19th October 2012

Bolton School pupils joined around 20,000 children in over 40 countries across the world to compete in the World Marathon Challenge - a challenging simultaneous relay race in support of Save the Children. Children aged 11-13 raced around a track or suitable area in their country in teams. Each child ran a 200m stretch several times each, passing a baton to their team-mates, each team covering a total of 26.2 miles – a full Olympic marathon. GB Beijing Olympian Tom Lancashire came along to the Bolton Arena to officially start the Bolton School marathon challenge. Our pupils completed their marathon in 2h 22mins and 26 seconds putting them in a very respectable 151st at the present time out of over 400 teams from all around the world. The School also hosted a community football tournament at its Leverhulme Pavilion as part of our Primary Liaison programme. Over 200 children from 24 different primary schools from Bolton and Bury took part in a busy day of football. The year 3/4 tournament was won by Horwich Parish and the year 5/6 tournament was won by St John's Bromley Cross. A trophy was presented to both winning teams by Bolton Wanderers' captain Kevin Davies.

Old Girl of the School Dame Janet Smith is to head up the BBC’s inquiry into the Jimmy Savile scandal. It was announced that she and ex-Sky News executive Nick Pollard will jointly lead the BBC's independent reviews. The former Court of Appeal judge is known for her acute grasp of complex legal matters, highlighted when she chaired the Harold Shipman inquiry twelve years ago. As part of their careers programme, girls from years 10 to 13 at Bolton School Girls’ Division had the opportunity to listen to a number of speakers with successful creative careers, several of whom were old girls of the school. Some pupils were lucky enough to take part in workshops on the day, which allowed the girls to explore the variety of different routes available to them if they decide on a career in the Arts.

Junior girls enjoyed an afternoon of healthy eating with the H Factor - the annual healthy eating initiative which sees the children making smoothies, researching healthy food options using netbooks, taking part in quizzes and sampling a range of foods. One highlight of the afternoon was the Smoothie Bike where children got to blend their own smoothie by pedalling as fast as they could! And the hunt for the new Bolton School Girls' Division Masterchef is officially underway! Week 2 saw the remaining contestants battling it out with their stuffed peppers or mushrooms.

12 October 2012

Staff and pupils have been busy preparing for our Open Morning this week. Come and join us on Saturday 13th October from 9.30am to 1.00pm and see for yourself what our school can offer you.

Also this week Sixth Form students from both the Boys’ and the Girls’ divisions of Bolton School attended a lecture by Dr Jay Kennedy – the man who ‘cracked the secret code in Plato’. Dr Kennedy teaches at the University of Manchester and is a celebrated Science Historian and expert in the field of history and philosophy of mathematical physics. He is famous for his research which led to the huge discovery of a mathematical and musical code in the works of Plato. The School also hosted the Frontiers of Physics lectures, bringing together over 250 pupils and 60 parents and staff from 7 schools in the Bolton and Leyland areas. Pupils were treated to a series of lectures and the opportunity to asked real scientists questions. For the finale of the event the great hall was linked, via video conference, to CERN in Geneva where Scientists treated the audience to a short presentation on their work and pupils even had the opportunity to talk directly to the Scientists at CERN. Each year Bolton School plays host to an instrumental workshop, and this year it was the turn of the piano. The piano workshop was directed by Jonathan Middleton who teaches at Chetham’s School of Music and at the Royal Northern College of Music. The event was for all piano students, from beginner to advanced, and Music students from local secondary schools were also invited to join Bolton School students for the day.

The Boys' Division welcomed a delegation of Chinese Headteachers this week, who were visiting Bolton on a self-funded trip to the town after a group of Heads from Bolton had visited China back in 2010. The British Council had funded the Bolton Heads' trip as part of its drive to foster educational links between developing countries and the UK. The Chinese party was set to make a variety of visits as they got an overview of educational provision in the borough and the Bolton Headteachers attempted to replicate the hospitality shown to them in China. Whilst at Bolton School they met senior staff, had a tour of the School and visited several in session classes.

Also this week the Bolton School U13 footballers made it into the last 16 of the national ISFA Cup. The boys beat Leeds Grammar School 4-3 in the cup match after a very exciting penalty shoot out. And Beech House pupils presented a cheque for £312.60 to Bolton Wanderers Captain Kevin Davies, for his Charity ‘KiDs of Bolton’. The pupils raised the money for the local charity through a cake sale at the School.

5th October 2012

Exciting times for the new Sixth Form Centre build as the first steelwork is now in place! This puts the £7m build in the heart of the campus bang on schedule for the completion date in time for the 2013 Autumn Term. View a live feed from the build webcam

Also this week Bolton School hosted its annual Maths Challenge for local Primary Schools to help get young people involved in Maths in a fun way. Primary Schools sent out their best mathematical minds to compete in three challenges, including a maths crossword, head to head general maths questions and a maths relay. The Maths Challenge is fast becoming another established community event at the school, alongside the SHINE programme and the Language, Sports, Literacy, 5-a-side Football and Science Festivals which Bolton School run for local Primary Schools.

Ten year 13 students were fortunate enough to attend the Radio Five Victoria Derbyshire Live Debate at the Bridgewater Hall as part of the Labour Party Conference in Manchester. The boys joined an audience of over 200 Radio 5 listeners at the debate with Senior Shadow Cabinet Ministers and Trade Union Officials.

At Park Road the boys celebrated their annual Harvest festival in aid of the Drop-in Centre at St Luke's Church on Chorley Old Road. The Reverend Stuart Cornes of St Luke's Church. spoke about the importance of family and community and highlighted the Olympics as a great example of this. The boys and their parents brought in a wide range of food items to donate to the drop-in centre, which works to help the homeless, long-term unemployed and the elderly.

And our Nursery pupils were amazed and excited to receive a message of thanks from the Queen! As part of their Jubilee celebrations, pre-school children made a Jubilee card which was sent to Her Majesty, and were delighted to receive the response.

28 September 2012

The first few weeks of term have been as busy as usual!

Bolton School became the first school from the North of England to win the U15s’ ESCA/ECB T20 National Cricket Final with an emphatic 10 wicket victory over Whitgift School from Croydon. Across the country over 1,000 schools entered the competition and, earlier in the summer, Bolton School became Northern Winners after overcoming Sedbergh in the final. More sporting success as year 11 pupil Jonny Williams won the Under 15 National Series in the Youth Freestyle Kayaking competition in Nottingham. Following his win, Jonny then went on to win the Under 18s’ first of four heats for the Nationals.

Year 11 pupil Katie Hurt has been awarded a full membership of the Halle Youth Orchestra for her cello playing. Katie, who also plays the piano and flute, has been signed up for the 2012/2013 season following a successful audition on the cello which she has been playing since she was in Year 1. And year 13 pupil Rachel Zarrouk has won the Cambridge Psychology Essay writing competition. Rachel is the first ever winner from Bolton School and went to Cambridge to receive her £300 prize.

The School has had a number of visitors in the new term. Year 12 pupils in the Girls’ Division received expert business tips and motivation from 2008 Apprentice finalist Claire Young, as part of a Business Enterprise and Skills Training Day. Successful businesswoman Claire spoke to the girls about her own career, her time on The Apprentice, and the qualities she feels make her a successful businesswoman. Her overall message to the girls was that with hard work, drive and determination anything is possible.

Olympian Ed Scott, who left Bolton School in 2006, returned to school and wasted no time in returning to swimming pool where he first learnt to play water polo and where he honed his skills which allowed him to play in goal for Team GB at London 2012. Ed, just back from having taken part in the spectacular victory parade through the capital, spent an hour in the water passing on tips and coaching advice to Bolton School’s elite water polo players.

And National Geographic Cameraman, Leon McCarron, visited Hesketh House to talk to the girls about his life as an adventure cameraman. In May 2012, Leon concluded a 3000 mile walking expedition, trekking the length of China from Mongolia to Hong Kong and filming along the way. Leon spoke about his adventures, in particular his 3000 mile walk through China. He told of his experiences on the trip including meeting the people and seeing the country on foot, and of problems he faced and lessons learned.

6th September 2012

It was great to see former Bolton School pupils playing a key role in the Paralympics opening ceremony, an event described as "both spectacular and deeply human" by the London 2012 organisers. Old Boy Sir Ian McKellen joined Professor Stephen Hawking to narrate a scientific ‘journey of discovery’, and also played Prospero, a character from Shakespeare's The Tempest in the spectacular ceremony. Fellow former pupil, Sir Philip Craven, entered the ceremony with The Queen, in his role as International Paralympic Committee President.

More good news as the Girls’ Division has been ranked in the top 100 Schools in the UK, based on GCSE results. The Girls’ Division was ranked 83rd in the table, released by the Independent Schools Council. The listings are based on the proportion of exam entries awarded A* or A, which was 72.48 percent in the Girls’ Division. It was one of just three schools in Greater Manchester to make the top 100.

Bolton School's History magazine 'The HistOracle' has won 'Best School History Magazine' for the second year running! To receive the 2012 title in the ‘Young Historian Project’ awards, is a huge honour for the School and the magazine, which is a biannual publication of eclectic historical essays and articles produced by boys of all ages. Two boys also received individual awards for articles they wrote for the magazine. This year, a new Lower and Middle School history magazine will be launched, hopefully to challenge ‘The HistOracle’ for the top spot!

There was more History on the menu during the summer break as Year 9 boys took part in a History trip to the First World War battlefields, and laid wreaths to honour Old Boys of the School who were killed during the war. Wreaths were laid at Vimy Ridge and Thiepval memorials in Northern France, and at Tyne Cot memorial in Belgium, where Bolton School Old Boys are commemorated. The four day trip included visits to the ‘In Flanders’ Fields’ and ‘Passchendaele Memorial’ museums in Ypres, a tour of the trenches and tunnels at Vimy Ridge, key sites on the Somme and attendance at the Menin Gate memorial ceremony.

And Philip Britton, Headmaster of the Boys' Division, now has over 100 followers on Twitter! The Head began his tweets in the Summer Term and he regularly comments on the day-to-day activities of the School and on wider educational issues. You can keep up-to-date with his tweets here: https://twitter.com/Philip_Britton

August 2012

Pupils, staff and parents celebrated an excellent set of GCSE results at Bolton School. In the Girls’ Division, there were many individual success stories with 13 girls obtaining a full set of 11 A* grades; a further 3 girls obtained 10 A*s, 4 girls obtained 9A*s and 2 girls obtained 8A*s. All in all, 44 girls out of 110 got only A* and A grades. In the Boys' Division 26.1% of all papers were graded A*, 60.1% were graded A*-A and 85.4% were graded A*-B. Two boys achieved 10 A*s. A further eight boys attained at least 9 A*s. 100% of boys reached the government's benchmark of 5 A*-C passes, including English and Maths.

This follows the success of our Sixth Form students who performed outstandingly well in this year’s A levels with the overall results being almost identical! The percentage of passes at A* or A was 52.4% in both the Girls’ Division and the Boys’ Division. The Girls’ Division saw 79.4% of grades at A*-B whilst the Boys’ Division recorded a pass rate of 74.8% at A*-B. The percentage of passes at A* was very high across both divisions - 17.4% in the Boys’ Division and 16.2% in the Girls’ Division. Overall, the Girls’ Division achieved a pass rate of 99.1% and the Boys’ Division a pass rate of 99%. Well done to all!

Staff from Bolton School Nursery finished in 6th place in the Salford Quays Dragon Boat Challenge! The challenge was between charities ‘Child Flight’ and ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ and Claire Thompson, Amanda Twigley, Sandra Woodbridge, Tracey Cairns and Catherine Manville were part of a team racing for ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’. Out of 29 teams they made the final and not only came away with 6th place raising lots of money for the charity, they also became the Mixed Champions of 2012, receiving medals and a trophy.

And young cricketers got the chance to meet their hero when Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff paid a visit to Bolton School. Freddie's visit was part of a one-week Cricket Academy for local boys and girls, aged 5-16 and of all levels of ability. The week was one of several academies run in conjunction with Activate Sport and the Co-operative, which are taking place across the UK with the aim of inspiring an early interest in cricket. Participants experienced professional coaching and skills sessions, mini-tournaments and, of course, the question and answer session with Freddie.

July 2012

The Summer Term finished in style at Bolton School as over 350 pupils and staff took part in a colourful and spectacular world-record breaking African dance in the School's Centre Quad, sealing a day of fundraising activities. Meanwhile in Africa, Maasai warriors also danced at the same time and each event was relayed on a giant outdoor screen via a Skype link-up. The event was part of a whole day of fundraising activities - including a 10 mile walk to Rivington Pike - for the LivLife charity which provides free education and vocational opportunities to children and adults in Tanzania. And retiring Boys' Division Captain Nick Fairclough and new Head Girl, Heather Harrison, "cut the first sod" as work began on the construction of a new £7m Sixth Form Centre in the heart of the Bolton School campus. Staff from across the campus gathered to watch the symbolic cutting of the turf on the last day of term and work is now well underway on the new centre, which will be ready for Sixth Formers in September 2013.

It’s never a dull moment even during the holidays as Strictly Come Dancing star, Brendan Cole, visited the School to teach Bolton children some of his famous moves. Brendan’s visit was part of The Brendan Cole Dance Academy which took place in the Arts Centre. Students experienced professional choreography with head coach Chris Wilson and sessions include a steps workshop, routine building, an end of course performance and, of course, the question and answer session with Brendan.

While at 08:12 on 27th July, a group of Bolton School girls joined thousands of people across the UK to ring in the first day of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the national event ‘All the Bells’. The event was a London 2012 Festival commission by Turner Prize winning artist and musician Martin Creed, entitled ‘Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes.’ This could be any sort of bell, by anyone, anywhere. The tower at Deane Parish Church took up the challenge and invited girls from Bolton School to take part.