Bolton School Junior Boys' Weekly Newsletter - 17 January 2024

Bolton School Primary Division Junior Boys’ School Wednesday 17th January

Spring Term, 2024 — WEEK B

From Mrs. Faulkner It was lovely to see the boys enjoying a little fun in the snow yesterday, today it is all but gone and we are left with the residual ice on the pavements around school. Do please take care as you are moving around.

Wednesday 17th January Y6 Senior School Interviews, 1.15pm Swim Development, 4-5pm Cubs, 6.30—7.45pm Thursday 18th January Y6 Senior School Interviews U10 Football vs Birkenhead (A) - KO 2.30pm, return 5pm Beginner Ski Course, 4pm (ski trip attendees only), (collection from Chill Factore 6.30pm/PR 7pm) LAMDA, 4-5pm, Jujitsu, 4.5.30pm Cubs, 6.30—7.45pm Friday 19th January Y6 Interviews Fencing, 4-5pm Hockey, 4-5pm (collection from LP) Water Polo, 4-5pm

I have been pleased to hear the Year 6 boys speaking positively of their experience at the Senior School entrance exam, during the course of the rest of this week they will each have their interviews with Mr Ford and I know he is very much looking forward to meeting the boys, I’m quite sure they will all do themselves and us proud during this process.

You will know that I often talk of the need to ensure that the boys understand how to keep themselves safe on the internet. We do a lot of work on this in school, both in ICT and PSHEE lessons, as well as more general messaging in school, but I do think it is also important that parents feel well informed on the subject. This year, Safer Internet Day is on Tuesday, 6th February and is a great opportunity to focus on online safety with your child, whatever their age. There are a range of pages to help you start a conversation with your child, whatever that may be about and no matter how much time you have, more details can be found here: https://saferinternet.org.uk/saferinternet-day/safer-internet-day-2024/parents-and-carers In addition, if your son does already or is asking if he can play online games such as Minecraft or Roblox, the workshop being run by the NSPCC may also be of interest to a number of you. It may be that you read these resources/attend the workshop and it simply confirms all that you already know, however it is quite possible that you will learn something new which will help you to safely navigate this world with your son.

NSPCC Game Safe Festival Workshop for parents, carers: - to find out more about this event, which will run from 5th to 11th February, go to https://www.nspcc.org.uk/charity-events/game-safefestival/ and take a look at https://ww1.emma-live.com/GameSafe/purchase_tickets Summer Festival: Friends of Bolton School is considering holding a Foundation-wide daytime Summer family event in June. There will be a meeting on Tuesday 23rd January at 7.00pm in the Leverhulme Suite to discuss ideas for such an event (rescheduled from Tuesday 16th January due to the weather forecast). If you are interested in getting involved, please do come along.

Such an event can only take place with the input of parents and volunteers from across the whole Foundation. If you are unable to come to the meeting but are still interested in getting involved with the planning, then please email bsbdpa@gmail.com and we can keep you updated.

Contacting the School Office Park Road, BOLTON, BL1 4RD. t: (01204) 434735 e: parkroad@boltonschool.org.uk. www.boltonschool.org

The School Office is open from 8.15am — 4.15pm during term time.

Please note that any texts sent by the Office cannot be replied to.

Please direct all enquiries to parkroad@boltonschool.org and always include your son’s first name and surname, as well as his form. Please note that ParkRoadOffice email is no longer monitored.

If your son is going to be absent from School, whether he be off sick or attending dental, medical or any other appointment, please email parkroad@boltonschool.org so that the registers may be marked accordingly. Please use this email address for all day-to-day enquiries relating to school matters to ensure that your enquiry may be dealt with in a timely manner.

For all coach / transport enquiries: Logistics Co-ordinator: Mr B. Gould, t: (01204) 434711, e: bdmgould@boltonschool.org.uk

News from the Park Road PA

Monday 22nd January Judo, 4-5pm Tuesday 23rd January Chess, 4-5pm Pickleball, 4-5pm PD Ski Trip Information Evening, 4.15pm, Arts Centre Wednesday 24th January Parent Reading Workshop, 8am Swim Development, 4-5pm Cubs, 6.30—7.45pm Thursday 25th January Beginner Ski Course, 4pm (collection from Chill Factore 6.30pm or Park Road 7pm) LAMDA, 4-5pm, Jujitsu, 4.5.30pm Cubs, 6.30—7.45pm Friday 26th January U11 Boys In2Hockey season 2023/24 Qualifying Tournament Fencing, 4-5pm Water Polo, (by invitation) 4-5pm

Travelling Book Fair: will be in school from Monday 29th January, at lunchtime and after school. Every book that the boys buy can help us get lots of FREE BOOKS for the Library. If you are able to volunteer to assist with the Fair, please email parkroadpa@gmail.com. All the details of the Fair can be found linked here.

WhatsApp — if you would like to join the PA WhatsApp Group to keep up to date with all things PA, please click on the following link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/BRtBl8QwJpS9OxpBm3MHDj PA Mailing List — if you would like to be added to the PA mailing list, please get in touch: parkroadpa@gmail.com.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter/X: @BSPDJnrBoysPA

Hajj Workshops Last Thursday, Year 6 had their very own Hajj workshop in the hall, lead by a special, generous man who comes around to different schools every year. Year 6 really enjoyed it and learnt a lot about the famous Islamic pilgrimage.

They also learned which things they would do on each day and famous stories from the past!

Afterwards, the boys got to have dates and they found them really delicious. They were all really thankful and hope they could do it again. Yusuf, 6A.

Winter Weather Please ensure that your son brings a warm, waterproof coat to school with him every day. It is now extremely cold, and very often wet, and we do expect the boys to go outside at break times, so a warm coat is very helpful indeed.

Please ensure that the coat is clearly named, as they do all begin to look very similar to each other when we have over two hundred coats in the building!

If your son wishes to wear a vest under his shirt, please also ensure this is also named and white.

Visits to Patterdale Hall—Important Dates Please note the date of your son’s visit to Patterdale Hall this year : Year 3:

Thursday 9th to Friday 10th May

Year 4:

Wednesday 22nd to Friday 24th May

Year 5:

Monday 20th to Wednesday 22nd May

Year 6:

Monday 29th April to Friday 3rd May.

All visits are compulsory as they form part of your son’s curriculum.

An information evening for Year 3 parents and parents of boys new to school this academic year will take place at 7pm on Thursday 14th March — more details will follow nearer the time, as well as a list of kit your son will need for his trip.

February Half Term Holiday Club Please find linked here details of the February half term holiday club run by Kidzone. Book early to avoid disappointment !

Tub2Pub Recycling Scheme Calling all chocoholics! Please don’t throw your plastic chocolate tubs away after your Christmas indulgences! Please send them to school to join the growing pile which will make its way to a local Greene King pub at the end of the month as part of the Tub2Pub recycling scheme, which also raises money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Please collect from friends and family too and, hopefully, we can better the total number of tubs collected last year. More information can be found at http://www.tub2pub.co.uk/tub2pub. Thank you ! KEW

Achievements Congratulations to the following boys who recently passed their London College of Music theory exams recently : Henry Longton: 98% Distinction (Y4) and Harlan Moore: 97% - Distinction (Y6). Very well done to you both!

Jayan Prakash in 3B clinched the national Championship of Global Karting League UK (electric karting championship) in December after a long season across the country, achieving 1st/2nd place trophies in all nine rounds. Jayan was invited to take part in a Live Radio Broadcast for BBC Radio Lancashire and this was subsequently a main feature story in the Lancashire Post . He attended the awards ceremony at the weekend where Rob Smedley, ex Ferrari F1 engineer, presented him with his Championship Trophies along with a Formula 1 race suit signed by Lando Norris (McLaren F1 driver).

Rather than racing at bambino level (up to age 9) in 2024, Jayan will be making a big step up and racing petrol cadet karts (up to age 13) in several club rounds and entering two major national championships including the prestigious British Karting Championships.

Amazing achievements—keep up the good work, Jayan !

January Geography Mission Make a geographical acrostic poem or rhyming poem!

Acrostic poem:

Rhyming poem:

The vertical left-hand word must relate to a GEOGRAPHICAL topic in the news at the moment.

Create a 10-line poem with every two lines rhyming as shown below.

From each letter, write a sentence about what is happening in the news at the moment – this must relate to the lefthand vertical word you have chosen!

Choose a GEOGRAPHICAL topic in the news or a topic you are studying in class.

Could you make both an acrostic AND rhyming poem?

How to submit your poem: Email lgillibrand@boltonschool.org.uk with your submission by Wednesday 31st January at 4pm!

PRIZES FOR THE WINNERS! WHO CAN CREATE THE MOST GEOGRAPHICAL AND CREATIVE POEM?

Year 6 Parents—Young Voices Concert—Weds 7th February Please we request that any parents of Year 6 boys who have not yet completed the Google Form below, giving consent for

their son to attend the upcoming event at the AO Arena in Manchester, do so as a matter of urgency. Mrs Iddon has sent reminders.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTW26fGf_GYIvKkTIM9JTrxAodDqB5pXg3WdXlZzLHrDOiog/viewf orm?usp=pp_url Tickets and t-shirts should be received in school very soon and will be distributed to parents before the concert.

December Bingo Challenge A huge well done to the boys who completed the December Bingo challenge over the Christmas break.

All activities were set to encourage an awareness of the many reading and writing tasks that lots of boys were likely to already participate in over the holidays, such as reading cards, writing letters, reading recipes or even a joke perhaps in a book or Christmas cracker!

The boys were challenged with tasks around this to ensure access for all, including writing their own winter poems, reviewing a film they watched over the break and continuing to broaden their exposure to texts using a range of resources we have access to from school too, including eBooks and online texts.

Well done to the following boys for successfully completing the challenge and recording their progress for each task! I hope that the challenge continues your enjoyment to read and write for pleasure, or has sparked an interest to begin!

Adler Alexander, CJ McDonald, Henry Hardman, Jack Mitchell, Jack Taylor, Jason Gill, Kamran Pitkeathly, Max Knight, Neel Dontula, Neil Mishra, Sasha Krasulenko, Sol Tagari, Yahya Seedat and Yusuf Kassam. MLB

Parent Reading Workshop—Wednesday 24th January On Wednesday 24th January at 8 am, you are invited to attend our Parent Reading Workshop at Park Road, focusing on the importance of reading and how parents can continue to support their son’s development in this key area throughout the Junior School.

During our talk with you, we will share support for Year groups, Years 3 and 4 with Mr Price and for Years 5 and 6, with Mrs Brisk.

Throughout the 20 minute workshop, we will share the importance of reading and the wider impact it has, the curriculum and how English is taught at Bolton School Junior Boys; the importance of oracy skills; and general coverage of resources to develop vocabulary and comprehension skills at home.

If you are able to attend this event, please complete the Google Form below to confirm your attendance before 4pm on Friday 19th January: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEoaKSOzn6dDUJtlgIuec0YvqVDTY24_hW-I_THNXrx0w5SQ/viewform?usp=pp_url Refreshments will be served in the Dining Room from 8am. We look forward to seeing you there. Mr Price & Mrs Brisk

Reading Volunteers Needed!

Coram Beanstalk, a national children’s charity celebrating 50 years of supporting children to become confident, independent readers, is urgently looking for volunteers in Bolton and throughout the Greater Manchester area. Coram Beanstalk sees a future where every child is a reader - but can only achieve that with your help. Their reading helpers provide consistent, one-to-one, support to children in primary schools. They train volunteers to do far more than 'listen to children read'. They help children who are falling behind and who may be missing the wider support they need, to catch up, to improve their reading ability, enjoyment and confidence.

All partner schools receive a starter pack of Beanstalk Brilliant Books so volunteers can introduce children to a wide variety of engaging resources and help each child to find and explore their own identity as a reader. They create readers, because when a child becomes a reader, they get the very best chance in life and every child deserves that. Amy Lewis, Head of Coram Beanstalk, says “Reading is such a fundamental skill for children to develop during their early years, but children who find it a struggle and don’t have an adult to read with on a regular basis can start to fall behind their peers, which can lead to a loss of confidence and reading enjoyment. Evidence shows, that when children not only can read but choose to read, they not only achieve more academically across the whole curriculum, but they also benefit from improved well-being and go on to experience greater success in life.” And that’s where Coram Beanstalk reading helpers can really make a difference.

Coram Beanstalk need to fill vacancies in settings up and down the country and can only reach more children by recruiting new reading helpers. Each volunteer will receive training and will support on average three children, individually, at least once a week. It really is such a fulfilling and meaningful volunteering role which transforms lives, so please get in touch today if you think you can help, at corambeanstalk.org.uk or coram.org.uk or via email, admin@corambeanstalk.org.uk .

Teacher Commendations Congratulations to all boys who received a commendation from their teacher this week! GF

Science Easter Holiday Activities Calling all budding scientists ! Why not try something special for the Easter Holidays: three days of SciTech at Baguley Hall School, taking part in courses on Flight!, Nature’s Numbers, and Material Science. The events will run on April 3rd, 4th and 5th.

Please do let us know if your son attends, we would love to hear all about it.

All the details can be found at The SciTech:+1 Page or on the QRL code below.

News from the Art Room This week, the weather has helped us create "freezing garret" conditions to give the extra layer of authenticity to Year 4's Vincent van Gogh inspired portraits!

We studied the work of Vincent van Gogh, developed our portrait drawing skills and posed as Vincent in photographs, before finally creating a painting in the style of van Gogh.

The aim was to use small brush strokes as well as bold and vibrant colours.

Well done boys on producing some excellent pieces. JPM In Year 5, we have started to look at a range of artists who look at nature. Boys looked at a range of works and then annotated them with what they could see and also how the work made them feel.

Developing their visual vocabulary, as well as thinking critically about what an artist may be trying to communicate through their work is an essential part of fostering a deeper appreciation of the art they see and make.

One of the works we looked at, by German artist Werner Fohrer, is currently on display at Bury Art Museum (in the gallery next to a piece of my own work which is in the Bury Open!), so why not visit and see it. JPM

Individual Music Lessons If your son is interested in taking up music lessons within school, please look through our Visiting Music Teachers brochure (linked here) for further details.

If you have any questions about individual music lessons at school, please contact Mr Forgrieve, Foundation Director of Instrumental Music, at ikf@boltonschool.org.

Big Battery Hunt The Big Battery Hunt is a nationwide programme to help educate and inspire young people to recycle more used batteries. More details can be found on their website, https://www.bigbatteryhunt.co.uk/resources/big-battery-hunt/ Please keep sending all of your unwanted batteries from Christmas toys, games consoles etc. to school this year, where we will store them and then take them to our local supermarket for recycling. There are great prizes to be won for school, including £3500 towards outdoor and garden equipment. SL