Welcome from the Head of Foundation

I have spent many years talking about the history of Bolton School, celebrating our anniversaries and events and all that they mean for us. It is a rare moment when we are part of that history ourselves, yet the changes in the Foundation that took place on 1st October 2021, reported on the previous page, are just that. I feel privileged to be part of those next steps and wanted to share them with you. In 2008 I soon found that being Headmaster of Boys’ Division was, in one sense, straightforward as the path had been well trodden by Poskitt, Baggley, Wright and Brooker before me. Each had brought their own character to essentially the same task of interpreting an enduring ethos of Bolton School in the times in which they found themselves. A Head must always know that, whilst they do add their own character to the role (and there are some big characters in that list) in the end, they are just adding their part to a much longer story of the School. The same is true of Girls’ Division, where the Heads follow a path made by Higginson, Spurr, Panton, Richards and Hincks. One feature of our new structures is that this must remain the case: the Divisions are led by the Heads and it is they who stand in that line of succession leading colleagues and boys and girls alike. So what will the Head of Foundation do? I cannot follow the example of my predecessor since this is new to us all. Obviously, there is a job description, but we all know that only covers the basics of any role somewhere like Bolton School. The poet Machado wrote “Paths are made by walking, when you look over your shoulder you see a path you’ll never walk again”. If I can’t follow in the footsteps of others, we will, together, make a path. As we all know, the Bolton School Foundation, which came into formal being on 1st April 1915, was very much the creation of Lord Leverhulme as he brought together the High School for Girls and the Grammar School for Boys. It is quite clear from his writing at that time that he was committed to a clear identity for the Girls’ Division and the Boys’ Division and equally that he wanted the two schools to work together, taking advantage of their shared site and heritage – to have, as we say now, the best of both worlds. A significant part of my new role as Head of Foundation is to ensure that we have the necessary oversight, collaboration, and vision to identify those opportunities and to make the most of them. To do so I will lead the team of the Head of Boys’ Division, Head of Girls’ Division, Clerk and Treasurer and the Head of the new Primary Division. The Primary Division draws together the younger parts of the School (the Nursery, Beech House and the Junior Boys and Junior Girls schools. Each will retain their own identity, but work together with an overview taken by the Head of Primary Division). This is also a new path being made, with the same intent of drawing on the very best from all those settings, making connections, celebrating differences, and shaping the younger part of our School that was so much less significant in 1915. Over the years Heads have become more and more burdened with administration and compliance. In sharing these duties another aspect of my role will be to allow the Heads of Division to work much more closely with pupils and colleagues, knowing them just that little bit better and perhaps much more like what was possible in previous generations. Finally, taking the lead that the role of Head of Foundation will be to carry forward the work envisioned by Lord Leverhulme, I will be very closely involved with our bursary development work. This is about fundraising, but also about seeking and shaping the applicants for those bursaries from all parts of our local community, overseeing their time at School and launching them into the world of HE and work in such a way that they will thrive. This is real social mobility, something that Bolton School has often led the way on and will continue to do so.

These are exciting and enlivening times: a time when we can move on positively from how well the Foundation has coped with the challenges of Covid-19 and make a future for Bolton School we will all, quite rightly, feel proud of and that connects with the past, whilst looking to the future.

Philip Britton, MBE Head of Foundation