Inspiring the Next Generation

Old Girls studying and working in a variety of professions continue to offer their assistance to the current generation of Bolton School girls, sharing professional expertise and offering guidance. The Development Office and the Careers Departments have been delighted to work together to welcome these Alumni back to School for the benefit of pupils throughout the Divisions. The full features can be read at the ‘Former Pupils’ section of the School’s website.

The annual Joint Year 12 Interview Skills Evening in June had no choice but to be run virtually – which enabled a fantastic number of Old Girls to hold mock interviews with Sixth Form pupils. Thank you to the following for offering their time and expertise: Vet Ruth Auchterlounie (née Stott, Class of 1989), civil engineer Amy Williams (née Worsell, 1990-1997), asset manager Hazel Youens (née Wolstenholme, 1991-1998), recruitment manager Emma Pasquill (1999-2008), brand manager Jade Slater (2004-2011), mechanical engineer Radhika Sharma (2004-2015), pharmacist and paralegal Farah Awda (2008-2015) and audit associate Chandrani Gupta (2013-2017).

Judith Grazier (née Ashton, 1972-1979) is Senior Education Associate at The Skills Builder Partnership. She presented a useful session for Year 10 girls on teamwork, leadership and creativity and problem-solving.

Sharon Daniel (2007-2020) is currently studying Medicine at Imperial College, London. She kindly took time away from her studies to give a very detailed and extremely informative presentation to budding medics in Year 13 who are sitting the BMAT in November. It was lovely to welcome Sharon back into School and she did not fail to impress with her excellent guide on to how to prepare for the assessment, with a thorough outline of the areas to be examined and her Top Tips for Success.

Rajeshree Bhosle (Class of 1998) and Stella Pickford (Class of 1999) joined Year 10 girls on Zoom for the final instalments in this year’s series of World of Work talks.

Rajeshree studied Business and Italian at university before completing her CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) qualification in Commercial Finance. She is the Global Chief Financial Officer for The Faction Collective, a premium ski brand, but has also worked for some of the world’s most successful and recognised brands: Ivy Park, Christian Louboutin, Michael Kors, Selfridges and Jimmy Choo. She gave an overview of how fashion companies work and described how her work involves using financial and accounting data to work out how to grow, be profitable, add value and meet business objectives.

Stella is Director for Northern Europe Warehousing with Procter & Gamble: she is responsible for the multinational company’s warehouses in the UK, Ireland and the Nordic countries as well as distribution from manufacturing sites to warehouses to stores. In addition to this role, she is a mental health first aider, corporate trainer, interviewer and leader of the Diversity and Inclusion Network. Stella initially followed her dream of studying veterinary medicine at the University of Bristol, but after personal Rajeshree gave circumstances led to her leaving that an insider’s career, she remembered how much she view of the had been inspired by Young Enterprise fashion industry at School and she applied to study Business Management at Manchester. Her message to the Year 10 girls was to stretch themselves, but always to try to ‘be at peace with doing your best.’

Stella advised the girls not to focus on what their weaknesses are, but on ‘what they can bring to the party’

‘Perspectives’ is a lecture series hosted by the Girls’ Division, with events scheduled to take place once every halfterm. The lectures are free to attend via Zoom and are open to pupils in Year 10 and above, parents, Alumni, all other members of the School and to the local community.

The virtual Perspectives lecture in May offered a fascinating insight into the world of fashion. The panel of five Old Girls offered their views on the industry and its future. Rajeshree Bhosle (Class of 1998) is Global CFO for premium ski brand The Faction Collective; Joanna Czutkowna (Class of 2000) runs her own fashion consultancy, focusing on sustainable product development; Sarah Ann Murray (Class of 2001) is a menswear stylist based in Portugal; Flo Hughes (Class of 2009) is a designer at Asos; Imogen West (Class of 2019) is studying for a BA (Hons) degree in Fashion Design at the University of Leeds. At the lecture, the panellists described their routes through Higher Education into the fashion industry and their resulting career paths. Their combined experiences have seen them working with some of the world’s most successful brands and industry leaders and styling A-List celebrities. All the panelists stressed the importance of work experience and internships. They also discussed the many different positions that are available in the sector – noting that there are increasingly more women in top roles – and of the ever-changing nature of the business – Imogen advised the audience to ‘be aware of current trends, but don’t be constrained by them’. And all agreed that the drive towards sustainability will bring many changes in the years ahead. Prior to the lecture, the panellists were asked to reflect on their time in the Girls’ Division and how Bolton School had prepared them for their current roles. Despite their varied memories and experiences, all agreed that they had benefited from a well-rounded education, gained confidence and made lifelong friends. Rajeshree noted that the varied curriculum at School meant that although she was not the most traditionally academic of students, she was nevertheless able to find subjects which she enjoyed and excelled at,

The June Perspectives lecture brought together three Old Girls to speak about their varied experiences in the field of Engineering: Khadijah Ismail (Class of 2017), a fourth-year aerospace engineering degree apprentice currently working at BAE Systems, Radhika Sharma (Class of 2015), a Mechanical Engineer with the British Antarctic Survey, and Amy Williams (née Worsell, Class of 1997), a Chartered Civil Engineer and senior manager at Highways England. The trio described their routes into engineering, their workplace experiences and projects they had enjoyed working on. All three spoke about their experiences as women in a traditionally male-dominated field, although all agreed that they have not felt that being a woman is a problem.

Khadijah’s fondest memories of Bolton School include the Prefects’ panto, Duke of Edinburgh award and enjoying free periods in the Riley Centre. Subjectwise she was particularly inspired by Mr Speakman, the Physics technician, who encouraged her to pursue electronics and was always willing to provide help and support, and Miss Langley, who helped her to apply for the Arkwright scholarship which has played a part in getting Khadijah to where she is today. She adds that personally Bolton School has given her the confidence to dream big – to dream seriously big! When Radhika looks back on her time at School, she remembers in particular her A Level classes in Product Design. The group of only five girls was very tight-knit, and enjoyed their lessons not only as learning experiences, but also as social occasions. Radhika has always loved working with her hands and designing new things, so those lessons set a good foundation for her career. She is particularly grateful to Mrs Drinkwater, whose advice has since served her well in job interviews and salary negotiations, and to Miss Langley and Mr Linfitt, her teachers for Product Design, whom she credits with her desire to go into engineering. Miss Langley was also a great role model as a woman in engineering and technology – although Radhika didn't realise it at the time, she was the first woman she had seen in that kind of work, and it clearly made an impression. Radhika reflects that her time at Bolton School stripped her of any ideas of what was ‘for girls’ – doubts about herself as a woman in engineering never occurred to her until others thought to ask her about it. Amy is the first and only member of her family to attend Bolton School. She looks back particularly fondly on Ceremony of Carols, which always made Christmas feel that little bit more festive. Amy was a rare being during her time at the School as she attended lessons in the Boys’ Division. She did A Level Technology with Mr Whitmarsh and he always encouraged her in her choice of career. She reflects that this was good preparation for entering in to a male-dominated sector. She notes that nowadays things are more equal, although being a leader in a male environment is not something that she has ever been concerned about.

which in turn gave her confidence and led to a career that she loves. She has fond memories of playing netball – and believes that the cold, wet Saturday mornings at the Pavilion and early morning coach trips to away matches have contributed to the resilience required in her line of work. Joanna counts herself very lucky to have been taught Textiles by the ‘fabulous’ Mrs Tankard – they say a teacher can change a life and Mrs Tankard definitely influenced Joanna’s. A new Textiles classroom was built during Joanna’s time at School and she recalls that this was a space in which she wanted to spend time – many of her fondest memories are of doing coursework in there. Like Rajeshree, she believes her experience at Bolton School gave her confidence, a strong sense of self and belief in what she could achieve. Flo studied A Levels in English Literature, Art and Textiles. Her fondest memory of Bolton School is of painting in the Art rooms – she recalls spending a lot of her time there in the Sixth Form; it is where she started working on her first ever portfolio. Teachers Miss Fazackerley, Mrs Fisher and Miss Stafford had a huge impact on Flo, giving great advice and encouraging her to take the path she has. The overwhelming sentiment which Sarah took with her from Bolton School was a respectful marriage between working hard and freedom. In other words, the girls were encouraged to do whatever they wanted – to pursue dreams, to express themselves, to think outside the box – but the message was nevertheless one of hard work and dedication. Sarah remembers fondly her English teachers, Mrs Hadjigeorgiou and Mrs Lowe, who were knowledgeable and inspiring and encouraged Sarah and her classmates to think for themselves. And coming to Bolton School much later than many of the other pupils she was touched by the kindness shown to the ‘new’ girl.

Imogen’s Fashion and Textiles teachers, Miss Stafford and Mrs Entwistle, inspired her to work hard and to produce her best work for her university application. She has great memories of her Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition, sailing in Scotland on Tenacity, a boat built by the School – as well as being great fun, the discipline and resilience she gained from the experience have stood her in good stead during her university studies.

Alumni architects Emma Roden (née Platt, Class of 1990), a Director of Kimble Roden Architects Ltd, Chloe Granger (Class of 1998), a Director of Crosby Granger Architects Ltd and also a Technical Advisor for the SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings), and Fiona Hazlitt (Class of 2017), a fifth year student currently completing a Masters degree in Architecture at the University of Nottingham, shared their experiences of this varied and rewarding career in the October Perspectives lecture. Emma described architecture as ‘the perfect blend of creativity and problemsolving’ and said that this career ‘combines arts and sciences in a way no other profession does’. She spoke about the pros and cons of setting up her own practice and the challenges of organising a project and coordinating contractors. Chloe has worked on churches, castles, ruins, estates, barn conversions and new-builds using traditional materials. She explained that ‘conservation and sustainable architecture is the way forward’ and that with climate change being such a key issue, it is important to have healthy and efficient buildings, borne from the use of appropriate materials. Fiona described the experience of studying architecture at university and advised aspiring architects on what to consider when applying, elaborating on the design portfolio that is required as part of the application. Recalling their time at Bolton School, all three speakers referred to teachers who had inspired and encouraged them. Emma retains a sense of pride about her School days, and is thankful for the lasting friendships she made during her time at Bolton School. She was particularly inspired by her Art teacher, Mrs Cole, who was always very encouraging, and by her Physics teacher, Mrs Hall – despite her rather dour outlook! Chloe was fascinated by Bolton School’s corridors and passageways, secret stairs and ‘out of bounds’ places which contributed to her love of old buildings and her passion for conserving them. She is particularly appreciative of Miss Langley in Design Technology, not only for showing that girls could follow other paths through academia, but that they could make and design things – essentially showing that a woman could do a job that previously men had dominated. A work experience placement during the Sixth Form convinced Fiona that architecture was the career she wanted to follow. She is indebted to Mrs Winder, who was both her Geography teacher and Head of Sixth Form, and who spent a lot of her free time talking through Geography questions with Fiona and marking extra exam-style questions she did – Fiona credits the help she received from Mrs Winder with gaining her university place.

All of the Perspectives lectures held thus far can be watched in full on the School’s You Tube channel. Details of future lectures will be published on the School website, and on the Alumni social media channels, as they are confirmed.

Year 12 students in the Girls’ Division spent a morning developing a wide range of skills for the workplace. Hannah Sutcliffe (Class of 2011), cofounder of virtual reality training company Moonhub, ran one of the sessions in which she challenged the girls to imagine themselves as marketing agencies and asked them to come up with a pitch to help her company go global. Afterwards she delivered a keynote speech to all the girls taking part. Hannah’s fondest memories of her time at Bolton School are of making friends there: she has kept in touch with them and the close bond between them endures – they are now enjoying attending each other’s weddings! She also loved the French exchange in Year 9 – this was her first real insight into French culture, and inspired her to study French at A Level, then languages at University. Among Hannah’s teachers Mrs Hayes stands out. Hannah took Maths at AS Level and found it a very tricky subject, but Mrs Hayes would stay behind for an extra few minutes during her break to help her to understand anything she had struggled with during the lesson. Hannah believes her experience at Bolton School gave her the confidence to know that hard work really pays off: if you set your mind to do something, you can achieve it. The success of Moonhub has certainly demonstrated this belief, as Hannah has been listed as an Influential Woman in Business, an Influential Woman in Tech, and a Leader in Sales and Training.

Personal Safety specialist Christine Morrison (née Eccles, Class of 1977) delivered an informative presentation to Year 12 girls’ about personal safety and stalking. Despite the serious subject matter, Christine’s talk was very engaging: she explained what stalking behaviour is and the impact it can have on victims, including depression, anxiety and PTSD. She has a practical policing and crime prevention background and she shared some of the more serious and tragic stalking cases in which she had been involved. Christine encouraged her audience not to ignore any ‘unwanted conduct’, whether physical, online – or both, and urged the girls to speak to someone before a situation becomes extreme. She warned them to be careful of what they put on social media and to be aware of the terms and conditions of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram. Finally, she recommended three documentary films available on Netflix related to her talk: The Social Dilemma, The Great Hack and a documentary about Canadian murderer Luka Magnotta.

Thanks to Zoom, Year 6 pupils at Park Road and in Hesketh House were able to be inspired by representatives from a variety of occupations. Old Girls Natalie Rout (1993-2007), a London-based GP, and Hannah Earp (2000-2010), a marine biologist, joined Old Boy Rob De Maine (1995-2002), a qualified helicopter instructor with the Royal Navy, and a team from UK Fast, a Manchester-based cloud-hosting company, to enthuse the boys and girls and to answer their probing and thoughtprovoking questions.

Natalie spoke about her role as a doctor There were lots of questions for marine biologist Hannah

Rachael Moulton (Class of 2010) joined Year 10 girls on Zoom as part of a series of Women of Work talks to explain what Civil Engineering is. After leaving Bolton School, Rachael went to the University of Bath to study Civil and Architectural Engineering, but soon switched to just Civil Engineering, as this focused on the subjects she enjoyed. In November 2020, she achieved Chartered Engineer status with the Institution of Civil Engineers and after a number of years working as a Highways Design Engineer, she is now a member of the Operational Safety team at Atkins, a design, engineering and project management consultancy.

Rachael noted that Civil Engineering needs more women and described the various routes into the field and the different jobs available. She assured those girls considering this career path that there are so many options available that they will find something that interests them – her own job enables her to work with interesting people in a growing market, with opportunities for travel both in the UK and abroad.