27 January 2017

This week, Bolton School welcomed Scottish virtuoso percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie for the latest in the Girls' Division's series of Arts and Sciences presentations which are open to the public. Dame Evelyn's fascinating talk was centered around questions from pupils and members of staff, and also included arresting percussion performances.

Girls' Division pupils in Years 8 and 9 had fun in two inspirational workshops with poet Mandy Coe. She helped the girls to start writing with varied prompts and also gave a number of readings throughout each session.

Boys' Division pupils helped to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day in Bolton. The Violin Quartet opened Bolton's Civic Commemoration and played a second piece following the lighting of candles as part of the service.

Children in the Butterfly Room at Bolton School's Nursery recently went or a Nature Day at Haigh Hall. They explored different outdoor areas, including the woods and the walled gardens, and had a picnic lunch outside. Despite the chilly weather, a good time was had by all!

A large number of Junior Boys in Year 4 will have their work published in the poetry book Once Upon A Dream - Lancashire Verses following the Young Writers Poetry Competition.

Pupils enjoyed a lunchtime learning about life as a vet from Claire Sawyer, a Recognised Advanced Practitioner in Equine Surgery (Orthopaedics). She gave a great overview of the profession, from the qualifications required to the kind of work involved. This was the the latest in a series of Cafe Scientifique lunchtime lectures arranged for pupils.

Sixth Form pupils Hanna and Aaisha raised money for Penny Appeal's Refugee Emergency project by selling doughnuts at the Bonfire Night fireworks display at School, and the following Monday in the Riley Centre. They managed to raise over £250 in support of the charity!

Four Girls' Division pupils have been selected for the Junior North of England Lacrosse Squad following trials last weekend. Two will play in the A Squad, and two in the B Squad, and one girl had been named the A Squad captain! This is a great achieved for all four pupils.

At the Bolton Town Championships, Intermediate Boys' Swimming Team and Girls' Division Junior Swimming Team won their respective age group trophies.

Children across the Foundation have been celebrating Chinese New Year this week. Pupils in Year 4 at the Junior Boys' School delivered an assembly about Chinese New Year to the rest of the school.

Children at the Nursery celebrated Chinese New Year with a variety of activities. They also tried out various Chinese dishes, such as noodles and spring rolls, for their snacks and meals throughout the day. They made paper lanterns and had fun dressing up and playing as a Chinese dragon!

The Nursery Class for 3 and 4 year olds also got into the spirit of Chinese New Year with lots of crafts, making masks and dragon puppets. They even had a Chinese dragon to help them with their number learning on the whiteboard!

This week's Inspiring Mind is Old Boy Ian Jones, who after attending the Boys' Division from 1976 to 1982 went on to become a photographer. He is famous as a royal photographer and has taken pictures at "all the great state occasions". This pen portrait of his varied career and his many fond memories of Bolton School make for interesting reading, and he also offers good advice to the pupils of today.

20 January 2017

With the start of a new year, the Spring Term at Bolton School has begun and already there is lots going on across the Foundation.

Over the Christmas holidays, Year 13 pupil Arron Davies was away at the World Junior Water Skiing Championships in Chile, where he won silver after being narrowly beaten to the gold individual medal by his British teammate! He has also returned with a team bronze medal.

The Girls' Division has been ranked among the best in the country with the publication of the Department for Education's GCSE League Tables! The Girls' Division has placed in the top 100 schools, independent and state, nationally, and has performed well in terms of both the percentage of pupils achieving at least 5 C grades or better at GCSE, including Maths and English, and by English Baccalaureate (EBacc) results.

Head Girl Zoe Stirzacker has achieved her ATCL Diploma in Saxophone. This is a remarkable achievement for someone of her age.

The Year 7 boys enjoyed a fascinating assembly with two visitors from the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, who talked to them about the process of directing a play. They made reference to the Octagon's production of Cinderella, which many of the boys enjoyed watching with School at the end of last term.

Year 9 pupil Anna Phillips has been selected to play on the GMCSFA squad for a match in February.

Two Year 7 pupils also have achieved sporting success. Poppy Donohue has been selected for the U13 Lancashire County Cricket squad, and Alice Leary has been called up to the U13 Greater Manchester Hockey squad!

Th Junior Boys enjoyed a musical morning with Travelling by Tuba. They were whisked around the world, using only music and their imagination to travel from the Swiss Alps to an African river, and far beyond. They were also delighted to be able to play some of the unusual instruments that the musical duo brought into School to show them!

On 26 January at 7pm, Bolton School will host a free event 'In Conversation with Evelyn Glennie'. Click here for further details about this wonderful opportunity to hear from this famous percussionist. Everyone is welcome to come along.

Tickets are now on sale for the Year 8/9 Joint Production of Wonder: a student-devised promenade performance based on R. J. Palacio's international bestseller of the same name. For further details and how to book, click here. The performances will take place 2-4 February at 7.00pm.

A production of When The Eye Has Gone, a play following the tragic decline of former England and Northamptonshire batsman Colin Milburn, will visit Bolton School on Wednesday 1 March 2017 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available to all at a cost of £10, and further details about the show (including how to book) can be found here.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Gill Pearl, an Old Girl who attended from the Junior School to the Sixth From (1967-1977). She has a background as a speech and language therapist and worked for the NHS, but left in 1996 to work in the voluntary sector. Since then, she has become Chief Executive as Speakeasy, a charity supporting people with aphasia, and in 2016 both Speakeasy and Gill herself were recipients of a number of awards. Her profile celebrates her time at Bolton School and offers advice to current pupils for the future.