Junior Girls 2020-21

Giving Back

Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the Junior Girls have still managed to help others with generous charitable donations. At Harvest time in both 2019 and 2020, the girls donated a huge amount of food to Urban Outreach. Speaking in 2020, Dave Bagley, its Chief Executive, said: ‘I never cease to be amazed by the generosity of people across the town. We always collect from across the Bolton School campus at this time of year and, once again, I am delighted to be taking away so much produce for those that are struggling. In spite of the current situation, people are still finding the time and kindness to make these donations. I can’t thank the pupils and their families enough.’ The Junior Girls were also involved in annual Urban Outreach Hamper Challenges. This local charity provides struggling families with Christmas Hampers containing everything needed for a traditional festive spread. In 2019, pupils and their families contributed 555 selection boxes to the cause. In 2020, for the ‘Pringle Bells’ challenge, they collected 624 tubes of Pringles and Doritos Stax, which included an amazing donation of 264 tubes from Izzy in Year 3 whose dad works for Walkers crisps! The Foundation as a whole helped to fill over 2,400 hampers with their donations each year. For Children in Need and Red Nose Day, the girls added spots and Pudsey ears or red noses and accessories to their uniforms in exchange for donations to these worthy causes.

Japanese Day

The Junior Girls had the opportunity to learn more about the Japanese language and culture on their annual Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Day! Teachers Mrs Hornby and Mrs Labbé organised a range of themed activities, including a Ju-Jitsu demonstration and workshops and lots of learning about the Japanese language. Art sessions allowed girls to explore origami, paint their names in Japanese characters, create carp kites and make drawings in a manga style. For Years 5 and 6 there were musical activities using Garage Band and a quiz to test their new knowledge.

Literary Links

All pupils enjoyed taking part in celebrations around reading and writing. On National Poetry Day, the girls became poets for the day: writing paired acrostic poems, receiving poems to keep in pockets, reading and reciting poetry aloud and sharing evocative words and phrases for 2019’s theme: ’Tell Me The Truth About Life’. For World Book Day 2020, girls attended school in their pyjamas and comfy clothes like onesies so that they could curl up with a good book throughout the day. Girls also enjoyed a Book Swap and offered one another book recommendations and reviews, and in MFL lessons they explored the variety of foreign language books in the library. In 2021, the celebrations had to take place on Zoom, but the girls were no less enthusiastic and enjoyed dressing up and talking about favourite books with their classes.

Oracy Project

The Junior Girls at Bolton School have benefitted from a new initiative known as The Oracy Project. The tenets of the programme were embedded in the curriculum after Deputy Head Mrs Holt attended an ‘Oracy Leaders Programme’ and delivered her findings to staff through a series of INSET days. Using what is known as the Oracy Framework, which was developed by Voice 21 and the University of Cambridge, subject teachers worked hard to ensure that oracy attained the same status as numeracy and literacy in the classroom. In each subject, teachers prioritised the development of key skills which included social and emotional capabilities, including working collaboratively, speaking confidently and being aware of an audience as well as physical skills, such as using the voice and body language to convey meaning, and linguistic skills including developing vocabulary and language. Cognitive skills such as clarifying, summarising and reasoning were also developed. Headteacher Mrs Laverick explained: ‘The research showing that oracy impacts positively on academic outcomes, on cognitive development and on promoting a sense of well-being underlined the importance of developing communication skills and strategies for 21st century learning. iPads, already an essential part of our teaching and learning, became a tool to further enhance oracy skills. Acknowledging that in typical lessons, the teacher does much of the talking, we created a culture of talk across every subject and an environment in which pupils could clearly express their thoughts and effectively communicate their ideas.’ ‘When Covid struck, the importance of oracy was paramount; technology and oracy stood out as vital skills to prioritise in lockdown. Effective communication was at the core of remote learning as oracy became further entrenched in online lessons to build pupil engagement, resilience and positivity. During INSET sessions, which punctuated our academic year, we reflected on progress and shared ideas as to how to focus oracy across whole learning sequences. On our return to school, oracy skills promoting interaction between pupils have been vital to the reintegration of girls into school life.’

Making Music

‘Stories from the Stable’ was the Junior Girls’ Christmas Concert in 2019. Through song, dance, poetry recitals, narration and dramatic performances, the girls told the story of the Nativity from the point of view of the animals who were there when Jesus was born. As well as traditional carols in English, the programme featured songs in French and Spanish. The Junior Girls’ Music Festival and subsequent celebratory concert featuring the winners was one of the last events to take place inperson. It was a fantastic opportunity for the school’s young musicians to shine, with a whole day dedicated to the piano and classes for singers, instrumentalists and ensembles the following day. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, music-making continued during lockdown. The girls filmed themselves singing and playing instruments to create two wonderful Virtual Summer Concerts to bring the school year to a close. In 2020-21, with audiences still unable to come into school to watch the girls perform, the staff got creative and found other ways for the girls to share their music. Music Recitals went virtual and the school produced filmed versions of their usual Christmas and Summer Concerts. ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ brought cheer to the festive season by filming the year groups separately in the Girls’ Division Theatre, while the fine weather in the summer term allowed the girls to come together as a whole school outdoors to perform and film ‘Song of the Earth’.

CLICK HERE OR SCAN TO WATCH ‘STORIES FROM THE STABLE’ CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2019 CLICK HERE OR SCAN TO WATCH ‘HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS’ CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2020 CLICK HERE OR SCAN TO WATCH ‘SONG OF THE EARTH’ SUMMER CONCERT 2021

(S)Miles for Malawi

In 2021, the Junior Girls began the epic challenge of raising £50,000 to fund the building of a school for street children in Malawi. The ambitious project came about after teacher Mrs Julia Marsden visited the country to work with street children. Mrs Marsden said: ‘Since my visits to Malawi in 2017 and 2018, I have been appointed as a trustee of the Maphunziro Foundation, whose focus is to create a conducive learning environment for every Malawian child to prosper. The school we hope to build will provide bursary places for children living on the streets and a safe place for them to live, learn and thrive.’ The (S)miles for Malawi campaign was launched in April with support from ‘The Voice of Manchester Races’ Andy O’Sullivan MBE. The girls set themselves the collective target of travelling 12,000 kilometres: the distance between Bolton School and the planned site of the school in Malawi. In a matter of weeks, they achieved their aim through walking, swimming, running, cycling and a host of other activities that got the whole school moving and invested in the cause! Year 3 pupil Kylá Chenda-Joseph and her mum Mara, who is originally from Malawi, shared the School’s campaign with the First Lady of Malawi, Madam Monica Chakwera, and women from across the Malawian diaspora during a multi-national Zoom call in May. They received positive messages of support from the other attendees, and the First Lady herself was very impressed. At the end of the summer term, Year 6 pupils committed to yet another fundraising challenge. Pooling their efforts, they climbed the height of Malawi’s highest mountain, Mulanje Massif, on the Boys’ Division climbing wall. They exceeded their target of 3,002m in a single day! The (S)miles for Malawi campaign even featured in the Junior Girls’ filmed ‘Song of the Earth’ summer concert: the girls shared why they are raising money to build a school before bursting into song and dance to ‘Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)’. By the end of the school year the girls were standing at 10% of their overall target with £5,000 raised.

Inspirational Visitors

Year 6’s Netball Masterclass with former England player and head coach Tracey Neville

Dame Floella Benjamin spoke about her inspirational life, from her childhood memories of Trinidad to receiving her Damehood in 2020