Bolton School Primary Division Junior Boys’ School Wednesday 8th November
Autumn Term, 2023 — WEEK B
From Mrs. Faulkner I do hope that you have all been able to enjoy some relaxation during the October half-term break. Whilst the weather may not always have been kind to us, it has at least provided a good opportunity to refresh and recharge ready for the busy half term ahead.
COMPULSORY SCHOOL EVENT THIS TERM: Carol Service, Tuesday 19th December, 7pm
Wednesday 8th November Swim Development, 4-5pm Cubs, 6.30pm
Thursday 9th November Jujitsu—4-5.30pm LAMDA—4-5pm Cubs, 6.30pm Friday 10th November PA Diwali Breakfast Club, 8-9am Remembrance Assembly, 10.30am Fencing, 4-5pm Water Polo, 4-5pm Hockey, 4-5pm Monday 13th November Judo, 4-5pm
I very much enjoyed spending a few days in York with Mr Porter, Mr Price and the small matter of 24 Year 6 boys. We spent three days exploring the many fantastic sights of the city and learnt much to enrich the boys’ understanding of history, all the way from the Celts to the Second World War, we even managed to find them all and bring them home after a final visit to the labyrinths of The Forbidden Corner. The boys were very well behaved throughout the trip and were a delight to spend time with. We are already planning next year’s trip, so do look out for details of that later in the year. This Friday, 10th November, we will be holding our usual Remembrance Assembly in school. The Year 6 Monitors will be selling poppies on behalf of the Royal British Legion on Thursday and on Friday morning. Boys may purchase one in exchange for a small donation. Also this Friday, 10th November, the PA will be holding one of their ever-popular Breakfast Clubs. Do please see their section of the newsletter for further details of this and the Festive Movie Night being held later in the term. The Foundation Burns Night Supper and Ceilidh is always a fantastic event, so please book early to avoid disappointment—further details on page 2. Earlier this week, we wrote to you with details of the School’s severe weather arrangements, for reference a copy of that letter can be found HERE. Obviously, whilst we hope not to have to use these protocols, do please familiarise yourself with the content of that letter and also do please check that we have the correct contact details on file for you via Parent Portal. We are conscious that many pupils will be watching world events in the Middle East and that this may have an impact on their mental health. The UNICEF site linked here How to talk to your children about conflict and war | UNICEF Parenting may well be helpful to you, if you feel it is right to discuss things with your son at home. One more date for your diary is Friday 17th November, BBC Children in Need Day. As usual, boys (and staff!) are invited to wear spotty accessories to school and bring a donation.
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
Tuesday 14th November Flu jabs, all day Pickleball, 4-5pm Chess, 4-5pm
Trip to York The boys who went on the trip are looking forward to sharing some of their experiences with the rest of the school (and their parents too) during our weekly Celebration Assembly on Wednesday 15th November. Parents of these boys are invited on the day for a light, continental-style breakfast in the Dining Room from 8.30am. The assembly will start at 9am and should last approximately 20-25 minutes.
Wednesday 15th November York Assembly, 8.30am Swim Development, 4-5pm Cubs, 6.30pm Year 6 Concert, 7pm, AC Thursday 16th November Y3/4 Maths Masterclass, SGS, all day BWFC Kids’ Cup, Jujitsu—4-5.30pm LAMDA—4-5pm Ski Improver Course, Chill Factore, 6.30pm (CF) or 7pm (PR) Cubs, 6.30pm Friday 17th November AJIS Football, MGS U11 Football v Birkenhead, H, KO 2.30 Fencing (collection from Beech House), 4-5pm Water Polo, 4-5pm Hockey, 4-5pm Saturday 18th November AJIS CHESS—all day
News from the Park Road PA SAVE THE DATE ! We will be holding a Festive Movie Night after school on Friday 8th December, with a snack and drink included in the £10 ticket price. More details on how to purchase tickets are being sent home with the boys today and are linked here. Diwali Breakfast Club — Friday 10th November from 8am—3 items for £1.50—there is a flyer for the event 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 Twitter – don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @BSPDJnrBoysPA . Lots more dates for your diary to follow very soon and news about how to donate to our annual Christmas hamper raffles !
Burns Night Supper and Ceilidh Save the date! The annual Burns Night Supper and Ceilidh dance will take place on Saturday 27th January, 2024 in the Arts Centre, from 6.30pm until late. Celebrate the life of Scotland’s National Poet – Robert Burns – in a way he would have wanted: eating, drinking, dancing and laughter, with a traditional dinner, ceremony, live piper and Ceilidh band. Email: bsbdpa@gmail.com to reserve your spaces. Only 10 tables of maximum 10 guests are available for this very popular event. Business sponsorship chocolates and items welcome.
and donations of bottles, for hampers are also very
Please email bsbdpa@gmail.com with any enquiries.
Achievements Congratulations to Henry Hardman, in 3A, who competed in the 7th and final round of the annual Oset Cup motorbike competition recently. This is a trials motorbike competition, covering the whole of the North of the UK and the final round took place in Harrogate. Henry won the final round, and then became the Oset Cup Champion for the year in his category! This is a huge achievement which Henry has worked really hard to win, competing against older children on petrol bikes. What an amazing achievement, Henry! Well done. Sujay Thiruvallar in 4A performed a solo cello piece at the Northern Tamil Association Diwali competition in half term. He performed to an audience of 700, with over 50 participants in the competition. He was awarded a special prize for best solo instrument performance. What a fantastic achievement. Well done, Sujay ! Arthur Holmes, in 5A, plays for the Under 10s at Bolton Rugby Union Club. After showing great effort in his rugby, Arthur was selected to be a mascot for the Senior Men’s 1st XV recent match against Eccles. As well as meeting the team and running out with the Captain, Arthur was ball boy for the match. A great honour. Well done, Arthur. Well done to Neel Dontula, in 5C, who has been awarded Heaton Cricket Club’s Under 9s’ Player of the Year Award by Nottinghamshire opener and England cricketer, Haseeb Hameed (also an Old Boy of Seniors). Neel captained the team and led from the front by being top scorer and wicket taker. He made two fifties. He represented the club regularly for Under 11s and even Under 13s! Neel’s Under 11s’ team topped the league and reached both GMCL and Blackrod cup finals. Neel contributed a few times in winning the matches for his team, including in the semi-finals of the Blackrod Cup, where he scored the winning runs for his team by smashing 4 and 6 when they required 6 runs in 4 balls. Amazing achievements, Neel—very well done !
Term Time Holiday Requests There has been a notable increase in those seeking approval for additional days of holiday, very often immediately before or after the normal school holidays. We monitor all such absence in order to spot patterns and discern trends. It is timely to remind you that I cannot, by law, grant absence for holidays in term time unless in exceptional circumstances. The clear sense of the guidance is that ‘exceptional’ also means rare and certainly not due to the planning of flights and other logistical arrangements. Permission must be granted in advance, so a letter on the day of the absence or a call as a holiday is extended, cannot be authorised. This is why such absence is recorded as ‘unauthorised’. SAF
Nature Club The Nature Club has been raking up the autumnal leaves to create safe homes for hedgehogs. We also collected leaves to press so that we can keep a record of Autumn at Park Road. SL
Water Bottles We request that boys bring only water into school in their water bottles, without any additional flavourings added, this includes the use of air up pods. Water bottles should be transparent and clearly named so that they can be returned to boys when they are inevitably found around the building. Thank you very much for your support with this.
News from the Art Room After two years of planning, the project I have been involved in, The Welcome, (https://factoryinternational.org/the-welcome/) finally launches at Aviva Studio this Saturday (11th November). It runs until 19th November and there are an amazing array of events taking place, many of which are free. I am really looking forward to the launch of Inside Out: This is Manchester as I can’t wait to see all the wonderful portraits (including my own!) fully installed https://factoryinternational.org/whats -on/inside-out-this-ismanchester/ I am also looking forward to the street culture takeover day on Saturday 18th November, as I know my children will enjoy having a go at skateboarding, BMX, screen printing and breakdancing- I might even join them! I hope to see many of you there or at one of the many other wonderful events and activities. There is a short video trailer below that may wet your appetite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg0wtUiwbNE&t=1s. JPM
The boys in Year 5 made some amazing expressive sketches, responding to the work of artist, Alberto Giacometti. They worked with a range of different materials to play with possibilities and explored many interesting, elongated forms. Great work from the boys. JPM
November Geography Mission
I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Instructions:
“I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!” has been filmed in four different locations over the years – Queensland (Australia), New South Wales (Australia), Gwrych Castle (Wales) and Kruger National Park (South Africa) For each location, research: where it is found on a World map, the climate (temperature and precipitation), 3 animals which live there, including their key adaptations to survive and 3 plants/vegetation which live there, including their key adaptations to survive. How to submit your research:
Email lgillibrand@boltonschool.org.uk with your submission by Thursday 30th November, at 4pm! PRIZES FOR THE WINNERS! WHO CAN CREATE THE MOST GEOGRAPHICAL AND CREATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT ?
Cold and Wet Weather Please 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. 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.
BBC 500 Words Story Competition In an assembly before half term. boys looked at the word 'imagination' and began to develop story ideas for the BBC 500 Words Story Competition. Your son's English teacher will have discussed this further in class, as all boys have been asked to submit their imaginative, typed stories to their English Showbie classes for an in school competition, by this Friday, 10th November, where three stories will be selected per class to make a book in the school library. In addition, to enter your son’s story into the BBC competition for a chance to win exciting prizes, including a chance to visit Buckingham Palace, please follow the instructions on the BBC website: The organisers of 500 Words want children to have fun writing their stories, be as creative as they can and make them laugh, cry or just be blown away by what they are reading. Over the years, there have been incredible stories submitted. There are very few rules on 500 Words but a few points to remember: All the stories must: • Be 500 words or less (title is not included in the number) • Be written by an individual and not a group • Be a child’s own original idea • Be prose, not rap or poem. Stories must not: • Give any personal details of the child, including their name or recount an historical event (but they can use a real person or historical character as a source of inspiration).
All stories will be judged on the following criteria: •
Characterisation , plot, originality, language, enjoyment and prizes!
50 finalists, along with their parents or carers, will be invited to attend a grand final next February at Buckingham Palace!. Not only will the bronze, silver and gold winners of each age group have their stories read by celebrities, but the event will be shown on a special 500 Words edition of The One Show, on World Book Day on 7th March, 2024. All the finalists will receive a £20 National Book Token and their stories will be recorded and published on the website. The winners in each category will receive an array of prizes. As well as their stories being read out by celebrities, they will all receive a bundle of books. The two gold winners will receive the height of Sir Lenny Henry in books and their schools will receive 500 Books. The two silver winners will receive the height of Her Majesty, Queen Camilla, in books. The two bronze winners will receive the average height of a 7 or 11 year old in books. Good luck to all boys who enter! MLB
Eco News
Commendations Congratulations to all who have received an award in celebration assembly this week. Well done on your amazing achievements! GF
Our Green Flag Award with Distinction has now taken pride of place in school. This plaque has been given to the boys of Park Road for their outstanding effort in making us a more sustainable, litter free and energy saving school. SL
Kidzone Christmas Holiday Club Please find linked here the schedule for the Kidzone Christmas Holiday Club. Book early to avoid disappointment !
ECA for this half term Please find linked here the ECA schedule for this half term. A downloadable PDF can be found on Parent Portal.