5 July 2019

Penny Joelson's novel 'I Have No Secrets' has now been announced as the Bolton Children's Fiction Award winner for 2019! The Award Ceremony was attended by hundreds of pupils representing 19 local schools, who also enjoyed sessions with five of the six shortlisted authors throughout the morning.

When Old Boy Sir Ian McKellen celebrated his 80th birthday at Bolton School, it turned out to be an unforgettable night for Bolton School pupils past and present who were delighted to perform as part of the evening's entertainment. A small group of pupils and recent leavers joined Old Boy Ralf Little to reprise some of Sir Ian's schoolboy roles as part of a once-in-a-lifetime performance in front of the UK's acting elite.

The School acknowledged the 10,637 hours of voluntary work completed by Year 12 students from both Divisions at a Celebration Evening held in the penultimate week of term. The whole year group received certificates for their efforts and a group of students shared their experiences as part of the ceremony.

Congratulations to the Girls' Division Athletics Teams in Years 7 to 9, who have won the Bolton Town Athletics Championships in all three age groups!

Well done also to the team of Year 6 Junior Girls who have been named Netball Champions following their win at the Greater Manchester School Games!

Year 7 pupils in the Boys' Division celebrated the completion of their Bronze Arts Awards with an  exhibition and peer review session in the Arts Centre. A busy morning of viewing and commenting on each other's work was concluded with readings of creative writing from Year 8 and discovering more about Year 12 student Will Hardy's rotoscope film project.

Recent leavers from both Divisions returned to Bolton School to offer their valuable advice to the current Year 12 cohort. The main focus was on the shift from school to university, but there were also alumni present who could discuss gap year, apprenticeship and employment as options after A Level.

Entrepreneur and Old Boy Rob Dobson also returned as the end of term approached to join the Boys' Division Electronics Club for an afternoon spent helping them on their projects using the equipment he had donated.

A Café Scientifique talk about careers in engineering brought this year's series of lunchtime enrichment sessions to a close. Eddie Walker, a mechanical engineer with over 30 years of experience in fire safety, spoke to Girls' Division pupils about the wealth of options available to them in the world of engineering.

The last week of term saw Boys' Division students put on 'Wastelands', a production created as the culmination of a year-long collaboration with the school's Theatre Company in Residence, RoughHouse Theatre. The piece drew inspiration from T S Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land' and explores the politics of conflict with a particular focus on the First and Second World Wars.

Pupils from both Divisions benefitted from book club sessions focusing on diversity which were run by Chloe from MMU. Pupils in Year 10 had the opportunity to discuss 'The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo' by Catherine Johnson and were joined by younger girls and boys to examine 'Liccle Bit' by Alex Wheatle.

Members of the Boys' Division Brass Group visited Brownlow Fold Primary School to share their music with the younger pupils.

In the penultimate week of term, the Boys' Division Prizegiving was held and Mr Britton's review of the academic year is now available to re-watch via the following links: Part 1 and Part 2.