29 January 2016

Eight Bolton School pupils have been celebrating after receiving Oxbridge offers! The four Boys' Division and four Girls' Division applicants were successful following the rigorous application process, and were delighted to be offered places at two of the top Universities in the country.

Last week, pupils in Year 8 and 9 transported audiences to Wonderland with the Joint Middle School Production of Alice. The script re-imagined Lewis Caroll's classic tale with a few unexpected twists, and pupils did a great job of bringing the story to life on stage. They impressed packed audiences on all three nights of the run. Pupils also raised money for LivLife with interval refreshments and a retiring collection, and PMSF UK with a pre-show Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

Bolton School boys were undaunted this week by the weather and went out kayaking on the River Wharfe at Conistone Falls. Click here to watch a short video clip of their experience!

Year 3 pupil Dinburgh Ai travelled to Greece to take part in an international gymnastics competition this month, where she took fourth place! She also competed in a North-West competition last week, where she came second.

Pupils in the Girls' Division enjoyed poetry workshops with award-winning poet Mandy Coe. This was a fantastic chance for the girls to explore voice and character in new and interesting ways that they perhaps hadn't thought about before. Mandy encouraged them to be brave and to express sharp truths in their poems.

On Holocaust Memorial Day, several pupils from both Divisions took part in the town's memorial service to remember the victims of the holocaust. Matthew Kay and Riya Kalhan both sang as pert of the service, and Ella Kaut-Howson read a captivating extract from the war diary of her great-grandmother, a Polish Jew who escaped the Nazis. Sixteen Bolton School pupils had also produced artwork to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust, which was on display at the event.

Next week, tickets go on sale for the 2016 Senior Joint Production, Doctor Faustus. This play tells the story of Faustus, a brilliant but embittered academic who summons the demon Mephistopheles in order to strike a deal with Lucifer himself: twenty-four years of absolute knowledge and power in exchange for his soul ...

This week's Inspiring Mind is Katie Clinton, an Old Girl who is now a Partner in KPMG LLP. In her interview, she talks about her fondest memories from her time as a pupil as well as her continued relationship with Bolton School, from returning to the Ceremony of Carols to leading KPMG’s flagship work placement and sponsorship programme with school.

The date for this year's Infant and Junior Schools' Open Afternoon has now been announced! It will take place on Thursday 21 April 2016 from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. The afternoon provides an opportunity for pupils and parents to enjoy guided tours around the Infant (co-educational, 4 to 7 year olds), Junior Girls’ (7 to 11 year olds) and Junior Boys’ (7 to 11 year olds) schools and to meet Bolton School's teaching staff and pupils.

22 January 2016

The Department for Education's latest League Tables rankings were published this week, and the Girls' Division has been ranked as the best independent school in the country and the 25th best school in the country by GCSE results! The School was also ranked top in the Borough, which was reported in The Bolton News.

Year 12 Computing pupils Eleanor, Evangeline and Jessie have made it to the final of National Rail's "Could IT Be You?" Competition! They have been selected as some of the top 75 entrants in the country who have been invited to the Finalists' Day: a wonderful achievement.

Boys and girls from the Junior Schools were delighted to learn more about music with The Pop Project! The 'Understanding Music' Show gave the pupils an insight into a wide variety of musical vocabulary using popular music from the past. There was plenty of opportunities for the children to join with with singing, dancing, clapping and even performing, and they loved listening to the excellent music made by The Pop Project themselves.

On Monday, pupils from the Boys' Division had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Bolton herself as well as the Council's Elections Manager for an informative talk on local politics. This was an opportunity for those who might be considering a political career of their own to gain a greater insight, but was also really interesting for everyone.

Beech House's School Council also met the Mayor of Bolton this week when they travelled into the town centre to visit the Mayor's Parlour. There they met the Mayor and found out more about her role and democracy in action. The boys and girls were even able to use a real ballot box to cast their own votes to see how the system works.

In the Girls' Division, Year 8 pupils got an idea of what it would be like to be blind or visually impaired. While wearing glasses to simulate different visual impairments or even blindfolds, they were challenged with completing a number of everyday tasks. Although this was a lot of fun, it also drew their attention to the real issues that people with visual impairments face on a daily basis.

Children in Reception and Year 1 were really excited to visit Blackpool Zoo this week. As well as seeing lots of exotic animals - from lions and tigers to penguins and sea lions - they also got up close to a live snake and met some friendly stick insects, which they were even able to hold for themselves. The children had a great time and returned to School bursting with new animal facts!

This week's Inspiring Mind is Professor Roy Jackson, FRS. He went on from Bolton School to study physics at Cambridge University, which was followed by several years in industry. He then too up a position at the University of Edinburgh, and his academic career has since included positions at Rice University in Houston, Texas, the University of Houston, and Princeton University, as well as sabbaticals leaves during which he was the 'Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar' at Caltech and 'Visiting Fellow Commoner' at Trinity College Cambridge. In this interesting interview he talks about the incredible teachers he knew and even befriended during his time at School and the incredible different a Bolton School education made to his life.

15 January 2016

Year 13 pupils Nuala Fowler has won the 2016 Specialist Crafts Cover Competition, and her painting has been featured on the cover of the 2016 catalogue! Pieces by of six other Girls' Division artists have also been featured in the catalogue itself. Specialist Crafts were very impressed with all of the work submitted by Bolton School pupils.

The Junior Boys took a trip through music history with Travelling by Tuba. The duo of musicians entertained the boys with a special performance in the hall, showing pupils a variety of musical instruments from the past and allowing them to hear a range of music from different historical periods. There were also lots of opportunities for the boys to join in!

Shreya Kamath in Year 8 recently took part in a STEMettes hackathon: a free workshop designed to encourage more girls to go into IT. During the hackathon, Shreya learned a new programming language and created her own snowman racing game. The game was so popular with the other attendees that it won the People's Choice Award!

On Friday, Bolton School hosted a 'Women in STEM' careers day for pupils in Year 8 to Year 11. Girls from Bolton School, ESSA Academy and St Catherine's Academy attended the event, where they were able to informally chat to STEM Ambassadors about their jobs or their chosen study, and talk about what it's like to work in fields relating to science, technology, engineering and maths.

Last week's Inspiring Mind was music broadcaster Mark Radcliffe, who attended the Boys' Division from 1966 to 1976. This great interview talks about some of the highlights of his time at Bolton School as well as his inspirations.

The Inspiring Mind for this week is medical geneticist Professor Jill Clayton-Smith. She reflects on her time at Bolton School in the 1970s and how attending the Girls' Division greatly influenced her aspirations and career path. She also offers some excellent advice to current pupils.

08 January 2016

At the end of last term, the Junior Girls' Headmistress Mrs Ruth Brierley retired from her post. On the last day before the Christmas holidays, the girls performed a surprise Festive Farewell Flashmob in the playground:

In addition to the dance, Mrs Brierley received a Cockapoo puppy - named Hesketh - and a multitude of dog-related gifts from the Parents' Association, staff and pupils. Mrs Brierley retires after twenty-five years in teaching and more than six years at the helm of Hesketh House Junior Girls' School.

Year 11 pupils in the local area are invited to a free Gifted and Talented Mathematics event taking place at Bolton School on 30 January 2016 (9.15am-1.00pm). The event will feature Dr Colin Wright, speaking about the mathematics of juggling, and "The Rock Doctor" Dr Mark Lewney on the Mathematics of the rock guitar!

Sixth Form pupil Chris Battarbee has been awarded a prestigious President's Undergraduate Scholarship from Imperial College London. These are awarded to just 112 applicants and are designed to reward students who show the highest academic excellence and potential. If he takes up the offer, he will study Computer Science at Imperial.

The Bolton School Joint Middle School Production of Alice is coming soon to the Girls' Division Theatre! The show will run from Thursday 21 to Saturday 23 January 2016, with a 7pm start each night. Tickets are now available at £5 each - for more details and where to buy, click the link above.

Finally, looking back at the Christmas period, a selection of videos from the Boys' Division Christmas Festival are now available. To enjoy the performances once again, click here.