Summer Blog 2010

New Record Set on Results Day
Bolton School is once again celebrating outstanding exam results! A new record was set at GCSE by the Girls' Division, as 40% of grades achieved were A*, and the Boys’ Division saw similar success as one third of all grades were A*s.
The A Level results were just as pleasing as the Boys' Division achieved a fantastic 100% pass rate, with 95.6% of entries graded A*- C and nearly two out of every three grades at A* or A. The Girls' Division also recorded excellent results with 93% of entries graded A*-C, 19% of entries graded A* and more than half of all entries graded A* or A.

European Gold and Commonwealth spot for Emma
Year 11 pupil Emma Saunders has returned from the European Junior Swimming Championships in Helsinki with not one but a haul of four medals, and has now been selected to represent England at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October! Emma stormed to a new Championship record at the Europeans as she claimed gold in the Girls' 50m Backstroke, and not content with taking the individual title, she also helped the Great Britain team scoop three silver medals in the relays.

Other pupils have been busy over the summer - Boys' Division Sixth Form student, Luhua Yang, enjoyed a unique learning experience when he took part in a four day Power Engineering course at Aston University. Luhua had the chance to tackle a variety of practical design-and-build projects exploring the technology behind energy generation and distribution. Girls’ Division Sixth form pupil Thorrun Govind has been helping to tackle the problem of dangerous drivers by making a mini-documentary with the support of ITV. A short section of her film can be seen at http://www.itvfixers.com/ and when completed she hopes to distribute her documentary to test centres and schools.

Back at school, Former England international cricketer Dominic Cork took time out from captaining Hampshire and the commentator's box to offer his coaching tips, enthusiasm and wisdom to boys and girls taking part in the Andrew Flintoff Cricket Academy, while at the school’s Bolton Wanderers Football Academy, Lofty the Lion surprised youngsters with a visit. And there were yet more sporting stars in the grounds as Bolton School helped out the Sale Sharks by providing the school levels for them to train on after the rugby team became stuck in heavy congestion on the M6 on their way to training.

Bolton School Blog: 5/7 - 7/7/2010

Most schools would think about winding down for the last few days before the summer break but it is quite the opposite at Bolton School.

Sixth Form students were mesmerised by the intricate word play of Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate. She was appearing as part of a double bill with Dr Jim Wild of the University of Lancaster, who gave a fascinating presentation entitled "In Search of the Northern Lights". The two talks were part of the Year 12 students' Gifted and Talented programme.

The Boys' Division Senior School celebrated a passion for excellence which has permeated the year at the annual Prizegiving afternoon. Old Boy Professor Malcolm Stevens OBE and FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) was this year's special guest.

In the sporting world, Year 11 pupil, James Roberts, made his debut for England's Cerebral Palsy Development Squad in the Home Nations' Tournament in Dublin, whilst Ben Monks (Year 12) was called up to represent Lancashire Schools once again in the National Schools' Regatta.

Boys from the Senior School also presented a cheque for £2,000 to members of the Halle Orchestra, who were delighted to receive the donation on behalf of Buskaid and in the memory of Mike and Dot Hall. The money had been raised earlier in the year at a Battle of the Bands competition, which had been judged by Old Boy, Mark Radcliffe.

And finally, Bolton School, gave a fond farewell to Mrs Hilary Crawforth, who has given much of her life to the Infant Department, Beech House. She was educated there and, after studying at Cambridge, took up a teaching post there in the mid-1970s. She retired having been Head of Beech House for the past ten years. The School wishes her all the best in her retirement.

Bolton School Blog: 28/6 - 5/7/2010

The last weeks before the end of the Summer Term are always packed full of events and activities and this is no exception!

Bolton School Boys’ Division once again linked up with local primary schools to bring an evening of music to the North-West's premier musical venue the Bridgewater Hall. Over 700 children aged 7-18 years, enthralled a sell out audience on the night with performances from Bolton School's Joint Concert Band, the Senior Guitar Group, the Percussion Ensemble and a stunning piano recital from Year 13 student, Ben Smith.

This week saw the official opening of our new Infant School, Beech House by Mr Warren Smith JP, Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester. The Lord Lieutenant addressed an audience of over 200 boys and girls aged 4 to 7 years old as well as distinguished guests including governors, former Headmistress, Miss Joyce Boston and former and current teachers as well as representatives from Cassidy and Ashton and Seddons - the designers and builders of the state-of-the-art building.

Year 13 pupil Robert Bolton returned from the regional final of the Young Engineer for Britain 2010 competition at the Big Bang Fair in Liverpool, with not one but two trophies! Robert entered his A-level Technology project the 'Progressive Brake Light' into the competition and won the overall regional event in his age category and the best product prize. He was awarded £400 prize money, and has the chance to become Young Engineer for Britain when he attends the national final in London next March.

Also this week Year 11 and 13 students from Bolton School Boys' and Girls' Division have been showing their art work at the University of Bolton, in a showcase exhibition called "Best of Bolton", organised by the university as part of its drive to interact more with local schools.

Old boy and legendary Lancashire captain of the seventies, Jack Bond, was back at Bolton School as the main guest at the annual MCC fixture, where Bolton School First Eleven cricketers took on an MCC club side and came away victorious! And there was more Cricket glory as Bolton School U14 Cricketers overcame Lancaster Grammar School with an impressive performance to win The Harold Bailey U14 Schools' Cup – an inter-school competition involving over 100 schools from Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The boys will now go on to represent Lancashire in the national competition next summer.

In other sport Bolton School's Year 7 water polo team has won the national Bradbury Cup for the first time in 15 years, and the Junior Boys' swim relay team have been involved in the ESSA 16th National Swimming Championship, narrowly missing out on a place in the National finals.

Our Junior Boys' Chess teams competed in the EPSCA (English Primary Schools Chess Association) regional semi-final of the National Primary Schools Chess Team Championship 2010 at Pontins in Prestatyn. The U11 A team played exceptionally well to achieve 3rd place and they are now eagerly waiting to find out if they have made it to the national finals. The U11 B team achieved equal 20th place, while the U9 A and B teams achieved equal 10th place and 23rd place respectively.

Bolton School Blog: 21/6 - 25/6/2010

It has been a very busy week for Bolton School with fundraising and famous faces all round!

Everton Captain and former England footballer Phil Neville and his wife, Julie, made a flying visit to Bolton School Junior Boys' School to thank pupils for taking part in a schools' fundraising campaign in aid of the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. The boys took part in the Tesco Wear What U Want Day - an event in which pupils were encouraged to pay £1 in return for being able to ditch their uniform for the day and as a reward for their charity work, the pupils were given the opportunity to pose quick fire questions to the football star!

In the afternoon, the Junior Boys took to the field dressed in an array of colourful fancy dress outfits in order to raise even more money for Cancer Research and Derian House through their annual Fun Run, and it was quite an afternoon of sport as the Junior Girls were taking part in their own sports festival at the same time.

Pupils also got to meet a Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry this week as Professor Sir Harry Kroto returned to his old school to deliver a day of workshops and talks aimed at inspiring an interest in Science amongst the region's young people. And there was more science on the menu as twenty eight Primary schools visited Bolton School for a Science Festival! The day provided an opportunity for gifted young pupils from Year 5 to make use of Bolton School's laboratories and resources and to absorb themselves in Science for the day with a number of challenging forensic and chemical practical activities including blood testing, fingerprinting, and chemical analysis of soil samples.

Finally, this weekend we would like to wish the best of luck to Year 9 Boys' Division pupil Daniel Sharif who will be representing the North West in the Inter Regional Team Ski Championships at Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre on Sunday 27 June.

Bolton School Blog: 14/6 - 18/6/2010

Over 200 pupils from twenty primary schools from across the region took part in this year's Bolton School Sports Festival on Thursday morning. The annual event, now in its seventh year, saw teams from Bolton and further afield including Preston, Wigan and North Manchester, competing in a variety of sporting challenges including a rugby slalom and penalty shoot-outs as well as having their golf, hockey, tennis, athletics, and cricket skills tested. Schools picked up points in each event they took part in resulting in an overall Festival Winner which this year was St Thomas Chequerbent from Westhoughton.

Also this week Bolton School held an awards evening to honour Sixth Form students who have undertaken work in the local community. Students received bronze, silver and gold certificates for 20, 50 or 100 hours worth of work in the community and one girl had even done over 1,000 hours! In order to establish more links with external groups to increase participation even further, Bolton School is holding a Volunteering Fair on Thursday 9 September at 2.00pm in the Arts Centre. Anyone interested in attending the fair and working with the School and its Sixth Form volunteer students should contact Heather Tunstall on 01204 840201 or email ht@boys.bolton.sch.uk

Year 6 Junior girls have given their opening performance of the Shakespeare play 'The Tempest' which they have been studying in English. The girls gave an outstanding performance to an audience of their families and friends after working hard all week rehearsing, and they will give their second and final performance this evening.

Bolton School's Jazz Band have been performing again this time at the Beech House (Infant School) Summer Fete 2010 - see their performance by clicking here

And we wish a big good luck to our Junior Boys' chess teams, as all four teams of six boys travel to Pontins in Prestatyn this weekend for the Northern Final of the EPSCA (English Primary Schools Chess Association) National Primary Schools Chess Team Championship 2010. If they win the regional competition they will then go on to the National Final.

Bolton School Blog: 7/6 - 11/6/2010

This week Bolton School Senior Girls' Division has been getting ready to open its doors to Year 5 girls, their parents and friends after school on Monday to offer them a chance to learn more about how our School works.

On the Discovery Day there will be a treasure hunt trail around the School with various departments offering short, challenging activities with an emphasis on fun. Pupils are allowed to go around with friends, on their own or with their parents, and current Year 7 girls and Sixth Formers will be on hand to help. Tea, coffee, cold drinks and biscuits will be provided for parents in the dining hall and senior staff will be available to speak to parents and answer any queries. Prospectuses and registration forms are also available on the day.

With the warmer weather upon us, it’s this time of year that groups of pupils head off to Patterdale Hall, our outdoor pursuits centre in the Lake District where they get to try out activities such as abseiling, canoeing, orienteering, climbing and sailing, while building their confidence and team working skills.

Junior Girls have once again been having fun dressing up, this time as Vikings! Even the teachers got involved, and the Year 4 girls were mesmerised by tales from their visiting ‘Viking’. They had the chance to make Viking pottery and play a Viking game, and to learn about warfare.

Completion of the new Junior Girls’ School ‘Hesketh House’ is getting nearer and nearer, and staff were allowed for the first time to take a look inside the building which is set to be their new home and see the classrooms they will soon be teaching in.

Also this week, representatives from the School attended the Award Ceremony for the 2010 Bolton and Bury Business Awards. The school was one of the sponsors of the event and had the tough job of deciding the winner of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category, and of presenting the award to Abdul Rahman of Bilal Poultry who won the title.

Bolton School Blog: 24/5 - 28/5/2010

Bolton’s Own Ogden Physics Teaching Fellow
An exciting week for Bolton School as it becomes the first school and only the second academic institution in the country to employ an Ogden Physics Teaching Fellow. Mr Mark Ormerod has been appointed from a highly competitive field and will begin work in September of this year. His role will focus on nurturing physics students and teachers at local schools and widening the participation in and uptake of Physics at A level. Particular focus will be on children in the 11-16 years' old age range.

On the sporting front this week Year 8 pupil Haseebullah Hammed is making his mark on Bolton School cricket, despite only being at the school since January. Talented cricketer Haseebullah has definitely found his feet - recording his first century for the team in a win against Manchester Grammar.

Maasai Tribe to Speak English with a Bolton Accent!
Girls at Bolton School are helping a Maasai tribe to speak English! The Year 9 girls have been video recording one another speaking in basic and clear English and the tapes will be used to supplement other teaching materials and sent out to rural Tanzania. The project has come about after pupils linked up with the African tribe via a Skype video connection during a Geography lesson earlier in the year. The girls had quizzed the Maasai on how they were being affected by tourism and they, in turn, had been keen to learn about life in Bolton.

As part of an off-curriculum day, Year 9 girls got to meet Bali Rai, author of many successful novels aimed at teenagers. Bali gave talks to the girls about his books and about life as an author followed by Question and Answer sessions, in order to get pupils more interested and excited by reading. He also spoke to the girls about issues surrounding multi-culturalism, ethnicity, citizenship and politics which he often covers in his books.

Also this week Bolton School Arts Centre was transformed into a kaleidoscope of colour as some marvellous models, also known as Junior Girls, paraded down the catwalk for the Parents Association Fashion Show. 64 girls took to the runway to show off the current fashions, and spectators were mesmerised by the array of different outfits provided by 'Clothes Horse Kids'.