where children got to blend their own smoothie by pedalling as fast as they could! And the hunt for the new Bolton School Girls' Division Masterchef is officially underway! Week 2 saw the remaining contestants battling it out with their stuffed peppers or mushrooms.