ISC Partnerships Week

To celebrate Independent Schools Council (ISC) Partnership Week, we are proud to highlight some of our impactful LP Partnership initiatives and the ways our students, staff, and partners work together to make a positive difference year-round. Rooted in the Quaker values of service, respect and equality, Leighton Park School is dedicated to fostering meaningful partnerships that enrich our students’ education and support our local community, by collaborating with state schools, local organisations & charities.

Throughout the year, our students and staff engage with nearby schools, community organisations, and charities, working together on projects that reflect our values-led approach to learning. In the arts, our Year 10 students bring music and drama into local primary schools through choir sessions, drama clubs, and weekly music instruction with Kennet Federation Schools (Southcote and Katesgrove) as well as Ridgeway Primary. These programs, led by our dedicated teachers and students, introduce young learners to the joy of music and the performing arts.

Our sports partnership with Chelsea FC Academy in our students’ Cocurricular programme after school prepares our male and female students for competitive fixtures and community work in sport. Our sport leaders run a Festival of Sport each term, most recently a Football Tournament for Key Stage 2 children from local primary schools. Furthermore, each week during term, Key Stage 2 pupils from Whiteknights Primary visit Leighton Park School for free swimming lessons, using our pool facilities. Year 10 sports leaders, with support from staff, coach the younger students, fostering a love of sport and healthy living. The goal is for all Whiteknights students to be able to swim at least 10 meters by the end of Year 6.

Through some of our other initiatives like the Female Lead Society, the Royal Institute of Maths Partnership, and weekly reading sessions with primary school students, Leighton Park provides opportunities for academic and social growth. Our Female Lead Society tackles gender equality, while our Maths Partnership and Oakleaf Diploma reading programme allow senior students to support and inspire younger learners, whilst students from Blessed Hugh Farringdon School join Leighton Park for debate sessions.

Community service is also central to our mission. The AMICUS student-led charity group organises impactful projects like the annual Reading Family Aid Christmas Toy Appeal and next week our Year 9 and 10 students will be busy making and handwriting gift tags for the charity Connect Reading.

To mark the end of ISC Partnerships week, Tash Coccia (Senior Assistant Head: Partnerships), is speaking at the Education and Social Justice Conference in Bardejov, Slovakia as part of the Reading Educational Partnerships Board. Tash has been invited to share the work of Leighton Park as a case study at the conference for educational leaders and policy makers from Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine looking at how a values-led school embeds social action as part of the curriculum.

To read more about our Values-led work, Educational Partnerships and Community Partnerships, visit: www.leightonpark.com/outreach-and-partnerships/