25 November 2016

The highlight of the week was the final talk of the Tillotson Lecture Series, which was given by Old Boy and six-time 24 hour solo mountain bike racing World Champion Chris Eatough. Titling his address 'Long Distance Learning', he spoke about his life since leaving Bolton School and the lessons he has learned throughout his mountain biking career, offering an exciting insight into his sport.

Chris's full address and the question and answer session can be viewed in three parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Chris also found time during his visit to Bolton School to talk to the elite athletes in the Girls' and Boys' Divisions, and to address the Junior Boys and Girls. The pupils had lots of pertinent questions for Chris and were delighted to have the opportunity to talk to such a successful sportsman.

The Junior Girls got involved with the 'Big Spotacular' for Children in Need last week. They added spots and spotty accessories to their uniforms and made a donation when they came into school on the day. They made over £360 to give to charity.

Girls in Year 9 raised over £1,000 for Children in Need by putting on a series of cake and sweet sales over the course of a week. Girls' Division pupils gave generously to the cause in exchange for the delicious treats and raised lots of money for charity.

The Senior Concert Band has won a Platinum Award at the North's Regional Festival of the National Concert Band Festival, held in Oldham. The group of Boys' and Girls' Division pupils performed a challenging and mixed programme of pieces which impressed the judges on the day. They have now qualified to play at the national finals in April!

A group of Year 13 linguists enjoyed debating a wide range of challenging topics at this year's MFL North West Debating Competition. Three pairs of girls debated in Spanish, German and French, with the Spanish team making it all the way to the semi-final to go head-to-head with their rivals on the topical subject of Brexit!

The Year 10 girls recently enjoyed taking part in their Film Day, which was spent learning how to make films for themselves. They took part in a series of workshops with the Young Film Academy before putting together their own short films. Following a screening of all the films, one winning group received an Oscar for their efforts.

Year 10 pupil Cate Lord has been selected for the Manchester Thunder Netball Development Squad after playing well in two sets of trials.

Young Thai Kickboxing champion Marcus Williams in Year 7 has become the Double English Open Champion. This follows him becoming the World Junior Champion just last month.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Old Boy Irving Wardle, who attended the Boys' Division from 1940 to 1947. He fondly remembers his time at the School, including his teachers Bill Brown and Frank Greene.

18 November 2016

Last week, plasma physicist Dr Melanie Windridge gave a fascinating lecture about the science behind the aurora, or northern lights. Talking about her own personal journey as she researched this phenomenon, she mentioned the places, people and stories she has encountered during her travels as well as explaining the physics that cause the auroral displays to light up the skies at night.

Bolton School water polo coach Mr Andy McGinty has been awarded the British Swimming Water Polo Coach of the Year Award. Mr McGinty, who divides his time between the School and the City of Manchester water polo club and has also done international duty, was delighted to receive this prestigious award.

Year 12 pupils enjoyed a wonderful and educational trip to Spain over the half term break. They stayed in El Puerto de Santa María near Cádiz in Andalusia for eight days, immersing themselves in Spanish culture for the duration.

Mr Hough, the Languages Coordinator at Bolton School Junior Boys' School, spent a productive half term in China, strengthening links with Honggangcheng Primary School and Changqingshu Experimental School in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

The Boys' Division Autumn Concert was a huge success, showing the diversity and depth of talent in the school. From poised renderings of Classical pieces to a Stevie Wonder medley, and culminating in a rousing conclusion from the massed voices of the Year 8 boys, this was an evening of music to remember.

Click here to watch a video of the Joint Chamber Choir performing 'Autumn Leaves' at the concert.

The U15 Netball team took part in the Bolton Schools' Netball Tournament, where they emerged victorious in their age group.

All of the Girls' Division swimmers did well at this year's John Parry Relays, but the U15 team shone particularly bright, returning with two trophies in their name.

Year 9 pupil Anna recently found out she has been reselected for the Lancashire U14 Cricket squad!

The Junior Boys' School was invited to perform at the University of Manchester as part of the Confucius Institute's tenth anniversary celebrations. Three boys performed Kuai Ban at the event.

Children and parents alike had fun and found out more about the Infant School at a special Reception Class Taster Morning this week.

On 29 November, the Girls' Division will host poet Lemn Sisay MBE for a free lecture, which is open to the public. This is the next of the Girls' Division's hugely successful series of Arts and Science evening talks.

Photo: Aida Muluneh © 2013 Addis Ababa

11 November 2016

Boys' Division pupils paid particular tribute to Old Boys who lost their lives in South East Asia during the Remembrance Assembly held on 11 November this year. Six current pupils recalled the life stories of the six Old Boys who gave their lives in this part of the world during the First and Second World Wars. The assembly also recalled the life of Private James Rutter, an Old Boy whose name had been inexplicably omitted from the memorial boards. A new plaque commemorating Private Rutter has now been added to the Memorial Staircase in his honour.

In the Girls' Division, poetic and musical tributes were offered during the Remembrance Assembly. Miss Hincks reminded the gathered pupils, staff and over 50 Old Girls of the events of 100 years ago, particularly the Battles of the Somme, Verdun and Jutland. There were also a number of poetry readings and musical interludes as part of this moving occasion.

Patterdale Hall has achieved the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres (AHOEC) prestigious Gold Standard Award. This is a great achievement for the School's adventure learning centre in the Lake District, as the AHEOC sets a high bar for this award. The AHEOC also entitles Patterdale Hall to the LOTC Quality badge and the AAIAC Adventuremark.

Boys' Division pupils in Year 7 learned all about life in the Roman Legion from historical fiction author Ben Kane. Dressed as a Roman soldier and with lots of replica pieces of armour and weaponry to show to the boys, Ben talked about the realities of marching as a ember of the Roman army, drawing on his own personal experience of walking Hadrian's Wall in full Roman kit. The boys were fascinated by this informative and interesting talk. Ben also gave a similar talk to older pupils at lunch time.

The Junior Girls in Years 5 and 6 enjoyed a dynamic and interactive retelling of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, performed by the Young Shakespeare Company. The drama explored all of the main themes of the play while also allowing the girls to have lots of fun.

Boys in Years 7 and 8 have won a 360/VR storytelling competition run by Viar360 with their virtual reality tour of Bolton School. With help from Deputy Head (Academic) Mr Nic Ford, the boys in VR/360 Film Club put together a virtual reality tour, starting in the Riley Quad and moving through different areas of the School using 360 photos and videos.

The boys' virtual tour of the Boys' Division can be viewed here (select Panorama mode).

Children in Year 2 at Beech House, Bolton School's Infant School, held a swashbuckling pirate-themed assembly and invited their parents along to watch. Inspired by The Pirates Next Door by Johnny Duddle, they sang songs and told stories based on their learning about pirates.

Old Boy Haseeb Hameed was named as England's opening batsman in the first Test match against India. Just fifteen months ago, he was picking up his A Level results at Bolton School, and since then has had a meteoric rise to the heights of cricket fame.

Well done to Year 7 pupil Marcus, who was recently crowned the World Junior Thai Kickboxing Champion! He won his title in Benidorm over the half term break, battling it out against an older Spanish contestant in a dramatic final over five rounds.

Meanwhile fellow Year 7 pupil Will has come 2nd in the North West Trampolining Competition. He has been involved with the sport for two and a half years, and in his first year made it to fourth place int he national finals!

A total of thirteen Girls' Division pupil have been selected this year for the U18 Lancashire Lacrosse A and B Squads, including one girl who is just 13 years old. One of the pupils was also named captain of the A Squad.

Three Bolton School girls have also been selected for the U14 Greater Manchester Football Squad.

Over the half term break, Bolton School pupil Jack and Jos played for ESSA's U16 Water Polo Squad in Malta. They were coached by Boys' Division Head of Chemistry Dr Yates and an Old Boy, Stephen Walsh, was the assistant coach.

Bolton School once again was a category sponsor at the MEN Business Awards. The School sponsored the Young Business of the Year Award, and the Clerk and Treasurer Cathy Fox was delighted to present the award to online fashion business Want That Trend.

This week's Inspiring Mind is recent leaver Haseeb Hameed. His profile includes some of his cricketing successes since he left Bolton School just over a year go, and also an extract from an interview with Mr Compton, Head of Cricket.