THE PARK // AUTUMN 2019
ACHIEVEMENT WITH VALUES, CHARACTER AND COMMUNITY
ACHIEVEMENT
BBC Young Writers Rowan Taylor (Lower Sixth) was excited to spend the day at the BBC’s Broadcasting House, after being shortlisted for the next stage of the 2019 BBC Young Writers’ Award.
Final Collect
Rowan’s short story, ‘Allotment’, was announced as one of the five entries shortlisted for the 2019 competition on BBC Radio 1’s Life Hacks. ‘Allotment’ is an evocative piece of writing exploring a daughter’s changing relationship with her father after her parents’ marriage break-up, revealing the shift from desolation through sadness to new love as the seasons pass and new life, and hope, awakens. Students and staff gathered in Final Collect on the last day of term for the presentation of the traditional awards, celebrating achievements in all areas of School life. Ahmer Adnan (Upper Sixth) won 1st place for the Joseph Lister Chemistry Award with his “potentially post-graduate level work, of a publishable standard” as stated by Adam Ball, Head of Chemistry. Other accolades included the Reinstein-Alldis Music Award given to Esther Bodkin (Year 9) and the Lurner Prize awarded to Kabir Tahiliani (Year 9), as well as numerous academic, drama and sports triumphs.
The five shortlisted young writers participated in a creative writing workshop with author and judge, Patrice Lawrence. They also experienced a session in a recording studio with BBC producers before attending the award ceremony for both the BBC National Short Story Award and the BBC Young Writers’ Award.
U14 ISA Hockey Victory On Tuesday 12th November the U14 boys’ and girls’ hockey teams travelled to Ashford HC for the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Hockey tournament. They scored two back to back wins with goals from Oliver Oke (Year 8), James Edgell and Kabir Tahiliani (Year 9), before the final against the unbeaten Thorpe Hill. Tom Hewitt (Year 8) snuck a goal in early followed by another goal scoring opportunity for James, who put away the winner from a penalty corner after an equaliser. The LP boys finished unbeaten at the top of the ladder and won the cup. Goalkeeper Ollie Hughes (Year 9) was awarded player of the tournament by the officials for his sublime shot stopping abilities. All the boys have been offered the opportunity to attend a prestigious residential summer hockey camp at Seaford College next summer.
2
Let’s Dance!
Wednesday 2nd October saw our first cohort of GCSE Dance students and 13 dancers from Years 7, 8 and 9 compete for the first time at the ISA National Dance Competition! They were delighted to achieve 2nd places in both the KS3 and the KS4 categories, after only four weeks of dedicated rehearsal under the creative direction of Dance teacher, Beth Butler. Adjudicator, Natalie Bareham, Director of Performing Arts and Head of Dance at Arts Education London, declared their pieces were “full of characterisation, great team work and clear story telling.” Albie Adams-Perez (Year 10) described how the experience allowed him to step out of his comfort zone, “I really enjoyed representing the School. I was nervous to start, but I’m so proud of what we have achieved.” Following their success, the GCSE cohort then had the opportunity to develop their skills further in a workshop at Theale Green, delivered by experienced dance practitioner, Tory East. Impressed with the ability of the class, Tory commented on how quickly students picked up the movement material and were able to perform choreographic content accurately.
ISA Art Competition In the Arts, three of our Sixth Formers, Maisy Beardmore, Tom McLellan and Klara Pim, entered pieces for the regional ISA Art Competition for London West. From a field of over 300 pieces, Tom and Maisy received a highly acclaimed award whilst Klara won 1st place for her painting in the KS5 2D Art category. As a regional winner Klara’s portrait in acrylics was displayed at the national ISA Art Competition Final in Leeds where she was awarded a highly commended against over 200 talented regional winners.
Klara reflected “I’m thrilled that all the hours I put in, enjoyable as they were, have paid off and been recognised… It’s a worthwhile tribute to my grandfather and has given me the courage and enthusiasm to explore portraiture even more.” Klara is looking forward to continuing her interest and talent in Art as she applies to study Liberal Arts next year.
3
ACHIEVEMENT Climbing High! On Friday 29th November the newly founded 11-strong Climbing Team, made their way to Worcester’s Redpoint Climbing Centre for their first ISA Climbing Competition. It was fantastic to see Johnnie Noel-Baker (Lower Sixth) awarded 2nd place out of 150 climbers, only narrowly missing out on 1st place to a GB climber; a worthy competitor.
ISA Swimming Regionals Our swimmers represented Leighton Park at the Aldershot Garrison ISA Swimming Regional Finals on Thursday 10th October. Captain Thomas Angell and Vice-Captain Mia Waldmann (both Year 11) led the team, with the Junior and Senior Boys’ Freestyle Relay Teams, medalling Gold and Bronze respectively.
Scholars’ Award Ceremony Our inaugural Scholars’ Award Ceremony recognised students for outstanding talents in music, dance, drama, sport, art and academic fields on Friday 6th September. The evening was attended by new and existing Scholars from the current School community, supported by families and teachers, who in different ways continue to support and encourage the students to strive for success.
Summer Challenge The 2019 Library Challenge saw Year 7s designing treehouses with spaces for reading. The quality of presentation and creativity of all the entries received was phenomenal. Visiting the School on Monday 16th September to announce the winners, our Patron of Reading, Julian Sedgwick, reminisced that as a shy and timid boy at school, “reading, like climbing trees, was a form of escapism for me.” Congratulations to all of the shortlisted students and our four winners: Olliver Freestone, Oscar Hienzsch, Eva Mobley and Olivia Randall.
Dare to be Different 23 girls from Years 8 and 9 attended the GB headquarters of Porsche in Reading for Dare to be Different, which aims to connect, inspire and showcase women in every aspect of the racing industry. They were awed by the chance to experience life in a racing pit lane with top driver Esmee Hawkey, learn life-saving CPR skills from the race chief medical doctor and meet some truly inspirational Dare to be Different ambassadors, engineers and successful women in the industry.
4
Willow Bradshaw-Murrow (Year 9) concluded, “It was a very interesting insight into the motor vehicle business, but extremely surprising that so few women work in that industry.”
Developing Business Solutions
Girls’ Football
Inspired by The Youth Industrial Strategy Competition, an initiative that calls on students to come up with innovative solutions that have the potential to change our future industries, society and environment, three of our students spent Long Leave working on their own ideas.
As a new sport to the School last year, our female football teams have shown great determination and development in their journeys from friendlies to league matches. Both U12s and U13s have performed well in their leagues and were awarded runners up in the ISA competition in November. With over 15 girls now playing competitively the teams are additionally coached by Ellie Pearson (Lower Sixth) and Nikki Lee (Year 11) whose own experiences of Girls’ football has been invaluable to the group.
To help them evolve their concepts, each is working with a partner from industry. Harry Clark (Lower Sixth) met with Porsche to explore his suggestion for interchangeable car batteries, Anna Burns (Year 7) saw Volume AI regarding app development to help discourage littering, and Harriet Randall (Year 9) will be meeting Airbus in 2020 about her transatlantic hyperloop transport solution. “I’m grateful for Porsche’s experience and their knowledge of the industry to help refine my idea and give it a pitchworthy structure.” said Harry.
Top of the Bench Congratulations to our four Chemists from Years 9-11, representing Leighton Park at The Royal Society of Chemistry’s annual competition for schools, Top of the Bench, Thames Valley heats on Wednesday 20th November. The team were delighted to win 3rd place out of 15 schools.
Maths in Action
On Thursday 7th November our mathematically minded students attended the UKMT’s Solo Senior Maths Challenge, four of whom then secured a place in the next round, the Kangaroo! On Wednesday 20th November Mark Budge, Maths teacher, took four students from the Senior Maths Club to Highdown School for the Team Maths Challenge. “Continuing with Leighton Park’s ongoing success in Maths, the Senior Maths Team delivered another strong performance.” commented Mark, “The most notable achievement for this team has been how the 12 students in the Club have collaborated together to solve problems and had fun doing it.”
Annie Milhofer (Lower Sixth) said “I found the team competition challenging, but very enjoyable, as everyone kept a positive attitude throughout and we left the competition with smiles on our faces.” Earlier this term, Annie was awarded a distinction in the Mathematical Olympiad for Girls. Applying their knowledge to real-world, contemporary topics, Sixth Form Mathematicians also attended Maths in Action at the University of Warwick on Tuesday 3rd December. The day featured lively and enriching sessions from award-winning, world class speakers and industry professionals.
5
CHARACTER JBH Speech Competition
Once again, five students took up the challenge of the 105-year-old JBH Speech Competition, on Tuesday 19th November. As is the tradition, they picked topical and controversial subject matter and faced tough heckles from the audience. Annie Milhofer (Lower Sixth) proposed ‘GMOs are the future for food’, Spencer King (Lower Sixth) spoke about ‘Love, Pleasure and Relationships: We need to reform Sex-Ed.’, Ruth Mills (Lower Sixth) debated ‘Can climate change only be fixed by societal change?’, Drin Mrlaku (Upper Sixth) proposed ‘Free will is a farce’ and Angelika Etherington-Smith (Year 11) argued that ‘Everyone should be prochoice.’
STEM-sational On Tuesday 15th October, Year 7 students attended Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to take part in a range of Computer Science and Computational Thinking activities. From learning about coding with images sent from Mars, to building marshmallow and spaghetti structures, they explored the endless possibilities around STEAM. A favourite activity amongst the crowd proved to be the Lego Mindstorm coding challenge, whereby students were challenged to work out what inputs and outputs a robot required to traverse a black line, using colour sensors. On Monday 9th December a group of budding nautical engineers in Year 7 joined INEOS Team UK in Portsmouth. They met the Cup crew which included an Olympic Gold Medallist, and had great fun discovering how technology can help develop a bespoke yacht and support the skills of a talented crew on the ocean to give that essential extra edge in the world’s oldest sporting competition, the America’s Cup.
Design Thinking
Such was the calibre of the competitors, it was a tough choice to select the winner for the judges, Old Leightonians Michael Binyon and Dame Alice Hudson, along with University of Reading Professor, Clare Furneaux. Dame Alice Hudson was the competition’s first female winner so it seems especially apt that the winner of the 2019 competition was Angelika. The youngest in the competition, Angelika was praised for her skilful handling of the heckling on an emotive subject.
One of the core Quaker values at Leighton Park is sustainability and on Friday 15th November, the School hosted teams from three local schools for a workshop aiming to reduce the food waste of catering business, Thomas Franks. Testifying to the quality of the pioneering projects, Alison Ryan, Operations Manager for Thomas Franks commented “I was extremely impressed by the talented Sixth Form students at the Design Thinking workshop initiated by Design Nature… The judging was so tough!” In 1st place was Leighton Park team ‘Table 4 – We’ll Wipe the Floor’, with their physical waste management app and portion control concept for businesses of all sizes. Natasha Coccia, Director of Co-Curricular and Outreach pointed out, “This really was a steAm event with the winning team made up of A Level Music and Drama students!”
6
Musings in Madrid With their sketchbooks at the ready, the Art Department set off from the Park on Friday 18th October for a weekend in Spain’s capital, Madrid. Between discovering the Caixa Forum, watching an original flamenco show and exploring the Museo Nacional del Prado; our artists ate their fair share of tapas and caught their breath atop of the Circulo de Bellas Artes. Everyone was awed by the murals that covered Tabacelera Art Studios and entertained by the many accomplished street musicians in the neighbouring El Rastro district. Taking inspiration, our artists drew and painted around the Grand Palace and Opera House. With its spirit, pulse and serenity, Madrid will undoubtedly inform GCSE and A Level coursework yet to come.
China Trip Keen to make the most of their trip to China, the Language Department visited the Imperial Palace, discovered Beijing Panda Zoo and ascended the Great Wall during Long Leave. The group were warmly welcomed at our sister school, Beijing Haidian Middle School, with an impressive musical performance. Staff and students practised their Mandarin skills in conversation and over a singing session. Later exploring new territory in Xi’an, the Language Department learnt about ancient dynasties at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and glimpsed the world-famous Terracotta Warriors. The final stop in an unforgettable trip was Shanghai, and what better way to see the city at night than on a river cruise in the Huang Pu district?
Holland Sports Tour On Friday 18th October the Leighton Park Football and Hockey tour landed in Arnhem, Holland, for a weekend of fixtures, thrills, coaching and camaraderie. Boasting some fantastic facilities, Upward Hockey Club provided beneficial coaching for our girls, which they put into practice against Upward HC in an extremely close first match. The boys also got training under their belts and played some excellent competitive football against Vitesse Arnhem. With tired legs after the previous day’s matches, all players loosened up before
a second football fixture in Renswoude and hockey match in Sint-Oedenrode. Ending their fantastic tour on a high, Leighton Park’s sportsmen and women toured GelreDome Stadium, one of the largest and most modern stadiums in the Netherlands, home to Vitesse Arnhem since 1998.
7
CHARACTER Geography Fieldwork Literary Inspiration
On Tuesday 17th September and Monday 7th October, the Geography Department embarked on GCSE fieldtrips to the River Pang and Reading Town Centre. Building upon the theory they had covered in the classroom, Year 11 investigated river and urban environments, seeing first-hand, the landscapes being studied as part of their course. Chris Wade (Year11) reflected “It was interesting as it gave us a practical idea about what we were studying and it showed us how our exams relate to the real world.”
At the start of term Sally Gardner, award-winning author of ‘Maggot Moon’, chosen for the School’s Big Read for KS3, shared the solace that storytelling provided during her own education with an enraptured Years 8, 9 and 10. The popularity of her novels combined with her own inspiring journey, overcoming dyslexia to become an author, are a testament to her determination never to give up. Sally was intrigued to discover Leighton Park’s reflections on the book, as she read reviews from students and staff, covering the library walls. Students were delighted to have their books signed, before Sally led a writers’ workshop with a group of Year 10 students.
Berkshire Book Award
The School’s Patron of reading, Julian Sedgwick, captivated students on Monday 16th September as he delved into the real stories behind his books and had the audience on the edge of their seats as he performed sword juggling. With parents who met through Quaker connections, Julian spoke about the impact the faith has had on his own life and writing. In his workshop with Lower Sixth International Baccalaureate English students, Julian shared several drafts of his book and invited students to edit an early version, before reading them the published chapter.
On Wednesday 9th October, members of Fryer Book Club joined six other local schools for the launch of the 2020 Berkshire Book Award, sponsored by Leighton Park. The students were treated to sound advice and a book signing from author Laura Wood, writer of ‘Vote for Effie’, recently shortlisted for the Best Story category of the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards. Students have been invited to vote for the winner in the new year.
National Archives Our Sixth Form Historians visited the UK National Archives in October to delve into the exhibition on the Cold War using original source materials from the extensive archives in a workshop on the same topic, in support of their A Level and IBDP coursework.
8
DofE Update
Upper Sixth Silver Qualifying Expeditioners completed a challenging weekend in the Black Mountains of Wales, with DofE Assessor Brian Billsbury commenting on the difficult conditions and commending everyone for getting to the end. Year 9 later tackled yet more adverse weather and got their heads down and hoods up for their Bronze training walk between Ruscombe and Waltham St Lawrence. Year 11 Silver Qualifying Expeditions were delighted to watch a striking sunset, after a drier affair trekking through the North Wessex Downs and our Year 10 hikers ventured across Farley Hill for their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award training walk. Old Leightonian and keen oarsman Chris Thomas, recently completed his Gold Award. Taking to the water for both his physical and volunteering components, Chris became a coach for an adult sculling group and kayaked along the River Severn and Wye.
In the Limelight For our actors, actresses and musicians it has been a busy term, as rehearsals get underway for the School’s muchanticipated production ‘Chicago’ in February. Nikki Wilson and Megan White who play the lead femme fatales in the show, are loving the prospect of performing in the production. “It always seems like a great challenge when we start rehearsals but it doesn’t take long before the whole cast is committed to these great songs,” said Nikki. Peter Scoggins, Head of Drama and Director, added, “This is an ambitious choice of show for any school to put on and fortunately we know we have the talent and the commitment in our students to make memorable performances.” Between their studies and show commitments, GCSE and A Level Drama visited the Oxford Playhouse for the opening night of Wise Children’s ‘Malory Towers’ and Year 8 were excited to see their Summer Big Read Book, ‘Maggot Moon’, come to life on stage at The Unicorn Theatre in London.
9
VALUES
Toys and Teens Gifts galore piled up in Reception as the School community generously donated presents to Reading Family Aid’s Toys and Teens Appeal 2019. Amicus, our Sixth Form led charity group who organised the opportunity to help families in need at Christmas, were delighted to see so many contributions.
Great Ideals Reaffirmed Fryer students stole the show with their enthusiastic guided tours, as around 60 OLs who had left school prior to 1965 explored the new developments at School. Many memories were shared and old friendships re-kindled as people who had not seen each other for over 50 years were reunited. As part of the OL Vintage Day, the authors, John Allinson, Charlotte Smith and Penny Wallington, introduced their new book: ‘Great Ideals Reaffirmed: Leighton Park School and The Second World War’. The book was officially launched by two of the oldest living Old Leightonians, Karl Lehman and Hugh Dawson. Karl was a German refugee pupil in the 1930s, and Hugh was a pupil in the wartime years.
Mock Election
Tech for Good On Wednesday 20th November a group of Year 10 students attended the second Tech for Good conference as part of The Festival of Digital Disruption. The afternoon’s inspirational speakers included Daniel Melville, Bionic Hero for Open Bionics and Mark Stanley, UK ambassador for the Things Network from internet company, Thingitude. In his thought-provoking discussion around the Internet of ‘good’ Things, Mark introduced two new exciting projects, aiding positive causes, that are funded by the Smart Berkshire programme.
In response to Parliament Week and the run up to the General Election, the School held its own mock elections on Thursday 12th December. Earlier in the week, as part of Hustings, each team, consisting of the PPC, an election agent and campaigns officer, delivered real party manifestos, with the exception of the Independent candidate. The candidates and their teams then canvassed people during breaks, displayed posters and the Lib Dems and Green Party even made videos to garner support! Eddie Falshaw, as The Returning Officer, revealed the Independent candidate as the triumphant party in Final Collect.
Amnesty International Inspired by the experiences of her family and friends under the dictatorship in Uganda, Sixth Former Letitia Kansime, set up the Amnesty International Group as a co-curricular hobby in the Autumn Term. There has been plenty of interest from enthusiastic students keen to make a difference and the club’s first trip to Amnesty International Youth Conference was a great success. “Some of the speakers were not much older than me,” reflected Letitia, “And they had done some amazing things. It put into perspective for me that anything you do, no matter how small can make a difference for a better future and you never know where it will end up.”
10
Alex Harris (Year 10) commented “It was inspiring that the people that were there all wanted their businesses to genuinely help people and not just be a way to make money. I found Dan’s story especially inspiring because he never seemed to have a negative outlook on having one arm. Seeing how he changed his life with the Hero Arm and got really involved with it and it helped overcome his problems was really cool.”
Economics and Ethical Enterprise
Anti-Bullying, Anti-Drugs
Two representatives from the Princess Diana Trust delivered a day long antibullying training session to students from three secondary schools at Leighton Park on Friday 4th October.
Our Sixth Form boarders studying Economics and Business attended Professor Emma Borg’s Ethical Enterprise lecture at the University of Reading, examining whether local firms should have a social purpose. On a similar theme, after being inspired by Reading’s Festival of Digital Disruption, Ahan Rajnish (Lower Sixth) shared his research on Corporate Social Responsibility and the ethics of enterprise with a conscience with his Lower Sixth Economics group.
David Awittor (Year 9) commented, “We must also be aware of how people are feeling and respond with care and not recklessly, as we might make the situation worse. I would definitely recommend the training to everyone.” Event Organiser and Leighton Park’s Pastoral Intervention Officer, Rachel Webb, said “The main focus for the group this year is ‘Respect’, one of our Quaker values. We now have 20 trained Ambassadors empowered to help with the care and welfare of other students within the Leighton Park community”. Students in all year groups received age-appropriate presentations on drugs
and substance abuse from Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, MBE, who lost one of her twin boys to heroin addiction and in our annual drugs talk by Bob Tait from Drug Education UK, whose talk on substance abuse and the law, makes the consequences of poor decision making very clear.
Political Thinking OL Kimberly McIntosh spoke to the Aspiring High Group on the highly topical subject of how to influence politics on Wednesday 20th November. With a Masters in International Migration & Public Policy, Political Science & Government from LSE, Kimberley frequently appears in the media as Senior Policy Officer at the Runnymede Trust, a leading thinktank on race relations.
11
The CEO of Big Issue Invest, Old Leightonian Danyal Sattar, provided a fascinating reflection on ethical financing models on the last day of term in the latest of our Ethical breakfast series. These talks for Sixth Form Economics and Business students aim to instil a sense of social responsibility and awareness of ethical enterprise in our future business leaders.
COMMUNITY
Truly Scrumptious!
MARVELLOUS MUSIC!
Without blowing our own trumpet, the School has seen some sensational performances from our range of talented musicians across the Autumn Term. Beginning with the Ensembles Concert on Wednesday 16th October which featured LP Winds, Fryer Voices and The Six Bandits to name a few, to the Soloists’ Concert on Wednesday 13th November which was another great success. The following week, the Jazz Infusions Concert showcased what is possible in the forthcoming Foyer Jazz Club to be launched earlier next year. Our first ever Silent Concert took place on Wednesday 4th December with the audience choosing between simultaneous silent piano music and silent strings. With the help of some phenomenal technology from our Music Education Partners, Yamaha UK, we were delighted to invite the audience to tune in their headphones to green for piano and red for strings.
Director of Music, Rosemary Scales, reflected. “It was really exciting to put on such an innovative event and to run two concerts on the same evening was certainly a challenge!” The festivities did not end there as in the last week of term our students and teachers polished up their brass instruments and sang their hearts out for the patients, visitors and staff of the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Each of these events would not be possible without the support of The Friends of Leighton Park Music, who are always on hand to provide the refreshments at our concerts. All profits from the money they raise goes towards providing items for the Music Department.
The Silent Concert preceded the School’s traditional Christmas proceedings, which combined classic tunes with festive favourites as well as original material. The audience were on its feet for the fantastically energetic rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, LP style!
ACHIEVEMENT WITH VALUES CHARACTER AND COMMUNITY www.leightonpark.com 12
Our PSC Parent Lunch coincided with the 15th Birthday of Oakview Restaurant on Friday 18th October! Before celebrating with an enormous cake, Catering Manager, Alessandro Albanese, shared the reasons why the food at Leighton Park is so special with our visitors. Over 100 Sixth Formers, dressed to impress, enjoyed a fantastic threecourse meal in Oakview on Friday 6th December to celebrate Christmas. The Senior Prefects handed out a multitude of awards for everything from ‘Most likely to get all A*s’ - which went to Annie Milhofer (Lower Sixth) to ‘Best Dressed’ - won by Anton Miller (Upper Sixth) and Daisy Wheatley Price (Lower Sixth) and ‘Best Couple’ awarded to Helen Taylor, Head of Sixth Form and the International Baccalaureate.