24th May 2013

Former Status Quo drummer, Jeff Rich, visited Bolton School Girls’ Division this week as part of a Year 8 Careers Day. Jeff spoke to pupils about the music business, the development of the drum and about his own drum kit. He played a solo on the kit before inviting the pupils up on stage to play percussion and drums with him and also invited any drummers in the audience to come up and play his kit. There were a number of other guests running sessions with the girls on the day, including some successful Old Girls - Actress Anna Northam and Project Support Engineer at Bentley Motors, Amy Durrant. On the subject of Old Girls, Jaiminee Patel who left Bolton School in 2011 has made it to the final 20 of the MTV Student of the Year competition. Jaiminee, now in her first year of Business Management at King's College London, has been shortlisted to progress to the interview finals and now needs as many votes as possible to get through! Get voting for Jaiminee!

Other visitors to School this week were 2013 Rugby League World Cup mascots Grubber and Steed who visited pupils at Beech House along with Leigh Centurions first team player Ryan Brierley, as part of the Try Reading project. The Reception children were introduced to Grubber and Steed and Ryan Brierley read them a story about the pair. Boys’ Division Year 7 pupil Luke James also went along - as a winner of the Rugby League World Cup 2013 Mascot Design competition this was the first time Luke had come face to face with his creation Grubber Bear. One of three winners, Luke’s design was chosen from over 1,000 entries from the UK and France. As part of his prize, Luke also won tickets to two World Cup matches of his choice in addition to tickets to the Rugby League World Cup Final at Old Trafford, where he and the other winners will lead the players out. And award winning author for young adults, Bali Rai, was also in School to talk to Year 9 girls about his writing.

Year 9 pupil Beth Hodkinson represented England in the European Taekwon-Do Championships in Sweden and came away with a bronze medal. Beth won the bronze medal in her individual sparring competition despite being the youngest in the England team and competing against 16 and 17 year olds. In her team event she came away with a draw but unfortunately the team lost out overall. And Junior Boys’ Year 5 pupil, Jude Ashcroft, has won the Regional Mega Final of the UK chess challenge. As the winner, he will now go on to represent the Lancashire region in the U10 age group at the Northern Giga Final in Manchester on 13 July.

17th May 2013

Bolton School Girls’ Division was transformed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry today as the Year 13 pupils dressed up as characters from Harry Potter to celebrate their last day in school! The teachers got involved too and all costumes were very impressive!

Lots of good sporting news to report - Bolton School are the English Schools’ National U14 Water Polo Champions, completing the double for the School who are also U16 National Champions! They met local rivals, Manchester Grammar School in the final and secured victory in an epic penalty shootout final finishing 5-4 to become Champions of England! The Boys’ Division are also U16 Northern Schools’ Tennis Champions, after Year 10 pair Oliver Harford and Tom Wright beat Manchester Grammar School 10-3 in the final! They were presented with the trophy by the organiser, former Bolton School Chemistry teacher Alan Prince. This was a fitting tribute to the ex-Bolton man who is stepping down this year after 43 years of organising the competition! And three Sixth Form boys managed a very convincing golfing victory over Rossall School in the ISGA Area Plate Final. Sam Towers, Chris Warner and Benito O’Loughlin have now been invited to the National Plate Finals in London on the 26th June.

Budding chemists from the Boys’ Division Sixth Form will represent the North West in the final of a national schools’ chemistry competition after beating off competition from across the region. The boys won the North West regional heat of the Royal Society of Chemistry Schools’ Analyst Competition, held at the University of Central Lancashire. The three chemistry students, Adam Murray, Waqqas Patel and Zubayr Adia triumphed over 10 schools from across Lancashire and will represent the North West region at the prestigious UK final which will take place in Sunderland in June.

Pupils from Thornleigh Salesian College and Harper Green School joined Bolton School Boys’ Division pupils for Physics X - a three day residential trip to Patterdale hall in the Lake District. 33 pupils took part in Physics X, which aimed to engage pupils to think about the physics in exciting outdoor pursuit activities. Pupils took part in a various activities, learning about the physics in Sailing, Archery, Gorge Walking, Climbing and Bushcraft. Pupils also competed in various Physics Challenges including rocket building and accurate timing. The event was funded by the Ogden Trust.

And a fun afternoon aimed at Year 2 girls and their parents was held at Hesketh House this week, with girls from Bolton School's Infant Department (Beech House) and from other schools from across the region taking part. The girls enjoyed a range of activities including a treasure hunt and code cracking, while parents had the chance to meet the Head and teachers and see more of the Junior School.

13 May 2013

An open day at Patterdale Hall, the School’s residential and adventure learning centre on the southern shores of Lake Ullswater in the Lake District, drew in large crowds from across the North at the weekend. Hundreds of adults and children enjoyed tours of the Hall and its extensive grounds, considering it as a venue for outdoor adventures, conferences or corporate bonding and team building, or as a possible family party or wedding venue. They sampled a range of exciting activities, including kayaking, canoeing, archery, fire lighting, orienteering and a low ropes challenge. Patterdale lived up to its reputation for great food with a great barbeque lunch and delicious Patterdale Cream Teas.

A mixed three-piece band, Off Piste, was this year’s winner of Bolton School’s Senior Schools’ Battle of the Bands competition. With this year’s judge being Tim Thomas from Blueprint recording studio in Manchester, the bands were certainly performing to the right audience. In what is always a close call, the judge said he chose Off Piste for their originality, stage presence and the fact that they felt like a unit and performed as such. Money raised on the day will be split between donations to the Fabrice Muamba Defibrillator Fundraising Appeal and the ‘Action for Children’ charity which has a Bolton Branch and supports disadvantaged children.
Congratulations go to the Sixth Form Girls' Athletics Team on becoming Town Athletics Champions for the second successive year. The girls were crowned joint Champions following some impressive individual performances. And Sixth Form students at Bolton School will, once again, enjoy paid summer internships at KPMG, one of the “big four” accounting firms. In what is a unique, tailored programme for a Year 12 girl and boy from the School, students will spend a month of their summer holiday working at KPMG’s Manchester office. They will spend two weeks in the Corporate Finance team and two weeks in the Financial Services Audit department.