2nd March 2012

Forget London 2012, the only Olympics on the minds of budding Year 9 scientists from across the Bolton borough was a Physics Olympics. The second such "Olympics" held at Bolton School saw teams of four gifted and talented students from 16 local secondary schools compete in a series of day-long challenges while utilising the expertise and facilities at the School. Teams of four pupils moved around the laboratories undertaking five 30 minute Physics-related tasks. Delayed Timing involved pupils having to maximise the time a ball-bearing spends on a ramp over a set distance; Generation X saw them constructing a turbine to turn a generator to produce the highest possible voltage; they attempted to build and launch an air-powered rocket in the Pressure Bullseye challenge; Sink or Swim, using marbles, tested their understanding of buoyancy; and Jelly Baby Towers their construction skills.
A team of Sixth Form Girls had their business minds put to the test in the Northern area heat of Target 2.0, and the girls performed exceptionally well to gain third place. Target 2.0 is The Bank of England and The Times' annual Interest Rate Challenge which gives teams of students aged 16-18 the chance to take on the role of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee and decide what the interest rate should be. The girls won the regional heat of the competition back in December, earning them a place in the Northern area heat.
Year 2 pupils at Beech House enjoyed a 'Traditional Tales' day on Friday, dressing up as their favourite story characters! An array of colourful characters filled the school including Robin hood, Snow White, Princesses, Knights, Pirates and even the Gingerbread man! Pupils took part in a celebration ball complete with a parade, waltzing and party food, and much fun was had by all! While Hesketh House was also transformed into a scene from the pages of a storybook on Thursday as the girls dressed up as princesses, princes and other Royal characters to celebrate World Book Day. The Royal theme was chosen to link in with the Diamond Jubilee celebration, and the colourful costumes ranged from traditional fairytale characters to Egyptian and Indian princesses, and even knights, court jesters and Prince William and Kate Middleton!
The hunt for the Bolton School Girls’ Division Masterchef is officially on! The first heat began with the year 9 girls going head to head making their own versions of stuffed peppers, which were sampled by the hungry judges. Fourteen contestants were whittled down to ten and there will be further heats in the coming weeks leading up to the quarter and semi finals and the live cook off grand final on May 11th.


And a date for the diary - Bolton School will hosting a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Fun Day on Saturday 10 March. The event will include a variety of displays detailing the RNLI's work with activities for youngsters, displays by the RNLI beach rescue, an inshore inflatable lifeboat and an opportunity to try out the kit used by lifeboat crews. There will also be a display marking the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of The Titanic with extensive memorabilia relating to Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, born in Astley Bridge and a former pupil of Park Road, Bolton School's Junior Boys' School. Rostron was the Captain of the Carpathia, the ship that went to the aid of the floundering Titanic and helped rescue 706 people. The event will run from 10.30am-4.00pm in Bolton School's Arts and Conference Centre.

17th Februry 2012

Internationally renowned classical guitarist Craig Ogden visited Bolton School this week to direct a 'Classical Guitar Ensemble Workshop' with young guitarists from Bolton School and local secondary schools. Around 90 music students took part in the day, which began with a mini concert given by Craig, who then led the pupils in rehearsing a classical guitar recital. The workshop culminated in a performance of the pieces to a live audience at an evening recital given by Craig in the Boys' Division Great Hall.
It has been a fantastic week for sport news with plenty success stories. Firstly, seven of our senior pupils are through to the National Final of the English Schools' Biathlon event following success in the Northern Semi Finals. The pupils completed a 1000m run and a 100m swim for the event and go through to the final which will be held at Crystal Palace on 25 March. The Bolton School U15 Volleyball squad have won the Bolton Town Volleyball Tournament, and as winners they will now progress to the Greater Manchester Championships, as part of the Schools' Games build up to the Olympics. This was the first time the school has entered the Volleyball tournament and so to win with very little experience in the squad was a great achievement. And the Girls' Division Senior and Intermediate Swimming teams are the Town Champions - both teams swam excellently to become Bolton champions and walk away with the winners trophies.
The Junior Girls have had a busy week too – their musical talents were on display in a Music Festival, where an audience of parents was treated to short individual performances from the girls on a variety of instruments including cello, guitar, trombone, saxophone, violin, flute and even drums. Judges were on hand to listen to each performance and offer feedback to the girls. And Thursday was Belgian day, where the girls got to experience all things Belgian exploring food and culture. The day was a farewell to one of the teaching staff who is Belgian, and one of Belgian’s finest, Papa Smurf, even made a visit to see the children and encourage them to enjoy a Belgian meal!

10th February 2012

This week at Bolton School was a very special one as the Girls' Division became Guinness World Record holders! A certificate will be sent to the School shortly to celebrate the achievement and the official record will read: 'The largest gathering of people dressed as storybook characters is 739 and was achieved by Bolton School Girls' Division (UK) in Bolton, UK, on 7 February 2012.' The record was set as part of the celebration of the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth. The majority of pupils from the Senior School and Sixth Form dressed up as Dickensian characters, as did members of staff and Year 6 of the Junior Girls' School. The girls gathered in their Great Hall for their morning assembly where official witnesses and stewards counted the participants and it soon became clear that a new record was going to be set.
The Girls' Division also named their second sponsored guide dog puppy Dickens, coinciding with the celebration, and the pupils received a visit from representatives from The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association to congratulate them on raising enough funds to sponsor their second puppy.
In what is always a closely fought battle between teams of Sixth Form boys and girls, this year's winner of the KPMG Enterprise Trophy was boys’ team UniLingo with their product which would allow wireless earpiece translation. The annual competition, which pits the best two girls' Sixth Form teams against the two best teams from the boys' school, was as close as ever, with each team presenting viable business propositions through professional presentations to a judging panel and an audience of students and teachers.
Saturday night was time to "graduate" for pupils from 7 Bolton primary schools and their proud parents as the SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturdays programme at Bolton School drew to a close. Forty one Year 5 girls and boys have attended Saturday morning sessions at the School since November of last year, enjoying a mix of traditional subjects such as English, Maths, History and the Sciences, as well as more unusual offerings such as Psychology, Russian, Art and Design Technology, Ceramics and Japanese.
And Bolton School boys are the badminton county champions! A team of boys have been crowned Greater Manchester champions in the Years 10 and 11 age group, completing a double success for the School as the Year 8 and 9 boys are also the champions of their age group.

3rd February 2012

Over 90 girls from 24 local primary schools visited Bolton School this week for the first Just4Girls Science and Maths Day. The experience provided Year 4 girls with an opportunity to enjoy a range of traditionally 'male' subjects in a new and fun way, and was aimed at linking science and maths together. Throughout the day there were sessions in Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, and also a quiz. The Just4Girls Science Day is the latest in a series of events for local primary school boys and girls to attend at Bolton School. And science was on the agenda again as fourteen Year 10 pupils from the Boys' and Girls' Divisions had the chance to learn from world-renowned scientists when they attended GCSE Live at the Bridgewater Hall. The pupils attended mini-lectures given by eminent scientists on a variety of Science topics relevant to the Biology, Chemistry and Physics GCSE courses, and were also given some vital tips on GCSE examination success from an experienced science examiner.
In sport our U15s footballers have reached the final of the ISFA Cup! The boys reached the final of this prodigious cup competition after a 3-1 semi-final win against Repton. They will meet Hampton School in the final, to be played on 8th March at Burton Albion FC, officiated by a Premier League referee. This is the third consecutive year that Bolton School has appeared in an ISFA final, following last year’s U15s defeat to Whitgift and victory in the U13s competiton two years ago, an achievement those same boys are hoping to emulate in the U15s final in March. And Girls' Division year 8 pupil Sannah Ali is the UK National under 5ft 4 champion of Karate! Sannah attends the Shorai Martial Arts and Karate School in Bolton and decided to take up the sport to learn self defence and discipline. To gain her title Sannah took part in the Shorai Open Tournament at Harper Green Leisure Centre where she had to perform several Katas and also points matches to take the trophy.
The stunning landscape artwork of 48 Year 6 boys is now on display in the Upper Hall of Bolton town centre's busy indoor Market Place. The paintings make a dramatic and colourful wall of art with scenes ranging from beaches, countryside, the sea, mountains and waterfalls.
Why not help out with the Parents Association Spring Fair to be held on Saturday March 24th from 11am to 2pm in Hesketh House. There will be lots of activities including egg decoration and rolling competition, kids’ bake off competition, easter bonnet parade, iPad raffle and bouncy castle! If you have any time to spare, no matter how small, over the next few months to help with the organizing of the fair please let us know. Or if you would like to run a stall either a school stall or your own then please contact us. Call Kathy on 07710 443055 or email heskethhousepa@gmail.com

27th January

We are delighted to announce this week that from September of this year we will be offering a new coach route from Blackpool and Kirkham to Bolton School. As a result of increased demand, the new route will bring pupils into Bolton School from the Fylde by coach for the first time. There will be pick-ups at Blackpool and Kirkham before the coach then fills up at Fulwood, Preston and travels directly into School. For those wishing to make the journey into School by train, there will also be a separate mini-bus service which will pick up and drop off at Lostock Station, making the School accessible by train from Blackpool, Kirkham and Preston and, also, from Salford and Manchester.
In the latest government ranking of schools by performance in the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) qualification, Bolton School is riding high in the top 20 nationally, with the Girls' Division at 18th and the Boys' Division at 10th. Ninety five per cent of Boys' Division pupils and 93% of Girls' Division pupils achieved the EBacc qualification, which was introduced in 2010 and is awarded to pupils attaining A*-C GCSE passes in English, Mathematics, two Science qualifications, a language and History or Geography.
Our Year 6 boys put on their own art exhibition in the Arts and Conference Centre this week, and the same work is set to go on display at the Marketplace shopping centre in Bolton. The exhibition features acrylic landscape paintings which are done as part of the art curriculum and range from beaches, countryside, the sea, mountains and waterfalls. The work will be exhibited in the Upper Hall of the shopping centre for the whole of February.
A team of our boys are the badminton county champions! The Senior boys competed in the Greater Manchester competition, returning home with the County Cup! They now progress to the North West final in March. While the U13 footballers took part in the ISFA national semi-final, putting them in the top four teams in the country and the only remaining team from outside the London area. Unfortunately they narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
Our Junior Boys and Junior Girls, as well as junior pupils from Sunninghill and High Lawns School have been taking part in Skype Chess matches against Polish pupils. A total of 14 pupils played a number of online chess matches against slightly older pupils (aged 9-14) from Rybnik Middle School in Poland, using chess software available on the internet.
And there is still time to apply for Year 7 entry to Bolton School for this September! This year's Supplementary Entrance Examination for those pupils who did not enrol for the examination earlier in the month or who could not make it on the day, will take place on Thursday 2 February. For full details about enrolling for this examination, please contact Mrs Lynden Graham (for application to the Girls' Division) or Mrs Susan Yates (for application to the Boys' Division) on 01204 840201 or at info@boltonschool.org

20th January 2012

Thirty two A level students from Bolton School Girls' Division have returned from India after a life-changing experience continuing the School's efforts in supporting street children in India. The girls spent 8 days based in Vijayawada City in Southern India helping out with the Street Kids' Community Villages (SKCV) project. They offered help by playing games with the children, helping them learn English, playing football and helping run dance classes. The girls said the best thing about the trip was spending time with the children and getting to know them, and were surprised that they didn’t miss home comforts and material luxuries at all but enjoyed living more simply.
Year 10 boys, Lewis Daly and Aaron Winstanley have been selected to represent Great Britain at Water Polo. The boys are among only 14 players nationwide who will be part of the national junior squad in a friendly International youth tournament in the Ukraine in May, competing against four other countries including the Ukraine and Poland. The boys were chosen after attending England Talent Water Polo trials in Cardiff.
The pair are continuing the tradition of Water Polo success at Bolton School - Old Boy Ed Scott is first choice Goalkeeper for the British Men's Water Polo Team and was interviewed by the BBC, as the GB team get set to take part in the London 2012 Olympic Games after an absence of British Water Polo from the Olympics for 56 years. Click the following link to see Ed's interview - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/swimming/16579980.stm
And welcoming Government plans to overhaul the school ICT curriculum, former Bolton School Girls’ Division Computing teacher and new president of the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) has said that any decent ICT teacher is already way ahead of the ICT curriculum in terms of day to day classroom practice. Computer science graduate Louise Robinson, feels that the current curriculum is inappropriate to contemporary life but that many skilled teachers and their pupils are already way ahead of the basic curriculum. This is certainly true of Bolton School ICT lessons where there is a large focus on creativity, allowing pupils to spend a significant amount of time on animation, graphics and web development even at KS3.

13th January 2012

It’s a new year and a new term and our Junior Girls have been getting to grips with the latest technology, in the form of Augmented Reality books! These interactive books are the latest addition to the well stocked library and the girls are having fun meeting dinosaurs, making pirates walk the plank, and holding fairies in the palm of their hands!
Four Bolton School pupils have done exceptionally well to have been identified as potential players of the future by the Lancashire Cricket Board in the 2012 Levels of Excellence. Year 10 pupils Haseeb Hameed and Matthew Parkinson have been named as Academy players, a rare achievement for such young players, putting them in the top 11 in the North West outside having a contract with the Club. Matthew's twin Callum has been chosen for the EPP (Emerging Players Programme), along with Year 9 pupil Nalisha Patel from the Girls' Division. And former Sixth Form student Will Burrow has received an Excellence in Geography at A Level Award from the Royal Geographical Society. The awards are granted to only the very highest achievers in A Level and GCSE examinations and Will received a cash prize and certificate. Our Business Studies students were lucky enough to be given financial advice from Justin Urquhart Stewart this week - Marketing Director and co-founder of Seven Investment Management, and one of the most recognisable and trusted market commentators. Justin spoke to the whole of the Boys' Division Sixth Form and Sixth Form Business students from the Girls' Division for 15 minutes before a more in depth presentation to the Business students only. He shared his wealth of knowledge with the students and offered a calm, clear-sighted view of the current economic climate for Britain and the rest of the world, along with advice on pensions and how to manage finances and university debt.
And there is still time to apply for this year's Entrance Examinations for entry into the Junior and Senior schools which will take place on Thursday 19 January 2011. To enrol for our Entrance Examination for entry in Year 3 or Year 7 in September 2012, or to enquire about availability in other year groups, call 01204 840201 or email info@boltonschool.org