Leighton Park School

Leighton Park School

Established	1890
Type	Independent school Co-educational Day and boarding school
Religion	Quaker
The Head	Alex McGrath BA PGCE
Deputy Heads	Nigel Williams and Eddie Falshaw
Founders	Dame Elizabeth and George Cadbury
Location	Shinfield Road Reading Berkshire RG2 7ED England
Staff	100 (approx.)
Students	500
Gender	Male/female
Ages	11–18
Houses	5 (4 Senior, 1 Junior)
Colours	Blue, Gold, Brown
Publication	The Park
Former pupils
Campus	60-acre (240,000 m2) parkland campus
Website	www.leightonpark.com

Leighton Park School sign

Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England. The school was founded in 1890, following the closure of Grove House School, also a Quaker establishment.

Overview

The school is based in a parkland estate setting just south of the town centre of Reading, adjacent to the Whiteknights Park campus of the University of Reading. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. From 2009, the school has offered the International Baccalaureate qualification. In January 2011, John Dunston stepped down as Headmaster after over a decade in the post. He was succeeded by Alex McGrath, former deputy head of Trent College.

The latest edition of The Good Schools Guide describes Leighton Park as "one of the most distinctive schools we'd visited and we came away with a renewed sense of hope for the future. More schools would do well to adopt the LP model — it has integrity and honesty at heart". In December 2010, following inspection, the ISI wrote "The excellent personal development of the pupils is a strength of the school."

The School House and Attached Laboratories at Leighton Park School are Grade II listed buildings.

History

The teaching of young people has always been a priority for Quakers; from the late seventeenth century onwards, many were involved in establishing schools for their own children and others in need. In this light, Leighton Park was opened in 1890 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), as a public school for boys, with the specific aim of preparing academically able boys to enter university, to think for themselves and to develop self-reliance.

The school was founded after Grove House School, also a Quaker school, closed in 1877. Grove School had educated notable personalities such as Lord Lister, Alfred Waterhouse and Thomas Hodgkin.

Nicknamed 'the Quaker Eton', Leighton Park has sent a high proportion of its pupils to Oxford or Cambridge. To this day it retains academic prestige, being described as a school that possesses "outstanding teaching, facilities and excellent academic results [that] give it the qualities that parents seek in a school" recently by ISBI schools.

Leighton Park grew from 4 boys in 1890 to 103 in the 1920s. By 1970 the school had 300 pupils, and in 1975 girls were admitted to the sixth form. In 1993 the school became fully coeducational. Today the school is home to 500 pupils drawn from over twenty different countries.

In 2004, 'Oakview', the new central-dining facility was introduced instead of traditional in-house dining. The facility was officially opened by Sir Steve Redgrave.

The school has just under 500 pupils aged 11-18.

Some people say that one of the older buildings, Peckover, is occupied by a ghost.

Traditions and routines

Leighton Park, due to its Quaker faith, has marked customs and traditions which differ from those in Anglican schools. Some of these traditions are:

• "Collect": The daily routine meeting similar to that of assembly in other schools, where the school gathers for presentations and talks. Every collect is then finished with a silence lasting several minutes to reflect on the topic addressed in the meeting. The distinct difference between "Collect" and other similar meetings in Anglican schools is the omission of hymn singing.

• "Meeting for Worship": A weekly event which replaces "Collect" on Thursday, similar to Quaker meetings across the country. The meeting is held in silence to reflect on thoughts and feelings, with a free forum for anyone to stand up and break the silence by speaking about the issue on their mind. "Meeting for Worship" currently lasts 20–25 minutes, reduced from longer lengths over the years.

• "Monthly Meeting": A meeting held once a month which gives the chance for the pupil body to air grievances on any matter (such as dress code, lunch queues etc.). It is usually clerked by the Head Boy and Head Girl, alongside a member of staff who takes the minutes. The school senior management are usually present to respond to grievances. This form of response differs from other, more traditional, forms of Quaker Monthly Meeting. In its present form, senior staff respond directly to issues as they are raised. Traditionally, issues are not just considered by the senior management, but by the meeting as a whole. Such a method of consensus problem-solving reflects the quaker value of Equality.

Houses

There are five houses at Leighton Park; four senior and one junior; with an average of 100 pupils in each senior house and approximately 90 pupils in the junior house. The first house established is named 'Grove', after Grove School, which Leighton Park has historical links with. The junior house, 'Fryer', houses pupils aged 11–13. All houses are mixed sex, and they all have facilities for day and boarding pupils.

House	Type of House	Housemaster
School	Senior	Simon Cain
Field	Senior	Mark Simmons
Grove	Senior	Geoff Harnett
Reckitt	Senior	Julian Berrow
Fryer	Junior	Nicky Williams

Sport

The school has a floodlit astroturf sports pitch and 22 tennis courts, along with four main sports fields. The school's sporting strengths lie in cricket and rugby for boys; hockey and netball for girls. Many other sports are catered for including football, athletics, tennis and swimming. The school awards scholarships for talented and capable sportsmen and women.

The school hosts an annual cross-country competition: the race is over 2.5km long. There is also a house 'Road Relay' race where 12 pupils, teams of four from each senior house, race to complete one lap of the kilometre-long road track. The results of the road relay count towards the annual House Cup, awarded at the end of each academic year. There are also other regular house sport competitions: rugby, football, athletics, hockey, tennis and swimming.

In April 2011, student Charlotte Turner (Year 10) qualified for the UK National County Cross-Country Championships.

The school recently hosted a Super Six Rugby Sevens Tournament, a spin-off of the 'Super Six' rugby XV cup competition that the school founded and takes part in with five other schools. It has won the cup on several occasions. The school also participates in the Daily Mail Cup rugby competition.

Music and drama

Music

The current Head of Music is Rosemary Scales. At Leighton Park many instruments are taught, with opportunities being given to all students should they wish to learn. The school also has a fully equipped specialist recording studio. Leighton Park gives scholarships for dedicated and talented musicians.

Leighton Park is known for its annual House Music competition. The competition involves many students - from House 'Big Group' (where songs such as Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and Shania Twain's 'Man! I feel like a woman!' have been performed), to solo artists (Laura Marling competed live in 2007, but lost out in her category of "Original Song"). The house music competition's final standings award points to Houses, which go towards the annual House Cup.

The school offers Music GCSE and A-Level.

Drama

There is one main theatre outside of the drama department at Leighton Park, Main Hall, where the annual School Play, and other plays, take place. There is usually one main School Play per academic year. The School Play usually takes place in the Spring Term and has a high reputation. It is normally fully booked every night.

Most recently, the school has put on Evita, The Crucible and West Side Story Grease, Much Ado About Nothing as well as several other well known dramatic pieces.

The drama department is headed by Geraint Thomas, and supplemented by several other teachers. The school offers GCSE drama as well as A-level Theatre Studies.

Press

Leighton Park has featured in the press most recently in light of the BBC Politics Show, which was hosted at Leighton Park in December 2010.

In April 2005, Quaker-based Sunday Worship was broadcast live from Leighton Park on BBC Radio 4. Heard by an estimated 1.75 million listeners, the sequence of readings, music, ministry and silence "reflected the essence of Quaker values to the wider world."

Leighton Park also featured in the press in 2005 for the introduction of a music workshop by ex-child soldier turned musician, Ben Okafor.

The school is mentioned in the play and film, The History Boys, by Alan Bennett. The headmaster mentions schools he would like to emulate regarding high pupil entry to Oxford; among them is Leighton Park — 'or is that an open prison?', he adds.

It has been alleged that headteachers of other schools in Reading encouraged their pupils to say they were from Leighton Park if challenged by the police or the public, as they were to be regarded as notorious.

Former pupils

Main category: Old Leightonians

• Sir David Lean, Oscar award-winning film director
• Tony Baldry, MP
• Michael Foot, former Labour Party leader
• Jim Broadbent, actor
• Quentin Davies, former MP and minister
• Lord Caradon, former ambassador
• Stuart Zender, musician
• Sir John Adye, former director of the GCHQ
• Sir Roland Penrose, artist, historian and poet
• Ian Stillman, missionary
• Laura Marling, singer and songwriter

Further reading

• The Leightonian [school magazine]. (Pub. 1895).
• Old Leightonians Club. A list of names and addresses of the old boys of Leighton Park School. (Pub. 1945, 1957, 1973, 1990).
• Brown, S.W. Leighton Park: A history of the school. (Pub. 1952).
• Leighton Park School, Leighton Park: The first 100 years. (Pub. 1990).
• The Park [school magazine]. (Pub. Termly).

See also

• List of Friends Schools
• Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
• Old Leightonians Cricket Club

External links

• School website
• Old Leightonians Cricket Club website
• ISBI entry