Welcome to Fryer House: Year 7 & 8

Fryer co-ed

Our approach to learning in KS3
Take a look +

From the very beginning, our curriculum encourages each one of our students to achieve the best they can. Broadening their horizons and helping them to better understand themselves through a varied curriculum that stretches and challenges them. We’ll harness your child’s innate inner-drive, helping them to develop independence, confidence and a deep desire to learn and grow.

Our Approaches to Learning programme helps to develop students’ study skills. It covers elements including metacognition, how the brain works, retrieval practice, referencing and using and discovering Artificial Intelligence. This all culminates in an amazing celebration evening where students present their Fryer Project Qualification to parents.

Students are expected to use a laptop to support their studies and give them access to our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), where they’ll be able to use our online learning resources, collaborate with each other, and complete assignments.

The School is currently redeveloping a beautiful Victorian building to become a new School Library and Sixth Form Study Centre to create further inspiring study spaces for our vibrant learning community.

What will I learn in Year 7 & 8 +
Play
Girl with long blonde hair explaining what she is doing on her laptop to boy with short dark hair

LP Learner Profile

The Leighton Park Learner Profile is a touchpoint for our students and staff, reminding all members of our teaching and learning community of the aspects of education that we value most greatly. These approaches and skills have an impact across the whole curriculum and enhance the educational experience for each subject as well as within cross-curricular activities. The School’s Quaker values are at the heart of the Learner Profile, underpinning everything that we do.

The School is perhaps best known for its STEAM academic programme, with an emphasis on critical thinking and creative problem-solving. Our aim is that all our students have the skills to not only be able to understand complex problems, but also have the creative thinking skills and initiative to develop and implement solutions. Students in Years 7-8 have the opportunity to experience Engineering and Music Technology. We also include more curriculum time than many other schools for creative subjects like Music, Design Technology and Art classes.

The Curriculum in Year 7 and Year 8

  • Approaches to Learning
  • Creativity, Action, Service
  • English
  • Mathematics: Classes are not set in Year 7, with our research showing that this improves attainment.
  • Science
  • Creative Arts: Art, Drama, Music
  • Technology: Design Technology, Textile Design, ICT
  • Humanities: Geography, History, Global Perspectives
  • Languages: Choice of Spanish, French or Mandarin
  • Physical Education: Sport and Wellbeing

Fryer House at a Glance

  • 60 students in each year
  • Average class sizes of 16
  • Small tutor groups of 11 students provide each child with more individual support than most Independent Schools, where the average is between 20 and 25
  • Students see their tutor for a period of allocated time each day, ensuring very close relationships and a high level of support. A child’s tutor is responsible for their academic and personal development. They’ll also be your primary point of contact
  • Initiatives like our Fryer Project Qualification and Enquiry Week ensure that students are stretched and challenged, preparing them for focused academic study in the Senior School
  • Dedicated House staff with a strong focus on pastoral care and wellbeing.

Creativity Action Service
Take a look +

Our Creativity Action Service (CAS) programme is our national award winning personal development programme, with Leighton Park winning the national ISA Award for Excellence in Pupil Personal Development 2022. This programme is inspired by the personal development programme in the International Baccalaureate and is a unique aspect of the Year 7 and 8 timetable, developing practical skills, which can be deployed to help others. Embedding changemaking early on cements the school’s Quaker ethos and facilitates our students embracing future opportunities. From September 2024 we are re-shaping our CAS offering to include the exciting subjects of Engineering and Music Tech as separate lessons in the academic timetable and to boost our Music creativity within the CAS programme. See what our September 2023 cohort have enjoyed in CAS this year!

Play

Subject videos
Take a look +

The promise of choice lies at the heart of Leighton Park’s curriculum with students exploring subjects in breadth and depth. Students are supported to explore new areas and build on their subject knowledge, enabling them to make an informed choice when it comes to selecting subjects at GCSE level – with 27 options on offer. Watch our subject videos to hear what our students think.

Use the icon in the top right of the video to select different subjects.

Play
DT workshop

How can we help?

Take the next step by selecting an option below, or if you want to drop us a quick message, you can do so with the form.

Shinfield Road
Reading
Berkshire, UK
RG2 7DE
+44 (0) 118 987 9600
Request a prospectus Arrange a visit Make an application
Contact Us
I agree with your terms & conditions and privacy policy *
I would like to receive updates from Leighton Park, including updates about upcoming events

Skip to content