23rd March 2012

The curtains went up and the roof was raised on opening night of one of the biggest and most ambitious stage shows ever undertaken at Bolton school - a stunning performance of the musical We Will Rock You. The musical was a complete sell out immediately and over 800 paying guests will watch the production in the Girls' Division Theatre over five performances in four days. Pupils from Year 7 to the final year of Sixth Form, along with many teachers, have been involved, not only in acting but in the creation of costumes, theatrical make up and stage sets, and recreating the sounds of Queen's greatest hits.
Anne Edwards, whose grandfather, William Thomas Settle, was in the same form as Captain Arthur Henry Rostron at Bolton School, visited her former school this week to exhibit her Titanic memorabilia and to promote her charity, Honour the Rescuer. Anne feels not enough recognition is given to the heroism of Captain Rostron, who was the Master of RMS Carpathia - the only rescue ship to the Titanic - which saved 706 survivors that were already in the lifeboats. Anne put her memorabilia alongside that of the School's and the co-exhibition provoked a lot of local media interest - Granada Reports and North-West Tonight both interviewed her for programmes that will run on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th April.
Old Girl Anjali Pathak of Indian food giants, Pataks returned to Bolton School to give a masterclass in Indian cooking this week. She teamed up with top local chef, Mike Harrison and The Starlight Supper, held at the School’s Arts Centre, became an instant sell-out. Old Girls from Anjali’s year as well as from other year groups enjoyed a cooking class which revealed the secrets of gourmet Indian cuisine. During the course of the evening, the guests were taught how to deliver a perfect three-course Indian meal and then had the pleasure of devouring it! All funds raised on the night will be donated to MacMillan Cancer Support. Andy McAllister from Water4Ethiopia also visited the Senior Girls' Division this week on World Water Day, to raise awareness, along with money for the charity. Along with help from the girls, Andy and teacher Miss Rose Wilson sold Water4Ethiopia's own bottled water in the Main Hall at break and lunchtime. And at Beech House pupils got into the Sport Relief spirit on Friday with a cake, book and dvd sale to raise money for the cause.
In sport, a team of four Senior boys has achieved the remarkable feat of progressing through to the English Schools' Badminton Championship final, joining eight other regional school winners. Following their triumph at county level, the boys played against four other schools, encompassing the winners of Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire, to compete for the right to represent the North West region. The National final is to be held in late April. While our Junior Boys enjoyed a resounding 7-0 win over Arnold School in this year's final of the U11s' AJIS Football Cup.

16th March 2012

Primary school children from sixteen local schools visited Bolton School this week for the annual Primary Schools' Literacy Challenge. Year 5 pupils took part in three different sessions on the day including a reading challenge, a fun introduction to Shakespeare drama session and a third session of games and tasks based on 'The Odyssey'. The day concluded with the presentation of certificates and prizes. Every pupil received a certificate, bookmark and curly wurly for taking part, and all schools were given a book of children's poems as a memento of the day.
Pupils in the Girls' Division were encouraged to explore the option of continuing their education in Canada, with talks from two top universities. Damara Klaassen from the University of British Columbia and Janet Hurd from the University of Toronto visited the School to talk to girls from Years 10 to 13 about the option of studying abroad and the advantages it may present.
Year 11 pupil Holly Holt could be heard hitting some very high notes on Radio 3 on Thursday, live from the Bridgewater Hall! Holly is part of the Halle Youth Choir and was singing in their performance of Holst's Hymn of Jesus at the Halle Concert, which was broadcast live on the show. Holly has been singing since she was six years old and has always been involved in choirs at school. She has been a member of the Halle Youth Choir since September and also plays the flute in the Halle Youth Orchestra.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Fun Day at Bolton School on Saturday was a huge success. The maritime-themed event, attended by the general public, included a wide variety of displays detailing the RNLI's work, displays on the Titanic and the rescuing of over 700 passengers by Old Boy Captain Arthur Rostron on the Carpathia, as well as information on Tenacity of Bolton, the School's own sailing yacht. A beach life guard unit was at the School along with members from the lifeboat at Lytham.
Beech House pupils have raised an amazing £1,128.90 for Marie Curie Nurses by taking part in a Mini Pots of Care campaign. All 218 pupils took part in the fun and creative fundraising activity. The School was sent growing packs in the Autumn and each pupil planted their own daffodil bulb, then cared for it over the Winter and watched it bloom in the Spring. There was a celebration of all the blooms on Mini Pots of Care Day and a number of prizes were awarded, including for the tallest and yellowest daffodil.
And Old Boy swimmer Daniel Sliwinski gave a sensational performance to win the British Gas Championships' 100m breaststroke, and book his place in the Great Britain squad for this year's Olympics. Daniel swam a time of 60.09 in the breaststroke final at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, in London. The Championships double up as Team GB's London 2012 trials and by claiming gold, Daniel has guaranteed his place at this year's Games.

9 March 2012

The Boys' Division Amnesty Youth Group at Bolton School were visited this week by Gloria Pollack, who escaped from Chile to the UK in the 1970s when she and her family faced persecution under General Pinochet's dictatorship. The group, which meets weekly and is attended by pupils in Years 7-12, has recently been involved in a number of letter-writing campaigns including organising a petition for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, sent to Hillary Clinton, and sending a letter to the Justice Minister in Japan to ask for the abolition of the death penalty.
Congratulations go to Year 12 student Stephanie Gabbatt who has made the top ten long-list for Amnesty International's Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year, Sixth Form award. Her article, which focuses on child slave labour in Africa, has been chosen from over 3,000 applications from 150 schools. The long-list of ten will be whittled down to just three in the next couple of weeks and if Stephanie makes the top three, she will travel to London to attend a prestigious ceremony at Amnesty International's headquarters in central London on 9 May. And further congratulations in the Girls’ Division go to Year 10 pupil Rhiannon Fox-Rothwell who is now part of the North of England Girls' Rugby squad. Rhiannon has been playing rugby since she was three years old and played for Trafford MV and Eccles before joining current club, Tyldesley Girls. It was from there that she was scouted to play for Lancashire and she has been with the county team for the past two years. More Rugby as Bolton School played host to the first round of this year's Bolton borough rugby league competition with year 7 and 8 teams from Bolton School, Canon Slade, St.Catherine's, St Joseph's and Westhoughton Schools locking horns to get the town's rugby league back up and running. More rugby league followed with the school hosting a primary schools tag rugby festival on the levels on Thursday.
A team of four Year Eight boys has reached the final of the North-West junior 'School Challenge' quiz competition. Two teams participated in the first heat of this year's event, both of whom won their initial group stage comfortably before going on to meet each other in what would prove to be a gripping semi-final contest. The winning Boys’ Division team secured victory over Manchester Grammar School in the final. And this year's Boys' Division Young Musician of the Year evening saw the culmination of a month of superb music making. On the night, the Junior and Senior winners of seven musical categories - brass, guitar, piano, percussion, strings, wind and woodwind - battled it out for the overall award of Young Musician of the Year.

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