The Cockerel
BOLTON SCHOOL BOYS’ DIVISION NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 45 - MARCH 2024
ISSUE 45 - MARCH 2024
Towards the end of March, the Bolton School theatre played host to three evening performances of this year's Joint Senior Musical, 'Little Shop of Horrors'. A dedicated and talented cast had been working tirelessly over a number of months to bring together what is a technically demanding show. Featuring plants of all sizes and a crew of puppeteers, audiences were treated to a production full of excellent performances, dark humour and memorable music.
Dominic Filidoro, a Year 10 pupil, recently enjoyed an unforgettable experience on a visit to the UK Parliament, giving him an insight into a career in politics. His account can be found below:
To this day, there are 650 members of parliament, each representing constituencies from the four nations of the UK. Seven of the MPs represent Sinn Fein and, therefore, don’t take their seat in parliament. Overall there are 12,000 pass holders for parliament.
On Tuesday 5th March my mother and I were invited down to Parliament by MP James Daly. Luis McBriar, who is Tottington’s councillor and an aide to James Daly, showed us around. Luis had an immense amount of background knowledge concerning Parliament, helping me understand everything throughout the day and making my time in London extremely enjoyable.
We started the day in Portcullis House, an area for meetings and an office space for the MPs and staff, which was created in 1991 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. I then went into the parliament itself, passing Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben is the name of the bell). Upon entry, we made our way down the green carpets, green being the representative colour of the House of Commons. In the lobby, there are several railings, which remain there as a reminder of the fact that the women had
to sit behind railings, until the suffragettes chained themselves to the railings in protest. After that, we went to Westminster Hall, which was built in 1097. En route, we saw the chapel of St Mary Undercroft, this is where Nancy Astor hid in the broom cupboard as she thought the men wouldn’t allow her to take her seat in Parliament.
Since it’s opening, Parliament has had to have a few forced changes, one of which was as the result of the fire in 1834. Parliament was subsequently redesigned and reopened by Charles Barry in 1852; however, Westminster Hall survived the fire! Also, during World War 2, bombs exploded in the House of Commons and Westminster Hall - the decision was made to save Westminster Hall and rebuild the Commons. Three police officers lost their lives in the bombing, and to signify this, there are now stained-glass windows with the badges of the officers and to commemorate each MP and son killed in World War 2. We then saw and heard the division bells that ring whenever a vote is open in parliament.
At lunch, we were invited to eat in the Stranger’s Dining Room, where people such as Winston Churchill regularly ate their lunch. Following this, we then went to the House of Commons’ public gallery to watch a vote (the King can never go there) and then the public gallery of the House of Lords where the colours changed to red. There we saw the King's throne, the new Foreign
Secretary, David Cameron, Winston Churchill's grandson, Boris Johnson’s brother and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Later, we were allowed to go up Downing Street before meeting up with MP James Daly, where we talked for a while, which helped me learn so much about Parliament and politics and allowed me to understand the amount of work he does as an MP, which is unimaginable.
Because of how successful the day was, as I was leaving, James Daly presented me with the idea of doing some future work experience with him in his office, a once in a lifetime opportunity, during which I hope to learn so much.
The Final of the 20th Young Musician of the Year competition took place at Bolton School Boys' Division in early March. It was the culmination of a superb period of music making in the school. Two full days of Heats took place in January, followed by a Semi-Finals day in early February, which decided the fourteen Junior (Years 7-9) and Senior (Years 10-13) finalists.
Mr. Forgrieve, Director of Instrumental Music, opened the evening with a welcome and by reminding everyone that each of the performers was already a winner, having topped their category in the competition. He also welcomed the evening's adjudicator, Simon Mercer, who had the challenging task of deciding both the Junior and Senior Young Musician of the Year, following a suite of entertaining performances in an array of vastly different styles.
The Junior musicians opened the programme with two virtual performances: as half of Year 8 were visiting Patterdale Hall on the evening of the Final, those boys on the trip were able to pre-record their pieces in order to take part. The videos were played on a large screen at the front of the Great Hall. Junior Strings winner Justin Li performed ‘El Choclo’ by Ángel Villoldo on the violin, followed by Junior Guitar winner Ike Edwards playing ‘Dune tune’ by Mark King (Level 42) on the bass guitar.
Moving on to in-person performances, Junior Piano winner Nicky
Ling (Year 8) played ‘Fantasia in D minor K.397’ by W.A. Mozart, Junior Percussion winner Charlie Simpson (Year 9) played ‘Jake To The Bone’ by Toto (arr. Charlie Simpson) on the drum kit, Junior Brass winner Mateo Sprott (Year 8) played ‘He’s a Pirate’ from Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt/Hans Zimmer on the trumpet, Junior Woodwind winner Tejas Neelam (Year 8) played ‘Fantaisie Valse (No.1 from Couleurs Caraïbe)’ by Valérie Rousse and Joël Littorie on the flute and finally Junior Vocal winner Thomas Sibley (Year 9) sang ‘Candle In The Wind’ by Elton John.
They were immediately followed by the Senior Young Musician of the Year finalists, beginning with another vocal performance:
Senior Vocal winner Nathan Pierson (Year 11) sang ‘Vergin, Tutto Amor’ by Durante. Senior Brass winner William Earnshaw (Year 11) was up next with a tenor horn performance of ‘Manha de Carnaval’ by Antonio de Maria/Luiz Bonfa, arr. Robert Ramskill. Senior Woodwind winner Freddie Audley (Year 13) played ‘Lorito Caprice’ by Francisco Gomez on the clarinet and Senior Guitar winner James Bland (Year 13) performed ‘Die to Live’ by Steve Vai on the electric guitar. Senior Piano winner Tom Williamson (Year 12) played ‘Primeval Sounds’ (Genesis I) from Makrokosmos
Volume I by George Crumb. Senior Percussion winner Finn Flanagan (Year 13) played ‘Leader of the pack’ by Wunderhorse on the drum kit, and finally Senior Strings winner Harry Adams
(Year 13) brought the Senior competition to a close with a violin performance of ‘Winter’ by Vivaldi.
With the competitive performances complete, there was a short interval to give Simon Mercer time for deliberation. The audience enjoyed refreshments in the Great Hall while they waited.
Following the interval, the Junior and Senior Young Composers of the Year were celebrated. Mr. Forgrieve pointed out that the talent shown in this competition is amazing, as the compositions submitted are nothing to do with school work and are examples of the boys’ creativity. He invited the two winners up to the microphone to speak about their pieces before recordings were played for the audience.
Krishnan Velayutham (Year 9), winner of the Junior competition, explained that ‘The Last Angel’ was inspired by a short story he wrote, and evokes the isolation and sadness of the moment the hero’s species is wiped out. Tom Williamson (Year 12), who won the Senior competition, said that ‘Imminent Quartet’ was written for the traditional
four-part string quartet and is meant to represent an approaching deadline, with a sense of rising urgency throughout.
The Most Promising Performer award is given to recognise an outstanding performance in the Semi-Finals, perhaps deserving of a place in the Final, but which narrowly missed out. This year, the prize went to electric guitarist Dylan Lincoln (Year 13) and he too had an opportunity to perform on the evening; he played ‘Marigold’ by Periphery.
Finally, it was time for the adjudication and presentation of prizes. Simon Mercer began by echoing Mr. Forgrieve’s words from
earlier in the evening: that all of the boys who performed are already winners in their own right. He explained that his criteria
for judging was based on ‘communication and, as musicians, how we communicate our love of our pieces to you, a willing and supportive audience’. He went on to thank both family members and the ‘terrific’ Music Department for their support of the young musicians in school.
Simon also reminded the musicians that sometimes things happen in performance, and it doesn’t quite go how they might want it to, but advised them not to be intimidated by an audience or a fantastic Great Hall. He encouraged them to enjoy playing, have fun and take some risks.
He congratulated the two Young Composers of the Year, complimenting both pieces. He said of Krishnan’s: ‘as a piece of descriptive music, it was just superb.’ He called Tom’s piece ‘innovative, clever, witty’ and ‘difficult to play’.
Finally, it came to the judging. Simon said he had the ‘pleasure and difficulty’ of separating out two winners from a set of outstanding performances. Returning to his initial point, he said that his choice came down to performances involving communication and engagement with the music and with the audience.
Thomas Sibley was named the Junior Young Musician of the Year for his ‘totally natural’ performance which ‘commanded the space’.
The Senior Young Musician of the Year was Tom Williamson for ‘a brave choice of music’ playing a contemporary, avant-garde piece which nonetheless had the audience ‘captivated’.
Mr. Ford, Head of Boys’ Division, then presented all of the Young Musician of the Year finalists with their class winner trophies and finally presented the two Young Musician of the Year Awards.
Mr. Forgrieve thanked Simon for his adjudication and the audience for their enthusiastic support of the boys, both behind the scenes and in the Great Hall on the night. He also thanked accompanists Ms. Lien and Mrs. Whitmore, and the Music Department for their support.
This is the twentieth year of the Young Musician of the Year Award, which takes place annually thanks to the generous contribution of cash prizes from Mr. and Mrs. Hilton, parents of Old Boy and musician Alexander Hilton. Though they could not attend in person, Mr. Forgrieve thanked them for their continued support.
Pupils from across Years 7-13 in the Boys’ and Girls’ Divisions showed off their accomplished musicianship at a spectacular joint Spring Concert held at Bolton Parish Church on Monday 11th March.
The well-attended evening was opened by Church Warden John Walsh who, welcoming everyone, referenced the long-standing links between the church and the School – an earlier version of the boys’ school used to be situated right next door.
The School’s Orchestral Strings Group were the first to entertain with a polished rendering of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
The full Orchestra then offered up impressive versions of R. Sheldon’s Appalachian Morning and SaintSaëns’ Danse Macabre. The Drum Corps played a perfect Wrist Warmer by N.
Ceroli before the Guitar Ensemble delivered a flawless Lagrimas de Lanthe by D.A. Fidalgo.
The perfectly pitched voices of the Senior Choir delivered E. Whitacre’s Sing Gently before the School’s talented Jazz Ensemble played Stevie Wonder’s I Wish and the foot-tapping Green Onions by B.T. Jones.
P. Martin’s Suite for Strings - Movement 1, March, and Movement
3, Alla Jig – was performed by the String Ensemble and this was followed by the Chamber Choir’s singing of The Rose by O. Gjeilo and C. Rosetti, with accompaniment by students on piano and strings, and Good Night, Dear Heart by D. Forrest, M. Twain and R. Richardson.
Feet were tapping again as the Intermediate Concert Band played Selections from Grease by W. Casey and J. Jacobs, and the evening was closed out with three numbers by the Senior Concert Band: An Irish Party in Third Class (Trad.), O Waly Waly (Trad.) and P. Sparke’s Guardians of the Waves.
We look forward to returning to this beautiful venue again in due course.
Blackburn House is proud to share its recent success in supporting Blackburn Foodbank. Through the collective efforts of students and faculty, we have surpassed last year's donation by an impressive 22kg, contributing over 191kg of essential supplies. This remarkable achievement highlights the important role Blackburn Foodbank plays in our community as we work to aid those in need. Our House's unwavering commitment to this cause reflects the compassion and generosity that defines our ethos. We are grateful for the guidance provided by Blackburn Foodbank throughout the process.
The Bolton School Concert Band travelled down to Warwick on Saturday 16th March to play in the National Concert Band Festival finals, having got through the regional round back in November. They played extremely well, receiving a Gold Award and some great comments from the adjudicators. It was a brilliant day as we also got the chance to watch other bands play and hear a performance from the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, before heading back home to Bolton. All the students involved should be incredibly proud of themselves for all of their hard work! Well done all!
Anumber of keen students from Year 12 recently competed in the UK Linguistics Olympiad and spent a challenging afternoon putting their finest problem-solving skills to the test by investigating a selection of new and unfamiliar languages, including Georgian, Zio and the Adinkra symbols of the Bobo people.
Congratulations to Ryan Coombes (Bronze Award), Arun Patel (Bronze Award) and Tom Williamson (Gold Award) in Year 12 on their success. Tom’s impressive Gold Award is a first for the School and he has since progressed to the second round of the competition in looking for successful selection for the training camp for the International Linguistics Olympiad. The boys all demonstrated commendable attitudes in extending their academic interests beyond their A Level studies.
Head of Boys’ Division Mr. Nic Ford and Head of German Ms. Roddy led a whole school assembly marking International Women’s Day at Bolton School Boys’ Division.
Pupils learnt that the annual celebration –always on 8 March –began in 1911 after female textile workers in New York had protested a few years earlier demanding better pay, shorter hours and voting rights. Ms. Roddy explained that the day inspires us to aim for a world free of bias and where there is gender equity. Pupils learnt how countries around the world celebrate the day in different ways with some declaring a national holiday.
Mr. Ford relayed two infamous stories of mansplaining, the habit some men have of explaining something in a condescending and overconfident way to a woman. He cited the short viral film clip
of Georgia Ball, a professional golfer who was adapting her swing, being told she was doing it wrong by a man and another incident of a doctor at a conference being advised to read a paper by Dr. Stanton et al. when she was in fact Dr. Stanton!
Ms. Roddy spoke about acts of microaggression. She cited an example of this being when people from ethnic minorities are continuously asked where they are really from. She told how some of her female teaching friends had experienced mansplaining and microaggressions: Ms. Jagger, a Maths teacher, was asked if she knew the difference between mean and median and Miss Marsh had the payment plan for her new car laboriously explained to her. Ms. Roddy told how she herself, an experienced climber, was given unsolicited advice when climbing by a number of army recruits who were abseiling nearby. Microaggressions, she said, are exhausting. She concluded by telling the audience that while we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality, men and boys can help to speed up the process and improve society. It is important, she said, that we all listen and learn and that we check our unconscious biases – the simple advice was if in doubt, don’t say it!
As part of National Careers Week, we have been reviewing the support, guidance and resources available to pupils in both the Boys’ and Girls’ Divisions of Bolton School. We found that pupils benefit from:
• Access to the comprehensive careers and Higher Education platform Unifrog, to a careers library, information guides and skills recorder
• Lots of careers talks from former pupils and industry experts, many re-watchable on our YouTube channel – these include short World of Work and Women of Work talks, A-Z Careers talks and longer Perspectives Lectures. Students in both Divisions also benefit from Alumni mentoring schemes
• A Careers Curriculum which begins in Year 7, providing guidance on succeeding in the World of Work and developing interests into an individual career path
• Springpod, a virtual work experience platform available to all students through sign-up. Year 11 and above pupils have access to extra opportunities. The platform also has a ‘subject spotlights’ tool to experience study of that subject at university
• 1:1 support offered through activities such as Year 11 careers interviews, Year 12 mock interviews with employers and guidance on applications
• During the Sixth Form, students benefit from tailored, individual support with their application to university and Higher Education and from HE webinars and advice sessions
• Boys and parents can find opportunities in the Careers and HE bulletins in the Head’s weekly newsletter and girls and parents have access to padlets that are packed with useful careers information for Years 7-9 and Years 10-13.
Avisiting spoken word performer engaged us all in her ‘Wild Vision, Untamed Myth’ presentation, with her own enthralling portrayal of the terrific and tragic story of Cassandra, opening our eyes to the under-told tale of the underappreciated princess of Troy.
Then, we, as Sixth Formers carried on through the next period, learning the art of spoken word storytelling, a convenient Odyssey revision device too! As we told the story of Odysseus returning home from his travels, we were reminded of the power a well-told story can hold. It was a thoroughly brilliant experience throughout, both as a listener and a speaker.
The following boys progressed to the UKMT Kangaroo round of the Maths Challenge, which took part recently. We are awaiting the results with excitement: Zain Burrill, Ethan Herring, Marcus Law, Kenzie Naylor, Nathaniel Waghorn, Joseph Williams, Jamie Chen, Louis Ferguson, Akshay Kallat, Oscar McVerry, Shay Patel, Ian So.
The Bebras Computing Challenge is organised by the University of Oxford. It introduces computational thinking to students. Over 60 countries take part, and it is designed to get students all over the world excited about computing. Last November over 400,000 students took part in the UK, and over 3 million worldwide.
Each participant answers questions that focus on computational and logical thinking. This year all of the Girls division pupils plus our A Level computing students, and all of our Year 7 pupils completed their challenge online during their ICT lessons. The highest awards are ‘Best in School’ and ‘Gold Awards’ (listed below) Further awards for Distinction, Merits and Participation will be handed out by Mrs. Fielding during ICT lessons.
Year 7 (Junior Category) – Joseph Grundy 7c
Year 13 (Elite age group) Evan Weston 13h
Gold Award
Year 13 (Elite age group): Danny Heywood 13a, Freddie Audley
13i
Year 12 (Elite age group) Dominic Farrell 12a
Year 7 (Junior age group)
7a Ethan Cao, Arham Mohamed, Rehan Farooq
7b Isaac Earnshaw, Daksh Anand, Tyler Humphreys, Hari
Whitehead
7c Joseph Stoddart, Ajay Peart, Daniel Watch
7d Aayush Patel, Ibrahim Iqbal, Huzaifah Adam
7e Jake Clarke
7f Glen Twyford, Oliver Elliott, William Maher
Congratulations to both Senior Quiz Teams who were successful in their most recent matches in the National Schools’ Challenge General Knowledge Quiz Competition. Ryan Coombs, Mark Lintott, Anish Patel and Fraser Sackfield beat Sheringham School and now progress to the third round. Adam Beresford, George Houghton, Will Martin, Ben Rimmer beat Sacred Heart Newry to progress to the second round of the Plate Competition.
Fifteen Year 9 boys have been taking part in the Who am I?
Project exploring Identity, diversity, promoting equality and community. Together with 3 other local Bolton school's boys created personal and meaningful work all about themselves.
Well done to the following boys for representing the school and it's artistic talents so well:
Daniel Watts (9a), Jack Rothwell (9a), Theo Michaelas (9a), Remi Molajo (9b), Benjamin Sheard (9c), George Burrows (9d), Charlie Simpson (9d), Ambrose Zheng (9d), Jacob Jones (9d), Yash Raja (9d), Yasir Shobowale (9d), Alex Preston (9e), Charlie Butler (9e), Jaydn Patel (9f), Kingsley Sou (9g).
Well done to Rehan Farooq, Arham Mohamed Akram and Jake Clarke from Year 7 who have read all three of the Shortlist for the Bolton Children’s Fiction Awards 2024. All boys were invited to attend the Book Award day on 22nd March. There is still time to finish reading the Shortlist. Boys who have read all 3 books will
be invited to vote for their favourite after Easter and winner will be announced in June.
The following boys have acquired the most Commendations so far:
Dawar Hassan 7b
Congratulations to the following pupils on their recent successes in their Music examinations: Charlie Simpson (Year 9) who achieved Distinction in Trinity Grade 6 Piano, Ambrose Zheng (Year 9) who achieved Distinction in Trinity Grade 4 Piano and Jamie Ho (Year 7) who achieved a Pass in ABRSM Grade 5 Piano.
Congratulations to Tyler Humphreys (Year 7) who received Merit in his recent ABRSM Piano Grade 5 examination. Congratulations also go to Tom Williamson (Year 12) on winning the Northern Semi-Finals round of the EPTA National Piano Competition,
securing his place in the National Final in London on Saturday 20th April.
Congratulations to Nishan Sharma (Year 10) on being awarded Distinction in his recent ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory examination and to Jamie Chen (Year 9) who won the Grade 7 Piano class for the Bury Lions Shield and the Guitar Grade 7 class for the TNT cup in the Ramsbottom Music Festival. Well done to all those boys.
Sebastian Casey recently competed in the season opening UK athletics open track meeting representing Salford Harriers. He competed in the 75m Hurdles, 75m and 150m sprint events, taking gold and setting PB times in all three races. His winning times have placed him as 1st (hurdles & 150m) and 2nd (75m) in the Under 13 UK rankings, for the year so far. Very well done, Sebastian.
In Water polo, our boys finished second in a competition at Warrington a couple of weeks ago. The competition featured 10 local clubs and we lost a close final to Radcliffe. Our Under 13 boys team played their first round of their ESSA competition on Monday and won games against Manchester Grammar School and St. Ambrose College to qualify as the top seed for the next round of competition. Our Under 15 Boys won the national plate final on Tuesday congratulations to them.
In Football, the Under 12s beat Turton 5-0 to win the Town Cup last week. Under 12 previous matches to win the cup.
In Round 1 we beat St. Catherine’s 10-0, in Round 2 we beat St. James’ 7-3 and in Round 3 we beat Thornleigh 8-2.
We have made it to three National Chess Finals.
Our Year 7 and 8 team of Ashton Morrisey, Edward Chu, Ibrahim Iqbal, Daniel Titiloye and Marcus Lam dominated the regional final of the Junior Team Chess Challenge on the 7th March at MGS, dropping only half a game point from a possible 12. Then 5 days later, on the 12th, we hosted the Senior version of the same tournament, which our A team - Marcus Young, Marlon Wen, Amrit Mishra and Leon McGuigan-Lazo won comfortably, gaining 14 from a possible 16 game points. Both teams now progress to their National Finals which will be played simultaneously on the 20th April at King Edward VI Grammar School in Aston, Birmingham.
And for the third year running, our A team have made it to the National Finals of the ECF English Schools Chess Championship in July. The Regional Final against MGS was an evenly balanced match this year that could have gone either way, and actually the result could not have been much closer - a 3-3 draw with Bolton winning the tie on ‘board count’, that is to say they had victories on higher boards and were therefore deemed to be the better
team. The finals will be played at Nottingham University on the 27th and 28th June
Congratulations to Rory Freestone (9f) for his second place finish in the Junior Fleet of the Tipsy Icicle series at Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club. Rory began sailing with school in Year 7 and has since joined Delph Sailing Club where he has been loaned a boat by the club which has enabled him to further improve his sailing.
Rory was also a member of the school team that travelled to Banbury Sailing Club over the weekend of 9-10th March to compete in the National Schools Sailing Association – Double Handed Team Races. Team racing involves 2 sailing dinghies from each team competing against2dinghiesfromanopposingteaminmultipleshortracesinanHL Sleagueformat. The aim in each race is to get both team dinghies across the finish line in 1st and 2nd place using sailing and tactical skills. The school team achieved quite a few 1st places but failed to capitalise by getting the second boat across the line in 2nd or 3rd position. Opposing teams, comprising of far more experienced sailors, were able to use their knowledge of the rules more effectively. Despite this, team members showed grit and determination throughout the whole weekend. The other team members were Daniel Hunter, Harry Farrington and Emily Fox.
Unfortunately, with the incredibly wet weather the 7s season has been somewhat disrupted, with several high-profile tournaments
being cancelled. However, we have performed excellently in those which have managed to go ahead.
The Under 12s came 4th in both the St. Mary’s College and Bury Grammar 7s.
The Under 14s won the Bury Grammar 7s and will compete in our tournament tomorrow. The Under 15s won the plate in our 7s tournament.
The Under 14s will play their Plate Final after Easter.
In the 15 a side game our Under 13 and Under 14s have just returned from a very successful tour to Bath. Playing several local schools and clubs, engaging in training with Bath’s Youth Coaching team and watching yesterday’s Sale Sharks vs. Bath Premiership clash.
Many thanks to the staff involved, for giving up their weekends to facilitate this.
Good luck to all involved.
Congratulations also go to Daniel Simmons in Year 11 who played as Scrum Half for Lymm RFC recently, winning the Cheshire Cup by beating Wilmslow 15-7.
Four Year 13 boys represented school at the northern round of the National Indoor Rowing Championships in Leeds over half term. Jacob Audley and Harry Adams came 2nd and 3rd in the
Year 13 2km individual race and the team of Jacob, Harry, James Bland and Dylan Lincoln finished 3rd in the senior relay. Competing against club rowers and rowing schools, this was a very impressive achievement.
On the Friday of half term, four of our Year 13 boys attended the National Junior Indoor Rowing Competition in Leeds. Jacob Audley and Harry Adams placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Year 13 2000m individual competition and the team came 3rd out of 16 in the Senior Relay. This was a huge result given they were competing against many rowing schools and club rowers. Congratulations to everyone on their fantastic performance.
Despite the disappointment of not being able to play the final match, the Under 13 Cricket team should still feel extremely proud for making it all the way to the Final and sharing the Lancashire Schools Cup. Battling through earlier rounds to reach the finals is an impressive accomplishment on its own and while the weather did not cooperate to allow for a winner to be determined on the pitch, sharing the trophy with a strong team like Manchester Grammar is still a remarkable achievement. The team has much to be proud of and can now look ahead to next season even more motivated to go all the way. The team consisted of the following boys: Adam Bhuta, Jasper Chan, Musa Haq, Alex Hilton-Jones, Muhammad Kassim, Maxim McKay, Neeraj Patel, Jacob Prill, William Roberts, Alex Roberts, Daniel Watts, Dylan Yates.
Also, congratulations to the Under 14 Cricket Team, who again reached the final of the Lancashire Schools Cup last term. They unfortunately lost their final match against Manchester Grammar School, but a fantastic achievement nonetheless.
Friday March 15th saw another hugely successful, if muddy, House Day. Despite the weather seeing a number of outdoor events cancelled, football and rugby proved as popular, competitive and fun as ever, whilst in the warm, chess and Dungeons and Dragons continued to gain attention. Blackburn started the day in the lead of the Lyde Cup standings, and their House Day points, along with accumulated commendations, saw them consolidate their position. Wigan’s gutsy performances have seen the blues climb above Chorley, and they are hunting down Manchester in 2nd place. Lots still to play for after Easter, with our final House day as well as the daily pursuit of commendations providing ample opportunities for the table to be turned upside down. Thanks to everyone for their positivity and for competing in the right spirit.
The Charities Committee has decided to allocate the monies from recent House non uniform day to the following charities: Refuge (For Women and Children against Violence) and Greater Manchester Youth Network, a great total raised of £1,363.
Credits Editor: Miss K.S. Wrathmell
Contributors: Mr. J. Newbould, Miss A. Bradshaw, Mr. M. Power, Mr. P. Lovatt, Dominic Filidoro 10d, Mr. I.K. Forgrieve, Mr. L. Jones, Miss I.J. Archer, Mrs. C.A. Brace, Mr. N.L. Ford, Ms. K.J. Roddy, Mrs. E.A. Jepson, Charlotte Lowe 13G