A Rainy Day in June

As I write this, the rain is beating on the window panes of my office and the wind howling outside. It is hardly credible that it is June. What luck that we had better weather at the start of the week for Sports Day! On Tuesday, the GirlsÆ Division turned out in force to compete in our annual competition and there was adulation on the part of the winning forms.

Well done to all the girls who took part!

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ááá Before going down to the Levels for Sports Day, I had had the privilegeá ofáhosting a lunch to thank Margaret Kenyon, formerly Headmistress of Withington, for her work as GirlsÆ Division Governor over the years. Among those invited who also wanted to express their appreciation for MargaretÆs work were Mrs Richards, Miss Panton and Miss Dickinson. It was wonderful for me to meet up with my two predecessors and the former Deputy Head.ááá

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áThis has been a fortnight of celebrations. Last Thursday, we joined together to praise those members of Year 12 in both the GirlsÆ and the BoysÆ Divisions who have given the largest amount of their time to our Community Action programme. Mrs Entwhistle, who coordinates the programme, calculated that, over the course of the academic year, the Year 12 students had given almost 12,000 hours of their time to voluntary work.á This is the equivalent of one person working full-time for 7 years! “Gold” certificates were awarded to those who had given 100 hours of their time.á Parents, staff and representatives of the voluntary sector expressed their amazement at how well the students had managed their time to do all this work alongside their academic and extra curricular achievements. Our guest speaker for the evening was Kevin Davies, of Bolton Wanderers. He spoke movingly about his own philanthropic work with his charity KiDs of Bolton. For many, this was a poignant reminder about how important it is to continue to serve the community long after school days are past.

This week, the Year 2s at Beech House celebrated the end of year with a splendid concert, a showcase for all their talents before they move to Hesketh House and Park Road. There were more festivities last night when the School presented an award to the Young Person/ Apprentice of the Year at the Bolton and Bury Business Awards, held at the Rebok Stadium. I would like to congratulate the truly worthy recipient, a student from Bolton College. Also congratulations to the winner of the Special Achievement Award, someone who has been a good friend to the school.

With exams out of the way, departments are finding imaginative ways of stretching the girls educationally. Last weekend, girls from Year 9 enjoyed a trip to Patterdale organised by the RS and Geography Departments, labelled a æRural RetreatÆ. áAlso last weekend, the Business Studies/ Economics and Psychology Departments took students to London to visit the Bloomberg offices, the Bank of England, the Museum of Brandingáand other sites which are important to their studies.á The mathematicians (above) went to Manchester University with Mr Wrigley, whereásome girlsálooked at the maths involved with making rollercoasters,ásome looked at the maths involved in a game called æsproutsÆ and oneástudent, with a particular interest in this field,álooked at the maths associated with birds flying into jet engines! It is very important to us to extend the girls’ horizons through educational trips and visits: I hope that the Biologists enjoy their Field Trip next week.

Back at school, we have enjoyed welcoming a number of primary schools to our Sports Festival, held jointly with the BoysÆ Division. In the past two weeks, we have also held a Technology Day based around a æCarnivalÆ Theme. Local primary schools came and were able to make masks in Resistant Materials, headdresses and accessories in Textiles and party pizzas in Food Technology. Today, the Art and Geography Departments in GirlsÆ Diváas well as the áBiology and History Departments in BoysÆ Div held a Taster Day for pupils in Years 4 to 6 who are interested in the school. On Monday, we shall be holding a Discovery Day in GirlsÆ Division for Year 5. LetÆs hope the weather is a little more friendly to us by then. Bolton School looks so much better when the sun is shining!