18 March 2016

Bolton School Girls’ Division has been judged "excellent" in all categories by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI), while EYFS provision received the top judgement of "outstanding" in every category in the recent inspection. The Inspection covered children and young women in Years 1 to 13, encompassing Beech House Infant School, the Junior Girls' School, the Senior Girls' School and Girls' Sixth Form, and also a section on Early Years provision in the co-educational Nursery and the Reception year at Beech House.

Last weekend, the School held a Gala Concert at Hulme Hall in Port Sunlight. This was a wonderful afternoon of music-making in marvellous surroundings, and featured a wide variety of musical styles. From The Beatles and The Black Eyed Peas to Highlights from Riverdance to the 1812 Overture, the accomplished playing and singing of all of the Bolton School musicians was impressive throughout.

Some videos from the concert are now available to watch on Bolton School TV. Click the title of the piece to view the video: 'Fanfare for Port Sunlight' (Brass Fanfare), 'Ain’t No Mountain High Enough' (Middle School Choir), 'Let It Go' (Drum Corps), 'Highlights from Riverdance' (Senior Concert Band and The Accidentals).

To listen to the Gala Concert on Soundcloud, click here.

On Friday, children at the Nursery, Beech House and the Junior Girls' School got involved with Sport Relief, and made donations to the charity as part of the festivities.

The Nursery held an obstacle course and danceathon for the Butterflies and Caterpillars, as well as dressing up in sporty clothes. The children really enjoyed taking part in these fun activities and more.

Pupils at Beech House Infant School 'Stepped It Up' for Sport Relief by joining in with the Sport Relief song! They were joined by children from the Nursery Class for Three- and Four Year Olds for the occasion, all wearing their sporty great - from ballet outfits and gymnastics leotards to cricket whites and football kits! Their enthusiasm for dancing and getting involved, and the wide variety of outfits, really showed how keen the children were to get involved.

All of the Junior Girls in Years 3 to 6 joined in with running or walking the Sport Relief Mile in School on Friday - while wearing their pyjamas inside out! The girls were not put off by the grey skies and had lots of fun running laps of the field in order to complete the full run.

Fifty children from primary schools in the local area have been taking part in SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturday Mornings. This is the seventh year that Bolton School has hosted this programme, which allows gifted and talented Year 5 pupils to challenge and stretch themselves, and experience subjects they may not have encountered before.

This week, Bolton School hosted the first Royal Society of Chemistry TeachMeet. This was an opportunity for Chemistry teachers from the North West to get together and discuss the challenges of the new A Level curriculum in an informal setting. There was also opportunity for them to share their expertise and offer training to one another. This event was a great success and there are already plans to run more TeachMeets in future.

The Year 2 children at Beech House, Bolton School's Infant School, took a trip to Manchester Airport as part of their learning about geography and different places. They found out more about the different jobs at the airport, and were able to pretend to fly one of the planes! They were also really excited to see Concorde.

Pupils in Years 8 and 9 in the Girls' Division have been working towards their British Science Association Bronze and Silver CREST Awards. The girls undertook a variety of science projects of their own choosing, which they then presented to the local CREST Coordinator in order to achieve the award.

Girls' Division pupil Zoe Grainger has completed an indoor climbing double: she won the Liverpool Hangar U16 Indoor Bouldering competition, following her convincing victory in the U16 Manchester Climbing Centre’s Indoor Winter Bouldering League a week earlier! Her younger sister Bella came in fourth place overall at the Liverpool competition.

The Reception children have this term been exploring traditional tales! They built their own versions of the Three Little Pigs' houses, role-played the characters, and had a go at retelling the well-known stories in their own words.

The Year 7 girls discovered their voice with the English Speaking Union (ESU), taking part in a training day designed to improve their confidence and enhance their debating skills. The sessions were delivered by three experienced ESU mentors, who gave the girls challenging topics to debate and discuss throughout the day.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Old Boy Ross Warburton, MBE. Ross attended Bolton School from 1969 to 1974, and in his interview discusses some of the highlights of his time in the Boys' Division - including winning at rugby! He also remembers some of the inspiring teaching staff and offers excellent advice to current pupils.

The Easter agenda is now available for Kidzone, Bolton School's holiday club! There are lots of fun activities on offer.

11 March 2016

Last weekend, the Under 18 and Under 15 Water Polo teams once again proved their dominance at a national level by retaining their English Schools’ Swimming Association (ESSA) titles! Both teams enjoyed resounding victories at Bolton One as the local venue hosted its first national water polo finals. This was the second year in a row that the U15s have won the title, and the third year for the U18s.

Click here to watch the Boys' Division U18 water polo team celebrating their victory, and check out Bolton School TV for lots more Water Polo videos from the ESSA U18 and U15 National Finals day.

Sixty Year 10 pupils from the local area came together at Bolton School for 'Science of the Mind' - a special event designed to give pupils an insight into neuroscience! With a host of speakers from UCL giving a variety of fascinating workshops throughout the day, and a question and answer session that allowed pupils to pose their own questions to the visiting neuroscientists, this was an exciting and informative event.

This month's Tea at the Riley was an enormous success and one of the largest ever, with seventy-five guests attending! With so many visitors to entertain and lots of afternoon teas to serve, the Sixth Form volunteers who run the event turned to Year 5 pupils from the Junior Girls' School for assistance. The Year 5s did a great job, acting as waitresses and providing wonderful performances.

For more information about Tea at the Riley, including future tea party dates and how to book, click here.

The U14 Netball Team had cause to celebrate after winning the Bolton Schools' Tournament last Tuesday. The girls were undefeated in their opening round of matches and were convincing winners in the final as well.

They were followed to victory by the U13 Netball Team, who also won their age group final in the Bolton School's Competition, meaning that Bolton School has now won four out of five of the age categories! The U13 team played strongly on the night. Despite fierce competition in the final, which had to go into extra time, the girls emerged with a score of 7-5 and received the trophy.

Year 9 pupil Zoe Grainger has set her sights on an indoor climbing double! She has already won the U16 Manchester Climbing Centre’s Indoor Winter Bouldering League, and is now looking forward to the conclusion of the Liverpool Hangar U16 competition, where she is currently in the lead.

The Bolton School Jazz Band entertained audiences at the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival last weekend with three piece of music. The adjudicators were very impressed with the band's performance, and awarded the best solo performance in the schools' section to the Jazz Band guitarist, James Stevens.

Year 12 boys taking Business Studies at A Level were given an insight into the Warburtons Giant Crumpet campaign by the company's Marketnig Director, Mark Simester. He talked about the process of planning and execution the campaign from start to finish as well as his own own career. This was a wonderful chance for the boys to ask questions and find out more about the business side of a campaign they already knew about and experienced recently as consumers.

The Year 10 girls made a donation of £957.34 to the Willink Biochemical Genetics Unit in Manchester. The money was raised by Year 10 through their Christmas Post. The cheque was collected by Old Girl Gill Moss, now a Specialist Nurse at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

The Year 11 girls this week were given an introduction to NCS at Bolton Lads and Girls Club. NCS - or National Citizen Service - encourages young people to develop themselves and their citizenship skills outside of term time, and has been offered to the whole of Bolton School's Year 11 cohort for the past five years, starting with a smaller pilot scheme six years ago. The girls went to Bolton Lads and Girls Club to find out more and get a feel for the facilities there before making the decision to take part in the NCS scheme.

Last week, pupils from eleven Ogden Trust partnership schools came together for the annual Physics Olympics, hosted by Bolton School. This day of physics challenges pitted teams of Year 9 pupils against one another in a series of tasks that tested their knowledge of physics and their ability to apply theory to practical situations.

Children at Bolton School's Nursery invited their mums and family members to join them for a series of drop-in sessions in honour of Mothers' Day. As well as talking to staff and getting a feel for what their children get up to while at Nursery, there were fun activities that the mums could join in with, including making biscuits, decorating biscuits with icing, and creating artwork.

Two Junior Boys' School pupils won second place in Downhill Ski Races over the half term break! Stephen Lomax and Henry Ainscough have both been skiing for several years, and performed impressively in their respective competitions, which also included much older skiers.

This week's Inspiring Mind is former Girls' Division member of staff Val Hanrahan, who taught Mathematics from 1968 to 2014! She was also the Head of Mathematics and Head of Sixth Form from 1996 to her retirement 2002, although despite this she continued to teach for the next twelve years. A much-loved teacher who was involved in outdoor pursuits trips and the joint ski trips for many years, Mrs Hanrahan's memories of her time at Bolton School make for a very entertaining read.

4 March 2016

This week saw World Book Day celebrated across Bolton School!

There was an air of magic around the Junior Girls' School for their fantasy-themed celebrations, which ran throughout the day and included singing 'Pick Up A Book' in assembly, reading 'Room on the Broom' in Spanish and French in MFL lessons, and creating a character passport for the character they had dressed up as in honour of the day.

Click here to watch the Junior Girls perform their World Book Day song.

Illustrations seemed to come to life as the Infant pupils at Beech House came to School as their favourite children's book characters. They talked about their teachers' favourite books during morning assembly before enjoying a day of book-themed activities. Year 1 also had the added treat of a visit from children's book illustrator Lesley Danson, who brought with her lots of examples of her work and ran a special workshop about illustrating a story.

In the Boys' Division Senior School, pupils were thrilled to discover that the book elves had deposited a variety of novels around the campus for the boys to take home, read and keep. They were also able to enjoy talking about literature with members of staff, who wore 'Ask Me What I'm Reading' badges for the day to encourage discussion. There was also an exciting Literary Treasure Hunt in the library for Year 7-9 boys over lunchtime.

Meanwhile, children at the Nursery enjoyed a Gruffalo-themed World Book Day. The children also dressed as their favourite storybook characters - with many of them choosing the Gruffalo - and shared their favourite books with one another, as well as taking part in a host of themed activities.

Over half term, eighteen Girls' Division pupils enjoyed a Creative Writing Retreat at Patterdale Hall in the Lake District. The girls worked on short stories, flash fiction, modern sonnets and landscape poetry in fabulous surroundings and were tutored by Dr Peter Sansom, a highly respected and well-known poet, and Chris Walking, a qualified lawyer and published author. They also found time for a trip on an Ullswater Steamer, which no doubt helped to inspire more creative thoughts.

Top British space scientist Professor Monica Grady came into School to talk to Girls' Division pupils studying maths and the sciences about "when space comes down to Earth". Her talk, which focused on meteorites, gave a fascinating insight into her field of study and also revealed that it is not just sitting in a lab: Professor Grady discussed her fieldwork hunting meteorites in Australia and Antarctica! This was a really exciting and inspirational talk for the girls.

The Young Musician of the Year Final showcased some of the best musical talent in the Boys' Division on Thursday. The fourteen finalists had already won their individual categories, and once again performed a piece in their category in front of the audience as part of the Final. The overall winners were selected by Mr Stuart Hazelton, who had the difficult task of whittling it down to just one winner from seven in the Junior and Senior categories. There were also Junior and Senior composition prizes and a Most Promising Performer award.

Click here to watch Senior Young Musician of the Year winner Niall Woodward's perfomance of 'Ray's Blues' by Grusin, and here to view Junior Young Musician of the Year winner Adam Whitmore singing Adele's 'Turning Tables'.

Pupils in the Boys' Division met with success at the annual Classics Reading Competition, which this year was held at Bolton School. Five boys in total achieved first or second place in the competition. Bolton School Classics students also enjoyed engaging and thought-provoking presentations from renowned Classics author and tutor Dr John Taylor and Dr Danielle Frisby, Lecturer in Greek and Latin at the University of Manchester.

The winners of the 1947 and 2015 Salford 100s Lifesaving Competition met up at Bolton School to compare their experiences! Mrs Joan Sheridan read about Year 7 pupil Elly Fraser's achievement in the Bolton News, and was amazed to discover that the medal she had won 68 years ago was from the same competition. They were both delighted to talk about their enthusiasm for swimming.

No less than three Bolton School rugby teams have made it through to the Lancashire Schools' Finals. The Under 18s, Under 14s and Under 13s teams have all played extremely well to successfully make it to this stage of the competition. 

Mrs Carol Laverick, the new Head of the Junior Girls' School talks about her first half-term in the post and the feeling of "coming home and completing the loop" and what it has been like returning to the school where she taught towards the start of her teaching career. She also looks towards the future in this reflective piece.

At the end of last week, fifteen inspirational alumni returned to Bolton School to talk to pupils in Years 11 to 13 about their careers. From an entrepreneur to a fashion designer to a consultant surgeon to an RAF trainee helicopter pilot to a solicitor to a speech and language therapist and more, there was a really wide variety of speakers for the pupils to meet and hear from, and all of them could give a great insight into their careers and how to succeed in this area.

Old Boy Teddy Pender recently excelled at the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Swimming and Diving Championships held in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Teddy is now studying at Bates College, Maine, and took top honours at this prestigious swimming competition.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Clifford 'Butch' Ingham, a member of Boys' Division Staff from 1942 to 1970 and a legend in the eyes of many Old Boys. The wonderful memories of his 'Trek Camps' endure to this day, and he is remembered fondly in two extracts from Boltonian, his obituary and a tribute to his time at School which was printed following his retirement.

26 February 2016

This week, Bolton School headmaster Philip Britton chaired a panel discussion focusing on "Living a Life of Faith Within Society" as part of the Tillotson 500 Lecture Series running throughout 2016. The over-riding message of the multi-faith panel of nationally renowned speakers was that the government’s Prevent strategy was shutting down debate and is not the answer to the problem of radicalisation. During the day, the School also welcomed Year 10 pupils from local schools for a conference on the same subject.

The whole panel discussion is available to watch by clicking on the following links: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

The Girls' Division Year 10 Netball team had cause to celebrate this week after winning the Bolton School's Tournament on Tuesday evening! The girls played extremely well, with excellent defence in the qualifying round matches seeing them though to the quarter finals with no goals scored against them. They eventually defeated Canon Slade to bring home the title.

The Year 4 and Year 5 teams from the Junior Boys' School performed very well at the recent mini-biathlon competition at Rossall School. All of the boys who took part came in the top 20 in their year group, and there were also some great individual results!

Tickets are still available for this year's Joint Production of Doctor Faustus! The show will run from 16 to 19 March 2016 and tickets cost £5. There's plenty of availability on Wednesday and Thursday, and a few tickets remaining for the Friday and Saturday performances. For more information about the play and how to pick up tickets, click the link.

2016 marks the 500th anniversary of education at Bolton School. Building on the Centenary festivities during the 2015-16 academic year, a varied range of events have been planned. Click here for more information about the Tillotson 500 Lecture Series and the exciting programme of 500th anniversary events.

Rachel Flanders is this week's Inspiring Mind. An Old Girl who also holds the World Record for the youngest person to row an ocean, Rachel shares her incredible experience of taking a gap year following her GCSEs in order to row across the Atlantic with three other women. She also talks about how Bolton School has helped to give her the ability to tackle any challenge.

19 February 2016

Bolton School teacher and Old Boy Mr Teasdale is one of four teachers shortlisted for the Royal Society of Biology's School Biology Teacher of the Year Award. His inspirational lessons and his dedication to providing high-quality extra-curricular activities, such as the New Biology Society and the Exotic Animal Care Club, have helped him to reach the final stage of the judging.

The School was delighted to launch the sixth year of KPMG Summer Internships last week. Old Boy Matt Fray and his colleague Hannah Maughan came to talk to Year 12 pupils about this wonderful opportunity, which was set up by Old Girl Katie Clinton, now a partner in KPMG. Two successful applicants will complete a four-week paid internship with the firm's Manchester office in the summer holidays, experiencing the corporate environment in the Financial Services Audit and Corporate Finance teams.

Two delegations and ten individual pupils from the Boys' Division were commended at this year's Model UN event held at Manchester High School for Girls. For the first time, the School sent three delegations, representing Chad, Qatar and Venezuela, and also provided a Guest Chair to the Economic and Social Committee. The boys discussed a wide range of issues related to UN's Sustainable Development Goals on behalf of their allocated country and debated to a very high standard throughout the weekend.

Children from twelve local primary schools took part in this year's Maths Challenge at Bolton School! The teams of four Year 6 pupils competed in three timed rounds, and enjoyed tackling the crossnumber, logic puzzle and speed test together.

Pupils at Beech House, Bolton School's Infant School, have also been investigating maths: every week, the children in Year 2 have fun together by solving open-ended maths problems based on a theme. This helps them to use their maths and figure out rules rather than just working out sums.

Girls in Year 4 at Hesketh House were excited to have their classroom invaded by a Roman Centurion for a special lesson on Roman Britain. The girls were conscripted into the legion and found out about a Roman soldier's equipment. They also learned about the incredible invasion techniques that helped them conquer more than thirty countries. The girls were really fascinated by the whole workshop.

This week's Inspiring Mind is John Markland, an Old Boy who attended the School from 1956 to 1966. He went on to study Geography, which was followed by twenty-five years in local government. He was also appointed the Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage for seven years. He is now a Trustee of the Gannochy Trust. He reflects fondly on his time at Bolton School and the inspirational teachers he had during his time here. He also offers some great advice to current pupils.

12 February 2016

Girls' Division Young Enterprise team 'Oh Crumbs' has won the Greater Manchester Dragon's Den competition! The team of ten girls presented their 'cake in a jar' business to three 'dragons' as part of the competition and were named the winners! The girls are now looking forward to the Young Enterprise finals in March, when they will have to set up a trade stall and once again present their business to a panel of judges.

Bolton School Boys' Division has been awarded the Sainsbury’s School Games Gold Mark Award for the academic year 2014/2015. This national scheme rewards schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. The Schools Games Team were really impressed with the wealth of sporting opportunities available at Bolton School.

The Year 7 boys this week joined the Sale Sharks' Number Cruncherz programme and had a touch rugby training session with none other than former England rugby player Hendre Fourie! The boys were put through their paces by Hendre and two Sale Sharks Community Trust coaches before playing a number of touch rugby matches. They picked up some great hints and tips that they will be able to take forward into their future rugby matches, and now look forward to attending further Number Cruncherz sessions at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The Junior Girls recorded great success at the recent AJIS Biathlon running and swimming event at Rossall School. The Year 4 and Year 6 teams finished first overall, and the Year 5 team took second place: a wonderful achievement for all of the girls. There were also some excellent and impressive individual results on the day, which helped the teams to win these coveted podium positions.

The Year 8 boys have also shown their athleticism and nerve this week in the vaulting gymnastics final. The boys were whittled down to the final six, who then vaulted in front of the whole year group and their form teachers during morning assembly. The vaults increased in complexity as the competition went on, with some performing somersaults on through vaults, and the P.E. department had to consider carefully before announcing the overall winner.

The Junior Girls' Chess Teams have done well at the recent English Primary Schools' Chess Association (EPSCA) Tournament held at Park Road, the Junior Boys' School. The Under 9 team gained enough points to see them through to the Northern Finals, which will be held at Prestatyn in June - a fantastic achievement.

Sixth Form pupil Daniel Anderson won second place at the regional heat of ARTiculation 2016. He addressed a panel of judges on the Boundary Street social housing scheme in London as part of this national public speaking competition and was praised for his clear delivery and ability to answer challenging questions.

The Junior Girls' annual Modern Foreign Languages Day took place this week and this year had a French theme. Pupils celebrated Mardi Gras and La Chandeleur - the French equivalent of Pancake Day - and took part in a wide range of activities based on France and the French language. With artwork, crafts, pancake races, storytelling in French, and even a French-style lunch provided by the catering department, this was a fantastic way to get the girls inspired about language learning.

The Sixth Form French conference was once again a huge success, with boys and girls in Years 12 and 12 enjoying an immersive experience with native speaker Richard Peltier. They discussed a variety of topics relating to the A Level and were able to improve their vocabulary and understanding as well as their confidence.

Girls in Year 11 studying Spanish enjoyed a visit to HOME, a centre for contemporary international film, art and theatre in Manchester, to watch Gente de Bien. This award-winning Columbian film by director Franco Lolli focused on issues such as family, friendship and abandonment.

Six Girls' Division pupils ran for the Bolton Town team at the Greater Manchester Cross Country Championships last weekend. They were nominated to run by the School and took part despite difficult conditions on the day.

This year's Junior Girls' Music Festival saw more than 100 pupils perform as individuals and as part of ensembles! The invigilators were very impressed with the high standard of performance across the board, from Year 3 to Year 6. The girls really enjoyed performing and watching the Music Festival unfold, and it was a great opportunity for the girls to showcase their musical talents.

The Senior Girls' Music Festival also took place this week, culminating in the Celebration Concert for the winners on Wednesday evening. This concert showcased the best musicians from Year 7 to the Sixth Form and was a wonderful evening of music-making.

It's been a busy week at Beech House. The children thoroughly enjoyed Pancake Day on Tuesday and even had a go at flipping their own pancakes!

Children in Year 2 have been reading 'The Man on the Moon' and other stories by Simon Bartram. As part of their work on the book, the children designed their own 'moon buggies' that Bob, the man on the moon, might use to get around.

Following Reception and Year 1's visit to Blackpool Zoo, the children have been finding out more about their favourite animals that they saw on the trip. They have also combined their learning about cold and hot habitats with science work on freezing and melting! The trip to the zoo has inspired lots more learning back in the classroom and has really helped the children to engage with lots more topics.

Last week's Inspiring Mind was John Blakey, a member of the Boys' Division mathematics department from 1944 to 1976. He is remembered fondly to this day by Old Boys. The pair of tributes that form the Inspiring Minds piece were both written by Jim Dawson for The Boltonian, one on the occasion of his retirement and the second as his obituary in 1981.

This week the Inspiring Mind is Old Girl Judith Knott (née Kenyon). After leaving Bolton School, she went on to study at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and completed a PhD in Historical Linguistics at SOAS, University of London. After five years as a research assistant, she joined the civil service. Reflecting on her career and time at School, she gives an interesting insight into her memories and how School has in some ways influenced her choices in life.

5 February 2016

Sisters Zoe and Isabella Grainger are both reaching new heights at an indoor Winter Bouldering League competition held at The Hangar. Year 9 pupil Zoe is in pole position in the U16 competition, while Year 6 pupil Isabella sits just outside the top three - an amazing achievement given her young age! There are just two rounds now remaining in the competition.

On Saturday, gifted and talented Year 11 pupils from the local area came to Bolton School for an Application of Mathematics Event with the Juggling and Rock Doctors, otherwise known as Dr Colin Wright and Dr Mark Lewney. Dr Wright described his juggling performance in terms of mathematical patterns, while Dr Lewney used his electric guitar and audience participation to present complex ideas in a fun and accessible way.

On Monday, Councillor Linda Thomas visited the Boys' Division to talk to pupils about her work in politics. She gave a thought-provoking talk about her job and some of the projects she has been involved with, and was also able to address the boys' interested and wide-ranging questions at the end of the session. Her visit gave the boys a valuable insight into the world of local politics.

Girls' Division pupils in Year 8 were pleased to be able to meet Toni and her guide dog Quilla this week. Toni gave a really interesting talk that gave the girls a greater insight into life as a blind person, and also gave them more information about the training of guide dogs and the difference these working animals make to the people they assist every day.

The Year 8 boys experienced a directing workshops with the Octagon Theatre's Creative Learning Director, Christina Lydon, as part of their Arts Award work. They worked with Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, looking specifically at the character of Shylock: how they might want the audience to react to him, and how they could influence that by getting the actors to move or speak in a certain way. This was a really valuable session for the boys to feed into their work on the Award.

There has been lots of sporting news from the Girls' Division this week. Three pupils in the Sixth Form have received call-ups from the North of England Lacrosse Squad. Louisa Brophy, Molly Dick and Georgina Owen, who are all in Year 12, will join the North of England Squad for training before competing in a tournament in March.

Pupils in Year 8 have had reason to celebrate as well, with a group of four girls joining the Lancashire Lacrosse U13 Squad. Arabella Barker-Smith, Ellie Bridge, Abigail Duckworth and Mia Monsen all attended two trial days before finding out that they had been selected. They will now have the opportunity to compete in the upcoming Northern Counties tournament this weekend.

The Year 7 and 8 Swimming Team recently won the Bolton Town Swimming Championships! Competing against eight local schools, the girls worked hard in both the individual races and relays and managed to win the trophy.

Elly Fraser in Year 7 has won the Salford 100s Lifesaving Competition. She competed alongside the other Year 7 girls in this competition, which also involved pupils from other schools. Her speedy swimming and knowledge of lifesaving techniques helped her to come in first place overall: a wonderful achievement.

A number of Boys' Division musicians from Years 9 and 10 performed at Bolton’s St Andrew and St George United Reformed Church’s lunchtime concert series this week. The repertoire was varied, with boys playing piano, violin, trumpet, saxophone, flute and guitar, and one boy singing. They also performed many different styles of music, ensuring that there was something for everyone to enjoy.

Girls' Division pupils in Year 10 learned more about the Great War from 'Private Tommy Atkins', a one-man play about the First World War which is based on real events and anecdotes from soldiers who lived through the conflict. Peter Gill's solo performance captivated the girls and also gave them lots to think about as they continue their History studies.

Old Boy Roger Dobson returned to School on Wednesday to talk to pupils in the Sixth Form about the Clifford H Ingham Bursary Fund. This fund was set up in memory of a Boys' Division Latin teacher who died in the 1980s, and who used to take boys on 'Trek Camps' in the UK and Europe. The fund is now open to applications from Boys' and Girls' Division students, and offers financial assistance to those who wish to take part in an outdoors experience of some kind.

This week, boys in Year 11 found out more about NCS or National Citizen Service at Bolton Lads and Girls Club (BLGC). This national scheme was set up to help young people to develop themselves and their citizenship skills during the school holidays, and the trip to BLGC was designed to get the boys enthused about the idea of joining in and getting involved. The NCS experience involves working with a diverse range of people and includes a trip to an outdoor pursuits centre and two weeks planning and delivering a community project.

Children at Beech House this week enjoyed a visit from the Happy Puzzle Company! All of the children from Reception to Year 2 enjoyed taking part in the challenges they were set, and while they got a great sense of achievement from completing the puzzles, the day was also very focused on teamwork and perseverance.

This week, Bolton School hosted an English Speaking Board (ESB) Teacher Training Event. The event was a great success, and a good opportunity for local teachers to share best practices and receive resources and more information.