13-17 December 2010

A hectic final week of term has been filled with Christmas music in all the divisions of the school! Not least in the Girls' Division where the Middle School Choir has won the Bolton News' X-Mas Factor Song for Christmas! The competition showcased the musical talents of young people across Bolton and involved 7 schools who offered a variety of Christmas songs in a range of styles. The Bolton News came into school and filmed the 75 strong Middle School Choir, conducted by Mrs Carter, singing "Something Told the Wild Geese". The seven song videos then ran on the Bolton News website followed by three days of voting by the people of Bolton to choose their favourite. The video can be viewed on the Bolton News website here.

Earlier in the week the girls performed this song at the Girls' traditional Ceremony of Carols in front of a full to capacity Great Hall as a large congregation of parents, governors, former pupils, staff and former staff, gathered for the event. The service featured enchanting performances from all the school choirs along with a variety of beautiful readings, and the congregation joined in with a number of well loved carols throughout the service. Festive sounds also filled the Boys' Division Great Hall at their annual Christmas Festival where the audience were treated to a spectacular evening of seasonal celebration with performances from the choirs interspersed with readings and reflections. During the evening, audience participation was called for and the Great Hall resonated to stirring renditions of popular carols. All monies collected on both evenings will be donated to charity.

Junior Boys too held their Annual Christmas Carol Service treating family and friends to performances from the Upper and Lower School choirs along with vibrant performances from the Recorder Group and the Strings Group, and several Christmas readings from the boys. Their end of service collection was for Ondukuta Combined School in Namibia which the Junior School is now partnered with.

From Music to Classics - three Bolton School boys have been successful in the Jowett Sendelar Classics National essay competition. Year 10 pupil James Chia was ranked 5th for his essay on the Greek Gods, Year 8 pupil Mohammed Fazal was ranked 22nd for his essay, also on Greek Gods, and Ben Tillbrook, also Year 10, was ranked 38th for his essay on Warfare.

Also this week pupils handed over a cheque for £703.49 to Debbie Dowie of cancer charity ‘Boot Out Breast Cancer’. The donation was the combined result of fundraising efforts by pupils in Boys' Division, Girls' Division and Junior Girls' School.

And if you are looking for a different kind of holiday or weekend away - Tenacity, the boat built by Bolton School pupils is now available for commercial hire. The boat is a 60 foot ketch which can take 10 crew and her 2 professional crew, and we have a number of weeks availability over the 2011 sailing season –you can view the sailing programme here and find out further details of how to book.

From everybody at Bolton School we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year.