Friday, 30 January 2015

30 January 2015

Bolton School has now issued iPads to all pupils across the Foundation, even those in Beech House! Each year group at the infant school for 4-7 year olds has a set of iPads for use during the school day, and the children are already enjoying the inspiring new ways of learning through the technology.


Year 12 students Alexandra Hopkinson and Sarah Ibberson led the Girls' Division in a solemn assembly to honour Holocaust Memorial Day. This moving occasion encouraged pupils to remember the individual victims, rather than dwelling on the impersonal numbers, and also created a spectacular temporary memorial of over a thousand electric tea-lights on the stage in the Great Hall.

A new Friends of Patterdale Hall group has been set up to support the School's adventure learning and residential centre on the shores of Lake Ullswater, and new members are welcome to join! The group's first President is Old Boy John Amatt, now an eminent international adventurer and mountaineer.


The Girls' Division was placed top of the league table for Bolton after 97% of students achieved five or more A* to C grades (including English and Maths) at GCSE. The School is also in the Top Ten for Greater Manchester, and in the top 40 across the country based on 89% of girls achieving the English Baccalaureate!

The Junior Boys' artistic endeavours went on display in the Arts Centre this week in a special exhibition for family and friends! The Year 6 pupils' excellent landscape paintings were displayed during the evening, refreshments were served, and everyone agreed that the artwork was very impressive. The paintings will go on public display in the Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton from Monday.


Friday, 23 January 2015

23 January 2015

There was excellent news for our Sixth Formers this week, as a total of ten current pupils and two recent alumni received Oxbridge offers! This is a fantastic achievement for all of the girls and boys, who have had to face a gruelling application and interview process to win their places. We wish them luck in achieving the grades needed to accept their offers.


Last weekend, Year 13 pupil Aaron Winstanley was selected as one of the talented thirteen water polo players to represent Manchester in the team's first match of the British Championships. Sharing a pool with Commonwealth athletes and Old Boys on both sides, Aaron held his own and played a strong game - even managing to score and help Manchester on their way to victory!


The first Tea at the Riley of 2015 was bigger and better than ever, with support from Unilever Food Solutions and a grant from vInspired! The girls also welcomed special guests from local care home Beechville for the afternoon, in addition to other visitors from the local area.


The Year 11 girls were out and about this week: on Wednesday the whole year group took a trip to Bolton Lads and Girls Club to learn about National Citizen Service (NCS). This is an amazing opportunity for them to get involved with their local community, help out, and also gain valuable skills for their own development. The session at Bolton Lads and Girls Club was designed to introduce them to the idea in a fun and accessible manner, which will hopefully inspire them to take part in the scheme this summer.


Bolton School's Infant and Junior Schools are holding an Open Afternoon on Thursday 23 April 2015 from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. This is a great opportunity for bright, inquisitive children and their parents to enjoy tours, meet staff and pupils, and get to know more about our co-educational Infant School and single-sex Junior Schools.


Friday, 16 January 2015

16 January 2015

The first full week of the new term started with a fresh challenge for Boys' Division pupils. In Monday afternoon's SPACE session, the boys got to try out the new activities they had chosen for 'Triads' - from fencing to book discussion, filmmaking to dissection, hillwalking to ice skating!

At Beech House, pupils in Years 1 and 2 were able to dance with real ballet stars on Tuesday! Michael Berkin and Emily Edwards ran a series of workshops throughout the day, teaching the children ballet moves and putting together little routines based on the dances in The Nutcracker.


There was great news from several alumni this week. First of all, recent leaver Tejal Shanbhag has been awarded a Great Exhibition Scholarship! This is sure to help her a great deal with her Engineering studies at the University of Cambridge.

Old Boy Professor Nigel Slater also shared his recent appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge. He will take up this important post in January next year.

It is set to be an exciting weekend for a number of current and former pupils: three Sixth Form students and three Old Boys are members of the Manchester Men's Water Polo Squad, and could be selected to play on Saturday in the opening match of the British Championships! They will be playing at home in the new East Manchester Leisure Centre against Portobello, the Scottish team in which yet another Old Boy plays! This is certain to make for a very interesting match indeed.


In the Girls' Division, Ellie Bridge and Abigail Duckworth in Year 7 and Isobel Faulkner in Year 13 have been selected to join the Bolton Town Cross Country Team! Congratulations to all three girls.


Girls on the talented athlete programme were also given the opportunity to hear from recent leaver Siân Pledger about her experiences since leaving Bolton School. She gave the girls plenty of inspiration to forge their own path and never give up on their dream. As well as talking about her academic career from GCSE to university and the importance of completing qualifications, she also gave great advice for continuing to compete in their chosen sport. She also touched on how to cope with injury: her own injuries have kept her off the track since 2011. However, Siân is now due to compete in the UK National Indoor competition this weekend!

The School also hosted a Women in STEM Careers Day on Friday for girls in local Ogden Trust schools and Girls' Division pupils. With six guests from a variety of STEM careers, there was plenty for the girls to learn and discuss!

Finally, Pop Project paid the Junior Boys' School a visit to give boys in Years 3 to 6 an entertaining and interesting history lesson. Basing everything around music, they walked the boys through the key historical events of each decade from the 1950s to the present day. This fascinating presentation was full of music and fun, and encouraged the boys to sing and clap along throughout. They had a fantastic time while learning about the changes that have taken place from then to now.


Friday, 9 January 2015

9 January 2015

With the start of the new term and the new year, Bolton School is now busy with preparations for its 100 and 500 Year Celebrations! The first reference to a school in Bolton was in 1516, when Bolton Grammar School for Boys was recorded as “a going concern”; almost exactly 400 years later in 1915, the Bolton School Foundation first came into being when Lord Leverhulme brought together that first school with Bolton High School for Girls to become the Boys' and Girls' Divisions that we know today. The School is planning a series of exciting 100/500 Celebration events to span the anniversary years of 2015 and 2016. Current pupils, staff, alumni, parents and friends of the School are all welcome to join us for these special occasions.


Last Saturday was the first of this year's SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturdays sessions! The programme runs over the course of ten weeks and gives gifted and talented primary school children the chance to challenge themselves and widen their learning.


Thursday this week is our annual Entrance Examination Day, and we are very excited to be able to welcome the Year 6 pupils who are hoping to join us for the next academic year!

The Riley Sixth Form Centre was entered into the Natural Stone Awards 2014! At the prestigious Awards Ceremony at the end of last year, the building received a commendation from the judges in the ‘New Build Modern Style Stone Cladding’category.


Finally, if you were watching CBeebies over the Christmas break, you might have spotted some of the pupils from Beech House Infants School! After a fun-packed day of filming in school, the children's footage was used as part of the CBeebies Bauble Bop.


Monday, 22 December 2014

19 December 2014

The evening of Friday 12 December saw a large gathering of Old Boltonians witness the inauguration of Sir Philip Craven as President of the Old Boltonians’Association. During his acceptance speech, he spoke of his fond memories of attending the School from 1961 to 1969. He also briefly talked about his career, which has taken him all over the world both as a Paralympian and in his current role as President of the International Paralympic Committee.

Saturday evening was the final night of Rats’ Tales, the School’s first ever Lower and Middle School Joint Production, which ran over three nights and showed that the School’s younger pupils can give the senior students a run for their money when it comes to putting on a show. 

Another Old Boy, Professor Malcolm Stevens returned to the School to offer his wisdom and recollections to Year 9 boys ahead of them making their GCSE choices.



The final week of term was one for much joyous carolling with the Junior Boys’ Choir singing on the cobbles of Coronation Street as they entertained those on Christmas tours of the studios, Senior Girls holding a traditional Ceremony of Carols and Senior Boys celebrating the festive season with their uplifting Christmas Festival.  Beech House Infants were also busy and you can read about the Year 2 celebrations here, as well as a special guest to the Infant School and the help that children gave to CBeebies in recording their Bauble Bop links.





Senior School pupils remembered those less fortunate themselves contributing an outstanding 1,000 packets of after-dinner mints and crackers.

Away from Christmas, there were several other news stories over the course of the week.  Year 10 and 11 boys marked the centenary year of the First World War by performing an extract from R C Sheriff’s Journey’s End and a student-devised piece on the theme of conflict.  After a term of rehearsal, they put on the performances in front of an audience of parents and friends.

Senior Girls enjoyed victories in their “friendly” indoor netball and lacrosse games against returning Old Girls and former school team players.

Amir Khan, fresh from retaining his WBC boxing title in Las Vegas at the weekend, returned to Bolton and paid a visit to Park Road where the Junior Boys were advised to work hard and chase their dreams.



The School was also delighted to announce the launch of a number of new academic Scholarships for girls and boys entering Year 7 of Bolton School in September 2015.


Friday, 12 December 2014

12 December 2014

Last Friday, the Year 7 charity representatives used their lunch break to take part in a trolley dash around Bolton's Toys R Us store! Earlier in the term, they raised over £2,300 through a day's Sponsored Silence, and were spending the money to buy gifts to donate to Key 103's Mission Christmas Appeal, in support of the charity Cash for Kids.


Over the weekend, Year 11 pupils from the Boys' and Girls' Divisions were joined by students from local schools for a special Maths and Physics Morning. There were opportunities to try out workshops and taster sessions in the two subjects, but the highlight of the day was the presentation by 'Rock Doctor' Mark Lewney!

The Junior Girls' School chess players recently took part in the latest AJIS Chess Tournament where they all performed well. Several girls came away with medals, and Year 6 pupil Amerleen won a trophy for winning all her games!

It was an exciting week for the School's elite athletes this week, with a visit from former football internationals Mark Lawrenson and Trevor Sinclair. A-Level P.E. students, the 1st XI footballers and other elite athletes from the Senior Boys' and Senior Girls' Schools gathered together for an interesting and informative talk from the pair, who gave a recap of their schooldays, careers in professional sport, and everything they have done since retiring from playing football.


The Year 6 girls took part in a Pantomime Workshop in the Senior Girls' School theatre this week. Led by Mrs Smith, they learned all about what elements go into a pantomime before rehearsing and performing their own, shortened versions of the classic tales Cinderella, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood.

There was exciting news from the Junior Boys' School this week: Mrs Susan Faulkner has been appointed the new Head and will take over from Mr Stephen Whittaker from Easter 2015. Mrs Faulkner has been the Deputy Head since arriving at Bolton School in 2011, and will be the first female Head of the Junior Boys' School!

A group of four Sixth Form girls have been taking part in Debating Matters, a national competition aiming to offer a fresh and engaging format for debating contemporary issues. The girls took part in the local competition, with the team split into pairs to debate different topics, and managed to argue their way into the North West Final next year!

Year 13 pupil Jessica Broome was this week awarded a certificate to celebrate that she is a 'Society Selected Artist' after submitting a piece of her artwork to be considered for inclusion at the Royal Society of British Artists Exhibition 2015. She was shortlisted by the Bolton branch of NADFAS.

In the Boys' Division, Biology teacher Mr Teasdale has been working hard since the start of the year to bring animals back into his subject through Animal Care Club, where Year 7s and Sixth Formers work together to look after a wide variety of creatures from cockroaches to a bearded dragon! The popularity and success of the club has led to an invitation for him to present the Club at the Science on Stage Festival in London next summer!


Over the past few weeks, the rehearsals have continued for the Friends of Bolton School Choir. There is still plenty of room for news members and the Choir is looking for tenors and basses. Anyone interested in joining should come along to the first rehearsal of the New Year on the 7th of January, at the new start time of 7pm.

Sixth Formers from both the Boys' and Girls' Divisions recently teamed up for the annual KPMG Enterprise Trophy competition. The gripping final took place on Wednesday, with six mixed teams presenting their business propositions before a panel of external judges. The overall winners were iControl, with their app to control home lighting from anywhere in the world.

The School has certainly begun the countdown to Christmas this week, with carol services and nativity performances taking place.

Last weekend, the Senior Concert Band performed at the NSPCC's Carols by Candlelight concert in Manchester Cathedral. They played two pieces, and also provided accompaniment for 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' which was sung by the audience.

The Reception classes at Beech House Infants' School performed their Nativity, 'Whoops-A-Daisy Angel', which interweaves the tale of a clumsy angel with the traditional Christmas story. The girls and boys sang traditional carols and more modern songs, as well as learning lots of lines so that they could tell the whole story themselves!


Also at Beech House, the Year 2 classes put on 'Midwife Crisis' - a humourous retelling of the Bible story with the insertion of a midwife who thinks that the King whose birth she is sent to preside over must take place in a Palace! She is of course mistaken, but eventually finds her way to the stable to meet the Baby Jesus. The children really enjoyed putting on the nativity play and the parents were delighted with their performance!

The Junior Girls put on their own Nativity Celebration which once again mixed the modern and the traditional. They congregated with parents and grandparents in the Girls' Division Great Hall, which was filled with music as the girls put on a variety of songs for the audience. The musical accompaniment from the Junior Girls' flautists and percussionists made the performance even more special.

The Junior Boys' annual Carol Service was another beautiful occasion. Their voices filled the Boys' Division Great Hall with traditional carols and readings from the Bible, as well as more modern pieces of poetry and prose, to tell the Nativity story.

Finally, the week ended with National Christmas Jumper Day - and the Girls' Division and Sixth Form Boys were more than happy to take part! The girls and boys were joined by Girls' Division staff in wearing either a festive jumper, Christmas hat or tinsel decoration, and everyone paid £1 to support Save the Children. This was a fantastic way to end a week full of Christmas cheer.


Friday, 5 December 2014

5 December 2014

Over the weekend, the Old Girls' Christmas Market kicked off the School's seasonal festivities in the Arts Centre and Riley Sixth Form Centre. There were plenty of gift ideas and treats to look at with stalls selling a wide variety of wares, from lovely clothes to fine foods and drink!


On Saturday, the Junior Boys shone at the latest AJIS Chess Tournament. Four boys won individual prizes, and two teams were placed first and second! This was a great achievement for all of the boys on the chess team, and the latest in a long string of successes for them.

There was lots of excitement for Beech House's Year 1 pupils as they took a trip to Blackpool Zoo! They enjoyed a workshop on different habitats and got to meet lots of different animals.


Local year 6 pupils visited Bolton School recently to take part in the annual Maths Challenge. Teams from fourteen schools were pitted against one another in the competition, which aims to get children involved in maths in a fun way. Well done to the overall winners: Wood Fold Primary School.

Twelve girls have been selected for the Lancashire Lacrosse U15 squads, and two to the reserves. This is a fantastic achievement for all of the girls - especially as two of the girls are in Year 7!


Young sports players from the Boys' and Girls' Divisions were given an interesting and informative talk on Tuesday from an RFU Anti-Doping representative. He spoke to pupils about drugs in sports and the dangers involved - not just from illicit drugs, but also the potential hazards of over-the-counter medication or supplements that may contain substances that are banned in certain sports.

On Thursday, over 1,000 pupils from schools across the north west were wowed by The Flash Bang Show, the Royal Society of Chemistry's annual Christmas lecture. Held in the Boys' Division Great Hall, the show involved a wide variety of chemical experiments, presented in an exciting and accessibly way - and of course with plenty of flashes and bangs!


Last week Alicia, Haleemah, and Madeleine were interviewed on Key 103 about their sponsored silence for Cash for Kids. You can now listen to their interview on the School's Soundcloud!