Last Friday, the Year 7 charity representatives used their lunch break to take part in a
trolley dash around Bolton's Toys R Us store! Earlier in the term, they raised over £2,300 through a day's Sponsored Silence, and were spending the money to buy gifts to donate to Key 103's Mission Christmas Appeal, in support of the charity Cash for Kids.
Over the weekend, Year 11 pupils from the Boys' and Girls' Divisions were joined by students from local schools for a special
Maths and Physics Morning. There were opportunities to try out workshops and taster sessions in the two subjects, but the highlight of the day was the presentation by 'Rock Doctor' Mark Lewney!
The Junior Girls' School chess players recently took part in the latest
AJIS Chess Tournament where they all performed well. Several girls came away with medals, and Year 6 pupil Amerleen won a trophy for winning all her games!
It was an exciting week for the School's elite athletes this week, with a visit from former football internationals
Mark Lawrenson and Trevor Sinclair. A-Level P.E. students, the 1st XI footballers and other elite athletes from the Senior Boys' and Senior Girls' Schools gathered together for an interesting and informative talk from the pair, who gave a recap of their schooldays, careers in professional sport, and everything they have done since retiring from playing football.
The Year 6 girls took part in a
Pantomime Workshop in the Senior Girls' School theatre this week. Led by Mrs Smith, they learned all about what elements go into a pantomime before rehearsing and performing their own, shortened versions of the classic tales Cinderella, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood.
There was exciting news from the Junior Boys' School this week:
Mrs Susan Faulkner has been appointed the new Head and will take over from Mr Stephen Whittaker from Easter 2015. Mrs Faulkner has been the Deputy Head since arriving at Bolton School in 2011, and will be the first female Head of the Junior Boys' School!
A group of four Sixth Form girls have been taking part in
Debating Matters, a national competition aiming to offer a fresh and engaging format for debating contemporary issues. The girls took part in the local competition, with the team split into pairs to debate different topics, and managed to argue their way into the North West Final next year!
Year 13 pupil Jessica Broome was this week awarded a certificate to celebrate that she is a '
Society Selected Artist' after submitting a piece of her artwork to be considered for inclusion at the Royal Society of British Artists Exhibition 2015. She was shortlisted by the Bolton branch of NADFAS.
In the Boys' Division, Biology teacher Mr Teasdale has been working hard since the start of the year to bring animals back into his subject through
Animal Care Club, where Year 7s and Sixth Formers work together to look after a wide variety of creatures from cockroaches to a bearded dragon! The popularity and success of the club has led to an invitation for him to present the Club at the Science on Stage Festival in London next summer!
Over the past few weeks, the rehearsals have continued for the
Friends of Bolton School Choir. There is still plenty of room for news members and the Choir is looking for tenors and basses. Anyone interested in joining should come along to the first rehearsal of the New Year on the 7th of January, at the new start time of 7pm.
Sixth Formers from both the Boys' and Girls' Divisions recently teamed up for the annual
KPMG Enterprise Trophy competition. The gripping final took place on Wednesday, with six mixed teams presenting their business propositions before a panel of external judges. The overall winners were iControl, with their app to control home lighting from anywhere in the world.
The School has certainly begun the countdown to Christmas this week, with carol services and nativity performances taking place.
Last weekend, the Senior Concert Band performed at the NSPCC's
Carols by Candlelight concert in Manchester Cathedral. They played two pieces, and also provided accompaniment for 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' which was sung by the audience.
The Reception classes at Beech House Infants' School performed their Nativity, '
Whoops-A-Daisy Angel', which interweaves the tale of a clumsy angel with the traditional Christmas story. The girls and boys sang traditional carols and more modern songs, as well as learning lots of lines so that they could tell the whole story themselves!
Also at Beech House, the Year 2 classes put on '
Midwife Crisis' - a humourous retelling of the Bible story with the insertion of a midwife who thinks that the King whose birth she is sent to preside over must take place in a Palace! She is of course mistaken, but eventually finds her way to the stable to meet the Baby Jesus. The children really enjoyed putting on the nativity play and the parents were delighted with their performance!
The Junior Girls put on their own
Nativity Celebration which once again mixed the modern and the traditional. They congregated with parents and grandparents in the Girls' Division Great Hall, which was filled with music as the girls put on a variety of songs for the audience. The musical accompaniment from the Junior Girls' flautists and percussionists made the performance even more special.
The Junior Boys' annual
Carol Service was another beautiful occasion. Their voices filled the Boys' Division Great Hall with traditional carols and readings from the Bible, as well as more modern pieces of poetry and prose, to tell the Nativity story.
Finally, the week ended with
National Christmas Jumper Day - and the Girls' Division and Sixth Form Boys were more than happy to take part! The girls and boys were joined by Girls' Division staff in wearing either a festive jumper, Christmas hat or tinsel decoration, and everyone paid £1 to support Save the Children. This was a fantastic way to end a week full of Christmas cheer.
