Bolton School

Children at Bolton School Nursery have been wishing one another 'Happy Halloween' today! Dressing up in their favourite costumes, they enjoyed a fantastically spooky day.

Over half term, a group of girls and teachers travelled out to India to visit the charity SKCV Children's Trust. As well as helping out with the everyday activities of the charity and getting to know the former street kids who are now being looked after by SKCV, they also made front-page news in the local paper!

On World Food Day in October, representatives of Unilever Food Solutions visited Bolton School to talk to the Senior Boys and Senior Girls in their morning assemblies. They talked about the fantastic work the World Food Programme does to end hunger, and commended the School for the work already done to help! The representatives met with School staff after the assemblies to discuss what more can be done in future.

Finally, the Friends of Bolton School Choir will be launching next week! Come along on Wednesday if you are interested in joining or supporting this latest musical venture.

The week began with a bang on Sunday with the annual Family Fireworks Display, organised by the Parents' Association. There were lots of stalls, plenty of sweet treats, and great music from the Joint Jazz Band prior to the main event, and the firework display itself was spectacular!

Eminent historian Professor Lord Peter Hennessy, who is one of the most acclaimed academics and journalists of our time, visited Bolton School on Tuesday to address the Bolton branch of the Historical Association. He gave an insightful and interesting talk on 'Cold War Whitehall: Writing About The Secret State' which was very well attended.

During their SPACE session, the Year 8 boys were took a trip back in time at Bolton Steam Museum, where the hard-working volunteers had all of the machinery running on full steam. They were able to look at a wide variety of steam-powered machines, and learned about how they work and about the Industrial Revolution in the process.

On Wednesday, a group of Sixth Form girls welcomed Bolton's older generation to the School for Tea at the Riley: the first in a series of tea parties for the 'young at heart'! The girls and their guests all had a lovely afternoon chatting, enjoying live musical performance, and eating the delicious hand-made cakes and scones.

Meanwhile in the Boys' Division, the school's elite cricketers received a masterclass from professional coach Ottis Gibson! He gave the boys lots of tips, finding the time to work one-on-one with some of the boys, and even showed them his prized World Cup winning ring from 2012. This was a fantastic experience for the boys.

The Boys' Division also had the pleasure of welcoming five other schools to the Great Hall for the regional English Chess Federation Team Chess Challenge tournament. The Boys' Division A and B teams played very well, coming in second and third place overall.

Bolton School was delighted to sponsor the Young Business of the Year category at this year’s Manchester Evening News Business Awards. There were over one hundred entries to this category, and Headmaster Mr Philip Britton was delighted to announce the overall winner - Prymo Surface Solutions - at the awards ceremony.

We also caught up on some final pieces of news from before Half Term this week:

The Junior Boys' School took part in the first set of Bolton Primary Schools' Chess League matches last month. They did extremely well in all of their matches, and emerged the winners of the competition after conceding just half a point!

The Junior Girls' School also played in the Bolton Primary Schools' Chess League tournament. All of the girls did well in their matches, securing at least one victory each. One of the girls received a medal for winning both of her games.

Primary school pupils tacked the Bolton School Big Quiz just before the holidays. Twelve local schools put forward six pupils to take part, and they were tested on a wide variety of subjects to determine who would win the prize at the end of the evening.

Earlier in October, Sixth Form pupil Lydia Hounat performed at the Manchester Literature Festival! She read out two poems alongside fellow performance poets from her Writing Squad, from literature organisation Bad Language, and professional novellist Matt Haig!

The Year 10 netball team were victorious in the Bolton Schools Tournament! After playing well in the first round and the semi-final, they found themselves taking on Rivington and Blackrod High School for the second time. Determined not to draw, they dominated the match and came away with the trophy.

Two Old Boys - Sir Philip Craven and Dr Steve Town - met up at the 50th Anniversary European air Play Movement Congress in Latvia last month! Both presented to the congress and were very well received.

On the 11th of November, each part of the School performed its own version of the Armistice Day Service of Remembrance.

The Boys' Division held a moving tribute to former pupils who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. Dr Holland and six pupils provided brief vignettes on six Old Boys who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Pupils in the Girls' Division were joined by currently serving members of the Armed Forced and by a group of Old Girls for their Service of Remembrance. A selection of poetry readings and hymns made for a moving and poignant ceremony.

The Junior Girls also remembered the local heroes of the two World Wars. In a special assembly with Mrs Hone, Head of Classics in the Senior Girls' School, they learned more about four Old Boys in particular who gave their lives. There was also a reading of 'In Flanders Fields' before the two minutes of silence . The Year 6 girls were also given the opportunity to meet four currently serving members of the army later in the morning.

After the Service of Remembrance, the Old Girls attended a lunch in the Arts Centre, where they were entertained by the Year 7 girls. The girls performed a medley of pieces from Frozen, and the Old Girls were then invited to join in with the School Song.

Last weekend, the School hosted a Modern Foreign Languages Day for Year 11 pupils. Attendees took part in a variety of workshops and talks, all aimed at encouraging pupils to consider studying languages beyond GCSE. This was also a fantastic opportunity to learn more about languages in the world of work, and to try out something new with taster sessions.

There has been some excellent sporting news in the Girls' Division this week. A grand total of thirteen girls from Year 10 to Year 13 have been selected for the Lancashire U18 Lacrosse Squad! The girls have joined the A and B squads: a fantastic achievement for all of the players.

The U15 swimming team have also enjoyed success recently. The four girls and their coach, Mrs Hall, were thrilled with a double victory at the recent John Parry Relays competition.

In the Boys' Division, the Senior Water Polo team dominated the first round of the ESSA U18 Championships. They won all three of their matches, putting them in a very comfortable first place and pushing them on to the next round, where they will continue to defend their title!

Four boys on the Senior Water Polo Team have also been selected for national sporting development programmes! They have been identified as elite players and will be supported in their future sporting endeavours by the programmes.

All of the pupils who applied for Arkwright Scholarship this year were successful in their applications, and over the half term break they attended the awards ceremony. Boys' Division pupils Chris Battarbee, Alex Seed and Niall Woodward and Girls' Division pupil Bethany O'Donnell travelled to London to receive their certificates and meet with representatives from the organisations which will be sponsoring them throughout their Scholarships.

The School's Digital Archive has now been expanded! The existing catalogue of School Magazines has now been joined by editions of alumni magazines and annual School Newsletters from both Divisions.

Year 11 pupil Johanna Mercer has published her second novel on the Amazon Kindle Store. Death by Your Beloved: Be Afraid of the Dark continues the story from her first book, Demon Rose, and promises to be another gripping read.

Finally, pupils in the Junior Schools and at Beech House Infants' School have been raising money for Children in Need today!

The pupils at Beech House took part in a 'Mad Hair Day' for the charity event, with each child coming into school with his or her hair in a funky style or hidden beneath a wig or lots of decorations!

Finally, the Junior Girls joined the 'Be A Hero' campaign and dressed up as superheroes both real and fictional - with some even coming to school as their teachers!

There have recently been plenty of musical events both in School and off campus! On Sunday, the Jazz Band travelled to Altrincham Grammar School for Boys for the annual NCBF North Regional Festival. They played four pieces which were highly praised by the adjudicator, and their hard work in rehearsal was rewarded with a Platinum Award! They have now been invited to participate at the two-day Thirtieth Anniversary National Concert Band Festival in April next year.

To listen to the Jazz Band's Platinum Award winning performance at the NCBF North Regional Festival on the School's Soundcloud page, click here.

On Saturday, the Chamber Choir took part in a concert held in the Boys' Division Great Hall to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy charity. Several hundred pounds were raised at this annual event thanks to all of the musicians who took part.

There was rich musical variety on offer at the Joint Autumn Concert last Wednesday. Both Boys' and Girls' Division pupils from Years 7 to 13 were involved in making this a spectacular evening, full of thoroughly enjoyable music. From Classical to pop music, and movie soundtracks to traditional pieces, there really was something for everyone.

The Saxophone Ensemble were busy on Saturday: they travelled to the Trafford Centre to jazz up the launch of the John Lewis Christmas Range! Providing a selection of festive tunes, they delighted shoppers and helped set the right mood, and each saxophonist received a small gift from the store as a token of thanks.

To listen to the Saxophone Ensemble's rendition of 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everday' (Wizzard) on the School's Soundcloud page, click here.

Also last week, Sixth Form pupils enjoyed an afternoon lecture from Simon Dixon, the Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at University College London. Professor Dixon gave a fascinating talk on the rulers of Russia from 1855 to 1964, and also investigated the Theory of Modernisation with pupils.

In sporting news, Ellie Broome in Year 11 has recently been crowned Junior Champion at her local golf club! This follows her recent invitation to join the Cumbria Girls' Elite Golf squad.

The Boys' Division U13 Water Polo team have also enjoyed success this week: they have won the coveted President's Trophy! The boys played against three rival teams in a round-robin tournament, hosted by Bolton School. The team worked very hard to secure comfortable wins in all of their matches throughout the day.

Excellent news from the Junior Boys' School this week: the Year 6 football team have won the town championships for the second year in a row! After making it through the final group stage, they did a brilliant job in the semi-final and went on to the final: a re-creation of last year's thrilling match, once again played against Eagley Juniors. The Bolton School team will now go on to represent Bolton Wanderers in the Football League Trust Kids' Cup - and may even follow in the footsteps of last year's team and make it all the way to Wembley!

We caught up with the Sixth Form girls who travelled out to India over the October half term. They shared their memories of visiting SKCV in Vijayawada, where they met former street children at the charity's two villages and were able to treat them to individual presents and a special trip to the cinema thanks to the £3,400 of funds raised by the school before the trip! This once in a lifetime experience was obviously one that will remain with the girls forever.

Girls studying Food Technology received a visit of their own on Monday: Debbie Halls-Evans, winner of Channel 4's The Taste, came into school to give a lesson on infusions. She talked to the girls about how to create their own sugar, salt and oil infusions, as well as demonstrating a basil syrup for them to try. With salted caramel macaroons and Chantilly cream made with vanilla sugar to try as well, this was a huge hit with the girls, and gave GCSE and A-Level students a lot of inspiration for their project work!

We found out this week what new starters at the Junior Girls' School really think about Hesketh House! Click here to watch the video and find out ...

The Young Shakespeare Company took over Hesketh House's hall for a performance of the Scottish Play. Year 5 and 6 girls were delighted by the thrilling and innovative production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The girls were involved at every stage through audience participation, from a Storyteller asking questions to some girls even taking on roles within the play itself.

In the Boys' Division, Year 13 pupil Peter Mackin revealed that he has been presented with a Royal Yachting Association Youth Award. He received the award from Princess Anne at an awards ceremony in London.

With the Christmas season fast approaching, Girls' Division pupils were keen to spread some festive cheer - even in fictional locations, such as Coronation Street! The Year 7 girls and members of the Middle School Choir and Senior School Choir were invited to do some carolling at the old Granada Studios set on Quay Street as part of the Coronation Street Tour's 'Christmas on the Cobbles' event. They added an extra seasonal sparkle to the day for visitors to the attraction, and were even able to take a tour of the set themselves!

The Junior Girls have also been out singing carols and other seasonal hits, including highlights from their upcoming Christmas show 'Following The Star', at Bolton's Market Place. Shoppers were delighted with the girls' singing, which gave a lovely atmosphere throughout the evening.

Further getting into the Christmas spirit, they and their families have also donated almost 130 shoeboxes filled with presents to Operation Christmas Child! These thoughtfully selected and beautifully wrapped gifts will be delivered world-wide to children who might otherwise not receive a Christmas gift.

On Friday, three Year 7 girls were invited to Key 103 to talk about some of their recent charity work. The whole of Year 7 took part in a sponsored silence, raising £2,000 in total! This money will go to buy toys for Key 103's 'Mission Christmas' appeal, supporting the charity Cash for Kids. The girls did an excellent job chatting to Adam Catterall about their fundraising.

Not to be outdone, Boys' Division teachers have been taking part in Movember to raise money and awareness for Prostate Cancer UK! Four teachers locked away their razors for the whole of November, and between them have raised several hundred pounds - and their altered appearance has done plenty to raise awareness!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Last weekend, a group of girls enjoyed discussing and debating at the MUN-HIGH 2015 event! Taking on the role of 'Rwanda' in the Mock United Nations, pupils were able to learn more about debating and international relations while also cultivating a variety of skills.

On Saturday, two members of Year 10 band Parallel Oreos were interviewed on Radio Lancashire! The boys talked about their experiences setting up the band, the gigs they have performed, and the Music Department has supported them so far.

This week saw the launch of this year's KPMG Summer Internship Programme. Old Girl Katie Clinton returned to School with one of her colleagues to introduce this unique scheme to pupils in Year 12 who might be interested in working for the company for two weeks over the summer holidays. This is a really exciting opportunity, and Katie did an excellent job of inspiring the Sixth Form boys and girls to apply.

Girls' Division pupil Thea Simpson has been selected for the national U15 water polo squad! This is a great achievement for Thea, who also took part in a national training camp over the summer and plays with the City of Manchester team.

There was good news for the Boys' Division U16 water polo players this week: they dominated the championships to win a place in the national final in March! Their coach, Mr McGinty, was impressed with all of the players' performances on the day.

The Girls' Division turned their thoughts towards helping others with a moving assembly about the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation UK, a charity which aims to help and support people with this disorder and their families. The girls are now looking forward to a Pancake Cafe and Pancake Race on the last day of term, which will be in support of PMSF UK!

During the Old Girls' Association Lunch, representatives from the OGA presented a cheque to Classrooms in the Clouds. The money was raised at the Old Girls' Christmas Market, and will go towards creating classrooms and funding teachers in the Everest region of Nepal.

The Year 11 boys have been considering volunteering through National Citizen Service (NCS). They travelled down to Bolton Lads and Girls' Club for an afternoon of activities to promote this national scheme, which allows young people to develop their skills while supporting their local community.

The Junior Girls enjoyed a special Modern Foreign Languages day with a Spanish theme this week. The girls tried out flamenco dancing, produced a Spanish map, and even had a go painting in the style of Picasso! These activities and more really helped their get them excited about learning the language.

The annual Junior Boys' Music Festival was once again a huge hit with pupils and parents alike! All of the performers played their pieces to a very high standard, making it a thoroughly enjoyable two days - and a great challenge to choose just one overall winner.

Boys' Division teacher and Old Boy Mr Teasdale learned this week that he has been Highly Commended in the School Biology Teacher of the Year competition. This is a fantastic achievement, particularly since this year had a record number of applicants and he was the only one the judges chose to recognise in this manner.

Old Girl and former Head Girl Annabel Ault was also delighted to announce that she has won the 2014 Ogden Prize for outstanding performance in A Level Geography. This was presented to her by the former head of the University of Manchester Geography Department, Professor Michael Bradford.

Finally, a group of twenty-four Year 11 girls have won second place in The Big Bang Classroom Challenge, which they entered just before the summer holidays. This competition, run by the Institution of Civil Engineers, tested their ability to research and solve complex future engineering problems to a tight deadline. Representatives from ICE and Topcon, the civil engineering company providing the prize, presented them with a certificate and specialist measuring tool during morning assembly.

This week, the School welcomed TV Classicist Michael Scott for a talk titled 'Why Study the Ancient World in the 21st Century?' This was a fascinating lecture which investigated many different aspects of Classics and described how the ancient world throws a mirror back at the world today.

It was time for celebration this week as five girls in Years 11 to 13 were selected for the Junior North of England lacrosse squad! This is a great achievement, and follows on from their inclusion in the Lancashire county squad earlier this year.

There was also great news from Old Boy Mark Jagasia, whose first stage play Clarion will debut at London's Arcola Theatre in April. The play is a dark satire about the UK's newspaper industry, a subject with which Mark is familiar as a former editor at several well-known newspapers.

In the Boys' Division, pupils have this week completed the first cycle of Triads. A new addition to the SPACE Programme, Triads offered boys a choice from a variety of activities designed to promote their development and skills beyond the classroom. There was a wide range of activities to cater to most tastes, from a book group to scuba diving classes, and the boys really enjoyed taking part in their selected Triad.

The final session of the Politics Triad was particularly interesting: representatives of four of the UK's political parties visited School to talk to the boys and engage in a lively question and answer session, which also became quite an exciting debate as they weighed in with opinions on one another's answers. This was a great way to get the boys engaged with politics, and also a fantastic opportunity for them to interrogate people involved in politics for themselves.

The younger boys put themselves to the test with the finals of the Year 7 Gymnastics Competition and Year 8 Vaulting Competition this week. At both events, the finalists competed in front of an audience of their peers and were judged by the P.E. staff, before being presented with medals by the Headmaster.

In the Girls' Division, Year 7 pupils took part in the final of the French Spelling Bee on Thursday. The girls competed to see who could correctly translate and spell the most words in just one minute: no easy feat in front of the whole year group! However, all of the girls involved in the final kept their cool and managed to spell an impressive number of words during their turn.

Four pupils at the Junior Boys' School also challenged themselves last weekend at the AJIS Quiz, where they gained second place. This was a fantastic achievement, particularly as they were beaten to first place by just one point!

The Junior Girls' School also had a busy week last week, with a visit from several Magistrates who helped the Year 6 girls put on a mock trial. The girls played different roles to simulate the courtroom experience and learned more about the trial process, as well as finding out more about the wider legal system.

Out of School, Junior Boys' School pupil Karthik Ajith recently took part in the Badminton England U11 Northumberland tournament, where he and his doubles partner took home the gold! Passionate badminton player Karthik also played in the singles competition.

Eighty-five local Year 5 pupils were welcomed to Bolton School last week to take part in a Modern Foreign Languages Day. They followed a carousel of activities and were able to try out a variety of languages from across the globe, which they may not normally have access to through the usual curriculum. They also learned more about different cultures throughout the day.

It was announced this week that a new scholarship to study Medicine at university is being offered to Bolton School Girls' Division Sixth Form pupils. The Dr Edith Forsyth Scholarship Award will cover five years of training, and has been donated by Old Boy Eric Forsyth in memory of his late wife.

On the last day before the half term holiday, pupils in the Girls' Division were treated to a charity Pancake Race and Pancake Cafe in support of the charity PMSF UK! The Pancake Cafe sold out of their 200 pancakes, with 150 of them disappearing during morning break, but there was still the promise of the Pancake Race to look forward to. Girls packed into the Gym gallery to watch as teams raced around an obstacle course, frying pan in hand. The highlight of the day was certainly the final race, during which a team of Deputy Head Girls went up against two staff teams!

The Boys' Division Intermediate and Junior swimming teams have been crowned Town Champions! They competed against a number of local schools at Bolton One, and both teams eventually beat their rivals with a strong margin of points. The Girls' Division teams also did well at the event.

Recently, a group of Sixth Form boys with a passion for bouldering were given the amazing opportunity to adjudicate at RocFest, a national climbing competition which attracted entries from world-class athletes! The boys were invited to judge the full range of ages and abilities across the two-day event, from junior to adult and including the para competition.

In the last week before the half term break, the Junior Girls held their annual Music Festival. Spanning two days and involving all of the girls at Hesketh House, this event is a favourite for pupils, teachers and parents alike. The performers really enjoyed taking part in the festival, and the rest of the girls were delighted to be able to listen to the fantastic music over the course of the two days.

To listen to 'The Beats' perform the piece they entered into the Junior Girls' Music Festival ensemble category, click here to visit the School's Soundcloud page or press the play button below.

Pupils in the Boys' Division also took part in a special musical event in the last week before the holiday: the Classical Guitar Quartet were invited to perform at a recital alongside esteemed international guitarist Ivan Bores! The boys played an entertaining set of pieces, and at the end were presented with a new piece dedicated to the Quartet by composer Mark Houghton.

The Sixth Form mathematicians were hard at work over the weekend, welcoming over thirty local primary school children for a special SATs Saturday School. This series of workshop sessions is designed to help gifted and talented Year 6 pupils to achieve Level 6 in their maths SATs, and is run by Sixth Form boys and girls. Everyone has so far really enjoyed the extra lessons, and the Year 6 pupils are looking forward to more in the months to come.

It's been an exciting week with events going on across the foundation! On Thursday, the School hosted the annual U11 ISFA North West Tournament, which the Bolton School Junior Boys' team won! The boys played extremely well, conceding zero goals throughout the competition. They will now go on to play in the national competition.

A group of Boys' Division Senior School pupils attended the Manchester Latin and Greek Reading Competition recently. The boys were triumphant in four of the six categories - a brilliant achievement!

On the first day of the new half term poet Simon Armitage visited the Boys' Division to give a talk and poetry reading. This was followed by a special scriptwriting workshop for the Drama students who are currently planning performances based on his works Homer's Odyssey and The Last Days of Troy. This was a really exciting opportunity for boys in both the English and Classics departments, and the pupils who attended the talk and the workshop certainly made the most of it.

In the Girls' Division, Year 7 pupils this week took part in a 'Crime Squad' enrichment day. They took part in a series of themed activities that were lots of fun but which also developed their logic, teamworking and problem solving skills. The girls had a great time taking on the different challenges throughout the day, and met each new problem with enthusiasm.

This week, tickets went on sale for this year's Joint Production: The Sound of Music! The performance will run from the 18th to the 21st of March, and there are limited numbers of tickets available. For more details, please see the Noticeboard.

We recently heard from Old Boy Mark Williams, who is now Director of Music at Jesus College, Cambridge. He is planning to return to the church where he once played the organ during services in order to give a special charity concert in March this year.

Old Girl Helen Pantelides returned to School on Friday to give the keynote speech at the School's Legal Services Information Day. This themed careers day was aimed at any pupils in Year 11 to 13 who are interested in a future in law, and gave them plenty of information about what their studies and career might be like. It was really useful for all the boys and girls who attended.

Finally, KidZone is delighted to announce two new outdoor activities which will be part of this year's Easter Club agenda! The Adventure Walk and Adventure Day promise to be a new and exciting challenge for children who take part.

At the end of February, staff in the Boys' Division shared their e-learning expertise with teaching colleagues from across the North at an E-Learning Conference for the North East and North West Standing Committee for Science. The conference was organised and hosted by the Boys' Division and gave an overview of how e-learning can be used in science teaching.

The joint Saxophone Choir recently received an invitation to perform at the World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg over the summer! This is a fantastic achievement, as the calibre of players was very high and there was fierce competition for places.

On Monday evening, the Girls' Division Theatre hosted another lecture organised by the Bolton Branch of the Historical Association. Professor Richard Hoyle spoke about Robin Hood and how the tale has been changed and recreated by each generation.

Wednesday saw the Boys' Division welcome seventeen schools from the north of England for the annual Ogden Trust Physics Olympics! This fantastic event challenged teams of four Year 9 pupils to complete five fun physics tasks and a quiz to compete for the trophy. This year, the results were extremely close, but the overall winners were Kirkham Grammar School.

Pupils in the Girls' Division have raised enough money to name their third Guide Dog puppy! The girls have chosen the name Peanut, and the puppy they have named was introduced to the whole school with a photograph during morning assembly. Over the past seven years of supporting the charity, girls have raised an incredible £9,000 to sponsor the dogs!

Recently our Junior Girls took part in Bolton's Town Swimming Gala. The Year 4/5 competition was held at the School's pool, and our Junior Girls took first place. The Year 5/6 competition was held at Total Fitness in Bolton, and was attended by none other than Rebecca Adlington!

Four Year 12 students in the Boys' Division recently took part in the UK Linguistics Olympiad. To compete, the boys had to solve a variety of linguistic data problems, including some based on the Finnish, Georgian and Japanese language systems. Their efforts won them a commendable set of bronze certificates!

It was World Book Day on Thursday, and the School certainly got into the spirit! In the Junior Girls' School, pupils brought their favourite characters to life with vivid and creative costumes. They also participated in a number of themed activities, including creating 'literary bricks' about their favourite books and drawing in the style of famous illustrator Quentin Blake.

In the Boys' Division, writers from Manchester Writing School came in to give a series of writing workshops to each year group. The day began with an inspirational address from Dr Livi Michael, who was accompanied by the school's writer in residence, Iris Feindt. Pupils also took part in literary-themed sessions over lunchtime in the Junior and Senior Literary and Debating Societies, as well as enjoying workshops during lesson time. This was a fantastic opportunity for the boys, and the whole day was a huge success.

The final of the Young Musician of the Year competition also took place on Thursday. It was an evening of outstanding performances from all of the boys involved, which made it very difficult to choose overall winners! All of the boys who took part in the final received trophies for winning their instrumental category, and additional awards were given for the Junior and Senior Young Musician of the Year, Junior and Senior Composer of the Year, and Most Promising Performer.

The Bolt - the magazine by boys, for boys - is now available to read online. The latest edition offers a variety of articles, from phone a comparisson to an insight into the life of Mr Tillotson, and much more!

Finally, good luck to the Boys' Division U16 and U18 Water Polo teams, who will be playing in the English Schools' competition on Saturday at Walsall! This is a particularly exciting prospect for the U18 team, who are defending their title.

Bolton School kicked off the 100/500 anniversary celebrations this week with a fantastic evening of music at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall! The whole school Gala Concert was certainly an occasion to remember, with pupils of all ages - from Beech House Infants School to the Sixth Form - taking to the stage to sing, play music and even dance in front of the audience.

In further good news this week, the School has shown its dominance in Water Polo, with both the U16 and U18 teams returning as National Champions after excellent performances last weekend! Coaches Mr McGinty and Dr Yates were both extremely proud of all the boys, and particularly the U18 team who also won the same tournament last year with an identical roster.

The Bolton School Bake Off is now under way! Boys' and Girls' Division pupils have been invited to pit their baking talents against one another in this year's competition, for the change to win a prize donated by Unilever. The standards are already high even at this early stage of the competition, which will make it very difficult to choose the final four and the overall winner.

The Year 10 girls' efforts in the Christmas Post raised over £1000, and representatives from the year group were able to present the cheque for the full total to Contact the Elderly during morning assembly. Gwen Lightfoot, the charity's Development Officer for the area, was delighted with their efforts and thanked the girls for their generosity.

The Girls' Division musicians have recently been busy with preparations for the Gala Concert, but nonetheless made time to take part in the annual Music Festival. This wrapped up with a great Celebration Concert at which the winner from each age group and instrument section played in front of an audience.

The annual careers event for Year 12 pupils was a huge success, with the School welcoming back ten alumni to give presentations on the World of Work. After a great keynote speech given by Charlie Ball from Graduate Prospects, the students divided into smaller groups to attend four of the twenty talks on offer throughout the morning.

There has been a great deal of sporting news in the past week. Two Sixth Form boys have been selected for the Lancashire U17s Rugby squad. Matthew Woodward and Harry Stocks both hope that this will be the first step towards a future career in the sport.

A group of ten girls were recently selected to play for the Lancashire U13s squad - an exciting prospect for the Year 7 and 8 girls! They took part in the Northern Counties tournament and acquitted themselves very well.

Recently Year 8 pupil Zoe Grainger took part in ROCfest, a national climbing competition held in Manchester. She made it all the way to the final for her age group, and came a very respectable sixth place. She took part in the event alongside climbers from across UK, including several who have competed for the UK in international competitions.

In the Boys' Division, the First XI Footballers took second place in the ISFA Northern Eights competition last weekend. They were narrowly defeated on penalties in the hotly contested final.

The girls on the U14 Netball team recently came second in the Bolton Schools' Netball Tournament. The standard of play was very high throughout the competition, and despite losing by a narrow margin it was great to see the girls do so well in the final.

Last week, the Junior Boys' football team took part in the Regional Final of the Football League Trust Kids' Cup, representing Bolton Wanderers. Although they did not make it through to the next stage, the boys should be very proud of their excellent performance on the day. They were very evenly matched throughout the competition and were beaten on penalties by a very narrow margin.

Members of the Senior Football team are now looking forward to their Madrid Tour over the Easter holidays! They will have the opportunity to train at the Real Madrid CF Academy as well as playing matches against local teams.

Finally, younger members of the School's community took part in a variety of Red Nose Day activities to support Comic Relief on Friday. Children at Beech House Infants' School attended the school day dressed in pyjamas and onesies - with a few red noses and head boppers on display as well - in exchange for a small donation.

Meanwhile, at the Junior Boys' School, pupils made their faces funny for money, providing much amusement for teachers and classmates!

The School's Nursery also got involved with the action: children come along in red clothing for the day and had their faces painted. Many members of staff also joined in, wearing funky costumes or Red Nose Day t-shirts, as well as donning red noses! The Nursery Class dressed up in animal-themed onesies and held a charity market to raise even more for the charity.

Last Friday, pupils in the Boys' and Girls' Divisions commemorated the 100th anniversary of the death of Second Lieutenant Albert Knowles Wilson, who was the first Old Boy to fall during the First World War. He died on the 12th of March 1915. In a moving ceremony at the Headmaster's Lawn, Albert's name was read out by the Headmaster Mr Britton, along with the names of eighty other Old Boys who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War, while Sixth Form boys and girls planted ceramic poppies originally from the Tower of London's Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red remembrance installation.

To watch a video documenting the planting of the poppies, click here.

The Boys' Division also held a special remembrance assembly in honour of the fallen on this poignant date. Mr Britton read passages from Remembered with Honour, Dr Eric McPherson's book about the Old Boys who gave their lives during the two World Wars, and made special reference to Albert Knowles Wilson. There were moving readings and, to end the occasion, a rendition of The Last Post.

Later on Friday evening, alumni and staff involved with the armed services attended the Uniformed Services Dinner, which also included a further commemoration of the fallen Old Boys. The speaker for the evening was Major General Stuart R Skeates CBE, Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. This made a very fitting end to the day.

Also last Friday, pupils at the Junior Girls' School celebrated Ultimate Pi Day: a day that comes just once a century, on which the first ten digits of Pi are represented by the date and time. The girls learned more about the uses of Pi and took part in a number of mathematically related activities.

Bolton School Nursery invited Mums to join in the fun for Mothers' Day. Mothers of the youngest children at the Nursery - aged three and under - were welcomed into the 'First Steps' and 'Tweenies' rooms to enjoy some extra time with their little ones in honour of the occasion.

Café Scientifique recently welcomed Dr Laura Waters to School to give a talk about whether scientists should speak up or stay quiet. In this fascinating lecture, Dr Waters talked about whether the general public should believe everything they read, and also touched on the topic of animal testing and its alternatives.

There was also great news from the U13s Netball Team, who won the Bolton Schools' Netball Tournament last week! They did extremely well throughout the tournament, winning all of their matches with impressive scores, and defeating Westhoughton in the final with 9 goals to 2.

Last weekend, the Junior Boys' String Quartet took part in Ramsbottom Music Festival. The four boys did really well and won their section - a very impressive achievement!

The Junior Boys also recently enjoyed the Confucius Institute New Year Gala Concert at the Royal Northern College of Music. This was an amazing opportunity for the boys to see some amazing Chinese dances and costumes - and even try their hand at activities such as Kung Fu training and rug spinning!

In SPACE this week, the Year 9 boys were inspired by a Careers Carousel featuring three Boys' Division alumni, Girls' Division teacher Mr Challinor, and Lieutenant Amy Orley from the Royal Navy! The event gave the boys a flavour of a wide variety of different careers, and hearing from the Old Boys really helped to show them just how much is possible for their own futures.

Meanwhile the Year 8 boys learned more about the legacy of Lord Leverhulme, the School's benefactor who was instrumental in creating the Bolton School Foundation that this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. This fascinating talk gave them an insight into Lord Leverhulme's life as well as explaining his close links with the School.

A recording of the whole school Gala Concert at the Bridgewater Hall is now available to view online! Click on the following links to view: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four.

The Bolton School P.E. Programme in partnership with Total Gymnastics arranged for Olympic medallist Beth Tweddle to visit Prestolee Primary School this week! The visit was the final event in an eight-week programme of gymnastics at Prestolee, and was part of the School’s work to help schools across the region to provide high quality P.E. activities.

The U12 Football Team have enjoyed double success this week, winning both the Bolton Town Cup and the MGS 9s Plate! The boys played very well in both competitions, beating tough competition and making it through the final to emerge victorious. This is a significant achievement for a team that has come a long way over the course of the year.

The Boys' Division also hosted the annual Rugby Sevens Tournament on Thursday. Despite Bolton School teams making it to the quarter-final stages of both the Cup and the Plate competitions, the opposition proved too strong this year. AKS took home the Cup, while Merchant Taylors won the Plate.

Local Year 5 pupils were buzzing to take part in Bolton School's Spelling Bee on Friday. Twenty children from ten local primary schools took part, and children had just one minute to correctly spell as many words as they could from a list of 150, with the winner taking home a certificate and a book token worth £20!

Pupils really enjoyed the partial solar eclipse! In the Girls' and Boys' Division Senior and Junior schools, pupils took part in viewing the eclipse in a variety of different ways. Many pupils watched a live stream on their iPads or on interactive whiteboards in their classrooms, while some were allowed outside to use their eclipse viewer glasses, pinhole cameras and iPads to view the eclipse themselves. Bolton Astronomical Society were invited to set up their equipment at School and allowed pupils to look through their telescopes, which had been fitted with special solar filters for the occasion. In partnership with the Ogden Trust, the School was able to set up the Ogden Trust's Hydrogen Alpha Solar Telescope on the roof of the Turret Library to get the best possible view to record this special event!

Whilst the School closed on Wednesday for the Easter break, it was still a very busy few days!

Last weekend saw a number of events happening across the campus. The 19th Bolton (Bolton School) Scout Group celebrated its 100th birthdayon Saturday 21 March with a Family Fun Day at its Brookside Scout HQ and an evening buffet celebration. Earlier in the day, children and adults had enjoyed a range of fun activities including pioneering, crafts, a chance to cook twists and sausages on an outdoor camp fire, face-painting, a climbing wall, a bouncy assault course and slide. On display throughout the day was memorabilia, photos and lists of former scouts from the past 100 years.

Also on Saturday evening, a celebratory dinner saw the latest crop of 41 SHINE pupils graduate through this year’s Serious Fun on Saturday Mornings programme at Bolton School.

On the sports field, Bolton School U16s' team produced one of the best defensive rugby displays ever seen by a Bolton School side to win the Lancashire U16 Rugby Plate Final.

Three Bolton School boys made it through to the national final of the Independent Schools’ Golf Association (ISGA) Singles Matchplay Tournament, which will be held at Royal St George’s Golf Club in Kent on 26 and 27 April. A first for Bolton School!

A group of Year 7 boys recently travelled to Manchester University to take part in the regional final of Cambridge University’s French Spelling Bee. Amir Chauhan made it through to the final four contestants, winning himself a place in the National Final! This is the third year in which the Boys’ Division has been represented at the national level of this competition.

During the last twelve months Bolton School Boys’ Division has worked hard to raise £5000 so they can name two puppies for the charity Guide Dogs.

Year 10 students in the Girls’ Division have been trying their hand at traditional metal casting methods using pewter. The girls were given the brief to design and make a pendant to reflect the School’s 100/500 Anniversary celebrations, which are taking place throughout 2015 and 2016.

In the arts, budding thespians from the Girls’ and Boys’ Division Senior Schools collaborated to produce a wonderful Joint Production of The Sound of Music. There were stunning performances throughout the production, which ran from 18-21 March in the Girls’ Division Studio Theatre.

To watch a compilation of clips from the Joint Production of The Sound of Music, click here.

After another two exciting rounds of the Bolton School Bake Off Finalists have now been selected! The final four will create their ‘signature bake’ under timed conditions on Friday 17 April.

Old Girl Dr Julia Sarginson returned to Bolton School to deliver a fascinating lecture entitled ‘From School to Scalpel’ as part of the Girls’ Division’s Enrichment Programme.

Infant and Junior School children benefitted from the wisdom of former pupils who talked to them about a range of possible careers. Pupils in Year 2 learned about life as a vetfrom Old Girl Victoria Edmondson. She visited Beech House with her husband and fellow vet Peter Edmondson and three of their dogs to introduce the children to the realities of working with animals in veterinary practice.

In the Junior Schools, six Bolton School alumni returned to give talks at this year’s Junior Careers Carousel. This joint event brings together Year 6 pupils from the Junior Girls’ and Junior Boys’ Schools to learn more about the wide variety of career paths that they might take in the future.

Getting ahead of themselves, the Junior Girls had their Wear a Hat Day for Brain Tumour Research on Wednesday 25 March, two days before the rest of the country. It made for some flamboyant headwear – from pupils and teachers alike – and girls raised several hundred pounds for the worthy cause.

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