Junior Girls' Review 2019-20

From the Head...

Ambassadors

All girls in Year 6 have the wonderful opportunity to give back to the school community by serving as Ambassadors for a term. They take on additional responsibilities and, as young leaders, they provide invaluable assistance to staff and fellow pupils throughout the school year.

Ambassadors are role models for younger pupils in Years 3 to 5, exemplifying the Junior Girls’ School values of respect, honesty, kindness, resilience and responsibility, and on Open Morning, they welcome guests, provide tours and describe their learning experience in their own unique words to give a pupil’s view of life at Bolton School.

Spring Term Ambassadors

Autumn Term Ambassadors

Summer Term Ambassadors

Music and Drama

Choir Competes

Members of the Choir this year sang in both the AJIS Music Festival and Ramsborrom Music Festival. They performed beautifully at both competitions and received very positive comments from the adjudicator at each occasion.

Stories from the Stable

The Junior Girls told the story of the Nativity from the point of view of the animals who were there when Jesus was born. Their songs and carols, poetry, recitals, narration, dances and dramatic performances made for a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas concert.

Music Festival

Young musicians in all year groups showcased their wide-ranging talents across two full days at the annual Music Festival. The rest of the school had ample opportunity to enjoy the performances, and those who earned first place in their class also played at a Celebratory Concert.

Drama Workshops

Girls from both Year 6 classes were joined in the Girls’ Division Theatre by Melissa Johns, British actor and disability ambassador, for fun drama workshops. The girls and Melissa herself thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

BOLTON SCHOOL JUNIOR GIRLS

The Tempest

Years 5 and 6 were captivated by an interactive performance from The Young Shakespeare Company. They followed the storyline and were able to give suggestions about what might happen next and what characters were thinking, and even took on roles within the play.

Tuba Travels

A lively and entertaining visit from the Travelling by Tuba duo helped girls to explore a wide range of music and instruments. Year 3 girls had the extra treat of a Salsa workshop, which led to a super performance for the rest of the School.

Virtual Summer Concerts

The Junior Girls recorded themselves playing a fabulous variety of pieces at home and the performances were knitted together to form two Virtual Summer Concerts. Watch them in full via these links:

Year 5 & 6: https://bit.ly/3haRZod

Year 3 & 4: https://bit.ly/3h5Vcpb

Street Dance

Girls gave a very impressive Street Dance performance for their parents and family members in their last session before the Christmas holidays.

Special Occasions

Anti-Bullying Training

A group of Junior Girls attended an Anti-Bullying Ambassador Training Day alongside pupils and staff from eight local schools and across the Bolton School Foundation. The event, run by the Diana Award, aimed to show young people how to both recognise bullying behaviour and support those affected.

Flying Visit

It was an exciting day for the Junior Girls when Old Boy Robert De Maine landed his helicopter on the School playing field! Now a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy and the Senior Pilot of 705 Naval Air Squadron, Rob answered all the girls’ probing questions while showing them around the helicopter.

Remembrance

Year 6 led a thoughtful and moving assembly to commemorate Remembrance Day. They explained why the poppy is a symbol of remembrance and through readings, poems and songs offered a tribute to all those who have sacrificed their lives in war.

Olympian’s Advice

Olympic athlete Jenny Meadows visited Bolton School and offered the girls lots of tips and advice based on her experiences at World and Olympic level during an after-school coaching session with the Junior Boys at Park Road.

Rainforest Learning

Year 5 pupils visited Chester Zoo to discover more about the Amazon Rainforest. In the tropical section, they learned about the habitats of turtles, sloths and cheetahs, before a workshop where they found out how to take care of our rainforests through everyday actions.

BOLTON SCHOOL JUNIOR GIRLS

Chris Riddell

Author, illustrator and former Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell delighted Junior Girls in Years 5 and 6 with live drawings, humorous recollections and even a glimpse at the strange ideas in his ‘Naughty Drawer’ during a special event organised by school library staff.

VE Day

Girls commemorated the 75th anniversary of VE Day during lockdown by writing poems based on their historical knowledge and creating Spanish invitations to a fiesta for the occasion.

Writing Retreat

A group of Year 6 girls joined pupils from the Senior School on the annual Writing Retreat held at Patterdale Hall for the first time this year. They enjoyed workshops and tutorials with writers Jane Kingsford, Mandy Coe, Peter Sansom and Tiffany Murray and found inspiration on afternoon walks.

World Book Day

Attending school in pyjamas and comfy clothes, girls curled up in quiet reading nooks to explore the stories shared through the Book Swap on World Book Day. Everyone enjoyed discovering something new by hearing one another’s recommendations and reviews.

MFL Day

The annual Modern Foreign Languages Day was this year themed around Japan. The activities included a Ju-Jitsu workshop, name painting using Japanese characters, crafting origami and carp kites, and of course lots of language learning.

Speak Out, Stay Safe

Girls discovered the importance of speaking out and staying safe in workshops with NSPCC volunteers and NSPCC mascot Buddy the speech bubble. They learned about different kinds of bullying and abuse in a lively and age-appropriate way and found out how to help themselves and others.

National Poetry Day

For the 25th anniversary of this special celebration of poetry, each girl was given a poem to keep in her pocket. They were encouraged to read these aloud and share them with others. Pupils also engaged in paired acrostic poetry writing activities based around the theme of ‘Truth’.

Sports

Sportshall Athletics

The annual AJIS Indoor Sportshall Athletics Competition saw Year 5 and 6 girls perform well in track and field events. They returned with three gold, two silver and two bronze medals across several disciplines. One girl even set a new AJIS record of 16.06m in the Javelin!

AJIS Football

The Year 6 football team competed in the U11 AJIS Girls’ Football Tournament at St Bede’s in February. Despite this being their first competition and after only a few weeks of training, they played well to only lose one game, draw another, and win two of their matches.

Cross Country

The Junior Girls topped the Bolton League to be crowned Champions after leading all through the season! Exceptional performances at the AJIS competition saw one girl win gold in the Year 5 race and the Year 6 team achieve third place overall. One pupil brought home a silver medal from the Bolton Championship, and three went on to run for Bolton at the Greater Manchester Cross Country Competition. Teams also competed at Scarisbrick Hall, where all three Year 5 runners finished in the top five and the Year 6 team all in the top 40. The Year 3/4 team took part in the Bolton Schools’ Fun Run.

Swimming

The Bolton Swimming Gala saw Junior Girls finish in high positions in their individual races and win both relays to be awarded gold medals as the top girls’ team. At the AJIS Swimming Gala in Blackpool, girls reached the finals in backstroke, breaststroke and both relays in each age group and the Year 5 team went on to pick up bronze medals in the medley relay final. The girls also performed well at Galas against Westholme and Bury Grammar to achieve wins for Bolton, and even helped beat their Boys’ Division and Park Road counterparts in the annual Bolton School Boys vs Girls Gala. The swimming team went on to give a great performance at the ESSA National Swimming Championships in March.

BOLTON SCHOOL JUNIOR GIRLS

Dodgeball

A team of Year 5 girls enjoyed playing several games at the Bolton Dodgeball Competition in January.

Water Polo Keen water polo players in Year 6 joined forces with Year 7 to form a mixed team. They enjoyed a training match against the Park Road boys and also took part in a fixture against Manchester Grammar School.

Virtual Sports Day Due to the constraints of lockdown, Sports Day became a virtual event at Hesketh House. Key workers’ children took part in activities in school while at home pupils photographed and recorded themselves taking part in all the usual challenges: sprints, jumps, ‘welly throwing’, egg and spoon race and more!

Netball

The Year 5 and Year 6 teams gave their all in highly competitive and very exciting netball fixtures throughout the year. The Year 6 netballers demonstrated excellent skills and teamwork at the northern final of the Sisters n Sport National Cup in March. Despite a very tense final against Alderley Edge they came out on top with a score of 7-6: as well as bringing home the cup, they earned a future match against the winners of the southern section. Year 6 continued to impress by winning the AJIS Netball Tournament the following week.

Learning Challenges

Chess

It was a successful year overall for the chess teams. Individual medals were earned at each Bolton League competition, and the B Team won their section and were awarded the Plate Shield in November. Players also performed well at the annual AJIS Chess Competition, with girls bringing home one silver and three bronze medals on the day. The U11 A and B teams competed in the first round of the EPSCA Chess Competition, where some members of the A team qualified for the National Semi-Finals!

Sphero Workshop

Year 3 girls made use of their coding skills to programme Sphero robots to lead ‘aliens’ to safety on a new planet! The workshop was run by Junior Boys’ teacher and official ‘Sphero Hero’ Mr Winstanley.

Architecture Workshop

Girls in Year 5 extended their mathematical knowledge of 3D shapes during an exciting architecture workshop, which also linked to their History Learning Challenges. They worked together to build strong structures and ultimately made an Anglo Saxon Roundhouse and Viking Longboat.

Helping a Hedgehog

When an injured hedgehog turned up during a Year 5 PE lesson, helping out became a learning opportunity. A volunteer at the hedgehog rescue explained how they nurse hedgehogs back to heath and offered lots of information about caring for these animals.

Roman Life

A time-travelling visitor helped to introduce Year 4 to their Life in Roman Britain topic. In this engaging interactive workshop, they learned about the legacy of the Roman conquest, sampled what life would be like as a legionary and discovered the importance of citizenship.

Operation Treacle

An informative talk from the Fire and Rescue Service gave Year 6 girls important advice on how to stay safe on Halloween and Bonfire Night. The session included tips for trick or treating and warnings about the dangers of fireworks.

Bebras Challenge

The whole school took part in the UK Bebras Challenge by completing a set of short online problems. These fun and engaging ‘Bebras tasks’ are based on problems that Computer Scientists often face and the solutions call for logical thinking. Many girls were awarded Merits and Distinctions for their efforts.

Museum Visit

A trip to Bolton Museum allowed Year 4 to further explore their Learning Challenges curriculum. As well as exploring the Gallery spaces, they were treated to a full interactive workshop led by museum educators.

Technology Day

Girls in Year 5 made the most of a technology day at Park Road, the Junior Boys’ School. They learned about coding within Swift Playground and used these new skills, alongside their maths knowledge, to design and print 3D keyrings using Beetleblox. Finally, they created a film about Byte’s world using their iPads.

Textiles Workshop

A day of activities with print and textiles company Stead McAlpin wove together History, Geography, Art and Design, Language, Mathematics and British Values for Year 4 pupils. As well as learning about the history of fabrics and print-making, the girls created two tapestry designs featuring their silhouette portraits to mimic a ‘Victoria and Albert’ chintz.

Viking Visitor

Stockport Air Raid Shelter

On this amazing trip, Year 6 experienced life as an evacuee and found out what an Air Raid really would have been like, as well as discovering jobs on the Home Front. This was a great opportunity to bring their learning about the Second World War to life.

National Young Mathematicians’ Award

A team of four Year 6 girls visited Explore Learning in Bury to compete in the National Young Mathematicians’ Award. They worked together on mathematical problem-solving challenges and presented their findings to the adjudicator.

WWII Memories

Two fascinating talks allowed Year 6 to discover more about the Second World War through personal memories. Veteran George Davies, now aged 96, shared exciting stories about his experiences in the RAF as a fighter-bomber and navigator. Parent Mr Hollinghurst also talked about his father’s time in the British army and his mother’s family’s involvement with the Resistance in Denmark.

Year 5 travelled back in time about a thousand years with the help of a special Viking visitor. They were amused to learn how the Vikings feared falling off the edge of the world and their clever use of sun dials to perfect direction when travelling long distances.

Charity

Hamper Challenge

The Junior Girls collected an impressive 555 selection boxes to help fill 1,300 Urban Outreach Christmas Hampers, which were distributed to those in need over the festive period. Across the whole of Bolton School, pupils donated 2,600 selection boxes in total.

Harvest Generosity

The annual Harvest assembly encouraged girls to appreciate all that they have and share with those less fortunate. A collection of food and other essentials donated by the Junior Girls and their families was given to Urban Outreach in support of the charity’s Winter Watch project.

Urban Outreach Visit

A group of Charity Representatives visited Urban Outreach in Bolton to learn more about this local community-based charity that the school supports throughout the year. This eye-opening experience showed them how donated food is organised and distributed to the vulnerable and needy.

Seeing Spots

The Junior Girls raised money for Children in Need by adding spots and accessories to their uniform and making donations to the cause. Some of the older girls even brought stick-on spots to hand out on the playground at break and lunchtime!

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BOLTON SCHOOL JUNIOR GIRLS

Parents’ Association

Christmas Fun

The girls thoroughly enjoyed the annual Christmas Disco in the Arts Centre. The girls had fun at the Christmas Film Night, where they watched ‘Elf’ in the Hesketh House hall. Both events were organised and run by the Parents’ Association.

Breakfast Club

Girls enjoyed starting the day in a social way at the annual Breakfast Club. They were welcomed to school by Parents’ Association volunteers, who served a delicious selection of fruit, pastries and drinks.

World’s Biggest Coffee Morning

Parents raised funds for Macmillan Cancer

Support

by joining in with a special Coffee Morning in the Hall arranged by the PA. A mix of home-made and shopbought cakes were available and mums and dads enjoyed these while chatting over tea and coffee. At the end of the day girls were allowed to buy a cake to take home too.

Christmas Hampers

Thanks to generous donations from Junior Girls’ parents, the PA put together a selection of luxury Christmas Hampers which were raffled off at the end of the autumn term.

Pantomime

The Parents’ Association arranged a visit from The Panto Company on the last day in school before the Christmas holidays. The Junior Girls enjoyed a highly entertaining performance of the classic ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in the Girls’ Division Theatre.

Creative Learning

Polar Explorers

This project brought together an investigation into Sir Ernest Shackleton and other expeditions to the Antarctic, Scott Polar Research Institute online activities and exploration of the novel ‘Brightstorm’ by Vashti Hardy. Girls employed a wide range of skills, from writing newspaper reports to researching biographies and fact sheets to creating amazing artwork.

Aztecs

Year 5 learned about the Aztecs as part of their Learning Challenges. This inspired lots of creative work making brightly coloured headdresses and sunstones.

Wreck of the Zanzibar

Year 4’s study of this novel by Michael Morpurgo involved making character studies and detailed mind maps, creative writing exercises and research into real-world storms.

Exploring the Deep

Using their knowledge of real-world animals and fish, girls drew and crafted their own deep-sea creatures such as the Spiny Sea Sally, the Jellyfab, the Coral Death Spot and the Giant Sharp Toothed Squirsh.

Board Games

Girls used their knowledge of different habitats to create their very own board games based on the rainforest and arctic.

River Studies

The girls’ learning about rivers and the habitats in and around them inspired a host of beautiful artwork: each pupil’s interpretation of leaping salmon, kingfishers and rippling water was different!

Venice

Oh, Venice! Its name alone is enough to conjure images of a time gone by. Romantic yet stately, calm yet vibrant. A glorious City in the Sea, founded over fifteen hundred years ago on a hundred and seventeen different islands that are linked by a hundred and fifty canals and around four hundred bridges and pavements!

The city exudes confidence. It survived Napoleon, and World War 1, when it became a naval base. It survived World War 2 and an Allied attack on German naval operations in the city. The buildings built upon and supported by oak and pine piles that are driven deep into the ground, the soil so water logged that there’s no free oxygen to decay its foundations. An ancient technical marvel.

How I yearn to glide along on a gondola and soak up its wonders... One day...

The Wave

Creative work inspired by famous artwork ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by Japanese artist Hokusai and poem ‘The Sea’ by James Reeve.

ArtLake District Landscape

Year 6 was not able to visit Patterdale Hall this year, so instead they created beautiful images based on the view across Lake Ullswater.

Art World Record

On 21 May, Junior Girls were among tens of thousands who joined in with Rob Biddulph’s attempt to break the Guinness World Records title for the largest online art lesson ever, which also raised money for charities fighting Coronavirus.

Making Rainbows

Junior Girls were encouraged in their Modern Foreign Language lessons to create a French ‘arc-en-ciel’ or Spanish ‘arco iris’, with the colours labelled in the appropriate language, in support of the NHS during lockdown.