Friday 20 March 2015

20 March 2015

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!


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