It seems incredible that we are already in the final week of term, with the long summer holidays ahead of us.
There has been no feeling of winding down, however, as pupils and teachers cram every last bit of energy into the final few days. The exciting atmosphere of life at Leighton Park is tangible. In the past days we have enjoyed Eco Week, in which the whole of Year 9 galvanised themselves in teams to research, write about and present a host of issues concerned with the environment. This is what learning should be like: a collaborative voyage of discovery, which was made all the more exciting by the fact that articles and speeches had to be written to tight deadlines. The inspiration of 6th form students who were the first LP students to embark on Eco Week three years ago was key in motivating the Year 9s, and their presentations and publications were of high quality, showing depth of understanding and engagement with the material.
There have been a host of other activities in these past few days, from the Old Leightonians cricket festival, Summer on the Park, Fryer Festival, Music for a Summer's Evening, to the end of term farewells to leavers. It has been a fortnight in which the entire Leighton Park community has been involved. Thanks to the PTA, the Old Leightonians Committee, teachers who have continued to work at a frenetic pace with enthusiasm up to the end, and above all the students themselves who make the school so special. The end of term Meeting for Worship this morning witnessed a huge range of testimonies in which pupils of a variety of ages expressed enormous gratitude for the ethos, the values and the community of Leighton Park. The school is a thriving, purposeful and happy one.

This week we have welcomed a group of Chinese teachers to Leighton Park. The teachers have been visiting Reading University with a mission to transport some "educational DNA" from the British system back to China. They have visited a range of local schools, but Leighton Park is the only boarding school they have visited.

The link with Leighton Park has been made through the work of Head of Physics, Irene Bell, and a team of other Leighton Park staff seeking to investigate ways of developing a creative curriculum. They have been working with Trevor Davies of Reading University Department of Education.

I spent half an hour with the Chinese visitors this morning, who were effusive in their praise for the enthusiasm and passion with which our teachers spoke about their work with the young people here. It was humbling for me to hear their praise of our environment and most of all our students. It was also a source of great pride.

What we are doing here is building opportunities for staff to develop their own agency and connect with their purpose as educators. We are in the early stages of some far-reaching work. It is wonderful that educationalists from abroad have singled Leighton Park out for special praise, and have invited us to develop further links with their schools in China.

At the heart of everything we do should be our young people. It is with this in mind that I have approached the issues of communication, leadership responsibility and action here at Leighton Park. Over the course of the six months that I have been Head so far I have had the opportunity to review systems and structures. All new leaders do this, of course, and the problem is that they sometimes lose sight of the purpose behind what they do.

At Leighton Park our purpose is promoting the development of young people by providing an education which is adventurous, challenging and exciting within a context that is supportive, caring and loving. It is a mixture of setting the bar as high as possible, and always being there to support our young people. To me, this is the Quaker way. There is nothing "soft" about it. It is challenging! Nevertheless we develop confidence through the support we offer.
But what if a school is out of touch with its young people, or the teachers who operate on the front line with them? Many good schools have become complacent when they know they are doing a good job. We are not complacent here.

The retirement of Roger Aylward at the end of this term, after exceptional service as Head of Fryer, Head of Boarding and, latterly, Deputy Head (Pastoral) might potentially undermine the confidence which parents have in the pastoral care on offer. Curriculum change in recent times to accommodate the International Baccalaureate Diploma has led to a steep learning curve for the school. But these developments are part of life. It is important to embrace the opportunities which they give. 

I took the view that we needed to have a leadership team in school with its ear to the ground, ensuring that decisions at the highest level were informed and sensible. I also took the decision that we should develop all our staff, focus them on their core purpose, and keep them enthused about the thing they all love: developing young people's talents. Teaching is tiring and emotionally demanding work. Good teachers give constantly, pouring out their creativity, humour, compassion, energy and love on a daily basis. Teachers matter! To look after our staff I wanted a leadership team which understood them, had time for them, and could work with them to help them develop and flourish. That is the best way to have an impact on our young people. Meanwhile, I wanted to make sure that our procedures were followed appropriately, and teachers took responsibility for their classes and lessons.
 
The team which I have assembled will help us to develop our awareness at senior leadership level; our leadership strength among middle management, and our professionalism among all our staff. The beneficiaries will be the children who have teachers who are on the ball in the classroom, the sports field, the drama studio or the House.
Edward Falshaw (currently at Hereford Cathedral School), and Nigel Williams will both become Deputy Heads alongside the Bursar and myself as Senior Officers.

John Weiner (currently at Felsted School) will become our new Head of Boarding, with sole responsibility for developing the entire boarding package here.  Nicola Williams brings her seven years of experience as Deputy Head of Fryer to take on the full responsibility for the House, and maintains her important role in charge of girls' welfare.  Caroline Kirby becomes Head of Lower School, with responsibilities for managing transition from Years 6 to 7 and Years 8 to 9, as well as pulling together the curriculum for the Year 7 to 9 children.  Mark Simmons will maintain and further develop links between the Leadership Group and Old Leightonians, parents, prep schools and current parents.  Karen Gracie-Langrick becomes Assistant Head: Curriculum, taking responsibility for the whole curriculum review and development at the school.

These new appointments will work alongside Mike Ward as Director of ICT, Ken Sullivan (Head of Sixth Form), and Pete Bulteel (Head of Middle School) to ensure that the middle managers are supported, encouraged, monitored and developed. Each Leadership Group member will have four or five middle managers assigned to them in order that the whole life of the school is reviewed, monitored and enhanced.

I am tremendously excited about this new group of people, many of whom have been appointed from within: rewarding Leighton Park's talented Common Room, and maintaining, at the highest levels of leadership, an awareness and focus on the values which make us such a distinctive and successful school. I know that the new structure will serve the children well. That, as I have already said, is the best reason to do anything. 

Nigel Williams, Roger Aylward and I have just returned from two days in Ireland with the head teachers of other Quaker schools and their deputies.

We were hosted by Friends' School, Lisburn, and enjoyed a memorable and purposeful two days.

Following our arrival on Sunday, we had a business meeting in which we focused upon our common aims in promoting our distinctive form of education. We were agreed that an adventurous programme which celebrated the divine in everybody should be at the heart of all that we do. Leighton Park is leading the way on this with our Curriculum Review, currently underway. In this we intend to focus not simply on how much time should be given to each subject, but on how children respond to learning opportunities, how to give them variety, stretch and challenge; and how to build not only the right skills to develop a love of learning, but also to operate in a world of collaborative problem-solving and creativity.

By sharing ideas in such a forum as the Quaker Heads and Deputies' conference we can take great strides towards such adventurous learning.

We were also concerned with how to promote Quaker education more widely, through the Friends Schools Council, a Quaker Education conference we are planning for next summer in Birmingham, and initiatives which involve our young people in important outreach work within their own community and further afield.

With this in mind we visited the "Quaker Cottage", overlooking the Falls Road in Belfast. This extraordinary venture is making a difference to the lives of deprived families throughout West and North Belfast. The opportunity for our students to become volunteers, and for us to do something similar here in Reading, are real possibilities. We were all profoundly moved, and I have invited the outreach workers and young people to Leighton Park in the future in order that we can research a variety of ways in which we can develop similar projects.

For adventurous learning is not simply about exciting learning experiences, but about going beyond our comfort zones, confronting issues which we may not have experienced or fully understand, and developing Quakerly concern for the World at large and on our doorstep. it is this which I believe makes a Quaker education distinctive, and which promotes the maturity and drive of Leighton Park students. I look forward to promoting further links with this worthwhile charity, doing exceptional work in Belfast, and encouraging our students to become activists for truth, justice, compassion and peace as they take their place in the world beyond Leighton Park itself. We have a fine tradition of this tough, adventurous, courageous and loving activism at Leighton Park. The links we make with other Quaker institutions are wonderfully fertile opportunities to develop our range of opportunities, and the strength of our friendships.