23rd November 2012

Year 13 pupils took over the running of Bolton School for the day as part of the Children's Commissioner’s Children and Young People’s Takeover Day 2012. Students took on staff roles in all areas of the school from the Headmistress and teachers, through to pastoral roles, technical support and administrative roles. Taking part in the day allowed the students to develop time management, flexibility, organisation, initiative, problem solving, motivating others, and interpersonal skills. Outside of School, year 11 pupil Paul Greenhalgh became Mayor of Bolton for the day as part of the Take Over Day. Paul was chosen from scores of applicants in a competition to shadow on his civic engagements on the day.

In sport, the Girls’ Senior U18 relay team won the Medley Relay at the prestigious Northern Schools' John Parry Relays and also came second in the Freestyle Relay. Not to be outdone, the Boys senior team mirrored the result exactly with a win in the Medley relay and second in the Freestyle! Nineteen girls from Years 8 to 13 at Bolton School Girls' Division have been selected for the U15 and U18 Lancashire lacrosse squads. The girls trialled and have been selected to compete in the Northern Counties Tournament against Yorkshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. And year 12 pupil Jenny Heyes has been selected as a Youth Sport Trust Young Ambassador for school sport. Jenny’s role will be to inspire and motivate younger pupils to embrace sport at Bolton School.

As part of National Interfaith Week, the Girls’ Division RS department held a university lecture on the issue of interfaith relations by Dr Mel Prideaux from the University of Leeds. The lecture was open to sixth form students from both the Girls’ and the Boys’ Divisions with an interest in the politics of the role of religion in modern society.

Dickens the guide dog puppy visited the Girls’ Division this week, much to the delight of the pupils who raised £2,500 to sponsor his training. The guide dog’s name had been inspired by Dickens Day, which was held earlier in the year at the School, when 739 pupils set a new Guinness World Record by wearing Dickensian dress in celebration of the bicentenary of Dickens’ birth. This is the second guide dog that the Girls' Division has sponsored and the School is now eagerly raising further funds in order to sponsor a third puppy dog, which no other school in the North-West has thus far done.

And Beech House children (and their parents) offered over 200 boxes of toys and Christmas gifts to the Rotary Club which will go to deprived Romanian children - for many, the first present that they have ever received.

16th November 2012

Bolton School has been commended in the Independent School of the Year category at the 2012 Aviva and Daily Telegraph School Sport Matters Awards. Only two schools in the country came above Bolton School, Plymouth College - Tom Daly’s former school which boasts three other Olympians, and Victoria College, Jersey. Two high profile Bolton School athletes, Emma Saunders and Oliver Walker, accompanied by Mr Trevor Pledger, Director of Partnerships, attended the 2012 School Sport Matters Awards Ceremony at the highly prestigious Lord's Cricket Ground in London. The ceremony consisted of a gala luncheon, followed by the presentation of ten awards given by a range of prestigious sports personalities, including Jess Ennis, Christine Oruruogu, Richard Whitehead and Zoe Smith. Cricket Captain Callum Kay and Head of Cricket at the School, Andy Compton, were invited to the XL Club Annual Dinner, also at Lords Cricket ground, to receive the North West Regional Award for the best performance by a school against the XL Club during the 2012 season. And Boys’ Division pupils got the chance to see the Rugby League World Cup when the trophy made a brief stop at the School on a visit to Bolton Arena.

Following the national Community Partnerships School Conference held at the School over the weekend, community partnerships were as evident as ever this week in school. Year 5 pupils from schools in the local area enjoyed a day of foreign language lessons at this year's MFL Festival. The whole day event gave youngsters the chance to try out a range of new languages including Japanese and Russian. Furthermore, more local schools and more pupils than ever are getting involved in the SHINE project at Bolton School this year which kicked off this weekend. Forty five year 5 pupils from twelve primary schools in the local community will benefit from the resources and experience of teaching staff at the School.

More good news as Philip Britton, Headmaster of the Boys' Division, has been made Vice-President for Education of the Institute of Physics (IoP). This is the first time the Vice-President has been from a school instead of a university. Philip is also featured on the ITN Education news channel speaking about the importance of schools engaging with their local community, and what the Olympic legacy really means.

Also this week, pupils at Beech House enjoyed a bonfire party and fireworks in the grounds of their school. The event had previously been rained off but this time the sun was shining and the children were treated to a firework display, sparklers and toasted marshmallows from the bonfire. And there was more excitement for the children as the real Pudsey bear paid a visit to the school for Children in Need. Other Children in Need events were going on throughout the school including dress down day and at the Nursery staff have been pedalling away on an exercise bike all week to see how far they can go, and of course raise money.

9th November 2012

Congratulations go to Georgie Crowther, a Year 7 pupil at Bolton School Girls’ Division, who has made it through to the quarter final of the 2012 Junior MasterChef on CBBC. Georgie joined young chefs from across the country battling it out on national television to impress judges John Torode and Donal Skehan by cooking up delicious meals from scratch. Having won her heat, Georgie is now through to the quarter final, putting her in the top four young cooks in the country! The quarter final can be seen on Friday 9 November at 4.30pm on both CBBC and BBC1. We wish her the best of luck! And the Girls’ Division’s very own version of Masterchef continues, with this week seeing the contestants creating decorated cupcakes. The top eight cooks will go on to the next stage of the competition.

Bolton School is all set to host the national Community Partnerships School Conference this weekend. The event will be attended by delegates from independent schools from across the country and will celebrate partnerships between schools and the communities they serve. The keynote speech on Friday evening will be given by Paul Oginsky, Youth Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister. Delegates will visit Bolton Lads and Girls’ Club and there will also be a series of workshops.

Year 12 pupils Tejal Shanbhag and Jenny Heyes, were awarded prestigious Arkwright Engineering Scholarships at a ceremony hosted by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London. Tejal received her award from sponsor, Rolls Royce, and Jenny from her sponsor, Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust. Fellow year 12 pupil Lucy Croston also received an Arkwright Scholarship but will receive her award later as she was unable to attend the ceremony.

The Girls’ Division can report a number of sport successes - year 10 pupil Elise Middleton has been selected for the North West Girls’ Under 15 regional basketball team, while sisters Ellena and Georgina Owen have been selected for rival County Netball Squads in their age groups. Thanks to a magnificent season last year as a member of the England Hockey Squad, Year 13 pupil Hannah Pike has been re-selected for the England Under 18 Hockey Team, and year 12 pupil Emily Harper has been chosen as a member of the England Under 19 Lacrosse Squad, following a very intensive selection process.

And throughout the school today, staff and students at have attended Remembrance Day Assemblies and donated generously to the Poppy Appeal.