27 February 2015

It's been an exciting week with events going on across the foundation! On Thursday, the School hosted the annual U11 ISFA North West Tournament, which the Bolton School Junior Boys' team won! The boys played extremely well, conceding zero goals throughout the competition. They will now go on to play in the national competition.

A group of Boys' Division Senior School pupils attended the Manchester Latin and Greek Reading Competition recently. The boys were triumphant in four of the six categories - a brilliant achievement!

On the first day of the new half term poet Simon Armitage visited the Boys' Division to give a talk and poetry reading. This was followed by a special scriptwriting workshop for the Drama students who are currently planning performances based on his works Homer's Odyssey and The Last Days of Troy. This was a really exciting opportunity for boys in both the English and Classics departments, and the pupils who attended the talk and the workshop certainly made the most of it.

In the Girls' Division, Year 7 pupils this week took part in a 'Crime Squad' enrichment day. They took part in a series of themed activities that were lots of fun but which also developed their logic, teamworking and problem solving skills. The girls had a great time taking on the different challenges throughout the day, and met each new problem with enthusiasm.

This week, tickets went on sale for this year's Joint Production: The Sound of Music! The performance will run from the 18th to the 21st of March, and there are limited numbers of tickets available. For more details, please see the Noticeboard.

We recently heard from Old Boy Mark Williams, who is now Director of Music at Jesus College, Cambridge. He is planning to return to the church where he once played the organ during services in order to give a special charity concert in March this year.

Old Girl Helen Pantelides returned to School on Friday to give the keynote speech at the School's Legal Services Information Day. This themed careers day was aimed at any pupils in Year 11 to 13 who are interested in a future in law, and gave them plenty of information about what their studies and career might be like. It was really useful for all the boys and girls who attended.

Finally, KidZone is delighted to announce two new outdoor activities which will be part of this year's Easter Club agenda! The Adventure Walk and Adventure Day promise to be a new and exciting challenge for children who take part.

20 February 2015

The Boys' Division Intermediate and Junior swimming teams have been crowned Town Champions! They competed against a number of local schools at Bolton One, and both teams eventually beat their rivals with a strong margin of points. The Girls' Division teams also did well at the event.

Recently, a group of Sixth Form boys with a passion for bouldering were given the amazing opportunity to adjudicate at RocFest, a national climbing competition which attracted entries from world-class athletes! The boys were invited to judge the full range of ages and abilities across the two-day event, from junior to adult and including the para competition.

In the last week before the half term break, the Junior Girls held their annual Music Festival. Spanning two days and involving all of the girls at Hesketh House, this event is a favourite for pupils, teachers and parents alike. The performers really enjoyed taking part in the festival, and the rest of the girls were delighted to be able to listen to the fantastic music over the course of the two days.

To listen to 'The Beats' perform the piece they entered into the Junior Girls' Music Festival ensemble category, click here to visit the School's Soundcloud page or press the play button below.



Pupils in the Boys' Division also took part in a special musical event in the last week before the holiday: the Classical Guitar Quartet were invited to perform at a recital alongside esteemed international guitarist Ivan Bores! The boys played an entertaining set of pieces, and at the end were presented with a new piece dedicated to the Quartet by composer Mark Houghton.

The Sixth Form mathematicians were hard at work over the weekend, welcoming over thirty local primary school children for a special SATs Saturday School. This series of workshop sessions is designed to help gifted and talented Year 6 pupils to achieve Level 6 in their maths SATs, and is run by Sixth Form boys and girls. Everyone has so far really enjoyed the extra lessons, and the Year 6 pupils are looking forward to more in the months to come.

13 February 2015

This week, the School welcomed TV Classicist Michael Scott for a talk titled 'Why Study the Ancient World in the 21st Century?' This was a fascinating lecture which investigated many different aspects of Classics and described how the ancient world throws a mirror back at the world today.

It was time for celebration this week as five girls in Years 11 to 13 were selected for the Junior North of England lacrosse squad! This is a great achievement, and follows on from their inclusion in the Lancashire county squad earlier this year.

There was also great news from Old Boy Mark Jagasia, whose first stage play Clarion will debut at London's Arcola Theatre in April. The play is a dark satire about the UK's newspaper industry, a subject with which Mark is familiar as a former editor at several well-known newspapers.

In the Boys' Division, pupils have this week completed the first cycle of Triads. A new addition to the SPACE Programme, Triads offered boys a choice from a variety of activities designed to promote their development and skills beyond the classroom. There was a wide range of activities to cater to most tastes, from a book group to scuba diving classes, and the boys really enjoyed taking part in their selected Triad.

The final session of the Politics Triad was particularly interesting: representatives of four of the UK's political parties visited School to talk to the boys and engage in a lively question and answer session, which also became quite an exciting debate as they weighed in with opinions on one another's answers. This was a great way to get the boys engaged with politics, and also a fantastic opportunity for them to interrogate people involved in politics for themselves.

The younger boys put themselves to the test with the finals of the Year 7 Gymnastics Competition and Year 8 Vaulting Competition this week. At both events, the finalists competed in front of an audience of their peers and were judged by the P.E. staff, before being presented with medals by the Headmaster.

In the Girls' Division, Year 7 pupils took part in the final of the French Spelling Bee on Thursday. The girls competed to see who could correctly translate and spell the most words in just one minute: no easy feat in front of the whole year group! However, all of the girls involved in the final kept their cool and managed to spell an impressive number of words during their turn.

Four pupils at the Junior Boys' School also challenged themselves last weekend at the AJIS Quiz, where they gained second place. This was a fantastic achievement, particularly as they were beaten to first place by just one point!

The Junior Girls' School also had a busy week last week, with a visit from several Magistrates who helped the Year 6 girls put on a mock trial. The girls played different roles to simulate the courtroom experience and learned more about the trial process, as well as finding out more about the wider legal system.

Out of School, Junior Boys' School pupil Karthik Ajith recently took part in the Badminton England U11 Northumberland tournament, where he and his doubles partner took home the gold! Passionate badminton player Karthik also played in the singles competition.

Eighty-five local Year 5 pupils were welcomed to Bolton School last week to take part in a Modern Foreign Languages Day. They followed a carousel of activities and were able to try out a variety of languages from across the globe, which they may not normally have access to through the usual curriculum. They also learned more about different cultures throughout the day.

It was announced this week that a new scholarship to study Medicine at university is being offered to Bolton School Girls' Division Sixth Form pupils. The Dr Edith Forsyth Scholarship Award will cover five years of training, and has been donated by Old Boy Eric Forsyth in memory of his late wife.

On the last day before the half term holiday, pupils in the Girls' Division were treated to a charity Pancake Race and Pancake Cafe in support of the charity PMSF UK! The Pancake Cafe sold out of their 200 pancakes, with 150 of them disappearing during morning break, but there was still the promise of the Pancake Race to look forward to. Girls packed into the Gym gallery to watch as teams raced around an obstacle course, frying pan in hand. The highlight of the day was certainly the final race, during which a team of Deputy Head Girls went up against two staff teams!

6 February 2015

Last weekend, a group of girls enjoyed discussing and debating at the MUN-HIGH 2015 event! Taking on the role of 'Rwanda' in the Mock United Nations, pupils were able to learn more about debating and international relations while also cultivating a variety of skills.

On Saturday, two members of Year 10 band Parallel Oreos were interviewed on Radio Lancashire! The boys talked about their experiences setting up the band, the gigs they have performed, and the Music Department has supported them so far.

This week saw the launch of this year's KPMG Summer Internship Programme. Old Girl Katie Clinton returned to School with one of her colleagues to introduce this unique scheme to pupils in Year 12 who might be interested in working for the company for two weeks over the summer holidays. This is a really exciting opportunity, and Katie did an excellent job of inspiring the Sixth Form boys and girls to apply.

Girls' Division pupil Thea Simpson has been selected for the national U15 water polo squad! This is a great achievement for Thea, who also took part in a national training camp over the summer and plays with the City of Manchester team.

There was good news for the Boys' Division U16 water polo players this week: they dominated the championships to win a place in the national final in March! Their coach, Mr McGinty, was impressed with all of the players' performances on the day.

The Girls' Division turned their thoughts towards helping others with a moving assembly about the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation UK, a charity which aims to help and support people with this disorder and their families. The girls are now looking forward to a Pancake Cafe and Pancake Race on the last day of term, which will be in support of PMSF UK!

During the Old Girls' Association Lunch, representatives from the OGA presented a cheque to Classrooms in the Clouds. The money was raised at the Old Girls' Christmas Market, and will go towards creating classrooms and funding teachers in the Everest region of Nepal.

The Year 11 boys have been considering volunteering through National Citizen Service (NCS). They travelled down to Bolton Lads and Girls' Club for an afternoon of activities to promote this national scheme, which allows young people to develop their skills while supporting their local community.

The Junior Girls enjoyed a special Modern Foreign Languages day with a Spanish theme this week. The girls tried out flamenco dancing, produced a Spanish map, and even had a go painting in the style of Picasso! These activities and more really helped their get them excited about learning the language.

The annual Junior Boys' Music Festival was once again a huge hit with pupils and parents alike! All of the performers played their pieces to a very high standard, making it a thoroughly enjoyable two days - and a great challenge to choose just one overall winner.

Boys' Division teacher and Old Boy Mr Teasdale learned this week that he has been Highly Commended in the School Biology Teacher of the Year competition. This is a fantastic achievement, particularly since this year had a record number of applicants and he was the only one the judges chose to recognise in this manner.

Old Girl and former Head Girl Annabel Ault was also delighted to announce that she has won the 2014 Ogden Prize for outstanding performance in A Level Geography. This was presented to her by the former head of the University of Manchester Geography Department, Professor Michael Bradford.

Finally, a group of twenty-four Year 11 girls have won second place in The Big Bang Classroom Challenge, which they entered just before the summer holidays. This competition, run by the Institution of Civil Engineers, tested their ability to research and solve complex future engineering problems to a tight deadline. Representatives from ICE and Topcon, the civil engineering company providing the prize, presented them with a certificate and specialist measuring tool during morning assembly.