26 June 2015

In the past few weeks, Boys' Division pupils have had the chance to finally meet the two trainee Guide Dogs that they were able to name and sponser through training as a result of last year's fantastic funraising campaign! The two dogs, Pippin and Fil, visited the School during lunchtime on two separate occasions and groups of boys were able to get to know them in person.

Over the coming summer holidays, a group of four Year 12 students will help Dr Ian Magedera with his research on Representations of India in French Literature. The girls, who are all studying A-Level French, recently spent a day training for the research work at the University of Liverpool.

Children in the First Steps and Tweenies Rooms at Bolton School Nursery were joined by their dads to celebrate Fathers' Day at the end of last week. A fantastic time was had by all.

On Monday, Bolton School hosted the 2015 School Archivists' Group Conference. Over 50 delegates enjoyed a day of lectures which provided many pieces of advice for caring for collections. This was a fantastic event for the School to host during the 100:500 anniversary period.

Meanwhile, pupils in Year 2 enjoyed a fantastic day at the seaside! The children spent a day at Formby exploring the beach and both learning and having a lot of fun. They have been working on the Learning Challenge question, 'Why do we love being beside the seaside?' and the trip to Formby was the perfect way to put their classroom work into action.

A team of four Mathematicians has placed 21st out of 1700 schools in this year's Maths Challenge Trophy! The boys travelled to the Royal Horticultural Halls in Westminster, London along with 87 other teams to compete in the final, and did extremely well to place so highly in this competitive maths challenge.

Tuesday brought with is pleasant weather and even some sunshine for Beech House Sports Day. The Year 1 and Year 2 pupils at Bolton School Infants School took part in a range of activities, including giant egg and spoon races, sack races, slalom and long jump. The competition was very close between the four teams, with the Green team eventually emerging victorious.

Girls' Division pupil Hannah Stephenson recently competed in the 300m event at the Mason Trophy, where she came third in her event. This is a fantastic achievement given the high standard of this inter-county competition.

This year, the girls in Year 9 have been supporting the 'Send My Friend To School' campaign. Every pupil in the year group wrote a personal message, which was then sent to the MP for Bolton North East, asking him to take them to parliament for the September meeting for world leaders updating the Millennium Development Goals.

The School once again hosted the Bolton School Sports Festival this year. Eleven primary schools from across the region sent a team of Year 5 pupils to participate in this multi-sport event, and a fantastic time was had by all. The competition was very close throughout, but the eventual winners were Horwich Parish School.

The Centenary Prizegiving took place on Thursday in the Boys' Division. British Ambassador to Vietnam Mr Giles Lever, who is also an Old Boy of the School, was the guest speaker at this event and presented the prizes as well as giving an insightful address. Chair of Governors Mr Michael Griffiths and Headmaster Mr Philip Britton also offered interesting and thought-provoking comments over the course of the evening, as well as mentioning the School's long history and heritage.

19 June 2015

This year, Bolton School Sixth Formers have completed over 10,000 hours of volunteering in the local community. The School recently held its annual awards ceremony celebrating the pupils' inspiring commitment and dedication. Sixth Form students received vInspired certificates for their efforts; the charity also commended the School for being the highest achieving establishment in the country this year.

Yesterday the Junior Girls welcomed E. B. Colin - the author of Pyrate's Boy - to Hesketh House for a day of swashbuckling storytelling. The girls were really excited to meet a real author, particularly those girls who had read the book, which is shortlisted for this year's Bolton Children's Fiction Award and was also the basis of a recent writing competition in the Junior Girls' School. Year 5 and 6 pupils listened to the author reading two exciting passages from her book and also took part in collaborative creative writing sessions to make up a pirate story of their own.

During the recent good weather, children at Bolton School Nursery tried their hand at bread-making over an open campfire during Forest School. These weekly sessions allow children in the Nursery Class for 3 and 4 Year Olds and the Butterfly Room (3 to 4 years) to learn in a natural environment and offer the opportunity to try new activities.

A gallery of photos from Forest School sessions is available here.

Four girls in Year 8 recently took part in the Salters' Festival of Chemistry at the University of Manchester. The girls were selected for their enthusiasm for the subject, and were able to take part in competitive, practical Chemistry activities on the day.

Year 6 pupils at the Junior Girls' School put on their annual Shakespeare production yesterday evening. In front of a packed audience in the Girls' Division Theatre, the young actors took to the stage to retell Romeo and Juliet in their own words, giving the classic tale a modern twist. The girls studied the play to get to grips with the plot and themes before reworking the well-known story to make it their own. They did an amazing job and gave an enthusiastic performance on the night.

The Joint Junior Orchestra also put on a show this week at Clarendon Primary School. They performed several pieces, and there were even opportunities for some pupils in the audience to get involved. The primary school children really enjoyed listening to the music, and this opportunity also gave the musicians some excellent experience for the future.

Old Boy Sir Ian McKellen has donated original artwork to the Boys' Division's "Pop Up" Creative Arts Exhibition. This will be part of a Secret Postcard Sale, encompassing work by artists in the Boys' Division and also by famous creative practitioners such as illustrator Chris Aaran! The theme of the overall exhibition, which includes work from pupils in the Art, Music, Drama and English departments, is "Conflict" and there will be some very thoughtful pieces on show. The exhibition will be held in the Market Place in Bolton on the 27th of June.

In news from alumni, Old Girl Natasha Lomas has been offered a place with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. She left the Girls' Division last summer to study music at the RNCM.

12 June 2015

Year 9 girls recently embraced the challenges of the Duke of Edinburgh expedition - braving some of the worst conditions ever seen on Bronze expeditions, and impressing instructors at Patterdale Hall, the School's adventure learning centre, with their hardiness! The girls will now go on to complete the skills, volunteering and physical sections of the Award. Bolton School is the largest independent school provider of pupils achieving the Duke of Edinburgh Award in the North-West of England.

This week the Intermediate Guitar Group travelled to St Mary's RC Primary School to give a performance as part of the School's Community Music Programme. The group played a wide variety of styles and did an excellent job of entertaining the younger children with their music.

At the end of the summer, the 'Butterflies' will leave Bolton School Nursery to go on to primary school, and so as part of their Leavers' celebrations the boys and girls were taken on a special trip to Blackpool Zoo. There were lots of different animals to see and learn more about on the day, from small meerkats to huge elephants. The children particularly enjoyed the impressive sea lion show!

To view a gallery of pictures from the Butterflies' trip to Blackpool Zoo, click here.

On Thursday, the sun was shining brightly for the Year 3 Outdoor Learning Day at Hesketh House, the Junior Girls' School. The weather was absolutely perfect as the girls tackled orienteering, archery, team building and bushcraft. The girls were really enthusiastic about the experience, and are now looking forward to their first trip to Patterdale Hall next year!

You can catch up with the Senior Boys' latest cricket updates on the Asons' Cricket Reports page. Last week there was a dose of Cup Fever as the younger boys faced the next round of County Cup matches.

Finally, the 'Inspiring Mind' this week is Old Boy Arno Kitts, who describes himself as "an example of what genuine open access through a bursary fund might achieve." He says in his interview that he can track his career success back to his roots at Bolton School, and now works for BlackRock, a leading investment manager.

 

5 June 2015

A group of Year 5 pupils at the Junior Girls' School recently attended the AJIS Sings! event in Cheshire. They had a fantastic time learning new songs in a variety of styles - from African rounds to a number from the hit musical Matilda!

The Year 8 girls have been making the most of their post-examination period. They enjoyed a multicultural day of Modern Foreign Languages which gave them a taste of several different cultures to inspire them to find out more and increase their interest in language learning. From Spanish salsa dancing to German baking, and introductory workshops in Russian and Italian, there was plenty for the girls to learn while also having lots of fun.

A comedic play entirely in French also piqued the Year 8 girls' interest in languages this week. Erreur d’identité - or 'Mistaken Identity' in English - was performed by two native French actors and stretched the girls' skills while also being very entertaining.

Meanwhile the Junior Boys headed to the start line for their annual Fancy Dress Fun Run, which this year supported the charities Derian House Children’s Hospice and Cancer Research UK. The boys donned a spectaular array of colourful costumes, with members of staff also joining in the fun to raise money for the chosen charities.

Old Boy Ross Warburton recently stepped down from the post of president at Bolton Lads and Girls Club - passing on the torch to Old Girl Baroness Trish Morris! Baroness Morris first became involved with the club over 20 years ago and was honoured to become its president.

Year 9 girls from local schools have been inspired by the Spread Your Wings maths project, organised by Girls' Division teacher Miss Reynolds. The five-week course held at Bolton School was run in association with the Shine Trust UK, and gave the girls opportunities to apply Bin Packing algorithms, Minimum Spanning Trees and Shortest Path algorithms to a variety of real world situations.

 

This week's 'Inspiring Mind' is former Head Girl Lesley Ainsworth, who attended the Girls' Division from 1968 to 1975. She went on to study Law at the University of Oxford and, after many years of experience in competition law, was appointed a panel member of the Competition and Markets Authority in 2013. In her interview, she reveals her fondest memories and greatest inspirations from her time at Bolton School, and offers some great advice to current pupils.