The Cockerel - October 2021

The Cockerel

A New Structure for Bolton School

A New Structure for Bolton School

The Governing Body at Bolton School is pleased to announce a structural change to the Foundation, which educates girls and boys for the whole of their academic journey, up to the end of the Sixth Form.

As of 1st October, there is a new position of Head of Foundation, which has oversight of the overall direction of all elements of the Foundation. Philip Britton, MBE, who has very successfully led the Boys’ Division since 2008, has been appointed to this role, which will oversee both the Girls’ and Boys’ Divisions as well as a newly created Primary Division. Lynne Kyle continues as

Head of Girls’ Division, whilst Nic

Ford, formerly Deputy Head, Academic in the Boys’ Division, has been appointed as its Head. During the coming months, the Governing Body will conduct a full recruitment process to make permanent appointments to both of these roles.

The restructure also includes another new position – Head of Primary Division, which will comprise the School’s Nursery, Pre-School Class, Infant School, two Junior Schools and wraparound childcare facility, Kidzone. The Governors have appointed Sue Faulkner, formerly the Head at Beech House, the Foundation’s Infant School, to this role. The day to day education for

boys and girls across all parts of the Foundation will be unchanged and for them there will be clear leadership across the three Divisions from faces familiar to both pupils and parents.

Commenting on the reconfigured arrangement, Ian Riley, Chairman of Governors, said: ‘At a time when the Foundation has more pupils than ever, these changes reflect the Governors’ desire to build for the future whilst retaining the strong identities and high academic standards of the individual schools. As a Governing Body, we believe now, with the School thriving, is the right time to implement change to invest in our future. The Foundation of Bolton School envisaged by Lord Leverhulme intended much closer co-working between the two Divisions than has often been the case in our first century, whilst maintaining the vibrant identities of both single-sex girls’ and boys’ schools for children aged 7 to 18 years. The growth of the younger part of the school, from babies in our Nursery to 11 year olds in Hesketh House and Park Road, could not have been anticipated by our founder. The brand new Primary Division mirrors his vision of the Boys’ and Girls’ Divisions, bringing greater focus to that part of the School and those important early steps in education.

‘The School’s founding ethos – that children of the highest potential should be afforded the best possible education, irrespective of their financial circumstances – forms the blueprint for the Governors’ vision for the future of the Foundation. Led by Philip Britton, this new structure will help keep our fees affordable

for parents whilst driving forward the Governors’ agenda of widening access to the School through its bursary scheme, delivering true social mobility in Bolton and beyond. The new structure will allow us to build upon our nationally-renowned reputation for partnership work within the local community, enhancing our reputation as one of the leading institutions in the town.’

Philip Britton commented: ‘It has been a great pleasure to lead the Boys’ Division for the last 13 years, sharing all that the boys and my colleagues have achieved. The opportunity to be the first Head of Foundation for the School is an enormous privilege. In the last decade, we have become nationally recognised as a leader in education and that focus on the experience of the girls and boys being the best they can be will continue to inspire us. Both Divisions are amongst the largest single-sex schools in the country and have shown the huge benefits to pupils of that approach to education, whilst also working together to provide the “best of both worlds” for pupils with mixed activities where that adds value to the school day. Being able to take an overview of the next steps for the Foundation and to ensure its continued success, alongside the Primary Division and our commercial activities at Patterdale Hall and within school, will help us prosper in the future as we consolidate and develop our reputation as leaders in academic success, character development through activity, e-learning, social mobility and partnership work.’

School is shortlisted for Three Awards

School is shortlisted for Three Awards

Bolton School has been shortlisted in three categories in this year’s Independent School Parents’ School of the Year Awards. The School was shortlisted in the Social Mobility, Performing Arts and Outstanding New Initiative categories.

Providing social mobility is inter-twined with Bolton School’s history and it was Lord Leverhulme’s vision to offer an education for all capable children when he reendowed the School in 1915. Last summer, 42 pupils from the Class of 2020 left having received bursarial assistance for their education. Thirty eight went on to university, 32 of whom secured places on courses at prestigious Russell Group institutions. Nineteen went on to study subjects in the medical sciences, including 12 pupils now studying Medicine. During the same academic year, the School community made pledges and gifts totalling £672,000 to the Bursary Fund for the next intake of students. This enabled 54 Y7 pupils to join the two Senior Schools in September. Overall, the School spent £2.89m on means-tested bursaries, supporting 350 – one in five – girls and boys across the Senior Schools. One third of recipients – 6% of the pupil body – received fully-funded bursaries.

Bolton School Girls’ Division Junior School was shortlisted in the Outstanding New Initiative category where the focus was on its Oracy Project.

The Boys’ Division Senior School was also shortlisted in the Performing Arts category. In 2018, it was awarded Artsmark Platinum status for its arts and culture

curricular, extra-curricular provision and community work. The Arts Council award recognised the excellence of the range of creative learning opportunities, the School’s dedication to student-led projects, its outstanding creative partnership programmes and position as a regional advocate and steer for arts curriculum. The School is now in its second phase of Artsmark development. Baseline provision is drawn together in a Cultural Learning Programme that is blended with pastoral, enrichment, curricular and community areas of school life. Boys weave together interests across di ff erent strands of the curriculum, existing hobbies and extra-curricular commitments, echoing the school’s ethos of ‘education all round’. 145 boys completed their Arts Award projects in 2019-20, despite the challenges of remote learning.

Year 12 boys participate in the RSA Design Awards and are currently engaged in socially-applied projects exploring responses to systemic racism, design of learning environments and quality digital provision for all. They have benefitted from the expertise of alumni Robin Partington (architect) and Anthony Lilley (creative industry guru), as well as input from curator Stephen Welsh (International Museum of Slavery, Manchester Museum) and Ibrahim Mahama (artist and founder of the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art, Ghana). Alumni input is used to support pupils who aspire to creative arts careers. Old Boys frequently return not just to speak to pupils, but to offer masterclasses and mentoring. Recently, Ralf Little worked with drama students; boys

have also worked with Andy Patterson (film producer), Brian Appleyard (journalist and author), Barney Pilling (film producer), Mark Radcli ff e (broadcaster) and Jonny Ashton (TV documentarian). In 2019 alumnus Sir Ian McKellen returned to school with his 80th birthday tour. The school hosted Sir Ian’s surprise 80th birthday celebrations too. Current pupils and alumni reprised pieces from the actor’s schoolboy roles and received a standing ovation from an audience that included Dame Judi Dench and Sir Derek Jacobi.

Large scale productions, exhibitions and competitions are a staple of school life. Partnership projects to enhance School’s offer, as schools together initiatives and to steer local, regional and national cultural education policy are also at the forefront of concerns.

This year there were over 1,000 entries for the Independent School Awards. The finalists are yet to be announced.

Three years ago, in the same awards, the School was its inaugural winner in the Independent School of the Year Award category, the Boys’ Division was the Independent Boys’ School of the Year and the Girls’ Division was highly commended in the Independent Girls’ School of the Year category. In February 2019, the School won the TES’ Independent School of the Year award and in 2017, the School won the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

Awards Ceremony celebrates Organisations advancing Social Mobility

Awards Ceremony celebrates Organisations advancing Social Mobility

People and institutions dedicated to leading the way in advancing social mobility in the UK were recognised at an awards ceremony on 14th October. The SOMOs, now into their fifth year, were set up to recognise the people and institutions dedicated to leading the way in advancing social mobility in the UK.

The winners for the 2021 UK Social Mobility Awards were announced at the virtual gala, which was hosted by comedian and writer, Toni Kent. The Awards celebrate the achievements of organisations who embed social mobility as a core business strategy; from recruitment and/or progression activity within their own workforce, supporting their local communities, or by influencing the debate amongst their stakeholders and competitors.

Organisers and partners of the SOMOs recognise that social mobility not only benefits business, but society as a whole. By providing a platform to raise awareness of the importance of advancing social mobility, and celebrating best practice, the SOMOs are creating a movement of institutions passionate about making change happen.

Following what has been a challenging couple of years that has had a profound impact on businesses of all sizes, it is particularly commendable to see organisations remain committed to social mobility. The Awards, which were

sponsored by Capita, attracted entries representing a range of sectors and industries, and demonstrating excellence in their social mobility initiatives. Entries were evaluated by a prestigious judging panel, made up of influencers from business, charity, politics and the public sector and chaired by HM Lord Lieutenant of London, Ken Olisa OBE.

Philip Britton, Head of Foundation at Bolton School, finalists in the 'School/College of the Year’ category, commented: ‘Providing social mobility is intertwined with our history – it was Lord Leverhulme’s vision to offer an education for all capable children when he re-endowed the School in 1915. Last summer, 42 pupils from the Class of 2020 left having received bursarial assistance for their education. Thirty eight went on to university, 32 of whom secured places on courses at prestigious Russell Group institutions. Nineteen went on to study subjects in the medical sciences, including 12 pupils now studying Medicine.

‘During the same academic year, the School community made pledges and gifts totalling £672,000 to the Bursary Fund for the next intake of students. This enabled 54 Year 7 pupils to join the two Senior Schools in September. Overall, the School spent £2.89m

on means-tested bursaries, supporting 350 – one in five – girls and boys across the Senior Schools. One third of recipients – 6% of the pupil body – received fully-funded bursaries.’

Tunde Banjoko OBE, Founder of The UK Social Mobility Awards, added: ‘We are delighted that the UK Social Mobility Awards shows that there continues to be positive activity being conducted across the country, as corporate Britain comes together to drive forward social mobility. However, as much as has been done, we still have significant work to do, as when it comes to social mobility, there is no limit to better.’

School retains Apple Distinguished Status

School retains Apple Distinguished Status

Bolton School is pleased to announce that the Foundation has been recognised as an Apple Distinguished School for 2021-2024 for its application of Apple technology in developing children’s learning. Across the Junior and Senior Schools, the 1:1 iPad programme gives pupils universal access to this technology, preparing them for an increasingly online and technology-focused world, and the iPad is used to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum. Junior School pupils learn to code using Sphero and Swift playgrounds and continue that learning in the Senior School with the Everyone Can Code resources and design engineering projects. Younger children in the Foundation are also getting involved: the Junior Schools will next work to strengthen links with the Infants to facilitate a smooth transition to the 1:1 iPad setting.

Lisa Whittaker, Bolton School’s Coordinator of Apple Distinguished School Status, said: ‘We will continue to develop our use of technology, across the Foundation, as a tool to fuel creativity, personalise learning and deepen collaboration, ensuring all students benefit from Reception to Sixth Form.’

In the Senior Schools, pupils express themselves creatively across multiple subjects, and technology is used to blend digital and traditional methods. Going forward, the school will look at how technology builds connections between different subjects and fosters entrepreneurial opportunities. Bolton School will continue to share good practice with other schools and provide opportunities for children from a variety of backgrounds.

Head of Foundation Philip Britton said: ‘The selection of the Bolton School Foundation highlights our success in creating an innovative and compelling learning environment that engages students and provides tangible evidence of academic achievement.’

Apple Distinguished Schools are centres of innovation, leadership and educational excellence. They use Apple technology to connect students to the world, fuel creativity, deepen collaboration and make learning personal.

Hybrid Prizegiving Celebration

Hybrid Prizegiving Celebration

Last year’s Prizegiving at Bolton School Boys’ Division had been the first one to be delivered entirely online but this one, the 106th, was the first one to go hybrid, delivered as it was to a restricted live audience of pupils, staff and governors in the Great Hall and to an online audience of parents, staff and former pupils, some of which joined from overseas. Then Headmaster Mr. Britton introduced the evening as a ‘night to celebrate this school’. A firm believer in contextualising events, he took inspiration from the School’s Prizegiving of 1918, in which Headmaster Lipscomb addressed a school that was missing one third of its boys due to the Spanish Flu and to them returning from the First World War. Mr. Lipscomb focused on celebrating the lives of the boys in school and Mr. Britton said he would be doing the same – highlighting individual and collective achievements. Mass singing being forbidden, a small choir of four singing prize-winners – Jude Ashcroft, Billy Burrows, Ben Flood and Charlie Middleton - offered up the school song ‘Forty Years On’.

Mr. Britton thanked the Governing Body for their ongoing commitment to the School, thanking former pupil David Mohyuddin QC, who recently resigned his post as Boys’ Division Governor and welcoming Tim Taylor, another Old Boy, into the role and who then stepped up to give the Governor’s address. Mr. Taylor

expounded on how Prizegiving is about celebrating boys, but that it is also a good time to recall and thank the team of teachers and family behind them. Year 12 student William Miles offered up the next musical interlude, playing a Schubert piano solo.

The Headmaster told how he had invited Old Boy Ian Ross to Prizegiving to deliver the prizes and who, like last year, could not attend because of the travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19. Once again, he had agreed to attend next summer; however, it was to the Head’s great pleasure that Assistant Head Mr. Hiepko, who retires at Christmas, had agreed to deliver an address and hand out the prizes. Mr. Hiepko, who was born in Germany, recounted the story of his grandfather's and father’s upbringing in Germany. In trying to answer the question of whether we shape our destiny or our destiny shapes us, he also considered his own life and his ambition to be a teacher in the UK. His conclusion was that it was a bit of both. He felt our lives are shaped by a mixture of our own plans, accidental events and how we react to them, and the people that we encounter in our lives and the influence they have on us. He advised boys to make accidental things work for them and also to profit from others believing in you. He hoped that boys could look back on their lives and feel as lucky as he felt he had been.

The second musical solo was o ff ered by violin prize winner Harry Adams and a Vote of Thanks was given by new School Captain Ali Ahmed. Mr. Britton then reviewed this most unusual of years. In many ways, he said, the School has lived its values rather than talked about them, showing great resilience in ‘getting on with things’. Olympiads had continued online, Chess had positively prospered online with the club playing more games than ever and the MUN debating teams had enjoyed a supremely successful year, winning an unprecedented Grand Slam. Contemplating the School’s pastoral life, the Head said that during the course of the year, the School had reached into parents’ homes more than he ever thought they would! He gave a special mention to the Proctors, who had offered superb guidance to boys and told of being delighted at being given ‘Gold Status’ by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. He also spoke of diversity within school and how there had been mature consideration of BLM issues and Leverhulme’s past, praising teachers for giving boys the right language with which to deal with such matters. He told how boys and teachers

had made appearances on national radio and tv programmes where they discussed these issues.

Despite COVID-19, there had still been sporting success. He recalled how floodlights had been brought onto the Levels to facilitate after school sport during the Autumn Term and how the Year 13 Water polo team, unbeaten in any match throughout their years together, managed a final and emphatic victory over Manchester Grammar School. Two boys – Harry Bentham and James Blenkinship – had also represented Great Britain at Water polo, scoring three of their five goals in a recent tournament. The Head of Cricket, Mr. Compton, had been given a good send-off and there had been a good number of cricket fixtures, including the playing of regular matches against the MCC, the XL Club and an Old Boys’ team.

In Drama and Music, the School had had to be creative about being creative. The Great Hall had looked like a film set for the staging of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ earlier in the year and live theatre had recently returned outdoors at the Anderton Centre through the Lower School performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, in which it had collaborated with Sharples School and Bolton Octagon. The school’s ‘Creatives Now’ magazine was also commended for containing many excellent articles. Whilst music had been restricted, there had been excellent rehearsals and recordings which had gone out virtually.

Over the course of the year, Old Boy involvement in the school had burgeoned. Working online, Old Boys from abroad had been able to join UK former pupils to offer their expertise. Rob Dobson, who gave out awards at the 2017 Prizegiving, had set up an entrepreneurship scheme for Year 12 students.

Mr. Britton also thanked a number of teachers that were leaving, including several that were retiring after spending over twenty years of their lives at the School, this included Mrs. Edge, Mr. Bleasdale, Mr. McNeil and Mr. Harrison.

The choir of four finished the evening, as is traditional, with the singing of ‘Jerusalem’.

You can watch the event in its entirety through Part 1 and Part 2 links.

Celebrations end unique Sixth Form years

Celebrations end unique Sixth Form years

It has been a highly unusual Sixth Form experience for those Year 13 students departing Bolton School this summer. Their educational journey has continued through Lockdowns, across distance learning and back in the classroom in year group bubbles, and Results Day this year was a final celebration of all they have achieved through hard work and perseverance.

Staff welcomed the Class of 2021 back into school for a ‘nearly normal’ Results Day to round out their time at Bolton School. Students collected their results from form tutors in the Great Hall and enjoyed celebrating everyone’s A Level successes in the Riley Sixth Form Centre and outdoors.

Headmaster Philip Britton said: ‘It is such a joy to celebrate with the boys this morning as they receive their results and make plans for the next steps in their life beyond Bolton School. They had essentially one normal term of Sixth Form life before the pandemic. Throughout that time, they have kept motivated, worked from home and, when in school, fully engaged with all we can do. They have acted in filmed plays, recorded for online concerts, spoken at Zoom assemblies and

played matches within school when they could not play other schools. The spirit they have shown in enjoying what can be rather than moaning about what could not happen has been exceptional.

‘Although the public reports were that exams were cancelled, actually assembling the basket of evidence probably involved more sustained preparation and assessment than the normal exam process and certainly in more difficult circumstances. That the results are terrific this morning and allow students to move on to their next steps is all about their tenacity and the professionalism and determination of their teachers.

‘It is not a day for trying to compare results with previous years, because this year, like last, is not like any other year. We must

remember that these last few years have disrupted education more than any event since the Second World War. Trying to imagine things would be normal and comparable is wrong – of course things are not normal. But what is just as usual is that the Bolton School boys have been adaptable and determined, just as they always are.’

Four of the school’s athletes will be travelling to the US for their studies after securing sports scholarships: Alfie Yearsley and Tom Simpson will begin their university careers this September, with Luca WilliamsDenton and Jensen Myerscough deferring their places to 2022.

Thomas Yates, who is a member of the sevenyears-undefeated senior Water Polo team, has earned a spot at Durham University to study Chemistry; and Piers Skeels-Caldwell, the captain of the Rugby First XI who jointly raised £5,000 for Cancer Research UK earlier this year, will go on to read German and Business at Leeds. He ran his ‘24 miles in 24 hours’ charity fundraiser alongside his friend and First XI teammate Daniel Bentham, who also achieved the grades needed to secure his university place.

Three boys head to Oxbridge places: Jude Ashcroft to study Classics at Cambridge, Thomas Britton to read History at Oxford and Jack Danson to study MFL at Oxford.

Hamzah Chariwala and Thomas Higham both achieved 5 A* grades, including the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification): Hamzah goes on to read Design Engineering at Imperial; while Thomas will study Maths at Warwick University.

70% of students in the Boys’ Division achieved at least ABB grades, which allows access to the top universities. Almost two thirds (62.6%) of grades awarded this year were A* or A, of which 25.2% are A*, and 84.9% of grades were between A* and B. The pass rate for the cohort of 110 was 100%.

Boys achieve Outstanding GCSE results

Boys achieve Boys achieve Outstanding GCSE results

Pupils in the Boys’ Division of Bolton School have achieved an outstanding –and record-breaking – set of GCSE results. 44.1% of grades were graded at 8 or 9, the equivalent of what was once an A*, 69.1% of papers were graded 9-7 (A*-A) and 99.7% were graded 9-4, the former A*-C pass rate.

A delighted and proud Headmaster, Philip Britton, reflected: ‘So often in education we talk about praising the importance of effort and application more than outcomes and this is exactly what we must do today. The boys have achieved some great results, but much more impressive is the manner in which they have achieved them. Most of their GCSE study time has required enormous personal resilience and motivation to keep going and engage with study, both at home and also when in school in the most unusual of circumstances.

‘This generation are not “snowflakes” as people like to call them – they might well be the most resilient and personally responsible generation we have seen for half a century. The great grades are based on hard yards walked in Lockdown, when it would have been all too easy to lose focus and they didn’t. That is what we celebrate with them today.

‘It is with a sense of optimistic anticipation that I look forward to welcoming most of the boys to our Sixth Form and to enjoy all I know they will achieve and contribute to school life in those senior years.'

Amongst the results, there were lots of individual success stories with four boys –Laurence Britton, Max Carter, William Fothergill and James Logan

– achieving eleven grade 9s. Twenty- six pupils gained 10 or more A* or 8/9 grades and 35 boys achieved 9 or more A*s or 8/9 grades. Despite the past eighteen months, many boys also achieved highly in extra-curricular activities: Joel Burgess (seven 9s, three 8s and a grade 7) showed a prodigious footballing talent and will join Bolton Wanderers after winning a scholarship; Jamie Death, one of the finest competitors nationally in Judo collected a 9, four 8s and five 7s, Marcus Williams gained a string of 6s and 7s whilst excelling in Thai boxing and Will Fothergill (eleven 9s) represented his country at trampolining whilst harbouring ambitions to compete in a future Olympics.

100% of students achieved at least five 9-4 grades (A*-C) and 86.1% achieved at least 9-6 grades (A*B), whilst 33.8% took home ten 9-7 (A*-A) grades despite the year group having both their GCSE years severely impacted by the pandemic.

Boys’ Rowing Challenge boosts Bolton Hospice

Boys’ Rowing Challenge boosts Bolton Hospice

Last term, pupils across all year groups at Bolton School Boys’ Division competed in a rowing challenge to raise money for Bolton Hospice. The four Houses – Blackburn, Wigan, Chorley and Manchester – battled it out to see which could row the furthest after each of its members had taken a five minute turn on a rowing machine outside the Tillotson Sports Pavilion. Wigan won, but only just.

Kathryn Willet, Corporate and Community Lead at the Hospice, visiting the School to present a certificate and to pick up a cheque for £1,300, commented: ‘We are so grateful to Bolton School Boys’ Division for helping to raise funds for the hospice. Fundraising during a pandemic has proven to be our greatest challenge to date and we are so lucky to have supporters like Bolton School helping us to ensure that we are here to provide vital care and support to our patients and their families when it is needed most, thank you!’

Mr. Wyatt, who oversaw the fundraising campaign, said: ‘It was lovely for the lads to receive such praise for their efforts, and a number of Year 7 members of the Houses who came along to the presentation were clearly enthused by the experience and are looking forward to this year’s charity work.’

Bursary helps deliver Footballing Dream

Bursary helps deliver Footballing Dream

In August, when Joel Burgess received his outstanding GCSE results – seven 9s, three 8s and a 7 – it brought to an end a hugely successful five years at Bolton School. Joel had received a bursary throughout his time at Bolton School and both he and his mum were highly appreciative of this. Days before his results he had made his first team debut for Bolton Wanderers aged just sixteen, having put pen to paper earlier in the year when he signed scholarship forms with the club. His mum reflected: ‘Joel’s scholarship requires him to complete a BTEC alongside A Levels and therefore he won’t be able to continue his education at Bolton School.

He is extremely fortunate to have received such an outstanding education and we are very grateful to the School for their support over the past five years. He has a strong foundation now on which he can build, especially if he should not be successful in pursuing his dream of becoming a professional footballer.

‘I would like to thank the School so much for providing the opportunity for him to

experience five years of an outstanding, all-encompassing education. Joel was a member of the Ainsworth Academic Society, which met half-termly to discuss and debate issues. He received countless Commendations every year for his academic e ff ort and several personal emails from Heads of Year acknowledging his hard work and academic success. His average grade effort increased year on year.

‘Joel has always performed as an elite athlete and the Boys’ Division supported him in this from day one. He represented the school in basketball, athletics, table tennis and football. He is also a National Champion in Futsal.

‘During his time at Bolton School, Joel trialled for ISFA and was successful in gaining a place on the ISFA North-West team, which, in turn, led to a tournament and successful trial for ISFA England. He captained the team on several occasions around the country and even played at St. George’s Park!

‘The School put Joel’s name forward for Bolton’s Town Team and he went on to represent them on many occasions. He also trialled

for the Greater Manchester County Team, which he subsequently captained and led to Cup victory.

‘Joel thoroughly enjoyed playing with the School football team and made some solid friendships with his teammates; they had several successes over the five years, which also involved travel around the country.

‘When Joel first joined the School, he was on trial at Bury FC, where he was awarded academy membership in Year 7. He progressed rapidly there, but unfortunately the club folded when he was about to start his GCSE studies. Due to his success at Bury and county level, his ability was recognised and he signed at Blackburn Rovers, which required him to train one full day and two evenings a week and play games whilst balancing his studies. When he was not offered a scholarship at Blackburn, he showed real resilience and trialled at several clubs before deciding to accept a scholarship at his beloved Bolton Wanderers.

‘Joel is a determined young man and playing for Wanderers has always been his dream. On Tuesday 27th July, he was selected as a substitute for the first team cup match against Chorley FC and he came on! It really was a dream come true!

‘I would like to thank Bolton School for helping and supporting Joel – we cannot thank them enough and I genuinely mean that. I know he will build on the solid foundations he has – he is such a driven, self-motivated person. I hope the School is also proud of everything he has achieved.’

Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the School, Laura Firth, said: 'Our sector-leading bursary programme – and the social mobility it delivers – would not be possible without the generosity of the School community, who donated £672k to the Bursary Fund in the 2019-20 academic year.

'In order to demonstrate the transformational impact of their donations, we are always delighted to be able to link significant

supporters of the Bursary Fund to specific bursary recipients. Throughout his time in the Boys’ Division, Joel was linked with Taylor & Taylor Financial Planning, a family-run business owned by Old Boy father and son, Chris and Ross Taylor. Chris and Ross have been supporters of the Bursary Fund since 2015, and have been delighted to follow Joel’s progress during his time in the Boys’ Division. They share the School’s pride in all that Joel has achieved, and hope to be able to watch him play for Wanderers in the near future.'

During the last academic year, Bolton School spent £2.89m on bursaries, supporting 350 pupils – 1 in 5 – across the two Senior Schools, with one third, or 6% of the student body, receiving full fee remission.

Return to Live Performance with Outdoor Shakespeare

Return to Live Performance with Outdoor Shakespeare

This summer saw a return of live, in-person performance for the first time since February 2020 with the Boys’ Division Lower School Production! The cast of Bolton School boys and pupils from Sharples School in Years 7 to 9 developed their adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with support from the Octagon Theatre’s Creative Engagement Team.

The cast put together their performance outdoors at the Anderton Centre, where the ‘stage’ was set in the round beneath a parachute and surrounded by socially distanced straw bale seating.

After just two days of rehearsal the curtain went up (metaphorically speaking) on this one-night-only performance, which even featured Headmaster Philip Britton taking on the appropriate role of Theseus, Duke of Athens!

Despite the rain, it was wonderful to see young people performing together for a live audience once again.

Pupils learn about Robotic Surgery for Children

Pupils learn about Robotic Surgery for Children

During the summer, Year 7 pupils Daniel Keene, Jack Singh, Oliver Icely and Alex Northcott enjoyed a fascinating glimpse into the future as they learnt about innovative robotic instruments at Manchester Children’s Hospital. Under the watchful eye of Dr. David Keene, Consultant Paediatric Urologist, they familiarised themselves with the da Vinci Robot, which is fully controlled by the surgeon. This new technology allows doctors to recreate the movements of the wrist, which have seven degrees of freedom, compared to the current laparoscopic key hole instruments, which only give two degrees of freedom: forward/back and rotation.

The boys and their Technology teacher, Mr. Walker, were hosted by Children’s Urology Surgeons, who showcased the amazing technology to local healthcare professionals and hospital managers in the hospital boardroom. The hands-on experience reinforced the benefits that robotic surgery offers for children in the

North West in terms of shorter recovery and fewer complications. The 3D vision and precise wristed movements generated by the robotic controls contrasts with the non wristed movements and lack of depth perception with current standard laparoscopic instruments and 2D vision.

Dr. Keene said: ‘Surgeons undergo an intensive training course with 30 hours on the robotic simulator, two days in a “wet lab” and then mentoring for their first ten cases. The cost of training three surgeons is £40,500. We continue to raise this money through Kidneys for Life (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ surgicalrobot) while the practical arrangements to secure access for children to the existing da Vinci system in Wythenshawe continues. Our open sessions were a great success and there were lots of positive comments from hospital managers including: “This is amazing! I can’t believe the difference in precision and control”. School pupils were blown away by how well they could control the robotic arms with

relatively little training.’

Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital is the biggest children’s hospital in the UK. Robotic surgery is increasingly being offered to minors in Europe and the US as it improves patient outcomes. However, the only centres offering robotic surgery to children in the UK are Leeds and Chelsea & Westminster. This is despite five surgical robots currently in use within Greater Manchester NHS hospitals.

Senior and Junior teams compete in Water polo tournament

Senior and Junior teams compete in Water polo tournament

ManUp! is a ‘Beach Style’ friendly Senior Water polo tournament held annually at the Albert Docks, Liverpool, and Salford Quays, Manchester. The Boys’ Division Senior Water Polo Team, undefeated throughout their time at Bolton School, competed in the Albert Docks event during the summer.

The ManUp! Tournament proved to be fast-paced, competitive and exciting to both play and watch. Matches were six-a-side with two substitutes, lasting eight minutes and played in a shorter pitch of 18 metres. The ten teams taking part were divided into two pools of five and after the ‘Round Robin’ group stage each team finished with a further playoff match.

Bolton School finished third in their group of five and then won their fifth/sixth place playoff.

The school team comprised Year 12 pupils Harry Bentham and James Blenkinship, who recently represented the GB Junior team in the European Championships qualification tournament in Slovenia; Year 13 pupils Daniel Bentham, Jensen Myerscough, Tom Simpson and Thomas Yates; and Old Boys Marcus Crompton (Class of 2020, captain 2019-2020 and University of Nottingham Sports Scholar) and goal keeper Matthew Schaffel (Class of 2019). When two of the Bolton team were delayed for the first game, Dr. Yates stood in as substitute. He had to step in again when one of the Bolton team picked up three major fouls.

Baker (Class of 1993) was goalkeeper of the first Bolton School team to win an Under 18 English Schools competition in 1992. Now a parent of a daughter in the Girls’ Division and a son who joined the Boys’ Division in September, he played in goal for Nomads.

the opposition in Bolton’s first game. Andrew Faulkner (Class of 2007) and Mr. T. Grieve (Park Road teacher, played for the GB Junior team in 2014) both played for Bridgefield 2 in Bolton’s second game.

In the other group, Peter Flaherty (Class of 2019) and Chris Rhodes (Class of 2020) played for Tyldesley. Alex Saunders (Class of 2010) represented Bridgefield 1, who won the group but were defeated by Oxford in the final.

Ben Riding (Class of 2017) had outstanding success as a junior international, playing for an unprecedented three junior age groups while at Bolton School. He was a key player in the ‘born 1999 team’: the first Bolton School age group in over ten years to qualify for the European Championships, held in Belarus. They were coached by Andy McGinty. Ben played for the Oxford team, who were undefeated at this year’s ManUp! to be crowned overall winners.

Having just completed a Master’s degree, Old Boy Ollie Rhodes (Class of 2016) represented Liverpool University and was part of

Dr. Yates commented that it was great to see so many Old Boys playing for di ff erent teams: Simon

The Bolton School Junior team (born 2005 or later) Water polo team also represented Bolton School during the summer in the ManUp!six-a-side club tournament at Nantwich Lido, an open air swimming pool. The team of eight comprised Ellis Matthews in Year 11, Year 10s Joe Carolan, William Littlefair and Jayden Luhar, and Year 9s Robert Bentham, Charlie Darbyshire,

Sam Jackson and James Logan. Notable changes to the rules were no ‘centres’ after a goal was scored: play started immediately with a goalkeeper’s throw.

Bolton School lost their first two fixtures to strong Northampton and Sedgefield teams. They then defeated City of Liverpool and Tyldesley before narrowly losing their last group match against City of Birmingham. The team finished fourth in their group of six and then played off for 7th/8th place. This match against Solihull ended in a draw and went to a penalty shoot out. The game was still tied after the three penalties so then went to ‘sudden death’, which Bolton won after the fifth set of penalties.

Pupils shortlisted for RSA Design Awards

Pupils shortlisted for RSA Design Awards

Finley Littlefair and Anuj Mishra were shortlisted for the Royal Society of Arts' Pupil Design Awards in the summer. Their project, 'Engaging with Leverhulme's Legacy' was a response to the RSA's 'Roots to Empowerment' brief, 'How might we challenge systemic racism by redefining heritage to ensure that future generations engage with a more inclusive story of our past?'

The boys, supported by a team of other Year 12 pupils, launched a live project that will progress as this school year continues. Their work connects school, the Bolton community and other cultural organisations endowed by Lord Leverhulme to the White Cube gallery in Lusanga, formerly Leverville. The judges praised the boys' understanding and communication around cultural wealth and their approach addressing this. They were impressed with their response to the RSA question, highlighting themes around co-creation and collective action, which they felt linked strongly to deliberative democracy.

Overall the judges were blown away by the potential of the project; out of all submissions they felt the work could have the biggest impact and this really made it really. stand out.

We congratulate Finley and Anuj on this excellent achievement, along with the boys that supported the development of the project: James Roberts. Ibrahim Ali, Jack Swires, Rafael Goloba and Ali Ahmed.

Max joins Under 18 National Hockey Squad

Max joins Under 18 National Hockey Squad

Congratulations to Year 13 hockey player Max Turner, who has been selected for England Hockey’s Under 18 National Age Group Squad. The group of sixty-one young players was selected following the School Games and Futures Cup. Performances at these two tournaments allowed the England Age Group coaches to identify players to go forward for future observation and assessment.

Max will now work with the Age Group Squad through further training, with the aim of making it into the final training squad later in the year.

He has previously played for Bolton Hockey Club on the 2nd XI, where he earned the Players’ Player Award in the summer of 2020. He moved last season to Brooklands Manchester University Hockey Club to try and achieve a higher playing standard, and since then has jumped up two levels. Through the England Hockey Single System, he has attended the Junior Development Centre, Junior Academy Centre and Performance Centre before being selected for the Pennine Pumas, which represent the best of the North Performance Centres.

His sister Erin in Year 10 and older brother Ben Turner (Class of 2020) are also hockey players.

School Organists perform at Alumni Reunion

School Organists perform at Alumni Reunion

At the end of September, both the Boys’ Division and Girls’ Division Great Halls resounded with splendid performances given by four Boys' Division Senior School organ students, namely Laurence Britton, William Martin, William Miles and Lucas Ng. Their performances were part of the activities organised for the ‘0' Years Reunion event. A number of attendees made a point of saying how impressive the musical renditions were and many former pupils were able to linger in the Great Halls, with the typical organ sounds bringing back many memories.

The pupils gained valuable experience in how different two organs can be, by playing them in quick succession throughout the afternoon.

The organists are pictured in front of the Boys’ Division Great Hall organ, together with their teacher, Foundation Organist, Mr. Spooner.

A snapshot of extra-curricular school life

A snapshot of extra-curricular school life

Year 12 pupils recently participated in the Amatt Challenge at Patterdale Hall. This event sees them adventurously navigating around the Lake District and camping out scoring points. Some groups were on the water completing their canoe leg, while others headed into the mountains aiming to reach checkpoints & complete the various challenges along the way, with pupils even sleeping on the summit of Helvellyn!

The winners, with 15,900 points were Group 16, which comprised of:

Daniel Corr 12c Sunyul Koo 12b

Over the summer, both Sixth Form Boys have been on Gold DofE hikes. A huge commitment and achievement for them, but also a huge commitment for those who support them – Patterdale Hall, Bolton Outdoors, BSBD DofE – many thanks to all of them.

Bill Danson 12d Henry Nuttall 12a

Daniel Heather 12e Aran Pomian 12g

Nathaniel Kampers 12e Seb Thompson 12c

Year 7 have enjoyed their first trips to Patterdale Hall this half term, where new friendships were strengthened and much fun was had by all!

Congratulations to Levi Higham (11d) who was awarded his Chief Scout’s Gold Award.

Congratulations to Shivaansh Dubey (9e) who passed his LAMDA Speaking in Public Grade 4 examination with Distinction during the summer holidays.

Congratulations to Chorley House who raised the staggering amount of £2607.50 for CRY UK (Cardiac Risk in the Young) and The Stroke Association over the last academic year.

Over the summer holiday, previous Year 6 boys who joined the senior school in Year 7 this September were offered access to our AI Learning Platform, Century, in order to support transition and ensure readiness for life at Bolton School. Courses focused on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar and Reading, and this provided an opportunity for boys to consolidate and refresh learning ahead of the next phase of their schooling. Ms. Sigrist has been overwhelmed by the response and is so impressed with the time and effort given by dedicated boys, some of whom completed between 100 and 350 learning nuggets: an impressive feat!

Arsh Patankar achieved a Silver Award in the Cambridge C3L6 Chemistry Challenge. This is a competition run in the Summer Term for Year 12 chemists.

Boys’ Division School History magazine, ‘The HistOracle’, has been named as the top school History magazine in the Historical Association Young Historian awards, with a special commendation for Usayd Bariwala for his article on Dunkirk. Very well done to last year’s Year 12 contributors and editors.

At the end of the Summer Term the Classics Department held a competition for Years 7-9, inviting them to get creative with an aspect of the ancient world. There were many fantastic entries in a variety of media, from iMovies and scale models to poetry and works of art. The Classics department have had an enjoyable time sifting through the entries and noting the level of creative skills on display.

Year 7 students were asked to explore the destruction and excavation of Pompeii. Luca Ramirez Nievas and Daniel Hunter were awarded Highly Commended for their respective model amphitheatre and snake charm bracelet.The joint winners were Toby Porter and Finlay James-Wyatt.

Year 8 students were asked to explore the story of the Trojan War. Alan Al-Talabani and Amaan Akram were awarded Highly Commended. The winner was Nathaniel Waghorn for his poem on Spartan soldiers.

Year 9 students were asked to explore the myth of Hercules. Thomas Atkinson was awarded Highly Commended. The winner was Will Malley for his poem on Hercules’ battle with the Stymphalian Birds.

Children's Orchestra Online project. He will prepare for concerts at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall in November and June with members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Well done to him!

Stephen Nagai (7a) has been accepted into the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Academy Orchestra. He started to play violin in Year 3 at Park Road and has participated in the National

Our musicians continue to enjoy success in their ABRSM, LCM, Rockschool and Trinity music exams. Achievements have been published regularly outlining the impressive results in over 60 exams obtained in woodwind, brass, strings, drum kit, guitar, piano, organ and vocal exams in recent months.

Laurence Britton (12f) Grade 8 Drum Kit Distinction

Rikin Patel (13g) Grade 7 Classical Guitar Pass

Rishi Narla (12i) Grade 6 Singing Distinction

Nathan Pierson (9e) Grade 5 Singing Distinction

Arsh Patankar (13h) Grade 5 Piano Distinction

Rishen Raja (13b) Grade 5 Piano Merit

William Martin (10b) Grade 5 Organ Merit

George Houghton (11c) Grade 5 Clarinet Merit

Ben Turner (11c) Grade 5 Clarinet Merit

Alexander McKie (11a) Grade 4 Singing Distinction

Nishan Sharma (8d) Grade 4 Piano Distinction

Grade 3 Clarinet Merit

Aidan Shum (10c) Grade 4 Piano Pass

Ed Goodfellow (9e) Grade 4 Classical Guitar Pass

Oliver Scales (8b) Grade 4 Flute Pass

Harry Brown (10a) Grade 3 Clarinet Merit

Elliot Guest (8e) Grade 1 Saxophone Distinction

Year 12 Muhammad Choudhary 12e

Year 13 Dominic Flood 13d Alex Nielsen 13e

Boys through excellent work and conduct are able to earn commendations, which contribute to their House totals in the annual Lyde Cup competition. The current frontrunners in each year group are as follows:

Year 7 Oliver Carter 7g

Year 8 Ahmed Tahir 8c

Year 9 Archie Moffitt 9b

Year 10 Mayan Kathiriya 10c

Year 11 Oliver Garland 11e

Congratulations to students Harry Bentham (13i) and James Blenkinship (13a) who have both been selected for the 15 man Great Britain Water polo squad which will attend a training camp in Hanover, Germany, during half term. At the end of this training camp, a team will be selected to represent Great Britain in the EU Nations Tournament in the Czech Republic in November.

Congratulations to Rob Bentham (10d) and Joe Carolan (11a) on their selection to the Under 17 England Water Polo squad.

Mr. Kettle took a group of boys to Widdop for some bouldering in early October. Very well done to Paul Bigger (12a) for completing Pool Traverse, a tricky V4, and becoming the first ever Bolton School

pupil to complete this obstacle, combining strength with technique and skill.

Congratulations to our athletes who took part in the County Championships over the summer – Mark Lintott (10b), running for Bolton Harriers, won Silver in the 100 & 200 metres, narrowly losing out on first place in the 100, in a very close photo finish!

Congratulations to Hugo James (8a) who competed in the Greater Manchester Track and Field Championships and came away with a Bronze medal in 150m and Gold in the Long Jump.

Two pupils entered their first rowing race this weekend. Agecroft Head is one of the key events in the North West rowing calendar, with a course of 3200m from Regent Road to Salford Quays. James Hopkinson and Barnaby Keogh paired up to enter the J18 2x, our first ever 'Bolton School' crew, where they finished with a highly respectable time of 14:46. James then went on to row in the men's 8+, a squad he has been training with regularly, finishing with a fantastic time of 11:26.

Jimmy Elliot (7b) won the Under 12’s trick ski title at the British National Water-ski Championships held at Oxford Water-ski Club recently in his first national-level competition. Very well done to him.

Congratulations to Luis McPherson (11f) who represented the North West region at the England Touch Rugby Junior Nationals competitions at Oxford over the summer.

Credits

Credits

Editor: Miss K.S. Wrathmell

Contributors: Mr. M. Power, Mr. J. Newbould, Miss A. Bradshaw, Mr. P.J. Britton, Mr. I. Riley, Mrs. L. Whittaker, Mr. N.R.W. Wyatt, Mrs. Burgess, Ms. N.R. Lord, Mr. C.J. Walker, Dr. M. Yates, Mr. D.F. Teasdale, Mr. A.C. Robson, Mr. I.K. Forgrieve, Mrs. J. Higham, Mr. T. Taylor, Mr. L. Watkinson, Miss. S.V. Burgess, Mr. D.V.B. Lamb, Mr. D.W. Kettle, The Sport Department, Miss E.A. Bramhall.