Serious Fun on Saturdays @ Bolton School
The grant recipient
Bolton Independent School was established in 1516 and the Boys' Division now provides education for around 1,000 students from nursery to 18 years. The latest Independent Schools Inspection of this school judged it to be remarkable and staff to be showing imagination and enterprise in the volume and scope of charity and local outreach work. The school is located in the centre of Bolton, which is in the top 10% of districts in the county for the number of residents on low incomes and out of work.
The school was shortlisted for the Independent School Awards 2010 in the category of Outstanding Community/Public Benefit Initiative for its SFoS programme.
The programme
- 11 Saturday mornings focusing on Enquiry and Discovery through subjects and topics unlikely to be covered at school
- sessions include Around the World in 60 Minutes, Mad Science, Horrible History!, Sports Superstars, The Russian Revolution and Vive la France
- for 30 able girls and boys from maintained primary schools in the Bolton town area
- aiming to widen students' learning, challenge them towards higher achievement and help prepare them for transition to secondary school
Latest results
- attendance was excellent with 26 attending all 12 sessions
- test results suggested a significant proportion were making progress
- the students’ main school teachers were very positive about their students’ involvement. Several indicated that their pupils were benefitting enormously in terms of attainment, confidence and engagement with academic study
- both pupils and their teachers commented on how much they had gained from the science lessons as their own schools do not have specialist equipment
The funding
SHINE has made a grant for development and running costs. The school is also providing in-kind and financial support for the programme.
Funding: £21,678 to Bolton School Boys' Division, over three years (2009-12)
Visit the website for Bolton School : http://www.boltonschool.org.uk/
"Inspiring young minds is what teaching is all about. We want to challenge and stretch these young pupils and we are fortunate to have outstanding facilities to share with primary schools from all over the local area."
Assistant Headmaster
Quotes
"Inspiring young minds is what teaching is all about. We want to challenge and stretch these young pupils and we are fortunate to have outstanding facilities to share with primary schools from all over the local area."
Assistant Headmaster