2 December 2011

Anjali Pathak of the Indian food giants, Pataks, was back at Bolton School this week to deliver a captivating cookery demonstration. Anjali, who is Brand Ambassador for the family business, Pataks, was delighted to return to her former school where she met up with her former classmate, Natalie James who is now part of the Food Technology Department, which organised the lunchtime seminar. The packed audience of students and staff were engrossed and inspired as Anjali explained about her family business before treating the audience to a demonstration of how to cook perfect onion bhajis.
Also in school this week we welcomed Year 5 pupils from across the local borough to a day of foreign language lessons at this year's Modern Foreign Languages Festival. The whole day event gave local youngsters the chance to try out a range of new languages including Japanese and Russian, as well as building their understanding of French, Spanish and German. Sticking with languages, our Junior Girls have launched a new lunchtime German Club, adding to the extensive range of activities available to them! The club is run by Head of German in the Senior Girls' Division, Mrs Sheaff, with the assistance of German speaking language assistants, and serves as an introduction to basic German words and culture.
Girls from Middle School and also some Junior Girls were transported back to the age of the dinosaur this week with a hands-on workshop run by the Bolton Museum and Archive Service. Alex McLeman, the Formal Learning Manager from the museum, visited the school and brought along Prehistoric casts and fossils, artefacts and specimens from around the world. Alex spoke to the girls about the origins of the objects and when they lived on the earth, and encouraged them to pick up the pieces and ask questions.
In Senior boys, the amount raised by one form for Children in Need has all been collected and totalled - Harry Bevan and Sam Hassall of 8d wanted to show their support for the BBC's annual Children in Need appeal, so they galvanised the other members of their form into a sponsored run back in November. Their co-tutor Mr Rich was so impressed by this initiative that he promised to donate £10 for every goal his 2nd XI football team registered that same weekend. The boys raised a superb £611.94 by running around The Levels for a lunch time; and this amount was increased by a further £50 through the 2nd XI's impressive 5-0 away victory at Repton School!
And at the weekend Hesketh House successfully hosted the AJIS Chess Congress. The day was a huge success with Sharon Daniel winning the U10 section and Mahima Raghavendra winning the U9 section. Hesketh House and Bolton School Junior Boys' School shared the 2011 Team Championship Shield. The girls also did an excellent job with the organisation and welcoming of visitors to school.