Bolton School

Over the Easter holidays, Year 12 pupil Haseeb Hameed was appointed Captain of the England U17 Cricket team just days before they travelled out to tour Sri Lanka! Haseeb enjoyed his time in Sri Lanka and is now looking forward to the start of the English cricket season.

This week saw the conclusion of the Bolton School Bake Off! After eight rounds, just three contestants were left to compete in the final during Wednesday lunchtime. The girls all baked delicious dishes for the judges, Miss Hincks and Miss Wadey, and worked right down to the last minute to ensure everything was perfect! However, there could only be one winner: Anna Hill, with her twist on the classic vanilla slice.

On Wednesday evening, Girls' Division pupils gathered together for the May Serenade. As the final musical event before the exam period, this was a moving occasion for the Year 13 pupils involved, as it will be the last time they perform as members of Bolton School. It was an evening of beautiful music, and certainly a fitting send-off for the Sixth Formers. A video of the Middle School Choir performing 'Catch a Falling Star' is available here.

You can also listen to the whole May Serenade concert on Bolton School's Soundcloud.

Old Girl Shakti Patel has been awarded an Engineering Leadership Advanced Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering. This is an amazing achievement, and will give her the support she needs to become a leader in her field.

Finally, the Girls' Division Environmental Club and History Club joined together on Thursday to plant poppy seeds in memory of those soldiers who lost their lives during the First World War. They sprinkled poppy seeds along the side of the netball courts, and expect to see the flowers bloom in July.

Four Year 11 boys have been given second place in the Oxford Network German Olympiad! Chris Boulos, Giri Nandakumar, Jordan Reed and Anchit Chandran entered the group section, and did very well to impress the judges with their work.

There has been plenty of action for Bolton School's cricketers recently!

England U17 cricketer Haseeb Hameed led the Bolton School team to triumph in the first round of the HMC T20 Competition last week. Haseeb scored a century in both of the games played - a fantastic achievement!

The U13 cricketers have also been out and about recently. This week, we received a report of their Worcester tour and news of their more recent successes!

The staff have also been out on the cricket pitch! After a five year absence, the staff team went up against Duke of Darwen's XI and emerged victorious.

However, the big story this week is that today was the Year 13 pupils' last day in school before Study Leave. The Girls' Division celebrated in grand style, with the girls in fancy dress and a Leavers' Lunch in the Arts Centre. It was a fantastic send-off for the girls, who are now launching into final preparations for their A-Level exams.

On Wednesday, the Year 8 girls were given a spectacular Career Day which hopefully expanded their horizons and showed them how varied their future options can be. There was an acting masterclass for the whole year group, followed by talks on Civil Engineering, Fashion and Design, Entrepreneurship, Microbiology.

We also found out that two Year 10 boys were given the amazing opportunity to commentate at the ASA National Youth Water Polo Championships! They both really enjoyed the experience, and it was a huge privilege to be able to learn from the professionals.

The Year 8 girls rounded off the half term with a brilliant French language performance titled ‘Mon pére ne me conprend pas’- a play with a hint of magic about a girl who doesn't get along with her father. The girls found no difficulty in understanding the language and enjoying the play to its fullest!

The Senior Boys School cricketers had cause for celebration on Friday: their victory over Sedbergh School saw Bolton School become the North-West T20 Cricket Champions and Fred Kenyon Cup Winners!

On Friday, despite inclement weather, the Junior Boys donned fancy dress and headed for the Levels for their annual Fun Run! As the afternoon wore on, the sun began to shine and the boys really started to enjoy themselves. There was a really wide variety of creative costumes on show, and there was fun to be had even for the spectators as they spotted their own children and the characters represented by others. This year's chosen charity is Bolton Hospice.

The Junior Boys' Football Team headed down to Wembley on Friday to represent Bolton Wanderers in Saturday's Kids' Cup Final - and won! The boys had a fantastic time, and playing football at this iconic venue is a memory that will last a lifetime.

There were a couple of history trips before the half term break. The Year 8 girls visited Squire William and Mistress Mary at Turton Towerfor a day of history. Their ‘Tudor-era’ hosts were really welcoming, and talked to the girls about the house and what life would have been like back then.

Meanwhile the Year 3 Junior Girls travelled to Chester to enjoy the Dewa Roman Experience! They had a great time learning the ‘tortoise’ battle formation from a Roman soldier and trying on Roman-style armour and clothing for themselves.

Over the half-term holiday, Alumni who left school in the 1940s and 1950s returned to school for their reunion. There were 140 Old Boys and Old Girls present, and everyone had a great time reminiscing with their friends!

Last weekend, Old Boy Matthew Lamprey scored his first try for his county in the Beaumont Cup Final. His efforts helped Lancashire beat Cornwall to win the trophy.

We also learned this week that school Governor Charles Cowling completed the Brathay Trust 10in10 Challenge by running ten marathons in ten consecutive days! This amazing achievement raised money for the Brathay Trust and the Company of Actuaries Charitable Trust Fund.

When pupils returned to school, some pupils had a few additional treats in store. The Year 4 girls’ classroom was invaded on Monday by a friendly Viking, who came to tell the girls about the Vikings’ lives and that the ‘bully-boy’ stereotype is not entirely accurate.

The pupils at Beech House Infants School were visited on Tuesday by two first nation Canadians, who came in to speak to them about the American West. They wore traditional costume and brought with them a number of artefacts, including some which were over a century old. One of the children even got to wear a 185-year-old wolf headdress!

On Thursday, the Year 3 girls were off timetable for the first ever Outdoor Learning Activity Day. With archery, orienteering, bush craft and team building activities on offer, the girls were really excited to take part and the day certainly did not disappoint.

This week, the final launch preparations got underway for the Bolton School In Space Project! The capsule has been painted, and the boys and teachers involved are now watching the weather in the hopes of launching their high-altitude balloon next week! The launch document with full details will be posted on habhub.org and ukhas.org.uk, and the balloon can be tracked on 434.650MHz RTTY 50 baud. You can also follow @BoltonSchTech on Twitter for updates.

Various Boys' Division musicians travelled to Brownlow Fold this week to give two concerts to the primary pupils. The Intermediate Guitar Group, Classical Guitar Quartet and Parallel Oreos performed alongside soloists Jake Rajbhandari and Arran Ireland.

Forty pupils from ten local primary schools were invited to the Girls' Division on Thursday for a Technology Day based around a Carnival theme! They had a fantastic time trying out three technology subjects: Food Technology, Resistant Materials, and Textiles. At the end of the day, they had colourful masks, fancy headdresses and hand-made pizzas to take home.

Thursday evening saw the Treasures of Bolton School revealed in an evening focusing on Lord Leverhulme. Historical artefacts, including the School Chest, Headmaster's Chair and Chained Library, were explored, whetting everyone's appetite for the 100/500 Celebrations which will start in 2015.

On Friday, four Boys' Division cricket teams doffed their academic caps after a week of school exams and headed out onto the pitch for a series of matches. Although the U13 team were unsuccessful this year, the U12, U14 and U15 teams played admirably and are now at the quarter final stage in the LSCA County competitions!

In the Junior Boys' School, the football team who played their way to Wembley - and won - are still buzzing from the experience! The boys are enjoying celebrity status even three weeks later. The stories from the day are sure to be remembered for years to come.

There was also some good news from one of the school's Old Boys this week. Clarinetist Arun Ghosh was recently awarded Instrumentalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards!

Finally, thanks to a report commissioned by the ISC, it came to light this week that Bolton School contributes £17m to the local economy! This is in addition to the school's input through charitable and volunteer work and the various programmes of events that the school organises for the wider community, including the Primary Liaison Programme, music concerts and recitals, and physics events in liaison with the school's Ogden Teaching Fellow.

The Bolton School in Space project has finally achieved lift-off! The capsule climbed to a height of 108,000 feet and captured incredible footage and stunning photographs of its ascent and descent. The Bolton School in Space team overcame technical difficulties in order to retrieve the capsule and recover the camera with these amazing images:

The end of last week saw the Years 7-10 Summer Production of Oliver Twist, based on the classic novel by Charles Dickens. The cast can certainly consider themselves a huge hit with the parents, teachers and friends who came to watch the performance on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening!

This week started off with a couple of cricketing success stories. Last year's U13 team completed some unfinished business and finally played Merchant Taylor's for the Lancashire Cup. The team played in brilliant sunshine at Formby Cricket Club, and Bolton School won the Lancashire Cup 2013! They are hoping to repeat the success in this year's competition.

The 1st XI team were out playing cricket last weekend. They faced off against GSL Leeds and also came out victorious.

On Monday, pupils studying GCSE and A-Level history in the Girls' Division received an excellent talk from university lecturer Dr Martin Alexander. He spoke about the causes of the First World War and gave students plenty to think about.

The school also hosted the annual Sixth Form Volunteering Celebration Evening on Monday. This was a fitting celebration of the Year 12 pupils' dedication to voluntary work, and the time they give up for their local community - which totaled 11,798 hours this year!

Watch the short film "Bolton School Volunteering - Making a Difference for Good" here.

The Riley Sixth Form Centre received its official opening on Tuesday. A plaque was unveiled in the Sixth Form Centre Reception by Governor Ian Riley, who was also the chief benefactor of the building, in front of dozens of guests that included donors, governors, present and former Head Teachers, current and past pupils, and other friends of the school.

There was an impromptu beekeeping lesson on Tuesday, as half of the Bolton School hive decided to move house alongside a newly-hatched queen bee! The honey bee swarm was very calm throughout, and provided an excellent education opportunity for students.

On Wednesday morning, the Year 2 pupils at Beech House played host to two special guests: RAF pilot Paul Hutton and ex-RAF pilot John Dunning, who are both Old Boys. They came in to speak to the pupils about their experiences with the Air Force and about flying more generally. The Year 2s were delighted by the visit, and had plenty of questions to ask!

Both Old Boys then joined eight other alumni for the Hesketh House Careers Carousel. These ten former pupils inspired Year 6 pupils from Park Road Junior Boys' School and the Junior Girls' School with tales of their chosen careers.

Old Boy Sir Ian McKellen received an honorary degree from the University of Cambridge. He was made a Doctor of Letters as part of the ceremony.

Four boys travelled down to Oxford to receive prizes on Wednesday. In a ceremony which took place at Oxford's Bodlean Library, they were awarded second place for their entry into the Oxford German Network's German Olympiad. The boys also received tours of two of the colleges from Old Boys who are now studying at Oxford.

Finally, Matthew Boyers recently earned a place on the Lancashire U18 rugby squad! He is also attending a training academy with Warrington Wolves.

Last week, Bolton School hosted the Bolton Children's Fiction Award Ceremony! This was a fantastic event, with all six nominated authors in attendance! Year 7 and 8 pupils from sixteen schools in the region arrived in the morning for talks from the authors, and stayed to enjoy the lunchtime Awards Ceremony itself. Joe Craig, who won the award himself in 2006, presented the 2014 award to this year's winner: Gillian Cross, author of After Tomorrow.

The Year 6 Junior Girls were also busy on the literary front. Following on from their study of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, they put together their own scripts and staging for a shortened version of the play, which they performed in front of parents. This forms part of the school's celebration of Shakespeare's 450th birthday.

The Girls' Division's GCSE and A-Level artists were given a great opportunity to showcase their talents and the best of their work at the University of Bolton! This was part of the Best of Bolton Schools' Art and Design Exhibition. Bolton School Year 13 pupil Jessica Broome won the Best Fine Art prize at the exhibition.

The Sixth Form linguists were busy with trips in the past week. On Monday, Year 12 boys and girls studying Spanish travelled to Aston University in Birmingham for the International Relations and Languages Sixth Form Conference. They listened attentively to two lectures, which were both fascinating and informative.

On Wednesday, three A-Level French students visited Liverpool University to meet with Dr Ian Magedera. They have been invited to assist him in his research into Representations of India in French Literature and Culture from the eighteenth century onwards, and went to the university to receive the appropriate training.

The Joint Jazz Band will in a few short weeks be setting off on a trip to Switzerland for the Montreux Jazz Festival! They will be performing two sets at the Parc Vertex venue as part of this prestigious festival, and to celebrate are holding a Pre-Tour Concert on Wednesday 2nd July.

The Boys' Division Brass Ensemble gave a special performance at Kearsley West Primary School as part of the Community Music Programme. They delighted the pupils and teachers with well-known pop tunes and themes from TV and film.

In sport, the week began with lots of fun in the sun at the Primary Schools' Sports Festival. Budding athletes from sixteen local schools were invited to Bolton School for a carousel of sporting activities designed to test their skills and to allow them to compete for the trophy.

On Thursday, the Marylebone Cricket Club visited the school. This led to two fantastic cricket matches which were watched with great interest!

Bolton School U13's cricket team enjoyed a very close T20 match against the MCC Hub team, which is based at the School. This was followed by an awards ceremony for the MCC Hub players which named two boys the U15 and U13 players of the year.

The Bolton School 1st XI team welcomed the MCC for what has become a prestigious annual fixture in the school's cricketing calendar. With opponents including opening batsman Tom Liversedge, a former captain of the school team, as well as a plethora of other established local cricketers, this was a great challenge for the 1st XI team. The MCC side ultimately proved victorious, but it was a great afternoon of cricket for all involved.

The Boys' Division celebrated the past year's achievements and successes at Prizegiving. Students collected over 100 awards and listened attentively to the words of Headmaster Phillip Britton, Chairman of Governors Mr Michael Griffiths, and Old Boy The Venerable Jonathan Boardman, Archdeacon of Italy and Malta, Chaplain of All Saints, Rome and a Canon of Malta Cathedral.

Year 12 pupils in the Boys' and Girls' Divisions were also given the opportunity to learn from another former pupil this week. Group Captain Mark Northover of the RAF returned to school to give a talk on leadership. The Girls' Division Great Hall was packed for this event, which stressed that anyone can learn the correct skills and behaviours to be a great leader.

Boys' Division pupils also remembered the sacrifice of their predecessors this week. The boys who will be attending this year's Battlefields Trip received copies of Remembered with Honour, a book compiled by Dr Eric McPherson to commemorate Old Boltonians who died in the First and Second World Wars. This book will be presented to all boys who attend the trip between 2014 and 2018 to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Finally, the Junior Boys finished collecting in the last of the sponsorship money from their annual fancy-dress Fun Run this week. They presented the cheque for £5000 to a representative of Bolton Hospice during morning assembly, as well as learning a little more about the history of hospice care, the work Bolton Hospice does, and how the money raised will help.

This week saw the Boys' Division SPACE programme for this academic year draw to a close. The Year 10 boys enjoyed a carousel of activities on the theme of music and dance, while the Year 7 boys played a Fairtrade Football tournament! This initiative, which was run for the first time this year, has been a huge success and has allowed the boys to develop outside of the normal curriculum and the classroom.

The 1st XI cricketers used their final SPACE session to take on the Forty Club - a nomadic cricket club which aims to encourage young people to play cricket in the best spirit. Despite their best efforts, the Bolton School boys were not able to defeat their opponents, but it was nonetheless a great afternoon of cricket and the boys could learn from the more experienced players.

Year 12 cricketer Haseeb Hameed, who is on the 1st XI team, has recently been praised for his performance during the Lancashire 2nd Team match against Warwickshire. His batting helped secure the team's victory.

On Tuesday, a group of Year 7 and Year 8 girls were given a tour of the recently re-named Macron Stadium. This 'access all areas' tour even allowed them to run out of the tunnels! The girls were awarded medals for their successful completion of the Bolton Wanderers' Community Trust football club course.

Also in sport, the Year 7 Rounders Team returned victorious having won the Town Championships!

The Sixth Form boys and girls took part in the first ever inter-divisional Young Analyst of the Year competition! Working in pairs, two of which were mixed, each team was asked to complete an undergraduate level Chemistry task which involved a practical component and a series of calculations, both of which really tested their abilities.

The Girls' and Boys' Divisions also hosted the annual Science Festival for Year 5 pupils in the local area. The pupils were given five tasks, split between the two Divisions, with each one focusing on different aspects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The children had a fantastic time learning about science in an entertaining environment.

We also learned this week that children who attend private school will earn £193,700 more on average in their early careers than their state educated peers. This is according to a new independent report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) think tank, which analyses the Sutton Trust's Open Access programme.

Beech House was thrilled by a couple of special events this week. On Wednesday, the pupils were given a short assembly on dog safety, and one class received a special visit from a puppy at the end of the afternoon!

On Thursday, Beech House was overrun by 'every bear that ever there was' for a Teddy Bears' Picnic! Despite the weather, the children and their bears had a great time with 'lots of wonderful things to eat and wonderful games to play'.

The Junior Girls put on their annual Summer Concert this week. They gave two performances of 'The Song of the Earth', both of which delighted the audience of parents and grandparents. Headmistress Mrs Brierley said of the Concert: “Through song, percussion, poetry recital and dance, the girls wove their way through powerful descriptions of how human beings impact the Earth.”

You can listen to the music and songs from 'The Song of the Earth' on the School's Soundcloud page: click here.

The Junior Boys were also in fine form last week with their production of Tom Sawyer. The boys performed the play, complete with several musical numbers, on three consecutive nights to an audience of parents and grandparents. The shows were a great success!

Finally, Bolton School is delighted to announce that it will be hosting this year's North of England Girls' School Association (GSA) Girls Go Gold Conference on Thursday the 18th of September. The keynote speakers are Olympic rower Helen Glover and Jenny Meadows, the current indoor 800m European champion. The day is designed to inspire the girls attending to believe anything is possible with the right mental attitude and lots of hard work to develop their talent.

The last few days were packed full of events as the Summer Term drew to a close.

Over the weekend, Boys' Division pupils from Year 7 to 13 put together a Pop-Up Exhibition in the Market Place, Bolton. All of the artwork displayed was created for the exhibition and illustrated some aspect of the pupils' experience of Bolton School.

Last week, Old Boy Sir Ernest Ryder was formally installed at the new Chancellor of the University of Bolton. For the next three years, he will represent the university.

In the same week, two Bolton School alumni, a former school governor and a former headmistress of the Girls' Division were awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Bolton! They received their degrees alongside this year's graduates, and alongside famous faces such as Ryan Giggs and Martine McCutcheon.

Old Girl Aimee Parkinson returned to Bolton School on Monday to give Sixth Formers a talk on working in commercial property. This was a very informative session that allowed the pupils to ask plenty of questions.

Old Boy and Nobel Prize winner Sir Harry Kroto visited the school on the last day of term to promote chemistry to primary school pupils. Four-hundred Year 5 pupils from local primary schools attended the workshop session in the Sports Hall. They listened attentively to Sir Harry's presentation, and afterwards were able to build their own model 'buckyballs', which re-create the structure of the C60 Buckminsterfullerene molecule.

Gifted and talented pupils at a cluster of Farnworth primary schools have recently enjoyed and prospered from extra Maths lessons from two Bolton School teachers, Phil Howard of the Boys’ Division and Lauren Reynolds of the Girls’ Division. These specialist 'Maths Clubs' have raised the children's grades in their SATs and given them additional confidence in their mathematical abilities.

Girls' Division Year 7 pupil Amy Chicken has recently taken part in the Junior Manchester Run and Great Manchester Cycle to raise money for LivLive, a charity with strong links with the Girls' Division.

Year 6 pupils at the Junior Boys' School have also been hard at work. Five groups of boys became young entrepreneurs to raise money for charity, and their ideas and and business plans were very successful. Together they raised £776.15 for Cancer Research!

In sport, the Girls' Division Year 10 Tennis team achieved second place in Division 1 of the AEGON Teams Tennis tournament.

Meanwhile in the Boys' Division, the Intermediate Tennis Championship Finals were held. After preliminary knockout rounds throughout the Summer Term, the last two pupils in the Year 9 and Year 10 groups battled it out for the trophies.

Finally, Year 7 and Year 8 girls rounded off the Summer Term with a spectacular Celebration Evening. The evening of entertainment was based on the theme of 'A Tale of Two Cities' and traced the musical heritages of Liverpool and Manchester.

You can listen to a selection of music from the Celebration Evening on the school's Soundcloud page: click here.

The Bolton School Joint Jazz Band hung out with Paloma Faith at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival! In between playing their two sets on the 'Music in the Park' stage at Parc Vertex, they found time to watch some of the other acts and drink in some of the Swiss culture.

You can listen to one of the tracks from their performance at Montreux on the school's Soundcloud:

As the summer weather started to improve, the Nursery took a group of children out for the first official Forest School session. The children really enjoyed being outside in a natural environment, and were given lots of choices of things to do throughout the session.

The end of term saw the Nursery bid farewell to the 'Butterflies' who will be going on to infants' school in September. They gave the children a fitting send-off with a Wild West themed Leavers' Party! With lots of games, a bouncy castle, and even ice creams for everyone, it was a fantastic afternoon.

The Senior Schools were recently included in the Sunday Times Guide to the Best North West Schools, with both Divisions ranking highly. The Boys' Division and Girls' Division were listed as the top single-sex schools north of the M60.

There have also been some amazing individual achievements towards the end of term:

Girls' Division maths teacher Miss Reynolds recently won a grant of £7430.00 in the Let Teachers SHINE competition! She will go on to develop her idea for a maths project that will take pupils off the normal curriculum and experience maths from a different angle.

Kiran Cheema from Year 9 was awarded second prize in The Children's Bookshow national poetry competition! She wrote a poem titled 'Meant to be', which was based on a favourite piece of art.

Thea Simpson, who is in Year 7, has been selected to take part in a National Academy Water Polo Camp at Millfield School over the summer. This is a great opportunity for Thea to develop her skills in the sport that she loves.

Finally, one of the Girls' Division's Year 7 pupils will soon be on television: Sharon Daniel is set to compete in Channel 4's Child Genius television programme! Sharon is one of twenty children chosen from over 2,000 applicants to take part in the second series of this amazing intelligence competition. The first episode of Child Genius will be on Channel 4 this Sunday the 20th of July at 9pm.

The big news this week is undoubtedly that Girls' Division pupil Sharon Daniel has made it through to the final of Channel 4's Child Genius! We found out in July that chess prodigy Sharon was in the running for the title, and now she has made it through the previous three rounds to face the other five finalists.

We will definitely be watching on Sunday at 9pm to see how she gets on!

Artwork and creative writing by girls in Year 6 and Year 9 has gone on display in Bolton's Market Place. There is a wide variety of written pieces all based on the First World War, from fictional 'letters home' to poems, and many different styles of art to look at, including propaganda posters. This fantastic display will remain in the Market Place until the end of the August Bank Holiday Weekend.

After the Joint Jazz Band's spectacular performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the musicians and Miss Berry travelled on to Luxembourg City. They not only took part in a special workshop at the city's conservatoire, but also were able to play in the main bandstand to a very appreciative crowd!

The Year 8 boys have also been on tour over the summer. They travelled out to Holland for a Water Polo tour with coach Mr McGinty. They played against teams from five different clubs of varying ages. Although they often found themselves facing much older and more experienced opposition, they acquitted themselves very well throughout the tour and won the majority of their matches.

Closer to home, children with a passion for sport had the chance to meet their heroes this week! Bolton School once again hosted the Andrew Flintoff Cricket Academy, and the boys taking part were lucky enough to meet professional cricketer Darren Maddy! Darren coached the boys in the nets, advising them on both their batting and bowling, and passed on his knowledge in a question and answer session.

Young netball players also took part in the International Netball Roadshow this week. The girls taking part in the sessions, which took place in Bolton School's Sports Hall, were able to meet former England Netball Captain Karen Atkinson! Karen put the girls through their paces with a series of tough training exercises, focusing on ball skills, attack, and defence. She also took questions from the girls, and gave them plenty of hints and tips for improving their skills in future.

The children at the Nursery have been busy preparing the garden for the arrival of their new greenhouse. They helped the grown-ups to fill planters with compost and put various plants into the soil before watering them in. The garden they helped to create will soon become the Nursery's dedicated gardening area.

The Bolton School in Space team, who earlier in the year sent up a high-altitude balloon into the stratosphere, received a further accolade over the summer: they have been featured on Atmospheric Optics, the leading website in this field. Two pictures of an ice halo around the sun, one taken from the balloon and one from ground level, have been featured.

We also learned recently that the majority of the Gifted and Talented children who took part in the 'Maths Club' run by Mr Howarth and Miss Reynolds have achieved Level 6 in their Maths SATs, and the rest gained marks in the 90s from the Level 3-5 paper! This is a fantastic achievement for the children involved.

Finally, staff and parents from the Nursery will be taking part in the When You Wish Upon A Star Dragon Boat Challenge in Salford on the 16th of August! They are keen to maintain their podium position this year and hope to raise £850 to help make children's Christmas wishes come true. Visit the JustGiving page to donate!

A-Levels Results Day took place this week, and Upper Sixth pupils returned to school to celebrate another year of excellent grades.

In the Girls' Division, 15.4% of grades were at A*, 75.9% of papers were graded A*-B, and 91.1% of grades were at C or above. Almost half (48.3%) of the grades awarded were at A*-A and six in every ten girls achieved at least ABB grades. Four girls received three or more A* grades; five will go on to study at Oxford or Cambridge; and a number of students achieved excellent results while balancing their studies with extra-curricular pursuits, from playing sport for their county to making music with the Halle Youth Orchestra.

Pupils from the Boys' Division achieved top grades as well: 16.7% achieved an A* grade, and 91.1% of grades were at A*-C, which was an increase from 89.1% last year, bucking the national trend! Almost six in ten students achieved a minimum of ABB grades. A great many boys achieved excellent exam results while also pursuing a variety of personal interests. Four achieved three A* grades and two have secured Oxbridge places; the vast majority will go to their first choice university.

On receiving her A-Level results and learning that she had achieved the grades needed to attend Imperial College, London, Jennifer Heyes had an additional reason to celebrate. Her A*AA grades have secured her the prestigious Blue Tree Scholarship for the duration of her four-year course! The scholarship is awarded to bright and dynamic students who demonstrate a passion and talent for engineering.

One of the Girls' Division's younger pupils also had cause to celebrate this week: last Sunday, Sharon Daniel was victorious in Channel 4's Child Geniuscompetition! Despite some tense moments in the final, Sharon pulled through and was crowned Child Genius of the Year 2014.

Bolton School has been updating its online archives this week: over 100 years of school magazines are now available online! Every edition of both the Boys' and Girls' Divisions' magazines can now be viewed via school's digital archive. With each one providing a review of the year, dating back to 1899 for the boys and 1893 for the girls, this is an amazing resource and a window into the school's past.

The school has also recently released a free online flip-book and PDF download of Fanny Eliza Johnson: A Thoroughly Modern Victorian Headmistress, a book about the headmistress of Bolton High School for Girls, which would later become Bolton School Girls' Division. Written by former Girls’ Division teacher Veronica Millington, the book offers great insights into the history of the Girls' Division between 1888 and 1893.

It's the start of a new term at Bolton School, but over the holidays there have been a few events worth celebrating:

GCSE pupils and their parents joined teachers in the Boys' and Girls' Division Great Halls to receive their exam results.

In the Boys' Division, 28.1% of grades were at A* with eight boys achieving a set of perfect grades! The boys bucked the national trend, achieving their best results in English in three years, particularly in English Literature. Results in STEM subjects were also strong. Almost 91.4% of boys achieved a minimum of 10 A*- B grades, and 93% of grades overall were graded A*- C.

In the Girls' Division, 29% of GCSE papers were given an A* grade. Five girls achieved the impressive haul of 11 A* grades, with a further five receiving 10 A* grades. 59.4% of papers were graded A*- A, which is a great achievement or the girls, and 23% of girls secured a minimum of 11 A*- A grades!

Four pupils had an extra reason for celebration: one girl and three boys were awarded prestigious Arkwright Scholarships. This year there was a 100% success rate for Bolton School candidates! The process involved a detailed application form, two-hour aptitude test, and an in-depth interview where candidates had to talk about a project they had undertaken. Chris Battarbee, Bethany O’Donnell, Alex Seed and Niall Woodward will be awarded £600 over the course of their A Level studies through the Scholarship, as well as many opportunities to enhance their knowledge of engineering.

Bolton School's Sixth Form students have also been enjoying personal successes over the summer.

Cricketer Haseeb Hameed has proved himself in fine form for Lancashire's 2nd XI team, even impressing the first team coach, Glen Chapple!

Natasha Lomas has had a very musical summer: not only has she obtained a scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music for her clarinet performance, she has also passed her diploma in saxophone performance and toured Europe with the Joint Jazz Band!

Sam Critchlow received a GEOSET award for his video about the lives of Marie and Pierre Curie. The award, for Streaming Media - Education, is is one of several annual awards granted by the GEOSET initiative to recognise the hard word of those who contribute to the project. GEOSET was founded by Bolton School Old Boy Sir Harry Kroto.

Although pupils only returned to School this week, the campus was buzzing with activity even before the start of term: the School was delighted to welcome back the cast and crew of Last Tango in Halifax returned to the School during August. The School was used as a filming location for certain scenes from series 3 of the television programme.

Later on this term, and continuing until March 2015, the School will also play host to the Historical Association's monthly lecture series, which will use the Girls' Division Theatre for this year's social meetings. There will be talks about every period in British history, from the middle ages to the Cold War, which will be delivered by a variety of highly qualified experts. The History Departments are particularly excited by November's lecture, which will be delivered by renowned historian Professor Sir Peter Hennessy.

The Old Girls' Association has been as busy as ever during the holidays, organising a Cooking Masterclass with local chef Mike Harrison. This will take place in the Arts Centre on Friday the 17th of October, with the proceeds split between the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation (PMSF) and the Bolton School Old Girls’ Association.

There has been further good news from Bolton School Alumni this week: KPMG announced that Old Girl Katie Clinton and Old Boy Tim Cutler have been appointed two of the four new partners at KPMG’s Manchester office! This is a fantastic achievement for both of them, and we wish them well in their future endeavours.

The first full week of term has been as busy as ever for Bolton School.

We are still learning of some of the exciting achievements of our students over the summer months. Year 12 pupil Dominic Walker has won two medals in national swimming competitions! He took part in the ASA National Youth Championships, where he won gold, and the 2014 School Games, where he came away with bronze - a fantastic achievement in both cases.

Year 13 pupils Lydia Hounat, Natasha Hall and Rachel Fines spent 30 hours over the summer assisting a research project with Liverpool University. They searched Google Books for digital copies of books in French on the subject of India. This was a fascinating opportunity for them to increase their language skills, and an interesting project to take part in.

Last weekend, the First football team travelled down to Chigwell to compete in the ISFA Sixes Tournament. After excellent play from the Bolton School boys throughout the day, they achieved third place in the tournament, and won the Plate competition! Read the full match report here.

Monday saw the return of the boys' SPACE sessions. The Sixth Form enjoyed a talk from Old Boy Barry Nightingale, who imparted his 'Life Lessons' to them in the Great Hall. Meanwhile, Year 7 learned more about Lord Leverhulme and the many traditions of the Boys' Division in the Arts Centre.

The Year 9 boys enjoyed a rather more hands-on experience in their first SPACE session of the year. They travelled down to the Bolton School scout hut, Brookside, where they took part in a tree survey led by representatives from the RSPB. This was a great opportunity for the boys to learn more about the natural world around them.

Tuesday saw pupils gather for Whole School Photographs. The Junior Boys' School (Park Road), Boys' Division Senior School, and both Junior and Senior pupils in the Girls' Division congregated to take part in a tradition dating back to the late Victorian period. It was quite a spectacle to see the whole School brought together!

On Thursday evening, students, teachers, parents and friends gathered in the Girls' Division Great Hall for Presentation Evening. The Guest Speaker was Lesley Ainsworth, who gave a incisive address about change, choice, and the importance of developing skills beyond the academic.

Left to right: Head Girl Jessica Melling, Mrs Griffiths, Chairman of Governors
Mr Griffiths, Guest Speaker Lesley Ainsworth, Headmistress Sue Hincks,
and Deputy Head Girls Ananya Baksi and Khamillah Mohammed

The Girls' Division is looking forward to hosting the annual Girls Go Gold Conference next week! Girls from schools around the country will travel to Bolton School to take part, while still more will visit St Catherine’s Bramley for the Southern Conference. With keynote speakers Jenny Meadows and Helen Glover, and a host of expert speakers and workshop leaders including former England netball captain Tracey Neville, the event has been a sell-out for months, and promises to be a very special day for everyone involved!

You can preview an online version of the Girls Go Gold Programme by clicking here.

Yesterday, Bolton School Girls' Division hosted the northern Girls Go Gold Conference 2014! With keynote speakers Helen Glover and Jenny Meadows, sessions run by Tracey Neville, Victoria Cotton, Sonia Oxley and Dr Lindsay Hill, and Sports Rehabilitation activities taking place at Bolton University, this was a fantastic and inspirational day which really showed the attending girls 'Where Sport Can Take You'.

You can read some quotes from the day here.

Year 4 pupil Georgie Sykes is a young gymnast with a great deal of passion and dedication to her sport. Over the summer, she flew out to Malta to compete in an international competition, and was awarded rosettes for her 'good' and 'very good' performances!

This year, A Level PE is thriving more than ever before, with twenty-two students studying the subject! This includes several Girls' Division pupils joining the Boys' Division cohort.

Recent Leaver Tejal Shanbhag has been awarded a scholarship from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers! This is a fantastic achievement and will help her for the duration of her Engineering degree at Trinity College, Cambridge.

On Monday, the Year 12 girls took part in a Business Enterprise and Skills Training Day in order to practice their soft skills. A number of guests ran workshops focusing on various aspects of business, and the keynote speech was given by Deputy Chief Constable Janette McCormick of the Cheshire Constabulary, who is an Old Girl of the School.

The Boys' Division has recently been celebrating its new status as a 'FairAware' School. The Fairtrade Foundation has awarded the school with this status following the past year's many activities designed to raise both funds and awareness within the school community. However, this is not the end of the road - the boys are now working to win 'FairActive' status for the school, with the aim to eventually achieve the highest award: 'FairAchiever' status.

Old Boltonians and their friends gathered at Bolton Golf Club for the annual President's Golf Day on Thursday. The teams' entry fees and raffle raised money for the School Bursary Fund, and the day ended with a fantastic total of £5,491 - enough to fund a half bursary for one year!

It's hard to believe it's been a whole week since the Girls Go Gold Conference 2014. One of our Year 11 pupils, Ellie Broome, attended the conference and kept a diary of the day, giving us an insight into 'A Girl's Perspective on Girls Go Gold'!

Ellie is also a keen golfer. Over the summer holidays, she was selected to be a part of the Cumbria Girls' Elite Golf team - despite only playing for two years! This is a fantastic achievement for her, and we wish her luck in the future.

Andy Paterson, film producer and Old Boy, returned to the Boys' Division earlier this week to deliver the annual Tillotson Lecture. He spoke about 'telling stories' and gave a masterclass in film production which had the audience completely captivated throughout. It was fascinating to hear from a producer who has worked with the likes of Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman!

Old Girl Olivia Brown also returned to school this week to talk to A Level Art students about her experiences doing an Art Foundation course followed by an Art degree. She brought in many vibrant examples of her work, which the girls really enjoyed looking at, and talked about her current work as a designer. Olivia was the perfect inspiration for the girls, as not only did she win the fifth annual Student Wallpaper Design Competition, she also loves her work!

Last week, girls in Year 9 were given a day off timetable to take part in a Business Enterprise Day. Old Girl Karen Diggle gave them an inspirational talk in the morning, and this was followed by a business challenge based on the FIFA World Cup 2014! The girls were really engaged with the task and took it very seriously - especially since there was a competitive element.

At the end of last week, as millions of Scots turned out to vote in the Independence Referendum, the Girls' Division also cast their ballots in a Mock Independence Referendum of their own! This was a great opportunity for them to engage with politics and to understand more about both sides of the argument. The votes were counted up and results announced on Friday: "No" won in the Girls' Division by a 70% majority!

Year 12 pupil Alex Hopkinson spent a week over the summer completing a work experience placement at the Houses of Parliament! This was a fantastic opportunity for Alex to get a glimpse of politics from the inside, and to develop her skills for the future.

The First XV Rugby Team have breezed through the opening round of the NatWest Schools' Cup with a 50-0 win! This capped off an excellent week for all of the School's rugby teams, with them victorious in 10 of 11 games played.

At Hesketh House, the girls spent Thursday celebrating the diversity in the school community on the European Day of Languages! The girls revealed that they collectively speak twenty-two different languages, and shared these with one another with great enthusiasm.

Finally, this morning, the Hesketh House Parents' Association put on a Coffee Morning before school in support of Macmillan Cancer Research. Parents flocked to the hall to sample the P.A.'s tasty treats and warm drinks after dropping off their daughters in the playground, and afterwards enjoyed sitting in on the girls' morning assembly. The event raised over £300 for the charity: a marvellous achievement for all involved!

This week, Bolton School launched the Bolton Book Awards 2015! After much anticipation, the six books shortlisted for this year's award were announced during a special ceremony held in the Girls' Division Great Hall. Pupils from six of the participating schools were present to be the first to find out what they could look forward to reading over the course of the next few months, and were very excited by the choices on offer!

Continuing the literary theme, on Thursday Hesketh House was filled with rhythmic recitation as the Junior Girls participated in National Poetry Day. Year 6 girls read poems on the theme of 'Remember' to younger pupils, who were encouraged to listen and even join in.

The Junior Boys' School celebrated Harvest this week with their annual collection and a special assembly for boys and their parents. The generous donations from the boys' families will go to the St Luke's Drop In Centre for the ninth year running, and will help provide meals for the homeless, long-term unemployed and elderly. The assembly encouraged the boys to consider all the things they have to be thankful for, and also to remember those less fortunate than themselves.

The Junior Girls' School also spent some time considering the importance of sharing this week with their own Harvest Celebration assembly. They were joined by Mr Dave Bagley, from the charity Winter Watch, who helped to pass on the message that sharing is important, no matter how small the gesture. Parents donated generously to the Harvest appeal, and the items have been given to Winter Watch, which helps to support those in need during the coldest months of the year.

Beech House pupils in Year 1 were delighted to spend an afternoon at Justin's House on Thursday! They joined the audience for a recording of the popular CBeebies television programme, and got to watch Justin's antics live!

In the Girls' Division, Year 13 pupil Sarah Richards found out this week that she has been selected to join the Cheshire U19 Netball Squad. This is a great achievement for Sarah, who worked her way through two weekend trials in order to win her spot on the team.

Finally, Quadrangle Radio returns to the Boys' Division after a summer hiatus. With new student leaders, a new team, and lots of exciting new ideas for shows, this podcasting station is moving onwards and upwards with the start of the academic year. Check out the Quadrangle Radio Soundcloud or Twitter to keep up to date with the release of new shows.

It has been a busy week of preparation as the whole School gets ready for Open Morning on Saturday! However, there has still been time for some exciting events around School.

On Monday, the Boys' Division enjoyed a number of exciting SPACE sessions. The Year 9 boys took part in an interactive performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth, which was led by Sky Blue Theatre Company. Several boys took on the roles of the main characters from the play and acted out scenes in their own words with help from the Sky Blue actors. They also received direction from their peers in the audience. The boys had a great time and lots of laughs while learning about the themes and plot of the play.

Meanwhile, the Sixth Form boys attended a talk from Old Boy John Roberts, who is the founder and CEO of AO.com. He spoke about his own successful career since leaving Bolton School, and gave the boys some great advice for their future. The Sixth Formers were really interested to hear what Mr Roberts had to say, and very much enjoyed hearing from him.

In the Girls' Division, Year 9 pupils were given a talk on mental health from Old Girl Dr Lynne Daly. Lynne has worked for the NHS and the Ministry of Justice as a Consultant Adolescent Forensic Psychiatrist, making her the perfect choice to speak to the girls about this complex subject.

The Sixth Form girls have been busy planning an event of their own this week: on the 5th of November, a group of fifteen girls will be putting on Tea at the Riley, a free afternoon tea party for Bolton's older generation held in the new Sixth Form Centre. There will be refreshments including cakes baked by the girls, as well as the opportunity for a good chat and some great entertainment.

There will be several more opportunities to enjoy Tea at the Riley in the coming months. Anyone 'young at heart' who is interested in coming along should check the Sixth Form Girls' online Noticeboard for further dates.

The H Factor arrived at Hesketh House on Wednesday to help the Year 3 girls explore the subject of healthy eating! The girls were able to taste a wide variety of different fruits and vegetables, many of which they hadn't seen before, and also had the opportunity to create their very own pedal-powered smoothie on the smoothie bike!

After a hugely successful Open Morning last Saturday, the last week before the half term break began with a primary liaison event for Year 2 pupils from the local area. Gifted and talented Year 2 boys and girls were invited to Hesketh House Junior Girls' School to take part in Puzzle Challenges which stretched their abilities while the children also had lots of fun!

Over the summer holidays, three Sixth Form boys were selected as UCLan Young Researchers. The boys worked alongside the university staff to further three very different research projects, which were matched to their personal interests and aspirations.

At the end of September, the Boys' Division Golf Team took part in the XL Club Schools' Golf Day, and emerged victorious! They brought home the trophy, and team member Nathan Clark also won an individual prize.

Finally, to round off the week, the School hosted an Engineering Day on Friday. This was a great opportunity for pupils in Years 10 to 13 to hear from industry professionals about the wide variety within the field of engineering, and what to do if they decide to follow a path into this interesting, creative and innovative career. The day was opened by keynote speaker Kate Bellingham.

At the end of last week, pupils from Years 10 to 13 took part in an inspirational Engineering Careers Day. The day's keynote speaker was engineer and TV personality Kate Bellingham, who reassured her audience that there was no need to "fit a box" to be an engineer - a theme repeated by several of the speakers throughout the day! This was a great opportunity for those interested in a career in engineering to learn more about the wide variety of options available from industry professionals and higher education providers, including four Bolton School alumni.

Thursday of last week was busy across the Foundation. All of the pupils from Hesketh House Junior Girls' School, enjoyed a day off their normal timetable to take a trip to Port Sunlight! There they learned more about Edwardian and Victorian life, as well as finding out about the village's founder, none other than Bolton School's benefactor William Hesketh Lever.

On Thursday evening, the Junior Girls' Chess Team took part in their first matches of this year's Bolton Primary Schools' Chess League. The girls did well, each winning at least one game each!

Pupils and parents from the Boys' Division were delighted to attend a talk on twenty-first century dinosaur hunting from palaeobiologist Professor Phil Manning on Thursday evening. Professor Manning spoke about his work at the University of Manchester as well as regaling the audience with tales of digging up fossils in America.

In the Girls' Division, the Under 16s Netball team were recently successful in the Bolton Town Championships. They played to an extremely high standard and came away from the final victorious!

Year 13 pupil Haseeb Hameed has also had some sporting success in recent weeks: following a season of spectacular scores, he has signed a deal with Lancashire County Cricket Club! He will join the professionals next season, after taking part in the England Development Programme this winter.

On Friday evening, guests flocked to the Arts Centre for a Cooking Masterclass arranged by the Old Girls' Association. Local chef Mike Harrison demonstrated three delicious courses; and with wine provided by T. Wright Wines and a chocolate tasting session courtesy of Choc Amor, a wonderful time was had by all who attended. The evening was organised in support of the UK branch of the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation, and by the end of the evening a spectacular total of £1772.00 had been raised for the charity!

9 May 2014

16 May 2014

23 May 2014

6 June 2014

13 June 2014

20 June 2014

27 June 2014

4 July 2014

11 July 2014

18 July 2014

8 August 2014 - Midsummer News Round-Up

15 August 2014

5 September 2014

12 September 2014

19 September 2014

26 September 2014

3 October 2014

10 October 2014

17 October 2014

24 October 2014