Bolton School is celebrating five years since the formation of its Primary Division, which brought together the School’s Nursery and Beech House Infant School with Hesketh House Junior Girls’ School and Park Road Junior Boys’ School. The new Division was formed on 1 October 2021, with Sue Faulkner, appointed as its first Head.
The restructure came as the younger part of Bolton School continued to grow and was designed to bring greater focus to those important early stages of education. At the time, Mrs Faulkner – who had previously served as the Head of Park Road – spoke of her excitement at taking up the new role and of how she looked forward to drawing together the strengths of the individual schools while developing greater opportunities and continuity across the Primary Division.
Over the five years since, the Division has continued to develop and pupils have been given more opportunities to come together. In 2023, Old Boy Rob Dobson returned to School to deliver the first Hulton Lecture, a new Primary Division lecture series for Year 6 pupils at Hesketh House and Park Road. Rob spoke about engineers and how they solve the world’s problems, before encouraging pupils to use their imagination and curiosity to help fix some of the challenges the world faces. The Hulton Lecture has since become an annual event, with the most recent taking place in 2026.
Children from across the Primary Division have also welcomed a number of visitors. Old Girl Stephanie Sorrell returned to speak about her debut book, ‘Dandy the Highway Lion’, telling pupils about becoming an author and how it had taken several attempts before she had something published. She also led a writing workshop before answering questions from the children and signing copies of her book.
Outdoor learning opportunities for Primary Division pupils have also been enhanced during the last five years. The Leverhulme Woodlands, which officially opened in May 2025, provide a dedicated on-site outdoor learning and conservation area, particularly benefiting the School’s younger pupils. The space allows even the youngest children in the Foundation to experience outdoor learning and develop their relationship with nature, with a shelter and bird hide allowing activities to continue throughout the year. Primary Division pupils helped to mark the official opening by demonstrating some of the activities they can now enjoy in the Woodlands.
Technology has also played an increasing role across the Division. Children at Beech House have used Sphero Indi robots to develop their early coding skills before progressing to more advanced robotics at Hesketh House and Park Road. This progression across the schools is one example of the greater continuity envisaged when the Primary Division was established.
The Division has grown too. Increased demand saw Hesketh House add a third Year 6 class for the 2024-25 academic year, following the same expansion at Park Road a number of years earlier, a change which allows for smaller class sizes and more individual attention for girls in their final year of Junior School. Continued demand has since seen Hesketh House add a third Year 5 class from September 2026.
There have also been a number of inspection successes. Bolton School Nursery celebrated a successful Ofsted inspection in 2024, when it was rated Good in all areas. Mrs Faulkner said she was particularly pleased that the inspector had recognised how effectively children were prepared for the transition to school and told how the strengthening links between the Nursery and Beech House were fundamental to this. Hesketh House celebrated its own inspection success in 2026, meeting all of the required ISI standards, with its approach to developing pupils’ creative thinking identified as a significant strength.
Pupils have come together to support the wider community too. In December 2025, more than 650 children from across the Primary Division took part in a Reindeer Run in aid of Bolton Hospice. Children from the Nursery and the Infant and Junior Schools donned reindeer antlers before completing their courses around the School site.
Reflecting on five years of the Primary Division, Mrs Faulkner commented:
“I am incredibly proud to lead the Primary Division at Bolton School. Working across all of our settings, it is clear to me how much the children, staff and parents benefit from the many opportunities for our children to grow. The sense of collaboration which allows each setting to meet the needs of its children whilst reaping the benefits of being part of the wider Primary Division makes this a truly special place to be.”
The anniversary was marked in Celebration Assemblies at the Infant and Junior Schools, with pupils looking back at the first five years of the Division. Children at each school and in the Nursery also enjoyed cake to mark the occasion.
When the Primary Division was first devised in 2021, Mrs Faulkner anticipated it would bring the schools closer together while retaining the individual strengths of each. Five years on, the anniversary offers an opportunity to look back at how the Division has developed since then and to celebrate all that its pupils and staff have achieved.