24th May 2013

Former Status Quo drummer, Jeff Rich, visited Bolton School Girls’ Division this week as part of a Year 8 Careers Day. Jeff spoke to pupils about the music business, the development of the drum and about his own drum kit. He played a solo on the kit before inviting the pupils up on stage to play percussion and drums with him and also invited any drummers in the audience to come up and play his kit. There were a number of other guests running sessions with the girls on the day, including some successful Old Girls - Actress Anna Northam and Project Support Engineer at Bentley Motors, Amy Durrant. On the subject of Old Girls, Jaiminee Patel who left Bolton School in 2011 has made it to the final 20 of the MTV Student of the Year competition. Jaiminee, now in her first year of Business Management at King's College London, has been shortlisted to progress to the interview finals and now needs as many votes as possible to get through! Get voting for Jaiminee!

Other visitors to School this week were 2013 Rugby League World Cup mascots Grubber and Steed who visited pupils at Beech House along with Leigh Centurions first team player Ryan Brierley, as part of the Try Reading project. The Reception children were introduced to Grubber and Steed and Ryan Brierley read them a story about the pair. Boys’ Division Year 7 pupil Luke James also went along - as a winner of the Rugby League World Cup 2013 Mascot Design competition this was the first time Luke had come face to face with his creation Grubber Bear. One of three winners, Luke’s design was chosen from over 1,000 entries from the UK and France. As part of his prize, Luke also won tickets to two World Cup matches of his choice in addition to tickets to the Rugby League World Cup Final at Old Trafford, where he and the other winners will lead the players out. And award winning author for young adults, Bali Rai, was also in School to talk to Year 9 girls about his writing.

Year 9 pupil Beth Hodkinson represented England in the European Taekwon-Do Championships in Sweden and came away with a bronze medal. Beth won the bronze medal in her individual sparring competition despite being the youngest in the England team and competing against 16 and 17 year olds. In her team event she came away with a draw but unfortunately the team lost out overall. And Junior Boys’ Year 5 pupil, Jude Ashcroft, has won the Regional Mega Final of the UK chess challenge. As the winner, he will now go on to represent the Lancashire region in the U10 age group at the Northern Giga Final in Manchester on 13 July.

17th May 2013

Bolton School Girls’ Division was transformed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry today as the Year 13 pupils dressed up as characters from Harry Potter to celebrate their last day in school! The teachers got involved too and all costumes were very impressive!

Lots of good sporting news to report - Bolton School are the English Schools’ National U14 Water Polo Champions, completing the double for the School who are also U16 National Champions! They met local rivals, Manchester Grammar School in the final and secured victory in an epic penalty shootout final finishing 5-4 to become Champions of England! The Boys’ Division are also U16 Northern Schools’ Tennis Champions, after Year 10 pair Oliver Harford and Tom Wright beat Manchester Grammar School 10-3 in the final! They were presented with the trophy by the organiser, former Bolton School Chemistry teacher Alan Prince. This was a fitting tribute to the ex-Bolton man who is stepping down this year after 43 years of organising the competition! And three Sixth Form boys managed a very convincing golfing victory over Rossall School in the ISGA Area Plate Final. Sam Towers, Chris Warner and Benito O’Loughlin have now been invited to the National Plate Finals in London on the 26th June.

Budding chemists from the Boys’ Division Sixth Form will represent the North West in the final of a national schools’ chemistry competition after beating off competition from across the region. The boys won the North West regional heat of the Royal Society of Chemistry Schools’ Analyst Competition, held at the University of Central Lancashire. The three chemistry students, Adam Murray, Waqqas Patel and Zubayr Adia triumphed over 10 schools from across Lancashire and will represent the North West region at the prestigious UK final which will take place in Sunderland in June.

Pupils from Thornleigh Salesian College and Harper Green School joined Bolton School Boys’ Division pupils for Physics X - a three day residential trip to Patterdale hall in the Lake District. 33 pupils took part in Physics X, which aimed to engage pupils to think about the physics in exciting outdoor pursuit activities. Pupils took part in a various activities, learning about the physics in Sailing, Archery, Gorge Walking, Climbing and Bushcraft. Pupils also competed in various Physics Challenges including rocket building and accurate timing. The event was funded by the Ogden Trust.

And a fun afternoon aimed at Year 2 girls and their parents was held at Hesketh House this week, with girls from Bolton School's Infant Department (Beech House) and from other schools from across the region taking part. The girls enjoyed a range of activities including a treasure hunt and code cracking, while parents had the chance to meet the Head and teachers and see more of the Junior School.

13 May 2013

An open day at Patterdale Hall, the School’s residential and adventure learning centre on the southern shores of Lake Ullswater in the Lake District, drew in large crowds from across the North at the weekend. Hundreds of adults and children enjoyed tours of the Hall and its extensive grounds, considering it as a venue for outdoor adventures, conferences or corporate bonding and team building, or as a possible family party or wedding venue. They sampled a range of exciting activities, including kayaking, canoeing, archery, fire lighting, orienteering and a low ropes challenge. Patterdale lived up to its reputation for great food with a great barbeque lunch and delicious Patterdale Cream Teas.

A mixed three-piece band, Off Piste, was this year’s winner of Bolton School’s Senior Schools’ Battle of the Bands competition. With this year’s judge being Tim Thomas from Blueprint recording studio in Manchester, the bands were certainly performing to the right audience. In what is always a close call, the judge said he chose Off Piste for their originality, stage presence and the fact that they felt like a unit and performed as such. Money raised on the day will be split between donations to the Fabrice Muamba Defibrillator Fundraising Appeal and the ‘Action for Children’ charity which has a Bolton Branch and supports disadvantaged children.
Congratulations go to the Sixth Form Girls' Athletics Team on becoming Town Athletics Champions for the second successive year. The girls were crowned joint Champions following some impressive individual performances. And Sixth Form students at Bolton School will, once again, enjoy paid summer internships at KPMG, one of the “big four” accounting firms. In what is a unique, tailored programme for a Year 12 girl and boy from the School, students will spend a month of their summer holiday working at KPMG’s Manchester office. They will spend two weeks in the Corporate Finance team and two weeks in the Financial Services Audit department.

26th April 2013

Bolton School hosted its first festival of girls’ football this week, in association with the Independent Schools Football Association. The competition was for Year 7 and 8 pupils and the tournament ran as a league with eight teams from the Essa Academy, Liverpool College, Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL), Canon Slade and Bolton School taking part. All teams played with enthusiasm and represented their schools with pride, proving that girls’ football is a growing sport. And there were more visitors to School as year 3 pupils from local primary schools, Tonge Moor Primary and St Peter and St Paul Primary, were invited to enjoy a Samba presentation and workshop.

Congratulations go to two of our pupils who have been offered places at US Universities. Paddy Pender has been offered a place to study at Harvard University, while Beth Coton will take up a Tennis scholarship at the University of Northern Colorado. Both chose to study in America because of the opportunities it offers, not just academically but also in sport, and follow in the footsteps of a number of former Bolton School pupils who chose to take up those opportunities. There will be overseas study of another kind for Year 11 pupil, Lewis Daly, who will sit his GCSE Maths in Turkey while out there for his Team GB water-polo commitments! Lewis is a member of the GB Youth Water Polo Team who will be taking part in the European Qualifiers in Turkey, and as this coincides with his Maths GCSE, it is being arranged for Lewis to sit the exam in a local school.

Two chess prodigies from our junior girls’ school will be flying out to Europe to compete in World and European Chess Tournaments later this year! Sharon Daniel will represent England in the European Youth Chess Championship in Montenegro in September and in the World Youth Chess Championship in the UAE towards the end of the year, while Mahima Raghavendra will play for the England Girls’ Team in the European Schools’ Chess Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia at the end of June.

Girls’ Division pupils have had their artwork published in a new magazine for schools, Eduzine. Eduzine approached the School after seeing the high quality work of the pupils on the Art Department Blog, with the request to feature some in the launch issue of the magazine. The magazine celebrates young achievers and showcases their literary work, artwork, fashion creations, community work, social contributions and more. And the Boys’ Division Year 11 footballers have won the U16 Bolton town football cup for the first time, beating Sharples 3-0 in the final to take the title.

22 March 2013

Having enjoyed success in qualifying rounds a large number of girls and boys from Years 5 to 13 at Bolton School have been representing the Bolton borough by taking part, and winning, in this year’s Greater Manchester Winter Youth Games. The competition saw teams from the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester competing in a wide range of sports. An U10 swim team comprising Year 4 and 5 pupils from the Junior Girls’ School, ran out joint winners with the borough of Trafford in their age group and Junior Boys’ pupils took third place in the same competition. Senior School boys also enjoyed success by winning the U13 Junior Water Polo Competition and the School’s Senior Rugby team were runners up in the first U18 Rugby Union Sevens Tournament and the U15s’ Volleyball Team went one better than last year by claiming the Silver medal.Also in sport, after a superb season of winning all but three games, the U12s began the final week of football by winning the annual MGS 8s championships, beating Cheadle Hulme in the final. While the senior relay swim team competed in the Manchester Grammar School invitational swimming gala and smashed the course 4x50 yards medley relay record. And Year 12 pupil Natasha Lomas captained the winning team of the Lancashire County U18 Girls Doubles Winter League competition.

Successful Old Girls and Old Boys returned to school this week to share their experiences with current Sixth Form pupils on World of Work Day. On the day the pupils had the chance to attend Career talks on a wide range of areas including Acting, Archaeology, Architecture, Clothing, Construction, Dentistry, Design, Engineering, Finance, IT, Law, Marketing, Medicine, Music, Teaching, and Psychiatry.

Out of 8,500 pupils that took part in the North West heats of the French Spelling Bee, from 73 different schools spanning Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, Year 7 pupils Nathan Ashley and Matthew Elmes achieved second and third places respectively today, gaining places in the National Final at Cambridge University in July! And Sixth Form students enjoyed an outstanding year at the British Chemistry Olympiad with three students receiving Gold certificates – awarded to just 7% of the 4574 candidates from all over the UK.

Year 10 and 11 girls were thrilled to receive a visit from one of the country’s hottest poets, Luke Wright. Luke performed his thought provoking and humorous work in the Girls’ Division Theatre and then the floor was opened up to questions and answers. Later in the afternoon, he met with Sixth Formers in the School’s Joint Creative Writing Group, and in the evening he performed at the School’s Arts and Conference Centre. The latest joint Drama production proved a hit with audiences - the modern interpretation of Moliere’s ‘The Hypochondriac’ was enjoyed by both cast and audience alike. And following their recent success at the Great North Big Band Festival, the Bolton School Jazz Band gave a nearly note perfect performance at the Music For Youth Regional Festival, described as 'outstanding' and 'amazing'.

15th March 2013

Pupils and staff at Bolton School have been doing their bit for Comic Relief with many fundraising efforts going on. At Beech House the pupils took part in a bake off competition, dressed in fancy dress or something red, held a cake sale and told jokes in assembly.

We have many more sporting achievements to report - Year 10 pupil Dominic Walker has set a new British and English 50m backstroke record in his age group. While sixth form pupil Teddy Pender has qualified for the British Championships in June and Year 11 pupil, Lewis Daly, has been selected for the GB Youth Water Polo Team. The Boys’ U16 Badminton team are the North West Champions, putting them through to the Center Parcs National Schools Badminton Championships final for the second year running. In the Girls’ Division the Senior Lacrosse team are National Schools' Lacrosse Championship Winners and The Bolton School U14 Netball Team are Town Champions. At Junior level, Boys and Girls are both celebrating a double success after winning both the Bolton Primary Schools' Cross Country League and Championship too.

Award winning children’s author, Alan Gibbons, visited the Boys’ Division this week to talk to Year 8 and 9 pupils about life as an author. In his talk, ‘How I do it’, Alan spoke to the boys about how he became a writer and the inspiration for his books and the process he goes through to write them. Year 6 pupils at Park Road, Krishnan Ajit and Mark Kattakayam, have been awarded Bronze certificates in the National Primary Maths Challenge - putting them in the top 522 young mathematicians in the country! And the team from Clarendon Cottage Primary School were the winners of the Bolton School Big Quiz for local primary schools, with Altrincham Prep School taking second place. Nine teams pitted their wits against one another over the course of ten testing rounds, which covered everything from Current affairs, Observation, Geography, Literature, Science, History, Maths Puzzle, Famous Faces, Sequence and Sport!

8th March 2013

Bolton School Jazz Band were the overall winners of the School Band Category of the Great North Big Band Festival, and the Saxophone Section were also awarded the best section! The band performed alongside many of the UK’s best youth and university bands at the 10th Annual Great North Big Band Jazz Festival and Competition, which this year took place at the North Shore entertainment venue at Sunderland University on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of March.

Lots of sport news to report this week! Eight teams took part in the Finals day of the Bolton Schools’ Primary Football Championship, held at Bolton School this week. The quarter final, semi final and the final matches were all played on the day and after a tense penalty shoot out, the winners were Sacred Heart with Eagley taking second spot. And year 7 and 8 pupils in the Girls’ Division have been given the opportunity to be a part of the Girls’ Football Development Programme, providing them with the opportunity to be coached by fully qualified football coaches from Bolton Wanderers FC. As one of the County’s top U19 female cricketers, year 10 Girls’ Division pupil Nalisha Patel, had the exciting opportunity of being part of a tour to Dubai in February - 14 players were selected for the trip which consisted of eight days in Dubai, playing against a variety of Counties from England as well as UAE. While the Boys’ Division U18 water polo team cruised through to the English Schools' Water Polo Finals, to be played at Walsall on Saturday, with a penalty shootout with Manchester Grammar School deciding who won the group and progressed to the final. And the Junior Girls’ Year 4/5 Swim Team will represent Bolton at the 2013 Greater Manchester School Games on the 19th March, following their performance in the qualifying.

Bolton School Old Boy and international pop star, Max George from the Wanted, wished current pupils Alex Deakin and Caroline Blair good luck when they performed in a sold out production of Les Miserables at the Z-Arts Centre in Manchester. And Alex was also in the spotlight at School when he and Matthew Kay created history in the Boys’ Division Young Musician of the Year Competition as the first time that vocalists have won first prize in both the Junior Young Musician and the Senior Young Musician Finals.

Also this week, Hesketh House was transformed into a scene from 1920’s Paris as the girls dressed up to celebrate ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’ for World Book Day. And we are proud to be a sponsor of the prestigious Bolton and Bury Business Awards for the fourth year running and will once again sponsor the Young Person/Apprentice of the Year category.