21 December 2018

During the last week of term, Bolton School's Infant pupils raised money for Save the Children with a Christmas Jumper Day! They brightened up the halls and classrooms of Beech House with their colourful jumpers and each donated £1 to this worthy cause.

The target for this year's Christmas Hamper Challenge has been met once again with pupils from across Bolton School gathering 2,782 selection boxes for Urban Outreach's Christmas Hampers! Teams of Sixth Form students led the donation drive, coming up with creative fundraising ideas and encouraging the rest of the School to support their cause.

Girls' Division pupils have also been raising funds through their Christmas traditions. The Year 10 Christmas Post and Prefects' Panto were both as popular and fun-filled as ever, and alongside other festive fundraisers have helped the girls' chosen charities this Christmas.

The Girls' Division Ceremony of Carols was the perfect way to usher in the festive season. Current pupils, parents and members of staff were joined by Old Girls for this special occasion, which featured traditions such as the 'The Holly and the Ivy' sung as a round and 'Jesus Christ the Apple Tree' performed by the Accidentals.

Click the following links to watch and listen to a selection of music from the Ceremony of Carols: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Do You Hear What I Hear (Chamber Choir), Mary Did You Know (Chamber Choir), Away in a Manger (Senior Choir), Little Drummer Boy (the Accidentals), The Holly and The Ivy (Combined Choirs).

The Boys' Division Christmas Festival was a feast of joyful carols, powerful readings and reflections, and a thoughtful meditation from Rev. Simpson which asked everyone to reflect on what the birth of Jesus means for us today. Beautiful musical performances from the choirs made the evening particularly special.

The whole of the Boys' Division Christmas Festival is available to watch again here on Facebook.

Meanwhile, children in the Nursery Class for Three and Four Year Olds were excited to discover a special visitor waiting for them beside the Christmas Tree on their Christmas Jumper Day: none other than Father Christmas himself!

Members of the Girls' Division Christmas Cake Club created real showstoppers this year, which were on display on the evening of the Ceremony of Carols. This year, the girls' cakes were so impressive that the judges decided to award joint first place to Annabelle Gibbs and Kiersten Keogh.

Also in the final week of term, Girls' Division Headmistress Sue Hincks was announced as the new President of the Girls' Schools Association (GSA). Her opening remarks focused on the importance of helping young people to have confidence, critical judgement and a love of learning in order to succeed the rapidly changing environment of the 21st century.

In the New Year, Boys' Division teacher Dr Turner will appear in the BBC's eight-part series Back In Time For School. In this series, she time-travelled to different points in history between 1895 to 1999 to experience what school was like for both teachers and pupils. The series begins on Thursday 3 January and will run for 8 weeks on BBC 2 at 8pm.

Pupils from both Divisions impressed audiences with their performance of 'Great Expectations', which was produced in collaboration with the Octagon Theatre. Pupils in years 8 and 9 worked with BAFTA-nominated writer and director Janys Chambers to bring Charles Dickens' story to life with a new adaptation.

Senior Boys in Blackburn House helped to support the Blackburn Food Bank with an enormous donation of food towards the end of term. Pupils' generous donations will help to provide more than 470 meals for those in crises in the Blackburn and Darwen area.

Year 13 student Abigail is studying Art for A Level with plans to continue her passion at university, and was recently delighted to sell one of her pieces to an Old Boy following the Bolton School Open Art Exhibition!

Junior Girls in Year 6 had fun towards the end of term in a drama workshop led by Coronation Street's Melissa Johns. They thoroughly enjoyed trying out different acting techniques and drama games and threw themselves into every activity with lots of enthusiasm.

Year 7 boys took part in the annual Gymnastics Final, which is one of the oldest competitions in the School. Following competitions within each form, the finalists performed their near-flawless gymnastics routines in front of a supportive audience of their peers.

Two Old Girls from the same year group recently returned to Bolton School to give talks. Hanna Miraftab, who now owns her own dental practice and recently found 'stardom' on The Real Housewives of Cheshire, spoke to pupils in Year 11 about who they want to be and how to make that a reality. Her old friend Hannah Bradley, who is now a Dispute Resolution Solicitor, led a workshop on how to resolve conflict for girls in the Sixth Form.

Old Boy Ashish Choudry also recently returned to the School to address students from both Divisions who are members of MedSoc. He gave an insightful lunchtime presentation about his work as a GP, advising the Sixth Form about the qualities and skills they will need to one day become good doctors.

Earlier in December, Old Boy John Kohorn returned to School to talk to pupils in Year 6 at the Junior Girls' School. He helped to bring their history lessons to life through the story of his family's escape from Nazi persecution in Europe in 1939.

Junior Girls in Year 5 also enjoyed a special presentation on the Rainforest from Bolton School librarian Mrs Caller, who travelled to Brazil with the venture scouts when she was 18 and was able to share her adventures through photos and memories.

14 December 2018

Bolton School was delighted to receive the inaugural Independent School of the Year Award from Independent School Parent magazine. The Award was given to both the Boys' and Girls' Divisions. The Boys' Division also received the Independent Boys' School of the Year. The Girls' Division was highly commended in the Independent Girls’ School of the Year category, and the School as a whole was highly commended in the Independent School of the Year for Community Outreach category.

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Christmas Lecture took place at Bolton School, wowing audiences with exciting scientific experiments and explanations. Dr Frank Mair of the University of Manchester gave two presentations in the Boys' Division Great Hall for almost 1,000 pupils from 20 schools across the North West.

The annual Tillotson Lecture was this year given by Old Boy John Derbyshire OBE. He gave a fascinating talk about his long career with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and his involvement with the British Sailing Team, and provided insider insight into the world of Olympic sailing.

The Junior Girls told 'The Shepherd's Story' as their Christmas performance, combining narration and acting with beautiful music and song. This version of the Nativity was based on Michael Morpugo's book 'On Angel Wings' and featured a number of compelling solo performances and lovely dances from Year 3 pupils.

Click here to watch the evening performance of The Shepherd's Story in full.

The Junior Boys also put on their annual Carol Service in the Boys' Division Great Hall this week. The evening began with the traditional performance of 'Once in Royal David's City' and continued with more rousing carols, including performances from the school choirs.

Old Boy Ashish Choudry returned to Bolton School to speak to members of MedSoc about life as a GP. He was able to give an overview of the job and talked about the attributes and skills that are particularly useful in this career.

Dr Nick Gent, another Old Boy, also came back to give an enthralling talk about his work at Public Health England and his involvement with the nerve agent incidents in Salisbury and Amesbury earlier this year. The talk was followed by several pertinent questions. He also spoke to Sixth Form physicists about Polonium-210 in the afternoon.

Four teams of Year 12 students went head to head in the final of the Business Challenge competition. They once again pitched their polished creative business ideas, which had already been chosen as the best in the year group following the Business Challenge Day earlier this term. The judges decided this year to give the trophy and prizes to Napee, an innovative idea to create a biodegradable nappy.

Two Girls' Division pupils have been invited to join the 'Dragon Academy' - the Junior Wales Lacrosse programme. This development pathway is designed to identify and support players who have the potential to play at elite level.

Year 9 pupil Jamie has won a bronze medal at the British Judo Championships in Sheffield. This follows a silver medal at the Welsh Open earlier this year, and he has also won a gold medal at the North West Championships.

Year 11 pupil Anna has been called up to the England Women's U16 football squad, and this month will travel with the national team to the Netherlands for two competitive matches.

Bolton School was delighted to welcome Australian and Romanian water polo players ahead of an English Schools' Swimming Association (ESSA) international triangular tournament featuring these players and their English U17 counterparts. The matches took place in Manchester and Bolton, and pupils from the Junior Girls' and Junior Boys' Schools were excited to watch the action.

7 December 2018

Year 9 pupil Hannah has been named one of twelve English Speaking Board (ESB) Young Speakers of the Year for 2018! She collected her award and performed a presentation at the Young Speaker of the Year Showcase in Liverpool.

Children in Science Club at Beech House, Bolton School's Infant department, were excited to visit a laboratory in the Senior Girls' School. With a little help from Sixth Form girls, they completed a series of experiments before enjoying a fun demonstration from Ms Teichman.

Parents and guardians of pupils at Beech House also helped to spread a little Christmas cheer to less fortunate children in the local area. They donated a large supply of toys and gifts to the Bolton Lions' Christmas appeal, which will be given to children aged 0-18 across the town.

In the Boys' Division, pupils enjoyed musical performances from young talented musicians during assembly. Brother and sister duo No Wahala performed 'Earned It' by The Weekend and 'Trip' by Ella Mai, while Youth Concept played two original songs, Crazy and Bianca. Click the links to watch their performances.

Girls' Division pupils in Year 7 earlier this year completed a sponsored silence in order to help Hits Radio's Mission Christmas Appeal. They have already raised £3,700, with more still to come in! The money collected so far was spent during an exciting 'trolley dash' at Smyths toy store at Middlebrook, and the toys and gifts the girls chose will be donated to the appeal.

Christmas festivities officially began with the first Bolton School nativity of the year, which was performed by the Nursery Class and Nursery children in the Butterfly room. 'Whoops-A-Daisy Angel' told the story from the point of view of an angel who is a little different from all the others, but still manages to be the heroine of Christmas.

Year 7 pupil Mabelle has been selected for the GB Home Nations squad for 2019 following her recent 6th place finish in Great Britain in a National Gymnastics competition! She is also the North West champion for her age group.

Four Girls' Division pupils helped the Lancashire U15s to win a tournament in York.

Parents in the Boys' Division received valuable advice about the university application process from guest speaker Bernard Strutt, Head of UK/EU student recruitment at the University of Manchester. This evening event was organised by the Boys' Division Parents' Association as part of their Teenage Journey series of talks.

30 November 2018

Staff at Bolton School were delighted to receive two prizes at the Bolton News School Awards 2018. Girls' Division Mathematics teachers Mr Heppleston and Mr Hitchin won the Hayley Mathieson Fundraiser of the Year Award for their Well Good charity, while Mrs Gore, the Head's PA at Beech House, the Infant Department, was named the Unsung Hero of the Year.

A Uniformed Services Dinner was held last weekend to honour the 81 Old Boys who lost their lives in the First World War. The evening, which was attended by alumni, staff and pupils in cubs, scouts, cadets and other uniformed organisations, featured several poignant tributes to the School's fallen.

Click here to watch a clip from the Uniformed Services Dinner in which the School's Captain and Head Girl read the roll of honour, followed by the poem 'We Shall Keep the Faith'.

Old Boy Rik Thwaites returned to school to give a talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Pupils in the Boys' and Girls' Divisions were excited to hear about the history of AI over the last 60 years and were keen to discover how it is used today. Rik's fascinating talk also touched on some of his fond memories of the School.

Year 5 pupil Anushka Kishore donated all of her birthday money to When You Wish Upon a Star, the charity that aims to grant wishes to seriously ill children. Her generosity impressed family, friends and teachers and earned her a thank you letter and certificate from the charity.

Miss Bramhall, a chemistry teacher in the Boys' Division, was recently given one of five small grants from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Education Techniques Group. She used the grant to share her innovative method for teaching balancing equations, a key concept in chemistry which can be challenging for pupils. Two Year 10 boys helped to create a video to explain the teaching method, which can be viewed here on the RSC Education Techniques Group website.

A pair of Girls' Division Sixth Form students have progressed to the next round of the English Speaking Union’s Schools' Mace Competition. Issy Plant and Rebecca McGinty debated in favour of the topic 'This house would weight votes such that the younger the voter, the more powerful their vote'.

Old Boy Rob Dobson has donated educational robot products, retro computers and technical expertise to Boys' Division pupils in the Electronics Club. The items will allow pupils in all year groups to explore interesting projects and will no doubt help to inspire future generations of entrepreneurial engineers.

23 November 2018

Jo Fairley gave an inspirational talk about her "rollercoaster" journey as the co-founder of chocolate company Green & Black's. She talked about the life lessons she has learned along the way and gave her business tips to aspiring entrepreneurs in the audience.

This event was the latest in a series of Enrichment Lectures organised by the Girls' Division.

Sixth Form students from both Divisions have signed up to the Anthony Nolan stem cell donor register as potential donors. If they are found to be a match, they could go on to save a life. The school holds annual educational sessions with the Sixth Form to make students aware of the importance of blood, organ and stem cell donation.

The School's ensembles put on a varied show filled with familiar tunes at the Boys' Division Autumn Concert. Pupils in Year 8 provided a wonderful finale with three songs: 'Paradise', 'It Must Be Love' and 'Pompeii'.

Click the following links to watch videos of the evening:

• Drum Corps: Swinging Accents & Rolling in Rhythm
• Joint Senior Concert Band: Spain
• Ukuleles Ensemble: Hey Jude
• Brass Group: Singin’ in the Rain
• Joint Chamber Choir: The Writing’s On The Wall
• Joint Jazz Band: Born To Be Wild
• Year 8: Paradise, It Must Be Love, Pompeii

Pupils in Year 1 at Beech House, Bolton School's Infant School, had fun learning about history through drama. The session with Freshwater Theatre Company helped pupils to discover the important historical events of 1666: the Plague and the Great Fire of London.

Ten pupils in the Girls' Division have been selected for the Lancashire Lacrosse Under 15s squads.

In the days before 11 November, the Junior Boys' School was visited by First World War soldier 'Tommy Atkins'. All of the pupils in Years 3 to 6 enjoyed an informative session with him in which he helped them to understand the realities of what soldiers faced from 1914 to 1918, and the importance of Remembrance.

Children in Bolton School's Nursery Class dressed up as superheroes to raise money for Children in Need last week.

Congratulations to Old Boy Jonny Ashton who was part of the victorious production team whose programme Celebrity Hunted was named 'Best Entertaining Documentary' at this year’s Grierson Awards.

Tickets for the Joint Lower School Production of Great Expectations on 6th and 7th of December are now on sale! Full details, including information on how to order, are here.

Tickets are also on sale for the annual Burns Night Supper and Ceilidh organised by the Girls' Division Parents' Association. On Friday the 25th of January 2019 at 7pm, the Arts Centre will host a spectacular evening of laughter and dance. The registration form can be downloaded here.

16 November 2018

Bolton School was seeing spots on Friday to help to raise money for Children in Need! Children at the Junior Boys' and Girls' Schools, Infant School and Nursery were involved and brightened up the School with spotty accessories while also raising money for a great cause.

Bolton School has been shortlisted for the Senior School of the Year category in the 2019 TES Independent School Awards. These prestigious awards recognise and celebrate the most outstanding individuals and institutions in the independent sector. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in February.

The School was proud to be a category sponsor at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Business of the Year Awards. Bolton School sponsored the Young Business of the Year Award, which was won by Noir Agency, an Ancoats-based branding company.

This week, Bolton School held an Open Art Exhibition to showcase work created by current and former pupils, members of staff, parents and friends of the School. The Exhibition was curated by the Boys' Division Art Department and PA on behalf of the whole Foundation, and featured 2D and 3D artwork across a huge variety of media, from paintings and sculptures to films and installations.

Remembrance Assemblies took place across the Bolton School Foundation on the Friday before 11 November. Each part of the School commemorated 100 years since the signing of the Armistice in 1918, reflected on the reality that soldiers faced in the trenches, and remembered all those who were killed or affected by conflict in the past century. The Junior Boys and Senior Boys alike paid tribute to the Old Boys who were killed in the First World War. The Junior Girls' assembly was led by Year 6 pupils, who also reflected on the poppy as a symbol of Remembrance. The Senior Girls were joined by Old Girls for this poignant occasion.

Click here to watch a video taken at the Senior Boys' Remembrance Assembly, in which current pupils pay tribute to ten Old Boys who died in the months leading to the Armistice.

The School also stepped in to help Old Boy James Butchart on Remembrance Sunday. Thanks to transport provided by Bolton School Services, he and the rest of the University of York Brass Band were able to take pride of place at the head of the Remembrance Day Parade at Easingwold near York.

The Girls' Division Parents Association organised an evening of 'Fantastic Feasts and Fireworks' in honour of Bonfire Night. The occasion was themed around magic and Harry Potter, and this year included the addition of a Food Court as well as traditional fare in the Dining Hall and a host of fun stalls. The display from Titanium Fireworks was once again spectacular.

The Nursery Class recently learned all about hedgehogs with help from a volunteer at Chorley Hedgehog Rescue Centre. Their interest was sparked when they discovered hedgehogs in the Nursery Class garden.

The Nursery Class and children from the Butterfly Room at Bolton School Nursery also visited a local Temple to learn more about Diwali and how it is celebrated.

Girls in Year 10 enjoyed making their own short silent movies during a day spent with the Young Film Academy. They learned some of the filmmaking techniques used in the industry and then used them to create a dramatic story. All of the films were screened at the end of the day, and an Oscar was awarded to the best effort.

Junior Boys' School pupil Cormac has only been a member of the Halle Children's Choir since the summer, but nonetheless he has been chosen to sing 'Walking in the Air' at the Halle's Christmas screening of 'The Snowman'! Over the holidays, Year 6 pupil Nathan also re-auditioned to stay with the Choir for a third year.

In sporting news, Year 9 pupil Teja helped Greater Manchester County Football Club to win a match against Shropshire after she was selected to play as their goalkeeper for the first half of the game. Junior Girls' School pupil Dinburgh has collected an impressive haul of medals for Rhythmic Gymnastics after competing at the English Championships and Scottish Championships.

Before the summer holidays, two Senior Girls entered the UK Schools Computer Animation Competition with an animation they had made highlighting the issues around constant mobile phone use. Their piece was announced as the Key Stage 4 Group Award winner!

26 October 2018

Harvest was celebrated in the Junior Girls' School with reflections on the origins of the festival and the importance of sharing what we have. Meanwhile the Junior Boys' Harvest assembly asked pupils to think about others. The Senior Girls' Harvest celebration also focused pupils' minds on what is really important: Year 7 pupils asked what being 'rich' really means. Year 2 pupils led the Harvest Assembly at Beech House with the story of a village where no one was willing to share.

The donations of food and other essential items from all three schools were given to local charity Urban Outreach.

The Boys' Division sponsored walk at the end of last year has raised £10,000 for charity. The money has been split between 10 local and national charities, with each receiving £1,000, and representatives recently visited the school to collect the funds.

Old Girl Joyce Tyldesley returned to give a concise and interesting lecture on our obsession with the Ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti and the iconic bust that has made her so famous. Delving into the history of the bust and the facts we know about Nefertiti herself, Dr Tyldesley discussed why so many people are drawn to the queen and the issues that arise from this.

Bolton School hosted a fantastic presentation about the growth mindset, based on the message of Matthew Syed's book 'You Are Awesome'. The Boys' Division Great Hall was filled with local primary school children, including some Junior Boys, who listened to inspiring accredited speaker Rob Carpenter.

Children in Year 1 were delighted to have the opportunity to meet and learn about owls, all of which were rescued by Lancashire Hawks and Owls. Margaret and Michael gave pupils a few facts about the different types of owl they had brought with them, and everyone had the opportunity to stroke each of the magnificent birds.

'It's a Numbers Game' enthralled Girls' Division pupils in Year 8 as they discovered from representatives of BAE Systems, the RAF and the Royal Navy how maths is used every day, often without anyone realising it. The presentation also introduced them to a robot and showcased many different types of engineering.

Infant pupils in Year 2 had an interactive presentation through which they learned all about what it was like to go to school in the Victorian period.

Boys' Division pupils in Year 8 have the exciting opportunity this term to take part in a radio production project with Bolton FM. The boys began with a presentation on what local radio is all about and progressed to planning their own show and even visited the studio to find out more.

The inaugural round of the Historical MasterChef competition was held in the Girls' Division. Pupils had spent previous weeks researching the chosen time period to create a feast of Roman-inspired treats for the judges.

Pupils from both Divisions in Years 10 to 13 got to grips with the wide range of careers relating to the environment that are available to them. Several alumni returned to share their workplace experiences and explain how different jobs relate to helping the environment.

There has been a glut of sporting success in the Girls' Division. A number of Girls' Division pupils have been selected to join the U19 Lancashire Lacrosse A and B teams. In netball, both the U15 and U16 teams have won the Bolton Schools' Tournament, and a Year 8 pupils has been invited to join the U13 Lancashire Academy Centre of Excellence for Netball. A year 7 pupils has been named North West Champion for her age group after winning a gymnastics competition, and ten pupils in Years 7 to 10 have been asked to represent Bolton town at the Greater Manchester Schools' Cross Country Championships.

Twenty-two musicians from all year groups in the Boys' Division entertained with a Musical Evening held in the Arts Centre. A huge range of musical styles and instruments made this an enjoyable evening for everyone. The next will take place on Thursday 16 May 2019 and a warm invitation is extended to all.

Ahead of Bonfire Night and Halloween, the Junior Boys were given a presentation about staying safe at this time of year from the local fire service.

Old Boy Chris Harbour, who reached the quarter-finals of MasterChef, returned to School to talk to Girls' Division GCSE Food Technology students, exactly one year after filming his last episode. He spoke about his passion for food and inspired them with some of his favourite dishes, both from the show and from cooking at home.

Recent leaver Stewart Knights gave a presentation about the architecture of the Eden Project at the national Art Out Loud Festival held at Chatsworth House. His talk was part of the ‘ARTiculation: Inspired by Buildings’ category.

Coming up after half term, Jo Fairley, an award-winning journalist and co-founder of the global ethical chocolate company Green & Black's, will give a free talk in the Girls' Division on Monday 12 November at 7pm. Everyone is welcome to come along to what promises to be a fascinating evening. Full details are here and the talk is part of the Girls' Division's ongoing series of Enrichment Lectures.

Bolton School Services Limited (BSSL), which this year celebrates its 25th birthday, is the business that keeps on giving. All of the profits generated are used to finance bursaries, which support pupils aged 11 years and over at Bolton School.