International Women's Day was celebrated at Bolton School Girls' Division with a special assembly from astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst, who is also an Old Girl. Dr Becky shared her passion for space and science in an accessible and fascinating address, and reflected both on the challenges women face and the many ways they can and do support one another.
Dr Becky's International Women's Day assembly can be viewed in full here.
A wide range of alumni have recently offered their advice and guidance to Senior School pupils in careers events. The World of Work series of morning talks for Year 10 girls has seen Judith Grazier reveal her non-linear career path and Thorrun Govind share her career in pharmacy and Law. Meanwhile, in the Boys' Division, Year 9s have enjoyed a set of filmed careers talks from eight alumni, followed by further talks and Q&As with anti-corruption lawyer Suve Banerjee, chartered engineer Ali Kapasi and software engineer Chris Newton.
Children across the Nursery, Nursery Class, Infant School and Junior Girls' School helped to raise money for Comic Relief on Red Nose Day. The children wore red accessories and brightly coloured clothes in exchange for donations, raising in excess of £600 with more donations yet to come in!
In additional fundraising news, Year 7 pupil Harry set himself the task of running and walking 50 miles in February to raise money for Maggie's in Manchester (part of The Christie Hospital). He vastly exceeded his initial target of £250 with donations flooding in from across the globe, and ultimately raised over £2,000!
For World Book Day, the Girls' Division held a writing competition, which was judged by Old Girl and novelist Kate Long. The question posed was: How can we look to Literature for inspiration and comfort in times of crisis? The girls came up with some impressive answers in the form of prose, essays and poetry. The shortlisted entries selected by Kate, as well as the winners in each category, can be downloaded and enjoyed here.
Children at the Nursery celebrated St David's Day on 1 March with a host of fun, themed activities. They enjoyed painting daffodils and dragons and heard the story of St David.
Staff at Bolton School Nursery also recently signed up to the Bolton Cross Phase Reading Project. The programme links closely with the Nursery’s participation in the Local Authority Early Years Phonics Project.
Coming up next week, on 24 March 2021, the Girls' Division will host the second in a new series of 'Perspectives' lectures. A panel consisting of four Old Girls and one Bolton School mum will discuss Careers in Journalism. The event will take place on Zoom, starting at 7pm. Register here to attend.
Earlier in the month, to coincide with National Careers Week, Bolton School launched a new project offering young people in Bolton the chance to to deepen their participation in their local arts and culture scene through a series of free Saturday morning workshops. The project is being delivered by the school in collaboration with Manchester International Festival (MIF) as part of Curious Minds’ SLiCE programme.
Finally, Old Boy Haseeb Hameed has been appointed as vice-captain of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and skipper of this summer's Notts Outlaws Royal One Day Cup team.
