Bolton School Junior Boys' Weekly Newsletter - 7 Dec 2022

Bolton School Primary Division Junior Boys

School

We are now in the penultimate week of term and at the time of going to press, we are preparing for our Carol Service this evening, having just had our Ensembles Concert yesterday afternoon. We look forward to seeing all those who are healthy at the concert tonight, wearing trousers and shirt and tie (long sleeved, please). I hope that the boys perform as well as they have been doing in rehearsals. If they do, we will all be in for a treat. We estimate the Concert should last around an hour, finishing around 8pm.

The Ensembles Concert provided a relaxed opportunity to see boys perform as part of a group, entertaining parents, staff and their peers. We would like to thank parents for attending and congratulate the boys and their music teachers on their performances.

The festive season brings with it lots of musicality and it is a timely reminder of the importance of the arts and how they can bring us together as a community. As you will have seen in emails sent last week, the whole school will be watching a traditional pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk at the Albert Halls in Bolton on Wednesday 14th December. (Oh yes we are!).

Pantomimes usually follow a traditional fairy tale, with some interesting performance characteristics. We think it will be a lovely reward for the boys’ endeavours over the course of the term. We would like to remind parents that this performance will mean we arrive back at school after the end of the school day (around 4.30pm) As a result, we will not be back in time for school coaches and we ask that parents come to Park Road to collect their children.

On Friday (9th December), from 8am, our Parents’ Association will be holding our traditional Christmas Breakfast Club. For £1.50, the boys can get three festive breakfast items and free entry into the Christmas Prize Draw.

We regularly review CCTV from the school coaches. It has recently become clear that pupils are removing their seat belts during the journey. This creates an unnecessary danger on the journey. We will speak with the pupils in an appropriate way and also remind them as we start the New Year. We should be grateful if you could reinforce that message at home too.

Further to my, and Mrs Faulkner’s, emails this week, we ask that you keep boys at home if they are unwell. Please do not give them Calpol, then send them to school, as this merely masks illness and your son ends up potentially passing on infections to others. In reality, the boys find it difficult to learn and simply pass their illness on to teachers!

Please note, next week’s newsletter will be sent out on the last day of term (Thursday 15th December), instead of next Wednesday.

Contacting the School Office

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

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

Visit from The Leverhulme Trust

Last week, a group of Year 5 boys had the pleasure of meeting the Chief Executive of the Leverhulme Trust and one of the Trustees, as part of their visit to the wider school.

Three boys were selected to talk about some of their work, in which they had studied Lord Leverhulme; learnt about his contributions to Bolton School and his legacy. As part of their study, the boys made contact with Leverhulme Memorial School on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

The boys shared some of the letters they had written to the pupils at the school and were thrilled to read out some of the replies they had received. The members of the Trust were delighted to hear about this connection and very much enjoyed listening to they boys talk about what they had learnt.

Thank you to Marcus Oper, Gwilym Dixon, Syed Mehdi and Oscar Bromwell for their fantastic contributions. GF

Headphones / Earphones in School

Headphones/earphones are an essential piece of kit for school and are required every day.

They should 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

Carol Service Tonight Wednesday 7th December

Our annual Carol Service will take place this evening in the Great Hall of the Girls’ Division Senior School at 7:00pm. All tickets have been sent home with the boys today.

Parking is available on Senior Girls’ Quad, with overflow directed to Upper Tudor Avenue, if this car park is full. Entry to the Senior School is through the Riley Centre or the corner of the Girls’ Quad.

We look forward to seeing you, for what is always a wonderful evening.

Lost Property

All unnamed lost property left at the end of last half term was recycled locally. All named items were returned to their owners. It is essential that all children’s belongings are named so that lost property can be returned easily.

Unnamed clothes, bags etc which are found around school are placed in the lost property bin in the cloakroom area. Named items are returned to classes. Every half term we will empty out the lost property bin, displaying items on the small yard –giving parents a chance to claim back their items. Any unclaimed items left at the end of each half term are recycled locally. CDH

DT Recycled Art Project

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

More details about the project can be found on Parent Portal. AW

Ensembles Concert

It

Thank

U10 Football vs MGS

It was great to see so many parents and other family members supporting from the sidelines.

After a great afternoon of games, with all the boys playing extremely well and with smiles on their faces, we came away with three wins and a defeat.

Well done to all the boys involved! RL

Please

Cold Weather

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 named and white. Thank you.

BWFC In The Community

This year, Bolton Wanderers in the Community is supporting ‘warm spaces’ over the winter months, to provide a warm and friendly environment for adults and children to attend to save on their own bills and mix with other people. This is not a schoolorganised event, but you can sign up with your family.

To be able to provide this 'warm space' BWitC is hosting a one mile Santa Dash at the Stadium on Saturday 17th December, 11am arrival for an 11:30am start. Entry is free and includes a ticket to the match against Exeter City (3pm kick-off) after the Dash! Collection buckets will be available on the day for optional donations and there is also a JustGiving page for online donations: https://www.justgiving.com/bwct. Sharon Brittan, Neil Hart and Lofty The Lion will all be present too! The route is wheelchair and pram friendly, you can also walk, run, skip, or hop! You must register to join (below), and match tickets can be collected after the dash, https://bookings.bwitc.org.uk/project/36526

Our Year 5 footballers were in action last Friday against tough opposition from Manchester Grammar School.

ensure that your son brings a warm, waterproof coat to school with him each day. It is now getting 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.

We thoroughly enjoyed watching the Ensembles Concert yesterday afternoon.

was really lovely to hear boys at different stages of their musical journeys playing together in front of an appreciative audience.

you to everyone who took part and to all the parents who attended. KEW

Achievements

Congratulations to Henry Longton in 3A who has achieved 89% in his Pre Prep piano exam and achieved a Distinction! Well done, Henry !

Well done to Harlan Moore, who 5A, who has achieved ALL 37 Cub activity badges from 19th Bolton Cubs and many staged badges.

Harlan has worked so hard and used many skills to gain all these

Well done, Harlan. What an achievement!

Well done to all the boys who do judo after school with Mr Parkinson, who all did their grading this week and achieved their red belts.

November Geography Mission December Geography Mission

Well done to the winners of the November Geography Mission – overall winner was Danny, Aash came 2nd , Sam 3rd and Sathvik 4th thank you to all who took part.

Creating a travel guide!

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. Create a travel guide to try and persuade the reader to visit the country or city.

You could include unique landscapes, physical and human attractions. You could compare it to other countries nearby/in the same continent and its famous foods.

Email Miss Gillibrand at LJG@boltonschool.org.uk with your submission by Saturday 31st December by 4pm or upload to Whole School Showbie/Geography Competition

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

Senior School Joint Production 2022 : The Great Gatsby

This week, pupils in Years 10 to 13 will present an adaptation of The Great Gatsby in the Boys' Division Great Hall. It is 100 years since F. Scott Fitzgerald's character, Jay Gatsby, threw his lavish parties and we will be marking the occasion with a cabaret style show.

Set in post-war Paris and Jazz Age New York, the show provides The Lost Generation context of the novel's genesis and tells the tragic story of Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, focussing upon his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. Nick Caraway, a Yale University graduate from the Midwest, is our guide through the show. Nick recounts the events of the fateful summer of 1922. Opening night is tonight and the show will run until Saturday 10th December with a 7.30pm start each evening. The Great Hall will be transformed into the Roaring '20s. Guests are invited to dress to impress; era specific attire is encouraged.

Tickets are priced at £10 each and tables seat up to 10 guests. It is not necessary to fill a table; individual, small group and table bookings are all welcome. To make a booking, please go to Shopfront: as you make your booking, please use 'Gatsby' as the reference and include the date you wish to attend + number of tickets you wish to reserve in the reason for payment box. If you have any questions about the processing of your booking, there is an enquiry button on the Shopfront page. Tickets should be collected on the door on the evening you come along to watch the show. All other enquires should be directed to Miss Lord at nrl@boltonschool.org. Show updates can be enjoyed via Twitter @_NaomiLord.

Psychogeography Group

This week, the Psychogeography Group was exploring what maps do and do not show us.

We discussed how maps don’t show us sounds, smells or basic details about our environment. We then explored ways we could record these things on our trips.

We then looked at maps of the local area to select places of interest to visit on our next walk. JM

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.

News from the Art Room

Some fabulous results from our Van Gogh inspired paintings in Year 4.

It has been fantastic to see the boys experiment not only with colour but also to focus mindfully on their work. It has been a very calm classroom environment whilst we have painted.

Perhaps a paint set will find its way into a few Christmas stockings this year!

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.

KidZone—Christmas Holiday Club

Details of KidZone’s Christmas Holiday Club can be found linked here and are downloadable on Parent Portal. For more information, to register or to book a place, please email info@boltonschoolkidzone.com or see Twitter: @BSPDKidzone. Book early to avoid disappointment !

School Uniform Shop

Please note that the School Uniform shop based on Dobson Road will be closed for the Christmas break from Friday 16th December and will reopen on Thursday 5th January, 2023. Any donations of outgrown uniform are always gratefully received.

Such items can be left at reception in a bag marked “Uniform Donations for PA”.

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 schoolrun activity, or 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.

Well done to Sam, who worked really hard on his final piece to

A Christmas Carol– Theatre Trip

Last Friday, some Year 6 pupils enjoyed the fun, festive production of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton. The production was brilliant and highly recommended by Year 6 to watch, so much so, that they have written a review and advert for the play to share their enjoyment of the musical and to support the Octagon’s Festive Appeal. Tickets are available on the Octagon website until 14th January, 2023! MLB

Come and support your local community theatre and be transported back in time to the Victorian era, at the Octagon Theatre. A Christmas Carol is a play about Christmas spirit. Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy old man, who only cares about money and work, hates Christmas. On this particular Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts, the first being the elegant ghost of Christmas Past, the second being the energetic, fun-filled ghost of the present and the third being the solemn ghost of Christmas Future. Will Scrooge turn his life around or will he perish alone? This extraordinary performance will take you through a plethora of emotions: you will encounter sorrowfulness and elation. Be prepared to get on your feet in one of the many musical pieces, shaken, amused and gripped, on the edge of your seat by the ghosts, in particular! This heart-warming production out does any animation or movie version of this show. Book your tickets now.You do not want to miss it!

By Joshua, Taran & Diyan

Christmas Dinner on Jesus— Collection of Selection Boxes

News from the Park Road PA

Christmas Hampers - Don’t forget the last day for donations is Friday 9th December

Please do send in any items you may have at home.

Raffle tickets will be on sale at the Carol Concert this evening but our card machine has not yet arrived, so please bring cash.

Rainbow Christmas Hamper Raffles

Christmas hamper raffle tickets can now be purchased via the raffle form linked here. Tickets are £1 each for a chance to win a fabulously festive Christmas hamper and £2 each to win a £250 Amazon voucher. Please send in donations suitable for a hamper in your son’s class colour chocolates, toiletries, bottles of wine, candles, gift sets, festive treats - anything you would like to receive in a lovely Christmas hamper ! Please return the completed form and payment to school in a sealed envelope indicating "Christmas Raffle". If enclosing cash, please include the correct amount as unfortunately, we cannot give change. Cheques should be made payable to Bolton School Junior Boys PA.

day for donations will be Friday 9th December

colours for each form

Christmas Breakfast Club – Breakfast club is on Friday 9th December from 8am – don’t be late! £1.50 for three items.

WhatsApp Group - If would like to join the PA WhatsApp Group please click on the following link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/BRtBl8QwJpS9OxpBm3MHDj

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

Next Meeting - The next meeting will be on Wednesday 18th January, 2023 at 7pm at Retreat on Chorley New Road

Easy Funding – Online shopping can also generate funds for the school 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

Christmas Stocking Filler Gifts

The perfect stocking fillers are here: keyring phone stands! In the absence of the Christmas Fair and our normal efforts to sell some branded goodies to raise money for school, we have decided to design and manufacture some simple but functional keyring phone stands! We will be selling these items on an pre-order basis, and all keyrings will be given out to pupils during the last week of term. Order as many as you need! Only £1 each. AW