The Boltonian 2021 by Bolton School Development Office

Boltonian 2021 THE

CONTENTS SCHOOL NOTES

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & COMMUNITY PROJECTS

CLUBS & SOCIETIES

THE HOUSES

CAMPS & JOURNEYS

MUSIC & THE CREATIVE ARTS

CREATIVE WRITING & ARTWORK

SNAPSHOTS

SPORTS

SCOUTS

PARK ROAD

100

THE OLD BOLTONIANS

134

Editorial Staff Editor: Miss K.S. Wrathmell Cover: Under 15 Hockey, taken by Mark Power at www.karlkramer.co.uk Photography: Old Boltonian Mark Power at www.karlkramer.co.uk, the School Marketing Department & Dr. D. Rogers Communications should be sent to the Editor, Miss K.S. Wrathmell, at School. News of Old Boltonians should be sent to the Development Office in School.

School Notes Review of the Year 2020-21 _______________________________________________________

n September 2020, in my Review of the Year, I wrote that there were “bubbles and zones and routes around school, staged breaks and lunchtimes and masks on corridors, but we were all glad to be back in school”. It was another staging post in what would turn out to be the most extraordinary year for the School since the war. I finished that review by saying “so we set out in hope at the beginning of a new school year”; and that is just what we did, during a year most memorable for the creativity needed across all aspects of school life to make sure that things happened as ‘near normal’ as possible.

Firstly, we had to get creative about being creative. Large audiences for shows and concerts were not possible throughout the year so we had to be inventive. Online concerts became much more accomplished and polished, as we became used to the necessary technology; a benefit of this was the increased audiences for our music, with many more able to watch from much further afield than has ever been possible with events in school. One of the things we will keep doing when things are ‘normal’ is recording concerts and sending links, so wider family and friends can join in. The musical scheduled for March became online individual songs, staged and choreographed from the performers’ houses, with rehearsals led by my colleagues over Zoom. The Captain of School, dressed as Freddie Mercury performing a Queen song in his living room, will be a memory that remains with us.

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The Christmas show was ‘A Wonderful Life’ and for this, the Great Hall turned into a film set for three days as the whole performance was filmed just like a professional piece for cinema. This was an enormously enriching experience for the cast and, whilst it lacked the feel of the real audience and the last night curtain call, it certainly added a new dimension to performance experiences. By the time we got to the summer show, small outdoor audiences were allowed and a small group of us enjoyed some wonderful outdoor Shakespeare at the Anderton Centre.

We also had to get creative about Patterdale visits; these had drawn to a halt, with the final Year 8 trip of March 2020 leaving the centre early. In the Autumn Term, we moved to two separate day visits for Year 7, so they were able to visit the Hall, but not have a residential. During the Spring Lockdown, Year 8 spent one day at Brookside and then were able to have one day visit to Patterdale. By the time Year 9 and Park Road boys visited, they were able to have a near normal trip in the Summer Term. We were all set for a Saundersfoot Camp in July, which had been the last trip left, when Wales became nervous about Bolton as a hotspot and the campsite had to let us down gently. It is notable that a yearly camp that was not interrupted by war was halted for COVID-19!

School Notes Then there was sport. As term began, nothing of this was allowed by the guidelines, but then it became possible to offer activity if it ‘wrapped around’ the school day; this meant Saturday morning sport could not take place, and instead we moved to after school football and rugby practice. As this began in November, we had to hire floodlights. The large attendance at these sessions and the enthusiasm of both the boys and my colleagues to be engaged in sport again was wonderful to see. The season saw no fixtures, yet, even so, it was important to keep squads training together for a sense of wellbeing and team spirit. There were hopes, post Lockdown, that the cricket season might take place as normal and that is how it all began – then the Delta variant came along to Bolton; this meant that whilst the guidelines allowed fixtures, our opposition were understandably reluctant to play. Undaunted, we played inter-year group fixtures on The Levels and postponed the set piece games against the MCC until later in the term. In this respect, we had a lucky break, with those games played out with some four days of cricket in bright sunshine in the final weeks of term. This also marked the retirement at Easter of Andy Compton, whose inspirational leadership of Cricket at School over the last decade has been responsible for our current standing and success.

Other activity also continued online, with the Model United Nations teams excelling at several virtual competitions, as well as our debaters. School events all took place in new ways. Assemblies were by Zoom, with me, the organist and the monitor who was giving the ‘thought for the day’ alone in Great Hall and all the forms watching from classrooms. There was only one morning when we were literally talking to ourselves as we had forgotten to start the webinar! Remembrance Day ceremonies were broadcast live to an international audience of Old Boys’, as well as the current school, with some joining the 11am UK time event in the late evening and some in the very early morning. The Carol Service was broadcast from the Great Hall to a large audience, with the readings live and the music pre-recorded. Prizegiving was for a small audience of prize winners and their families only, with the speech given by Karsten Hiepko, the Assistant Head, who will retire at Christmas, as our planned speaker was not allowed to travel into Bolton.

Of course, aside from all this activity, we were busy in the classrooms; these were set out all year with tape, screens and 2 metre exclusion zones. For part of the year, boys were in masks in classrooms as well as corridors and for much of the Spring Term, we were mostly back at home with remote working, with the exception of the key worker children, who, once again, decamped to Park Road. Throughout all this, the boys and my colleagues went about the academic life of the school with determination and a great sense of purpose. As with last year, this sense of collective endeavour laid out the ethos and spirit of the

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School Notes school for all to see in a much more tangible way than it seems when we just speak of our shared values; this year and last, we have had to live them so much more than before to make sure we have all been able to make things happen as we would wish. The summer external exams ended up with several small sessions of assessment in school and Teacher Assessed Grades. Through various periods of self-isolation, this created another first for us – invigilation via Zoom, with colleagues delivering paper copies of exams to those boys who had to sit them at home. Resilience, adaptability, creativity, sheer determination and hard work have all been evident this year. Those same characteristics will help us make the very best of ‘the new normal’ at Bolton School as we embark on another year. Mr. P.J. Britton, MBE Headmaster

Valete – Mr. Roger Harrison _______________________________________________________

oger Harrison joined Bolton School 31 years ago in September 1990, having previously taught Mathematics at William Hulme Grammar School. 31 years is a long time – to put this into context, he started in the year Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister, Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and also the year of Nessun Dorma and Gazza crying at Italia ‘90. Soon after joining the School, in one of the editions of the boy-produced school newspaper which existed in those days, he was voted the ‘coolest and trendiest teacher at Bolton School’ – quite an accolade! He has taught about 25,000 lessons at Bolton School, all to a really high standard – he truly is an exceptional teacher. The boys not only knew that they would be taught well, but also that they would thoroughly enjoy his lessons. He is an extremely knowledgeable mathematician, comfortable with stretching the brightest – a superb teacher of Further Maths, where he excelled with both Pure and Mechanics – but also encouraging those who struggle from any year group. Pupils he taught knew that they had a teacher who not only cared about their education, but could also make even the most difficult of topics clear to understand. It is no small understatement that Roger was a valued member of the Mathematics Department. His contribution to the department was immense and appreciated by all. His knowledge of how to teach a topic was valued by all of us. He would always go out of his way

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to help any pupil in his free time at any point in the day. It is no exaggeration that it was a regular occurrence for Old Boys to seek out Roger on Open Morning in order to tell him how fondly they looked back to their time in his lessons. It has always been obvious that all these young (and sometimes no longer quite so young) men have the highest regard and respect for Roger; in fact, they all treat him with real affection. In 1999, Roger became Head of Year 9 and then Head of Lower School, and he moved out of the department to be with Mr. Hiepko in B5. Again, this was another area of school life that Roger showed himself to be really good at, praising the boys who worked hard, but also disciplining those who misbehaved. Roger genuinely cared for the boys, and this was obvious in the time and commitment that he would put into looking after the boys in his year groups. His assemblies were well prepared, thoughtful and very much appreciated by the boys. Aside from his involvement within the department and the School’s pastoral system, Roger also contributed to the wider school life. He helped to run School Badminton by running training sessions during the week and organising competitive fixtures against other schools. Roger is a hugely decent man. He is always ready to help others and gives freely of his time to do so. I will be forever grateful for the advice and help he gave me when I first joined the School. We shared the office in A21, and I could always rely on Roger to give me sound advice. The highest accolade I give him is that, whilst we have all heard of Pythagoras’ theorem, there is also Roger’s famous method for factorising – we all use it in the department, and both us and the boys call it ‘the Harrison method’ – it will always be so. Roger will be a great loss to Bolton School. We wish him all the very best for a long and happy retirement. Mr. D.N. Palmer

Valete – Mrs. Susan Preston _______________________________________________________

usan joined Bolton School in 1994 and reached her 25th year of service last year. Her first role was as a telephonist and receptionist, which quickly broadened to add a role as part time secretary to the Music Department. In turn, that became a role assisting a number of departments across school, managed by Andy Compton. For a period of time, Susan was also an assistant Chemistry technician. In 2006, Susan was appointed as Staff Resources Secretary, taking

School Notes charge of attendance registers in 2007; in 2010, that role was formalised in her appointment as Attendance Registrar and Staff Resources Administrator. In the 2015 reorganisation of the School Office, she became Pastoral Secretary. Throughout all these roles in school, she has worked with the best interests of the School at heart and with a strong appreciation that her support role was an essential part of the success of the wider school. Whether colleagues remember most her being the ready source of pens and other resources, a cheerful face in the old Staff Photocopying Room or the morning knock on the form room door as she checked the morning registers, we have all valued her presence in school. We wish her well in the next steps for her future beyond Bolton School. Mr. P.J. Britton

Valete – Mr. Andrew McNeil _______________________________________________________

ndrew joined Bolton School in 1995 after spending the early part of his teaching career at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, where he was a resident House Tutor and taught French and German. He retires after 26 years of service, although with the intention to remain actively engaged with School in a variety of ways. A scholar, his teaching focused on the academic aspirations of students and drawing on his own love of Modern Foreign Languages and literature to inspire them. Aside from the routine languages, perhaps most memorable were his Enrichment sessions for Sixth Form boys in Luxembourgish. Andrew brought to the department a remarkable ability both to train the boy who found languages nearly beyond him, and to inspire those who would go on to Oxbridge success. Central to all his work in school was a strong sense of the need to care for boys and to be aware of their pastoral needs. After a time as Assistant Head of Sixth, for eight years Andrew was Head of Year 10. He became interested and adept in the Independent School Inspection in the early years of that scheme and took part in many external inspections. This gave him valuable expertise to put to use in school and he was a linchpin for the Inspection Steering Group in school; this developed into his final role in school which was Director of Review and Evaluation. In this, he pioneered work reviews for year groups as part of the Headmaster’s Year Group Review process and each year evaluated an aspect of school life, very often from the point of view of the boys. A member of the Common Room who was

always happy to have conversation and take time for his colleagues, Andrew will be missed and we wish him well in his retirement. Mr. P.J. Britton

Valete – Mr. Jeremy Bleasdale _______________________________________________________

eremy Bleasdale retired from Bolton School at the end of this academic year after 34 years of service, in which he fulfilled a number of significant roles, including that of Director of Music. He initially started as a guitar teacher in 1986. At that time, he was giving frequent recitals as part of the Bleasdale-Heywood Classical Guitar Duo. The Duo commissioned new works such as ‘Impressions’ by Mark Houghton and gave this its world premiere at the Manchester Guitar Circle in 2004; this can be heard on one of their recordings, also entitled Impressions, which is available on Spotify. In due course, Jeremy qualified as a teacher and began classroom teaching in the Boys’ Division Music Department in 2000. His enthusiasm and expertise were clear and greatly valued, and he became Head of Community Music, initially in the Boys’ Division in 2007, then across the whole Foundation in 2013. Since 2008, he has been a guitar tutor in the Junior Department of the Royal Northern College of Music. From here, his pupils often go on to study at the RNCM and the RCM. His JRNCM ensembles have taken part in numerous masterclasses and have performed in prestigious concerts, such as at the RNCM Chamber Music Festival. In 2014, he became Director of Music and, for the next seven years, Jeremy worked tirelessly to ensure that the Music Department activities ran smoothly, be it A Level, GCSE and Lower School teaching, rehearsing ensembles, preparing and presenting concerts, liaising with local primary schools, organising concert performances from guest performers, and assisting me with looking after the large team of visiting instrumental teachers. This role demanded long hours of work (regularly arriving and leaving in the dark!) and Jeremy worked his way through every task and challenge with care, professionalism, infectious humour and without complaint, constantly supporting both pupils and colleagues. He achieved great success as director of the Senior Guitar Group, for which he arranged most of the music, including winning Best Youth Group at the National Guitar Orchestra competition in 2000.

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School Notes Craig Ogden described Bolton School’s Guitar Department as ‘setting international standards’ – praise indeed! Jeremy also conducted and developed the Joint Senior Orchestra for several years, performing at our most high profile concerts at the Bridgewater Hall, Port Sunlight, the Victoria Hall and Bolton Parish Church, as well as in our two Great Halls. In addition, he expertly conducted the huge, speciallyformed Christmas Festival Orchestra and Choir. He provided many of our young musicians with unforgettable opportunities by leading several concert tours throughout Europe, including Spain, Italy, Holland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Germany. Jeremy’s Community Music activities, in which pupils from local primary schools and the wider community visited Bolton School for music lessons as part of the SPACE programme, together with inviting local choirs and ensembles to perform in our Gala concerts, have been greatly appreciated by all who participated. The Public Lunchtime Concert Series also went from strength to strength under his guidance and vision. He established effective links with local primary and secondary schools, and organised workshops and concerts with the Northern Chamber Orchestra. Jeremy has adjudicated for music festivals at Bury Grammar School, Bolton School Junior Boys, Stonyhurst College and, most recently, at the Ramsbottom Festival. We have so much to thank Jeremy for, and I am personally very grateful to him for the insightful, essential advice and support that he has given to me in my role as Head of Instrumental Studies. I will particularly miss playing drums while he plays bass, as we have been integral to the rhythm sections of the bands for countless concert medleys, shows and exam performances. The musical productions that I remember with particular fondness are ‘West Side Story’, ‘Les Misérables’, ‘Miss Saigon’, ‘Grease’ and ‘Into the Woods’. Jeremy has been a wonderful colleague, ‘boss’ and real friend, who has made a huge contribution to the ongoing success of music making at Bolton School. With his particular and extensive skill set as a musician, teacher and true gentleman of the highest calibre, Jeremy will leave an enormous gap in the Music Department, but he begins this new chapter in his life with our best wishes for a long, happy and healthy retirement. As musicians, I think we never really retire, and there is always a good chance that we will meet on stage again in future! Mr. I. K. Forgrieve

Valete – Mrs. Alison Hampson _______________________________________________________

lison Hampson drew to a close 23 years of committed service to Bolton School at the end of this academic year. She started working at the school in 1998 as a flute and piano tutor, enthusing and developing the musical talents of pupils at both Park Road and the Senior School. Her musical expertise was clear from the outset and, one year later, she joined the team of curriculum teachers. Alison taught classroom Music to pupils in Years 7-13 until July 2017. Her careful and methodical approach ensured splendid progress, which led to excellent results. While Stephen Martin (Director of Music of the time) worked abroad for a year, she took on the role of Head of Curriculum Music; this was a position that she relished, considering this to be a highlight of her career, and she worked tirelessly to support the boys in their learning. Her considerable efforts resulted in every single GCSE Music student receiving an A*. Over many years, she was responsible for producing a large number of year group concerts, where both quality and quantity were on display in abundance. There are many happy memories of whole year groups singing at the top of their voices in Great Hall in the medley finales; this in itself was a major achievement! She conducted the combined forces of all the Year 7 boys and girls at a Gala Concert at the Bridgewater Hall – another unforgettable event. Alongside curriculum lessons, Alison directed several ensembles, including the Park Road Flute Pastilles and Senior Boys’ Flute Group, and she established the Junior Orchestra. Expertly providing one-toone specialist flute and piano lessons was a constant feature of her working week, with first class results being obtained in ABRSM and Trinity exams. As a form tutor, Alison guided many of our students through their formative years, helping and supporting them with total commitment and a desire to help them to become the best that they could be as they matured. She accompanied her form on numerous Patterdale trips and she still speaks very fondly of travelling to Rome on the Classics trip to assist the boys and colleagues. I know that she particularly enjoyed the Senior Guitar Group tours to Belgium, Prague and Berlin, always beaming with pride at the standard of music-making and impressive behaviour of the pupils.

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School Notes Alison absolutely loved performing in bands and orchestras with colleagues. Productions were great fun and often very moving, as was the case in ‘Les Misérables’. In September 2016, she moved to part time curriculum teaching and in September 2017 ceased classroom teaching entirely. I was delighted that Alison agreed to continue working as a flute and piano visiting music teacher until she finished completely at Bolton School in the summer of 2021. It is no exaggeration to say that Alison was an inspirational teacher. She was totally committed to all of the roles that she fulfilled and we have all benefitted immensely from her expertise and input in so many ways. We wish her all the very best for a long, happy and healthy retirement.

like business leaders. In competitions, as with academic results, she insisted that Bolton business teams always had their eyes on the prize, with notable achievements including podium successes in the national CIMA competition and winning the national Shares4Schools Competition in 2018. In the wider school, Christine contributed as a valued member of the external examinations team, which is a highly important, but little appreciated role in the school. She also largely single-handedly, developed, and for a number of years led, what became the SPACE Monday afternoon programme, which was a huge undertaking and has introduced the boys to a wide range of new activities. Christine has been a great asset to the School, and a wonderful colleague, and we wish her all the best in her retirement.

Mr. I. K. Forgrieve

Mr. D.W. Kettle

Valete – Mrs. Christine Edge _______________________________________________________

Valete – Mr. Ian Hughes _______________________________________________________

It is undeniable that Mrs. Edge had a big reputation amongst the students, staff and wider Bolton School family. She had extremely high expectations of both herself and all of her students, and new classes quickly learned to miss deadlines at their own peril! It is clear that the boys respected her mastery of the subject knowledge, and many, over the years, have openly admitted that they produced more work for Mrs. Edge than for most other teachers!

During his time with us at Bolton, he has involved himself fully in all aspects of the life of a busy school. In the department, he has been involved across the whole range of activity, coaching teams successfully to a high standard. He was just as able to engage boys less keen on activity to the idea of ‘sport for all’ as he was able to get the very best out of top sportsmen. His outstanding ability to form teams and interact with the boys, inspiring their commitment and inspiring them, was impressive. As well as the more general duties across the whole range of sports, Ian has been particularly responsible for Athletics and Cross Country. Within the department, he has held special responsibility for the Year 9 carousel of activities in the sports periods each week; these have developed to include Outdoor Pursuits and Dance, as well as the more traditional games. He has taught the A Level course throughout his time with us.

hristine Edge joined the school in September 2002 after a career successfully managing her family business, which was a major supplier of Manchester United merchandise. When she made the move into teaching, her wealth of real world business experience made the choice of teaching Business Studies a natural one, and is something that has been a huge benefit to all Bolton School Business students over the last two decades.

As Head of Department, she was always incredibly supportive of her colleagues, including myself, and was always prepared to share her understanding and resources in a department where she was undoubtedly the business expert. The Business Department, under her stewardship, consistently achieved some of the highest value-added scores, and that is largely down to her dogged drive to refuse to accept anything less than the best that the boys could produce. It is clear from the range of business trophies on display in the department that Christine was able to get her students to think

an Hughes joined Bolton School in January 2010, first taking up a two term temporary appointment. He was subsequently appointed permanently in September 2010, against a strong external field. Ian arrived having led a department within a state secondary school and brought with him substantial experience of teaching within Sport and PE, as well as academically at A Level, in addition to strong coaching qualifications across a number of our major sports.

As a form tutor, his care and concern for individuals was notable as he is a nurturing and caring person. He has provided advice and

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School Notes guidance for several form classes during his time with us; he was well-liked by the boys and known to be a teacher who cares.

I am immeasurably grateful for her judgment and clarity of thought in this role.

For the last three years, he has been in charge of the elite athletes in school; this role involves keeping in touch with the boys themselves, helping them prioritise academic and sporting commitments, as well as liaising both with home and with the contacts at sporting clubs. In addition, he has arranged a programme of lectures and information evenings for elite athletes and their parents; this role has suited him well in combining his ability to empathise with the boys with his own understanding of the demands of high level sport.

English was only part of her contribution to Bolton School though. For many boys, Miss Harper was no more synonymous with English lessons than with Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, Outdoor Pursuits, the Senior Literary and Debating Society, the Mace and Oxford Union debating competitions, the Senior Film Club, the Junior Book Group, class drama performances or Badminton. The list of her extracurricular activities is so extensive that it is likely several have been inadvertently missed off here! She threw herself wholeheartedly into many areas of school life, giving her time and expertise with great generosity and demonstrating her profoundly held belief in the importance of a holistic education.

And aside from all this, Ian has been an ebullient Common Room colleague, with a ready wit and, of course, a predilection for breaking out into Welsh. Certainly the singing of the Welsh National Anthem in a year group assembly and Welsh lessons as part of the SPACE sessions for some boys may well rank as some of the more unusual and memorable activities provided at Bolton School.

Ellie moved on in January 2021 to take up a very deserved promotion and become Head of Drama and Assistant Head of English at Hill House School. She is much missed and we wish her every happiness and success.

Mr. P.J. Britton Ms. H.K.R. Thomson

Valete – Miss Ellie Harper _______________________________________________________

llie Harper left Bolton School in December 2020 after eight and a half years of tremendous service in a wide range of capacities. Primarily, Ellie’s service to Bolton School was as a meticulous and highly committed English teacher. Her dedication to her pupils’ success was total, as demonstrated by the many hours she spent preparing lessons, producing resources to assist them and marking their work with astonishing rigour. It was no surprise that on the results days in August 2021, Ellie was one of the first people to contact me: while she had left the school, she was still concerned about her former charges and eager to know how they had performed. She enthusiastically shared her love of the subject, and her combination of high expectations and insight into pupils benefitted their lives greatly. Ellie’s broader contribution to the English Department cannot be overstated. For several years, she co-ordinated Lower School English, reconstructing the curriculum and developing new approaches to Lower School reading. A particular interest of hers was oral language and this gained a new importance in the department’s work with her introduction of the Lower School Lecture Competition. In her last three years at the School, she coordinated Year 11 English and

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Valete – Miss Kate Murray _______________________________________________________

ate joined the Physics Department in 2019. In the two years that she worked in the department, she showed herself to be a very committed member of staff, who was keen to support her students whenever she could. She designed exciting lessons for students, which allowed them to enjoy and explore the subject of Physics. Kate worked well in the Physics Department; she was always willing to develop resources, share ideas, as well as embrace online learning, helping others as she developed in this area. Kate attended many extra-curricular activities during lunchtime and was keen to help students in this area. She also offered lots of support to students who were finding the challenges of online learning difficult. The Physics Department was pleased to have her as part of the team. Her supportive, caring and friendly demeanour will be missed. We wish her every success for the future. Mr. M.R. Ormerod

School Notes New appointments to the staff _______________________________________________________

eptember 2021 saw a number of changes to the Staff Common Room. Miss H. Tunstall has been appointed as Assistant Head (Co-Curricular) and Mr. D.F. Teasdale has been appointed as Director of Learning Development. Mrs. J.L. Brewer has been appointed as Head of Art. Mr. J.D. Williams has become Head of Year 13 (in addition to his existing role as Head of Sixth Form), Mr. R.A. Catterall has become Head of Year 12 and Mr. M.G. Chilton has become Assistant Head of Year 12. Mr. D.V.B. Lamb has become Early Career Teacher Training Coordinator and Mr. S.P. Heald has been appointed as Director of Initial Teacher Training. Mrs. C.L. Waller has assumed the new position of Head of Recovery Curriculum. Ms. J.Z. Sigrist has become Head of Literacy and Mr. N.R.W. Wyatt has become Coordinator of EAL. Miss C. Dean has been appointed as Pastoral Curriculum Coordinator and Mr. P.J. Newbold has become Careers Coordinator. Mr. M.G. Chilton has been appointed as Head of Sport. Mr. P. Fernside has become the Director of Sport, who oversees the newly appointed roles of: Mr. T. Benbow – Head of Rugby Miss E.A. Bramhall – Head of Rowing Mr. M.G. Chilton – Head of Athletics Mr. P. Costello – Head of Chess Mr. M. Johnson – Head of Minor and Emerging Sports Mr. M.H.J. Prentki – Head of Football Mr. A.C. Robson – Head of Hockey Mr. L. Watkinson – Head of Cricket and Head of Swimming Dr. M. Yates – Head of Water polo Several coaching appointments have been made in the Sports Department. Mr. A. Evitts has been appointed as Swim Coach and Mr. A. Mallinson becomes a Graduate Sports Assistant. On a selfemployed basis, Mr. N. Hunt and Mr. T. Spurr have been appointed as Football coaches and Mr. T. Barlow has been appointed as a Rugby coach. Within Outdoor Learning, Dr. M.J Procter has become Head of Sailing, Mr. D.W. Kettle has become Head of Climbing, Mr. L. Jones has been appointed Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator for the Silver Award and Miss. C. Dean has been appointed Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator for the Bronze Award

French and Spanish. Miss I.J. Archer joins the Music Department and Mrs. K.M. Ashworth joins the R.S. Department. Mr. M.S. Pilkington has been appointed as a Teacher of Business Studies and Miss L. Gillibrand has been appointed as Teacher of Geography. Miss K.L. Clarke joins the Psychology Department and Mr. S. Hicks joins the Maths Department. From October 2021, Miss J.L.A. Petrie has been appointed as Teacher of English. From September 2021, Mrs. C. Talbot has been appointed as Deputy Proctor, Mrs. A. McGivern and Ms. K. Dickinson both join the School Office team as Operations Administrator and Activity Administrator respectively.

Diversity and Inclusion _______________________________________________________

fter the death of George Floyd in May 2020 and the subsequent growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, many institutions used the moment to examine their history, as well as their current approach to diversity and inclusion. This was certainly the case at Bolton School, where internal reflection was supported by Alumni, who constructively engaged with teachers and pupils in examining the past, assessing the present and making sustainable changes for the future. Over the last year, current students were canvassed and, subsequent to their comments, a number of changes were and will be made, the introduction of a quiet reflection room for private thought or prayer for one. Plans are being made to celebrate and inform about the range of cultures in school and to highlight synergies between their fundamental values. There will also be increased vigilance around harmful, casual comments and the usage of hurtful language. Mr. Britton commented: ‘This is the most basic, but also the hardest aspect. Rather than not talking about difficult things, we need to develop a vocabularly to be sure we do talk about them.’ Teachers too were surveyed and there was a strong commitment to act. Subject-wise, there has been consideration of how diversity and inclusion can be advanced and this has been particularly the case in English and History. There has been a great deal of activity delivered through creative endeavours in school, including Black History Month, the consideration of black role models, Homes Cultures, ‘CreativesNow’, YourManifesto and the RSA Pupil Design Awards.

There are also several new appointments to the School:

There has also been a wider consideration of Lord Leverhulme’s impact holistically, as pupils consider his life story. From a recruitment perspective, reviews have been made of the pipeline of supply and of where and how the school advertises.

Mr. J. Lucas-Nolan has been appointed as Teacher of English from January 2021. Mr. R.A. Fairbairn has been appointed as a maternity cover from April 2021 in the Classics Department. From September 2021, Mr. T.S. Gilligan has been appointed as Teacher of Physics and Maths, and Mr. D. O’Toole has been appointed as Teacher of

You can read the full report of activities on the School website. It summarises the activity and change in school one year on. Similar reports will be produced every summer for the next five years in order to drive a sustained approach to the issues and to systematically change habits within school life.

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School Notes All Together Gold School _______________________________________________________

olton School Boys’ Division has become a Gold All Together School, after taking part in the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s All Together programme. The award signifies the School has reached the highest level in proving its commitment to stopping bullying and improving the wellbeing of its pupils. Headmaster Mr. Britton said: ‘I am delighted that we have been awarded Gold status by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. This is great recognition for our sustained, purposeful and proactive approach to pastoral work.’ An equally delighted Deputy Head (Pastoral) Helen Brandon agreed: ‘The whole Pastoral Team is very proud that our strategies to challenge and change the behaviours of those who engage in bullying behaviour have received Gold Status recognition.’ By taking part in the programme, the school was able to audit its own current anti-bullying practices and create a tailored action plan. The project was delivered predominantly online and allowed access to the All Together Hub and specific resources to help combat bullying of at risk groups. Whilst the programme aimed to reduce bullying of all children and young people, there was a special focus on reducing bullying of disabled children and those with SEN. As part of the project, the School was given access to the All Together Pupil Wellbeing Questionnaire, which helped identify levels of wellbeing and bullying among pupils and monitored progress over the course of the programme. Online CPD certified training was also made available to staff, including a module on cyberbullying. The programme is run by the Anti-Bullying Alliance in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau and Contact and funded by the Department for Education.

School’s Pastoral Curriculum _______________________________________________________

upils and teachers from Bolton School Boys’ Division have been talking about elements of their pastoral curriculum on BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 programme and on ITV’s Tonight programme.

Deputy Headteacher Mrs. Brandon and eight Year 12 students took part in the award-winning current affairs programme File on 4, talking about the issue of pornography within a programme focusing

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on sexual abuse in schools. The programme featured a Bolton School Sixth Form lesson on Relationships and Sex Education and told how the School regularly brings in experts to talk about the issue to pupils, staff and parents. The boys spoke articulately and openly about their experiences. ‘Pornography definitely has an effect on behaviour and relationships and can be extremely damaging, giving children unrealistic expectations and influencing how teenagers behave with one another,’ Mrs. Brandon said. ‘It is vital that we address the subject head on and are proactive in helping our students to understand how harmful these materials can be’ Sixth Form students also recently appeared on ITV’s Tonight programme. Senior teacher, Miss Tunstall said: ‘We have been working with Allison and Deana from the Rap Project for a number of years, in fact, since I began designing the Pastoral Curriculum. Their work aims to raise awareness about personal safety and prevention in areas of rape and sexual assault, while openly discussing how pornography and social media influence attitudes and expectations. Many parents will be familiar with their work from the Teenage Journey lecture series and their book ‘Sex, Likes and Social Media – talking to our teens in the digital age.’ ‘When they suggested us to the ITV Tonight programme for comment about the work they do in schools and its impact, we were only too happy to be involved. Finlay and Anuj in Year 12 kindly agreed to comment, having recently been inspired to write about a range of issues in the school publication ‘CreativesNow’, including an in-depth interview with poet Andrew McMillan about concepts of modern masculinity. Although the segment was short, their answers during the interview were articulate, considered and reflected the impact of our approach to pastoral learning throughout the school. It was a pleasure to hear them speak, I felt proud to know them.’ Headmaster Mr. Britton commented: ‘As ever, the boys spoke thoughtfully, honestly and eloquently on topics where I am sure many adults would be lost for words.’

School Notes School links with The Bursary Foundation _______________________________________________________

arlier this year, Bolton School began working in partnership with The Bursary Foundation, a charity which works to connect deserving young people in deprived communities in Greater Manchester with the best educational opportunities at independent and grammar schools across the region. The Bursary Foundation was founded by Jenny Hopkinson, a former primary school teacher and wife of Bolton School Old Boy Max Hopkinson, who, whilst teaching in inner-city Manchester, mentored a bright, hardworking Year 3 pupil called Sally, who subsequently secured a fully-funded place at an independent girls’ school, where she is now thriving. That experience inspired Jenny to found The Bursary Foundation, which partners with primary schools in deprived communities to identify gifted and talented pupils who have the potential to thrive at an academically selective school. They are then matched with qualified teachers, who ensure they are prepared both academically and emotionally for the Year 6 entrance examination. The Foundation works closely with the children’s families to help them to navigate the complex admissions process, and then continues to offer them mentoring support throughout their secondary careers. The Foundation specifically targets primary schools where the percentage of disadvantaged pupils is higher than average, and where the quality of secondary educational provision in the vicinity is poor. An example is a partner school in Little Hulton, where 64% of pupils receive Free School Meals and, of the eight closest secondary schools, five are rated as inadequate or require improvement. The Foundation’s pilot project was launched in 2018, with 50% of that first intake of pupils securing places, fully-funded at those which are independent schools, including Manchester Grammar School, Manchester High School for Girls, Oldham Hulme and Sale Grammar School. To date, the charity has worked with a further 43 families, with whom they have continued to work online throughout the COVID pandemic. The George Lancashire Fund at Bolton School was established in November 2012 to fund bursaries for children living in Eccles to study at the School. Following the School’s partnership with The Bursary Foundation, from September 2020 this allocation criteria will be widened to include children living in all areas of the Metropolitan Borough of Salford. Furthermore, any child from Salford who is awarded a 100% bursary from the George Lancashire Fund after engagement with the Bursary Foundation will also qualify to receive an annual ‘Extras’ allowance for the duration of their 100% bursary. This will provide funding for uniform, travel costs, equipment and other associated costs, in order that they can take full advantage of all the opportunities a Bolton School education offers.

Jenny Hopkinson, founder of the Bursary Foundation, writes: ‘There is a frightening inequality of opportunity in our country. Put simply, we are wasting talent, and helping disadvantaged pupils to access the best opportunities in education is the right thing to do. We are thrilled to partner with Bolton School to identify children with huge potential in some of the poorest parts of Salford and help them prepare for entrance exams. An upfront commitment to support families with the additional costs of an education at Bolton School goes hand in hand with our ethos of holistic family support. Together, we can ensure that pupils enjoy everything on offer at this fantastic school.’

Leverhulme Birthday Assembly _______________________________________________________

n September, Mr. Britton, Headmaster, gave the traditional Leverhulme Birthday Assembly, through which the School marks the anniversary of the start of the Bolton School Foundation in 1915. The occasion provides an opportunity for pupils to find out more about William Hesketh Lever, who became the first Viscount Leverhulme, and his life and times. This year, however, the focus was slightly different.

A Senior Monitor read from the book ‘Leverhulme’s Legacy’, including this quote: “his father, James, had a deep concern for the spiritual and material improvement of the communities in which they lived and these values inspired William”. The Headmaster then asked, ‘How did the boy inspired by these values become the man whose statue at Port Sunlight was on the list to be toppled at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement?’ Mr. Britton reminded boys of his assembly in the Summer Term, which focused on condemning racism and raising awareness about the Black Lives Matter movement. He went on to relate Lever’s links to events in the Congo in the early 1900s, including forced labour in palm oil plantations, as well as the housing, hospitals and schools he built in the eponymous town of Leverville, which is now Lusanga. He compared this to two of Lever’s other projects: first the northern isles of Lewis and Harris, where Lever sought to mechanise and

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School Notes improve the fishing industry and where there is still a place called Leverburgh; and Port Sunlight, where he built housing for the workers in his soap factory. Port Sunlight was arguably the most successful. Contemplating why, the Headmaster suggested that it was because Port Sunlight was a new venture: soap manufacture was novel and Lever was not replacing a way of life, but inventing it. In contrast, in the Congo and Scotland, people had harvested and fished for generations. Lever was replacing their way of life and the changes, even if meant to be for the better, were imposed upon the community. Mr. Britton reminded the boys that their aim should be to ‘go out and make a difference for good’. He said: ‘What we learn from our Founder this year, as we celebrate his birthday, is that you cannot do good to people, by imposing your will, however well intentioned. You can only do good with people, understanding their way of life, their thoughts and their needs.’ The thought for the day shared during the assembly by Vicecaptain Thomas Britton was a quote from US President Abraham Lincoln, taken from an executive order later called the Emancipation Proclamation: “All persons held as slaves shall be thenceforward forever free”. The order was passed on 22nd September 1862, 158 years ago to the day when the assembly was held. Thomas went on to speak poignantly about the historical context of the Proclamation, referring to the inhumane treatment of slaves, as well as acknowledging that work is still needed today. He said: ‘We cannot imagine the horrors slaves went through … but the President in that moment empathised with all those millions of people, and changed their lives with a flick of his pen, granting them dignity, humanity and freedom. While there was a lot more work to be done, this was the beginning of a long road to freedom and equality that is still not complete.’

Remembrance Day Assembly _______________________________________________________

he school being subject to the social distancing restrictions in place to protect all students and staff, it was only possible for the Headmaster and Dr. Holland to be present in the Great Hall with the school organist, Mr. N. Spooner, and the wreath bearers, Charlie Griffiths (Captain of School), Nathan Burudi and Zayd Ascroft. All other member of the school watched the event on screen in their form rooms along with many Old Boltonians to whom the broadcast was made available.

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Today is the eleventh day of the eleventh month and, at the eleventh hour of this most solemn day in the nation’s calendar, two minutes of silence will be kept to mark the signing of the Armistice at Compiègne, which brought to an end in 1918 the hostilities on the Western Front in the First World War. This is certainly an historic moment: the hundredth anniversary of the laying to rest of the body of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, a day when we look back to commemorate former members of this school who laid down their lives for their country in two World Wars and other conflicts. This year, we may not stand together in this Great Hall to mark this occasion, but together we do stand at this difficult time, aware that all the people in the world face a foe, a virus which can be as deadly as any weapon used in war. This year’s Act of Remembrance can therefore remind us, most poignantly, of the ways in which the difficulties and dangers of crisis, just as in war, strike hardest the aged and the vulnerable. We should also remember that even as those whom we commemorate fought together against a common enemy to win a lasting peace, we too depend on one another to keep each other safe from sickness; that single thought binds us to those before us who have faced great peril. As in other acts of Remembrance held in this fine Great Hall, there is much that we can find to commemorate, and not only in the two world wars. British servicemen have been called to serve in many a conflict: fighting to save the Imperial Royal family in the Russian Civil War; deployed in the jungle warfare of the Malay Peninsula; in China in the conflict of the Yangtze River; in Korea; in the Middle East, Aden and Palestine; in the bid to secure the control of the Suez Canal; fighting in support of Oman, in Arabia on the Muscat Peninsula; British servicemen were killed or wounded in Brunei and in Borneo; they have fought on the continent of Africa, in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Rhodesia; they fought for four long years in Cyprus and for a short, but bitter, time to liberate the Falkland Islands; they strove to keep peace for the thirty-eight difficult years in Northern Ireland, and more recently in Bosnia, Macedonia and Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, only one year was unmarked by the death of British servicemen.

School Notes It is always heartening to see that each new generation of boys in the school learns so much about those who have gone before us. The tireless work of the History Department Research Group has added significant detail to the record given us by Dr. Eric McPherson in his book ‘Remembered with honour: the Old Boys and Staff of Bolton School who died in two world wars’. Fascinating wall displays in the department provide evidence of boys’ understanding of sacrifice, for example, the words of a youthful Christian Stapleton writing as if he were a soldier in the Great War: Today I fight for your future Today I watch my friends fall. Tomorrow I hear you laugh at humour Tomorrow I am a hero to you all.

This very point was made by Sir Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime leader, when he addressed the House of Commons on June 18th 1940: “The Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization, upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free, and the life of the world may move forward into broad sunlit uplands; but if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age ... Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’.” This is not just a story about pilots and machines, the Hurricane and the Spitfire, it is the story too of the highly professional and courageous ground crews, those who served with Anti-Aircraft and Balloon Commands, the men of the Observer Corps, the Home Guard, the workers in the aircraft factories, the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, pilots of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It is also a story of leadership and clear-sightedness: the dogged determination of Sir Winston Churchill, and the expertise and brilliant organizational skill of Air Chief Marshall, Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command.

This year has seen the anniversary of two monumental events in which heroism was so greatly in evidence. The eightieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain was held at Westminster Abbey on 20th September. The seventy-fifth anniversary of VJ Day, Victory in Japan Day, was marked on 15th August, led by HRH The Prince of Wales at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire. The account of our commemoration of VJ Day was kindly published by Miss Wrathmell in the 2016 edition of ‘The Boltonian’. In 2010, we marked the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain, but no record of the Remembrance Day assembly was kept in the school magazine at that time; ten years on, it is appropriate to call it to mind again. At the service in Westminster Abbey, the Battle of Britain Roll of Honour was carried, escorted by the Squadron Standards of the former Battle of Britain Squadron and a contingent of Royal Air Force cadets. The roll records the names of 1,497 pilots and aircrew, who were killed or mortally wounded. Their courage, resilience and determination are woven not only into the fabric of this nation’s history, but the very history of warfare: the first decisive battle fought in the air – the first military defeat of Nazi Germany. Fought from 10th July until 31st October, the greatest achievement of the Royal Air Force is associated in the main with their victory over a massive Luftwaffe attack on the south coast of Britain on 15th September, 1940, some 1,120 German aircraft being repulsed or destroyed by 630 RAF fighters. Their story must be told, for, without their sacrifice, life for each us would be very different.

In July 1940, Adolf Hitler took a major step in releasing his Operational Directive number 16: “To eliminate the English homeland as a base for carrying on the war against Germany and, if it should become necessary, to occupy it completely”. But the British integrated air defence system, composed not only of the pilots and their planes, but also the network of radio direction finding stations, known to us now as RADAR, hindered German efforts to eliminate the Royal Air Force in readiness for Operation ‘Sea Lion’, the invasion of southern England. On 8th August, Hermann Goering, the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered Operation Eagle Day (Adlertag) to commence, to “wipe the British Air Force from the sky”. Within an hour, code breakers at Bletchley had deciphered the signal and had informed Churchill and Dowding. Luftwaffe efforts to annihilate Fighter Command ended with a major assault on 18th August. Known for a time as ‘The Hardest Day’, to the Luftwaffe it became known as ‘Black Thursday’, for the British fighters prevailed, seriously damaging Goering’s hopes. On 20th August, Sir Winston Churchill was able to pay them the unforgettable tribute in the House of Commons, ending his speech with the words, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”. Nevertheless the Luftwaffe still sought to destroy the airfields of the South East, and a force of 100 bombers attacked London itself on the night of 24th August, the first time bombs had fallen on the

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School Notes capital since 1918. In September 1940, the Germans renewed their efforts to destroy aircraft factories, and they initiated a major escalation in the night bombing of towns and cities. Intense fighting by day continued, with the remaining Royal Air Force squadrons being scrambled four or even five times a day, pitching all their strength and resources into the defence of the skies. Some of these men had had but little training; their average age was only 20. Goering next ordered the wholescale bombing of London, but the concentration of German forces upon these raids, though inflicting grievous casualties upon the civilian populace, gave Dowding time to consolidate and rebuild his forces. When on September 15th, the day now celebrated as ‘Battle of Britain Day’, Radar screens showed massive Luftwaffe formations building over Calais and Boulogne early in the morning, there had been time to coordinate the defence. Hurricanes attacked the huge numbers of German bombers, and the Spitfires engaged the fighter escort. An intense battle ensued, a desperate struggle witnessed by Churchill himself, who was on a visit to the Operations Room at Uxbridge. Inquiring what reserves were left on the ground, he was told by Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, “There are none”. But that day’s heavy losses undermined German confidence. The young men of the Luftwaffe had themselves suffered greatly, exhausted, demoralized, lacking equipment and misled by inaccurate predictions of how easy their task would be. Thereafter, the Royal Air Force continued to repulse the German planes with renewed vigour until on 29th October, the Luftwaffe carried out its last large daylight raid. Without air supremacy in the south, no German invasion force could hope to succeed; Operation Sea Lion could not take place. In happier times, when visiting places of historical importance will resume, you may visit the Battle of Britain National Memorial in Kent. Opened in 1993 by Her Majesty the Queen the Queen Mother, it had been the idea of Wing Commander Geoffrey Page. He died in August 2000, shortly after attending the sixtieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain, in which he himself had taken part as a twentyyear-old Hurricane pilot. Even though you may not make such a visit at present, the Memorial Trust has a website, which provides much interesting information.

Bolton, the family had lived in Paris.) He volunteered for service early in 1940. He was one of the many soldiers presumed killed in action aboard the RMS Lancastria in June 1940, the largest single loss of troops in the entire war with 9000 personnel on board. Over 4000 died. Private Mather’s name is recorded at the Dunkirk Memorial along with other members of the British Expeditionary Force who have no known grave.

Second Radio Officer Leonard Robert Armstrong, Merchant Navy, lost at sea 25th August, 1940, aged 22 Leonard Armstrong came to Bolton School in 1924. He went to Durham University and went on to study Radio Engineering. Employed by the Marconi Company, he joined the Merchant Navy and began his work as wireless officer the day after war began. He was killed when Merchant Vessel Pecten, on Admiralty service between Trinidad and the Clyde, was torpedoed by U-boat U-57 to the west of Scotland. His name is found on the Tower Hill Memorial, on which are recorded members of the Merchant Navy killed in the war, some 24,000 in total.

Leading Aircraftman Thomas Leslie Hope, Royal Air Force, killed this very day, 11th November, 1940, aged 23 During his five years at Bolton School (from 1929 to 1934), Thomas Hope was a keen participant in House Swimming and Cricket; he also took part in a production of ‘Macbeth’. A member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1940, but he was killed in an accident whilst training at RAF Cranfield. He is buried in Heaton Cemetery. O valiant hearts who to your glory came Through dust of conflict and through battle flame; All you had hoped for, all you had, you gave. To save mankind – yourselves you scorned to save.

And now, as usual at this point of our Commemoration, it is fitting that we should pay tribute to those from this school, the eightieth anniversary of whose deaths occur about this time. In their honour and the memory of all members of this school who lost their lives in war, wreaths will be carried to the School Memorial by the School Captain Charlie Griffiths, and Sixth Form boys Zayd Ascroft and Nathan Burudi.

Private Frank Mather, Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, killed by enemy action 17th June, 1940, aged 26 Frank Mather entered Bolton School in 1930. After taking his school certificate, he worked as a clerk and interpreter. (Before coming to

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I began this short address by noting that our Commemoration this year is the first to take place in an echoingly empty Great Hall whilst all boys and colleagues view the event from classrooms. One hopes it will be the only event of its kind and that in future, as normal, the

School Notes Headmaster, organist, wreath bearers, a full team of readers, school guests and I will see from this platform the most movingly dignified ranks of Bolton School pupils in their rightful places, crimson poppies proudly worn. Regardless of this year’s needful distancing, we do indeed stand together at this time. Christ’s words (recorded in all three synoptic gospels) have, as ever, fresh impact and significance: “And if a kingdom be divided against itself it cannot stand, and if a house be divided against itself that house cannot stand”. In the darkest hour of conflict, this great nation has recognized that standing together is a necessity. The sacrifice, courage and determination of those before us who have triumphed in adversity are an inspiration to us all. Today, we honour those who paid the dearest price for triumph. They did not lay down life with little care. Like us, they valued the very essence of life and all that is good and beautiful in the world, so movingly expressed by the Victorian novelist, George Borrow: “There’s night and day, brother, both sweet things; sun, moon and stars, brother, all sweet things; there’s likewise a wind on the heath. Life is very sweet, brother. Who would wish to die?” They did not. But they lived at a time when demands were made of them. The record of their response to those demands is written in historians’ books, etched in memorials, celebrated, and mourned, in verse and music and film and sculpture. When for two minutes of silence we stand together at the eleventh hour of this eleventh day, we will remember them. When you go home Tell them of us and say For your tomorrow We gave our today. Dr. S.W. Holland

The Tillotson Lecture _______________________________________________________

or the first time in its long history, the annual Tillotson Lecture went virtual to allow a panel of Old Boys to discuss the potential lasting impacts of COVID-19 on our society despite the restrictions of England’s second Lockdown. Rather than bringing together the wider Boys’ Division community in the Great Hall, over 200 pupils and their families congregated on Zoom to hear the thoughts and insights of four diverse alumni. Panellists Prateek Buch, Dr. Ashish Chaudhry, Nick Johnson and Hetain Patel represented a broad range of perspectives, including the civil service, the medical profession, the hospitality sector and

the arts. After a few brief words from Headmaster Philip Britton, who was the chair for the evening, and a welcome from Charlie Griffiths, the School Captain, each member of the panel was given a window to speak about how Covid and its effects are likely to shape society. Hetain Patel (Class of 1999) is a London-based visual artist and performance maker. His live performances, films, sculptures and photographs have been shown worldwide and his video and performance work online, including his 2013 TED talk ‘Who Am I? Think Again’, have been watched over 50 million times. He focused his reflections around arts and culture, which he described both as a beacon for social change and as a way to provoke, inspire and entertain through expressing and exercising humanity. ‘What did we do in Lockdown number one?’ he asked. ‘Turned to Netflix!’ Yet he pointed out that this sector, often thought of as very liberal, is built upon the same structures and foundations of patriarchy and supremacy that make it unfair to many and privilege a few. He highlighted the rise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, which he said has made it easier to have necessary conversations and for marginalised voices to be listened to, not just in terms of race, but also gender, sexuality, disability and so on. He said, ‘Artwork is political. Culture has great influence. My hope is that the arts will make for a fairer, more just and more equitable arts world, but more importantly and beyond that, it will push towards a fairer, more just and more equitable world full stop.’ Nick Johnson (Class of 1984) began by addressing Hetain’s comments, agreeing that he too wanted to talk about ‘profound change’. He briefly mentioned the liberating effect of punk during his lifetime before moving on to discuss another profound cultural impact: the 2007/08 financial crisis. He said that he thought at the time, ‘This cataclysmic change has given us the opportunity to redefine capitalism’. However, he described that idea with hindsight as naïve because very little changed: people wanted to return to the comfort zone of what they had always done before. Despite this, Nick himself made a change: following a decade of being assimilated into ‘the establishment’, and despite having an impressive CV as a result, he turned his life around and began trying to affect transformation and profound change in local communities by curating people and what they do. His efforts in Altrincham have now become the benchmark for how to transform and revitalise

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School Notes towns. He warned that the chances of doing things differently postCovid are remote, as people will want to revert back to how things were once again, but still championed the possibility of redefining our relationships around regions, regional identity, trade, travel, and enjoying more of what is on our doorstep rather than pursuing a global economy. He highlighted the importance of debating the real implications of how we can re-engineer society now there is an opportunity to do so once again. Dr. Ashish Chaudhry (Class of 1999) is a GP who, during the pandemic, has implemented innovative ways of working to meet the demands of health care delivery to his patients. He began his speech with his own, individual experience of catching Covid, which developed into Long Covid, and concluded by saying that although he is almost recovered physically, the trauma of the experience lingers on. He said: ‘Although Covid entered our psyche as a medical illness, this is not about health any more. The virus has mutated and evolved, not in a genetic sense, into a social disease. It has re-engineered how we think, feel and behave in our environments.’ He talked about how this illness has forced humanity to confront our vulnerabilities and said that, while a vaccine is pivotal, alone it will not be enough to get our lives back on track. He humanised the statistics: the 60,000 people in the UK who have died from Covid would fill a football stadium, and 500 deaths a day is the same as a jumbo jet falling out of the sky every single day. He also spoke about how Covid has attacked the weakest links in our society and magnified the suffering of those already vulnerable, and raised concerns of a mental health crisis on the horizon. However, he was also able to discuss ways to rehabilitate through ‘courage, compassion and connection’ and by reconnecting with other people to regain meaning in our lives. His final message was: ‘Practise kindness and gratitude. Be humble. It’s not over’. The final speaker was Prateek Buch (Class of 1999), Senior Data Advisor at the National Leadership Centre (NLC) in the Cabinet Office. He picked up on the theme of privilege that had run through his fellow Old Boys’ comments, calling it a ‘doubleedged concept’ which brings with it a moral and ethical obligation to use that privilege to innovate. The unequal impact of Covid, along the lines of geography, socio-economic status and ethnicity, has emphasised privileges and ‘revealed in stark and uncomfortable terms the need to understand the people we serve’. However, the

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challenges of the pandemic have already affected policy. Initiatives to promote diversity, inclusivity and accessibility within the civil service have been accelerated. The rigidity of barriers within bureaucracy have been reduced, and increased porosity between agencies, departments, the government and other sectors has improved communication and systemic thinking. However, he agreed with Nick that the challenge is in not pressing the reset button, but instead capturing what has been learned, embedding that as the new modus operandi and taking the opportunity to create profound change. He said, ‘We are obliged to take it on, once we have taken the steps needed to ensure we are safe.’ The Headmaster thanked all four speakers for their reflections before beginning the question and answer session. Zoom’s features allowed the audience to send in their questions throughout the talk and Mr. Britton pulled out several of these alongside prepared questions to continue the conversation. The panellists discussed what society is and the juxtaposition and interplay between local and global society, speaking about the need for balance between the two, the importance of seeing global issues as our problems, and the way the pandemic has turned our lens closer to home by necessity. They also talked about whether improvements in technology promote connection or distance between people, with all four Old Boys agreeing that there is still a need to have the realness and authenticity of in-person experiences, and the need for quality communication both online and offline. Questions about whether technology can or should open up access to the arts and whether the healthcare system should shift its focus to a more proactive and preventative model were answered by Hetain and Ashish respectively, and all four weighed in again on whether there will be any long-lasting change post-Covid. Mr. Britton ended the Q&A with a Year 13 student’s question, which he challenged each Old Boy to answer in just one minute: ‘How can we rebuild a post-Covid economy?’ They each provided concise and thoughtful answers, which focused on accepting the symbiotic relationship between health and economy, the need for equality, the provision of economic support and resilience within the economy. Finally, the Headmaster asked all four Old Boys to provide a message to current pupils. Their comments were as follows: Hetain: ‘If something doesn’t feel right to you personally, speak about it.’ Nick: ‘Don’t consider that you need to know everything before you do something. Naivety is often a put-down, but it’s been one of the greatest qualities that I’ve possessed.’ Ashish: ‘Be courageous and believe in yourselves.’ Pratik: ‘Whatever future you envisage, you are the future. It is your change that you must be, to coin a phrase. It is your world to seize, even more so today than before.’

School Notes The evening was brought to a close by Vice-captain Thomas Britton. He thanked the panellists for their insightful comments, which showed a fascinating diversity of thinking with common themes throughout.

sport they had never played before, so we received presentations and watched sports videos on many new sports including bossaball, water rugby, underwater rugby, chess boxing and kabaddi, to name but a few.

The 2020 Tillotson Lecture was the third panel discussion in the event’s 48 year history, following on from the 2011 panel about the projected aftermath of London hosting the Olympic Games and the 2015 panel which focused on the future of Bolton as part of Bolton School’s 100/500 Anniversary celebrations.

Time in the playground saw cricket for the orange bubble and football for the green bubble, whilst football and the wildlife area became the domain of the blue bubble at break and during lunchtimes. Dodgeball, table tennis and badminton became lunchtime extra-curricular activities, with the Year 8 bubble competing in the ‘Lockdown Special’ badminton knockout, cup and plate competitions.

Lockdown 3.0 _______________________________________________________

Mr. N. Sutcliffe

These have been difficult times for us all and much praise has, quite rightly, been afforded to those that have helped steer us through some testing days. We have lauded key workers across the NHS, the teaching profession, retail and public transport, but there is one group that has largely been forgotten – support staff in schools. It’s quite simple – without cleaners, catering staff, maintenance workers and caretakers, no school can open. Whilst the media has kept reporting on schools being closed during Lockdown 3.0, the reality is that up to two hundred support and teaching staff were on site at Bolton School every day. Like all schools, we were open to the children of key workers and for vulnerable girls and boys. I watched with pride as our Estates team stepped up to the plate and met every demand with, as far as possible, a smile on their faces. Yes, there have been moments of crisis and wobbles but, overall, our staff have been outstanding throughout the pandemic.

hose Year 7 and 8 boys who did not have the option of remote learning owing to their parents being key workers have been hosted by the Junior Boys’ Division at Park Road for the first half of Spring Term – also known as Lockdown 3.0. They were designated three classrooms in order to provide spatial distancing to assist in our COVID-19 protective efforts, and so became three distinct bubbles recognised by the colour of their bibs. The cover supervisors have tried to encourage all boys in school to attend every lesson on their regular timetables just as they would have had to do when remote learning from home. Mrs. Gregory came round every morning while we were in registration or assembly to check everyone who should have been in school was present. The numbers were then used to ensure the required lunch provision was sent to Catering. While pupils at home were asked to keep fit and healthy by their PE teachers during their PE and Swimming lessons, at Park Road the mats were taken out and all the Joe Wicks workouts (and others) were completed. The boys then spent extra time completing their respective projects on the Arts Award (Year 7) and Accelerated Reading Programme (Year 8). During sport lessons, they have played chess, table tennis, badminton, dodgeball, basketball, rounders, football and hockey golf (seeing how far the hollow balls could be driven up the Park Road playing field from a golf driving position with hockey sticks). Most individuals were challenged with presenting to their bubbles on a

It is easy to forget how many people are required to run a school campus. We are a large all-through school with many separate buildings. We

currently have twenty cleaners across the campus; ten new daytime posts were created for the return to school in September and many of them have become established members of the school teams in which they work. Right now we also have fifteen catering staff, three maintenance operatives, security staff, who are on duty 24/7 and 365 days a year, seven caretakers, a groundsperson, people working in Finance and IT, along with some teachers who are also on site. It is staff like our Plumbing and Heating Engineer that people forget about. He has to be on campus to keep the boilers ticking over – we need the heating on as it is winter and many windows are open to

SCHOOL NOTES 17

School Notes improve ventilation. Likewise our swimming pool technician, who, despite the swimming pool remaining shut, still has to follow current guidance on maintaining water quality and keeping the facility in good order. If we have people in our buildings, it does not really matter if they are 100 or 1000 in number, there are still things that have to be done to ensure that we have followed specific guidance and regulations, for example treating water to control Legionella, following fire regulations such as weekly testing and the monitoring of all such systems. Our staff are on the front-line each and every day. Our cleaners are going around each school continuously and they regularly come into contact with the bodily fluids of children when they clean toilets, wipe handrails, window sills and door knobs, and empty bins. Our catering staff are face to face with the pupils each day, as we continue to provide a full menu which is prepared in-house and distributed around the campus. Considering the stresses of the past months, people can forget the immense planning that has been – and continues to be – put in place. You can read the guidance late into the night and then in the morning the stipulations have changed again! Lots of effort has gone into ensuring the premises are as clean and safe as they can be. As guidance changes, so do our requirements for PPE and cleaning materials and the cost of kit can fluctuate accordingly. Right at the start, before the virus was in full tilt, I took a plunge on buying 500 bottles of sanitiser at £1.50 each; 12 weeks later and the same bottles sold at £9 each. Likewise, disposable gloves, which need to be changed after every room is cleaned, went from £2 per box to £12 per box! Just as we thought we were breaking for Christmas, we were told by the government that school would be administering lateral flow tests to children on our return. That meant myself and Senior Leaders working late into Christmas Eve and during the days in between Christmas and New Year as we secured kit that we thought we might need to set up a mass testing centre for over 2,000 children and staff. All that said, there have been some lighter moments and I have been so proud of everyone on our team. Mr. I. Clarke (Head of Estates)

Founders’ and Benefactors’ Assembly _______________________________________________________

eadmaster Mr. Britton was delighted to welcome a selection of boys into the Great Hall for this year’s Founders’ and Benefactors’ Assembly. He was equally pleased to welcome pupils and Old Boys from around the world via Zoom. The annual event, inaugurated in 2015 in the School’s 500th year, is held on or around 7th May, which marks the anniversary of the death of Lord Leverhulme, who died in 1925. Leverhulme was the School’s most recent founder and was responsible for bringing the School together as we know it today.

18 SCHOOL NOTES

Mr. Britton recapped the original foundation of the boys’ grammar school during Henry VIII’s reign, its re-founding during the English Civil War and then the coming together of the Bolton School Foundation during the tumult of the First World War. He focused on the year 1905 when Mr. William Hesketh Lever, as he was known then, gave the School a swimming pool, which is now the Arts Centre and the oldest building on the Chorley New Road site. Sixth Form Senior Monitors Jude Ashcroft and Hamzah Chariwala and Vice-captain Thomas Britton spoke about, respectively, life in Britain, life in the town and life in Bolton School in 1905.

Mr. Britton impressed upon the audience that it is important, as a school, to feel that we are part of history. Whilst the school lives and is vibrant in the present and whilst it looks to the future with innovation and ambition, we do still walk in the steps of those that have gone before us, he said, and in doing so, we find important lessons and messages for our own lives. The sense of being part of an enduring institution is, he felt, important. He recalled as a boy witnessing a 97-year-old woman planting a tree in her garden, knowing that she would not benefit from this, but others would. He asserted that drawing on the past, living vibrantly in the present and investing in the future is what the Bolton School education is all about. The School’s ethos, he said, is timeless and, over the last 18 months, these values, ‘what we care about’, has been transferred into our homes through Zoom. He told how a sense of belonging is important to us all and that, despite the Covid pandemic, there has still been a strong sense of school community. Mr. Britton took the audience back to 1905 and told how Mr. Lever was already a wealthy local businessman, but was still to become great. Port Sunlight was in the planning, and he had yet to go to the

School Notes Congo, where, as had been discussed in a previous assembly, he tried to do good to people rather than with people. His focus in Bolton was on how he could help pupils living in homes on terraced streets, not rich houses. His benefaction was inclusive. It was interesting, the Head thought, that he saw it as being important to build a swimming pool and that our Founder believed in the community and people getting better through education and exercise – the concept of an holistic education, which we still adhere to today.

The Head recounted how some Alumni have put their names to School buildings, whilst many, many others have contributed what they can afford to the Bursary Fund. This, he emphasised, is not the passing on of privilege, but former pupils, having benefitted from a Bolton School education in the past, ‘making sure the ladder of social mobility is in good repair’. Mr. Britton drew the assembly to a close by ‘congratulating’ the Year 13 boys on sitting through at least 400 of his assemblies and consequently having spent a week of their lives listening to him! The assembly, which included the singing of the School song Forty Years On and Jerusalem can be watched by scanning this QR Code:

Hybrid Prizegiving _______________________________________________________

ast 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. 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

SCHOOL NOTES 19

School Notes 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 offered 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.

20 SCHOOL NOTES

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 ‘CreativesNow’ 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. Use a QR Code Scanner to watch the event in its entirety in two parts.

Senior Prizewinners _______________________________________________________ POPPLEWELL SCHOLARSHIP: EMMA SAXELBY (French): METCALFE (Modern Languages): MAYNARD ANDREWS (German): CLIVE WILLIS (Spanish): WATERHOUSE (Russian): GEOFFREY ROSSETTI (English): LIPSCOMB (Speech & Drama) Senior: LIPSCOMB (Speech & Drama) Middle: THE RALPH LITTLE PRIZE:

Thomas Britton 13a Hamzah Chariwala 13f Charlie Middleton 13f Jack Danson 13b Aibin Baby 13d William Jackson 13d Tyler Blundell 13d Sammy Ramadan 13g Jude Ashcroft 13f Billy Burrows 10f Finley Littlefair 12d

School Notes THE ARTS CENTRE AWARD: BARONESS MORRIS: THE MIDDLE SCHOOL RESEARCH PRIZE: ROBERT AINSWORTH (Classics):

Charlie Griffiths 13c Thomas Britton 13a Laurence Britton 11c Siddhant Patel 11b Jude Ashcroft 13f Thomas Britton 13a H.T. LANE (Biology): Sebastian Bamford 13i VICTOR LAMBERT (Medical Studies): Emmett Brennan-Calland 13i KIRKMAN (Biology): Adam Battersby 13d SCIENCE INVESTIGATION: Ben Flood 13h WARBURTON (Geography): Anthony Soi 13b LEIGH-BRAMWELL GEOGRAPHY PROJECT: Zane Nirodi 11a JUNIOR GEOGRAPHY: Amrit Mishra 9f BRAMALL (Economics): Charlie Middleton 13f WILLIAM BROWN (History): Thomas Britton 13a BOOTH (Economics & Social History): Lucas Appleby 13i PENSTON MEMORIAL (History): 1st William Malley 9c PENSTON MEMORIAL (History): 2nd William Martin 9e ETHEL WIGGLESWORTH (Organ): William Miles 12f BRIERLEY (Violin): Harry Adams 10c METCALFE (Music): Thomas Higham 13b EASTHAM CHORAL PRIZE: Jude Ashcroft 13f PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION (Chemistry): Thomas Yates 13b MELMOTH 1803 (Chemistry): Laurence Britton 11c PHYSICS: Tony Dai 13c STONER (Physics): Levi Higham 10b Dylan Lincoln 10b RELIGIOUS STUDIES: Amaan Patel 11f HIGGINSON (Art): Matthew Hope 11f TILLOTSON (Typography): Ketan Dhokia 10d JARY (Art): Henry Nuttall 11b BRABBIN (Art & Tech): Oliver Leach 13b MELLOWDEW (Design & Tech): Charlie Griffiths 13c DOBSON PRIZE (Engineering): Matthew Houghton 8d BAGGLEY (ICT): Tony Dai 13c AINSWORTH (Mathematics): Thomas Higham 13b TOM WATSON (Statistics): Garry Chen 13a JOHN BLAKEY: Siddhant Patel 11b GARDNER-TAYLOR: Thomas Britton 13a ALDERMAN STEELE: Zayd Ascroft 13a STEELE: Ziming Ma 7g RYLEY (Community Service): Joe Brennan 13h FRANK BROWN (13): Charles Middleton 13f FRANK BROWN (12): Finley Littlefair 12d FRANK BROWN (11): Amaan Patel 11f FRANK BROWN (10): Billy Burrows 10f FRANK BROWN (9): Jamie Logan 9b FRANK BROWN (8): Freddie Bovill 8b FRANK BROWN (7): Jordy Dare 7e BERNARD CROSSLEY AWARD: Ibrahim Ali 12a SPECIAL ENDEAVOUR AWARD: Alistair Waugh 13i GRANT KINNIE AWARD: Alastair Harris 12b RON BOOTH: Daniel Bentham 13a NORMAN DAVIES (All Rounder): Jensen Myerscough 13i DONNY DAVIES OLD INTERNATIONAL: Jameson Goloba 13d SIMMONDS: Thomas Yates 13b

WAINWRIGHT (Blackburn) (Chorley) (Manchester) (Wigan) LEVERHULME SALVER: RILEY PRIZE: BROOKER PRIZE:

Owais Khalid 12g Thomas Higham 13b Adam Battersby 13d Amaan Broughton 13e Hamzah Chariwala 13f Charlie Griffiths 13c Jude Ashcroft 13f Nathan Burudi 13e Hamzah Chariwala 13f Thomas Higham 13b Thomas Britton 13a Thomas Yates 13b Charlie Griffiths 13c

FRANK GREENE: BOLTON GRAMMAR OLD BOYS:

Lower School Prizewinners _______________________________________________________ FORM TUTOR’S AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT

Sid Kumar (7a) Daniel Keene (7b) Shayan Kanji (7c) Fin Wyatt (7d) Lucas Ng (7e) Zain Burrill (7f) Ziming Ma (7g) Eesa Chariwala (8a) Nathan Watts (8b) Alan Al-Talabani (8c) Ethan Herring (8d) Amaan Akram (8e) Nanda Lukalapu (8f) Alexander Cook (9a) Edgar Keogh (9b) Lewis Bailey (9c) Toby Greenwood (9d) William Martin (9e) Amrit Mishra (9f)

FORM TUTOR’S AWARD FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT

Zain Patel (7a) Jack Singh (7b) Ali Asghar (7c) Eddie Griffiths (7d) Ahmed Tahir (7e) Hussain Khan (7f) Freddie Wardle (7g) Alistair Hughes (8a) Jack Hurt (8b) Liam Jenkins (8c) Adi Darshan (8d) Finlay Small (8e) Tony Mottram (8f) Monty Horridge (9a) Mubasher Hafeez (9b) Harry Brown (9c)

SCHOOL NOTES 21

School Notes

COMMENDATIONS

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9

Khushal Gola (9d) Miguel Jones-Brosed (9e) Zack Kitson (9f) Lucas Ng (7e) Ethan Herring (8d) Alexander Cook (9a) William Martin (9e)

HOUSEMASTER’S AWARD BLACKBURN FOR PARTICIPATION Dhilan Jacobs (7a) Ethan Herring (8d) Thomas Atkinson (9e) CHORLEY Daniel Keene (7b) Ed Goodfellow (8e) Robert Bentham (9e) MANCHESTER Sami Khan (7e) Alan Al-Talabani (8c) Suliman Sadiq (9b)

Monitors _______________________________________________________ School Captain: Charlie Griffiths Vice-captains: Thomas Britton & Thomas Yates Senior Monitors: Jude Ashcroft, Nathan Burudi, Hamzah Chariwala & Thomas Higham Monitors: Lucas Appleby, Zayd Ascroft, Aibin Baby, Fynn Backhouse, Sebastian Bamford, Anish Basu, Adam Battersby, Daniel Bentham, Patrick Bentley, Alfie Birkett, Josh Blackhurst, Daniel Bolton,

WIGAN

Jack Singh (7b) Zain Ahsan Ali (8c) Adam Berisford (9b) AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE LOWER SCHOOL COUNCIL

Shayan Kanji (7c) Joseph Williams (8b) Rayhan Vasanwala (9a)

LOWER SCHOOL COUNCIL CHAIR

Joe Howard (9b)

LOWER SCHOOL COUNCIL VICE-CHAIR

Michael Gatenby (9d)

PARTICIPATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AT PATTERDALE HALL

Lohith Ramesh (7d) Harry McLoughlin (8a) Archie Forshaw (9d)

PARTICIPATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC

Dhilan Jacobs (7a) James Wilson (8d) Ethan Caswell (9e)

PARTICIPATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN CREATIVE ARTS

Advaith Govindu (7c) Zak McAlister (8c) Frank Cooke (9e)

PARTICIPATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SPORT

Hugo James (7b) Harrison Prill (8c) Adam Berisford (9b)

LOWER SCHOOL AWARD: ELOQUENCE

Luca Ramirez Nievas (7f) James Wilson (8d) Sam Entwistle (9c) Fraser Sackfield (9c)

22 SCHOOL NOTES

Joe Brennan, Emmett Brennan-Calland, Jack Danson, Oliver Fairclough, Ben Flood, Omar Hasan, Felix Hill, Tom Hussain, William Jackson, Anthony Johnson, Joshua Kay, Max Kelly, Oliver Leach, Mohammad Maka, Cameron Matthews, Charlie Middleton, Mohammedzafeer Musa, Haryan Notay, Harry Paterson, Shailin Raghvani, Sammy Ramadan, Matthew Rodger, Archie Seddon, Tom Simpson, Piers Skeels-Caldwell, Anthony Soi, Jack Tyldsley, Tony Varkey, Michael Wong, George Yearsley

School Notes Class of 2021

Photo copyright – Tempest Photography

SCHOOL NOTES 23

School Notes A Year like no other for Monitorial Team _______________________________________________________

n line with tradition, the new Sixth Form Monitors Team was announced in the final assembly of the Spring Term. The transition certainly provided a moment for reflection for the retiring incumbents, who had undertaken their leadership duties during the most unprecedented of years. With the School in Lockdown when they took up their positions, then in bubbles and zones, followed by another protracted Lockdown, it certainly meant the boys had to be resourceful and creative in carrying out their leadership roles. School Captain for the year was Charlie Griffiths, who reflected: ‘My captaincy began in the comfort of my own kitchen. I got a scary email from my Head of Year about a meeting with the Head and accepted the role of Captain in my own clothes, with a cup of coffee and the building site of a garden behind me. After this, the Senior Monitorial team and I ‘sat down’ with Mr. Williams, our Head of Sixth Form, to discuss how different this year was going to be, with changes to duties, assemblies and external events on the cards. The first step was, of course, the WhatsApp group, and the Captains delegated roles to the Senior Monitors. ‘The first difference we encountered was our early start, taking up the mantle much sooner than usual, and getting to work recording speeches, assemblies and other public speaking events to be played during full school Zoom sessions, and a Vote of Thanks to be played during Prizegiving to ‘see off’ the old monitorial team. Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19, we were unsure what duties would be necessary when we returned to school in the Autumn Term and how we could carry these out. ‘At the start, we sat down with members of the faculty and discussed what duties were going to be reasonable and safe to carry out with the new restrictions in place. With this, a timetable was drafted by Mr. Williams and the Monitors began their duties, ensuring handwashing was carried out when re-entering the building at lunches and breaks and that pupils in intervention rooms were behaving. ‘Whilst we were not as directly engaged with monitorial duties this year as in past years, we spent a lot more time pulling strings behind the scenes, for example Thomas Higham’s sterling efforts with organising the assembly rota for Zoom and in-school ‘thoughts of the day’. Mr. Britton remarked that despite the fact that we had not spent as much time completing duties in school as other years, arguably we have had many more “public appearances” throughout school and I’m sure our faces will be remembered much more than in previous years.’

left-right Nathan Burudi (Senior Monitor), Thomas Yates (Vicecaptain), Charlie Griffiths (Captain), Thomas Britton (Vice-captain), Thomas Higham (Senior Monitor), Hamzah Chariwala (Senior Monitor) & Jude Ashcroft (Senior Monitor) Vice-captain Thomas Britton gave his perspective: ‘In many ways, this year hasn’t been altogether unusual in that a good proportion of the major school events – Prizegiving, the Tillotson Lecture, full assemblies, The Young Musician of the Year competition – have been able to adapt to a virtual setting whilst also providing a major source of stability in school life. For example, I gave the Vote of Thanks at the Tillotson Lecture, which took place via a Zoom webinar, and it didn’t seem too different than when I have watched previous Vicecaptains do it in the past. I think the major change, however, has been not being able to see the members of the school for whom we are supposed to act as role models – it is a rare occurrence to see pupils from lower down the school, which is somewhat sad, as it breaks down a sense of school community. It has also been rather strange recording ourselves speaking alone in our rooms for various assemblies and events, which usually have a fairly large audience. Nonetheless, it has been a pleasure and an honour to be part of the School’s leadership team this year.’ Senior Monitor Thomas Higham, offering his thoughts, said: ‘My role has remained largely unchanged. During this academic year, I have been in charge of organising the Monitors’ ‘thoughts for the day’ at the start of assemblies. I was keen to have this role as I thought that well-chosen words of wisdom from older boys would be more important than ever for the younger years, particularly over Lockdown when they may not have had a great deal of human interaction. The ability to host live webinars on Zoom has been key in allowing the Monitors’ speeches to be given from home. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lockdown has enabled me to convince more Monitors to speak in assemblies than would otherwise have been the case, if for no other reason than that this year, the audience has been replaced by a camera. I’m very pleased with the consistently excellent ‘thoughts for the day’ that the Monitors have given, and I hope that the foundations have been laid for such speeches to be given as regularly in the years to come.’ In considering the past year, Nathan Burudi said: ‘This year has been

24 SCHOOL NOTES

School Notes unlike any other. As a Senior Monitor, I had a responsibility to help introduce new Year 7s to the school through a video, within which I spoke about friendships and how they formed in the first year of high school. I also tried to emphasise the importance of extra-curricular activities in one’s introduction to the school. My role within the team was intended to be internal events, however with COVID-19 meaning the ‘bubbling’ of the year groups, I wasn’t able to carry out this task. As a Senior Monitor team in a year of the pandemic, we didn’t have that many opportunities to work together. However, a highlight of the year was when we all signed a petition for study leave during the September exams. That feeling of teamwork and a collective goal was quite uplifting, and I was very glad to be a part of it.’ Headmaster, Mr. Britton, added: ‘I have been immensely impressed by how adaptable and resilient the boys have been in their leadership. Rather than focus on what they could not do, they have thrown themselves into what was possible and, in doing so and by example, have provided terrific leadership for other boys in the school.’

Results Days _______________________________________________________

t was a highly unusual Sixth Form experience for those Year 13 students departing Bolton School last 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 off 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 Mr. 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 Williams-Denton and Jensen Myerscough deferring their places to 2022. Thomas Yates, who is a member of the seven-yearsundefeated 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.

SCHOOL NOTES 25

School Notes 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.

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.

‘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.’ 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. 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%.

At GCSE level, pupils achieved an outstanding and record-breaking set of 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, Mr. 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

26 SCHOOL NOTES

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.

Academic Enrichment & Community Projects

PACE is the curriculum enrichment programme for all students in the school designed to expand the boys’ development in the following areas:

S P A C E

Social, Spiritual Physical, Personal, Practical Active, Aesthetic Community, Cultural Enterprise, Entrepreneurship

Taking part in activities in these areas is an important part of boys’ character development and helps to prepare them to succeed in all aspects of their lives. In this way, SPACE contributes to the School’s aim of helping to shape students into confident young men with the skills and attributes required to lead happy and fulfilled lives. SPACE takes place every fortnight on a Monday afternoon for boys in Years 7-9 and 12-13. Students in Years 10 and 11 have ‘SPACE Days’, days off timetable throughout the year to participate in enrichment activities. Here are some of the highlights of this year’s programme:

Outdoor Activities As COVID-19 restrictions eased in the spring, we were able to make provision for Year 7 and Year 9 to participate in a programme of outdoor activities at the Anderton Centre. Year 7 enjoyed two such sessions, the first of which was the first time the whole year group had been able to be out of school participating in a trip or visit! Year 9’s programme took place over their final three sessions of the academic year; activities included mountain biking, sailing, canoeing, paddle boarding, rock climbing and kayaking.

Outdoor activities at the Anderton Centre for Years 7 & 9

Cookery One of the most popular activities in the SPACE programme is cookery. This year, it was particularly tricky to retain these sessions within the programme due to the buildings being closed for parts of the year and the ‘bubble’ system preventing the boys from gaining access to the Food Technology rooms; however, our Food Technology teacher Mrs. James managed to overcome these challenges and continued to deliver food sessions to students. Some sessions took place in the Boys’ Dining Room, where boys made their own version of a pot noodle and butter. Others took place live streamed, with Mrs. James broadcasting demonstrations, hosting quizzes and setting tasks live on Zoom from the Girls’ Division Food Technology rooms. The lessons during Lockdown also took place remotely, with boys cooking in their own kitchens. Her efforts meant that, despite the obstacles, many boys were still able to learn important food preparation skills.

Year 12 chopping vegetables for homemade pot noodles in the Dining Hall Kian proudly displays the butter he has made from whole milk

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects

Year 9 utilising the fantastic facilities at the school hockey pitches

Creative Arts This area of school life continues to flourish under the guidance of Director of Creative Learning, Ms. Lord, who has increased the opportunities for boys to engage in the Creative Arts and cultural activities during SPACE. The Arts Award completed by Year 7 and coordinated by Ms. Lord and Miss Sherry has been extremely successful; staging post sessions for this qualification have taken place during SPACE. Year 8 engaged with some of the 2020 Bolton Film Festival’s selections, learning about shot composition, watching behind the scenes footage, and writing some short reviews. Year 9 enjoyed a SPACE film day, where they looked at narrative cinema, examined the rise of the studio system and made their own Chaplinstyle films. Two of the many excellent examples of recipes that were cooked at home during the Lockdown.

Sport Representing both the P (physical) and A (active) letters of SPACE, sport is an important part of the enrichment programme and was particularly welcomed this year due to the restrictions of movement within the school and activities outside the school. Most year groups enjoyed some intra-form or inter-form football (dependent on the restrictions at the time) and Year 9 were even able to take advantage of the facilities at the Leverhulme Pavilion to participate in a hockey competition.

A collage of screenshots from the mini-film projects which Year 7s made during a Theatre Skills session.

Pastoral Curriculum

The Year 12 inter-form football competition in full swing

SPACE continues to be a key vehicle to deliver elements of the pastoral curriculum, including character education, PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic), SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) and Universal Values, led by the Senior Teacher, Miss Tunstall. Topics are addressed in a safe environment through a combination of lectures and workshops using appropriately qualified and experienced external speakers alongside

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects expertise found within the school. Some of the most memorable sessions this year included a moving talk about mental health by former England Rugby International Danny Sculthorpe, a session to Year 11 about consent and a talk to Year 8 about the importance of healthy relationships. Like in previous years, a carousel of activities aimed to help equip Sixth Formers with some of the practical competencies they will need for life beyond Bolton School has been delivered to Year 13. Sessions included finance, study skills and work-life balance. Year 12 had a carousel of activities with a similar purpose, which included sessions on car ownership, cookery, and finance.

Elcock, Ted Kay, Peter Craig and Kofi Wilkinson. They raised over £90 for Papyrus. Levi Higham raised money through selling honey to family that he harvested from his bees. He raised £100 for Papyrus. Alex McKie organised a sale of baked goods, old clothes and toys. He advertised his event by handing out leaflets for the event which ran across two Saturdays in August. He raised £266 for Help for Heroes.

The ‘school car’ is now in full working order thanks to careful maintenance from Year 12. My thanks go to all the staff who contributed sessions to the SPACE programme – it wouldn’t be possible without their dedication. The planning for next year’s programme is already well underway; we are aiming to make it the best yet! Mr. D.F. Teasdale

Social Entrepreneurship _______________________________________________________

uring a SPACE session at the start of the last academic year all boys in Year 9 were introduced to the idea of social entrepreneurship. They split up into small groups within each form and chose charities. Each group was loaned £25 by the School until the end of the academic year. Students came up with innovative ways to grow the initial £25 investment in order to be able to donate the profits to the charity of their choice at the end of the year. Despite the challenging conditions caused by COVID restrictions, the scheme was still a success. One group sold cookies at Bonfire Night to raise money for Papyrus. The group members were Akshat Kamath, Jayden Luhar, Patrice Rostami, Kiran Sastry and Harry Laithwaite. They raised £68. Another group bought sweets online and made stress balls, which they resold in their local area. The group members were Charlie Silvester, Nathan

Careers _______________________________________________________

s the pandemic prevented opportunities for face to face visits, a large number of alumni took the time to lend their expertise and offer advice to pupils via Zoom throughout the academic year.

Old Boy Simon Turner (Class of 1994) spoke to pupils in Years 1013. He studied Law at Oxford, and completed pupillage at Lamb Chambers before taking a position at a firm of solicitors in London. After several years working in finance and corporate restructuring, he was offered the opportunity to change career and, for the past nine years, has been Managing Director of the Camellia Foundation. Simon talked about decision-making and went on to give six pieces of advice, all tied back to anecdotes from his own career and life, which included being courageous in making decisions; having determination and the will to see things through; and always being trustworthy and compassionate. Boys in Year 9 made the most of an informative set of careers talks delivered by seven Old Boys and an Old Girl, who had pre-recorded short presentations.

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects Finally, Suve Banerjee (Class of 1999) spoke about his work as a compliance lawyer. He talked about changing his plans from medicine to law and said that taking calculated risks with his career was the best thing he could have done. The year group was also encouraged to prepare questions for a further talk from Suve, who returned via Zoom the next morning to speak to boys live. This careers event gave Year 9 plenty of options to consider, and a wealth of excellent advice on how to access different careers.

First, Jamie Laundon (Class of 1998) spoke about being a Broadcast Engineer at the BBC. His involvement with clubs helped to set him on this path: he wrote software and enjoyed problem solving in IT club, guided by Mr. Walker and helped in the sound and lighting crew on school productions with Mr. Humphrey. Now, he collaborates with creative teams to deliver projects for the BBC and said that his greatest achievement to date was the redesign of radio studios in Broadcasting House. Stefan Kukula (Class of 1983) shared his path to becoming a Materials Engineer and gave a brief overview of his career, which included working at a nuclear engineering company and six years in Japan with a steel company, where he helped to develop low-cost lower limb prosthetics for mine victims on the Vietnam border. Tom Reynolds (Class of 2010), who now works in the restructuring department at Lazard, talked about his career in Investment Banking. After studying Russian at university, he moved to RBS where he took his ACA Accountancy qualification. He said that Bolton School gave him an excellent grounding and helped him to become a wellrounded person. Adam Razak (Class of 2002), a Neurosurgical Registrar at Salford Royal Hospital, following on the job training and private study to join the Royal College of Surgeons, he became a Fellow in Neurosurgery. He talked about the realities of the job: needing to concentrate and be alert, despite long and tiring days; however, he added that seeing patients well and satisfied with their care makes it all worthwhile. Barrister and Old Girl Saima Hanif (Class of 1998) spoke about oral advocacy, in court representing clients, and advisory work, giving clients her legal opinion on a matter. She also talked about how trials differ from the glamorised version seen in courtroom dramas on TV.

The boys were invited to watch a further two alumni talks: Ian Saunders (Class of 2011) talked about his work as a Civil Engineer while Chris Newton (Class of 2009) spoke about being a Software Engineer at an AI technology company based in Manchester. Chris has been responsible for the development of an iOS app and has helped to build and manage infrastructure and security. He advised the pupils not to worry if they don’t know what to do straightaway, or if the first thing they try doesn’t work out – it took him nine and a half years from leaving school to finding the correct job for him. Five highly successful Bolton School alumni have offered their time and expertise to help develop entrepreneurial flair in nine keen students from across the Boys’ and Girls’ Divisions. In addition to six virtual group sessions with all of the mentors, students were paired up with a specific Old Boy or Old Girl as their individual mentor. The one-to-one mentoring programme helped the students to develop their ideas as well as their entrepreneurship and business acumen more generally. At the end of the scheme, students were to pitch their ideas for investment from the mentors, with seed funding available to every student whose business plan merited it. The five alumni mentors giving their time for free to encourage Year 12 students’ interest in entrepreneurship were: Rob Dobson (Class of 1982), the Old Boy leading the Entrepreneurship Scheme, who gained a First class degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Southampton before founding Actix, a tech business focused on algorithmic optimization for mobile phone networks. Rob is now one of the most active independent angel investors in Scotland and is passionate about empowering young people to start their own businesses. John Craven (Class of 1982) studied Engineering at Imperial College, London, before joining the London office of an American investment bank as a graduate trainee. After a long career working

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects mostly for large investment banks, he and a close friend started their own business, Smith Square Partners, ten years ago. Juhi Gore (Class of 1993) has helped Listed Companies, startups and medium size companies grow through business development, product development and partnerships. She currently works with early-stage impact-focused businesses, social enterprises and the ecosystems helping them to succeed. Elizabeth Newton (Class of 1979) is Head of Professional Development at London Business School, having worked in talent management and development in both corporate environments and through her own consultancy. She has a BA in Business and an MA in Manpower Studies, as well as an executive coaching qualification, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Tony Wadsworth, CBE (Class of 1974) has spent over forty years in the music industry, including twenty-six years at EMI, where he was Chairman and CEO of EMI Music UK & Ireland from 1998 to 2008. Tony was Chairman of both the BPI, the representative body of the UK recorded music industry, and BRIT Awards Ltd. for seven years, and continues to Chair the Brit Trust. He is the Chairman of the global charity, Julie’s Bicycle, a non-executive board director of BIMM, the market leader in popular music higher education, and a founding partner in ethical ticketing platform Twickets. The first group session took place early in February. Each of the Year 12 students gave a short presentation explaining why they had applied to be a part of the scheme and what products they might develop. Creative ideas included an app to deliver educational resources to children in developing countries, an electronic device to make life easier for blind and partially sighted people, and a product to combat isolation in older people. Boys in Year 10 enjoyed an inspirational afternoon as two Old Boys connected with the year group via Zoom. Krish Patel’s (Class of 2010) childhood dream was to become a professional footballer and he played for Bury FC when he left Bolton School; however, his dream career was cut short by injury. He talked about becoming ‘lost’ when this happened at the age of 19, and, eventually, he went to university in California, but, when he arrived, the reality wasn’t quite what he had expected. He was about to give up when he received some life-changing advice from another member of the university’s football team: ‘If you keep running away from your obstacles, you’ll never overcome anything in your life.’ He stayed in the US and transferred to Montgomery, Alabama, where he received a scholarship and graduated with a business degree in 2016 and a different outlook on life. He had realised that he could help others just as his teammate had helped him.

After returning to the UK, he created the ‘Road 2 Uganda’ campaign and ran four marathons in four consecutive days, raising enough money to build a new schoolhouse in Uganda. The school is now responsible for the education of 150 pupils each year. He shared a video of his experiences while volunteering in Uganda and said that after this, he was ‘hooked’ on helping others. His next project came from volunteering work with a homeless outreach group in Manchester. He spoke about his realisation that people he saw on the streets were not ‘homeless people’ but ‘people who are homeless’, and that they are still human and have amazing stories. In early 2019, he swam 53 miles in the Lake District for his Swim 4 Shelter campaign, raising awareness and enough money to help 36 people living on the streets in Manchester into an employment programme. Krish’s experiences made him realise that every single person has a story to tell. He wanted to help share those stories to encourage and inspire others as well as celebrating achievements and helping those struggling in similar circumstances. He therefore set up the Tales to Inspire website, and has already published a Tales to Inspire book and since January 2020 this has been his full-time job. Prateek Buch (Class of 1999) is now Head of Data Acquisition at 10 Downing Street, collecting data for the government’s data scientists to use in projections, models and analysis; this evidence-based advice is used by ministers to help make decisions. Prior to his career in the civil service, Prateek was an academic and spent eleven years developing gene and stem cell therapy for blindness at UCL. He was one of the speakers at this year’s Tillotson Lecture. After leaving Bolton School, he studied Molecular Biology at UCL after becoming inspired by science books and magazines he read at lunchtimes, and, in particular, an article about using gene therapy to cure disease. He later got involved with campaigns to change how public figures thought about scientific evidence: volunteering, writing articles and blog posts, and becoming an advocate for political change. This led him to work for a charity called Sense About Science, and after doing more campaigning, he eventually decided to change his career once again, and worked in the civil service. Pupils in Year 9 were excited to hear from Old Boy Graham Bramwell (Class of 2006), who is now the Venue Sales Manager at Arsenal Football Club. In his Zoom talk about his

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects career, he shared his path from A Levels to his present day role in sales. After leaving Bolton School, Graham studied Marketing at Aston University and, as part of his course, enjoyed a placement year at L’Oréal. He said that this was a fantastic experience, as it gave him a foothold in the wider world beyond his studies. After graduating, Graham worked in recruitment and had a short career with Groupon before getting a job at Arsenal Football Club, where he has been for the past eight years. He talked about how he landed his role with Arsenal, through networks he established two years before by putting himself out there even though, at the time, he was turned down. Finally, he said that the number one thing that Bolton School taught him was that hard work pays off, and the inherent work ethic instilled in him at a young age. He also stressed the importance of extra-curricular experiences, particularly activities at Patterdale Hall. Old Boy Ali Kapasi (Class of 2009) spoke to Year 9 pupils via Zoom about his engineering career so far. After leaving Bolton School, Ali studied Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London, followed by five years in the oil and gas industry and one as a liability engineer in the chemical industry before moving to his current role as a safety engineer at Babcock. He is also a Chartered Engineer.

Duke of Edinburgh Award _______________________________________________________ Bronze Award My Duke of Edinburgh expedition was, as you might expect, not typical; of course, COVID-19 had to interfere, forcing us to complete it closer to home, but, despite this, I still actually enjoyed it, as much as it surprises me to admit it.

I’m not normally an outdoorsy person, but I have been on short camps before, so it wasn’t as if I was completely new to such things; that said, I was not looking forward to the walking I would have to do, especially with the weight of my heavy backpack, but it wasn’t actually that bad – with snacks and breaks, it was very manageable and if you need an excuse to eat snacks, look no further. I don’t know how much food I ate over the two days, but it was a lot!

He began by looking back at his school days and the careers aptitude test that first pointed him in the direction of engineering. However, when applying to university, he didn’t know which discipline to go into and therefore chose mechanical engineering to keep his options as open as possible. He said that there’s often a lot of pressure to figure out what you want to do right now and that’s what you’ll be working on for your whole career, but there’s always the opportunity to change what you do in the future. Explaining more about his role, Ali said that being a safety engineer involves making sure that risks are mitigated as much as possible and ensuring that everything complies with the latest legislation. He talked about the challenges of Lockdown, work-life balance and his hopes to visit the submarines and boats he is working on at some point in the future. This gave the boys a great insight into one of the many jobs available under the umbrella of engineering.

It was nice to get to stay together with friends, even if it was only half the year group; however, the camping was absolutely my least favourite part, if only because sleeping in a tent in the middle of a field was murder for my hay fever. Overall, as I said, the expedition wasn’t as bad as I had expected and I actually enjoyed it overall. I’d probably give it 7/10 and I hope you can enjoy it like I did – if you have hay fever though, be prepared!

Evan Weston 10c

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects Silver Award

Gold Award

For our Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition, three days of walks were arranged in and around the Bolton area; these walks consisted of around six hours of navigating the multiple paths, all while traversing the great hills of Lancashire. One of these walks took place close to Walker Fold Woods, where map reading with no visible landmarks was of great difficulty for my group. With the expedition taking place in September, the weather was surprisingly pleasant throughout. The expedition improved my physical endurance, improved my navigation and compass skills, and helped build resilience in completing long tasks, all whilst being in the company of friends and enjoying the challenge as a whole.

Gold Duke of Edinburgh this year has been rather different from Silver and Bronze, and not just because of the added Residential section. Thanks to the Pandemic, the normal ways in which we can complete the different sections of the award have been greatly impacted and, in some cases, have had to stop entirely; however, thanks to DofE with a Difference, we have still been able to make progress with the award. For my Volunteering, I have jointly worked at my local tennis club, aiding coaches with their various lessons, and during the months of Lockdown, I acted as a subject tutor for my brother. My Physical activity has been curtailed too; as a result of not being able to leave the area, I have taken up hillwalking and now make my way up to the top of Rivington Pike once a week. Fortunately, I have managed to continue with my Skills section over Zoom and am on my way to achieving Grade 7 on the violin. The Residential section of the award is one that many find the most difficult to complete, and the Pandemic has only made this harder. During the summer holidays, however, I was lucky enough to be able to attend a residential at Patterdale Hall. I spent five days there helping with general estates tasks, a canoe litter pick and creating a mountaineering safety video amongst other things. The expedition was eventful to say the least. Taking place in the latter half of the summer holidays, we were unlucky to miss the sunshine and heat of July. Coronavirus once again affected the expedition, as we had to complete both the practice and qualifying expedition back-to-back. Unfortunately, there were other setbacks too.

As for the other aspects of the Silver Award, I took part in rock climbing in a multitude of indoor centres, as well as scaling rock walls with harnesses and ropes in places such as Wilton Quarry; climbing is a passion of mine and it is a thrilling yet enjoyable activity. I also went on hour-long walks on trails in Bolton and Middlebrook around reservoirs and forests to count towards the Skills section of my award. Mohammedzayd Patel 11c

On the first day of the qualifying expedition, a member of our group regrettably had to pull out due to injury. An ankle injury hampered him as we set off in the morning, so we prepared ourselves for what

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects would end up being a call to Mountain Rescue. It was only after we arrived at camp that we found out that he would be on his way back to full health after a trip to hospital; however, the expedition did not get any easier. On days two and three, we were plagued by clouds even at low altitudes and spent the majority of the next two days walking through clouds and rain; this put a severe dampener on morale and our clothes. Thanks to this low cloud, we had to adapt our route to avoid what would have been the highlight of the expedition – reaching the summit of Helvellyn; instead, we decided as a group that it would be wise to try and get out of the clouds as fast as possible. Fortunately, we did manage one summit of Skiddaw on day three after a long climb from 80 metres to 930 metres, again, drenched to the skin.

Thomas Martin 12h

Bolton Children’s Fiction Awards _______________________________________________________

olton School was delighted to announce the 2020/21 Bolton Children’s Fiction Awards winners. The Award Day was supposed to be held in July 2020 but, due to these unprecedented times, the announcement came a whole year later! The shortlist for 2020 was carried over to 2021 to allow the Award to continue.

I believe that completing the award has made me a more resourceful and independent person, and the expedition has increased my confidence to be able to deal with difficult situations. The challenges that I have faced over the course of the award have made my work towards Gold memorable and enjoyable, but it has most certainly been an enriching valuable life experience.

Bolton School’s library staff, who organise the Award, said: ‘It is unfortunate that this year we have not been able to meet the authors in person and celebrate together. However, we hope that the spirit of the Award has been present in our community of schools, offering children the opportunity to explore the work of authors that they may not have previously encountered.

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects

‘We would like to thank the authors for their patience and support over the last two years. The shortlist was outstanding, making it a pleasure to offer the books to a second cohort of readers. We are very grateful to our lovely community of librarians, English teachers and other bibliophiles for supporting and promoting the Award.’ This year, book clubs were unable to meet normally and access to libraries was restricted, but despite the circumstances, Bolton School’s librarians were pleased to receive a considerable number of votes from both primary and secondary schools. Usually there is only one winner. This year, just like the Bookers, there were two! Therefore (in alphabetical order) the two winners for 2020/21 were: Alan Durant, author of Clownfish, and Victoria Williamson, author of The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle.

people are multi-faceted characters rather than ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ The two main characters are girls from very different backgrounds: Caylin has difficult home circumstances and Reema is a refugee from Syria. Students within our community commented that they felt represented by Reema’s cultural background. Despite their differences, the two girls are united in their struggle to save a wild fox and her cubs, find friendship and realise that they are really quite similar. The other shortlisted books and authors were as follows: Malamander by Thomas Taylor The Skylark’s War by Hilary McKay The Lost Magician by Piers Torday Wildspark by Vashti Hardy This year, the usual large-scale event at Bolton School, normally attended by up to 20 local schools, could not take place. Therefore Bolton School’s librarians recorded the announcement, which also featured the winning authors, and this was shared with all the participating schools in and around Bolton. The Library staff said: ‘We would like to thank you all for your support and hope you will join us in congratulating the winners.’ For the 2022 Award, Bolton School hopes to expand upon the online content that was provided in 2020/21 and move towards a hybrid Award, which will make it easier for more schools to participate.

Art Colours _______________________________________________________

Clownfish is about a boy called Dak, whose Dad has just died and has (miraculously) turned into a clownfish in his local aquarium. Themes of grief, friendship and learning to accept the death of a loved one are dealt with in a humorous, accessible way. The book is also about children being able to make a difference within their local community. It took Alan almost twenty years to write Clownfish: he described it as a ‘slow burner’ so its success has relied upon word of mouth. It has now been included on Empathy and Wellbeing book lists. The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle is set in a fictional part of Glasgow and also deals with issues which are important to young people today, specifically home circumstances, friendship and how

rts Colours (Art) are a public recognition of talent and ongoing dedication to work within Art. Art Colours were awarded to the following

boys:

Name Myles Johnson Oliver Leach Zain Akram Pierce Barker-Smith Bill Danson Will Duffy Jack Fisher Harrison Gee Matthew Hope Jake Hudson Henry Nuttall

Form 13c 13b 11f 13g 11b 11b 13d 11f 11f 11c 11b

Colour Full Full Half Half Half Half Half Half Half Half Half

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects Linguistics Olympiad _______________________________________________________

n March, a trio of Year 12 boys took advantage of the opportunity to spend an afternoon immersing themselves in a world of new and unfamiliar languages by taking part in the annual UK Linguistics Olympiad, which was this year organised and completed online. Freddie Higham, Anuj Mishra and Thomas Martin rose to the challenge of solving a range of complex linguistic data problems using a combination of skills honed from their study of Mathematics and Modern Foreign Languages. Thomas and Anuj secured a Silver and Bronze Award respectively, and they are all to be commended for their commitment to extending their academic interest beyond their Sixth Form curriculum. Mrs. C.A. Brace

Roots Programme _______________________________________________________

ix Year 9 boys were invited to participate in the Roots Programme, a social and cultural exchange with a contrasting school, in our case, Acle Academy in Norwich. The six-week programme included activities such as allocating governmental budget and a co-created session, where the boys designed tasks including priority ranking of features of schools. The programme concluded with a Vision Day, which involved all schools on the programme including Eton College. Miss E.A. Bramhall

We talked about the differences between living in Bolton and Norwich, as the other pupils lived in the countryside in a smaller area. We then spoke about issues which affect young people such as climate change, discrimination and our futures. There were many different and interesting viewpoints to hear. One of our final tasks was to design a session of our own: it was very fun and one activity involved discussion of the correct name for a bread roll! The final thing was the Vision Day, where we spoke to three other schools and had different views on things because of our vastly different backgrounds. Overall, the Roots Programme allowed all six of us to see how other people in the UK live, and it was a great chance to get to understand about issues which affect us all. Fraser Sackfield 9c

‘On This Day She’ _______________________________________________________

s part of their lessons in the Pastoral Curriculum, boys from Year 7 to Year 13 looked at women’s representation in history. The ‘On This Day She’ project has provided a fantastic springboard to facilitate important conversations with the boys. Drawing inspiration from a TEDx talk given by Dr. Ailsa Holland, one of the founders of the ‘On This Day She’ project, which aims to ‘put women back into history one day at a time’, boys learnt about the exclusion of women from recorded history. Guided by form tutors, they examined the reasons behind this and researched female figures who have made an impact on society. Particularly impressive was how boys displayed one of Bolton School’s key character virtues of ‘intellectual curiosity’ when completing the sessions. It was heartening to see them find out about the contributions of so many different women: Matilde Montoya, Fatima al-Fihri, Nakano Takeko, Daina Taimina, Anna Politkovskaya, to name but a few. The sessions also provided a stimulus to talk about women’s issues more broadly, and meaningful discussions were had across the school about the gender pay gap, the right to vote and inclusion in different settings. Hearing Year 7 pupils confidently give definitions of historiography and tokenism served to show us how capable young people are of grasping complex material when provided with the correct level of challenge and support. As part of the lessons, boys also completed a survey which explored their opinions on women’s place in history. The data collected from the survey will be used going forward to continue this discussion in

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects different contexts; this will allow the boys to reflect on what it means to be socially responsible and how to work together with others. A number of boys from Years 10 and 12 were then fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take part in a Zoom discussion with Dr. Holland. They posed insightful questions, which helped to show the relevance of women in history across the curriculum and in our wider community today. Miss K. Roddy

Politics Students make National Blog Shortlist _______________________________________________________

wo Sixth Formers at Bolton School have made a national shortlist of 20 students in this year’s Political Studies Association (PSA) Blog Competition, held in partnership with the ‘FT’ and supported by UK Parliament. The Girls’ Division’s Zoe Grainger, a recent leaver, and Lucas Appleby in Year 13 in the Boys’ Division both made the cut.

Mandarin _______________________________________________________

small group of students from both divisions meet every Wednesday after school for two hours of Mandarin lessons. We have had a busy year with both online and live lessons. Currently, we are two thirds of the way through the GCSE course. This academic year, we have expanded our knowledge on the theme of sightseeing (观光) and now have the ability to book accommodation, plan a trip, describe distance, as well as learning about some famous sights in Beijing, such as: Tian’anmen Square, The Forbidden City and the Bird’s Nest Stadium. We have revised and developed our vocabulary on the topic of health (健康), learning about parts of the body and traditional Chinese medicine and how it differs from modern medicine methods. Most recently, we have studied education (教育), which we all found to be fascinating. We had many debates on how the English education system differs to the one in China, learning about different subjects that are taught and how pupils progress as they become older. Another favourite theme was Chinese traditions (中届传统) and festivals such as Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival, although we weren’t able to try any festival delicacies. One of the most difficult aspects of the course is learning to write in characters. Surprisingly, there is little grammar to grasp, but there is a plethora of vocabulary to learn before we start the countdown to our GCSE in summer 2022. William Martin 9e

Entrants were asked to answer the question “does the public expect too much of UK politicians?” in a blog style article in less than 600 words. Their writing was judged on how well they had shown organisation and structure, development of ideas, insight into the subject, creativity, evidence of further reading, clarity and style, as well as originality. The competition received 198 submissions from students aged 16-19 in full-time secondary education. The winning blog will be published in the ‘FT’, the PSA Blog and printed in the PSA’s magazine ‘Political Insight’ following an awards ceremony in the Autumn Term.

Chemistry Competitions _______________________________________________________

homas Higham, Matthew Morrison, Michael Wong, Thomas Yates (all Year 13) and Arsh Patankar (Year 12) represented the School in this year’s online version of the two-hour Cambridge Chemistry Race. ‘Online training’ was carried out during lunchtimes and after school during Lockdown! In the competition, pupils scored four points if they were able to give a correct answer first time. If incorrect, further attempts were allowed, with one point deducted for each subsequent answer. The team enjoyed the challenge and achieved a commendable position. Over 7,000 students nationally participated in the Year 12 C3L6 competition. Arsh Patankar achieved a Silver award, missing a gold by a single mark! The results are summarised below:

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Academic Enrichment & Community Projects The British Council International School Award _______________________________________________________

olton School Boys’ Division has received the British Council International School Award at Foundation level. This award celebrates and supports the inclusion of an international ethos, both within the curriculum and embedded in school culture, and recognises schools that show a commitment to international awareness and understanding. Dr. M. Yates

British Canoeing Training Course _______________________________________________________

n December 2020, the Year 12 Outdoor Pursuits group met at the Anderton Centre for a one day course in Safety and Rescue Training. This award would allow us to access other courses, which would enable us to take groups out on the water in future. It was a very wet day, but we were all in good spirits after the worry that one or more of us may not have been able to attend if any positive Covid cases had arisen. The aim of the course was to gain greater skills and experience, and demonstrate that we knew the appropriate skills to enable the safety of each paddler and others, and also to gain and demonstrate appropriate rescue skills to use to help ourselves or others in difficulty. After a quick discussion of the plan for the day, we headed out onto the water to be taught about the various rescue skills. We were well equipped with multiple thermal layers and dry suits. We learned how to deal with swamped canoes and kayaks. The rescues we learned included T, bow carry, stern carry and towing. The last exercise we did was to capsize every vessel and work together to empty the boats of water and get everyone back in while out in open water. It was an enjoyable day, learning crucial safety skills which will be useful in the event of any issues on our future adventures on water. Isaac Simmonite 12f

Mr. Carl Robson, Head of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), said: ‘Bolton School Boys’ Division has a long and proud tradition in Modern Foreign Languages, offering French, German, Russian, Spanish and Mandarin. We have a large department of eleven full time and two part-time colleagues teaching their subject specialisms to A Level and beyond. We have many students go on to study languages at university and are celebrating our latest Oxbridge success with Jack Danson being offered a place to read French and German at Oxford. ‘Over the years, we have achieved national recognition in the Spelling Bee Competition, in the North Schools’ MFL Debating Competition and in essay writing competitions. ‘We have been a hub for the National SCITT (School-Centred Initial Teacher Training) programme, offering teaching opportunities to trainee MFL teachers in partnership with local schools. ‘We offer trips to Paris, to the Rheinland, to Northern Spain and to Russia as part of our Trips and Visits programme. The school has partnerships with schools in France, Germany and Russia. We employ language assistants through the British Council annually and give native speakers in French, German and Spanish-speaking countries the opportunity to spend a year in the UK in high quality school accommodation. In recent years, we have welcomed Spanish assistants from Colombia and Murcia, French assistants from Normandy and the Vendée region, and a German assistant from Austria. These opportunities really benefit our students too. ‘There has never been a more important time to promote the joys and benefits of learning living languages post-Brexit. We are delighted that the British Council wishes to recognise our place in supporting language teaching in the UK.’ Schools participating in the International School Award are encouraged to complete collaborative work with international partner schools, and are offered guidance to sustain and further

38 ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Academic Enrichment & Community Projects develop international education within the school and curriculum. The programme and introduction of internationalism in school offers pupils increased awareness of other countries, cultures and languages as well as the confidence and skills to live and work in a global society.

Our Spanish team consisting of Will Jackson and Oliver Fairclough competed valiantly, but unfortunately lost in the Quarter-final to a strong Withington Girls’ team.

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) enrichment _______________________________________________________

espite Covid restrictions, there has been a great deal of activity within the Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) department.

Ali Ahmed, Pat Bentley and Thomas Martin came in the top 10 in a national Russian translating competition conducted by the University of Sheffield. The boys won a £25 Amazon voucher and an invitation to an elite online workshop with staff from the University of Sheffield. The translation was by no means easy – it was a piece of modern Russian literature by Ksenia Buksha that they had to put into English and there is no English version of the book, Churov and Churbanov, on the market yet. In the North Schools’ Modern Languages Debating competition, the French team consisting of Charles Middleton and Patrick Bentley are through to the Semi-final, having defeated Manchester High School for Girls’ in the Quarter-final. They successfully defended the motion that “Education will be better thanks to the learning experiences during COVID-19.”

The German team consisting of Thomas Britton and Jack Danson just missed out at the same stage of the competition to a strong Stockport Grammar School team.

Year 8 boys Ethan Herring, William Hope and Zain Ahsan Ali participated in the Regional Final of the National French Spelling Bee, and received certificates for participation in the recent Celebration Assembly. Old Girl Professor Sarah Mercer (Class of 1992) connected with Bolton School pupils via Zoom to speak about her experiences studying Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) at university, living and working abroad and her career in teaching English as a Foreign Language. Her talk was tailored for an audience of students in Years 9 to 12 from both Divisions. Sarah studied French, German and Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and was able to share with the group her experience of the year abroad and all that it entails. She also gave a brief overview of her career, which has led her to become a Professor of English Language Teaching (ELT). She is now Head of English Language Teaching at University of Graz in Austria. One of the key messages in her talk was that it is important to weigh up what is important and what you want to do. She also pointed out that the people she studied alongside at university have gone on to work around the world in a wide range of fields. After her address, pupils were invited to ask Sarah their questions. One student began by asking Sarah’s favourite German word (gemütlich, meaning pleasant and cheerful) and, with the ice suitably broken, the questions began to pour in. Sarah revealed that she wouldn’t change the fact that she studied both French and German, even though she doesn’t use French much, because of the cultural perspectives she gained as part of the course. She talked about how literature, linguistics and cultural studies are all part of language learning at university. When asked if she was surprised by any of the opportunities that presented themselves in

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & COMMUNITY PROJECTS 39

Academic Enrichment & Community Projects much from it and it was a fitting note upon which to end the course. In a year of restrictions, this was an occasion that caught the eye for the breadth and variety of content, and the way it facilitated exposure to authentic Russian. Well done to all for their participation and engagement!

her career, she said that her whole career was like that because she ‘just kept taking the next step and ended up here.’ She said, ‘Follow your heart and your interests, you’ll enjoy it and put the work in.’ Asked how she decided where to go on her year abroad, she talked about the structured plan needed for this kind of experience and the kind of exchange programmes that are available through universities, as well as speaking more about the teaching assistant positions that many students fill in their year abroad. She also expanded on the kinds of fields her university friends now work in and the opportunities that can become available through MFL study. Finally, she was asked about the hardest part of the year abroad, and answered that for her, it was the fact that she was cut off from home, with letters rather than email used to communicate. However, she also said that this aspect of the year abroad might have been a good thing, as it encouraged her to get involved in life in the new country. She advised those who might go on a year abroad in future to ‘say yes to everything’ and meet as many new people as possible, as this is the way to gain confidence and get the most out of the experience. While Covid-secure protocols may have limited the opportunities available during the academic year for our Russianists to visit Russia and practise their Russian, it has not diminished the boys’ enthusiasm nor love for the subject. And, courtesy of technology, we were able on Friday 14th May to bring a little of the outside world and Russia to our Year 13 students. The A Level group enjoyed a double period on Zoom with one Marina Burrell, a Russian teacher from the Cambridge Russian Summer School and someone wellknown to the department. She presented a very interesting and informative session (nearly all in Russian!) that offered a snapshot of Soviet history, and outlined the political and economic reasons that led to Gorbachev’s policies of Perestroika and Glasnost. Her first-hand experiences of what life was like in the old USSR and what she saw growing up in Estonia were fascinating. Combining film footage, archive material, eyewitness accounts and her own observations, she explored the collapse of the USSR in accessible and entertaining detail. The boys, some of whom recalled her from when we visited Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, (pre-Covid), took

Mr. A.C. Robson & Mr. P.G. Davidson

The Stoner Physics Prize _______________________________________________________

he Stoner Prize, named after Old Boy Edmund Stoner, involved creating a presentation of any physics topic. This could have been about anything from forces to stars.

Levi Higham and Dylan Lincoln decided to create a video, showcasing the physics of their respective m u s i c a l instruments: the guitar and the saxophone. This involved researching a topic that was for Year 12s. The physics of the instruments involved standing waves, which for the saxophone,

40 ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Academic Enrichment & Community Projects involved blowing on the reed; this oscillates the sound as it moves down the instrument. This was really interesting for the boys, as they have both been playing their instruments for a number of years, and didn’t really know the science behind the music. At first, they found that it was a difficult topic to understand, but they both really enjoyed the experience of learning something new and practising their public speaking skills.

Pupils learn about Robotic Surgery _______________________________________________________

ear 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 keyhole 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.

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.

Literacy Competition _______________________________________________________

haracter is something we truly believe is part of the education of a Bolton School boy. Traits such as bravery, resilience or perseverance are ones which we aim to foster, so that boys can continue to strive to be their best, despite the obstacles or any adversity which they may face. The English Department challenged boys to write a piece on one of these character traits; boys excelled themselves, submitting entries on all manner of topics in all manner of forms.

Judging was extremely difficult, even though it was truly a pleasure to see the talent in our school. Winners recently collected prizes and certificates, including a Parker fountain pen for all winners, with the hope to encourage each boy’s love of writing. It is with great pleasure we announce the following winning entries:

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & COMMUNITY PROJECTS 41

Academic Enrichment & Community Projects The overall Bolton School Boys’ Division winner was Moinuddin Master (Year 12) for his poignant poem ‘Next Mourning’. The Year 13 winner was Myles Garth for his poem ‘The Hero of the River Thames’, the Year 12 winner was Jack Phillips for his untitled short story on the theme of Resilience, the Year 11 winner was Zain Akram for his science fiction short story ‘Backward Numbers’ and the Year 10 winner was Billy Burrows for his short piece on equality, entitled ‘1312’. The Year 9 winner was Lewis Bailey for his poem ‘Bravery’, the Year 8 winner was Alan Al-Talabani for his untitled short story on the theme of Perseverance and the Year 7 winner was Oliver Icely for his script entitled ‘The Leaving’. A selection of the winning entries can be found in the Creative Writing section of the magazine.

have improved a lot. I can now do climbs far above the level that I could do at the start. I am excited to continue doing climbing in the years to come, as well as go on the trip to Fontainebleau in 2022. I would highly recommend the climbing sessions to anyone. Ben Turner 10c

Enrichment Week _______________________________________________________

uring the final week of the academic year, boys in Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 took part in a wide variety of activities, which ranged from each year group walking to Rivington Pike to trips to Port Sunlight, Manchester International Festival and the Lake District.

Climbing _______________________________________________________

hen I first got the email about the opportunity to do climbing for my Year 10 Sport lessons, I was very keen, mainly because I didn’t want to do the standard sport activities; however, I quickly grew to very much enjoy climbing. Due to the lockdowns, we had to spend a lot of the sessions on the walls in the School Gym. As the walls had just had all of the holds replaced, there were completely new problems. There was a wide range of difficulty among the problems from some that would be very easy even for a beginner to some that I would still have no chance of completing, so you can be challenged whatever level you are at. However, when we were able to, we would often go to climbing locations outside of school. We went to some indoor climbing centres such as Depot Climbing and Awesome Walls in Stockport, which has a wall that is over 23 metres tall. We also went to some outdoor bouldering spots, including one of the Wilton crags and Widdop Reservoir (which is where the picture was taken); these were great, and had an even wider variety of problems. Even just in the one year that I have been doing climbing, I

42 ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Academic Enrichment & Community Projects MFL Arts and Culture In the last week of term, we ran an Arts and Culture MFL-themed course for Year 8 students, which was very successful. Three of the classes studied Italian and Luxembourgish with Mr. McNeil and the other three classes studied the History of French cinema with Mr. Robson. We looked at extracts from the films Les 400 Coups (to show New Wave Cinema), La Grande Vadrouille (highest number of viewers until 2010), Le Grand Bleu (le cinéma du look of the 1980’s), La Vie Est Un Long Fleuve Tranquille (social comedy) and finally Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (first digital film and highest number of viewers outside France). Mr. A.C. Robson

Enterprise Challenge Year 10 boys competed in the annual enterprise competition, during which they had to set up and run a pizza restaurant in the fictional town of Villeberg. The competition lasted all day, with the teams having to study the extensive data about the town and to choose a location, as well as consider factors including how much to bid for the site they wanted most. The business was run, as part of the game, over an 18-month period, and each quarter of a year the teams received a performance review, as well as any changes that they needed to take into account for the following quarter. The game allowed them to get a feeling of what it is like to be entrepreneurs, as well as making decisions as part of a team. Throughout the day, the teams all worked well, but it was clear that those that really focused on the finer details and shared out the responsibilities tended to make better decisions, and to therefore make more profit. They learnt some useful lessons about business, and for those that go on to study Business Studies next year, they gained some insights into the sorts of areas they will study in more detail in Sixth Form.

This winning team made the most profit (£184,000) over the 18-month period. Mr. D.W. Kettle

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT & COMMUNITY PROJECTS 43

Clubs & Societies Model United Nations _______________________________________________________

his year, the Model United Nations Society moved online, along with the rest of the world. Despite the challenging circumstances, the club had an extremely busy year. Our members have enjoyed remarkable success in no less than five (digital) conferences: Oxford, Shrewsbury, Manchester High, Cheadle Hulme and Withington. The experienced Year 13 team have concluded their secondary MUN career with a record number of awards and a strong new generation is now ready to take the lead. We resumed our weekly meetings in September with a twist – MUN sessions were now taking place in the Great Hall, allowing us to welcome back all members suitably socially distanced. Preparations soon began for the first conference of the year, organised by Oxford Global. Although this was the third OXMUN for the Bolton team, there were some unknowns as we started planning for our first remote conference. We had hoped to recreate some of the more convivial aspects of Model UN by hosting participating students at the school, but as the country entered its second Lockdown in November 2020, we all had to join both weekend sessions from home.

Zoom backgrounds replaced the familiar sights of the Sheldonian theatre and Oxford colleges and we watched the opening ceremony in the Leverhulme Suite instead of listening to the guest speaker at the Oxford Union. However, old traditions still held strong, and we met every morning on Zoom for rousing team talks – and the odd Cicero reference!

44 CLUBS & SOCIETIES

It was impressive to see how swiftly our delegates adapted to this new way of working, using their debating skills on Zoom, lobbying other countries in breakout rooms or collaboratively working on resolutions using Lark. Hosting the conference remotely meant it was the most international one yet, which made the success of the team even more remarkable. Jack Swires, Thomas Britton and Zayd Ascroft were named Outstanding Delegates in their committees and Lily Rimmer was awarded best position paper. The third Lockdown in the new year did not stop the Model UN Society in its tracks as we continued to meet online and embarked on our preparations for SHREWSMUN. We were delighted to be able to attend the conference this year, albeit virtually. An advantage of online conferences for faculty advisors is the ease of dropping in and out of sessions, each committee only a Zoom link away. I was able to catch our delegates getting involved a number of times and it was again a great outing for the team. Thomas Higham, Zayd Ascroft, Thomas Britton and Lily Rimmer were all named Outstanding Delegates in their committees. Finley Littlefair and Barnaby Keogh picked up a special mention from their chairs. March brought the return of face to face debating in school and two other conferences, MUNHIGH organised by Manchester High School for Girls and MUNCH organised by Cheadle Hulme. Both delegations did extremely well. Everyone from our five-strong team at MUNHIGH picked up an individual award, with Thomas Britton, Zayd Ascroft and Lily Rimmer being named Outstanding Delegates in their committee, and Finley Littlefair and Thomas Higham named Highly Commended Delegates. At MUNCH, we sent a delegation representing Australia and our delegates got involved in many different ways, making policy statements, defending their resolution or submitting amendments. This was another outstanding result, with the team comprising Thomas Higham, Dylan Lincoln, Lily Rimmer, Levi Higham, Thomas Britton, Jack Swires, Finley Littlefair and Ibrahim Ali named overall winner of the competition. There were also some individual awards, with Jack Swires, Lily Rimmer and Finley Littlefair named Outstanding Delegates and Thomas Britton, Thomas Higham and Dylan Lincoln Highly Commended. MUNCH was also a momentous day for our Year 13 team, as their last school MUN conference and after an impressive record of conference outings and successes.

Clubs & Societies Public Speaking and Debating Colours (Model UN) _______________________________________________________

ublic Speaking and Debating Colours are a public recognition of talent and ongoing dedication to work within Model UN. Colours were awarded to the following boys:

Our MUN team was in action for the last time this year at Withington MUN, debating issues ranging from future responses to pandemics to the right to seek political asylum. I was very pleased to see some of our newer members opting to participate and was delighted to hear they enjoyed their day. Hopefully we will soon be able to attend face to face conferences again so they get to experience everything MUN has to offer. Students were recognised in different committees, with Jack Swires and Christian Stapleton named Outstanding Delegates and Matthew Settle getting a special mention. Throughout the year, our members have shown great resilience and commitment in ever-changing circumstances. The support and guidance offered by our senior team to our newer delegates is a continued strength of the club, as is the enthusiasm shown by all members. Well done to them all. I am very grateful too for the hard work of the student teams who organised the conferences, as well as their teachers. Very many thanks also to Mrs. Waller and Mr. Britton for their invaluable support running all the club activities this year.

Name Zayd Ascroft Thomas Britton Thomas Higham Finley Littlefair Matthew Settle Jack Swires

Form 13a 13a 13b 12d 12f 12c

Colour Full (re-awarded) Full (re-awarded) Full (re-awarded) Full Full Full

‘The HistOracle’ _______________________________________________________

hereas all of our usual extra-curricular clubs and societies have had to be put on hold this year, the Sixth Form History magazine has been business as usual, with the pandemic having little power to stop the enquiring minds and restless pens (or keyboards) of our Year 12 historians from pursuing their historical interests beyond the A Level curriculum. Our two editions this year have explored two very topical themes: in light of the global pandemic, the autumn issue focused on other historical events that have shaken the whole world; the summer issue has focused on Black Lives in History, taking inspiration from the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and surrounding the issue of inclusivity. Every Year 12 historian has contributed at least one article to the magazine.

In these challenging times, it has been impressive to witness the quality of the arguments and the creativity of the ideas put forward to try and solve some of the world’s most difficult problems. I am very much looking forward to seeing the club continue to grow as we build on this year’s successes.

We started the year back in September with the news that we had once again won the top prize from the Historical Association for our magazines published in 2019-20. Our editors this year have been Matthew Settle, Christian Stapleton, Amin Patel, Finley Littlefair and Thomas Hothersall. All have high hopes that the 2021-22 incarnation of this magazine, which will celebrate its 25th edition next autumn, will catch the eye of the judges once again.

Miss C.M.V. Buttigieg

Miss S.V. Burgess

CLUBS & SOCIETIES 45

Clubs & Societies Quiz Club _______________________________________________________

lthough the separate Junior and Senior Quiz Clubs were unable to meet in their usual format this year, a group of keen and committed Year 10 boys has shown their continued enthusiasm by meeting weekly to showcase and sharpen their impressive range of general knowledge. Chemical elements, US state capital cities and units of currency have proved to be popular topics, but the boys have been widening their knowledge with some inspired sensible reasoning on the subjects of collective nouns of animals (Mrs. Brace’s personal favourite), varieties of fruit and vegetables and winning teams in the FA cup (one of Mr. Cropper’s areas of expertise). They are now well-practised in following Mr. Cropper’s axiom: if in doubt, then guess either a bird or a fish! Even a third national Lockdown could not dampen the boys’ enthusiasm and we continued to meet on Zoom, giving the boys the chance to work on their speed of knowledge, aiming to be victorious with the fastest finger first on the Zoom buzzer. Unfortunately, the annual Schools Challenge quiz competition was unable to run this year, but plans are in motion for this to be back next year, and so the boys are already buoyed up by the prospect of pitting their wits against their local competitors. All the boys have impressed with their good humour, teamwork and overall thirst for knowledge. There is, as far as we know, no official collective noun for a group of quizzers, although some ideas from the wider quizzing community include a quaggle, a pounce and even a gym (because the team have a mental workout). The boys have been set the challenge of inventing their own, perhaps with a Bolton School theme. Any suggestions are welcome.

‘Cheeky roe deer in the wild meadow’, Matty Wright 8f – Overall winner

Mrs. C.A. Brace & Mr. P. Cropper

Eco Committee _______________________________________________________

he Eco Committee has been busy this year planning several new initiatives along our three strands of waste, marine and biodiversity. Activities have included a terracycle stationery collection, the first Wildlife Photography Competition, a carbon emission project and tree planting with Blackburn House.

46 CLUBS & SOCIETIES

‘Chaffinch take off’, Jamie Logan 9b – runner up

Clubs & Societies Furthermore, several year groups have been partaking in environmental education through the Youth Climate Summit in November, food waste pastoral sessions and Year 8 podcast production. As a school, we are adopting a meat free Thursday and have replaced a significant amount of single-use plastic in the dining room. Behind the scenes, the committee has met the requirements and has been awarded a Silver Eco-Schools certificate. Another big achievement was the awarding of a Bolton Council environmental grant for a student-led food waste project.

Parliamentary style of debating. Thomas Britton, Thomas Hothersall and Zayd Ascroft represented the School brilliantly against what was a very strong field of teams from across the North West. Although we did not make it out of the regional round, all School representatives argued their cause with vehemence and should be proud of their efforts.

Miss E.A. Bramhall The grant is one which we have applied to Bolton Council for, with our idea on how we could reduce the amount of food waste that our students produce at home and in their local communities. With our wide catchment area, this should prove successful in reaching a large area of the North West. There were multiple steps involved in receiving this grant. We had to submit a brief description of our idea to Bolton Council. We then had to formally present our idea on Microsoft Teams. In the meeting, we were asked challenging questions, which truly tested the versatility of the idea. Now the work of designing and printing food waste recipe cards can begin, which should have a really constructive and beneficial impact on the community.

During our lunchtime society meetings, we have continued to debate topical and – at times – controversial issues. Subject matter included civil liberty, world politics, medical practice, and religion. The most heated debate came with the motion ‘This House Believes That Football Is Coming Home’. The Great Hall was awash with the type of uninhibited optimism that often accompanies an international football tournament as the result (to nobody’s shock) was a unanimous vote in favour of the motion. At least we have Qatar 2022 to look forward to, right? Mr. J. Lucas-Nolan

Public Speaking and Debating Colours _______________________________________________________ Public Speaking and Debating Colours are a public recognition of talent and ongoing dedication to work within Public Speaking and Debating. Colours were awarded to the following boys: James Parfrey 9c

Senior Literary and Debating Society _______________________________________________________

enior Literary and Debating Society has continued to run a thriving society, both within School as well as through participation in external competitions. Despite disruptions to usual contests, we still managed to participate in the Oxford Schools’ Debating event, which focuses on the British

Name Zayd Ascroft Thomas Britton Thomas Higham Thomas Hothersall Christian Stapleton Jack Swires

Form 13a 13a 13b 12c 12h 12c

Colour Full Full Full Full Half Half

CLUBS & SOCIETIES 47

Clubs & Societies Chess Club _______________________________________________________

uring the first Lockdown, we managed to keep Chess Club going using an online platform and, twice a week, boys from Bolton School met virtually to play against each other in blitz tournaments, and these battles occured each week.

Boys’ Division was one of around 40 schools that met regularly online to play friendly competitions every Friday evening. Our best result against 39 other teams was a 9th place finish, beating amongst others Eton College, Dulwich College and local rivals Altrincham Grammar School.

Sailing Club

Congratulations to all 92 members who have taken part this year, particularly to James Logan, Hashir Sapra, Marcus Fung, Amrit Mishra and Laurence Britton for their individual performances in the tournaments. Mr. P. Costello

Tennis Club

Other Clubs and Societies _______________________________________________________

Climbing Club

Mountain Bike Club

48 CLUBS & SOCIETIES

Volleyball Club

The Houses The Lyde Cup _______________________________________________________

his year’s race for the Lyde Cup was very different from in previous years. The traditional trophies normally awarded could not be competed for; however, this did not stop boys engaging in a range of activities which, this year, went towards deciding the winners of the Lyde Cup.

The Charities Committee

Blackburn and Wigan both in joint second place. The quizmasters saw Blackburn take the top spot. The most creative House this year was Chorley, making some exceptional paper cranes. The nonuniform money raised in March went to Leukaemia UK.

The summer House Activity Day, which took place in June, tested boys’ stamina, brains, skills and teamwork. This time, boys competed in forms, with feedback from staff suggesting that everyone had an enjoyable day. Highlights included boys hitting a cross bar, scoring a penalty and dragging their partner along when one of them fell over in the three-legged race. Let’s not forget the tennis slalom and the quiz, which had a geographical theme and tested boys in a range of world geography knowledge. The tug of war was a war of attrition, which saw boys taking the strain; there was grimacing, grunting, straining, heave-hoing, pulling, chanting, yanking and jerking, wrenching and struggling, wincing and whining, scowling and frowning, not forgetting surging and lunging – truly a team effort with all forms pulling in the right direction.

The Charities Committee sorting bundles of charity Christmas cards to sell to the School community In March, we had a House Activity Day, which comprised of a 7-a-side football tournament, Cross country, a quiz and the Creative Challenge: to make a paper crane using origami. In the football tournament, the Year 7 winners were Blackburn. It was a draw in the Year 8 competition as all Houses scored the same points. Year 9 saw Chorley take the crown and Year 10 was won by Blackburn. In the Cross country, Chorley and Manchester were joint winners with

THE HOUSES 49

The Houses The Lyde Cup is 118 years old this year and is the oldest trophy presented throughout the entire school year.

House Colours _______________________________________________________

ouse Colours are a public recognition of service and commitment shown within the House System and Charity Committee. House Colours were awarded to the following boys:

Under 14 House match between Chorley (white) and Blackburn (black and white), circa 1955 – photo courtesy of Old Boy David Jenner (1953-1960) The scores from both activity days were added and Commendations were counted. This year’s results were as follows: 4th place: Wigan 3rd place: Manchester 2nd place: Chorley 1st place: Blackburn The following boys took on the challenge of leadership roles within their houses: Blackburn Captain Vice-captains Chorley Captain Vice-captains Manchester Captain Vice-captains Wigan Leadership team

Amir Chauhan Joe Brennan, Matthew Rodger, Tom Simpson Thomas Higham Emmett Brennan-Calland, Mohammedzafeer Musa Lucas Appleby Adam Battersby, Krishnan Kotecha, Christian Stapleton Jude Ashcroft, Amaan Broughton, Jameson Goloba, Thomas Hothersall, Max Kelly

Mr. P.D. Jackson

50 THE HOUSES

Name Joe Brennan Amir Chauhan Matthew Rodger Tom Simpson Owais Khalid Emmett Brennan-Calland Thomas Higham Mohammedzafeer Musa Dan Bentham Alfie Yearsley Lucas Appleby Adam Battersby Shady Morgan Christian Stapleton Krishan Kotecha Jude Ashcroft Amaan Broughton Jameson Goloba Max Kelly Ibrahim Ali James Hopkinson Thomas Hothersall Thomas Martin Benjamin Whittle

Form 13h 13a 13g 13h 12g 13i 13b 13e 13a 13h 13i 13d 12g 12h 13h 13f 13e 13d 13e 12a 12d 12c 12h 12h

Colour House Full Blackburn Full Blackburn Full Blackburn Full Blackburn Half Blackburn Full Chorley Full Chorley Full Chorley Half Chorley Half Chorley Full Manchester Full Manchester Full Manchester Full Manchester Half Manchester Full Wigan Full Wigan Full Wigan Full Wigan Half Wigan Half Wigan Half Wigan Half Wigan Half Wigan

The Houses Blackburn House Report _____________________________________________

lackburn House has continued to thrive due to the continued efforts of all members of the House; however, there have needed to be a number of changes to our normal routines this year. Normal House assemblies were replaced with Zoom calls and many of the events needed modifying in accordance with COVID-19 regulations. Despite this, Blackburn House has continued its support of local charitable organisations. This year, Blackburn House chose to support Nightsafe, a local charity in Blackburn set up in 1990 by a group of local people with the aim of alleviating the plight of homeless and vulnerably housed young people within the borough of Blackburn with Darwen and surrounding areas. The charity works with young people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness and provides accommodation and day centres with information, advice and guidance. In order to help the charity, we did a couple of different events. In keeping with Nightsafe’s ‘Sleep In’ event, House members in Years 7 and 8 were encouraged to take part in a sponsored ‘sleep in’. Pupils were tasked with sleeping anywhere other than their beds for a night – this led to many weird and wonderful solutions, including camping in the back garden, sleeping in the garage and even in the bath! It was great to see the younger members of the House getting involved, enjoying themselves and, more importantly, raising a fantastic amount of money for charity. The final total collected was £740.

In the Summer Term, we shifted our focus more towards our impact on the environment. We realised that, as a House, we could do more to not only raise awareness of environmental issues, but also directly improve the local environment. As part of these efforts, members of the House Leadership team collaborated with the School’s Eco Committee to help plant native trees near to the school Scout Hut. Younger members of the House have also participated in an EcoGardens project. They have been building bug hotels, putting up bird feeders and doing their bit to make their gardens as wildlifefriendly as possible.

Despite the difficult times this year, Blackburn House has kept doing what we always do. We have continued our generous support of worthy charities, given our all in the House competitions and supported each other in tough times. Finally, as House Captain, I would like to thank the Vice-captains Tom Simpson, Matthew Rodger and Joe Brennan for their help this year, along with our Housemaster, Mr. Benbow. Amir Chauhan 13a

Senior House members also helped Nightsafe. They collected nonperishable food items to be used in food parcels and in Nightsafe’s hub, which provides cooked meals for those in their care. This too was successful, with a great haul delivered just in time for Christmas.

THE HOUSES 51

The Houses Chorley House Report ____________________________________________________

new academic year saw a new theme for Chorley House. Boys were encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle by focusing on a ‘healthy heart’ – a running theme during assemblies throughout the year. Our chosen charities for the year were Cardiac Risk in the Young and Stroke Association. Cardiac Risk in the Young’s vision is working towards preventing young sudden cardiac deaths through awareness, screening and research, and supporting affected families because every week in the UK at least twelve young people die of undiagnosed heart conditions. Stroke Association are there to support people to rebuild their lives after a stroke. They believe everyone deserves to live the best life they can after a stroke. A stroke can happen at any age. There are over 400 childhood strokes a year in the UK, affecting babies, children and young people. Boys across Chorley House heard stories of inspirational individuals who have dedicated their lives to health and fitness, most notably The Iron Cowboy, James Lawrence. Lawrence completed 50 Ironmen in 50 days across the 50 states of America – a staggering accomplishment demonstrating mental resilience and exceptional fitness and endurance levels. Chorley House also looked at the devastating effects of cardiac arrest in young people, with a famous example making headline news during Euro 2021 when Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the football pitch whilst playing against Finland. Alongside this, boys heard key messages throughout the year on kindness and integrity, giving boys plenty to think about both in and outside the school environment. With the help of the senior leaders within Chorley House, it was decided that our main fundraising activity this academic year was the Chorley 3 Peaks Stair Climb Challenge. The Chorley 3 Peaks are White Coppice, Great Hill and Winter Hill. The total distance is 12 miles and the total ascent is 2080 feet, with the highest point being 1496 feet at the top of Winter Hill.

Due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic and uncertainty as to when life was to return to normal, we decided to turn the Chorley 3 Peaks into a stair climb challenge. A flight of stairs is usually 12 or 13 steps and we worked it out that boys would need to climb 268 flights of stairs to complete the challenge. The challenge was differentiated so that it was accessible to all ages and abilities, and it was up to the individual to choose how they would like to complete the challenge. Level 1 - 14 day challenge (20 flights of stairs, every day, for 14 days) Level 2 - 7 day challenge (38 flights of stairs, every day, for 7 days) Level 3 - 3 day challenge (90 flights of stairs, every day, for 3 days) Level 4 - 1 day challenge (268 flights of stairs in one day) Level 5 - Physically complete the Chorley 3 Peak Challenge We used the winter months to fundraise for the activity that we would complete during summertime in order for the weather to improve, hours of daylight to increase and, most importantly, the chance for a bit of normality so that people might actually be able to get out and do it.

The boys put in a fantastic effort, completing the many versions of the event and an even better effort in raising a whopping £2607.50 for our chosen charities, Cardiac Risk in the Young and Stroke Association. Thanks to all associated with the House system at Bolton School.

Mr. L. Watkinson

52 THE HOUSES

The Houses Manchester House Report ____________________________________________________

n a year like no other, members of Manchester House have managed to get things done in the spirit of the Bolton School House system as if we were still in December 2019. Firstly, the contributions of our Leadership Team must be acknowledged. These gentlemen put themselves forward for positions of responsibility, knowing the extra work it would bring. Assemblies have been made more interesting, accessible and funny through their input, and they have set positive examples to their peers in our charitable endeavours. Therefore, it is my pleasure to thank, in Year 7, Khalaf Salih and Sami Khan; in Year 8, Arthur Snape and Alan Al-Talabani; in Year 9, Rayhan Vasanwala and Suliman Sadiq, in Year 10, Archie Stocks and Peter Craig; in Year 11, Ellis Matthews and Muhammad Choudhary; in Year 12, Christian Stapleton, Shady Morgan and Amaan Patel; and finally, our Senior Leadership Team of Krishan Kotecha and Adam Battersby, with Lucas Appleby as House Captain. Thanks very much for your efforts, lads! Looking at next year, when we hope School life will bear more of a resemblance to the normality we all crave, leadership positions will involve more ‘hands-on’ work in assemblies and during House events, though remote participation may remain relevant. With this in mind, I urge all members of Manchester to consider the possibility of putting themselves forward; it is fulfilling work, which lads unfailingly take pride in, serving as preparation for potentially influential roles in subsequent years. Despite the constrictive nature of COVID-19 regulations and the enforced absence of House Day as we know it, our Activities Days have proved resoundingly successful. Lads have taken great pleasure in three-legged races, tugs o’ war, human knots, crossbar challenges, quizzes and sundry teambuilding and sporting events. Though most lads were competing in forms, it was noted that almost all had proudly donned their House colours for the days in question. Who knows, perhaps we shall see the return of the drainpipe challenge (a modern day classic) when House Day resumes its more traditional form?

Our charity work has also been unaffected, in outcome at least, by the pandemic. If anything, circumstances have enabled our boys to display their resolve, resilience and adaptability to a greater extent than in a ‘normal’ year. After our year group leaders provided Showbie appeals for a range of organisations, our members voted to support Bolton Hospice. The bigger challenge was finding a fundraising activity which would provoke as much enthusiasm for the cause as possible, whilst keeping an eye on social distancing. In a stroke of good fortune, former Vice-captain of Bolton School, Mr. Lewis Daly came along. Lewis had recently completed a mammoth rowing machine challenge in support of the Hospice and wanted to get on board with our initiative. Following two wonderful assemblies delivered by Lewis and Hospice staff members, our lads were eager to try something similar. What ensued was roughly two months of socially distanced rowing on machines set up on the often blustery Tillotson balcony! To add another layer of complexity, we decided that it would be a good idea to raise money in this way alongside/in fierce competition with Wigan House! Our lads did a wonderful job – standout contributors including but not limited to Aaron Speakman, Finlay Davidson, Evan Dare and Josh Dickens. In total, Manchester House rowed 70km, an astonishing achievement! However, the tide was with our rivals; with the wind in their sails and a stern Mr. Teasdale at the tiller, members of Wigan managed to outstrip us by 20km. We send them our sincere congratulations.

As we know, however, the truly important part of this was to raise as much as we could for Bolton Hospice, and all lads did themselves, their Houses and the School proud, donating a combined total of over £1300. Oar-some work, boys! Finally, we would like to thank all members for their contributions this year, and to wish all those leaving us the best for the future. Mr. N.R.W. Wyatt

THE HOUSES 53

The Houses Wigan House Report ____________________________________________________

Year 12 House Leadership Team.

Thinking of appropriate ideas for community action initiatives this year proved especially challenging due to the health and safety restrictions put in place due to COVID-19. Luckily, inspiration came to us via the actions of Old Boy and former Vice-captain of the School, Lewis Daly. Last summer, Lewis rowed continuously for 24 hours to raise money for Bolton Hospice. We decided to enter into competition with Manchester House to see who could row the furthest. Each boy in Manchester and Wigan rowed for three minutes on a rowing machine on the Tillotson balcony during lunchtimes in the Summer Term. Funds were collected and the distances each boy rowed were added up. Our original targets were to raise over £1000 and row over 100km. I am very pleased to say that we managed to surpass both targets, rowing 160km and raising over £1400. Of the 160km rowed, Wigan contributed a slightly larger distance than Manchester, making us the victors in the battle between the Houses.

t has been a highly unusual year for Wigan House. The COVID restrictions have prevented us from meeting together in large venues for assemblies, curtailed many of the House Day activities and limited the possibilities as far as our usual mass participation fundraisers are concerned. It has been to the House’s great credit that despite all these obstacles, we have continued to function as a vibrant, dynamic, and important part of school life. Crucial to this were our excellent team of Senior Leaders: Jameson Goloba and Amaan Broughton led the Lower School, Max Kelly the Middle School and Jude Ashcroft the Upper School; all were awarded Full Colours for their fantastic contributions to our assemblies and community action work. It has been very pleasing that House Day activities have been able to continue, albeit in form bubbles. I have enjoyed seeing members of the House engage with a range of different disciplines, whether that be traditional sports competitions, quizzes or even competitive origami making.

Our assemblies this year have either taken place live on Zoom or via a pre-recorded video. Our Senior House Leadership Team led the way with these by writing and delivering a series of assemblies which linked to different character virtues. Jameson Goloba and Amaan Broughton’s assembly was about honour, and considered what we can learn from the Spartans and the Battle of Thermopylae. Max Kelly’s assembly explored resilience using the inspiring example of the world champion surfer, Layne Beachley. Jude Ashcroft chose to explore intellectual curiosity with the help of examples provided by our

54 THE HOUSES

The Wigan vs. Manchester Rowing Challenge in full flow with assistance from Year 12 House Leaders Ben Whittle and Ibrahim Ali.

This year, as well as being led by an excellent Year 13 Leadership Team, the House has also been supported by a committed group of Year 12 leaders, who have all contributed to assemblies and our charity initiatives. They were awarded Half Colours for their efforts, and I am pleased to say that they have all accepted positions on the Year 13 Leadership Team next year; I am confident that they will continue to do an excellent job. After six and a half years as Housemaster of Wigan House, the time has come for me to sign off on my final ‘Boltonian’ report. It has been a tremendous privilege to lead the House and has been an experience that I have cherished. I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given to take up the position. Next year, my great friend Mr. Wyatt will take over from me as leader of Wigan House – I cannot think of a more suitable successor; Wigan House is in very capable hands indeed. Mr. D.F. Teasdale

The Houses Sports Day _______________________________________________________

ue to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s Sports Day was not an inter-House competition. Instead, the boys competed in Year group bubbles for Inter-form cups and the following forms were victorious:

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9

7g 8f 9e

Well done to all of the boys who took part and many thanks to all colleagues who assisted on the day.

THE HOUSES 55

Camps & Journeys Year 7 History Trip to Brougham Castle _______________________________________________________

fter 18 months where nothing has seemed quite normal and things seem to have been in a state of constant flux and uncertainty, it was a real pleasure to resume our yearly visits to Brougham Castle. As far as this formidable fortress on the medieval border between England and Scotland is concerned, nothing much has changed. The castle remains gloriously impervious to and unmoved by pandemics, Brexit and the prospect of IndyRef 2. Doubtless, it has seen these sorts of things before. For many of the Year 7s involved, this was the first school trip for as long as they can remember. However, even for those of us who have been there dozens of times, there was excitement at the prospect of a proper day out for some time beforehand.

own castle design. To cap it all, the weather was quite kind and the picnics were pretty sumptuous. We look forward to the same again, as normal, next year!

As the first school party to book visits at the castle since Lockdown ended, we were given special treatment. The site manager, Denise, who has known us for some years now, trusted us enough to actually give us the keys to the castle. Whilst members of the public were not allowed to visit the steep staircases and narrow galleries of the Great Keep because of the impossibility of social distancing, our bubbled Year 7 groups were given access, and there was a real feeling of power in letting ourselves into these restricted areas. We were even given permission to visit a part of the castle that no one has been allowed to see for many decades – Lady Anne Clifford’s apartment, where you can see the space for the old winding mechanism of the portcullis, Lady Anne’s private lavatory and the bedchamber where she ended her days. When asked what they enjoyed most, the vast majority of the boys mentioned climbing to the very top of the keep, and having the freedom to roam around the castle whilst completing a number of tasks. They explored the outer walls and towers of the castle, assessing its defences, and the inner bailey and gatehouse, imagining what it would have been like to endure a siege from Scottish invaders from across the River Eamont. Back in school, the boys will use knowledge gained at the castle to create their very

56 CAMPS & JOURNEYS

Miss S.V. Burgess

Camps & Journeys Year 10 Biology sampling trip to Seven Acres Nature Reserve _______________________________________________________

Year 12 Biology Trip to Ainsdale _______________________________________________________

he usual three-day odyssey to Aberystwyth had to be condensed into a single day trip this year. We nevertheless managed to shoehorn a multitude of ecological techniques into our examination of the dune system at Ainsdale beach. The boys carried out a height profile beginning in the embryo dunes near the beach and extending back to the much older fixed dunes inland. We also noted the increase in species diversity as the soil quality improved. We were lucky to see many of the plants in flower and it really was quite a spectacular sight. We failed to resist the temptations of the ice cream van before flaking out on the coach to reflect on a day sprinkled with fun.

wenty-four brave biologists, who had avoided the dreaded call to self isolate or to study Geography, made their way to Seven Acres Nature Reserve to enjoy a day putting into practice some of the ecological techniques learned in school. The 79 acre site is actually named after the seven acres of water that cover this former bleach works. It is now a collection of different habitats including woodland, meadow and heathland. The day began sampling the invertebrates in Bradshaw Brook and, judging by the number of mayfly nymphs, the water is in very good condition.

After lunch, it was time for the butterfly transect, where enthusiasm overtook scientific methodology. No winged insect was safe in the ensuing hour amongst the blur of swishing nets. Our haul included meadow browns, cabbage whites and small tortoiseshells, although rumours abound of a rather spectacular peacock that got away.

Dr. N. Morgan Dr. N. Morgan

CAMPS & JOURNEYS 57

Music & The Creative Arts Music Notes _______________________________________________________

s I write the Music Notes for the last time before retiring at the end of the Summer Term, I am reflecting not only on the past year, but also on the many happy years of working in the Boys’ Division Music Department.

teacher and more recently taught flute and piano as a visiting music teacher. All of them are inspirational teachers and have made huge contributions to Music at Bolton School. They will be missed and we wish them well in their retirement.

During these challenging times, it has been important to maintain as much music as possible and, in the true spirit of this department, our wonderful staff have maintained classroom and instrumental music lessons, albeit under difficult circumstances, which have enabled our pupils to progress and continue to achieve. Staff and pupils have become far more proficient in the use of technology in order to put on the events that you will read about, but I sincerely hope that it won’t be long before there is a return to live concerts, playing to live audiences. Colin Edmundson appointed me as a guitar teacher in 1986. I was very highly impressed with the School when I came for the interview and I remember thinking I could never do Colin’s job... too difficult! Well, I got lucky – a working musician, who originally had no intention of teaching, but was lucky enough to get a job at this remarkable institution. The job, teaching a handful of guitar pupils, was meant to supplement my income at the time, and I certainly didn’t intend to stay long; however, the School and its pupils led me to a love of teaching, and I ended up staying here longer than most. I was lucky to work for, and learn from, two exceptional Directors of Music – Colin Edmundson and Stephen Martin – and when I was fortunate to be appointed as Director of Music by Mr. Britton, I had big shoes to fill, but I was very privileged to work with a fantastic team and the excellent work in the department not only was maintained, but continued to grow and develop. What have been the highlights of my time at Bolton School? Well, there are too many to list here, but perhaps I should mention directing the Senior Guitar Group and the Joint Senior Orchestra; the European tours with Miss Berry’s Senior Concert Band, Mr. Forgrieve’s Joint Percussion Ensemble and the Senior Guitar Group; Bridgewater Hall Concerts; the Joint Musical productions; discussing with Andy Peebles, one of our Battle of the Bands adjudicators, his BBC interview with John Lennon just before he was shot; the community music events with our pupils collaborating with local schools and organisations; the Music Festival/Young Musician of the Year; and simply having the privileged position of teaching our pupils instrumental and classroom music. Also leaving the Music Department this year are Mr. Pain, our School Organist, organ and piano teacher, who retired at Christmas; Mrs. Ives, Joint Music Coordinator at Park Road and singing teacher; and Mrs. Hampson, who joined the department originally as a classroom

Mr. Pain with former and current organ scholars at Bolton Parish Church We also said goodbye to violin teacher Mrs. Wearing in September, after many years of much-appreciated, dedicated service to the School, and we welcomed Miss Blezard in her place. Many thanks are also due to Mr. Jopson, who worked with us as a drum kit teacher in the Autumn and Spring Terms, covering Mrs. Finlow’s maternity absence. Mr. Spooner became School Organist in the Boys’ Division, as well as continuing his established role as the Girls’ Division Organist. Miss Archer will join the Music Department in September as a new member of the curriculum staff. I can honestly say that I still feel a sense of awe walking into this school in the morning and I still feel I have to be on my toes for whatever the day will bring. Every day has been different since I’ve been here, and I have learnt so much from all the different roles that I have had. Lord Leverhulme gave us a wonderful institution in which to educate children, but I believe that staff can be educated and enriched in this environment as well; I certainly have been. I will miss the school, my colleagues and the pupils, but I imagine that music will continue to be an important part of my life for many years to come, God willing. I leave you with an overview of the key musical events from this academic year. Unfortunately, due to coronavirus restrictions, we were not able to proceed with our Autumn Concert, Year 11 Concert, Joint Spring Concert, Battle of the Bands, Musical Evenings, our Public Lunchtime Concert Series or our Community Music primary school visits, but, through the resilience and creativity of colleagues and pupils, there has nonetheless been a great deal to enjoy. Many of these events remain available for viewing via the ‘Bolton School TV’ channel accessed through the School’s website, and you can scan the QR codes provided in this article to view them. My very best wishes to an outstanding Music Department, which I

58 MUSIC & THE CREATIVE ARTS

Music & The Creative Arts am sure will continue to develop and thrive in the future.

Autumn Term On 8th October, I was delighted to learn that my colleague of 20 years, Mr. Ian Forgrieve, our Head of Instrumental Studies, had been appointed to the Music Advisory Group of the prestigious National Children’s Orchestras of Great Britain (NCOGB). Together with a handful of other instrumental specialists from across the country, he advises NCOGB’s management about repertoire choices and musical activities. Over the past two years, NCOGB ran very successful online masterclasses, webinars and recording projects involving hundreds of children aged 7-14, including a number of Bolton School pupils. These NCOnline projects replaced the residential courses which had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. NCOGB is an organisation that Ian has been involved with as a percussion tutor for several decades. Further information about the NCOGB organisation can be found at www.nco.org.uk. At Bolton School, Ian leads on instrumental teaching and is responsible for managing our visiting specialist instrumental and vocal teachers. He coordinates the exam entries for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and Trinity College London, and was a consultant for the creation of the most recent ABRSM Percussion Syllabus. As a percussion specialist, in addition to giving one-to-one percussion lessons, he directs the Samba Band, Drum Corps, Tuned Percussion Ensemble and Steel Pans Group, often writing the music for those groups. He performs in the bands for school productions and concerts, is an Arts Award advisor, and has been a percussion tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music Junior Department for over 30 years.

Manchester Camerata, Manchester Concert Orchestra, London Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra – performing in prestigious venues throughout the UK, Europe and the USA, broadcasting on television and radio, and playing on scores of commercially available CDs. On Wednesday 21st October, our first virtual concert was made available online. This consisted of a series of videos demonstrating a wide variety of instruments and musical styles, played by a selection of our talented musicians. The ten pupils from Years 8-13 performed solo items on piano, cello, guitar, organ, drum kit, tuba, violin and voice. Thirteen Year 7 soloists treated us to a virtual concert on Tuesday 24th November, demonstrating impressive skills on cucurbit flute, clarinet, saxophone, violin, piano, electric guitar and drum kit. There was no lessening of festive cheer and warmth as our Christmas Festival also went virtual this year on Wednesday 16th December. Thank you to Mr. Newbould for providing the following description of the event. Headmaster Philip Britton anchored the event live from a socially distanced Great Hall and the evening comprised the traditional mix of congregational carols, readings, prayers and reflections, some of which were pre-recorded. After an invitation to worship by Year 13 student Nathan Burudi, Once in Royal David’s City proved the popular curtain-raiser that it always is and undoubtedly had Zoom viewers at home delightedly lending their voices. Henry Hughes of Year 7 offered a confident and delightful solo rendition of the first verse. This was followed by the initial reading of the evening from Jeremiah 23: v5-6, which was read by Year 7 boy Dhilan Jacobs; then came ‘The Advent Virus’, a reflection by Year 13 student Thomas Higham.

The 12-strong Joint Drum Corps performing at the Bridgewater Hall in 2019 Prior to joining Bolton School, Ian played professionally with many of the UK’s finest orchestras, including the BBC Philharmonic, Hallé,

Girls’ voices were added to the evening with the Joint Chamber Choir’s wonderful rendering of Baby in an Ox’s Stall before Year 8’s Luke McGuigan Lazo made a reading from Luke I: v26-33 and Christopher Ejeh of Year 7 offered the reflection, ‘Christmas Thoughts’.

MUSIC & THE CREATIVE ARTS 59

Music & The Creative Arts Choirs, in appropriate year group bubbles, sang a joyous Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! before James Wilson (Year 8) also read from the Book of Luke, choosing ‘The Magnificat’ v46-55 and Alex Chadwick (Year 7) gave a reflection on ‘All Those Amazing Dreams’. The Joint Senior Concert Band then played an upbeat and lifeaffirming version of Shine Bright.

Toner and I met on numerous occasions to discuss which show we would produce and where it would be staged. Unfortunately, as a result of COVID-19, we had to continually revisit and revise our plans and, as time went on, we were nearly beaten by the limitations and restrictions. However, we wanted to try to work out how we could produce something that would showcase the singing and acting talents of senior pupils from both Divisions. So we decided to try to prepare something that could be rehearsed and eventually released online as, much of the time, the pupils weren’t in school. This wasn’t easy! The challenges we faced included conducting rehearsals and teaching harmony parts online; putting together duets where the two performers never actually met; and creating the best quality without access to much of our usual technology and locations. In fact, much of the filming and recording was done by the pupils in their own homes, with lots of guidance and tuition from Mrs. Toner and Mrs. Fielding. This was a great example of Bolton School pupils and staff showing true grit and determination to create a production against all the odds.

The fourth reading of the evening was read by Ed Goodfellow, a Year 8 pupil, and was of Matthew II: v1-3 and v7-12. Bomi Shodipo from Year 7 followed this with the reflection ‘The Work of Christmas Begins’. The Chamber Choir Boys offered an ethereal and spiritual singing of Carol of Winter Peace. Headmaster Mr. Britton read from John I: v1-14 before Year 13 student Jude Ashcroft delivered ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas – An Advent Reflection’. The Senior Concert Band then returned to centre stage playing a very festive and foot-tapping Feliz Navidad. The special guest for the evening was Rev. Dave Brae, the Associate Minister at St. Peter’s Halliwell and Young Adults Pioneer in Bolton town centre, and he offered the audience a meditation which focused on Joseph, one of the heroes of scripture that, he believes, is often overlooked. He told the boys that reflecting on the story of Joseph should teach them about honour, humility and resilience as they grow up. Year 7 boy Leo Simpson read ‘A Prayer for Christmas’ before the ceremony ended, as is traditional, with an uplifting singing of O Come, All Ye Faithful!. The retiring collection, online this year, was for Barnardos and Create Boltones, which offers an opportunity for people with a learning disability to play music and have fun.

Spring Term On Tuesday 2nd February, we enjoyed a Year 8 Virtual Concert, which featured 18 solo performers on cornet, violin, viola, cello, piano, guitar, electric guitar, dhol, drum kit and voice. In March, we were scheduled to produce another spectacular Joint Music Production. Twelve months prior to that, Mrs. Fielding, Mrs.

60 MUSIC & THE CREATIVE ARTS

At last, the 2021 Musical Production ‘The Bolton School Mixtapes Songs from the Shows’ was able to go ahead in the form of two half hour videos, released on YouTube on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th March, hosted by Mr. Britton and Miss Hincks. The production featured songs from shows that Bolton School had produced over recent years, plus others from shows that we thought we might produce in the future. They were performed by pupils in Years 1013 from the Girls’ Division and the Boys’ Division.

Music & The Creative Arts There were some brilliant creative moments from the performers and I am indebted to Mrs. Toner, Mrs. Fielding, Nick Collinson (film and sound recording editor) and all of our pupils for all of their hard work and enthusiasm.

Performer was Charlie Middleton (Year 13), singing They Just Keep Moving The Line by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Summer Term Wednesday 21st April brought us the Final of our annual Young Musician of the Year competition. This was the culmination of a process which had begun with Heats in January in which hundreds of boys submitted video entries for consideration. 82 musicians were selected as semi-finalists by Music Department staff, and their recorded performances were expertly judged live via Zoom connections on Wednesday 10th February by North West based conductor, Ellie Slorach. Each instrumental category semi-finalist then performed live in the Final, adjudicated onsite at school by Karen Humphreys MBE, Head of Junior RNCM. As it had not been possible to invite a public audience, the event was filmed and later shared on YouTube for all to enjoy these outstanding performances. All of the finalists were category winners in their own right, and it was no easy task to choose the two outright Young Musicians of the Year. The Junior prize went to Antoine Jodeau (Year 7), who played the Star Wars Title Theme by John Williams. The Senior prize was awarded to Jude Ashcroft (Year 13), who sang The Schmuel Song by Jason Robert Brown.

Antoine Jodeau 7d Other award winners in the Young Musician of the Year competition also performed as part of the occasion. The Junior and Senior Young Composers of the Year were Advaith Govindu (Year 7) with his piano piece, Tranquil, and Matthew Settle (Year 12), who composed Pie Jesu. 2021’s Most Promising

Jude Ashcroft 13f

Advaith Govindu 7c

Matthew Settle 12f Karen Humphreys congratulated all of the boys on their excellent musicianship and commented on the joy of performing for a live audience – something that has been sorely missed during the pandemic! She told both sets of finalists that she had enjoyed all of their performances and reiterated: ‘You are all winners!’

Charlie Middleton 13f Each winner was presented with a trophy and a cash prize. The Junior Finalists (in performance order) were: • Matthew Yeung (Year 7) Serenade by Gaspar Cassadó - violin • Antoine Jodeau (Year 7) Star Wars Title Theme by John Williams - cornet • Martin Ma (Year 7) Bamboo House Love Song by Haiying Li - cucurbit flute • William Martin (Year 9) Pasticcio by Jean Langlais - organ • James Wilson (Year 8) Old Bones Blues by Kit Morgan electric guitar • Ashton Kay (Year 9) Pop It In The Top by Luke Aldridge drum kit • Nathan Pierson (Year 8) Ain’t Misbehavin’ by Fats Waller - vocal The Senior Finalists (in performance order) were: • Thomas Higham (Year 13) Concerto in F minor: I. Allegro by Weber - clarinet • Harry Adams (Year 10) Russian Fantasia No.2 in D minor by Leo Portnoff - violin • Tom Fox (Year 12) Study No. 56 by Georg Kopprasch - tuba • Jamie Death (Year 11) Brazil Overture by Ralph Salmins drum kit

MUSIC & THE CREATIVE ARTS 61

Music & The Creative Arts • Jude Ashcroft (Year 13) The Schmuel Song by Jason Robert Brown - vocal • William Miles (Year 12) Impromptu No. 3 in Gb by Schubert piano • Harry Paterson (Year 13) Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder bass guitar

A huge thank you to all of our performers who have entertained us with their splendid performances throughout the academic year and to our accompanists, Mrs. Whitmore and Ms. Lien.

On Tuesday 11th May, the Girls’ Division May Serenade was streamed live from the Girls’ Division Great Hall. Pupils, staff and their families gathered at home to enjoy this traditional evening of music making. Soloists, choirs and one ensemble made the most of the opportunity to perform for an audience. The Joint Chamber Choir sang Jason Robert Brown’s The New World, conducted by Mr. Ainscough and accompanied by Mrs. Whitmore and Mr. Forgrieve. Unfortunately, technical difficulties on the night meant that the stream cut out half way through the programme. However, ‘the show must go on’ and the remaining acts performed for the cameras! The recording was later released via YouTube.

Music Colours _______________________________________________________

Tuesday 15th June saw the release of our final concert of the year, a virtual Summer Concert featuring the talents of five Year 13 soloists and our Joint Concert Band, Joint Chamber Choir, Guitar Group and Drum Corps. Senior Prize Giving on Wednesday 30th June took place in Great Hall with reduced numbers of socially distanced invited guests. Superb solo performances were given by Harry Adams (Year 10) on violin of Russian Fantasia No.2 in D minor by Leo Portnoff, accompanied by Mrs. Whitmore, and by William Miles (Year 12) with his rendition on piano of Schubert’s Impromptu No.3 in Gb. Mr. Spooner also delighted us with impressive solo organ items.

Mr J. C. Bleasdale

rts Colours (Music) are a public recognition of talent and ongoing dedication to work within Music. Music Colours were awarded to the following boys: Name Jude Ashcroft Adam Battersby Alfie Birkett Thomas Britton Ben Flood Thomas Higham James Hopkinson Joshua Kay Max Kelly Charlie Middleton William Miles Anuj Mishra Harry Paterson Laurence Britton Jamie Death Tom Fox Thomas Martin Rishi Narla Xuan Wang Brandon Yuen

Form 13f 13d 13e 13a 13h 13b 12d 13f 13e 13f 12f 12i 13f 11c 11e 12e 12h 11f 11d 11e

Colour Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Half Half Half Half Half Half Half

Mr. I K Forgrieve

Instrumental Music Examinations _______________________________________________________ Harry Adams on violin

William Miles at the piano

The final event of the year that included music was the Lower School Prize Giving on Thursday 1st July. Our Junior Young Musician, Antoine Jodeau (Year 7) performed the Star Wars Title Theme by John Williams on cornet, and our Junior Young Composer, Advaith Govindu (Year 7) played his own composition, Tranquil, for solo piano. These were performances of which they should feel very proud.

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Music & The Creative Arts resume in earnest. Digital examination videos can be recorded and entered at any time, and they are submitted independently by candidates, rather than by using School as an exam centre. Listed below are the ABRSM, LCM, Rockschool and Trinity results that I have been made aware of at the time of writing. Many congratulations to all of the pupils and their teachers on these splendid results. Mr. I. K Forgrieve

Senior School Jude Ashcroft 13f

ABRSM Singing ABRSM Musical Theatre Thomas Higham 13b Trinity Clarinet ABRSM Piano Laurence Britton 11c Trinity Drum Kit Trinity Drum Kit Jamie Death 11e Trinity Drum Kit Alfie Birkett 13e Trinity Cello Harry Paterson 13f Trinity Piano Joshua Kay 13f Trinity Singing Anuj Mishra 12i Trinity Singing Thomas Britton 13a Trinity Classical Guitar Rikin Patel 12g Trinity Classical Guitar Ben Flood 13h Trinity Singing Rishi Narla 11f Trinity Singing Trinity Singing Max Kelly 13e Trinity Bassoon James Bowie 10e Trinity Rock Drum Kit Barnaby Keogh 11c Trinity Piano Arsh Patankar 12h Trinity Piano Nathan Pierson 8e Trinity Singing George Houghton 10c Trinity Clarinet Ben Turner 10c Trinity Clarinet Jacob Hughes 11e ABRSM Guitar Amrit Mishra 9f Trinity Guitar Trinity Piano Trinity Classical Guitar Yash Anand 9c Trinity Electric Guitar Trinity Rock Electric Guitar Rishen Raja 12b Trinity Piano Willam Martin 9e ABRSM Organ Luke Eburne 13i Trinity Singing Ethan Caswell 9e Rockschool Vocal Toby Yates 10f Trinity Classical Guitar Jack Fearnley 9b Trinity Piano Max Turner 12b Rockschool Vocal Xuan Wang 11d ABRSM Organ Nishan Sharma 7d LCM Piano Trinity Clarinet Alexander McKie 10a Trinity Singing

ARSM Grade 8 Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 8 Grade 8 Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 7 Grade 7 Grade 6 Grade 6 Grade 4 Grade 6 Grade 6 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 5 Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 3 Grade 4

Distinction Merit Distinction Distinction Distinction Pass Distinction Distinction Distinction Merit Distinction Pass Pass Distinction Distinction Distinction Merit Merit Distinction Distinction Distinction Merit Merit Merit Merit Distinction Pass Merit Distinction Merit Merit Merit Merit Pass Pass Pass Distinction Distinction Merit Distinction

Dhilan Jacobs 7a Freddie Higham 12i Oliver Scales 7a Will Fothergill 11c Ed Goodfellow 8e Sid Kumar 7a Aidan Shum 9f Jax Ho 7c Toby Holt-Gregson 9c Thomas Humphreys 8f Michael Gatenby 9d Harry Brown 9c Adi Darshan 8d Ethan Caswell 9e Danny Heywood 10d James Wilson 8d Kyran Chitre 8b Jamie Latchford 10e Peter McCreedy 7g Reuben Rowley 7c Adam Winter 8e Freddie Wardle 7g Elliot Guest 7d

Rockschool Electric Guitar ABRSM Piano ABRSM Flute Trinity Drum Kit Trinity Classical Guitar Rockschool Electric Guitar Trinity Piano LCM Piano Trinity Piano Trinity Piano Rockschool Vocal Trinity Clarinet Rockschool Drum Kit Trinity Classical Guitar Trinity Classical Guitar Rockschool Electric Guitar Rockschool Electric Guitar Trinity Piano Rockschool Electric Guitar ABRSM Violin Trinity Violin Trinity Classical Guitar Trinity Piano Trinity Saxophone

Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 2 Grade 2 Grade 2 Grade 2 Grade 1

Merit Merit Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Merit Merit Merit Merit Merit Merit Merit Pass Merit Merit Merit Merit Distinction

Creative Learning _______________________________________________________

his was a school year in which we were creative about being creative. As both pupils and staff, we had to re-envisage and invent projects that could happen in our homes, might happen in person, were often hybrid between home and school and that could take place with careful social distancing in our processes yet still reach a wide school audience.

Community Arts – ‘Revisioning Poetry’ On National Poetry Day, poet Andrew McMillan, in conjunction with the Boys’ Division, launched a poetry workshop for children aged 1118 years and their teachers and a subsequent competition for children aged 5-18 years across the borough. The competition related to the National Poetry Day theme of ‘Vision’. The award-winning poet was excited to see what the brilliant minds of Bolton came up with in response to this challenge. He made the point that, “poetry has a unique way of capturing the contemporary moment, of keeping a record of things we’ll look back on in years to come so others can learn about what living through this time was like”. He considered it, “a chance for young people to put onto the page how they have felt, how they have

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Music & The Creative Arts lived, what they’ve missed and what they’re hoping for” in the times we find ourselves in. Andrew ran a free online workshop via Zoom, in which he encouraged young people to explore new ways of looking, seeing and imagining the world. Pupils and staff were guided through new writing techniques to explore the world around us, from private spaces in the home, to local streets and the town at large. Activities looked back into history and looked forward into the world we might want to build. The Secondary School challenge for 11-18 year olds asked entrants to write a poem from an unusual point of view. McMillan suggested that the poems might look at things slightly askew, from the point of view of an inanimate object, or from several different views at once. He encouraged students to surprise themselves with their approaches – to move away from the idea that a poem is just a poet looking at someone or something and describing it. Christian Stapleton (Year 12), was selected as the overall winner. McMillan praised his poem, ‘Trench of Youth’, describing it as: “a poem that takes a unique, original form. It is really three poems in one, each one shedding new light on the others – a three-dimensional experience”. Christian reflected, “I really enjoyed inventing and playing with the structure of my poem, envisioning the best way to convey my ideas by both weaving themes together and contrasting narrative threads. I was interested in conveying the clockwork nature that can be forced on relationships by habit and expectation. Now, the idea of readers drawing their own conclusions about my work is just as exciting as doing the work in the first place – it’s a huge privilege to be published and to have an audience!” The Primary School challenge for children aged 5-10 years asked pupils to think about something they encounter every day. The poet suggested they might think about something small such as a spoon in the kitchen cutlery drawer or conversely, something big, like a particular tree at the end of the street or the building that they attend school in. The twist was to imagine that one day, their focus vanished and to write about that disappearance. Lucy, aged 10, from St. Catherine’s CE Primary School in Horwich was the Primary Category winner. She was very excited to have her work recognised and said, “My dad introduced me to Brian Cox and I have been interested in space ever since. I wanted to bring that interest into my poem.” McMillan described Lucy’s work as a poem in which “the world is transformed by this unique departure; the idea that the waves die, the great image of the ‘winking stars’, and the ending are all very powerful”. Maisie, also aged 10 and from St. Catherine’s, wrote a poem that received a Commendation from

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Andrew. Maisie said, “I wrote about the disappearance of my brain because that would be such a dramatic moment in many ways. I wanted to introduce a cliffhanger to make my poem spooky! At the end of the poem, I used repetition to have a questioning effect on the reader. I wanted my poem to be like a guessing game, in which the reader had to guess what happened to the character. I really enjoyed the rhyming and having poem fun with friends!” The young writers’ work was published in the ‘Revisioning Poetry’ anthology. Andrew McMillan’s debut collection physical was the first ever poetry collection to win ‘The Guardian’ First Book Award. The collection also won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, a Somerset Maugham Award (2016), an Eric Gregory Award (2016) and a Northern Writers’ Award (2014). In 2019 it was voted as one of the top 25 poetry books of the past 25 years by the Booksellers Association. His second collection, playtime, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2018; it was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2018, a Poetry Book of the Month in both ‘The Observer’ and ‘The Telegraph’, a Poetry Book of the Year in ‘The Sunday Times’ and won the inaugural Polari Prize.

Andrew’s photo comes courtesy of Urszula Soltys

Andrew’s latest collection, pandemonium, was released in May 2021. He is a senior lecturer at the Manchester Writing School at MMU and lives in Manchester.

‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ In July, with a return to the school building in September planned, yet the threat of lockdowns still looming, we broached the question, ‘how might we create a piece of theatre at home and then possibly bring it to audiences under the strict constraints of social distancing?’ The answer was to produce a piece of theatre for film, beginning at home and imagining a return to school at some point – a challenge that came with a quantum chess rule book. Employing the services of Sitcom Soldiers, a film company founded by Old Boys Ben Thornley and Chris Jones, the School settled on producing a filmed version of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. The cast auditioned online, rehearsed via the creative crucible of Zoom for months, rehearsed in person for

Music & The Creative Arts just a few days in bubbles, and then rose to the challenge of socially distanced theatre for film. The Great Hall at school was a socially distanced film set for three days. A couple of the cast had to isolate at home during the filming days, but through the wonder of technology were still able to feature in the film as celestial voices.

The show is reviewed in full here by former pupil Sam Warburton: ‘For this year’s festive production, pupils staged an adaptation of Frank Capra’s classic Christmas film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.

This iconic tale follows George Bailey. George runs the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan, a small business which supports the townsfolk and prevents the villainous businessman Mr. Potter from gaining full control over the town. In serious financial trouble, George contemplates suicide. His guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, is sent from Heaven to save George. Clarence shows George how his kindness has helped others. With George still suicidal, Clarence shows him how the town and his friends would suffer if George had never existed. Realising he has actually lived a wonderful life, George rushes back to his family and the townsfolk donate enough money to save the Building and Loan. Clarence is finally given his angel wings and all ends happily.

The entire cast performed superbly. Charlie Griffiths took on the role of George, perfectly capturing a man whose kindness and selflessness manage to overcome despair and hopelessness. Standout performances came from Jude Ashcroft and Finley Littlefair, who played Mr. Potter and Clarence respectively. Jude’s portrayal of the sneering and ruthless Mr. Potter was simply spot on and his accent and delivery were masterful. Finley conveyed the optimism and joyfulness of Clarence excellently; he was the emotional anchor of the piece. Strong supporting performances came from Emilie Fielding (playing George’s loyal and caring wife Mary), Anthony Johnson (playing George’s warm but bumbling Uncle Billy), Rosalyn Harper (playing Violet Bick, a long-time admirer of George) and Matthew Settle (playing George’s successful brother Harry).

Despite the immense challenges posed by the pandemic, the production was a technical triumph. Scenes from Capra’s film were cleverly integrated into the play, fuelling a poignant and warm feeling of nostalgia. The online format also allowed the many flashback scenes to work seamlessly. The use of lighting was effective, particularly in scenes with Mr. Potter, who is often flanked on both sides by his imposing shadow. The costume was authentic and props were used well. Watching George struggle to sit in a deliberately small chair in Potter’s office was great fun. Whilst we could not come together physically to watch this performance, the cast and crew managed to put together a full evening of entertainment. Opening and closing comments from Charlie and Jude set the mood well and musical numbers from Josh Kay in the interval added authenticity to the evening. A short film

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Music & The Creative Arts Finley Littlefair interviewed poet Andrew McMillan about the prominent themes of his work, and James Roberts interviewed Liam Maloney, a lecturer in Music at the University of York, about his Foundations of House project and Anuj Mishra interviewed curator Stephen Welsh.

was also played in the interval, with the cast reflecting on what ‘a wonderful life’ means to them. At the end of a long and difficult year, this show could not be more timely and welcome. ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is a beloved classic because it is simple, sincere and heart-warming – this is what the cast and crew managed to capture. The show’s final moments, which saw the cast singing Auld Lang Syne in the Great Hall together, epitomised this. Thanks must go to all involved, including the cast, school staff, parents and professionals from The Octagon and Sitcom Soldiers for putting together this brilliant and creative adaptation.’ Our film reached over 500 households, internationally, on the evening of the premiere. Over the final days of the term, in December, the whole School watched the film, serialised over several lunchtimes. The film is now available to watch on Bolton School TV.

‘CreativesNow’ Time at home gave us time in earnest to meet as an editorial team, of staff and Sixth Form students, to reconceive the format and reach of our Arts publication, ‘CreativesNow’. Concurrent with the pandemic, a whole range of issues came to the fore in 2020, which we experienced as a cultural emergency – creative organisations boarded up, climate and racial equality protests just some of the headlines. The Autumn/Winter 2020 edition explored cultural freedoms and crisis, and invited alumni to publish opinion pieces alongside staff and pupils. Student writers also took the opportunity to attend digital events such as Manchester Literature Festival and Bolton Film Festival; they used these events as an opportunity to review newly released poetry, fiction and film, and also sought opportunities to network, gaining the opportunity to interview leaders in a range of cultural fields.

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For 15 years, Stephen was a curator, creative producer and project manager at both the International Slavery Museum and Manchester Museum and sat on several committees including the Islamic Art and Material Culture Subject Specialist Network, the Royal Northern College of Music Collection of Historic Instruments and the National Heritage Lottery Fund North. He now works as a freelancer to help the sector he loves embed equitability and to have greater social impact. In recognition of this work, he was reappointed to the National Heritage Lottery Fund North committee, and newly appointed as a trustee at Homotopia, a mentor at Museum Futures, and a contributing editor at the Journal of Museum Ethnography. He spoke with Anuj about the repatriation of museum items, the controversy surrounding our public monuments and the model of Victorian philanthropy that founded many of our local, regional and national museums and galleries. You can read the Autumn/Winter 2020 edition, here: The Spring/Summer 2021 edition of the magazine considered culture in times of rapid change. The publication also followed the themes of the RSA Design Awards – ‘Roots to Empowerment’ (unveiling our cultural past to create premises for a better future), ‘Switched On’ (innovations in digital learning and tackling digital poverty) and ‘Lessons from Nature’ (seeking design inspiration from nature to improve our learning environments) and was again, populated by the reflections of students, staff, alumni and guest interviewees. The Sixth Formers who were part of the RSA Design Awards competition group shared their research and summations in the magazine. Following a panel discussion on art’s relationship to politics and protest, they sought an interview with artist Ibrahim Mahama. They also interviewed distinguished Old Boys Robin Partington, who led the team who built 30 St. Mary Axe, ‘the Gherkin’, and cultural industry guru, Anthony Lilley OBE. Pupils interviewed Ibrahim about his large-scale installation work and his social enterprises – the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art and Redclay Studios in Tamale, Ghana. Mahama was the first artist to exhibit at the White Cube, Lusanga (formerly Leverville) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mahama produces the large draping surfaces by carefully assembling sacks imported by the

Music & The Creative Arts Ghana Cocoa Board and repurposed by charcoal sellers, covering public buildings and monuments in a manner similar to Christo and Jeanne Claude. The sacks present patches, markings and traces of traders’ names and locations on their rough brown skin, which map out the many transits they endure as vessels of commodities. Wrapped around the contours of a museum building, the spreads of jute fibres become an oversized socio political inquiry of the origin of materials, referencing what is normally hidden for the sake of concept or form. Mahama makes visible the mechanisms of trade, which define the world’s economy, and comments on the wealth that founded many of the West’s cultural institutions.

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.

Robin spoke to pupils about biomimicry, how design must adapt to address its material context, buildings’ impacts on the communities they arrive within and the prepersonal intensity of architecture – how buildings are designed to affect feelings and to guide behaviour. Anthony shared details of his career, including his participation in digital as ‘it was the most creative place [he] could be’, in a career that spans theatre production, TV (Top Gear, Dr Who), TV regulation and involvement in running the National Lottery. You can read the edition, here:

RSA Design Awards Finley Littlefair and Anuj Mishra were shortlisted as finalists 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, supported by National Heritage trustee Stephen Welsh and one of the RSA’s judges and NSEAD’s Vice President, Marlene Wylie. NSEAD is the National Society for Education in Art and Design and Marlene is a specialist in anti-racist education.

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 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.

National Leaders for Impact & Partnership with Manchester International Festival Our Director of Creative Learning and Partnership, Ms. Lord, became one of eighteen committed professionals on the Royal Opera House Bridge’s National Leaders for Impact programme 2020/21. The yearlong project sought to progress professionals’ impact upon cultural learning and practice by challenging their thinking and developing new skills, knowledge and networks in order to work and lead more effectively. The programme’s intention was to empower its fellows to bring about change on a whole school, local and national level. The first virtual sessions began in September, as participants began to develop innovative approaches to problem solving, to share inspiration through peer learning, and to pursue a tailored programme of knowledge and practice-based learning. The fellows were eventually able to meet at the Royal Opera House in the summer to share their work in person.

The students’ plans connect School, the Bolton community and other cultural organisations endowed by Lord Leverhulme, to the

Accepting any opening phase of work would be muted due to the pandemic, one of the areas of enquiry explored engagement with the whole school community to guide the forms of creative work that we do. Acknowledging that programme design – curricular and enrichment – should purposefully engage with a school community’s culture and heritage, fellows explored creative ways of listening to

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Music & The Creative Arts The results of this survey have also begun to actively inform our school practices as well as our partnership and outreach work.

their school communities to learn about their family values and home life, to guide creative and cultural programming. During a lockdown ‘Offline Day’, the whole school completed the Mass Observation ‘Mantelpiece Directive’. The Mass Observation Project (MOP) is a unique national life writing project about everyday life in Britain, capturing the experiences, thoughts and opinions of everyday people in the 21st century. Each year, the project issues three ‘Directives’ (open questionnaires) to a panel of hundreds of volunteer writers nationally (known as ‘Observers’). The Archive collates the responses and makes them available for research. Mass Observation – the birth of sociology – originated as a Bolton-based phenomenon in the 1930s. The ‘Mantelpiece Directive’ was one of the very first. Following this Directive, our students related to us, in various forms, the family heritage, stories and shared values displayed with pride in their homes. Pupils reflected on the treasured items in their homes and engaged in conversation with family members about their origins. We have looked at the patterns in this data set – for instance, noticing how many households displayed various forms of handcrafted Arabic calligraphy – and will use this information to introduce themes and activities into our repertoire of arts and culture activities over time. The simple action of listening and noticing details of students’ home cultures, and representing these factors in our work, begins to demonstrate to students how all elements of their daily experience are crafted or designed. Pupils in the Boys’ Division and at Sharples High School were also surveyed to explore their understanding of arts, culture and heritage, how they engage with different forms of cultural activity and where they are most likely to do so. In School, the survey was embedded into a series of three SPACE enrichment afternoons, focused upon regional and local culture and heritage – from Industrial Revolution, via intellectual revolutions (Marx, Engels, Pankhurst, Paine), to Manchester as a capital of the UK’s culture industry. The survey told us that our students believed that arts and culture carried intrinsic value; that their value was something inherited: passed down and defined by arts organisations such as galleries, museums and theatres; and that students believe that arts and culture occasionally happen to them, rather than being part of the fabric of their everyday lives. Add to this picture that the independent, creative activity that students reported happened most frequently at home, in parks and shopping complexes and generally in forms other than the ones we traditionally offer in schools. Students’ majority opinion was that traditional arts venues presented work that was ‘irrelevant’ to them and that they were not populated by ‘their kind of people’. They found it difficult to point to arts practice other than fine art, performance and the direct technical support and curation of those practices.

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Ms. Lord also represents the Boys’ Division as an Arts Council England SLiCE fellow – a Specialist Leader in Cultural Education – via Curious Minds. The School was thereby partnered with Manchester International Festival (MIF) in 2020/21. This project drew together schools across Bolton to examine young people’s access and relationship to arts and culture, to work on removing barriers to participation and to promote young people’s understanding of creative skills and creative industry careers. This design of this project was informed by the Leaders for Impact research.

Your Manifesto School led the co-design of a ‘Your Manifesto’ project with MIF’s creative engagement team and a range of freelance creative producers. Young people in Bolton had the opportunity to deepen their participation in their local arts and culture scene through a series of free Saturday morning workshops running from late March to early May. The project launched at the start of National Careers Week and offered twenty participants the chance to develop arts sector skills and create their own arts events from home and in their local neighbourhoods. The course was focused on its participants: it aimed to provide inspirational experiences and skills, to open conversations with artists and arts leaders, but mostly to listen to and provide a platform

Music & The Creative Arts for young people, allowing them to create work and share messages that are important to them. Applications were open to young people aged 14 to 19 who wanted to learn more about creative jobs, develop skills as artists and creative producers, grow their CVs, take part in inspiring activities and events, meet like-minded people and develop their creative networks. Bolton School and MIF were particularly committed to supporting the applications of individuals from backgrounds or social groups that are currently underrepresented in the creative industries. The workshops included engagement with Manchester International Festival: the group participated as digital audience members in MIF and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s interactive adaptation of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and explored MIF’s ‘Festival in My House and Yours’ project. There were also artist-led workshops, inspiration sessions, conversations with creative leaders, careers pathways and skills sessions. The young people questioned what we mean by arts, culture and heritage and what role these concepts play in our lives. Participants also developed their ideas for creative projects and events, thought about collaborative possibilities and grew their understanding of what it takes to run successful projects, as well as the people and professions involved. Discussion of how to engage a wider range of people with arts, culture and heritage took place alongside planning of personal projects, built-in inspiration sessions and opportunities to share work and ideas.

Arts Award Year 7 boys at Bolton School enjoyed a celebratory round-up of the year’s Bronze Arts Award project following their Prizegiving assembly in which Advaith Govindu won the Creativity Prize for top Arts Award portfolio. Pupils enjoyed a celebration summary video of their work and reflected on their efforts and achievement in creative projects. The Arts Award programme is a range of unique qualifications that support young people to grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world through taking challenges in an art form – from fashion to digital art, pottery to poetry. All boys in Year 7 are guided through the Bronze Award at Bolton School. Arts Award Coordinator Miss Sherry was hugely impressed with the variety of creative ideas Year 7 had produced. The consistent effort, applied both in school and at home, resulted in some high quality projects.

A Midsummer Night’s Deluge Summer 2021 saw a return of live, in person performance for the first time since February 2020. A 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 group managed to meet in person to enjoy exhibitions, attractions and Festival Square during MIF ’21. The model of this pilot project is the basis of what will be a broader offer for young people in Bolton in 2021/22, in partnership with Bolton at Home and funded by Bolton Council.

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.

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Music & The Creative Arts Macbeths haunted by that invisible dagger, the boys demonstrated deep understanding of Shakespeare’s characterisation and use of language. No less impressive were the inventive performance techniques they deployed, given they were completing this competition while working from home. Costumes and props were improvised from the clothes and objects easily available and sets created within their homes. Who would have thought that a living room in the North West could become the Battle of Shrewsbury or a young noblewoman’s chamber in medieval Verona?

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.

Independent School Parents’ School of the Year Award – Performing Arts Finalist The Boys’ Division was shortlisted as a finalist in the Performing Arts category of the Independent School Parents’ School of the Year Awards. Large scale productions and concerts are a staple of school life. Partnership projects enhance School’s offer and, as schools together, initiatives are a mainstay of our cultural programming. Particularly noted were School’s efforts to maintain performing arts activity throughout the pandemic. In 2020/21 there were over 1,000 entries for the Independent School Awards. Ms. N.R. Lord

Shakespeare Performance Competition _______________________________________________________

n February 2021, Years 7-10 competed in the first Bolton School Boys’ Division Shakespeare Performance competition. Charged with memorising one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches and then filming themselves performing it, the boys rose to the challenge magnificently. From Henry Vs inspiring their men at Agincourt and playful Pucks bidding their audiences farewell to Shylocks exposing the horrors of anti-Semitism and murderous

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The initial round was judged by class teachers, after which the Semi-final and Final rounds were externally judged by actress and drama teacher Nicola Smythe. The winners for each year group were Henrique Gaio Silva (Year 7), Bill Hope (Year 8), Isaac Lucas (Year 9) and Jacob Audley (Year 10) and the overall champion for 2021 was Luca Ramirez Nievas from Year 7. Our congratulations to the winners and many thanks to Mrs. Johnson, who coordinated the competition. Ms. H.K.R. Thomson

Performing Arts Colours _______________________________________________________

rts Colours (Drama) are a public recognition of talent and ongoing dedication to work within Performing Arts. Arts Colours were awarded to the following boys: Name Zayd Ascroft Jude Ashcroft Thomas Britton Charlie Griffiths Anthony Johnson Josh Kay Max Kelly Finley Littlefair Ibrahim Ali Max Bianchi Nat Gatenby Tom Hothersall Anuj Mishra James Roberts Matthew Settle Christian Stapleton

Form 13a 13f 13a 13c 13e 13f 13e 12d 12a 12d 12e 12c 12i 12d 12f 12h

Colour Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Half Half Half Half Half Half Half Half

Creative Writing & Artwork

Zain Akram 11f ‘Tech Roosting’ (a parody of ‘Hawk Roosting’ by Ted Hughes) I know all of your secrets. I know your every move. All your views are in my knowledge. I know just where you are. Like an eagle from his vantage point, I see you and you cannot hide. Each word you enter is in my memory. Trust me. I’ll swoop in when I’m ready, You’ll see what I want you to. And that which I deem worthless Will be invisible to all. Everything’s in place already For you to be in my hands. In time you’ll come back to me And your future will be in my hands.

Bhavesh Raghvani 11f ‘The New Colossus’ (a parody of ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley I met a traveller from a decrepit land He said: A vast wreck lays by the destruction, Surrounded by grand monoliths of steel. Near them, A sunken torch lies, its blue hue glinting in the sun. The metallic flame stands shattered, impaled upon foreign vessels, A hulking arm gingerly stretches towards the crown at the centre, Whose solemn head tells of supremacy and belonging. Stamped yet scratched above ancient weaponry lay these words, ‘From her beacon-hand grows worldwide welcome, Lifting her lamp and keys beside the golden gates For she is Liberty, right of rights; Look upon her works, ye tyrannical, and despair!’ Nothing besides neglect. Round the radiance Of that sunken wreck, filled with flags streaking red The lone and huddled masses breathe for freedom. Ewan Davies 10c

Each search you make, Each post you write, Each step you take Is in my mind. Challenge me, I dare you! You’ll just be silenced more. I know you inside out And I can take you down. Ben Rimmer 10b

Oliver Leach 13b

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Creative Writing & Artwork ‘Mouse Waiting’ (a parody of ‘Hawk Roosting’ by Ted Hughes)

‘Meadow’ (a parody of ‘The Prelude’ by William Wordsworth)

All of my life I have been at the bottom of the jungle, Just dreaming for something better. The bottom of the hierarchy, This is how it forever would be.

Nestled, at peace within the enshrouding arms of rolling hills, Far from the eye of confined minds and shackled senses Sits my meadow.

Leaving home only in the dark, That is the only way to stay alive, Sleeping underground, To pass through the daytime. But one fateful night, The hawk was out late searching. I was lifted from the earth And carried high up. Flying through the air The wind blasting at my face, Looking down at where I once was And laughing at my peers. I felt like a prince And the hawk was the king. I was grateful to him As he gave me this feeling. But as all things are, This couldn’t last forever. My time of power must end Because the hawk needed a meal. Ben Turner 10c

My lazy meadow – beckons in fresh, the weary west wind, Rustling the wild and emerald grass. A sea of gems, ripe for plunder – Ours for the taking. And so we did, immersed in our own universe, we created our own path Through the sea of wild flowers, a gentle brush from an absent minded bee. We were giants, ploughing through this tiny reality, both benign yet ruthless. Our kingdom teetered over the edge of the abyss-future. What was to come? Yet as the dark clouds drew ever closer we ignored them still, Now as pirates, swinging from the boughs of the resolute, old oak tree And dived in its shadowy depths. Down the spindly stream; we embraced its sparkling sapphire visage. Castaways on a calm sea, no breath of air tainted its pure surface as we were content enough to simply breathe. Yet, as the dark crept ever closer, we crept ourselves, Into the safety of a cramped warren. We would not give ourselves to the night. Yet, time ticks on. Night has settled, though nothing is ever truly gone. Distant stars twinkle and a forgotten treasure is rediscovered, the image is as crisp and clear as the day of its inception. Then, and only then, Can the warmth of childhood be felt again. Alexander McKie 10a

Cameron Geskell 10d

Bill Danson 11b

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Creative Writing & Artwork ‘Government watching’ (a parody of ‘Hawk Roosting’ by Ted Hughes) I sit watching across my great land, watching, and staring. Ready to act, always. Robbing all the citizens who dwell, To feed my ever-growing bureaucracy. Leave your house more than once a day? Oh! The dismay; a fine if you please. My job is to disrupt, For I am always there, lingering. Like a bitter cancer that spreads, I wait. Waiting for your mistakes. I punish who I please, for it is all mine – Mine. My manners are stripping your rights. But I insist, I am here to serve. But always ready to give you what you deserve. The people are mine. And they always will be. It will never change or end. They might think they’re in charge; The empty promise of a democracy. But my leaders are really not on display. I am in your home, I am in your work. I am everywhere, And I always will be. You can never defeat me, For the system always wins. No matter what the party, no matter the politics, All I will ever seek is power. To intervene – It’s my pleasure; To corrupt the thoughts of our youth It’s what I desire. For I am still in control, I am still watching, For I descend from the greats of history. The sun has set on freedom – Make no mistake, I will rob you of night and day – For I am never going away. Levi Higham 10b

Josh Kay 13f ‘A Memory that breezed by’ Summer breeze, distracting from the swelt’ring summer heat, As clouds breeze by and blue birds tweet, And dogs bark at pigeons, and pigeons coo back, I trudge myself up the hill, dragging my scooter, But knowing what childish fun awaits, I stay on track. Top of the hill, I can see for many metres, But to my small, infant eye, that must’ve seem’d like miles, And all was quiet, and I felt immortal, As I grabbed my scooter, And kicked the ground like there was no time to dawdle. The speed was exhilarating, and a shock to the system, I felt as light as paper as I flew down that hill, My dad became distant as I neared the ground, Putting out a foot, I scraped to a halt, Putting shame to the weathered asphalt. But such a moment would not stay around, It would breeze away, like the clouds on that day, But then I had an idea that seemed profound, Get my dad to film it, that’s a great idea! So I demanded, ‘Press record’, and went down without a fear.

CREATIVE WRITING & ARTWORK 73

Creative Writing & Artwork It was as good as the last time, nay, better! The breeze hit my face even colder and stronger, Birds became blurs, and I felt light as a feather, As I put out my foot, ready to stop, But the speed was too great, and stop I could not. First came the lift off, as my wheel hit a bump, My lack of weight no longer felt sweet, rather sickening, And my stomach dropped as my scooter went DUNK, And as my body started to grind against the gravelly ground, My heart felt like a motor as it started to pound. It pounded harder, as it made its way to my mouth, Through the throat, feeling like a lump, My shorts didn’t cover my knees, so as things went south, Pebbles bit into them, and so they bled, And all I wanted was to go back to bed. Charlie Silvester 10b

‘The Leaving’ The year is 1939. A man walks into his house in the suburbs of Wigan, where his wife is waiting for him in the porch. Man: Ah darling! How are you today? Wife: (looks angrily at him) I know what you’re planning, Benjamin. Man: What do you mean? What are you talking about? Wife: Did you really think you could leave me all by myself? With no goodbye, or see you soon? Man: Margaret... it’s not what you think this ... Wife: I know exactly what this is. Man: Darling, please! What have I done wrong? Wife: Oh, for Heavens sake! Tell the truth, Benjamin! You know very well what this is. I know about your little scheme! Man: What little scheme!? Wife: You’re going off to war! And don’t even try to deny it! Man: ... Wife: The children have been crying ever since they found out! Are you really going to leave this family all alone to die in this stupid war? (The wife’s rage turns to tears. She goes to him and gives him a hug as she cries over his shoulder.) Wife: All I ever wanted was for this family to thrive. All I ever wanted was somebody to love and love me back. Man: ... (speechless) Wife: I don’t want to lose you like we lost your brother. Man: Darling, I have to go. Please. It’s what James would have wanted. I’m sorry. I need to go. Wife: (speaking softly) Alright... Just, please promise you’ll come back to us. Man: Of course, Margaret, it’s all I will be able to think about. (Man gets up and hugs his wife for a long while. He’s goes upstairs to say goodbye to his children. He picks up a bag and walks through the door.) Oliver Icely 7b

Will Duffy 11b

The following character-themed pieces were year group winners in the Literacy Competition

Matthew Hope 11f

74 CREATIVE WRITING & ARTWORK

Creative Writing & Artwork An extract taken from ‘The Dark Orb’

‘Bravery’

Staring up at the gleaming full moon, Julius felt the hands of fear run their claws on his spine. Trembling, he took a step towards the dark orb, it’s inside darker than the night sky. Footsteps were approaching, he had to finish this. “DON’T DO THIS!” A voice cut through the silence of the forest like a knife. Julius reached out a hand for the black stone, and grabbed it.

Bravery is hard to find, If you look deep down it will be there, Heroics from the war come to mind, All these years on do we still care?

Sullivan had arrived too late. It hadn’t helped that he was 16, and it had taken him about an hour to find his way through the place, but that wasn’t important now. The boy had doomed the world. His eyes widened in horror as he witnessed what the orb was doing. It was creating a huge black cloud, and Julius was being sucked inside. Julius looked at Sullivan, and reached out a hand, but it was too late. The cloud had fully engulfed him. “Julius. Julius! JULIUS!” Sullivan screamed for his brother, but it was too late. Julius was gone. “Aah. Sullivan.” A voice came from inside the cloud, but it wasn’t Julius. No, that was was ancient, and evil. “You failed. Your pathetic brother has freed me.” Sullivan fell to his knees as Julius came out of the cloud, but he looked completely different. His skin was pale, so pale, as if he had never seen the sun. His teeth as sharp as daggers, every last one of them. His eyes, even the whites of them, were now pure black. His mouth widened into a smile, no, a smirk. “Bow to your ruler, and I may spare you.” “Why should I?” Sullivan growled. “You have taken my brother, and I would rather die than bow to you.” “Aah, courage. A useless trait.” The thing spoke calmly, but every word was spoken with an edge, an edge that could hurt someone just as badly as a knife. Sullivan got up, and said menacingly, “I will never bow to you.” “I can tell. I can also see that you want to fight me. So, how about this? Tomorrow, in this same place, we will battle. If you lose, I will take your soul and turn you into one of my Shadows. If you win, I’ll let your brother go.” Sullivan opened his mouth, and closed it. He turned around, and left. Alan Al-Talibani 8c

Time has passed, heroes still in our thoughts, Proudly remembered they will be, As we try to recollect the wars they fought, Battles won and lost in air and land and sea. Brave and afraid, doing their best to survive, Young men in their prime sent off to war, For their country they laid down their lives, Precious future freedom is what this was all for. Their ultimate sacrifices we will remember, with poppies, prayers, thoughts and silence every November. Lewis Bailey 9c

Jack Fisher 13d ‘1312’ The subtle clacking of metal clad boots worried the protesting soul of the city. Their heels against the pavement seemed to stand out amongst the frustrated screams that pleaded for change. As if it were routine, the vicious army of men with plastic shields approached; their immense padding saving them from the so-called danger lurking within. Their forceful walking seemed urgent. Such conviction and power beneath every step: revenge was on their minds. Behind them, malevolent flames climbed towards the sky, reaching out of the vehicle in which they originated and concealing the heavens. For a moment, the possessed minds of the opposite side seemed as anxious as we were. The noise was almost deafening. An enraged pulse beat through the crowd as we shouted and swore at the pathetic mob ahead. However, the sounds which rippled through the air were deflected off their shields; our words of contempt meant nothing to them. Evil flames continued to grow. Their dirty, rust colour spreading up. Spreading out. Black clouds seemed to expand and settle like a heavy, depressing blanket on the streets around us. Sporadic flames

Jake Hudson 11c

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Creative Writing & Artwork danced within the chaos. Feeding off the ruckus it had begun, it licked its lips with a sinister glee. Amongst the darkness, the army stood. Our disorder was immensely unmatched, but we moved with one mind. A single belief tied us all together; a hatred for those opposing. Furious chants consumed my thoughts as sweat trickled down my displeased face. Although the impending doom of the army was closing in, we felt unstoppable. A world of freedom sat at our feet, almost within reach. Crashes of music, speakers and motivation spurred our collective anger as we mapped our way through the shroud of fog. The fire seemed a distant memory and the clacks of the metal boots had almost disappeared. Or so I thought. A crash, much louder than any previous, stunned my heart and held me in a tightening grip. The orange flames grew taller as they consumed the joy we were so close to grasping. The world seemed to shrink around me as screams burned in my mind. People were toppling like dominoes: their pale faces encasing the untouched hopelessness that lay beneath. Coughing and spluttering through our collective struggle, we collapsed. Although they may have won this time, my friend, do not lose faith. We shall be victorious. Enough is enough; we must question the corrupt system the police uphold and their immunity of consequences. We must continue to say the names of those taken from us as we march through the fog. The all-consuming clacking of the metal clad boots echoed around the street, proud to have put a stop to the once-worried soul of the city. Billy Burrows 10f

Mohammad Hadi 11c

76 CREATIVE WRITING & ARTWORK

Tom Brocklehurst 11a

Creative Writing & Artwork ‘Next Mourning’ (Overall Competition Winner)

‘The Hero of the River Thames’

The red-brick terrace is still Like the city around it. Streets desolate and bare, moonlit By a sphere of goodwill As droplets incessantly fall into distant grave pits.

Screams and cries for help came from the water At the time, he was nothing but a walker. How much bravery it took to dive in and save her. Bystanders stood and said a prayer, Hoping they would come up for air. Blue lights lit up the dark sky, But sadly he would die. He was known as Jimi and his age was two zero, But he will be remembered as a hero.

The telegram appears on the table, Shoots forward to his hand – A dozen words stark and bland Each time reread, more brutal: His son’s body deep in the Afghan sand. In the onslaught of days, the deluge was relentless: Hammers rained pain from the sky But did not redeem or rectify His son’s eternally withered grace, His eternally closed eye. The funeral commenced at sunset; Reds and oranges shadowed by downpour. An empty coffin buried deep in the rich ore. A veil of rain set the darkness close. A fractured soul, torn by war.

He acted when nobody else would. Barely making it into adulthood. Death is always rife. Especially when caused by saving someone’s life. Another death caused by the Thames, He will be remembered by all of his friends. You are now a national hero, And now our hearts are filled with sorrow. Myles Garth 13f

Morning next, the softest grey engulfed the world And chaos unfurled. Moinuddin Master 12a

Aum Odedra 11d

Shuaihan Feng 11f

CREATIVE WRITING & ARTWORK 77

Snapshots

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nt Ink-redible tale

Mix-ed emotio ns

perience! An oar-some ex

78 SNAPSHOTS

Festive fun!

I came, I swor

d, I conquered

Snapshots

To be or knot to

be d ed, I conquere I came, I saw-

daries Breaking boun

Grade achievem ents

Rivington Bike

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Sports Sports Preface 2020-21 _______________________________________________________

t gives me great pleasure to write a quick introduction to the sports section of the 2021 Boltonian. Unfortunately, our usual wide range of sporting activities at Bolton School has been badly hit by the pandemic, with schools not able to visit each other for competitive fixtures, and various sports not allowed at all for long periods. I hope that the next academic year will see us return to our usual fixture lists and more boys can enjoy the thrill of representing the School once again.

The Cricket season did manage to get going and our junior sides fared well in the County cup with the Under 12s and Under 15s both reaching the County Final, eventually losing to our friends and rival, MGS. The Under 14s reached the Semi-finals and the 1st XI had a busy end to the season, with matches on consecutive days vs. XL Club, MCC and Old Boltonians.

Thankfully, some sports did survive in some form or another. When you read the articles that follow, I am sure you will agree everyone needs sport more than ever once the threat of the pandemic has subsided.

A young 2nd XI side travelled to Ratcliffe College for the annual cricket festival, which, as usual, was a great success. Touring and trips are a huge part of a young player’s development – we hope such trips can return soon. One success was the move to after school training for the football and rugby squads in Years 7-10, with good numbers staying on after school to train with their friends – a release from the restrictions of the COVID-19 procedures inside the buildings. Temporary floodlights were installed on the Top Level to allow football to continue on the dark winter nights.

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Sports At the annual Cups and Colours Assembly, we decided to present the Year 13 pupils with the awards they would have earned in a normal season. It was a great pleasure to award over forty sportsmen their colours and trophies for a wide variety of activities. As usual, I would like to thank the many staff who give up countless hours to run school sports teams. This huge commitment, along with the continued great work by the Grounds, Catering and Estates teams, enables us to be consistently at the top of our game. We would also like to thank Julie Manley of Phoenix Physiotherapy for her expertise treating our injured players. Julie is stepping down after six years to concentrate on her new practice and we wish her well for the future.

Year 8 sailing at the Anderton Centre

Senior Sport - Kayaking

The next pages of ‘The Boltonian’ will give you the chance to read about the fine achievements of our teams and individual athletes. Mr. P. Fernside

Variety in Curriculum Sport _______________________________________________________

Middle School Sport - Mountain Biking

Year 7 wear odd socks for Anti-Bullying Week

Year 9 wear odd socks for Anti-Bullying Week

Middle School Sport - Bouldering

Senior Sport - Climbing at Denham Quarry

Middle School Sport - Stand up paddle boarding

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Sports Sport Cups and Colours _______________________________________________________

Sports Cups were awarded to the following boys:

Daniel Bentham 13a TPP Award (Volunteer in Sport Award) Hunter Trophy (Rugby Award)

port Cups and Colours are a public recognition of talent and ongoing dedication to work within Sport. Sport Colours were awarded to the following

boys:

Name Football Pierce Barker-Smith Jameson Goloba William Jackson Joshua Kay Jensen Myerscough Henry Speakman Cian Spencer McDermott Luca Williams-Denton

Form

Colour

13g 13d 13d 13f 13i 13g 13g 13h

Full (re-awarded) Full Full Full Full (re-awarded) Full Full Full

Golf Alfie Yearsley Connah Mansfield

13h 13g

Full Half

Hockey Aibin Baby Nathan Burudi Jack Danson Charlie Griffiths Tom Hussain Tony Varkey Anish Basu Joe Brennan

13d 13e 13b 13c 13c 13e 13h 13h

Full Full Full Full Full Full Half Half

Outdoor Pursuits Alistair Harris James Roberts

12b 12d

Full Half

Rugby Daniel Bentham Piers Skeels-Caldwell Cameron Matthews George Yearsley

13a 13h 13c 13a

Full (re-awarded) Full Half Half

Swimming Thomas Yates

13b

Full

Water polo Pierce Barker-Smith Daniel Bentham Jensen Myerscough Matthew Rodger Tom Simpson Thomas Yates

13g 13a 13i 13g 13h 13b

Full Full (re-awarded) Full Full Full Full (re-awarded)

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Nat Phillips (Old Boy – Liverpool F.C.) Hindley Trophy (Best Individual Performance) Thomas Yates 13b Field Cup (School Swimming Captain) Praharsh Parikh 13c Hyde Plate (School Cricket Captain) Tom Hussain 13c Allison Trophy School Hockey Captain) Ashworth Trophy (Most Improved Hockey player) Cian Spencer McDermott 13g Bradley Trophy (School Football Captain) Tom Simpson 13h Pearson Trophy (Water polo Captain) Alfie Yearsley 13h Eric Dawber Award (School Golf Captain) Luca Williams-Denton 13h Chris Rigby Award (Football Player of the Year) Piers Skeels-Caldwell 13h L.C. Jones Award (School Rugby Captain) Harrison Sharples Trophy (Rugby Award)

Sports From the Dugout _______________________________________________________

s one might imagine, the 2020/21 football season was hit by the pandemic, without a ball kicked in anger for many months. The boys felt this more than anyone, of course, and there was a genuine sense of disappointment and frustration that they were not able to represent their school in competitive fixtures. All Saturday and Cup fixtures fell by the wayside, and we had to content ourselves with some in-house action. The sense of frustration felt by the boys was most apparent at Senior level, where our Year 13 boys, who made up a significant part of the 1st XI squad, were unable to see out their time with us doing what they enjoy the most; it was a strong squad, and it would have been interesting to see how far they might have progressed in the Boodles ISFA Cup.

Whilst the pandemic decimated our fixture list, one positive aspect to come from it has been the implementation of after school squad training sessions which began in January thanks to some investment in temporary floodlights; this was a welcome addition, and it was great to see so many boys out on Top Level after school for a number of weeks, playing their much-loved game. It was so successful that we have chosen to continue with this training schedule for the 2021/22 season. Saturday training match – victory for Mr. Davidson’s Dinamo Devils (red/white) vs. Mr. Teasdale’s Rapid Racers (black/white)

Here’s hoping that we can see the boys pull on the black and white stripes once again in September. Mr. M.H.J. Prentki

The Year 13 ‘bubble’ at Leavers’ Match in April – Oranges beat Park Road Old Boys on penalties

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Sports A View from the Scrum _______________________________________________________

nfortunately, Rugby was probably one of the biggest COVID-19 losers in school sport. Due to the contact nature of the game, not much was allowed during the pandemic.

Improving fitness levels after a period of Lockdown was a focus of training After many years in charge of Rugby at school, I am stepping down as Master-in-Charge at the end of this academic year. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the helm and would like to wish my successor, Mr. Benbow, every success during his term of office.

The younger boys in Years 7-10 did train after school for a while. It was a great success with the pupils and staff enjoying a break from the restrictions inside school. The rugby staff in school met in June to plan a return to full rugby in September. At the time of writing, the fixtures are in place and fingers, toes and just about everything else is crossed in the hope that we can return to full contact rugby, including playing other schools once again.

Mr. P. Fernside

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Sports Hockey Report _______________________________________________________

At Senior level, the commitment of Tony Varkey and Nathan Burudi of Year 13 in particular has been outstanding; they had chosen hockey for the Physical section of their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and were there every week, whatever the weather. I would like to wish Tom Hussain well for the future as School Hockey Captain; he can put on his CV that the team were undefeated all season under his leadership. We have appointed Matthew Mair and Max Turner as joint captains for next season and they have already shown us glimpses of their leadership skills by helping with some coaching of younger age groups. We have an increasing number of Year 12s on Senior Sport, who will hopefully commit again in September and represent the School when selected.

eeping School Hockey going in the last eighteen months has been a huge task, but we have risen to the challenge. In the absence of school matches, the hardest job has been to recruit new players and to retain existing hockey players by convincing them of the merits of working on core skills for their future development, with the incentive of game play against opposition further down the line. Many have shown great selfdiscipline and have attended the many after school practices put in place for all year groups; others, who perhaps do not always train well but “just want to play a game”, have found the focus on selfimprovement and skills-based sessions in Covid secure year group bubbles extremely frustrating. Our more experienced players were able to play limited fixtures for their clubs up to Christmas within county lines. Latterly, they have been able to play summer league fixtures in recent weeks. We have been working hard to put a full school fixture list back in place for the next academic year.

In the current Year 11, there are many promising players who have made excellent progress. Simon Whitmore, Mark Liu and Reuben Simpson have attended virtually every week and are highly motivated. John Oxley-Harrison, Mihir Patel and Harrison Gee have great potential moving forward. Many others in the year group greatly enjoy their hockey and will be the backbone of the team next season. The Year 10s have been outstanding; many have chosen hockey as part of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, but, even without the additional motivation of getting a qualification have been highly motivated to train every Wednesday evening. In Jamie Latchford, we have an excellent goalkeeper in the making. The majority of the players started playing in Year 9, so we can progress at the same pace and all are keen to improve. Jayden Luhar, Veer Patel, Haseeb Ahsan, Levi Higham, Dylan Lincoln, Marcus Fung, Alex McKie and

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Sports Jake Partington in particular have been superb. We have been joined by talented sportsmen Keshana Fonseka, Joshua Dickens and Evan Dare. They have juggled elite participation in other sports with terrific maturity and still shown great commitment to hockey.

Zac McCarren and Leo Simpson have stood out already as players with great potential. I have been impressed with the enthusiasm of Ali Asghar, Shayan Kanji, Elliot Foster, Dhilan Jacobs and Kenzie Naylor. All of this nurturing of talent is not possible without the support of colleagues. Mr. Sutcliffe is an exceptional coach, who has brought a wealth of experience to the role. He can quickly adapt to fastchanging situations and sets up well-structured, imaginative and fun sessions. I also wish to thank Mr. Moore for helping out with curriculum Sport lessons with Year 9 and to Miss Tate for her invaluable help with Year 7 on a Friday evening.

The Year 9s are making very good progress with, once again, a core of very committed players; Umar Darsot, Thomas Atkinson, Joshua Moffitt, Aleks Clayden, Alex and Greg Dorsky in particular are there every week. We have another promising keeper in the making in Amu Vijaya Kumar. Numbers at training are steadily building as is their confidence. Mr. A.C. Robson

Water Polo _______________________________________________________

n June, the Senior team played their first (and last) fixture of the year against MGS. The Senior team secured a comprehensive victory and leave school undefeated in their seven years – they won the English Schools Under 14 competition in 2016 and the Under 16 competition in 2018. Unfortunately, this year’s competition has been cancelled.

The Year 8s have been the year group most affected by the bursting of Covid bubbles and, in particular, 8b, where we have most of the hockey players; nevertheless, we have trained well given all the obstacles in place and remained positive. We have been particularly impressed by Nathan Watts, Kyran Chitre, Jacob Keld and Harry Shannon. Billy Minshull takes the award for best attendance at after school training. The numbers opting to do hockey in Sport next year are very high and that gives us plenty to build on for next year. We have introduced an after school hockey training for Year 7s on Friday evening after school. As one would expect, it is for those with a high level of motivation and commitment, including the staff. We are very grateful to Miss Tate in Girls’ Division, who has been leading this session. Once again, some future stars are emerging; Jordy Dare is an excellent goalkeeper. Alex Northcott, Oliver Scales,

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A win for Bolton Under 18s after the penalty shoot out went to ‘sudden death’

Sports During the past three years, several of the pupils have been selected to represent the National Junior age group teams. Thomas Yates represented the Great Britain team (players born 2002 or later) in the 2019 European Junior Men’s Water Polo Championships. Harry Bentham and Daniel Bentham have represented England (b. 2003) in the 2019 EU Nations tournament. Jensen Myerscough and Thomas Yates represented the English Schools team (b. 2002) in a tournament against Australian and Romanian schoolboys in 2018. Daniel Bentham and Tom Simpson represented the English Schools team (b. 2003) in a tournament in Hungary in 2019. Their aim is to be selected to represent the Great Britain team (b. 2003) in the 2022 European Junior Men’s Water Polo Championships.

A number of our younger players, Ellis Matthews (Year 11), Joe Carolan (Year 10) and Robert Bentham (Year 9) attended National Academy – this is the first stage of the player pathway for elite athletes.

Coaches Dr. Yates and Mr. McGinty with Year 13 pupils Thomas Yates, Daniel Bentham, Jensen Myerscough, Matthew Rodger & Tom Simpson

Boys return to training in March following the National Lockdown

This year, Harry Bentham and James Blenkinship (both in Year 12) were both selected to represent Great Britain (b. 2004) in the European Junior Men’s Water Polo Championships. They competed in a qualification tournament in Slovenia at the end of June against Russia, Romania, Austria and Slovenia.

James (left) and Harry (right) at the final training weekend at the London Aquatics Centre before the Great Britain team travelled to Slovenia

Harry and James scored 2 goals each in GB’s convincing victory over Austria The Under 13s beat St. Bede’s and St. Joseph’s Catholic College 14-8 in a welcome return to competition in May

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Sports Rowing _______________________________________________________

espite the challenges of the second ever year of school Rowing, the Year 12 bubble have made outstanding progress and we have managed to get onto the River Irwell almost every week.

The Under 13 team beat MGS 6-4 in June

The Senior team (including Old Boys Marcus Crompton and Matthew Schaffel) placed fifth at ManUp!, a ‘Beach Style’ sixa-side friendly tournament held at the Albert Docks, Liverpool in August

There have been some notable achievements. Two thirds of the boys are now rowing outside of school at Agecroft Rowing Club. They have now rowed in four different types of boat including the very fine single sculls and a coxed sweep boat. They rowed in their first race, an invitational with Manchester Grammar School, where they held their own against MGS’s greater experience. Miss E.A. Bramhall

A young team finished seventh at the Junior ManUp! competition at Nantwich Lido in August – pictured with Coaches Thomas Yates (Year 13 Leaver) and Mr. Teasdale Dr. M. Yates

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Sports Tennis _______________________________________________________

e were grateful to be able to open the tennis courts during the Summer Term with large numbers of boys in Years 7-10 enjoying a knock after school. We also managed to get a couple of friendly matches in against Manchester Grammar School and Girls’ Division. We look forward to more competitive fixtures next Summer Term.

Price behind the sticks demonstrated his all-round natural abilities as a sportsman with an excellent display of wicket keeping; however, our batting let us down and we fell short by 20 runs. There were plenty of positives to take from the game, but in order to win games, runs are needed. The lads were eager to bounce back the following week against Cheadle Hulme, however, the weather had other ideas. A forecast, which saw many independent schools across the North West cancel their fixtures midweek, looked bleak to say the least; inevitably, our fixture was called off early Saturday morning along with most local league cricket. A midweek fixture against King’s Chester followed, and on a soggy wicket, Bolton School came out on top. All our bowlers used the conditions to their advantage, meaning our batsmen were chasing a low total. Amaan Broughton, Josh Blackhurst and Luca WilliamsDenton all batted superbly well and knocked off their opponent’s total with ease – a confidence boosting win. Again, with weather about and a strong likelihood of boys having to crowd under a gazebo during a period of strict COVID-19 protocols, the decision was taken to call off our block fixture against Manchester Grammar School, something we knew might happen at some stage during the season. The HMC T20 competition was rearranged again due to inclement weather. This saw our lads travel up to Lancaster RGS midweek, with the winners playing Sedbergh the following day. Sami Waheed showed his strength and ability with the bat, hitting a quick fire 50, helping Bolton School post a defendable total. Unfortunately, we ended up losing on the final ball of the game in a nail-biting affair.

Mr. M.G. Chilton

1st XI Cricket _______________________________________________________

A number of internal fixtures followed, providing the lads with opportunities to play against their peers and to experience fixtures for their respective club sides in the afternoon, something the boys enjoyed and appreciated in equal measure.

full fixture list was in place at the start of the Summer Term, with boys and staff excited to get back to competitive matches. After a period of uncertainty, our first two games came against our close rivals, Manchester Grammar School. Fixtures against MGS are always competitive, with talented lads wanting to hit the ground running and get the season off to a flier. Unfortunately, MGS came out on top in both games, winning a close T20 and Saturday 45 over game. Keshana Fonseka looked solid at the top of the order, whilst Sami Waheed bowled with good pace, challenging the MGS batsmen. A brilliant bowling performance, backed up in the field, restricted our next opponents, Lancaster RGS, to just 159. Josh Blackhurst, Praharsh Parikh and Sami Waheed were the pick of the bowlers, bowling in tight spells and making runs difficult to come by. Ben

The final block fixture against Birkenhead ended in defeat. Three days of cricket saw the conclusion of Bolton School Cricket for another year. The 1st XI played against the XL Club, MCC and

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Sports Old Boys. It was fantastic to be able to open up these fixtures to spectators, thanks to the excellent work of the Development and Estates departments. The boys were able to play important fixtures in front of Old Boys and other spectators in tremendous weather.

I would like to thank all those involved with Bolton School Cricket during what was a difficult and uncertain period for all. Most recently, during the summer holidays, a Bolton School XI played an Edgworth CC XI to honour our late Headmaster, Mervyn Brooker. Mervyn’s love of Cricket saw him play his club cricket at Edgworth after watching the early morning’s play of School cricket and it seems only fitting to have an annual fixture in his honour. Harry Whittles (left) was Player of the Match vs. MCC

Mr. L. Watkinson

2nd XI Cricket _______________________________________________________

nce again, we held a successful winter net campaign with a good number of senior players present that would ensure two sides once again. In the opening school fixture, we started with a win at home to MGS. Batting first, we scored 101, with Jameson Goloba the top scorer with 32 runs, with some excellent running between the wickets. We then restricted MGS to 77, with some fine bowling and fielding by the whole team.

Former late headmaster Mervyn Brooker A Bolton School XI made up of current players, members of staff and Old Boys posted a total of 248, with Joe Ball batting superbly at the start of the innings followed up by Luca Williams-Denton and a magnificent 13 off 70 balls from Jim Farrell. With what was thought to be a winning total, Bolton School went into the second innings confident of retaining the trophy; however, complacency crept in, meaning extras top scored with a chanceless 50 runs. The game went down to the wire, with Edgworth making the winning runs with just one over to spare. It was a fantastic game watched by Mervyn’s family and friends. We look forward to winning back the trophy next year.

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The following week, we hosted the 2nd XI 15/15 competition, this time with Myerscough College and Newcastle under Lyme the visitors. As hosts, we played first and were restricted by Myerscough to 67, with Alex Old the top scorer on 35. Our visitors reached the total with the loss of only one wicket – a comfortable win for Myerscough. Newcastle then caused a shock as they beat Myerscough, leaving the table in the balance depending on the final result. In game three, Bolton bowled well to keep the Newcastle total down to 114, with Harry Whittles being the pick of the bowlers. With the bat, Alex Old once again top scored (27) with good support from the skipper Will

Sports Jackson. The total was reached with five balls to spare – an excellent four-wicket win for Bolton School. After a count back through the matches, Myerscough progressed with better bowling and batting averages. It was an excellent afternoon of 2nd XI cricket, played in a competitive, but sporting environment – a great success. The following Saturday, we travelled up to Lancaster RGS. Batting first on a lively wicket, Harry Whittles top scored with 35, with Kaushik Kathiriya (26) and Cian Patel (23) adding quick runs at the end of the innings as Bolton closed on 160-9. The bowlers then did their job, as LRGS were bowled out for 90. Rishi Patel took four wickets for 19 to seal a great victory for the Seconds. The next spike in COVID-19 cases caused many fixtures to be cancelled and we had to wait for our annual Cricket Festival at the end of the term before we played again. In our sixth year of entry at the Festival, we travelled to Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire. With other schools not available this year, we played a two day 80 over match versus our hosts, finishing with a 20/20 game on the third day before heading home.

Wednesday’s 20/20 was abandoned due to rain, despite several attempts to get back on to play. Bolton were 81-9, with Kaushik Kathiriya as top scorer with 27 and Monty Horridge on 16 not out. Our young players will have learned a lot playing the two-day format and it was a very enjoyable trip. Many thanks to our hosts Ratcliffe College, who, as usual, were superb and it was a pleasure to play on their excellent facilities. The Festival will be held at Bolton next year.

On Day one, we won the toss and batted, with several of our top order batsmen getting out cheaply. Year 9 pupil Luke Yates stepped up with a brave 54. Supported by Cian Patel (32), the pair took the score to 145 all out. Ratcliffe then had the better weather to bat in, and their number three batsman did some damage, as he was on 98 not out in a total of 196-1 at the close of play. Day two saw us open up with a great bowling spell as we restricted Ratcliffe, forcing them to declare on 239-7. Captain Harry Whittles took 4-55, as we worked hard to get back into the game. In the second innings, we started well with openers, Harry Whittles (20) and Taimur Khan (28), but, sadly, no one else got in until Cian Patel (37 not out) came to the crease; batting with his youngest brother Dave Patel (7 not out), they added very valuable runs for the last wicket. Ratcliffe struggled at first to reach the low target to win and finished 42-7, mainly thanks to a hat-trick by Anupam Tripathi, who finished with 4-6 from four overs.

Many of the 2nd XI finished the season playing for the Firsts – every reason why 2nd XI should continue in schools. I must take this opportunity to thanks my joint Captains, Will Jackson and Pierce Barker-Smith, who brought humour and occasional style to School Cricket. Well Done. Mr. P. Fernside

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Sports Under 15 Cricket _______________________________________________________

he Under 15 season started positively, with a superb win against our close rivals Manchester Grammar School. Under the watchful eye of Mr. Fernside, the lads chased down a decent total set by the opposition in what was a nail-biting finish. Our bowlers bowled with good control, taking regular wickets, and our batters had the maturity to get the game over the line – a confident start by a talented bunch.

In the Semi-final against Merchant Taylors’ Crosby, Bolton School, once again, posted a mammoth total, with a considerable number of sixes and fours. The bowling unit restricted their batters well on a very small ground indeed. In the other Semi-final, Manchester Grammar School beat Lancaster RGS comfortably, setting up a grudge match for the Final. Alas, it wasn’t to be! Manchester Grammar School proved too strong for our boys and went on to lift the trophy. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic effort from Bolton School, capping off a difficult season, but one that saw us play competitively after a year without fixtures. Many thanks to all involved with School Cricket. Mr. L. Watkinson & Mr. P. Fernside

Under 14 Cricket _______________________________________________________ Unfortunately, the Under 15s could not capitalise on such a positive start, losing to a strong Lancaster Royal Grammar School team. We were outplayed in all three departments, however, that’s not to say there weren’t some bits of positive cricket played by our lads. It was a lesson to be learnt in game management before moving on through the rest of the season. Inevitably, the pandemic that has made life difficult for so many people meant that a number of games had to be cancelled. Internal fixtures were arranged – observing strict protocols keeping lads in year group bubbles meant that some fixtures were able to be played during this time. Away from our regular block fixtures, the lads were progressing nicely in the Lancashire School Cricket Association Cup. Travelling to AKS Lytham, our cricketers comfortably won, posting a total that meant the opposition would have to score at 10 runs per over. Again, the talent in the squad shone through, both with bat and ball. It was a strong victory, which saw the Under 15s progress to the Finals Day, held at Vernon Carus Cricket Club.

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he season began with high hopes of being able to achieve a full fixture list and the boys enjoying as much cricket as possible. Sadly, this was not to be the case, but although the game time was limited, the quality was not, especially when the boys were in the field. The bowling unit was always excellent, with Arran Patel and Nikhil Patel constantly making inroads into the opposition top order with pace and accuracy, proving too much for many a foe.

Sports The season began with a tough match against MGS, in which the bowling and fielding were top class. An excellent innings by Sammy Dziobon (34) and Ben Maher (24), plus some tip and run from Adam Berisford saw Bolton victorious by two wickets. A tight game against Lancaster was to follow, with another two wicket victory clutched, mainly thanks to a huge 6 in the penultimate over for Nikhil Patel. An innings of 68 from Ben Maher saw the boys reach 166-5 at Birkenhead and the bowlers then limited them to 121 from 30 overs to secure yet another victory. A cup run saw Kirkham defeated and a demolition of Oldham Hulme resulted in a Semi-final against MGS. Again, the bowling and fielding saw MGS limited to a total of just over 100. The boys knew the job was only half done, but knew the target was easily achievable. Unfortunately, the batting did not go well and we were bowled out for just over 60. It was to be the final game of the season, as rain ensured the last one could not be played. Overall, the season has been thoroughly enjoyable and there is a lot of talent within the squad. The boys are a great bunch and ensured that the games were played in the correct spirit; it all looks very promising for next year.

The season concluded with an excellent away win at Birkenhead, where every player contributed with the ball. Throughout the season, the players worked hard to improve their fielding skills with some success and learnt the importance of high standards when trying to win important games. I congratulate them on their excellent attitude, listening skills and team spirit. Mr. M. Johnson

Mr. J.C. Moore

Under 13 Cricket _______________________________________________________

021 has been a very frustrating season for School Cricket, even more so considering the ability and potential within the Year 8 Cricket Squad. Due to the limitations of the pandemic, there were fewer games played against opposition schools than normal. Despite this, the season proved to be very rewarding, with plenty of development from the boys.

Under 12 Cricket _______________________________________________________

his year, Cricket has been great, with us getting a chance to not only practise, but to also play fixtures. We are lucky to have had the chance to play fixtures in cricket where others couldn’t in sports such as football. We had two disappointing losses against Manchester Grammar School, but then we went on to play against Lancaster Grammar School, St. Peter’s and Birkenhead and came out on top. We reached the Lancashire Cup Final, where we unfortunately came out as runners-up.

The season began with an excellent away win at MGS, thanks to some excellent middle order batting from the Captain, Harrison Prill, and Avnish Dhiraj. This was backed up with a second brilliant team performance against Lancaster, proving that the team was blessed with a plethora of spin bowlers to choose from (Zain Sabir, Junaid Doctor, Harrison Prill, Keeran Singh and Finlay Davidson). Unfortunately, this momentum quickly dampened, when a severely depleted team came unstuck away at Saddleworth School in the County Cup. The three matches that followed were affected due to Bolton becoming a hotspot for cases of COVID-19, but despite this, the lads took part in several practice games at school, developing their technique and tactical understanding.

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Sports The Tuesday training sessions, as well as sessions on Thursdays during Sport run by Mr. Chilton, have helped us all to improve after COVID-19 struck, as it was impossible to play sports with other schools. These sessions were either in the nets or out doing fielding drills or mini matches. The training has helped us flourish and has helped Mr. Chilton to put a squad together. I think everyone has enjoyed the training sessions, as they were another opportunity to play cricket aside from a club.

in the sport on both the regional and national level, this has only come about as a result of Andy’s tireless work behind the scenes. Whilst his role has involved coaching the first team and overseeing the training of other teams across the year groups, he has also meticulously taken care of the administrative detail including fixture arranging, catering, transport and organising indoor and outdoor net sessions. Andy has secured sponsorship for the kit, overseen the drainage and improvement of the main wicket, the purchase of a new boundary rope, a new scoreboard, new bowling machines and improvements to the changing rooms. He has also helped create lifelong memories for several generations of boys who took part in four separate tours to the Caribbean, including visits to Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua.’ Assessing his tenure, Andy said: ‘The highlight has to have been winning the national Under 15s ESCA/ECB T20 Final in 2012 at Arundel, with an emphatic 10 wicket victory over Whitgift School from Croydon. Within that team, we were blessed with some prodigious talent, including future England opener Haseeb Hameed and the Parkinson twins, Matthew and Callum, who now play for Lancashire and Leicestershire. Matthew too has gone on to play for England. Over the years, there have been many memorable occasions as other year groups have also made it to a number of national finals and semi-finals.

This year, the Under 12s have enjoyed playing cricket, with many getting a chance to represent the School in fixtures. Mr. Chilton has been great helping us all to flourish during training sessions. We have won a number of fixtures, but also lost a couple. I would like to thank Mr. Chilton and all the other Sport staff for helping us to play School Cricket. Zain Burrill 7f

Head of Cricket retires after 18 year innings _______________________________________________________

ndy Compton has retired as Head of Cricket at Bolton School Boys’ Division. The sport has flourished during his 18 year stewardship, which has seen the School become national champions and several boys go on to forge careers playing county and national cricket.

Headmaster Philip Britton reflected: ‘Since taking up his post in 2003, Andy has shown an unwavering commitment to School Cricket. Whilst the School has never enjoyed such a high profile

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‘It was also a privilege to play a part in enabling the School to become one of the seven original MCC Foundation hubs, which allowed us to promote the sport to aspiring young cricketers in the local community. We managed to attract into School a wide range of professionals that trained and inspired the lads, players such as John Abrahams, Otis Gibson, Tom Moody, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Reiffel, Warren Hegg and Dave Gilbert. I’ve enjoyed my time at the helm immensely, and I look forward to keeping an eye on the development of some of the up-and-coming prospects coming out of the School – players that are already on the books with Lancashire, like Praharsh Parikh and Keshana Fonseka.’ Taking over as Head of Cricket in the Boys’ Division is Liam Watkinson, a former pupil at the School and someone who, as Captain of the first eleven, was coached by Andy. Having studied PE at Leeds Beckett and played for Leeds Bradford MCCU and Lancashire Seconds, Liam has been back at the school for five years as a PE and Sport teacher. His appointment should make for some interesting matches with local rivals Manchester Grammar School, where Liam’s father, Mike Watkinson, is in charge of cricket.

Scouts Review of the Scouting Year 2020-21 _______________________________________________________

ooking back to Baden Powell’s original Scout Law of 1908, part 7 states: A Scout smiles and whistles under all circumstances. It certainly has been a year for whistling and smiling! Being in Greater Manchester North Scout County, September 2020 saw all sections still meeting remotely in different forms. From my point of view, it was exciting to be able to interact with all sections of our Group without having to leave my house! There certainly was a huge variety of activities that were carried out over Zoom – pleasingly, many of our young people still achieved sections of activity and challenge badges. Due to high level negotiations, we were the only Group in the District to sneak in a Night Hike just before Christmas – it was so lovely to actually see all our young people face to face, before being locked down again!

people, we agreed to Brookside being used as the admin base and prop store for the filming of the second series of the teen mystery drama ‘Get Even’. We are very grateful to Mrs. Faulkner welcoming all sections down to Park Road for the rest of the Summer Term and the beginning of the Autumn Term. Returning to Brookside will be a highlight. Celebrating the Queen’s 95th birthday in April meant that every member of the Group received an occasional badge to add to their uniform. During this year, much resourcefulness and resilience has been demonstrated by the Leaders and Young Leaders; I am very grateful for all of their varied and valuable input. As is always the case, all sections are grateful for new leadership, but this is especially the case with Explorers. If you feel you could offer support in this area, no experience is necessary – full training is available and lots of fun and adventures await… Mrs. Hough aka ‘Akela’ (Group Scout Leader)

Beaver Colony Report _______________________________________________________

Amazingly, in our annual census return at the beginning of 2021, during Lockdown, we actually registered more Cubs than the previous year. Once we were able to restart face to face meetings, we had a record number of applications to join Beavers, so I was delighted that Miss Dean, Tracker, was very happy to return to Beavers, the section in which she started her scouting leadership, though not with 19th Bolton. Meeting outside was preferred and, to this end, the late spring weather was very kind to us, but more change was to come. This time, looking to the Scout Promise: I promise … to help other

eaver Colony meetings were suspended when the pandemic began, with the Leaders being of the opinion that such young children spent enough time on electronic devices already, and that the essence of Colony meetings was having fun together. Happily, some of the older Beavers began to join the Cub Pack meetings in late Spring, ready for our return to face to face Scouting after the Easter break. The Colony has benefitted greatly from Miss Dean from the Senior Boys’ Division joining the Colony as a Leader. The take up for places in the Colony after Easter was such that the Colony was expanded again to 30 places with 23 being invested in May. There is now a waiting list for places. Meetings in the Summer Term focussed on the ‘My Skills’ Challenge badge. The Beaver Scouts enjoyed playing Duck Duck Goose and making ice cream with liquid nitrogen.

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Scouts Term ended with a very enjoyable game of water rounders on a very warm summer’s day.

Jane Welch (Beaver Scout Leader)

Cub Pack Report _______________________________________________________

hat an exciting year of variety! We have had Cub meetings over Zoom and in person; we have met at Brookside and at Park Road; remotely, we learned some qi gong and had a competition following instructions to build 3D shapes with cocktail sticks and mini marshmallows.

There were some interesting advantages to our Zoom sessions. For part of the Disability Awareness activity badge, after spending a few minutes each week learning the Cubs Promise in sign language, we

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needed to find out about two different aids that can assist a disabled person and how they help them. Usually, I would have thought, ‘what a shame that my niece, Lara, who has celebral palsy and has recently passed her driving test in her amazingly adapted car, lives so far away, near Winchester’, but through Zoom, she could give the Cubs a fascinating guided tour of her walker, wheelchair and car with its robotic arm. The Cubs were captivated, and the following week they asked some very thoughtful questions during a virtual Q&A session. Another interesting experience was investing 23 new Cubs over Zoom. Trying to coordinate handshakes and get them moving in time was most fun! Despite spending so long on Zoom, we were delighted that four of our oldest Cubs still achieved their Chief Scout Silver Award before moving up to Year 6 Scouts. Well done to Charlie Simpson, Jack Rothwell, Stephen Nagai and Charles Kaboutian – many thanks to the Leaders and Young Leaders who guided them through. Our Keenest Cub Awards this year were presented to Wesley Else, Charlie Simpson and Stephen Nagai. After Easter, it was brilliant to be able to meet back at Brookside. We did a variety of outside activities: hiking, building the highest flagpole challenge, problem solving, window cleaning to name a few. One significant difference was that the Cubs were grouped in their school bubbles rather than our usual Sixes.

When we moved to Park Road, the weather continued to be clement and we held the rest of our meetings on the playground and field. Among other activities, the Cubs created some giant maps and played a couple of ‘wide games’, finishing with fire and food. As part of their ‘Our Skills Challenge Award’, the Cubs compared healthy and

Scouts unhealthy options – fire cooked watermelon was a new concept to me and very popular with the Cubs. As ever, all of this was only possible due to our faithful band of Leaders and Young Leaders, who voluntarily give their time to plan, prepare and deliver high quality activities for the Cubs. ‘Bravo, bravo, bravo, bravissimo’!

One of our adult helpers, Erika, also ran another Lego challenge evening, where the Scouts not only used Lego to describe one of their best memories about Scouting and describe it to the rest of the troop, but also had some team and pair challenges and competitions to compete in.

‘Akela’

Year 6 Scout Troop Report _______________________________________________________

fter the inevitable hiatus in scouting over the previous year, it was fantastic to be able to return to face to face Scouting with a new group of Year 6 Scouts from Park Road and Hesketh House. After a few false starts, we came together as a Scout troop at Brookside towards the end of April, with eleven Scouts, three Young Leaders and two adult helpers. The first few weeks were spent getting used to Scouting under the Covid regulations and getting to know each other. Jonathon, Jamie and Will were excellent Young Leaders and planned and ran several nights at Brookside that the younger Scouts really enjoyed. We also managed to complete the Lego Challenge and ran the giant Jenga competition. After the half term, we relocated our meetings to Park Road, as Brookside was being used for filming. Shortly after the half term, we invested the new Scouts and had our traditional evening of showing them how to sew their badges on, with the following week being the proof of the pudding to see if they had taken it in! It was good to see nearly all the Scouts had sewn nearly all of their badges on themselves!

And, of course, we also had a meeting where we managed to show our support of the national football team and we got to see the first half of the England vs. Germany match in the hall at Park Road.

Many thanks to the Scouts who made it such a fun year and to Erika Smallridge and Dave Pearson for their help running the evenings; also to Jamie, Jonathon and Will for their help as Young Leaders. Although we did have a curtailed year, it was great to get back to actual Scouting again and I hope to get to see more of this group as they continue their Scouting journey. Skip (Mr. G.D. Bradley)

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Scouts Scout Troop Report _______________________________________________________

he new Scouting year continued as the previous term ended in a state of Lockdown due to Coronavirus. A few online meetings took place over the Autumn Term, with a very brief interlude which allowed for an evening hike for the last meeting of 2020. Then we were back to Lockdown at the start of 2021, which remained in place, again with occasional online meetings, throughout the Spring Term.

The relaxation of rules allowed outdoor meetings to take place throughout the Summer Term, with every Friday night apart from one being dry.

Two of our competitions were held during the term: the Gregory Shield for Summer Scouting won by Kangaroos (with Jamie Latchford as Patrol Leader), and the Whittle Trophy, which we usually award for the Camp Olympics, won by Swifts (with Danny Heywood as Patrol Leader).

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Congratulations go to the following on being awarded their Chief Scouts Gold Award: Charlotte Hothersall, Jamie Latchford, Cameron Geskell, Veer Patel, Ben Turner, Jonathon Brennan, Priyesh Fernando and Danny Heywood.

For the second year ever, we have not been able to provide a Summer Camp, but are looking forward to a more normal start to the 2021/22 Scouting year. As ever, I must thank all my colleagues on the leadership side for their continued commitment to the Scout Group.

Scouts Paradox Explorers Report _______________________________________________________

lthough the Explorers met faceto-face on only seven occasions, they were able to participate in a variety of activities at Brookside and Park Road. The theme for the meetings was inspired by the first three lines of T.S. Elliot’s Burnt Norton: Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. The first meeting took place on April 23rd, and the date was recognised by taking part in a quiz about St. George, which allowed time to reflect on his association with the Scouts. The idea of the past being present was developed further by pitching horseshoes, a game played for centuries. The next stage was a debate about Einstein’s statement that “Time is an illusion”, which linked to the Eta Aquarids meteor shower in May. The works of established artists were used as starting points to create outcomes using unconventional means of recording the Explorers’ responses to the world around them – Land Art and Sound Poems. The Explorers made links by choosing to use leaves to construct a relief of the Fall of Icarus, inspired by the Land Art of Andy Goldsworthy, with a sound recording of his descent. The penultimate meeting of the academic year was an exploration of the ruins and follies of Lord Leverhulme’s Rivington terraced gardens. The end of the Summer Term was celebrated with a barbeque at Park Road.

John Greenhalgh (Assistant Scout Leader)

Ann Chambers ESL Paradox

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Park Road Review of the Year 2020-21 _______________________________________________________

he academic year 202021 has certainly been an unusual one and, in many ways, felt like three years in one, as each term brought change and a new set of challenges. Whatever the year held, the boys and staff faced it with their usual sense of endeavour and enthusiasm. As the boys walked through the gates in September, they found a school which, while on the whole similar, was quite different to the one they had left, in some cases in March 2020. Shiny new sinks waited for them in the yard, and a series of arrows and footsteps guided them around the

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building. Of course, all of the Covid-safe arrangements did not phase the boys and they threw themselves into school life with energy and joy. Our usual level of school activity was undoubtedly hit by Covid restrictions – having to maintain class bubbles meant that lunchtime clubs had to change a little and fixtures and visits were off the agenda for a while. This, of course, did not deter us from our usual energy and, in many ways, allowed us to be a bit more creative with our plans, so the boys enjoyed a range of activity within their class groups including sports clubs, chess, Lego, digital sketching, coding… the list could go on and on. Whatever the activity, whether as part of the curriculum or as an additional activity, the boys simply got involved with whatever was happening with great excitement and their joy in being back with friends and teachers was a delight to see.

Park Road

Of course, the return to school after the Christmas break ended before it had even begun, with a full Lockdown imposed just as we prepared to reopen in January. Thanks to their familiarity with working on the iPads, the boys were able to simply get stuck straight into their learning from day one and, while we couldn’t meet physically, the sense of community lived on and it was lovely to see how well all of the boys engaged with their work, supporting each other, even when they could not be together.

Thanks to some very kind weather, we were able to end the year by bringing the whole school together for the first and last time of the year, as we celebrated Prizegiving and then held our annual Sports Day. This was a most fitting way to celebrate the achievements of all the boys in this most unusual of years and to wave our leavers off as we wish them luck for the next stages in their school careers.

Such a disjointed year, with its many restrictions, meant that our usual calendar of fixtures and trips has been somewhat curtailed this year, but this has not stopped us from ensuring that the boys have enjoyed a wealth of opportunities; we have, perhaps, just had to change how we do things. House competitions certainly took on a life of their own, with a few new additions to that competiton taking part this year – it made the end of year Champion House announcement all the more exciting, following a year full of healthy competition between all of the boys. Whilst we couldn’t venture out very much, we did make the most of the many opportunities to have people visit us, either in person or via the wonders of the web; these ranged from an interview with Cleopatra, to a visit to the rainforest via Chester Zoo, a chat with an Arctic explorer and some drawing with illustrator Nick Sharratt. Some events were able to happen in person and it was fabulous to see the boys enjoying a workshop with the Octagon Theatre to celebrate Shakespeare Week when we returned to school in late March and it was great that most of Year 6 managed to get on their bikes for the Bikeability course in the Summer Term.

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Park Road So, as we close the doors on another school year, of course, there is a little sadness at the things we have missed, but I look back at all that the boys have achieved with pride and look forward with great excitement and anticipation to what fabulous opportunities lie ahead for those who remain with us at Park Road and also to those who move on to pastures new, even if they’re not so very distant. As the sun set on our final day of the school year, colleagues gathered together in the Quiet Area to say a sad farewell to two retiring members of staff – Mrs. Aspinwall and Mrs. Ives. ‘Mrs. A’, as the pupils affectionately know Mrs. Aspinwall, started work at Park Road in 2015 and has been an inspiring and creative presence for the boys ever since. Prior to arriving at Bolton School, Mrs. Aspinwall had worked in a number of schools across the NorthWest, including spells as Deputy Head of King’s School, Macclesfield and Head of Cheadle Hulme Junior School, over the course of the last four decades. Mrs. Aspinwall’s talent, kindness, enthusiasm and sense of humour have been the key traits that have made her a popular and well-respected colleague and friend to many over the years and her greatest quality is her overriding desire for those in her care to make the best of themselves and to really find the confidence to express themselves creatively, whether it be through art, music, sport or writing.

recorder in both the Senior School and at Park Road. Mrs. Ives had qualified as a teacher after studying at the RNCM and eventually, an opportunity arose to teach English at Park Road, whilst maintaining her work as an instrumental/singing teacher. Her Park Road teaching flourished and, as a highly valued member of staff, she was offered a full-time post as head of Park Road Music, which included having her own form. Over very many years, Mrs. Ives also taught RE, Maths, History and Geography. Park Road has an outstanding reputation for Music, both in the classroom and extra-curricular. Ensembles catering for a wide range of instruments perform regularly in annual school concerts, including the Christmas Carol Service, the Spring Concert and Year Group Concerts; the choirs, directed by Mrs. Ives, were always a highlight at these concerts. Park Road Music has always had a strong link with the Senior School and all three Directors of Music – Colin Edmundson, Stephen Martin and Jeremy Bleasdale – who have been in post whilst Mrs. Ives taught at Park Road, have all held her in high regard and have very much valued her contribution to Music at Bolton School.

The boys and staff of Park Road will miss Mrs. A enormously, but she has left them an incredible, lifelong gift by passing on her love of art and by helping them to unlock their artistic talents.

Apart from the internal school concerts, Mrs. Ives pursued many opportunities for the boys to sing in the wider community. In 2018, the Upper School Choir reached the final of Music For Youth in Birmingham and also sang at the Senior School’s Joint Gala Concert at Bridgewater Hall the following year. The Upper and Lower School Choirs would regularly take part in the AJIS Music Festival at Bury Grammar School; and a group of orchestral players have also performed at the AJIS Music Festival at the Grange School. In School’s 100/500 centenary celebration in 2015/2016, the Chamber Choir and soloists performed at a special Evensong service at Bolton Parish Church.

Mrs. Ives was appointed to the Boys’ Division Music Department in 1987. She came highly recommended by Richard Eastham, former piano teacher and Head of Instrumental Studies in the Boys’ Division and had already established a successful career singing with the BBC Northern Singers, which she joined in 1981 and whilst teaching two half days a week in school, she was still able to undertake international tours with the choir, visiting Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Poland and Spain.

These two fine ladies have respectively inspired the boys of Park Road in their artistic and musical endeavours and will be remembered fondly by many for years to come. It was lovely to be able to celebrate their contributions to school life, both with the boys at the earlier Prizegiving assembly and then later, as colleagues and, indeed, friends. We wish them both the very best for this next exciting stage in their lives and look forward to hearing all about whatever they get up to.

Mrs. Ives was initially appointed as a piano teacher, but this developed over time to include teaching singing, the violin and the

Mrs. S. Faulkner Headmistress

Mrs. Aspinwall created a wonderful artistic environment for the boys to work in at Park Road and then gave them the skills to really immerse themselves in the subject. One of the consistent themes to emerge from tours of the school is the shock of our visitors at the high standard of the artwork on display and in sketchbooks in our Art Room.

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Park Road Park Road Prizewinners _______________________________________________________

3A 3B 4A 4B 5A 5B 5C 6A 6B 6C

Form Gwilym Dixon Laith Isaji Diyan Challa Khaleel Ugharadar Sebastian Farrell Thomas Davis Suhayb Pal Yash Raja George Burrows Benjamin Quilliam

Academic Sam Clements Oscar Bromwell Ibrahim Iqbal Anson Choi Wong Shayan Nasir George Pickett Harry Roach Yusuf Salih Krishnan Velayutham Jamie Chen

ART MRS. ASPINWALL PROMISING ARTIST SCIENCE KROTO AWARD DRAMA

Sebastian Hergart 6B Joshua Kelly 4B Aryan Agrawal 6A Steven Wang 6C & Maxim McKay 6B HISTORY Yusuf Salih 6A GEOGRAPHY Charlie Butler 6A COMPUTING Isaac Afiesimama 6C ENGLISH Krishnan Velayuthum 6B MATHEMATICS Charlie Feng 6B VERSE SPEAKING COMPETITION Taran Guduru 4B PUBLIC SPEAKING Steven Wang 6C MUSIC FESTIVAL WINNER Jamie Chen 6C MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR Tanmay Gokul 6A CROSS COUNTRY (YEAR 3) Harlan Moore 3A CROSS COUNTRY (YEAR 4) Benji Houghton 4B CROSS COUNTRY (YEAR 5) Rayyan Munshi 5B CROSS COUNTRY (YEAR 6) Benjamin Quilliam 6C ATHLETICS (YEAR 3) Marcus Oper 3B ATHLETICS (YEAR 4) Benji Houghton 4B ATHLETICS (YEAR 5) Tyler Siddons 5B ATHLETICS (YEAR 6) Alex Pierson 6B GYMNASTICS Benjamin Quilliam 6C TABLE TENNIS William Roberts 6C BADMINTON William Roberts 6C SPORTSMANSHIP William Roberts 6C SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR Maxim McKay 6B PATTERDALE ULLSWATER CUP (YEAR 4) Anson Choi Wong 4B PATTERDALE ULLSWATER CUP (YEAR 5) Joe Duckworth 5C PATTERDALE ULLSWATER CUP (YEAR 6) Jack Hill 6C PERCIK SALVER George Burrows 6B & Benjamin Quilliam 6C

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Park Road Charities 2020-21 _______________________________________________________

his year has been a very different year for our charity giving with a three-month national Lockdown in the middle of the year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Autumn Term proceeded as normally as it could, with our Harvest Collection supporting Urban Outreach in Bolton with our donation of food and provisions. Whole school assemblies have not been possible, but Urban Outreach supplied us with a video for our Harvest theme this year. In the Summer Term, the whole of Year 5 visited the Urban Outreach base in Bolton to see for themselves the gargantuan task of supporting needy families in Bolton. Everyone took a donation with them and the boys learned that food poverty is not necessarily the same as having no money. It certainly made them think!

Before we broke for the Christmas holiday, 5C kindly asked Miss Ormerod not to buy them gifts, but instead, to use the money to buy food for her local foodbank. The boys in 3A decided not to exchange Christmas cards this year and donated the money saved to Manchester Dogs’ home instead. This year, we collected just over £460 for the annual BBC Children in Need appeal with spotty accessories being worn by the boys. Save the Children was the chosen charity for our web-streamed Carol Service collection, raising £330. Save the Children supports young children living in poverty in the UK by improving their early learning, narrowing the gap between these children and their better-off classmates. School was open for children of key workers between January and mid-March and on everyone’s return, our thoughts focused on our Annual Fun Run in the Summer Term. This year, we were able to go ahead with a physical event, but with no parent spectators and one class was self-isolating and so did the event a couple of weeks later. The whole school voted and chose to support The World Wildlife Fund and Cancer Research UK this year. We had a dry and warm day for the event and everyone got into the spirit of things, with Mrs. Faulkner and Mr. Morris dressed as pandas, Mr. Franklin and Miss Fletcher dressed as clowns, and a number of staff dressed in the colours of the rainbow. Digital donations for these worthy causes have exceeded £7480.

Park Road joined the entire School Foundation in supporting ‘Christmas Dinner on Jesus’ for Urban Outreach during November and December again. It was our task to join in with the collection of tubes of Pringles for food hampers for underprivileged families nominated in the Bolton area. We had a great response, collecting nearly 300 tubes towards the appeal and we hope to repeat our success next year.

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Park Road House Competitions _______________________________________________________

ouse competitions have taken on even greater meaning than usual this year, with no external fixtures being possible and it has been wonderful to see how eagerly the boys have competed for their House, whatever the

event.

A full list of results is given below:

Autumn Term Merits Spring Term Merits Summer Term Merits Spring House Day Challenge Cross Country Football Santa Dash Rugby Hockey Music Festival Cricket Quiz Badminton Swimming Sports Day

We thank all families and friends for their support of our chosen charities in what has been a very challenging year. Mr. C.D. Hough

1st place Crompton Chadwick Chadwick

2nd place Chadwick Crompton Crompton

3rd place Lever Lever Dobson

4th place Dobson Dobson Lever

Lever Lever Crompton Crompton Dobson Lever Chadwick Chadwick Lever Lever Chadwick Lever

Chadwick & Dobson Crompton Crompton Dobson Chadwick Chadwick Dobson Lever Lever Chadwick Dobson Chadwick, Lever & Crompton Crompton Dobson Chadwick Crompton Dobson & Lever Crompton Lever Dobson Crompton Dobson Chadwick Crompton Chadwick Dobson Crompton Lever Dobson Dobson Chadwick Crompton

A consistent performance across the year means that on this instance the Champion House winners were Crompton. 1st Crompton 2nd Lever 3rd Chadwick 4th Dobson Mrs. S. Faulkner

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Park Road Music at Park Road _______________________________________________________

his year has seen a very different look and feel to the musical life of Park Road. We began the year with no groups or ensembles being able to get together, no singing nor recorder playing in lessons, and all class Music lessons being taught in form rooms. Throughout the year, only one visiting Music teacher at a time has been able to teach onsite, as the Music Room is the only room at Park Road where one-to-one teaching has been possible. This has meant that the majority of individual music lessons have remained on Zoom since March 2020 – not the most ideal way to teach such a practical subject! We have been unable to have any full assemblies this year either, which has meant no singing together as a school. In November 2020, class singing was reintroduced and some of our groups and ensembles were able to start up again; however, concerts were still not possible at this time. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, none of our year groups have been able to put on concerts and our Spring Concert, usually the showcase for all our groups and ensembles, was not able to go ahead in March. Many boys have recorded themselves playing their instruments at home, which has been good to see throughout the year. Our Christmas Carol Service took on a rather different format in December, with year groups only performing the carols and each year group adding an additional item to the event: the Year 3s recorded ‘Twas the Night before Christmas; the Year 4s processed with their Christingles, which they had made in RE lessons; the Year 5s explained the origins of some of our Christmas traditions and the Year 6s prepared two of the carols, including descants.

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The Chamber Choir and Tuned Percussion Group were also able to perform and our usual pattern of Christmas readings by boys in Year 6 was included. This festive concert was then live-streamed on the evening of 10th December, which was the original date chosen for this event.

Park Road Following the second Lockdown, our musical life resumed in much the same way that it had stopped at Christmas, with the Guitar Group, Percussion Ensemble, Tuned Percussion Ensemble, Strings Group and Chamber Choir all resuming rehearsals, albeit socially distanced, where a mixture of year groups was involved. No recorder playing has been possible all year and all brass and woodwind lessons have had to be Zoom lessons. The Year 6 were due to attend the 2021 Young Voices event at the Manchester Arena, but it was postponed twice and eventually cancelled. The boys did, however, learn all the music sent by Young Voices, which they very much enjoyed. Our Annual Music Festival took place at the end of March, coordinated by Miss Ormerod. All entries were pre-recorded and uploaded to our Showbie platform and then were judged by Mr. Spooner, the Senior School organist. There were an amazing 116 entries in eleven different categories.

Instrumental Music Examinations _______________________________________________________

ue to coronavirus restrictions, no examiners have visited school for onsite face to face examinations during this academic year. However, the examination boards created digital alternatives to face to face exams, where candidates can submit performance videos for assessment, allowing formal recognition of the ongoing progress made by our musicians who have continued to achieve a great deal, often by receiving tuition via Zoom lessons. The digital examinations have proved popular, and it is likely that they will continue to be available as an option in future, even when traditional face to face exams can resume in earnest. Digital examination videos can be recorded and entered at any time, and they are submitted independently by candidates, rather than by using School as an exam centre. Listed below are the ABRSM and Trinity results that I have been made aware of at the time of writing. Many congratulations to all of the pupils and their teachers on these splendid results. Mr. I. K Forgrieve Trinity Jamie Chen 6C

The overall winner for 2021 was Jamie Chen in Year 6, who performed on the guitar and the piano, both to a very high standard. The Spring Concert was moved to the Summer Term in the hope that a live event would be possible but, in the end, it had to be a pre-recorded concert, featuring each year group singing together, interspersed by items by the five ensembles that have been allowed to meet. This was not quite the ending to my 34 years at Bolton School that I had envisaged or indeed planned! Our thanks must go to Mr. Chris Jopson, who covered Mrs. Finlow’s maternity leave, and to all our visiting Music teachers, who have battled with Zoom lessons for such a long time. It has been good to see Ms. Lien, Mrs. Colgan, Ms. Chambers and Miss Smith in school and to welcome back Mrs. Finlow this term. I am sure Music at Park Road will continue to thrive next year, mainly due to the hard work and dedication of our band of visiting Music teachers and I wish Miss Heather Ormerod all the best in her new role as Head of Music at Park Road.

Yohaan Bhalme 6B Noah Plenderleith 6C

Guitar Piano Piano Piano Classical Guitar Piano Piano Piano Piano Piano Classical Guitar Piano

Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 3 Grade 2 Grade 2 Grade 2 Grade 2 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 1

Associated Board Taran Guduru 4B

Piano

Grade 2 Pass

Yash Raja 6A Charlie Simpson 6C Tanmay Gokul 6A Aryan Agrawal 6A George Burrows 6B Jaydn Patel 6C Teddy Wilson 5C

Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Merit Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Merit Merit

Extra-curricular Activities at Park Road _______________________________________________________

he Park Road boys benefitted from taking part in as many extra-curricular activities as were permissible as the pandemic continued this year. Many enjoyed attending clubs both during and after school. Activities ranged from badminton, table tennis, squash and tennis taster sessions, as well as LAMDA drama sessions, Kwik cricket and chess.

Mrs. S.J. Ives

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Park Road

Squash Club

Rugby Club Socialising with friends

Running Club

Cricket Club

Tennis Club

Water Polo Club

Tech Club

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Football Club

Table Tennis Club

Park Road Cricket _______________________________________________________

lthough we were unable to do any Cricket fixtures this year, the Year 4 boys all thoroughly enjoyed their Cricket sessions in the June sunshine and the Year 3s enjoyed doing the same the following week. Many thanks to Mr. Pearson from Lancashire Cricket Club for his time.

come a respectable 25th place in the championship; this was a huge achievement, as more than eight hundred teams (comprising 3248 children) from over five hundred schools, took part in the General Knowledge Championship during the last academic year and there were forty seven teams from forty four schools in the Finals. We are very proud of the boys, who all took the event in their stride whilst enjoying the competitive element. Well done!

Virtual Cross Country _______________________________________________________

n November, seven boys from Year 6 and six from Year 5 competed in the annual AJIS Cross Country meet, which is usually held at Rossall School.

With a changed format due to the ongoing pandemic, the Park Road runners competed both virtually and on The Levels, against the girls of Hesketh House.

Quiz Club _______________________________________________________

n October, our quiz team competed in the postponed National Finals of the General Knowledge Quiz run by QuizClub. Originally due to take place in London last summer, the Finals had to be rearranged and took place with schools competing remotely via Zoom. Dhilan (who returned from Seniors for the occasion), Adam, Ewan and George answered a set of wide-ranging and tricky questions to

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Park Road showed great determination to stay above the surface of the water and their skills, as well as the weather, improved week on week. Calm conditions and warm sunshine eventually enabled the boys to use the smaller boards and make really good progress. Several pairs of boys managed to launch their own boards and then paddle into the wind before paddling back, and even stood up with only a few tumbles!

An exciting race within both year groups saw two very close and compact finishes with Year 5 being separated by just one minute over the mile course and the Year 6 boys by only 50 seconds. Well done to all who took part and thank you to Hesketh House for organising! Mr. T. Grieve

Stand Up Paddle Boarding Club _______________________________________________________

n the Autumn Term, a group of Year 6 boys enjoyed a fun extracurricular activity in the sunshine at The Anderton Centre, as the ‘Learn to Standup Paddle Board Club’ began in earnest. The boys loved being on the open water and quickly mastered the art of boarding.

In the Summer Term, it was the turn of a group of Year 5 boys. When they signed up for this activity, they probably envisaged some balmy evenings on the water, topping up their tans, whilst perfecting a new skill; unfortunately, the sessions in early May didn’t quite live up to that, as the boys battled Siberian temperatures and hailstones the size of golf balls! However, they smiled their way through and

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Park Road Year 4 Trip to Patterdale ____________________________________________________

one I liked was really hard and shaky too; there was rope supporting these ‘almost floating’ platforms and we had to get across – I almost fell! Another activity I also liked was the rope made in squares and you had to crawl on it to get across. We did not need spotting for this one, so we both did it at the same time. The final activity that I liked was a log that you had to get across on and it was really hard to ‘be a sloth on it’ and move at the same time! Noah was spotting me the first time and then, when I finished, he did it and I was spotting him. I really liked the line rope course as it was fun and shaky – it was the best experience!

he Line Rope Course was our first activity at Patterdale. Cedric (our instructor) walked us to the course and told us how to be safe on the course. He told us to partner up so I went with my friend, Noah. There was a long piece of rope that we could stand on and some hanging rope and we had to get across it; it was really hard even though it looked easy because it kept on shaking so much that I fell off once! Noah was ‘spotting’ me in case I fell, then we swapped over so I was spotting him while he had a go. We moved on to the ninja warrior section and we had to jump side to side on some platforms; I was worried that my foot might slip, but I was fine. Another

Gorge Walking was my favourite part – I had never done it before and it was just a once in a lifetime experience. First, we went to the shed, full of equipment; we had to put these wetsuits on to keep us warm and we put a life jacket on – they were tight! We walked down the steep path, and then the instructor gave us some tips

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Park Road and guides. We slowly and steadily jumped into the gorge and then we were on the rocks. I was very scared, but at the same time excited. Our instructor told us to do the ‘Patterdale Prayer’ – they had a goddess called Patty and we had to hail her so that we were safe! Soon, we started walking, but there was a slimy rock and I fell in the water – it was absolutely FREEZING! I managed to get back up and started walking again. I fell in the water about three times, but soon it started to get warm. We got to swim in the deep part of the gorge because it was like a swimming pool. There was a rock that Cedric helped us to get on one by one and then we got to jump backwards into the ‘swimming pool’.

Back Country Skills was the best activity while I was there. We had to bring flint and steel so we could light up the fire; we also had to bring a block of cotton. We had to bring wood and pieces of bark that we peeled off a birch tree. My favourite part was that we got to make bread and we got to make hot chocolate! We also made little houses! We pretended that we had to make the house for a little action figure and we were scored on our design. Our instructor told us he was going to rate our houses, but while I was waiting for him to judge, I saw 4B gorge walking. I came in third place with my house and I got 5/10. I really liked my friends’ house (Max and Diyan’s). They had a door and a feather for an entrance just before the door, but it was really small inside. When we were leaving, we got to see a type of tree that had four other trees growing on it – that was really fascinating!

After that happened, we got out of the gorge and climbed up these ‘rock stairs’. There was a path that led to another place in the gorge and this is the part where we got to jump in the gorge! There was a small jump and a high jump. I was the third one to do the small jump – it was not that scary, it was just that the water was cold! I swam back to the rocks, and then we did the high jump, but this time it was high and did feel scary. My legs were shaking and shivering, but soon I jumped! It was so amazing! My friend Max, on his second jump, did the small jump, but he felt confident and did the high jump! Everyone was clapping. When we had walked back to Patterdale Hall, we took off our life jackets and wetsuits. Overall, I enjoyed the gorge walking the best because of the jumping and the swimming – it is amazing to get to know new activities and I really enjoyed it. Diyan Challa 4A

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Bear Roberts 4A

Park Road Year 5 Trip to Patterdale ____________________________________________________

t Patterdale, the green, spacious garden was filled with lots of plants and greenery, while the Hall itself overlooked the garden. There is a little forest in the southern part and it is home to many insects and

creatures.

The dorms are very good and felt like a mini home. They also included an en-suite bathroom and could fit 6 to 7 people in each dorm and 8 to 9 in the larger dorms. The dining room was split into two sides, one for the North Wing and one for the South Wing. The food was delicious and lots of us enjoyed a full English breakfast in the morning! The activities consisted of paddle boarding, orienteering, low ropes, archery, rock climbing and the half-day walk. Most of the boys liked rock climbing and paddle boarding the best, especially when we got to jump into Ullswater. We all had a great three days at Patterdale and can’t wait to visit again next year!

Egan Moore, Harry Roach and Suhayb Pal 5C

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Park Road Year 6 Trip to Patterdale Hall ____________________________________________________

y room was excited about the gorge walking activity. After breakfast, we rushed to the meeting room, where we were told what we needed, and we went out to the storage room, where we got changed into our wetsuits and buoyancy aids. We needed to go through a really dark tunnel to get to the main river. It was really fun, making a route that had the least slippy rocks but, personally, I loved it when I got wet. We went up the river and the current was pushing against us so we needed to be quite strong and keep going. Every so often, we came to a little plunge pool that we could swim in, which was super fun and our instructor did a prank in one of the pools and got us all wet! At the end was a big jump. I was a little bit nervous, but, in the end, I jumped and I enjoyed it a lot – so much that I did it again! We woke up eager for our second day in the Paradise known as Patterdale Hall. After gobbling up our full English breakfasts, Scott (our instructor) gathered us together to tell us what we needed for canoeing, we geared up with a buoyancy aid and a fleece and headed to get the canoes. Canoeing is a great team activity where you develop your skills to listen to each other, whilst helping the team yourself by offering your ideas. Someone takes the lead, telling the people on your team when you should paddle. We were told how to lift a canoe together to lower it into the water and how it feels to be paddling. Then, we split into two teams and off we went. Our first task was to reach the nearby buoy, doing a 360-degree turn to get the feel for changing direction and going in a straight line. After this, we had a race and then we did a game where we tried to grab the rope on the top and bottom of each canoe. At lunch, the hot chocolate we had was soothing in the cold conditions. When we set off once more, we had to paddle hard, so that the wind wouldn’t push us back. Then, in between the trees, we could see the mountains, and fish would swim underneath us because of the shallow depth of the still, calm water. After this, we said our farewells to our great instructor, Cedric. The following day, we woke up early, excited to climb Sheffield Pike! After a tasty breakfast, we got our hiking shoes, a water bottle, a backpack, some waterproofs and our lunch. Our instructor, Scott, showed us plants that tasted like garlic; then he showed us that you could brush down the small spikes of a nettle, licking it to show he had no doubt! Unfortunately, I still stung my

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finger so we were taught about dock leaves that have an alkaline sap to neutralise the acid sting – wherever there was a nettle, there was a dock leaf. Then, we started the long and steep hike, and all took turns navigating with a map on the way up. There were a few people slowing at the back, so I came to give some support. Soon afterwards, we came across a sheep with her small lamb, watching us curiously. After lunch, we looked across the vast canyon, full of flourishing wildlife, to see the strange outline in the gravel of a lady playing the saxophone! The struggle was almost over and we all helped each other right to the peak, where we took a picture and celebrated the 675m climb! On the way back down, we passed a mountain that miners had used for resources – we were walking on all of the useless rocks that they never used. There was a small bridge next to a hydroelectric machine, which led to a thin path containing lots of slugs. Finally, we followed the hill path, to end up back at the Hall. The whole experience was amazing, but very tiring!

Charlie Butler, Remi Molajo, Yash Raja and George Kiely 6A On Monday, we were all excited to go to Patterdale and our first activity was paddle boarding; we paddled across the lake and then paddled back. After lunch, we did orienteering. We used a

Park Road map to find blue clippers that we used to stamp our proof sheet. Dinner was next – it was very tasty! I then talked to my friends and eventually went to bed.

to have our lunch. We made some hot chocolate ourselves by learning how to use flint and steel – it was very hard at first, but we finally On Tuesday, we woke up at 6.00 a.m. Then, after a good breakfast, we spent the whole day climbing a mountain at 637 metres above sea level! After a very tiring climb, we reached the top and had lunch. After a long walk back, we did an egg challenge, dropping our egg off a balcony with a parachute to see if it could land without cracking. We also put it on a rocket and tried to make it fly. Unfortunately, ‘Boiled Bert’ cracked both times and so we didn’t win!

On Wednesday, we did archery and my best shot was a red seven. Then, we carried a cupful of water, without spilling any, over the ropes course and tried to beat the Year 12s’ record; on the second try, we beat it by a whole minute and 2 seconds! After lunch, we went gorge walking, making our way across the gorge, stumbling and falling, but eventually we made it. During the journey, we stopped for breaks in various spots, completing different activities like seeing how long we could sing while our activity group splashed water at us. After a scrumptious dinner, we went to bed, but we slept in a tent in twos or threes! At first, I thought it would be uncomfortable, but the inner part of the tent blocked the midges from entering. On Thursday, we spent time moving canoes and tying them together then rowed and rowed as hard as we could and eventually we started to progress. We whizzed past the other boat until we were forced to stop at a fork in the river. After stopping at an island to play hide-and-seek, we rowed to Barbecue Bay

managed it! Then we did my favourite thing of the week: ‘The Hairy Scary Man Jump’; only five people were brave enough to do it, including me! We rowed hard against the wind to make our way back, had dinner and a good night’s sleep. On Friday, we did the orienteering challenge, going round in small groups to find the flag and a member of staff who asked us a question. We completed the circuit and finished in third place. After lunch, we played a dramatic game of ‘wink murder’ before heading home. I would like to say thank you to the teachers for taking us to Patterdale, to the instructors for making the activities very fun and to the chefs for making some of the best dinners I’ve ever had! Patterdale truly was an amazing experience and I will always remember the great times I had there. I hope to go back again soon!

Krishnan Velayutham 6B

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Park Road Sports Day _______________________________________________________

Random Acts of Kindness _______________________________________________________

t was certainly a quieter Sports Day this year, with no parents able to be present, but the boys did their very best to make up for that and added plenty of atmosphere themselves. There were a great many very close races and excitement continued to build throughout the afternoon. Sadly, no records were broken this year, but the boys acquitted themselves very well, with many having to take part in a larger number of events than usual to fill in for absent friends. The highlight of the afternoon was when one of our younger pupils stopped part way through his race to help up a friend who had slipped – a competitive nature is important, of course, but that willingness to help a friend in need perhaps sums up best of all what this year has been all about.

ome of the Park Road boys decided to carry out random acts of kindness throughout the school year, ranging from simply holding a door open for a member of staff to tidying their classrooms without being asked.

Worthy of particularly notable mention were Aadi and Finley Vyas (5B and 3B respectively), who decided to carry out a random act of kindness for their mum’s amazing healthcare staff at the hospital she works at in Manchester. Between them (with some help!), the boys made over 200 little Valentines gifts for the hard-working teams in this hospital, which were a lovely surprise for the staff and very well received. It was also lovely to see a determined group of 3A boys doing sterling work on an almost daily basis, on a mission to collect large amounts of litter from the Park Road yard and Quiet Area this year. Thank you very much to Park Road’s very own Wombles: Om, Ross, Josh, Yusuf, Seth, Theo and Mikey for helping us to keep our part of school tidy and litter-free.

Recycle for Greater Manchester _______________________________________________________

n May, boys in Years 4 to 6 ‘Zoomed’ with Recycle4GM to learn how to become responsible recyclers, ensuring that only the right items go in the right bins and recyclable waste isn’t contaminated.

For the first time, we awarded Athletics Cup prizes for each year group. This cup is awarded to the individual who has performed best across the field events in the weeks leading up to Sports Day, as well as races on the day. This year, the cups were awarded to: Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Marcus Oper 3B Benji Houghton 4B Tyler Siddons 5B Alex Pierson 6B

Mrs. S. Faulkner

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The boys also got a fascinating insight into how their waste in Bolton is sorted at the £26m Materials Recovery Facility or ‘Merf’ using lasers, magnets and eddy currents! All the boys put their new-found knowledge to the test when they entered a quiz competition on the subject and were all encouraged to submit some recycling art work to the Recycle4GM project.

Park Road Artwork _______________________________________________________

Joel Taylor 6B

Remi Molajo 6A

Aryan Agrawal 6A

Faheem Akram 6C

Mustafa Seedat 6A

Hal Danson 6B

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Park Road

Shavaiz Rehman 6C

George Kiely 6A

Ahmed Bapu 6B

Alex Hilton-Jones 6A

George Burrows 6B

Charles Kaboutian 6A

Sebastian Hergart 6B

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Park Road

Yohaan Bhalme 6B

Joshua Kelly 4A

Bradan Boyd 4B

Harry Clark 5C

Rayyan Munshi 5B

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Park Road path had formed. Sure enough, the torch was there. It was nearing, taking step after step until it was right next to him. The mysterious beast gave a massive roar.

Max Simpson 4A

He screamed like a banshee and ran faster than Usain Bolt. He ducked under treacherous branches and jumped over fallen logs. He looked back to check where the monster was. He was nowhere to be seen. But because he was still running, he tripped over another log. He looked up and dazily saw the beast again! He instantly got up and started running again, but this time, faster. In no time, he was already on the path to his home village. He ran through the town screaming: “Beware! There is a horrible beast coming straight this way!” People opened their doors to see what the racket was all about. But the villagers ignored his warning. “There’s no such thing as a monster!” yelled the man with the very big house. “You have to believe m…” He was interrupted by the ear-shattering roar of, you guessed it, the beast again! Everybody swiftly closed their doors. Slam! Everyone locked their doors. Clink! “Let me in, please!” pleaded the man. He started to feel worried as the footsteps were getting louder and the roars were getting more ferocious. He closed his eyes ready to embrace death. Max Simpson 4A ‘The Trenches’ The war was rough, But we had to be tough. The smell was horrid, The food was rotting. Rats scuffling around the trench, The worst part was the awful stench. Sleep was rare as work had to be done, Guard duty, patrol and searching for a bomb. Dead bodies all around, I could barely breathe, Rotting food and rats made it harder to sleep. No Man’s Land was filled with decaying bodies, My best mate, Brad – he was checking for their pulses.

Creative Writing _______________________________________________________

Sandbags protected us along with barbed wire, Corrugated iron, periscope and dogs.

‘The Beast’

Sugar candy – that’s what kept me going, Along with my country and precious family.

The old trees towered above him as if they were towers. The dark and gloomy sky hung over him. Unexpectedly, there was a noise; he turned around to find emptiness. He was scared. Sweat was pouring. His heart was beating faster and faster. Just then, there was a light in the corner of his eye. He turned around to see a new

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Writing to Mum and Dad – that I did enjoy, But the fact that they’re on rations made me feel guilty. The only thought that was going through my head

Park Road Is “how long does this war have ahead?” My foot started aching so God bless the nurses, They gave some grease and that’s what kept me going. “Am I going to perish?” I thought that every day, But instead I do my job and fight for my country. I am in the front line in June 1918, So we push ahead of the Germans. July 1918, the Battle of the Marne, We destroy the Germans, it’s a good sign ahead. 11/11/11 – An armistice is agreed, The guns fall silent and that’s happy days for me. June 1919 papers are signed, The war ends and I go home to Mum and Dad along with Brad. Alex Pierson 6B

World Book Day _______________________________________________________

he Park Road boys enjoyed a different kind of World Book Day this year, as most were remote learning in Lockdown in March. To start the day, each class worked on their own reading dens, after having enjoyed an assembly with David Walliams. The rest of the morning involved a number of different activities, which included exploring the World Book Day free book options, designing a book cover of their life and creating an augmented reality book scene.

During the afternoon, the Park Road teachers swapped classes via Zoom and shared a reading from a favourite book of theirs. It was refreshing for all boys and staff to see and engage with new faces and the boys really enjoyed getting comfortable in their dens and enjoying a good story. The end of the day involved all boys and staff designing a book character through the Potato Portrayal task. There were lots of creative and imaginative examples on show!

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Park Road and themes from the play, leading to mature conversations about love, responsibility, magic, comedy, tragedy and parent/child relationships, to name but a few, including learning all of the names of the characters, about the fairies and who wishes to marry whom. The boys also took part in workshops run by The Octagon Theatre.

Over the Easter break, the boys were tasked with creating ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ ‘microcosm’ in a box or jar. Mr. Franklin was extremely impressed by the calibre and creativity of the character sonnets, also created by the boys, many of which were displayed in school.

A great day was had by all.

Shakespeare Fortnight _______________________________________________________

n March, the Park Road boys began their ‘Shakespeare Fortnight’ by reading through Shakespeare’s comedy ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, which they all really enjoyed. They then took part in different reading, writing and performance activities throughout the week. As well as enjoying the story, the boys began to analyse characters

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Boys from 6B ventured ‘Into the Woods‘ to perform Act 3 Scene 1 of the play and explored emotions at this point in the play and focused on stage positions and presence to reflect characters’ feelings.

Park Road Screen Away Day _______________________________________________________

hilst in the throes of Lockdown in February, all of the Park Road boys and staff had the chance to put away their iPads for large chunks of the day and take part in a range of alternative, curriculum-based activities. Children of key workers took part in school, whilst others did so remotely.

Year 6 Virtual visit to the Houses of Parliament _______________________________________________________

n March, the Year 6 boys were transported virtually to the UK Houses of Parliament in London. They learned about the origins of the Parliament building, the transition of power from the monarchy to an elected government, how MPs are elected and how laws are made. The boys were able to look inside the Houses of Commons and Lords and discuss the composition and day to day workings of each. There was an opportunity to ask questions of the presenters, both of whom work in the Parliament every day, and who were really impressed with the questions posed which showed great insight and curiosity.

Whether it was creating a positive form message to share with others during difficult times, enjoying the great outdoors whilst counting and feeding our feathered friends, or simply taking an observational walk, getting crafty with an old pair of socks or sweating over the alphabet like never before, the boys amazed their teachers with their enthusiasm and willingness to ‘get stuck in’.

Everyone enjoyed being off screens for the ‘Away Day’ and thanks must go to Park Road parents for supporting their sons by providing the necessary resources and, in many cases, also joining in the fun of the day.

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Park Road Tudor Day _______________________________________________________

ear 5 Tudor Day took place at the end of March. Boys enjoyed making herb bags, Tudor tankards, Tudor Rose biscuits, learning some Tudor music and dance, and there was even an appearance from Henry VIII himself!

4B 5A 5B 5C 6A 6B 6C

Khaleel Ugharadar Charlie Bovill Saif Karim Mateo Sprott Aryan Agrawal George Burrows Will Roberts

Here is a sample of some of their maps.

The results for this competition will be published shortly – good luck to all the finalists and well done! Miss G. Fletcher

Young Geographer of the Year _______________________________________________________

Year 3 Adventure Day _______________________________________________________

his year, all the Park Road boys entered the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Competition ‘Remapping Our Lives’. This is a national competition where pupils were asked to create an annotated map to reveal how their life has been shaped by the Covid pandemic. Well done to all the boys who entered and produced some fantastic pieces of work! Geography teachers have now selected a finalist for each form to go on to represent the School and be entered into the national competition. Below are the finalists for each class: 3A 3B 4A

Harlan Moore Syed Mehdi Ayaan Ali

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oday, it was… Adventure Day! I first ate a scrumptious boiled egg – yum! Then I arrived at school normally and then waited in the classroom for some time and then we went on the coach.

After we arrived at the Anderton Centre, we first did canoeing and I was very wet. We had another canoe attached to our canoe. We wore a helmet and a life jacket. We first had to go to the edge of the reservoir and back. It was hard work! “Phew, finally no more getting wet”, I said to myself. We changed into dry clothes and ate lunch.

Park Road BikeAbility _______________________________________________________

s national restrictions eased, the Year 6 boys finishing their time at Park Road were fortunate to undertake the traditional BikeAbility course, run by Bolton Council, learning road safety and even how to fix their bikes if they got punctures. The boys were delighted to be able to enjoy this short course.

Then we started the next activity – can you guess it? It was the low ropes, of course. The instructor told us that the floor was made of sharks in custard! After a lot of hard work, we did bouldering – we were swimmers and there was a shark. The concept of the game was to escape from the sharks and we had to hang onto the climbing wall.

Year 4 Trip to Tatton Park _______________________________________________________

n early May, the Year 4 boys enjoyed a thrilling day out at Tatton Park for their History trip. The boys were very excited to be out exploring the wider curriculum again and, from the moment they arrived at Tatton Park, the boys had to prove their worth at various tasks to avoid being sold as galley slaves to the Vikings at the local market!

Then it was orienteering, and we found it very hard. I can’t wait to go to Patterdale Hall next year! Syed Mehdi 3B

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Park Road

The boys experienced the way of life of both the Saxons and Vikings, they were tasked with weaving their own rope, stalking the deer, as well as flailing and grinding the wheat; this was then followed by Viking warrior training, where they perfected their shield formations, and battle cries.

Miss G. Fletcher

Virtual Visits _______________________________________________________

n February, our Year 6 boys were thrilled to be paid a virtual visit from the inspirational, wellknown children’s author Tom Palmer, which concluded our English and History learning about the Holocaust. Tom has written many exciting stories about spies, ghosts, planes, rugby, football, running and history and the boys were able to ask him plenty of probing questions about life as writer. Tom shared his tips on researching, drafting and editing, writing and about the lengths that he goes to when writing a new book. Many boys expressed an interest in reading more of his books after the fascinating session.

A memorable day was had by all and the boys did Park Road proud with their behaviour and enthusiasm. We were pleased to report that all were able to return home and avoid being a fearful future captive on a Viking longship!

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Later that month, the Year 6 boys then had the pleasure of a virtual audience with Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, to start their new History topic: The Victorians.

Park Road The boys learnt about the life of Queen Victoria, about her coronation, her family, husband Prince Albert, the British Empire and even some aspects of Victorian life, including inventions of the era. The boys were even able to ask Queen Victoria lots of questions at the end of the session and were suitably engaged with their new topic for the term ahead! Also in February, the boys from Years 5 and 6 were lucky enough to be joined on Zoom by Sam Bratby from Paperdoll Illustrations. Sam is a full time illustrator and works from her garden studio, creating prints using her unique style. As part of the sessions, Sam shared some of her Manchester-themed artwork with the boys and then led a sketching masterclass that focused on character creation. The boys also had the opportunity to ask Sam questions about digital sketching and enjoyed sharing their own sketches with her too – a fantastic session that was enjoyed by all!

author and talked of the inspiration behind his book, Malamander, which the boys had been enjoying reading in their library lessons. It was brilliant to hear the boys asking questions about the characters and plot, as well as about other books that he has written too. Also in March, the Year 3 boys had a virtual visit from Egyptian royalty, in the form of Cleopatra. Amongst many other things, the boys learnt of the Queen’s impressive talent of being fluent in seven languages, how the River Nile brought life to Egypt and about many of the items that were invented by the Ancient Egyptians. Later in the month, Year 6 boys then had a virtual visit from Dr. Helen, a renowned palaeontologist, who talked about her fascinating work and showed the boys some of the fossils from her amazing collection.

In March, as part of the ongoing Enrichment Curriculum, the Year 6 boys had the privilege of a further virtual visit from polar explorer, author, photographer and motivational speaker Alex Hibbert. The boys listened intently to Alex’s talk about his Arctic adventures, not all of which ended in the success he had expected. He took the boys on a photographic journey through some of the most challenging terrain in the world, explaining how he and his team survived the conditions and adapted to changing circumstances, and how the decision to spend time learning how to use the local dogs turned out to be the right one.

In May, the whole school, sitting in their class bubbles as the pandemic continued, attended a webinar hosted by Dame Floella Benjamin, who recounted the story of her life, from her childhood overseas to becoming an immigrant to the UK as part of the Windrush generation and to subsequently being bestowed with the honour of a damehood by the Queen. The boys discussed ‘the four Cs’, which Dame Floella deemed to be the important values by which she lived her life: consideration, contentment, confidence and courage. Many boys purchased her book Coming to England and the talk provoked much discussion.

The session concluded with an engaging Q&A with Alex over Zoom. Later in March, during their English lessons, the Year 5 boys had the pleasure of a Zoom call with author and illustrator Thomas Taylor. Throughout the talk, Thomas shared with the boys how he had became an

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Park Road Mandarin _______________________________________________________

he boys had a fun year learning not only the language, but the culture. A lot of the boys brought the knowledge home and shared with their family by celebrating the moon cake festival and Chinese New Year in the traditional Chinese way. Also in May, as the Year 5 boys made their way virtually around the world, learning about Sir Francis Drake’s voyage on the Golden Hinde, there was a virtual visit for the Year 4 boys with a superb talk from illustrator Nick Sharratt, who shared his top tips and artistic expertise with some very eager to learn boys.

Mrs. S. Chen

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Park Road Year 6 Play – ‘Peter Pan’ _______________________________________________________

oised in a tableau, dressed in their vibrant costumes and with cameras set, Year 6 stood ready to perform behind the red Girls’ Division theatre curtains, in anticipation for this year’s ‘Peter Pan’ production to begin – and what a brilliant performance it was! The prologue instantly took the audience to the magical place of Neverland, ‘a place where dreams are born and time is never planned’. Flying clouds billowed behind the boys as Maxim McKay acting in the leading role, Peter Pan, guided the audience through Neverland’s inhabitants including the young Lost Boys, the courageous Brave Girls and, of course, the mischievous pirates, led by Captain Hook! The musical tells the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never wants to grow up or ‘learn about solemn things’. Instead, he wants to stay as a young boy and have fun. We learn of his young innocence and free spirit, which he passes on to the enthused Darling children, who are in awe of Peter’s adventures and freedom. Costumes were bright and colourful, lighting up the stage in every scene to portray the contrasting characters in the play. A special thank you to Miss Cox for working tirelessly on her sewing machine to create fabulous costumes for both the Lost Boys and Brave Girls, as well as Mrs. Whittaker and Mrs. Winstanley, for doing a great job in organising all of the other costumes. The ticking crocodile – Hook’s greatest fear – had an impressive 1.5m wooden costume created by Mr. Winstanley and painted by Year 6 boys. Filippos Giannakopoulos and Jamie Chen both took great enjoyment in seeing Hook’s fate at

the end of the play, as he falls off the plank, into the swallowing sea. The set was bright and colourful, lending itself to the magical world of Neverland, through the woodland backdrops and trees for the Lost Boys, the Jolly Roger and the Darling Nursery too. Thank you to Mr. Kyle from the Girls’ Division and Mr. Winstanley for working extremely hard in making these fantastic set pieces. The Darling children open the first scene, dancing around showing their love of playing and make believe. In contrast, a serious Mr. Darling, aptly played by Yohaan Bhalme, shows his stresses in the household by telling off their clumsy dog, Nana (Oliver Boyd) with his excellent barking and miming actions. Mrs. Darling (Jack Rothwell), dressed in a beautiful long evening dress, calms Mr. Darling before their evening outing, settling the Darling children to sleep, singing Tender Shepherd beautifully – a beautiful quartet well-rehearsed, with the great help of Mrs. Ives.

Whilst the children sleep under Liza’s (Ben Quilliam) watch, Wendy wakes in the night to see Peter in her room searching for his shadow (Hal Danson) and a cheeky, mischievous Tinkerbell (Jack Hill) darting about the room in synchronisation with the glockenspiel notes played by percussionists Sohail Khan, Ibad Amjid, Leon Spurdle and Colin Thomas.

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Park Road

Wendy, played brilliantly by Jenson Byrne, is in awe of Peter and the adventurous world of Neverland. She quickly wakes John, (Yusuf Salih) and Michael (Charlie Butler) to share the excitement and, as soon as they hear Peter can fly, they are sold! Off to Neverland, they head through the window constructed by Mr. Kyle, before being joined by the whole of Year 6 triumphantly singing I’m Flying.

In Neverland, the adventures begin! Captain Hook, described in the song Hook’s Waltz, as the ‘creepiest creep in the world’ was deftly delivered by Steven Wang. Throughout, he tells the audience of his villainous plans through song, thanks to the pirate Jukes (Oliver Hill) checking ‘What tempo, Captain?’ to help him devise his evil plans. Steven, a ballroom dancer himself, performed songs such as Hook’s Tango, Hook’s Waltz and Tarantella with great presence, devising his plans to defeat Peter Pan alongside lead pirates including Noodler (Charlie Simpson), Cecco (Krishnan Velayutham) and Starkey (Yash Raja). All performed songs in great chorus and volume, staying in character throughout, showing their interest in Hook’s evil plans.

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Hook’s sidekick, Smee, played by Adam Patel, follows Hook around brilliantly, obeying Hook’s orders, whilst adding humour to the play by his careless mistakes and great wit. The Lost Boys helped to narrate the story and showed their adventurous charm as inhabitants of Neverland, shooting arrows and playing hide-and-seek together across scenes. Lead Lost Boys included Will Roberts, Sam Burke, Ahmed Bapu, George Kiely, Charles Kiely (our very own Lost Boy twins!) and Sulayman Akiff. Other Lost Boys joined on stage to perform songs including a personal favourite, I Won’t Grow Up, evoking the joyful theme that runs throughout ‘Peter Pan’: living life young and free!

Brave Girls, led by the fierce Tiger Lily, (Alex Pierson) demonstrated their tough, courageous characters through the Brave Girl Dance, ending with an almighty ‘Ugh-A-Wug-A meatball’ chant. A song that was particularly fun to see was when Peter and Tiger Lily decide to join together to defeat the pirates, showcasing their newfound friendship (Ugh-A-Wug). Boys all showcased their cartwheeling talents and singing through this great number as a year group.

Park Road

Reaching the penultimate scene, the Lost Boys and Darling Children find themselves in trouble when they are kidnapped by the pirates and only Peter Pan and Tinkerbell are left to save them. Peter and the Brave Girls sneak on board the ship and, at just the right moment, attack the pirates whilst they’re searching for the croc! Hook is left in a quandary, facing both the confident and energetic ‘Peter Pan the avenger’ and the ticking crocodile (accompanied by Leon Spurdle on percussion), as it makes its way on board the Jolly Roger. After some sword fighting, much to the boys enjoyment, fantastic fighting poses from the Brave Girls, and an almighty last battle between Peter Pan and Captain Hook, Hook eventually throws himself off the plank into the vast sea below him. Peter Pan crows and cheers with the Brave Girls and Lost Boys and all continue to lift the roof off the theatre for one last rendition of Neverland.

After what has been a very difficult year, where our freedoms continued to be restricted, it was brilliant to see the boys performing such a fun and uplifting play about freedom and adventure! The play’s message of ‘bringing two tribes into one’ shows the importance of working together and marks the boys’ own new adventures they will have as they begin Senior School, with the friendships and fun that they will have there. Armed with popcorn and their friends around them, Year 6 were able to watch their own play this year due to us filming the production. Thank you to Tom Daly for filming this, Mrs. Ives for working incredibly hard on all of the singing and to Mrs. Winstanley, Mrs. Whittaker and Mr. Morris for all of their time and effort put into the auditions and rehearsals for the play too. Miss M.L. Karn

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Park Road

Snapshots Keeping a sense of humour

ights Scaling new he

Perfecting Public Speaking

Fun Running

interests Enjoying shared

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Raising money for charity

Getting involved

llenges g new cha Completin

Park Road

Enjoying the AD T Room

Living as a Vict orian

Remembering the fallen

irit e Christmas sp Getting into th

Reviewing perfo rmances

Going for a swim

Awaiting the Chris tmas

Thinking of the planet

Celebration

s oney boxe Making M

for adventure Getting ready

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The Old Boltonians Message from the President _______________________________________________________

Old Boltonians _______________________________________________________

am so glad to welcome with the optimism that we may well be able to resume in-person events after cancellation in the 202021 academic year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The calendar this year will hopefully have its familiar rhythms: the regional dinners, the Cumbria lunch, leavers’ reunions, the Old Boltonian lunches, and the annual dinner. A decade reunion took place on Saturday 25th September for 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010 leavers and there are a number of further events planned, including the Oxford Dinner and the annual Old Boltonians’ Dinner in December. I very much hope we will have large attendances at these events and others throughout the year to give Old Boltonian activity the boost which the Association needs after such a fallow period. Despite the cancellation of in-person events recently, I was nevertheless very pleased to participate in a number of so-called ‘happy hour’ meetings via Zoom, which helped to keep those present informed about progress at School despite the restrictions. One could not help but be highly encouraged by the resilience, sense of purpose, tenacity and adaptability shown in such difficult times. The only in-person event was the annual cricket match between the School 1st Xl and MCC during July, which was most enjoyable, even though we had to forego the sumptuous tea which is normally served on this occasion! It was a delight that during the afternoon I was able to catch up with a number of Old Boys and members of staff and enjoy the sound of willow on leather on the bottom Level. For me, the disappointment of Lockdown is tempered by the fact that the Association has invited me to extend my term of office for a further year, an invitation which I am honoured to accept. I am looking forward, once again, to meeting with Old Boys at various occasions as the year unfolds, and to indulge in the nostalgia of remembering “what we were like in our work and our play”. Roy Battersby (1953-1961)

134 THE OLD BOLTONIANS

n leaving School, every boy automatically becomes a member of the Old Boltonians’ Association and is subsequently given the title of ‘Old Boy’. Membership of the Association is free, and all Old Boys receive a twiceyearly newsletter, ‘The Bugle’, and invitations to a variety of events which provide a great opportunity to keep in touch with both the School and with former classmates, as well as to establish new friendships with other Old Boys. Unfortunately, last year’s programme of Alumni events was unable to take place, although, thanks to technology, Old Boys and Old Girls were able to get together virtually thanks to the Zoom ‘Happy Hours’ organised by the Development Office and to join in traditional School events such as the Tillotson Lecture and the Christmas Festival, which were live streamed. However, with the easing of restrictions, a number of in-person events are now being planned, invitations to which will be sent out to all Old Boys in touch with School. Old Boys who are not currently on the mailing list, but would like to join it, should contact the Development Office. We look forward to seeing as many Old Boys and Old Girls as possible throughout the coming months – please keep an eye on our social media channels for news of reunions and School events. The Development Team

The Old Boltonians Stay in Touch _______________________________________________________ Connect with Old Boys and Old Girls on the Bolton Alumni Network: www.boltonalumninetwork.com. ‘Like’ our Facebook page for event invitations, School news and memories: search Bolton School – Old Boys and Old Girls (Official) Connect with fellow Old Boys on LinkedIn: connect with Bolton School Alumni and join the Bolton School Group Follow Alumni and School news @BoltonSchool/@BoltonSchAlumni

via

School Captain 2020-2021 _______________________________________________________

s School Captain Charlie Griffiths has now made the transition from pupil to Old Boy, he tells us about his year in post and offers advice to incoming Captain, Ali Ahmed. Full Name: Charlie Gabriel Griffiths Years at School: 2014-2021 Deputies: Thomas Britton, Thomas Yates

Twitter:

Watch short films posted on the School’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/boltonschoolmedia Read regular blogs from pupils and staff from across the campus: http://boltonschool.me/ Follow bolton_school_foundation and use #BSAlumni to share your memories and photos on Instagram View photos of Alumni events on Flickr at www.flickr.com/ photos/bsalumni/albums Visit the ‘Former Pupils’ section of the School website at www.boltonschool.org to see event photos, read Alumni career profiles, find news of Old Boys, view an up-to-date events calendar, update your contact details and more. Contact Us: Development Office Bolton School Chorley New Road Bolton BL1 4PA T: 01204 434718 E: development@boltonschool.org The Development Team: Rebecca Brayshaw – Development Manager Laura Firth – Director of Development and Alumni Relations Hannah Fox – Development Officer Frances Johnson – Development Assistant Caspar Joseph – Old Boys’ Liaison Officer Kathryn O’Brien – Development Assistant

Were you a member of any teams, clubs or societies in Sixth Form? During my time at school, I thoroughly enjoyed being involved with clubs and societies, although there were two main ones to which I dedicated my time: first of all, I adored taking part in drama productions throughout my time at school, but notably, I enjoyed playing George in our production of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, which offered up new challenges because of the socially distanced filming process; secondly, I loved putting together a rendition of Queen’s I Want to Break Free for the Musical Showcase. My other passion was being a part of the School’s Hockey team, for which I played fixtures for the 1st and 2nd XI, and though matches were somewhat interrupted by COVID-19, training still made up a key part of my extra-curricular life. What were your key responsibilities as Captain? Whilst some responsibilities were carried over from previous years, COVID-19 had a real impact on our duties, and hence we were forced to complete tasks which had not been seen during other years. As there were no in-person assemblies, we saw the demise of assembly duties, and instead, Thomas Higham oversaw picking Monitors to speak in assemblies over Zoom. Handwashing duty was another interesting addition to the duty rota, and not a particularly popular one due to Bolton’s harsh microclimate, so ensuring that Monitors attended these duties was a large part of the organisational side of duties. As well as this, regular correspondence with the managerial team was a large part of our role, and we spent a lot of time speaking with the Head of Sixth Form, Mr. Williams, about improvements that could be made to improve student life during ‘uncertain times’. What was the most memorable occasion for you as Captain? As cliché as it sounds, I think any Captain would be lying if they said that being offered the position isn’t their most memorable occasion, though for me, the occasion was conducted slightly differently. There were no Sergeants swooping down the corridors in capes, but I instead dialled in to a Zoom meeting with the Head and the Head of Year to be offered the position. I think it’s fair to say that I am the first School Captain to be offered the position in his kitchen!

THE OLD BOLTONIANS 135

The Old Boltonians What was the most difficult aspect of being Captain? Maintaining student relationships with the team was perhaps the most difficult aspect of the job – people aren’t keen to like you when you’re telling them that they’re missing a duty, though the longer we were in the role, we found more Monitors completing their duties without the need to be told. Another difficulty was organising meetings with social distancing measures in place, and so WhatsApp and chain emails became a large part of the process. Were there any unexpected aspects involved with the role? Honestly, everything during the year 2020-2021 was unexpected. Logging into BBC iPlayer to listen to the Prime Minister’s newest announcement became a large part of my life, as it was important to find out what was going to be changed next. Whilst I never enjoyed finding out what new liberty was going to be taken away, it’s definitely something that added a new twist to the role. Has the role helped you develop any new skills? I would say that the biggest impact the role has had on me is its effect on my teamworking skills. Whilst I have always felt comfortable in a leadership role, I had the tendency to take on too many tasks by myself. Being School Captain allowed me to improve my delegation skills, and by splitting up responsibilities between the Senior Monitor team, I found we got a lot more done than I could have achieved by myself. What would your advice be for the incoming Captain? My biggest piece of advice for the incoming Captain would simply be to jump at any opportunity that you’re given with both feet. So much can be achieved by getting really involved with the responsibilities as Captain, and at the end of your Captaincy, you will be able to look back and be proud of what you achieved during your time in office. Best of luck, Ali. How did you feel about leaving School? The end of school was an odd one for me. Being truthful, the whole year went by in a flash, and, in retrospect, still seems like a bit of a fever dream. I owe a lot of my character strengths to Bolton School and will be forever grateful for my time spent there, but I am happy in the knowledge that as I walked out of those gates for the last time as a student, I have been given everything I need to be successful later in life. Which university are you at and what are you studying? I am currently an Aerospace Engineer Degree Apprentice at BAE Systems PLC. and I am studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering at Lancaster University (B&FC Campus) What has your experience of university life been like so far? For me, my time in higher education is hugely different to the ‘normal’ university experience. I spend three days a week at work, and one day on campus at university, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have a small work group of 30, with whom I both study and work, and we have a really tight-knit, supportive circle. I am currently completing

136 THE OLD BOLTONIANS

my training for the business, and will move on to my in-company placements soon. Are you planning on being involved in any activities/societies at university? Again, my university experience is slightly different to the norm, and so due to the nature of my working week, I do not spend enough time at university to partake in societies, not being on the Lancaster University campus. However, in my spare time I do get up to a lot, and I am currently learning to snowboard outside of work. What are your career aspirations? My short-term career aspiration is to become a chartered engineer after my time on the course, and in the long-term, it is my aim to stay on with the company after my five-year course is complete, working through the ranks to get to a managerial level within the business. Within the company, I am still unsure as to what sector I would like to work in, although I am excited to see what opportunities present themselves during my time on placement. Will you continue to be involved with School? I feel proud to be known as a Bolton School alumnus, and I know that over the coming years and beyond, I will continue to stay in contact with the School and be involved with as much as I can. There’s a wide variety of Old Boy events to attend and I know that looking back on my time at Bolton School with my old peers will offer up fond memories.

Old Boltonians’ AFC Report 2020-21 _______________________________________________________

ast year was supposed to be the club’s celebration of a hundred years. It was never to be, due to COVID-19. The last twelve months have seemed to many like another century, with their frustrating false dawns. It will come as little surprise to any reader that there is little actual football to report on; all seven teams started their 2020-21 seasons with varying degrees of optimism and preparedness only for all to be decimated in subtly different but totally annoying and wearying ways. Leagues started, were delayed, were cancelled. Late season competitions were started, ravaged and mostly withered away. Certainly, there was no celebrating on the pitch for our various adult teams along with another hiatus in any commemorative centennial football festivities. On the upside, the finances have never been stronger, even with significant planned spending on kit, the pavilion, the pitches and their surrounds. Equally, with more aeration and drainage work in the pipeline, the pitches are in even better condition than ever, prior to whatever the 2021-22 season holds. That we have a wonderful facility is in little doubt, but the appearance of the ground in a delightful labour of love, Britain’s Greatest Grounds; One Hundred Must See Football Venues, helps to confirm our prowess on the

The Old Boltonians national published scene.

com or on 07711 594030.

Your correspondent is reluctant to suggest that the seasons of the three Saturday teams, the Vets, the Ladies and the long promised, now operative Youth team – successful in its first season on every count – will be in full flow when this is published. What is sure is that the magnificent team of volunteers from First Team manager through Grounds and Pavilion maestro to executive officers have worked tirelessly to make it possible to play whatever the gods throw at us… and maybe, you never know – without premature foul counting – we will be celebrating the 100, 101 & 102 years of OBAFC!

Mark Millhouse (1989-1994), Golf Secretary

Mr. M. P. Wadsworth (Boys’ Division Staff, 1974-2006)

The Headmaster’s Chair from the old Grammar School dates back to 1685 when it cost about four shillings. Made of oak, it is extremely well built and appears in photographs of the old School with a gown draped over it to disguise the loss of the original arm.

Old Boltonians’ Golf Society Report _______________________________________________________

Treasures of Bolton School _______________________________________________________

ow many boys who walk through the landing behind the organ, whether en route to the Library, to the Great Hall or to C Corridor ever give more than a passing glance to the old chair, the chest or the bookcase?

fter emerging from Lockdown Two (or Three or Four, I lost count!) there was certainly a lot of enthusiasm to get back out on the golf course. The issue I think many found was that it took some time to get the condition of the courses up to standard following a harsh winter and reduced greenkeeping staff due to furlough. The other issue was that whilst golf courses opened in late March, it was some considerable amount of time before clubhouses and catering were able to follow suit, which made the organising of events somewhat difficult. I am, however, happy to report that the annual match play Rosebowl has gone ahead and, at the time of writing, sees Frank Hodgkiss awaiting his opponent in the Final. We have also arranged to play The Taylor Trophy at Bolton Golf Club on Sunday 10th October. Lastly, I am extremely happy to report that, after a number of lean years, we have once again managed to qualify for the Grafton Morrish Finals at Hunstanton and Royal West Norfolk on the weekend of 2nd October. A somewhat depleted team of Mark Millhouse, Mark Worsley, Norman Fletcher, Guy Haynes, Jeff Bennett and Nigel Compsty managed to qualify in second place with a total of 84 points. Given the age and ability profile of the other schools attempting to qualify, this was a fantastic achievement and I extend my sincere thanks to those who represented the School. The same team, with the exception of Nigel Compsty – who cited substandard accommodation and lack of passport requirement as his reasons for not travelling and who has been replaced by the evergreen and easygoing Phil Riding – will travel to Norfolk in October. I look forward to being able to give a positive report on the Finals in the next edition of ‘The Boltonian’. As ever, if any Old Boy wishes to get involved with the Society, particularly those with a low handicap who could help us in Grafton Morrish qualification, please contact me at mark_millhouse@yahoo.

Until a relatively short time ago the School Chest was where all the School’s early records were kept. They were very dirty until 2003, when Dr. Holland and Mrs. Nightingale removed, cleaned and catalogued them under the guidance of the John Rylands Library in Manchester before storing them in protective files in the archive. The chest is made from wrought iron with interlaced iron bands and may, at some time, have been the parish chest of Bolton. Until 1832, the School did not have a bank account so it would have been used to store all its coins of the realm. It was probably made in Nuremberg in Germany and imported initially for use as a safe. We do not have a definite date for the chest, but the documents it contained suggests it dates from the early 17th century. When going through the old chest, Dr. Holland became aware of the need for new bookcases and he designed the new bookcases which were made by craftsmen trained by Gordon Russell and which complement the Great Hall doors. The translation of the inscription is ‘The least knowledge that we can have of the highest things is more desirable than the surest grasp of those things that are the least’. The Parents’ Association kindly donated £8,000 towards its cost and there is a plaque to this effect at one end of the bookcases. At the other end, there is a tribute to Sir Gordon Russell, who designed all the original furniture and fittings throughout the School. They were opened in the Autumn Term 2007.

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The Old Boltonians Within the bookcases is the jewel in the crown – the chained library. One of few chained collections remaining in the country, it is the only one in a school with the original fittings intact. Chained libraries were commonplace between the 14th and 18th centuries in cathedrals, churches, universities and major schools, but few remain and only two in schools, one here and one at Royal Grammar School, Guildford. The Guildford library, however, has lost its original woodwork so Bolton is therefore unique. It is all that is left of two local 17th century libraries in the town of Bolton-le-Moors, one being from the old Bolton Grammar School, the other from the old Bolton Parish Church. The two libraries were merged in the mid 19th century. There are 97 items in total, 56 of which are chained in the oak cabinet given to the School in 1694 by Mr. James Lever and the dates of the books range from 1608 to 1823. Most are theological, which is not surprising, given that education then was largely based on Divinity and Latin, and almost all are in English.

insisted on Latin being the only language used by the boys he taught. He later moved to London and opened a boarding school. He is remembered for his Dictionary of the Latin Tongue. This was the most important Latin dictionary of its time and remained the standard Latin dictionary until Victorian times. The copy in the Chained Library was his gift to the School. The most interesting books are arguably the three-volume copy of The Acts and Monuments by John Foxe. It is full of woodcut illustrations of people condemned to death during the reign of Queen Mary Tudor and, when first published in 1563, was the largest publishing project ever undertaken in England. It was reprinted many times and our edition is the ninth edition printed in 1684. It is often referred to as The Book of Martyrs, but that was not John Foxe’s title and it only became known by this name after the edition printed in 1631. All are indeed treasures of Bolton School.

Many books have suffered from damp over the years, but there has been little or no damage due to mildew or bookworm. A large proportion of the books were restored at the expense of a Governor, Fred Tillotson, whose father, William, had been married to Lord Leverhulme’s sister. William Tillotson was also the founder of the Bolton Evening News in 1867. The books are not necessarily rare, but they form part of a library which we believe was read by ordinary people, including clergy. They were for use, not ornament, so the bindings are plain and utilitarian. It is a lectern system with a reading desk on which to read the books. The chains are linked to a front corner of the book because if they were chained to the spine the book would suffer greater stress from being moved on and off the shelf. Moreover, the books are placed on the shelves with the binding to the rear. This is so that each book might be removed and opened without the need to turn it round, hence minimising the risk of the chains getting tangled. One of the most prized books is the Ainsworth Dictionary. Robert Ainsworth (16601743) was a pupil at the Grammar School and later taught there. As a teacher, he

138 THE OLD BOLTONIANS

Looking Back _______________________________________________________

Bill Stephens (1956-1962) sent in this photo of the Hockey Team of 1960. Back, L-R: W.A. Stephens; G.P. Gubbin, D.L. Speirs, ? Walker, ? Helsby, J. Shuttleworth

The Old Boltonians Front, L-R: M.J. Murden, R.F. Lee, R.M. Falconer, K.T. Scholes, R. Peters Bill played hockey into his seventies, finally retiring in 2015. He would love to hear news of the other Bolton School team members via the Development Office.

1983-84 Football 1st XI Back, L-R: John Stopford, Martyn McDonald, Chris Stoddart, Richard Sharples, Dave Shoesmith, Ian Hilton Front, L-R: Chris Chadwick, Julian Darby, Mick Seddon, Gary Rowson (Captain), Henry Woods, Marcus Radcliffe

2nd XI Football 1967-1968 Back, L-R: I.G. Calder, J.K. Wood, I. Atherton, B.E. Chandler, D.J. Smith, M. Taylor, B. Young Front, L-R: C.D. Wright, B. Boulton, G.V. Williams, P.E. Bond, P. Teece

Thank you to Martin Thompson (1959-1973) for these three photos of Beech House c.1961

THE OLD BOLTONIANS 139

The Old Boltonians Lives Remembered – Former Staff Andy Sumner (Boys’ Division Staff, 1963-1969) _______________________________________________________

A PT Competition, 1953 – Chorley House were the winners

Martin Wadsworth found this old photo of the 1995 Senior Football Team in North Wales

ndy Sumner joined the teaching staff as an energetic young member of the Languages Department, specialising in French and fluent in Spanish as well. He was a fine and forceful footballer, representing Preston Grammar School Old Boys in the Lancashire Amateur League, and an active cricketer, representing the staff, in the days when they had fixtures against other school staffs most weeks. He coached teams, but his major dedication was to boxing, in which he held university championships and sustained an active interest, training and supporting at club level throughout his life. Some years ago, we published a review in ‘The Bugle’ of his biography of Brian London, sometime British heavyweight champion, written in retirement and based on conversations in which the two boxers clearly appreciated each other. The book has the qualities you would expect from a writer with Andy’s sporting and academic strengths. He was popular and respected and became a successful Head of Languages at Penwortham Girls’ High School. Despite his long career there, he retained close links with Bolton School and he and his wife were always welcome at lunches for retired staff. Marilyn, well known to us, has the loving support of their son and daughter and they all have our sympathy. The photograph shows Andy in 1966 as a member of staff at the Saundersfoot Camp. David Shaw (Boys’ Division Staff, 1964-2002) and Charles Winder (Boys’ Division Staff, 1964-1999)

Florida Golf Tour 2008

Terry Butterworth (Boys’ Division Staff, 1969-1977) _______________________________________________________

T This photo of the 1956 Under 14A Football Team was sent in by Alan Leaver (1952-1962)

140 THE OLD BOLTONIANS

erry Butterworth was a member of the Physics Department when I arrived in 1971. I found him a friendly, approachable person, who I felt was willing to give me good advice as I set out on my teaching career, and so it turned out. Terry was the person who I turned to first if I wanted help, and if he felt that others were better placed to help, he would direct me to David

Terry in the Cuillins

The Old Boltonians Shaw, Eric Rawlinson or Brian Gallagher, or indeed a member of the staff in general. Terry was far more than just a Physics teacher; many people reading this may well remember him as the Fourth Year Block Master, whose wise words of encouragement, or indeed admonishment, were received and acted upon, and as a teacher of lifesaving in the old pool. But the extra-curricular activities which most will remember will be linked to his love of the outdoors. He introduced me to hill walking, involving me in trips to the school house at Cautley and the holiday trip to the Isle of Arran. His trips to Cautley were memorable for the respect shown to him by the pupils on the trip, for the walking and the food. How could you forget peeling potatoes for 32 hungry people or indeed the roast pork dinner with excellent crackling? It was from here that we also started taking pupils on potholing outings. Upper and Lower Longchurn were the starting caves, and if these were survived, there was Kingsdale Master cave. This was always exciting for Terry, seeing the reaction of the first timers as they approached a dustbin lid in the middle of a field. This was lifted to reveal the entrance where you slid into the restricted passage with water up to your waist. There you bent with your head between the water and the ceiling and made your way into the real cave system. The trip to Arran was another trip to evoke many memories. Terry leading off the ferry, straight to the bike hire shop to collect your bike before cycling to Brodick Youth Hostel. No hot water for washing meant that you were wide awake for breakfast and the walking to come. The walking was after you had completed the morning tasks set by the hostel steward. How many people can remember the ride to the shop in Brodick to buy his cigarettes! As you went to the hills, Terry would tell of the time he led everyone down from one of the hills when the mist fell on the hillside. It was only the next day that they were aware of the path taken to come down and were astonished that Terry had managed to bring them all down safely. On all my trips with him, he insisted that safety was the top priority. Terry was happily married to Jen, who often came with us to Cautley. Later, as his family increased and grew up, it was obvious how proud he was of his family. I am sure that we all send our best wishes to them and allow them to take comfort in the thought that their father has had a positive impact on so many young lives, both in Bolton and in the other schools that were lucky enough to have him as a member of their Staff. Eric Dawber (Boys’ Division Staff, 1992-2011) Terry was my friend and hiking, scrambling and fell running mate for 46 years. Strangely, he never taught me at school, but was one of those teachers that everyone knew and respected. My association started through my older brother, Gary, who was one of a group of lads that regularly went caving with Terry and his brother, Alan. I went along for a taster, but crawling up streams in a boiler suit and wellies, wriggling through openings the size of a letter box, didn’t really do it for me, so I wasn’t a regular.

Fellsman 1977, L-R: Terry, Nick, Rik, Phil Terry ran a trip to Cautley (the then School Outward Bound centre) for our year group (Fifth Form), which seemed to have a common thread of being for those interested in things outdoorsy. After a day walking and bivvy bagging in the hills, the highlight of the evening entertainment was a singalong around the piano as Terry played all requests and ad-libbed his own verses relating to lads on the trip. He had an amazing gift on the piano to ‘play by ear’, which he inherited from his father, who had been a regular performer in Derby’s pubs and clubs. At the start of Sixth Form, Terry invited me to join him, Rik Thwaites and Phil Collier (both Class of 1977) to train for The Fellsman (a 62-mile hike in the Yorkshire Dales) to be followed with a summer trip to the Isle of Skye for an attempt on The Black Cuillin (one of Europe’s toughest ridge walks). Training comprised of Sunday morning outings alternating between Rivington Pike or Winter Hill runs and morning walks in the Lakes or Dales taking in a ‘round’ of mountains. For the Lakes, Terry would pick up at 6am and we’d be parked up by 8am for a blast up, around the peaks and run off back to the car for 1pm and the drive home. The Fellsman was our first target in early May and, dressed in the hiking gear of the day (heavy boots, long socks, moleskin breeches and a woolly shirt), we set off from Ingleton in great spirits. The event had a system of ‘grouping’ by cut off time at checkpoints and, despite sizeable blisters, I managed to make it through to an evening group with Terry and we finished in a time of 19 hours and 46 minutes, with the other lads an hour or so behind, all ahead of a chap called Don Robinson of Leeds University Outdoor Club, who was Terry’s mentor and inspiration in the world of caving, potholing, and the fells. The following month, straight after the end of the school term, we were off up to Skye and settled into Glenbrittle Youth Hostel. We spent a week of long days reccying the route of the ridge in various stages and then waited for a weather window for the attempt. On the day, despite low cloud at 3am, the weather had cleared by 6am and we set off from the hostel. We finished the ridge in a time just

THE OLD BOLTONIANS 141

The Old Boltonians under eight hours, completely bushed, but a very creditable time and achievement, even in modern times with lightweight gear. Terry had continued to do The Fellsman most years and progressed from Bolton School times to be the standout fell runner of his age group – although I returned a number of times, I was no longer able to keep up with him. Terry’s passion for Scotland saw him doing trips north most years and he completed two rounds of the Monros (282 mountains over 3000ft), the second including all the Tops (272 peaks not considered Monros)! Having left school, I rejoined Terry throughout my twenties as an ‘Old Boy’ with a number of groups from his subsequent schools, going up to Skye and the Highlands. We kept in touch throughout the years, and in the last decade rejoined regular trips with lads of our era and also later generations, recently including my son and younger brother. These trips included several Skye visits, the Dolomites, and lastly, this summer, the Torridon area of Scotland with groups ranging in age from 73 to 18, former pupils from three schools and their sons and friends. Activities included via ferrata, climbing, scrambling, walking, fell running and cycling, with experiences of the day being recounted over beer and dinner in the evening – all having a great time enjoying each other’s company. In recent years, Terry had set up a Weight Group for four guys on WhatsApp with him charting over time stats for each of us. This, coupled with use of Strava for recording ‘activities’, was our incentive to keep fit for trips. This has now been renamed ‘TB’s Tracker’, with six reporting, and we have pledged to keep ‘Terry’s trips’ going. Nick Battersby (1971-1978)

Paul Mariner (Former Boys’ Division Staff) _______________________________________________________

think it was the Autumn Term of 1994-95, just into my second season as Master-in-Charge of Football, when I received a call in the Staff Room from the then Director of Sport asking: “Do you know Paul Mariner?” I said that I knew who he was, but not personally. “Well, he’s down here, in the Tillotson (Pavilion), and wants to do some coaching – you’d better come down.” I walked in to be greeted by a giant of a man in terms of both physical stature and personality, still with the widely recognised shock of heavy metal long hair. Paul was coaching at a number of clubs in the area but, as a genuine Boltonian, and perhaps knowing of the School’s reputation for football, offered to do six hours a week; in the following two seasons, this grew to eight and then ten hours a week. If any proof were needed of my Mother’s adage “It’s better to be born lucky than rich”, my fortunes – and those of Bolton School football – took on a very rosy complexion that day.

142 THE OLD BOLTONIANS

Rumours spread fast on the ISFA circuit that Bolton were engaging in a rather-too-professional approach to building (further) their footballing reputation; however, the reality was that Paul was not interested in coaching the First XI or in any reflected glory from that (if there was such a thing) – he was far more interested in developing the technical skills in the younger year groups and the Junior School and in sharing his coaching expertise with staff colleagues. By then, Paul was one of the ex-professionals that the Coerver Coaching organisation used in their summer camps and promotional material. Coerver Coaching was built on the work of the former Ajax coach Wiel Coerver and, in the 1990s, the English FA coaching programmes were only just beginning to latch on to what all European countries already knew and practised, namely that mastery of the ball had to be the foundation, and were developing the ‘Cruyff turn’ and the ‘Rivelino’ in youngsters very effectively from an early age. I personally benefited enormously from the opportunity to join Paul during two summers at Coerver’s Summer Camp at Lake Placid and was able to bring back many technical practices to share with colleagues and the boys. Far more importantly, however, Paul had a wonderful personality – funny, warm, engaging, with no fancy ideas about having played successfully at the highest level; playing non-league for Chorley would have contributed, I am sure. I remember he was brilliant at learning and using the names of the very young boys very quickly which endeared them to him. He was willing to turn out in staff matches. He was also the brains behind the pre-season training camp at Llandudno, undertaking the reconnaissance of the hotel and planning the three day programme. To conclude, he once shared with me that the day he walked through the gates of the School he felt more nervous than he had when walking out at Wembley(!), having only ever travelled past on the bus what he referred to as ‘The College of Knowledge’. Whilst his departure was far too early, I believe that Bolton School and those who were lucky enough to spend time with and learn from him are both lucky and richer for the experience. Chris Rigby, (Boys’ Division Staff, 1991-2003) My early encounters with Paul were limited, as when he was taking part in School football, I was always on the rugby fields; this changed when he turned out for the staff football team one night. He had no qualms at all about playing for the staff against the Sixth Form. He took up his usual centre forward position and played with a huge smile on his face. He was very supportive of the lesser mortals around him and quickly became part of the Common Room. He also took staff CPD training, as we all took part in the Coerver Coaching Awards he was running. One man, one ball, was the order of the day, as he worked miracles developing the skills of the staff; this could only be helpful for the School footballers as the staff took their new coaching techniques to the sports lessons.

The Old Boltonians Paul played several times for the staff team – a great experience for staff and Sixth Formers alike. Yours truly managed to cross a ball with his useless left foot and Mariner appeared at the back post to head home. He was praising the cross – it was more a case of his athletic prowess in the air. He was a huge man, very powerful, and it was the height from which he headed the ball that astounded us all

His time at School was a huge success for all concerned. Paul was an endearing man, who took time to share his knowledge, which was appreciated by staff and pupils alike. It was an honour to have worked with him. RIP Paul Fernside (Boys’ Division Staff, 1992-present) Here are some memories of Old Boys lucky enough to have been coached by Paul: “The most influential coach I’ve had. Training sessions were really inventive and he gave me loads of confidence that I could actually play, while making every session fun – even early morning runs on the beach!”

Bolton School Staff Football Team, 1993/94 Back: Wardle, Robertson, Fernside, Mariner, Rashleigh, Green, Joseph, Percik Front: Rogers, Pownall, Sakib Burza (Class of 1995), ?, Rigby Paul was a very generous man, both with his time and his thoughts. His football knowledge was superb and there was nothing better than sitting chatting to him after a game, reminiscing about his football times at Chorley, Plymouth, Ipswich, Arsenal and England to name a few! We had a few games of golf with Dennis Crompton, who was also in the Sports Department at the time. Great times. A round of golf seemed to disappear in seconds with such humour from two characters of the Department.

“I remember his big personality and his great energy, as well as how he spoke to you and explained things one to one. He made such an impression on the whole group; those training sessions still get talked about even when we meet up nowadays.” “Rondo was always big in sessions. He was ahead of his time with the things we were doing.” “I remember his ‘one for the defender and one for you’ line; that definitely got me a few goals over the years. A thoroughly nice person.” “Rondos, toe tapping and passing drills more complicated than a Further Maths lesson. I learnt more in my first training session than I had in five years of junior football.” “Paul was coaching Preston North End at the same time that he was at Bolton School, and after he heard I was a Preston fan he very kindly brought some club training kit into school as a gift for me.”

Paul moved to America to coach soccer at Arizona University and then New England before moving to Toronto FC. He returned briefly in 2009 to manage Plymouth Argyle where he is considered as one of the Club’s best ever players. His time at Ipswich saw him play in their FA and UEFA Cup winning sides. Paul also played for his country 35 times, scoring thirteen goals for England.

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