A POPULAR Saturday School has opened its doors again for the borough’s bright young things.

Gifted and talented Year Five children can be found enjoying SHINE Saturday morning classes at Bolton School taking part in enrichment activities to enhance their learning.

The programme is run by Bolton School teachers and sixth form students, who give up their Saturday to deliver a range of classes for children from surrounding primary schools who are seeking to better themselves through extra lessons and opportunities.

The ‘lessons’ run over 11 mornings culminating in a celebration evening.

At the moment, 41 youngsters are enjoying a mix of traditional subjects such as the sciences and mathematics as well as other activities, including outdoor pursuits, food technology and drama.

And for the first year, Turkish and Italian have been added to the timetable, meaning children who attend will have a taster of seven languages.

An educational trip will also be planned into the timetable.

The school says the aim of the Saturday school is for children to “be challenged and inspired while having fun and learning”. Bolton School teacher and co-organiser of SHINE, Sarah Gunshon said: “SHINE is in its eighth year, with this the third year that Miss Wrathmell and I have run the programme.

“We aim to give young people the chance to experience new and exciting subjects to inspire them to achieve in education and their extra-curricular activities.

“As a teacher, it is really rewarding to see the children develop in confidence over the 11 weeks and to learn so many new skills.”

The programme, known as ‘Serious Fun on Saturdays’, is run in a select number of schools across the country on behalf of SHINE, a leading educational charity whose focus is social mobility through education.

The charity’s philosophy is that “all children should have the chance to succeed, irrespective of their background or family income.”

A SHINE spokesman said: “To this end, we support educational programmes to raise the attainment and aspiration of children from economically deprived areas in England.”

The idea is to also uses outside trips and external visitors to expand and enrich the national curriculum.

SHINE say that behind the fun of the Saturday programmes, there is a clear focus on improving attainment and raising aspirations.