30 January 2015

Bolton School has now issued iPads to all pupils across the Foundation, even those in Beech House! Each year group at the infant school for 4-7 year olds has a set of iPads for use during the school day, and the children are already enjoying the inspiring new ways of learning through the technology.

Year 12 students Alexandra Hopkinson and Sarah Ibberson led the Girls' Division in a solemn assembly to honour Holocaust Memorial Day. This moving occasion encouraged pupils to remember the individual victims, rather than dwelling on the impersonal numbers, and also created a spectacular temporary memorial of over a thousand electric tea-lights on the stage in the Great Hall.

A new Friends of Patterdale Hall group has been set up to support the School's adventure learning and residential centre on the shores of Lake Ullswater, and new members are welcome to join! The group's first President is Old Boy John Amatt, now an eminent international adventurer and mountaineer.

The Girls' Division was placed top of the league table for Bolton after 97% of students achieved five or more A* to C grades (including English and Maths) at GCSE. The School is also in the Top Ten for Greater Manchester, and in the top 40 across the country based on 89% of girls achieving the English Baccalaureate!

The Junior Boys' artistic endeavours went on display in the Arts Centre this week in a special exhibition for family and friends! The Year 6 pupils' excellent landscape paintings were displayed during the evening, refreshments were served, and everyone agreed that the artwork was very impressive. The paintings will go on public display in the Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton from Monday.

23 January 2015

There was excellent news for our Sixth Formers this week, as a total of ten current pupils and two recent alumni received Oxbridge offers! This is a fantastic achievement for all of the girls and boys, who have had to face a gruelling application and interview process to win their places. We wish them luck in achieving the grades needed to accept their offers.

Last weekend, Year 13 pupil Aaron Winstanley was selected as one of the talented thirteen water polo players to represent Manchester in the team's first match of the British Championships. Sharing a pool with Commonwealth athletes and Old Boys on both sides, Aaron held his own and played a strong game - even managing to score and help Manchester on their way to victory!

The first Tea at the Riley of 2015 was bigger and better than ever, with support from Unilever Food Solutions and a grant from vInspired! The girls also welcomed special guests from local care home Beechville for the afternoon, in addition to other visitors from the local area.

The Year 11 girls were out and about this week: on Wednesday the whole year group took a trip to Bolton Lads and Girls Club to learn about National Citizen Service (NCS). This is an amazing opportunity for them to get involved with their local community, help out, and also gain valuable skills for their own development. The session at Bolton Lads and Girls Club was designed to introduce them to the idea in a fun and accessible manner, which will hopefully inspire them to take part in the scheme this summer.

Bolton School's Infant and Junior Schools are holding an Open Afternoon on Thursday 23 April 2015 from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. This is a great opportunity for bright, inquisitive children and their parents to enjoy tours, meet staff and pupils, and get to know more about our co-educational Infant School and single-sex Junior Schools.

16 January 2015

The first full week of the new term started with a fresh challenge for Boys' Division pupils. In Monday afternoon's SPACE session, the boys got to try out the new activities they had chosen for 'Triads' - from fencing to book discussion, filmmaking to dissection, hillwalking to ice skating!

At Beech House, pupils in Years 1 and 2 were able to dance with real ballet stars on Tuesday! Michael Berkin and Emily Edwards ran a series of workshops throughout the day, teaching the children ballet moves and putting together little routines based on the dances in The Nutcracker.

There was great news from several alumni this week. First of all, recent leaver Tejal Shanbhag has been awarded a Great Exhibition Scholarship! This is sure to help her a great deal with her Engineering studies at the University of Cambridge.

Old Boy Professor Nigel Slater also shared his recent appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge. He will take up this important post in January next year.

It is set to be an exciting weekend for a number of current and former pupils: three Sixth Form students and three Old Boys are members of the Manchester Men's Water Polo Squad, and could be selected to play on Saturday in the opening match of the British Championships! They will be playing at home in the new East Manchester Leisure Centre against Portobello, the Scottish team in which yet another Old Boy plays! This is certain to make for a very interesting match indeed.

In the Girls' Division, Ellie Bridge and Abigail Duckworth in Year 7 and Isobel Faulkner in Year 13 have been selected to join the Bolton Town Cross Country Team! Congratulations to all three girls.

Girls on the talented athlete programme were also given the opportunity to hear from recent leaver Siân Pledger about her experiences since leaving Bolton School. She gave the girls plenty of inspiration to forge their own path and never give up on their dream. As well as talking about her academic career from GCSE to university and the importance of completing qualifications, she also gave great advice for continuing to compete in their chosen sport. She also touched on how to cope with injury: her own injuries have kept her off the track since 2011. However, Siân is now due to compete in the UK National Indoor competition this weekend!

The School also hosted a Women in STEM Careers Day on Friday for girls in local Ogden Trust schools and Girls' Division pupils. With six guests from a variety of STEM careers, there was plenty for the girls to learn and discuss!

Finally, Pop Project paid the Junior Boys' School a visit to give boys in Years 3 to 6 an entertaining and interesting history lesson. Basing everything around music, they walked the boys through the key historical events of each decade from the 1950s to the present day. This fascinating presentation was full of music and fun, and encouraged the boys to sing and clap along throughout. They had a fantastic time while learning about the changes that have taken place from then to now.

9 January 2015

With the start of the new term and the new year, Bolton School is now busy with preparations for its 100 and 500 Year Celebrations! The first reference to a school in Bolton was in 1516, when Bolton Grammar School for Boys was recorded as “a going concern”; almost exactly 400 years later in 1915, the Bolton School Foundation first came into being when Lord Leverhulme brought together that first school with Bolton High School for Girls to become the Boys' and Girls' Divisions that we know today. The School is planning a series of exciting 100/500 Celebration events to span the anniversary years of 2015 and 2016. Current pupils, staff, alumni, parents and friends of the School are all welcome to join us for these special occasions.

Last Saturday was the first of this year's SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturdays sessions! The programme runs over the course of ten weeks and gives gifted and talented primary school children the chance to challenge themselves and widen their learning.

Thursday this week is our annual Entrance Examination Day, and we are very excited to be able to welcome the Year 6 pupils who are hoping to join us for the next academic year!

The Riley Sixth Form Centre was entered into the Natural Stone Awards 2014! At the prestigious Awards Ceremony at the end of last year, the building received a commendation from the judges in the ‘New Build Modern Style Stone Cladding’category.

Finally, if you were watching CBeebies over the Christmas break, you might have spotted some of the pupils from Beech House Infants School! After a fun-packed day of filming in school, the children's footage was used as part of the CBeebies Bauble Bop.