20 May 2016

The School bid farewell to Year 13 this week as they finished for Study Leave before their A Level exams.  The Sixth Form girls held their annual Leavers' Day celebrations with a theme of Childhood Memories, coming into School in fancy dress and enjoying games and a special lunch before departing for Study Leave.

The Sixth Form girls also brought in donations of toys as part of the Leavers' Day celebrations, following the tradition of making a charitable donation on the final day of school. These were given to Bolton Toy Library.

The Junior Boys were also seen in fancy dress for their annual Charity Fun Run, which this year supported the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Mad scientists, Star Wars characters, superheroes, sports stars and many more colourful costumes were seen on the Senior Boys' athletics track for the occasion. The boys ran laps in relay pairs and had lots of fun raising money for this very worthy cause.

The Boys' Division was invited to Buckingham Palace for a Garden Party to celebrate 150 years of the Barnardo's Charity. Mr Joseph, the Boys' Division Head of Sixth Form, represented the School at the celebration, which was hosted by the Duchess of Cornwall. The Boys' Division has been supporting Banardo's for over 25 years, raising tens of thousands of pounds for the charity.

The Senior Girls this term have raised over £700 for St Anne's Hospice. The impressive amount was raised though a non-uniform day.

Children in Reception were inspired by reading the 'Percy the Park Keeper' books to help to tidy up their local park. The children created posted to encourage people to use the bins and also collected litter that had been dropped. They really enjoyed helping their local community.

The Jazz Band impressed the audience at this year's Horwich Music Festival. The band played a number of varied tunes, including some well-known hits such as Moondance and Born to the Wild, and the pupils did very well with their performance, particularly the improvised solos.

A group of five Senior School guitarists rounded off the Junior Boys' Lunchtime Concerts series in style this week. Four boys were former pupils at Park Road themselves, and it was great to be invited back to perform at their old school for the current Junior Boys.

Twenty-three Boys' Division pupils also showed their musical talents at a concert held in the Arts Centre. These musical evenings are held twice a year in School and allow pupils the opportunity to perform in public.

Six Bolton School alumni returned to school to talk to current Year 6 pupils in as part of the annual Careers Carousel. With the opportunity to speak to a Deputy Chief Constable in the police force, a fashion designer, a TV producer, an architect, an entrepreneur, and members of a video production company, there was certainly something for all interests! The children found it fascinating to hear about the many different careers that alumni go on to pursue.

Boys in Year 13 were given a great deal of good careers advice from three alumni currently working in London. Old Boys Matthew Entwistle, Tim Lightfoot and Jon Marsden connected with the Sixth Formers via Skype to talk about their experiences of entering the world of business and their varied career paths since then.

Past and present Bolton School pupils helped the City of Manchester Water Polo team to victory in the Men's British Championship in Gloucester. Five Old Boys and a current pupils were present on the thirteen-man squad who played in this national competition, and went on to beat the reigning champions and British League champions in the final.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Jane Panton, who was Headmistress of the Girls' Division from 1994 to 2005. In her profile, she shares her favourite memories from her time at Bolton School, from the Girls' Division's 125th birthday celebrations to leading morning assembly.

13 May 2016

The Boys' Division held a special Anniversary Assembly to commemorate the School's 500th anniversary, looking at three key periods in the history of the School. This event coincided with the unveiling of a new 'Roll of Headmasters' board, listing all known Heads from the 16th Century to the present. The Assembly therefore contained personal recollections of four former Headmasters: Mr Brooker, Mr Wright, Mr Baggley and Mr Poskitt.

Click here to watch the Anniversary Assembly in full.

Children at the Nursery made a special card for the Queen to celebrate her 90th Birthday and posted it to Buckingham Palace. They were delighted this week to receive a Royal letter back in the post! The Queen's Lady-in-Waiting sent them a thank you card from the Queen and a personal letter, which they opened and looked at together.

The School announced a new level of fee assistance for the families of pupils applying for entry into Year 7 in Autumn 2017. This is aimed at benefitting middle income families. The new sliding bursary scales mean that more families may be eligible for some level of assistance. Full fee remission for families that need it will still remain. For more information, click the link and visit the School website.

Bolton School's Nursery has been nominated for the national 'Apprenticeship Employer of the Year Award' in the National Apprenticeships Awards 2016! They were put forward by Bolton College after showing exceptional levels of commitment to the apprentices who work at the Nursery. It is a great achievement to have been nominated for this prestigious award.

This week, the Girls' Division held the final of the Bolton School Bake Off: twenty-two contestants were whittled down over five weeks to the last three pupils, who went head-to-head to create 'Showstopper' bakes to impress the judges. All three girls excelled with their creations and showed huge amounts of skill and creativity.

Children in Year 2 enjoyed a day of adventure at the Anderton Centre! They learned about Bushcraft and tried their hand at Archery and Canoeing. The pupils had lots of fun challenging themselves with these new activities.

Boys' Division staff and pupils faced off in an entertaining dodgeball match, all in the name of charity. The “all-star” staff team had to compete against champion teams from across the year groups, watched by an audience of boys and teachers alike and with an excellent commentary provided by Dr Reeson.

The Year 7 girls took part in their very own Francovision Song Contest. This twist on the Eurovision was part of the pupils' French studies and had the girls creating and singing in a music video entirely in French. Their performances were then played in assembly, and the whole school voted for which they thought was the best.

All of the girls' Francovision entries are available to view on the School's website. Click the song titles to watch the music videos: Viens Tenter Ta Chance by 7B; Laisse-Moi L'Amour Aussi by 7C; Ma Vie C'est La Musique by 7D; Dis Oui, Dis Oui, Dis Oui by 7G; Qui Je Suis, Qui Somme Nous by 7S.

The whole of the Infant School got involved for an exciting Circusology workshop. There were lots of activities to try out, from spinning plates and juggling scarves to devil stick twirling and poi swinging. Pupils had lots of fun encouraging one another, finding out what they were good at, and seeing their own abilities improve over the course of the session.

The Inspiring Mind this week is former Headmaster Alan Wright, who took the post in 1983 and retired in 2008, making this the third longest headmastership in the School's history. In his profile, he reflects on his time at Bolton School, including some of the highlights: building the sports hall and swimming pool and the opening of the new Arts Centre by Princess Diana, including the abseil down the clock tower to present her with a box of Milk Tray! He also talks about the varied changes that took place during his almost twenty years at Bolton School, the many memories he made and the atmosphere he encouraged.

A fitting Inspiring Mind for the week in which the 'Roll of Headmasters' Board was unveiled.

6 May 2016

The Senior Girls' annual May Serenade was once again a moving occasion. The diverse and masterful renditions of a variety of pieces showed the range of musical talent across the Girls' Division. From solos to duets and quartets to full orchestral pieces, and musical styles ranging from the classical to modern chart hits, this was a really enjoyable evening.

A number of pieces from the May Serenade are now available to watch again. Click on the title to view: Für Elise (Senior Clarinet Choir), All Creatures Great and Small (Senior Flute Quartet), Fields of Gold (Senior Choir), Move (Joint Chamber Choir).

Year 5 pupil Janani Velayutham has been celebrating this week after winning the regional chess 'Megafinal' of the Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge! This means that she will go on to compete in the national semi-final round, called the Gigafinal.

Marcus Williams in Year 6 has been selected to fight for Great Britain in the Thai Kick Boxing Championships later on this year. Despite his young age, he has already claimed three title belts.

The Year 5 and Year 6 swimmers at the Junior Girls' School recently qualified for the ESSA National Finals following their excellent performance at the North West Division Championships! The five girls competed in two team relay events and took podium positions in each, earning them the right to swim in the national competition in June.

On Friday, the Boys' Division hosted Dutch U17 team Koudekerk for a match. The Dutch side regularly host the Bolton School team when the School visits Holland on tour, and it was the perfect opportunity to return the favour.

The School wished three Old Boys good luck at the end of the week as they headed to Turkey with the Great Britain Under 19 Men's water polo squad for the European Qualifying Tournament. Aaron Winstanley captains the squad, continuing a strong family tradition of playing water polo for Great Britain: his older brother Drew also played for the U19s in his time, while younger brother Jos was recently selected for the U16s.

The School recently hosted a Graduation Dinner for all of the gifted and talented Year 5 pupils who completed the SHINE: Serious Fun on Saturday Mornings programme. Fifty children from thirteen local primary schools took part in the cross-curricular sessions over eleven weeks, and enjoyed traditional lessons and unusual subjects alike. At the Graduation Dinner their achievements were celebrated.

Old Girl Nikki Reid has been commissioned an an officer in the British Army following a year of training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. She took part in the Sovereign's Parade, which marks the passing out of Officer Cadets.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Rita Garthwaite, an Old Girl who attended the School from 1957 to 1964 and former member of Girls’ Division Staff fro 1976 to 2006. In her profile, she shares memories of French lessons with Barbara Morley and walking up Winter Hill with Miss Higginson, as well as memories of exchanges and Princess Diana's visit to open the Arts Centre in 1993.

29 April 2016

Over the weekend, three members of the 19th Bolton (Bolton School) Scout Troop were presented as Queen's Scouts in a Royal Parade at Windsor Castle! Current pupil Nicholas Thompson and recent leavers Paul Greenhalgh and Thomas Chia have all achieved the Queen's Scout Award, the highest award in Scouting, and were presented with their awards during the first Scout meeting of the summer term.

Teams from 37 local primary schools filled 16 pitches at Bolton School for the annual Football Festival for Years 3 and 4. There was a great atmosphere as parents and family lined the pitches to watch the children play friendly matches against other schools. The children really enjoyed taking part in this fun-filled afternoon.

The fourth annual Girls' Football Festival also took place this week, with four schools from across the North of England taking part. The non-elimination tournament filled the afternoon with lots of enjoyable games and all of the girls played with great enthusiasm throughout. The eventual winners were Royal Grammar School Newcastle's A Team.

The Year 5 Spelling Bee saw sixteen pupils from eight local primary schools amaze the audience with their ability to spell increasingly complex words while remaining calm under pressure. The overall winner was Caroline Whitehead.

Year 6 pupil Hashir Sapra has been selected to join the England U11 Chess Squad. Although he has only been playing chess for a couple of years, Hashir really enjoyed competing and was delighted to have won himself a spot on the team after performing well at trials.

The Battle of the Bands was as ever a tough competition and all of the acts performed to a very high standard. The judge this year was Old Boy Tom Besford, who judged the four acts on their musicianship and the quality of their original song. The overall winners for 2016 were acoustic duo Matthew Kay and Jay Harland.

Matthew and Jay's performance of  'Talk' is now available to view, and their cover of Tom Petty's 'Free Fallin'' can be heard via the School's Soundcloud.

The Junior Boys' Spring Concert saw no less than ten ensembles, group and choirs perform over the course of the evening! There was also a fine solo performance from the Music Festival winner, and the wonderful Disney Medley finale sung by the Massed Voices of the Junior Boys' School. The whole evening was a musical delight, greatly enjoyed by everyone who attended.

The two pieces sung by the Lower School Choir at the Spring Concert are available on the School's Soundcloud: 'I Am a Small Part of the World' and 'Creatures of the Night'.

The Boys' Division celebrated the inspiring sporting performances of 2015-16 with the awarding of Sports Colours and Half Colours. Boys' achievements were recognised in an array of sports, from rugby, hockey and football to water polo, chess and even water skiing.

The first cricket report of the season is now available to view on our Cricket Scoreboard. Keep up to date with all of the news from Bolton School's cricketers with regular reports on this page.

The Sixth Form boys raised a total of £750 through completing a fancy dress Fun Run. They were supporting two charities: the Cleft Lip and Palate Association and Bolton Children’s Opportunity Group. The boys ran around the Levels in a variety of hilarious costumes and made for a very colourful spectacle.

Old Boy Aaron Winstanley is lined up to captain the England U19 Water Polo team as they enter the European Championships in Turkey next month, and looks ahead to the competition. He will play alongside fellow Bolton School alumni Chris Ray and Ben Riding, who have also made the team.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Alan Mitchell, a former member of Boys' Division staff (1950-1985) who was Deputy Headmaster from 1969 and took on the role of Acting Headmaster for a year in 1982-1983. Alan passed away in the summer of 2015, weeks before the Grand Reunion which he had planned to attend. His obituary, republished as his Inspiring Mind profile, captures a hugely respected character who is still fondly remembered by many alumni today.

22 April 2016

The Choral Evensong held at Bolton Parish Church saw Bolton School return to the site of its earliest incarnation for a celebration of the School's centenary and the quincentenary of education in Bolton. The service gave thanks to the School's many Founders and benefactors, and saw the Joint Chamber Choir, the Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ Choirs, the Friends of Bolton School Choir and the congregation raise their voices in song and celebration.

The second annual Duke of Edinburgh Awards Evening celebrated pupils' amazing achievements this week. Pupils were presented with their Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, and heard inspirational words from an Old Boy and Old Girl who have taken lessons from their Duke of Edinburgh and adventuring experiences into their everyday lives. Pupils also shared their experiences with the audience.

The Girls' Division held its annual Open Mic Night, hosted once again by acclaimed poet Mike Garry. The evening was a celebration of creativity: a selection of twenty-four girls from Years 7 to 13 performed their own poetry pieces with confidence and expression. Mike performed his own work during the second half of the evening.

Five Junior Boys and six Senior Boys have had their stories selected for the second round of judging in Chris Evans and Radio 2's 500 Words story competition! There were over 123,400 initial entries and just 4,500 have been chosen to go through to the next stage, so this is a great achievement for all eleven pupils.

Bolton School's Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provision has been judged "outstanding" in all categories by the Independent Schools' Inspectorate (ISI)! The report on the School's provision in its co-educational Nursery, the Reception year at Beech House Infant School and in Kidzone, the School's wraparound childcare club, found that "the overall effectiveness of the EYFS is outstanding."

The Nursery Class for Three- and Four-Year-Olds took a trip to Martin Mere this week to learn more about Spring and Growth. They found out lots of new information about birds and were excited to see the flamingos!

The Year 2 pianists took centre stage at Beech House this week for the Piano Recital. Twenty-six young performers played in front of an audience, many of them for the first time, with a great deal of confidence and talent. Their parents, grandparents and family members were delighted to be able to hear them perform.

The Senior Concert Band recently performed at the Music for Youth Festival, which was held in March at Wardle Academy. They performed three movements from 'Riverdance', and were praised by the adjudicators for their accurate rendition of this challenging work.

The Junior Girls' String Quartet won gold at the Ramsbottom Music Festival. The girls performed well enough to impress the judges and, as winners, were invited to perform a second time at the celebration concert at Greenmount United Reformed Church.

The Year 8 boys and some of the Junior Boys and Girls enjoyed a special touring production of 'The Macbeth Curse' held in the Arts Centre. This show, which was presented by the Octagon Theatre and Prime Theatre, gave an engaging and very funny introduction to Shakespeare's Scottish Play.

The Year 10 boys enjoyed an afternoon of leadership activities with the Army North West Outreach Team this week. Designed to improve their resilience, teamwork, and other soft skills, the tasks stretched the boys' abilities and challenged them to solve problems. As well as being a lot of fun, the pupils gained great experience from the event, which was organised as part of the School's careers programme.

Jameson Goloba and Luca Williams-Denton in Year 8 have been selected for the national Independent Schools' Football Association (ISFA) elite squad. Both were scouted after playing for the North West England team.

The Bolton School Junior Boys have enjoyed double success by winning both age groups in the Bolton Schools' Cross Country League. The Year 5/6 and Year 3/4 teams both did very well in the competition.

A group of Boys' Division pupils travelled to Elvington Aerodrome this week to take part in the regional competition of UKAYRoC, a national rocketry competition. They built their own model rockets, which had to be capable of reaching an altitude of 850 feet and remaining airborne for 45 seconds while safely carrying two raw eggs. The boys had lots of fun during the competition despite facing disaster when their second rocket exploded on launch!

Before the Easter holidays, the Junior Girls held their annual Spring Fair. A host of activities, stalls and entertainments filled Hesketh House, from Year 3 dancing around the Maypole to a Surf Simulator and even the opportunity to meet some reptiles. There were also some amazing cakes entered into the Junior Bake Off, both in the 'taste' and 'decoration' categories!

The Bolton School Jazz Band received a Gold Award at the regional heats of the National Concert Band Festival in November, and were invited to perform at the national finals! The adjudicators were full of praise for the band and gave some excellent and useful feedback following their performance.

This week's Inspiring Minds are Margaret Dickinson and Veronica Millington, two long-standing members of Girls' Division staff who both left the School in 2006. They share their reflections on their time as teachers at Bolton School, as well as the many projects they have worked on together during their time at School and since their retirement.

15 April 2016

This week, Bolton School welcomed pupils from Rumworth School's Sixth Form for a fun, interactive chemistry lesson. The Ladybridge school had its roof blown off over the Easter weekend, but Bolton School was able to step in and host a session run by Dr Yates and Bolton School Sixth Form students while the laboratory was being repaired.

The Under 13 Football team ended the season in triumph this week, winning the Town Cup in the final game, which was played on the Old Boltonians' pitch. The boys were heartily praised by Boys' Division Head of PE Mr Johnson following their success.

Coco Jones took to the stage at Salford's Lowry Theatre in a production of The Herbal Bed, a play about Shakespeare's daughter, over the Easter holidays. She played Elizabeth Hall, the Bard's granddaughter, alongside a cast of professional actors.

The Junior Boys had a wonderful time on their ski trip to the Superdévoluy in the French Alps! Regardless of ability, the boys enjoyed tackling the slopes in various weather conditions and improving their own technique. They also had fun with a host of evening activities.

Hollie Asquith, who is in Year 6 at the Junior Girls' School, travelled to France over the Easter weekend to take part in an international artistic rollerskating competition. Hollie skated two dances against sixteen rival competitors from across Europe and as far afield as Paraguay! She eventually took fifth place overall: a great achievement.

Another Junior Girls' School pupil has also had some recent sporting success. Dinburgh Ai was crowned the North West's Under 9 Rhythmic Gymnastics Champion at a competition held during the Easter holidays!

Two Old Boys have been selected for the British team who are heading to Turkey for the Men's European U19 Water Polo Championships in May. Aaron Winstanley, who will be team captain, and Chris Ray both left the Boys' Division in 2015 following their A Levels.

This week's Inspiring Mind is Old Boy Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, who attended Bolton School in the early 1880s before going on to become a sailor and eventually a captain. His Inspiring Mind profile has been posted 104 years to the day after his ship the Carpathia received a distress call from the Titanic. Under Captain Rostron's leadership, the Carpathia travelled 58 miles and rescued 706 survivors of the Titanic disaster, who were then transported to New York; sadly one man died en route. His testimony, along with that of the survivors, resulted in the Board of Trade changing the regulations which remain in place to this day. Captain Rostron was given numerous commendations for his actions that day, including a Knighthood.

8 April 2016

This year's Joint Production of Doctor Faustus was a huge success! With spectacular costumes from the Royal Exchange Theatre and a talented cast who brought the atmosphere of the play to life from the moment the audience entered the performance space, the Joint Production was stunning on every evening of its four-night run. The audience also enjoyed a linked art exhibition and 'science as magic' tricks during the interval.

Click here to view a gallery of images from Doctor Faustus.

Pupils were thoroughly entertained and enthralled at a pair of comedic lectures from Classicist, author, comedian and broadcaster Natalie Haynes! Natalie visited School to give a lunchtime lecture in the Studio Theater, which was packed full of pupils of all ages, followed by a subject-specific talk about Greek comedy and tragedy to pupils studying  Classics and Drama. Her witty anecdotes took students on a whistle-stop tour of the Classical world that was full of fascinating facts.

The Under 13s water polo team enjoyed double success in March: they qualified for the ESSA National Finals, and also took first place at the Greater Manchester School Games Water Polo competition! They are the third age group to qualify for the ESSA national finals, and hope to complete the hat-trick and bring home the third and final ESSA national title for the School when they compete in May.

Girls' Division Year 10 pupil Thea Simpson joined some of her fellow water polo players from the Boys' Division in becoming a young leader at the Greater Manchester School Games Water Polo competition. This was a great experience for all of the pupils, who took on a number of roles to assist with the running of the competition.

Boys' Division pupils in Year 9 took part in a Careers Afternoon in the last week of term. With careers as diverse as accountancy, civil engineering, app and web design, the Royal Navy and the construction industry represented, there was something to interest everyone and some options boys may not have previously considered. Old Boys Chris Norman and Rob Nugent were two of the guests, and gave inspirational talks on the day.

The Junior Girls took part in Shakespeare Week by studying the work of the Bard, looking at some of the creative insults he came up with in his writing and then having a go at making up their own! The Year 4 girls then tried acting out scenes using their newly created insults, and also drew characters based on their work.

As the end of term approached, the Junior Boys enjoyed taking part in two Electro City Lego workshops, in which they built their own town from Lego and then used their knowledge of simple circuits to light up the windows! The boys worked together creatively to make each building and had lots of fun taking part.

The whole of the Port Sunlight Gala Concert is now available on the School's Soundcloud page. Click here to enjoy the music from this wonderful event again.

Old Boy Neil Eckersley is set to produce the UK and Europe tour of acclaimed musical Wonderland when it arrives in the UK in 2017. The magical musical, based on Lewis Caroll's Alice and Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has already enjoyed sold out international seasons in Tampa, Texas and Tokyo.

Old Girl Heather Henry has been nominated for two national awards! She studied to become a nurse after leaving Bolton School, but after a career in the NHS decided to set up her own business with the aim of helping the most disadvantages to help themselves through partnership with local communities. This has been a huge success, and has led to her being nominated for the Open University Business School's Alumni of the Year Achievement Award, which is voted for by fellow alumni, and the RCNi Child Health Award, open to nurses involved in improving the health of young people.

Heather is also this week's Inspiring Mind. Her profile, in which she talks further about all of the work she does to help communities and make a difference, as well as discussing some of her favourite memories of the Girls' Division, is available here. She also offers current pupils advice and gives her thoughts on the 100 Bursary Campaign.