18 December 2015

The end of term at Bolton School was packed with festive activities.

The week began with the Girls' Division Ceremony of Carols on Monday, which was as always a lovely occasion with beautiful performances from the Chamber, Senior and Middle School Choirs. This year there was a multicultural theme and ten languages were spoken and sung over the course of the service. The audience were delighted to be able to join in with a number of favourite carols, including a rendition of 'Adeste Fideles' to end the evening.

To watch a selection of videos from the Ceremony of Carols, click here.

The annual Boys' Division Christmas Festival was as rousing as ever, with the boys and the audience filling the Great Hall with music and song over the course of the evening. Rousing performances from the Junior, Senior and Chamber Choirs and the massed voices of Year 7, accompanied by the orchestra, made for a spectacular evening.

To watch some of the highlights from the Christmas Festival, click here.

Children at Bolton School's Nursery were put in the spotlight at their Nativity on Wednesday. The children from the Butterfly room were the stars of the show this year, and did a wonderful job of telling the story of Christmas. The boys and girls did well to remember all the words to several Christmas songs, both during the performance and at the end.

Reception children felt like they had been transported to Lapland when they got the chance to meet Santa's reindeer at Cheshire Reindeer Lodge! The boys and girls were able to feed the reindeer and learn more about them, and also met Father Christmas himself!

Father Christmas also made a special trip to see all of the Infants at Beech House on the last day of term. However, he had swapped his usual sleigh for a fantastic vintage bus! The children climbed aboard to have a chat with Father Christmas about their wish-lists, and each received a special early present. This was certainly one of the highlights of the end of term.

The Junior Girls' Christmas Celebration was held last week, with the girls performing the nativity play 'Witnesses'. Some videos of their performance are now available here.

The Girls' Division Theatre was filled with laughter for this year's Prefects' Panto. Always one of the highlights of the festive calendar, this year's performance was no disappointment and offered up a great parody of School life, including caricatures of many members of staff.

The Boys' Division brass band took their instruments down to Beech House to entertain the Infants' School with some Christmas favourites, combining old songs with new in their set. The boys and girls were mesmerised by the performance.

Year 2 pupils travelled to Christ Church in Heaton to show their Nativity to guests at the church's Luncheon Club last week. They delighted their audience with the after-lunch show.

The Library has also been getting into the spirit of the season, posting an Advent Calendar of book recommendations in both Senior Schools. Library staff also came up with a 'Borrow a Book for Christmas' campaign: pupils in Years 10-13 and members of staff could ask Santa's Library Elves to give them a wrapped up book from the shelves to take home and read over the holidays!

The Junior Girls' School Headmistress, Mrs Ruth Brierley, bid pupils and staff farewell at the end of term as she enters retirement. On her last day, the girls performed a wonderful 'Festive Flashmob Farewell' dance as a tribute. A video of the spectacle is now available to view here.

In just three weeks, pupils at Bolton School have worked incredibly hard to collect 9600 items for Urban Outreach's Christmas Hampers - and were successful in their endeavour! The Boys' and Girls' Division Senior Schools raised money and took donations of cans of pop and bags of crisps, while the Junior Girls collected bags of gold chocolate coins. All of the pupils did an amazing job to achieve the goal set by Urban Outreach this year.

Sixth Formers in the Boys' Division held a Christmas Jumper Day to raise money for the Salvation Army. They made a donation to come to School sporting their best festive knitwear and raised £300!

Monday lunchtime saw eleven Year 7 pupils, four Sixth Formers and members of staff at Toys R Us in Bolton, spending the money that Year 7s raised earlier in the term with a sponsored silence. The 'trolley dash' around the store allowed the girls to pick up a variety of toys for boys and girls, which they then donated to Key 103's Mission Christmas appeal for Cash for Kids!

Two Year 7 pupils also travelled to the Key 103 warehouse on Thursday to drop off the last of the donations: DVDs and Boots gift sets bought for older children. They also handed over a cash donation to help Cash for Kids to buy large items such as bikes. The girls were interviewed live on the radio by Alex James!

The Boys' Division this week added four new leaves to Bolton Hospice's Tree of Life, one for each of the Houses. The money to fund the leaves was raised through a non-uniform day, and will go towards helping the hospice to provide care to those with life limiting illnesses.

Fourteen Bolton School girls have this year been selected for Lancashire's U15 Lacrosse squad! The pupils, who are in Years 8 to 10, will go on to compete in the Northern Counties Tournament.

The Year 7 boys showed grace under pressure this week as they took part in their Gymnastics Final. The result of weeks of hard work, the final was a great spectacle and showed off the boys' skills. At the end of the competition, Tyler Bailey won the Gymnastics Cup, which is over 100 years old.

Girls' Division pupil Emily Manock in Year 10 has won a silver medal at the National Para-Swimming Championships 2015! She achieved national qualifying times in 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle to compete at this event.

Year 12 student Beth Hodkinson has won bronze at the Junior AETF Taekwon-do European Championships! This is a fantastic achievement for her.

The three Dr Edith Forsyth Scholars have now completed their first term studying Medicine at university. The girls will each receive a total of £15,000 during the five years of their medical studies as part of an award initiated by an Old Boy in memory of his late wife. The three girls reflect on their first term at university and the difference the award has made to them so far.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Philip William Bryce Lever, the 3rd Viscount Leverhulme. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he was extensively involved with School life and was Chairman of Governors for 40 years. The tribute to him was written by Eric Fairweather, School Archivist, and also appears in the ebook 'The Leverhulme Legacy'.

11 December 2015

The festive season is now well under way at Bolton School. On Friday of last week, the Junior Boys spent the morning making hand-made decorations and putting them up all around their school. They also wore their Christmas Jumpers for the occasion. As well as being a lot of fun, the morning left Park Road looking really ready for Christmas!

Last weekend, the Junior Boys' Choir put on a performance at Bolton Parish Church. They sang alongside the Blackburn and Darwen Band and made the evening of carols a really special occasion.

Children at the Nursery also got into the spirit of the season with their Christmas Party, which was held in the Arts Centre. The children and their families enjoyed entertainment, dancing, and even a special visit from Santa Claus!

This week, the Junior Girls held their annual Christmas Celebration. The title this year was 'Witnesses' and focused on the various characters who were present at the first Nativity. The girls gave a really beautiful and moving performance, which included a special song for Headmistress Mrs Brierley, who is retiring at the end of term.

To watch a selection of videos from 'Witnesses', click here.

The Junior Boys also held their Christmas Concert, which was filled with spectacular choral performances. The school's young musicians also played a number of pieces in the course of the evening, interspersed with readings. The boys put on a fantastic evening of entertainment for their parents to enjoy.

Children at Beech House have been putting on their Nativity performances throughout the week, to the delight of their parents and the staff. The children did a wonderful job of telling the Christmas story through narration, singing and dancing.

On Friday, the Girls' Division was full of festive cheer as the Year 10 girls put on their annual Christmas Post assembly! The Great Hall was filled with laughter at the start of the day as the girls acted out their sketches to the great amusement of their fellow pupils. This year, the Christmas Post will raise money for the Willink Biochemical Genetics Unit in Manchester.

Also on Friday, girls dressed in their best Christmas Jumpers to raise money for Save the Children. The festive jumpers, Santa hats and tinsel crowns really added to the Christmas atmosphere throughout the School.

GCSE and A Level students in both Divisions enjoyed a thought-provoking 'God and the Big Bang' conference this week. This event, which was held at School, showed how science and religion do not need to be in opposition and can in fact reaffirm each other. Guest speakers - all of them scientists of faith - helped pupils to understand more about the relationship between science and faith and encouraged them to ask questions throughout the day.

The Junior Boys hosted a special Cub Assembly this week to celebrate the successes of the 19th Bolton (Bolton School) Scout Troop. The achievement of Harry Mathieson, one of the Cubs, was particularly applauded as he received his 40th and 41st activity badges - meaning he has collected all of the 36 activity badges plus a few that he achieved before the new selection of 36 was introduced!

Bolton School Junior Boys welcomed a delegation of visitors from China this week, who had travelled to Bolton to celebrate the winners of a UK-China stamp design competition. Mayor Cllr Swarbrick presented the stamp awards to four pupils from Bolton School and four from Kearsley Academy who won the competition. The event was attended by all boys in Year 3 to Year 7.

Last week, Boys' Division Headmaster Philip Britton wrote a blog for the Sunday Times in which he looks at the Prevent strategy. He wrote about the importance of healthy discussion in schools and how schools can help young people of faith to find their place within society.

Students in the Sixth Form were able to show their entrepreneurial spirit at the final of the KPMG Enterprise Trophy. The finalists presented their business plans before the Dragon's Den style judging panel as if they were seeking genuine funding for the project. After some difficult deliberation, the judges announced that this year's winners were Pinpoint.

Pupils in Year 1 met local artist David Shuttleworth, who helped them to make some fantastic sculptures using nothing more than rubbish that would otherwise be thrown away! This was a really creative exercise that allowed the children to use their imaginations to turn junk into robots.

Beech House's Children in Need activities were lots of fun and really helped to raise money for charity. The children took part in an Enterprise Week which asked them to create Valentine's Day cards, and they also ran a sale! Overall they raised over £850.

Recently the Infants have been learning more about the dark through different activities, including creating their own versions of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' painting. They have also enjoyed an exciting Tennis coaching session with an expert from Bolton Arena.

In February 2015, Bolton School will host an English Speaking Board teacher training event for Speaking and Listening. For more information about the event, click here. To book a place, please email events@esbuk.org.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Sylvia Walker, who taught Mathematics in the Girls' Division from 1972 to 1993. This wonderful reflection on her life and the difference she made in the lives of others paints a wonderful picture of a teacher who made a lasting impact on the School.

4 December 2015

This week, Bolton School launched its centenary book, The Best of Both Worlds: A Portrait of Bolton School. The book looks at the School’s past, particularly focusing on the last 100 years but with reference to the earlier history. It is full of archive and contemporary photos, pupil and teacher memories, and historical facts which have surprised and fascinated even those who thought they knew a lot about the School. Alumni, staff, governors and guests gathered for the launch event, which celebrated the many different people who have contributed to putting the finished product together.

Copies of the book are now available to purchase from the School's online merchandise shop.

Beech House this week made their annual donation of toys to Bolton Lions, supporting the club's Caring Christmas Appeal. This initiative provides Christmas presents to families who might otherwise not be able to buy gifts for their children. The families at Beech House provided a fantastic 'toy mountain' to the appeal, which is aiming to reach 2,000 children this year.

Over the course of November, teachers in the Boys' Division took part in the Movember campaign, growing moustaches during the month to raise money and awareness about men's health issues.

Nine-year-old Toby Yates recently won Bolton Golf Club's U14 Trophy! This was one of the highlights in a great golfing year for Toby, who has also won the U10s Regional trophy at the European Junior Golf Tour in Cheshire and several mini junior competitions at Bolton Golf Club.

Year 11 pupil Paul Foster has been selected for the national ISFA U16s football team. He was chosen following his performance as captain of the ISFA North team in a number of matches. He will now go on to a training camp and play a number of matches with the ISFA national team.

The Boys' Division's U13 footballers have made it through to the quarter-finals of the ISFA Cup! They overcame The Grange, Moorgate School and Priory School in the preliminary rounds to make it this far, and are now looking forward to their next match against local rivals Bury Grammar.

The Royal Society of Chemistry once again held its annual Christmas Lecture, The Flash Bang Show, at Bolton School. The Boys' Division Great Hall was filled with pupils from 18 schools across the North-West, who were captivated by the spectacular show.

Georgina Owen and Khadijah Ismail both received Arkwright Scholarships this year. This prestigious award is given to sixth form students who show the potential to be leaders in engineering in the future. Both girls recently attended an awards ceremony in London to be presented with their awards by their industry sponsors.

Last week's Inspiring Mind was Edith Falla, a member of the Girls' Division staff from 1945 to 1980. The fascinating summary of her life, originally published in the Girls’ Division Magazine in 2005 after her death, paints a wonderful picture of the huge difference she made in the lives of her students.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Old Boy and England Water Polo Captain Ed Scott. Ed is a medical student who has also played water polo for the UK at the 2012 Olympics and for England at the Commonwealth Games. His interview discusses how School helped him to discover his passion for the sport and how it has impacted on his life so far.

That's Manchester TV reported on Prince Edward's visit in November. The footage is now available to view here, or by clicking the play button below:

27 November 2015

Former history teacher Mrs Head, who retired from the Girls' Division last summer after 27 years, has won the inaugural Bolton News Secondary School Teacher of the Year Award. An Old Girl of the School, Mrs Head was also the Head of Middle School before her retirement. She was delighted to receive the award.

A visit from author Tanya Landman, whose novel Buffalo Soldier won the Carnegie Medal, provided a fascinating opportunity for girls to learn more about the process of writing and how Tanya uses historical events to inform and inspire her writing. A seminar with Sixth Form students also allowed the writer to warm the girls not to accept the romanticised version of American history that is often depicted in films, television and literature.

The Junior Boys were delighted to welcome children's author and entertainer Lucia Davies into School last week so that they could join the Pod Trail. This initiative is based on Lucia's book Pod, which aims to raise awareness of bullying. The book engages children with the idea of bullying and helps them to think and talk about this important issue. The Pod Trail formed part of the boys' experience of Anti-Bullying Week 2015.

Last Friday, students from Bolton School Girls’ and Boys’ Divisions, Bolton Music Service and Salford Music and Performing Arts Service took part in a fantastic music workshop that was based around Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The following informal performance showcased the pupils' talents and was a fantastic experience for children and parents alike.

Year 7 pupils James Hopkinson and Olivia Sample recently performed at the SHINE Benefit Dinner in London as part of the Halle Children's Choir. The event took place in the grand surroundings of the Natural History Museum, and both pupils really enjoyed this unique experience.

The Jazz Band last weekend took part in the National Concert Band Festival (NCBF). They performed four pieces in total, with several pupils taking centre stage for solos, and were eventually awarded a Gold Award!

Last week, four Year 7 pupils were interviewed on local radio station Key103 about their Sponsored Silence to support Cash for Kids. The girls have raised £2000 with their efforts! To listen to their interview, click here or press the play button below:


Year 9 pupil Sharon Daniel recently received her ESB Ambassador Award at a Celebration Evening held in Bristol. The Young Speaker of the Year event was held to honour eight young people from across the UK, and awards were presented by Mr Burton, one of the stars of Channel 4’s Educating Yorkshire.

The Year 8 water polo team last weekend brought home the President's Trophy. As a result, seven members of the team and three other Bolton School boys were selected for the North-West A and B Teams for the upcoming ASA Inter-Regional Tournament. This is a fantastic achievement for the School's young water polo players.

Year 7 pupil Elizabeth Harkness has been selected for the Lancashire U13 Development Squad. This is a fantastic achievement, since she is still in the U12 age category. She also plays for grassroots team Preston North End.

Year 12 student Arron Davies competed in the European Water Skiing Championships over the summer holidays. He also did extremely well in the 2015 national competition, coming in third place, and is now looking forward to competing in the World Championships 2016.

The Junior Girls and Junior Boys recently faced off in the annual AJIS Chess Tournament, which was held at the Junior Boys' School. The Junior Girls were awarded third place overall, with some girls also achieving individual medals. However, on this occasion the Junior Boys were victorious, taking first place and some individual medals.

Girls in Year 10 and above were able to enjoy a fascinating linguistics talk from Dr Alex Baratta, a lecturer at the University of Manchester. He talked about how language use and accents can inform and influence a person's identity. This was particularly helpful for A Level English Language students, who made the most of the opportunity to hear from Dr Baratta.

The Nursery has held a drop-in session for parents, allowing them to come in and talk to practitioners about Communication and Language Skills. There were lots of fun activities for the children and also plenty of tips and pieces of advice for parents. This made for an interesting and interactive morning for the children, which was also really beneficial to parents.

Old Girl Gill Pearl has been awarded the Robin Tavistock Award 2015 alongside the charity Speakeasy Bury. The award is given to an organisation or individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the field of aphasia.

20 November 2015

This week, Bolton School welcomed HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex. Children from all areas of the School congregated to greet him with waves and Union Jack flags upon arrival. He then went into the Arts Centre to meet pupils participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme and young volunteers.

To watch a video of clips from his visit, click here.

Last week, children across the Bolton School Foundation took part in various activities to raise money for Children in Need. From cake sales to decorated capes to funky socks to dressing up as superheroes, everyone was invited to join in, and as a result Bolton School as a whole raised over £2700 for charity!

Girls in Year 7 spent last Friday in silence in order to raise money for KEY103's Cash for Kids appeal. The girls have been supporting this appeal for several years now, and the sponsored silence is the first step in the process. Despite the difficulties, the girls did really well to stay quiet for the whole of the day.

The Boys' Division Autumn Concert last week was a musical showcase of the School's talent. The different musical groups performed to a high standard and were very entertaining. The Year 8 boys gave a spectacular finale, which definitely lived up to the Bridgewater Hall performance last year.

To watch a selection of performances from the Autumn Concert, click here.

Year 13 student Laura Hainey has had a piece of artwork shortlisted for the Specialist Crafts Catalogue Cover Competition. She won a voucher for being shortlisted, and will find out if she has won the competition overall in December.

The Bolton School bees have been hard at work all summer, and now Beekeeping Club members are extracting, sieving and jarring the honey ready to be put on sale. The jars are £6 for a 227g jar, and all the details on how to purchase Bolton School Honey are available by clicking the link.

Sixth Form students recently took part in the first round of the Business Challenge. They spent the day in mixed teams, working together to create a fantastic new business plan, which they then had to present in front of a panel of judges to ask for investment. All of the students worked really hard to come up with the best ideas possible and to back up their incredible ideas with all the right facts and figures. The six successful teams will go forward to the final for the KPMG Trophy in December.

The Junior Girls really enjoyed watching the Young Shakespeare Company act out an interactive version of Romeo and Juliet last week. This exciting, funny, and ultimately moving version of the tragic love story allowed the girls to take part in the action and also asked them to answer questions to clarify the plot and language throughout. As well as being entertaining, this experience has also helped to get the girls thinking about Shakespeare as thy will go on to study his work.

Kidzone has now announced the Christmas programme for this year, and an exciting range of activities are on the calendar!

This week, the 100 Inspiring Minds project interviews entrepreneur Rob Dobson, who talks about his inspirations, his time at School, and his advice for current pupils.

13 November 2015

Over the recent half term holiday, two Sixth Form students joined local accountants and business advisors Cowgill Holloway as part of the Future Stars Programme. This was the first week of a four-week placement with the company, which spans the whole academic year and will allow them to experience many difference aspects of the business.

Children at Beech House Infant School last week had lots of fun on Bonfire Night. The Reception children held their own firework display and bonfire, and tucked into toasted marshmallows. This followed their visit to a local fire station to learn more about fire safety.

Meanwhile, in the Year 2 classrooms, children were busy creating fantastic artwork themed around Bonfire Night. Some children created chalk drawings of fireworks exploding, while others combined natural materials and craft materials in a collage to reflect the bonfire celebrations.

Last weekend, over 100 Year 11 pupils from the local area enjoyed an inspiring Modern Languages Day at Bolton School. In addition to an interesting keynote speech about the importance of learning foreign languages, they enjoyed workshops in a variety of languages, including French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin and Arabic.

On Sunday evening, pupils and parents congregated on the netball courts in spite of the rain to enjoy the annual Girls' Division Parents' Association Firework Display. Many of the stalls were relocated to the refurbished Dining Hall, and guests could enjoy games or sweet treats before and after the display. The School's young musicians also braved the weather to provide entertainment in the run up to the fabulous display and as guests dispersed afterwards.

On Wednesday, the School held a number of Services of Remembrance for Armistice Day.

In the Boys' Division, the commemoration was led by Dr Holland, who asked pupils to think about what peace means to them. At the end of the service, three Year 13 boys laid wreaths in front of the Memorial Staircase.

The Girls' Division service was attended by Old Girls in addition to current pupils. Pupils shared poems on the theme of remembrance, and Miss Hincks spoke about why the poppy is worn on this occasion.

The Junior Girls' School followed a similar theme with the girls learning more about why the poppy is worn as an act of remembrance. It was concluded by a moving song 'Remember', which reminded the girls of the importance of the day.

To watch a video of the Junior Girls singing 'Remember' on the School's YouTube channel, click here.

There is also a video of recent leaver Natalie Henderson reading her poem 'Legend of Mons', which won the poetry competition last year and was based on the war poems of the First World War. This piece was inluded in last year's Remembrance Service, which commemorated the centenary of the start of the First World War.

November's Tea at the Riley also had a Remembrance theme as it was held on Armistice Day. This monthly tea party, which is hosted by Sixth Form girls for elderly people in the local area, provided a delicious spread of sandwiches and sweet treats. Mrs Hone gave a very interesting and moving talk about four young men who lost their lives in the First World War as the entertainment for the afternoon.

Towards the end of the week, Girls' Division pupils sent 200 shoeboxes to Operation Christmas Child. Girls in all year groups had put together a box full of small gifts for children in age brackets between 2 and 14. Their haul was supplemented by a large number of shoeboxes from the Junior Girls' School.

Bolton School once again sponsored the Young Business of the Year category at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Business Awards. At a glitzy event at the Midland Hotel on Thursday evening, the winner was announced: ZEAL Creative. A delighted Robert White, Planning Director and an Old Boy of the School, received the award on behalf of the company. Guests also enjoyed insight from keynote speaker Nick Hewer of The Apprentice and Countdown. The event was hosted by news reader Nicholas Owen, who celebrated the city's business community throughout the evening.

Friday was Children in Need day, with lots of activities taking place acros the Bolton School campus!

For the whole of the week, the Year 9 girls were hard at work putting on cake sales every lunchtime and during most breaks. The delicious treats that each form had on offer made sure that pupils and staff kept coming back for more every day of the week, and many of the stalls sold out!

In the Junior Boys' School on Friday boys came into School wearing their best superhero cape in honour of the day! The majority of these were hand-made by the boys themselves, and reflected their owners' individual characteristics. The boys brougth in a £2 donation to take part, and their entries were judged by members of staff on a variety of criteria.

Children at the Nursery got in on the action as well, dressing up as superheroes for the day! They also enjoyed a range of Pudsey-themed activities, such as making and decorating Children in Need cakes or biscuits, collaging a picture of Pudsey bear, creating banana milkshakes, and much more. The Nursery also held a silent auction for a beautiful Children in Need cake and a raffle for a hamper of goodies.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Old Girl Angela Williams CMG, who was the first female Director at UNRWA. In her fascinating interview, she recollects her time at Bolton School and the impact it had on her later career and life. She also talks about some of the projects she has worked on in her career and the international changes she had helped to make as Director of UNRWA.

06 November 2015

Girls' Division teachers Mr Heppleston and Mr Hitchin recently set up Well-Good, a website which allows pupils to raise money for water charities by practicing their maths! Thanks to sponsorship from the Girls' Division Parents' Association and several companies, with every correct answer to a maths question, Well-Good is able to provide donations to charities that provide safe, clean water and hygiene to developing countries.

To get involved with Well-Good, visit the website or contact info@well-good.org.

Sixth Form pupil Oliver Fielding has been named the Bolton News's Secondary School Pupil of the Year! The winner of the Secondary School Teacher of the Year, Mrs Julia Head, retired from teaching at Bolton School at the start of the summer holidays.

Ten Bolton School girls have been selected this year for the Lancashire U18 Lacrosse A and B Squads. The girls have been training hard in recent weeks, and are now looking forward to the Northern Counties Tournament.

Old Boy and entrepreneur Rob Dobson recently returned to the Boys' Division to talk to current pupils about their technology projects. As someone who has set up his own award-winning company and is now involved with a number of technology companies, he was a great inspiration to the boys. Rob was also able to give careers advice as well as taking a genuine interest in the pupils' inventions.

Year 10 pupils in the Girls' Division have taken part in a One Day Film School as part of their curriculum enrichment. As well as having a lot of fun going through the process of producing their own films, the girls also learned about the history of film and were able to develop their teamwork skills and self-confidence.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Sir Malcolm Williamson. After leaving Bolton School in 1957, he worked at Barclays for a time before joining the RAF for his national service. After leaving the RAF, he re-joined the world of banking, where he was involved with setting up the first computerised banking system in London and became the bank's youngest assistant manager. In 2007, Sir Malcolm was knighted for services to the Financial Industry. His fascinating biography and interview gives an insight into his long career as well as some of his memories of School.

30 October 2015

Two Bolton School pupils have spent part of their half term holiday in Lithuania playing water polo with the England U17 Team! Ben Ray captained the England side, while Bill Moores appeared in goal as the team competed for the Baltic Amadeus Trophy. Both acquitted themselves well in some fiercely fought matches, and helped the team to achieve fourth place.

As part of the Rugby World Cup celebrations, a group of Year 9 boys performed a Haka in front of their year group as part of a Rugby-themed assembly. The boys also enjoyed a visit from Old Boy Andy Hughes and Tim Jeffers, who both play professionally for Sale Sharks. They answered a number of questions from the boys about the game, professional sport, and the World Cup.

To watch the Haka, click here or press the play button below:

This half term, Girls' Division pupils have been enjoying a third series of cross-curricular seminars. This year's theme is politics, with talks from the History, Art and Classics departments showing links while also broadening the girls' interest and knowledge in the subject. In previous years, these seminars have run on the themes of war and classical influence on art and literature.

Over the summer, recent leaver Haseeb Hameed made a strong entry to first class cricket, enjoying his debut with the Lancashire First team. As the season drew to a close, representatives of Bolton School were able to watch from the Kukri Box at the Emirates Old Trafford ground as he took part in an all-important face-off against Surrey. They were joined by twin Old Boys Callum and Matthew Parkinson, who studied for their GCSEs in the Boys' Division and have also gone on to sign professional contracts with Derbyshire and Lancashire.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Pam Johnson, lacrosse legend and Girls' Division teacher from 1963 to 1998, whose influence continues to this day. Following her death in 2013, a service celebrating her life was held in School and a written tribute was paid in the Old Girls' Newsletter, which has been shared as part of the 100 Inspiring Minds Project.