Bolton School Primary Division Junior Boys’ School

Spring Term, 2023 WEEK A

Wednesday 25th January

Swim Development Club (by invitation), 4-5pm

Cubs, 6.30pm

Thursday 26th January

AJIS Athletics (all day, return 4.30pm), Robin Park, Wigan

Jujitsu, 4-5.30pm

LAMDA, 4-5pm

Cubs, 6.30pm

Friday 27th January

After School Hockey, 4-5pm, Leverhulme Pavilion

Water Polo, 4-5pm

Wednesday 25th January

We started this week off with an assembly exploring the Lunar New Year celebrations. Quite a few of our families celebrate the Lunar New Year and it is the most important time of the year for many people from China and other Asian countries. Much like Christmas, it is a time for families to come together, but also to look ahead to a new year. We have now entered the Year of the Rabbit. Those born in the Year of the Rabbit are said to have a modest attitude and maintain pleasant relationships with the people around them. They will not be irritated easily, and they also avoid quarrels as much as possible. Their strengths are: being polite, responsible and stable qualities I am sure we should all aim for! I would like to wish all of our families, particularly those celebrating the Lunar New Year, the best, as we move into the Year of the Rabbit. Xin Nian Kuai Le!

You may have seen in the national news that some teachers are expected to engage in industrial action over the coming weeks. Please note that teachers at Bolton School are not paid in the same way and are therefore not part of this action, so we will be operating as normal.

You should have received dates for our next Parents’ Evenings. The appointments will take place over four days. Year 5 and Year 6 parents will have the opportunity for short online meetings with their child’s specialist teachers, whilst Year 3 and Year 4 teachers will meet online with parents of boys in their form. Of course, we do not expect Year 5 and Year 6 parents to sign up and see all of their son’s teachers. You may wish to see only the teachers of subjects you have questions or concerns about. The dates for these appointments are below. More details around booking will follow in the coming weeks.

• Year 3 and Year 4: Monday 6th March

• Year 6: Tuesday 7th March

• Year 5: Wednesday 8th March.

Increasing numbers of our boys are taking coaches to and from school each day. Earlier this year, we talked about safety on and off the coach, and, this week, we had a longer meeting with boys who use the coaches to discuss safety and behaviour expectations. Key reminders and messages for the boys included to speak to staff if they are unsure about anything, or if there have been any problems on the coaches, to ensure that they remain seated and wear their seatbelt at all times during journeys, not to take pictures or film other children on the coach, either with or without their express permission and to make sure they have emergency contacts written down, as well as on their phones, in case phones are misplaced or are out of charge.

We talked in more depth about different scenarios on the coaches and how they should respond to these. We hope the meeting helped the boys understand their responsibilities whilst travelling to and from school Of course, many of the organisational aspects, such as drop off and pick up for the coaches, are the responsibility of parents. We would ask that you speak to your son about his journey to and from school to ensure that he feels safe and understands his own responsibilities each time he travels.

It is not just our children who are talented competitors. Over the next four days, Mr Porter will be competing in Warhammer Championships in Las Vegas. Mr Porter is currently ranked in the Top 10 Warhammer players in the world and he is very much hoping to come home with a trophy!. There are over 170 qualifiers from 18 countries, spanning three continents. I am sure you will join us in wishing Mr Porter and the UK the best of luck!

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 8.15 am 4.15 pm 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

Monday 30th January

Judo, 4-5pm

Mad Science, 4-5pm

Ski Lessons, Chill Factore, collection

6.30pm CF, 7pm PR

Tuesday 31st January

Book Fair (lunchtime and after school)

Year 6—Young

Voices Concert (parents collect from Victoria

Station, 9.15pm)

Chess, 4-5pm

Wednesday 1st February

Book Fair (lunchtime and after school)

Swim Development Club (by invitation), 4-5pm Cubs, 6.30pm

Thursday 2nd February

Book Fair (lunchtime and after school)

Jujitsu, 4-5.30pm LAMDA, 4-5pm Cubs, 6.30pm

MCFC Mascot

Congratulations to Oliver in Year 6 who, last weekend, achieved a dream when he was selected as one of the mascots at the Manchester City v Wolves game on Sunday. It was an amazing experience at the Etihad Stadium and the icing on the cake was actually being able to escort his idol, Erling Haaland, onto the pitch. Some magic must have rubbed off as he went on to score a hat trick and be awarded the “Man of the Match” (that’s Erling, not Oliver!) although I’m sure, in Oliver’s dreams , it was the other way around!

KEW

Book Fair—Tuesday 31st January – Friday 3rd February

The Scholastic Book Fair will be in school from Tuesday 31st January – Friday 3rd February.

It will be open every lunchtime from 11:50 – 1pm and then after school from 3:55 –4:30pm.

With over 200 titles for you or your child to choose from, there’s sure to be a book for everyone! You can pre-order books in advance using the QR code below or simply buy them on the day. Cash and card payments are accepted.

Competition time: the Parents’ Association has generously offered to run a competition! Boys are invited to create a bookmark or write a book review for any book they have bought from the fair.

Boys can enter into the competition by submitting a bookmark or book review via Showbie (Whole School Folder) or to Miss Cox in the Library. Entrants will have the chance to win a family cinema ticket!

Don’t forget that every book you buy can help us get lots of FREE BOOKS for our school library! CC

Visits to Patterdale Hall—Important Dates

Please note the date of your son’s visit to Patterdale Hall this year :

Year 3: Thursday 4th to Friday 5th May

Year 4: Monday 24th to Wednesday 26th April

Year 5: Wednesday 26th April to Friday 28th April

Year 6: Tuesday 9th to Friday 12th May

All visits are compulsory as they form part of your son’s curriculum. An information evening for Year 3 and Year 4 parents and parents of boys new to school this academic year will take place at 7pm on Thursday 23rd March more details will follow nearer the time, as well as a list of kit your son will need for his trip.

DT Recycled Art Project

If you have an old, wooden skateboard at home (broken or otherwise!), please do bring it to the School Office, to be passed on to Mr Winstanley, who will be undertaking an up-cycling project this half term.

AW Calling all chocoholics! Please don’t throw your plastic chocolate tubs away after your Christmas indulgences! Send them along to school to join the growing pile in Mrs Winstanley’s office which will make its way to a local Greene King pub at the end of the month as part of the Tub2Pub recycling scheme. Please collect from friends and family too and, hopefully, we hope that we can better the total number of tubs we collected last year. For more information about this follow link below; http://www.tub2pub.co.uk/tub2pub/ Thank you for all the donations we have received so far ! KEW

Tub2Pub Recycling Scheme

Bolton Symphony Orchestra Concert

All music lovers may be interested in going to see the Bolton Symphony Orchestra perform in concert on Saturday at Victoria Halls in Bolton town centre. A few of the pieces have been studied by Year 3 boys in their music lessons. Tickets are free for under 19s and adult tickets are £12. Miss Ormerod thinks this could be a great first concert for our younger boys. Some of the pieces to be performed are listed on the left.

King Charles III Royal Visit to Bolton

Last Friday afternoon, Bolton witnessed a moment in history as His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty The Queen Consort visited our town to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Town Hall. It was the first appearance from a monarch in Bolton for over 35 years.

Two lucky Park Road boys (Haroon in Year 3 and Diyan in Year 6) were selected to accompany pupils from all parts of the Foundation to welcome the regal visitors to our town and were presented with commemorative programmes and flags after an unforgettable experience.

January Geography Mission

Ready, steady, cook!

Instructions:

- Choose a country or city of your choice. This could be a country you have visited, are going to visit or would like to visit in the future. This could link to the last monthly mission.

- Choose a meal native to that country to cook at home with your family.

- Take pictures of the different stages of the cooking and then take a picture when it is ready to eat

How to submit the pictures and review of your meal: email LJG@boltonschool.org.uk with your submission by 4pm or upload to Showbie Whole School/Geog Competition.

PRIZES FOR THE WINNERS! WHO CAN CREATE THE MOST INTERESTING AND GEOGRAPHICAL

Headphones / Earphones in School

Headphones/earphones are an essential piece of kit for school and are required in school every day. not be an expensive brand and ideally should not be battery powered or have a Bluetooth connection to the school iPad.

More and more boys are turning up at school without them and, as a result, are unable to take part in the audio/visual element of lessons using the iPad. CDH

Forgotten Kit

Just a reminder that if your son forgets any books, homework, sport, PE or swimming kit, etc., please do not make the journey to school to drop it off for him.

Having to explain to his teachers will help him to problem solve for himself and, we hope, not make the same mistake again!

Rest assured, we shall always lend equipment to him to enable him to participate in his lessons.

Y6 Trip to York—October 2023— Expression of Interest

If your son is currently in Year 5 and would be interested in taking part in the proposed trip to York in October half term, please complete the Google Form below : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/ e/1FAIpQLSdN7R0dvIPbT_6Z7sFz6lNVK9YVAOoJHuP7f8fwHdyidMfy mQ/viewform?usp=pp_url by 4pm today to let us know if he would wish to participate in this trip if it goes ahead. We only have 5 places maximum left, so first come, first served !

KEW

After School Activities

If your son is unable to attend any of the after school activities that he signed up to, please could you ensure that you inform the activity provider in advance, if it is a school-run activity, as well as Mrs Iddon in the School Office, to let them know that he is unable to attend.

We have spent a lot of time recently chasing non attendees for after school activities which means time is reduced on them for all the other boys involved.

Thank you to everyone who attended the PA meeting last week. Retreat proved to be an excellent venue and it was great to meet in person and catch up with lots of parents. It was a very productive meeting with lots of exciting ideas – more information to follow.

Travelling Book Fair : this will be in the school Hall from Tuesday 31st Jan until Thursday 2nd Feb at lunchtime and after school There will be automatic entry to a prize draw for all pupils when they purchase a book. The PA needs volunteers to help man the book fair at lunchtimes between 11:30am and 1:00pm and after school between 3:45-4:30pm – if you can help, please email Kelly – parkroadpa@gmail.com or get in touch via the WhatsApp group (to join, please click on the following link https://chat.whatsapp.com/ BRtBl8QwJpS9OxpBm3MHDj

Park Road PA - AGM: please note the Park Road PA AGM meeting will take place on Wednesday 15th February at 7:00pm at Park Road.

Social Events: if you have any suggestions for social events you would like to see organised by the Parents’ Association, please get in touch – parkroadpa@gmail.com

Easy Funding: online shopping can also generate funds for the PA by simply using the easyfundraising app and linking your account: to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/boltonjbpa Twitter – Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @BSPDJnrBoysPA

Year 6 Sailing Club

Calling all Year 6 budding sailors !

Please find linked here details of how to apply for sailing lessons at the Anderton Centre in Summer Term. We will be in touch soon if your son’s application is successful.

AW

Year 6 Play: Important Dates

Due to a range of events in the school calendar, the Year 6 Play 2023 will now be taking place over the following three evenings: Tuesday 4th at 7pm, Wednesday 5th at 7pm and Thursday 6th 5pm. Please note that the Year 6 play is one of our compulsory events and all Year 6 boys are expected to attend, we therefore want to make you aware of this date, in the final week of term, as far in advance as possible.

Closer to the time of the play, rehearsals are understandably very important for all boys to also attend and it would help us if you could avoid the following rehearsal dates when making medical appointments:

Monday 17th April: 9.15-10.25 – boys visiting the Girls’ Division theatre

Friday 5th May: 9- 12.00

Monday 22nd May: 13.00 – 16.00

Monday 5th June: 13.00 – 14.30

Wednesday 7th June: 13.00 - 14.30

Friday 9th June : 10.30 – 12.00

Monday 19th June: half day rehearsal (afternoon)

Friday 23rd June: 9-12.00 (half day rehearsal)

Monday 26th June: full day rehearsal

Friday 30th June: morning - dress rehearsal

PERFORMANCE DATES: Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th & Thursday 6th July.

SOCS Password

Please note that we now use a system called SOCS, which sends out an email to parents when their child has been selected for a specific sports fixture.

To access the full team sheet you will need to use the password Bolton5ch00l! if your son is selected for fixtures. All sports fixtures across the Foundation can be accessed at https://www.schoolssports.com/school/default.asp?Id=32

Please contact me if you encounter any issues with logging on to this website. TG