Junior Boys' Review 2017-18

BOLTON SCHOOL JUNIOR BOYS’ 2017/2018 REVIEW

From the Head...

Park Road has certainly been a very busy place this year, with so much going on both within and beyond the classroom and this review provides us with a very welcome opportunity to sit back and reflect upon all that we have managed to fit in to what feels like an evershrinking amount of time. No sooner were we welcoming all our new boys into the Park Road hall at the start of year assembly, than we were saying farewell to the Year 6 boys who have grown into fine young men during their time with us.

ensembles in action and the quality of music

improving all the time. We have had the usual range of year group concerts and the annual Music Festival as well as opportunities to sing in locations such as Oldham Town Hall at the Music for Youth Festival.

The Year 6 play this year was Aladdin which proved to be a real hit and had audiences scrabbling for tickets. As ever, the ‘girls’ stole the show, although they were very nearly upstaged by a carpet – a magic one no-less.

The classrooms have been busy and productive places of course. The boys have been working hard on developing all of those key skills required as they progress through school. We’ve been developing our use of technology and iPads are becoming an ever more natural part of our classroom repertoire.

Beyond the classroom we have seen a wonderful variety of activity with the boys excelling in sport, music, drama and charitable endeavour. Sport this year continues to have a feeling of breadth to it, with boys competing in a range of sports including hockey, basketball, water polo, even a bit of crown green bowling and, of course, football. This year the U11 swimmers reached the national finals of the ESSA relay competition and were eventually placed 8th overall. Music has continued to grow in terms of participation and performance with a wider range of

Thinking of others is something which we seek to promote within school and the boys, supported wonderfully by their parents, really do take this on with great relish, from the food donations for Harvest festival, to the huge sums of money donated in the Charity Fun Run. In addition to this fundraising, the boys have also been working with children in other schools in the local area. Groups of boys have been developing reading and drama with children from Clarendon Primary School whilst others have been learning sign language during their time spent at Thomasson Memorial School.

The final day of the school year is one which brings mixed feelings. No doubt both boys and staff are ready for the break by the time we reach that last day, but then it is always a little sad to say goodbye to another group of boys, heading off to Senior School. To end with Sports Day and Prizegiving then, seems

appropriate. The boys, staff and parents all come together at these events, to support, encourage, reflect and congratulate the boys on their achievements and what a great deal has been achieved this year.

Mrs S Faulkner Head of the Junior Boys’ Division

Landscape Art Exhibition

The Year 6 boys’ acrylic landscape paintings recreated an amazing variety of scenes from around the world. Both urban and rural scenes were represented, as well as several views of Patterdale Hall. The pieces went on display outside the Theatre during the run of the Year 6 production for the audience to enjoy.

Art Trips

Members of the Invitational Art Club viewed The Danger Tree exhibition in Manchester, which used augmented reality to evoke the devastation of the First World War by superimposing animation, music and poetry onto the artworks. Year 6 also visited two permanent Hockney exhibitions at Salts Mill.

Tudor Row

A group of Year 6 pupils finished off a project to create a miniature row of Tudor-style houses using traditional methods, which their year group started last year. They made wooden frames, filled them with ‘wattle and daub’ and thatched the roof, copying designs from their research.

Drama

Audiences were transported to Agrabah as Year 6 pupils staged the adventures of Aladdin. The tale was woven by a series of often funny narrators and featured spectacular singing and acting from the main characters. The boys put on the show with confidence and painted each vivid scene in style. This year’s production was Mrs Lockett’s swansong and was a showstopper finale to more than two decades of directing the Year 6 play. The boys’ enthusiastic performances were a wonderful send off for her.

Theatre Trips

Boys had fun watching two performances at The Lowry: a group watched George’s Marvellous Medicine in February and some Year 4s enjoyed The Jungle Book in May. Pupils also ended Shakespeare Week with a special performance of scenes from The Tempest, the Senior School Joint Production.

Pop Project

Toe-tapping hits helped pupils learn more about Great Britain and British Values from the Pop Project trio. Props, costumes and a little help from volunteers also helped deliver the message.

African Drumming

Pupils played djembes and discovered different rhythms in an African Drumming Workshop.

Philharmonic Performance

Year 4 were delighted to attend a children’s concert from the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at the Philharmonic Hall. They were familiar with the pieces from their music lessons but were excited to see them performed live and spot instruments they had never seen before.

Spring Concert

Christmas Service

Pupils celebrated the festive season with beautiful singing and traditional carols such as ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and ‘Away in a Manger’.

Uplifting performances from the choirs were interspersed with instrumental music from ensembles and groups at the Spring Concert. The evening ended with the massed voices of the school singing a ‘Songs of World War I’ medley.

AJIS Music Festival

The Upper School Choir competed against fellow young singers at the AJIS Music Festival. Despite interruptions from the fire alarm, boys sang well and were complimented on the quality of sound, especially in the high register.

Music Festival

A busy programme of performances in various instrumental and vocal categories made for a wonderful Music Festival. The adjudicator was very impressed and gave individual, constructive feedback to all performers across the two days.

Gala Concert

Park Road’s singers and musicians joined a Massed Choir and Massed Orchestra for the Boys’ Division Gala Concert at the Victoria Hall in Bolton.

Fun Run

Pupils and their cheering families braved the drizzle for the annual Fancy Dress Fun Run! Boys completed as many laps of the Senior School athletics track as they could manage to raise over £7000 for four charities: BAND (Building a New Direction), The British Lung Foundation, The Alzheimer’s Society and The World Wildlife Fund.

World’s Biggest Coffee Morning

The Parents’ Association put on a spread of delicious cakes at a coffee morning held in the library. They raised £161.35 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

NSPCC

A collection at the Spring Concert raised £253.36 for the NSPCC. Earlier in the term, the NSPCC visited pupils to spread the message to Speak Out Stay Safe in an assembly and workshops. The money raised will help fund this campaign.

Children in Need

Some very creative spotty accessories were worn by the boys in support of Children in Need. The school raised just under £300.

Harvest Offering

The school’s Harvest collection this year supported the local charity Urban Outreach. In the Harvest Assembly, boys learned more about how their donations will help the local community, enjoyed singing from the choirs and took the time to be grateful for all that they have.

Sports

Football

The Junior Boys’ football teams played all of their fixtures with sprit and determination, despite at times facing wintry conditions on the pitch. Boys were excited to see and use the magnificent facilities at the Etihad Stadium when they played in Football Festivals at the Manchester City Academy! The U11 team put in a strong show of skill, effort and tenacity against tough opposition in both the AJIS Cup and Kids’ Cup competitions.

Sports Day Thrills

The competition was fierce, the sun was blazing and the boys did themselves proud with great efforts all round and three new school records. The result was in doubt right up until the final race, in which Dobson House overtook Lever to win!

Crown Green Bowls

Year 6 boys had a relaxing and enjoyable morning trying their hand at Crown Green Bowling. All went in not knowing what it was and left wanting more.

Cross Country

Muddy courses and bad weather plagued the cross country teams this year as they competed in the Bolton Schools Primary League. However, the boys progressed well and by the final race there was a top 10 finish. Pupils traded rain for sea foam at the AJIS Cross Country competition in October and the Year 6 team achieved third place overall.

BOLTON SCHOOL JUNIOR BOYS

Water Polo

The Year 5 and 6 boys acquitted themselves well in a variety of water polo matches throughout the season. The highlight was no doubt winning the ESSA U11 Regional Cadet Competition. Junior Boys also joined forces with players from the Junior Girls’ School and Year 7 Senior Boys to enter two teams into the City of Manchester Water Polo Festival, where the A team made it all the way to the final and the B team was placed a creditable joint ninth.

Hockey

Boys have enjoyed playing in competitive hockey matches throughout the year.

Chess

The chess teams have enjoyed success once again, winning the Bolton Primary Schools Chess League (BPSCL) A League and the annual chess battle against QEGS Wakefield. The U10 team achieved second place in the AJIS trophy competition and six boys took podium positions in the individual competition: the U10A section was particularly strong, with Junior Boys taking first, second and third! Teams made it to the June semi-finals of the national EPSCA competition.

Swimming

Junior Boys came second in the Medley and Freestyle Relays at the AJIS Swimming Championships, where four pupils also achieved individual medals. At the ESSA regional North West swimming finals the U11 swimmers came away with two silver medal positions and qualified for the Nationals at Ponds Forge.

Around School

Careers Carousel

Year 6 walked over to join their counterparts in the Junior Girls’ School for a carousel of interactive careers talks. Alumni talked to pupils about work in the police force and what is involved in town planning. Pupils also heard about working in a modern office from UK Fast.

International Links

Year 5 pupils connected with their peers from Gilman School in Baltimore, US, as part of a project established by empatico. org. They became community cartographers, listening to the American class describe their community and surroundings via a video call and creating a map before swapping roles.

Inspiring Engineers

Lecturers from the University of Bolton visited Park Road to reveal the fascinating and varied world of Engineering to pupils. Dr Zubair Hanslot described engineers as the people “changing the world” through problem solving, and there was also a demonstration of the University’s intelligent robot, Able.

Civil War

Pupils were put through their paces by costumed re-enactors in pike and musket drills! They also discovered more about Bolton during the Civil War and the role the town played in the conflict.

Sign Language

A group of Year 5 boys visited Thomasson Memorial School to start learning sign language from pupils there. The experience helped them to think about what it might be like to be deaf and how they can communicate with deaf people.

World Book Day

The celebrations for World Book Day saw the school fill with colourful characters as everyone shared their favourite stories. At lunchtime there was a book-themed scavenger hunt and the chance for pupils to have their photograph taken inside their character’s world using green screen technology!

Tudor Day

Year 5 pupils enjoyed a day designing their family coat of arms and making treats such as marchpane, lovers’ knots and a Tudor cheese pie as part of their history learning. This followed a trip ‘back in time’ at Ordsall Hall where they raided the wardrobes to experience life as a family member and as a servant.

Unsung Hero

Lollipop man Barry Massey received the Unsung Hero Award at the Bolton News Schools Awards 2017 for his cheerful disposition, positive attitude and genuine interest in members of the school and local community as he helps pedestrians cross Park Road!

What’s Your Antarctica?

Two members of the Ice Maiden expedition, the first all-female team to ski coast to coast across Antarctica using only muscle power, talked to pupils about their amazing polar experience. They told inspiring tales from their training and the 1,704km journey, and afterwards were bombarded with questions from their fascinated audience!

Conducting field-work on the River Lostock at Cuerden Valley Park

Visiting the Terracotta Warriors at the World Museum in Liverpool

Masterclass with managed hosting provider UKFast