Students Leading the Way

An exciting new initiative has been launched at Leighton Park this year to support the professional development of our experienced teachers and to encourage our students to build upon a variety of skills offering life-long benefits.

Three new roles have been created providing the opportunity for staff to grow areas of school life relating to Student Leadership, Student Voice and Literacy Voice, Within each area the teacher is able to dedicate resource and energy to ensure that students’ participation in these aspects of their Leighton Park journey is strong and their acquisition of both knowledge and transferable skills is extended.

Zoe Macpherson, PE teacher, holds the inaugural post of Student Leadership Leader, and has already built up an engaging programme offering growth opportunities to our 45 prefects. “I have been involved in the Sports Leadership programme for the Level 2 Diploma for years,” explained Zoe, “Plus I have worked with Year 8s and Year 10s on their Creativity, Action, Service  (CAS) education which involves a lot of teamwork and leadership development in teenagers. This role is a great chance for me to implement my ideas in other areas of School life, starting with the Sixth Form prefects.”

Zoe has conducted a survey exploring what it is that the Upper Sixth students are currently involved in and what they like about those activities, with the intention of repeating the survey at the end of the year. “My aim is to inspire more students to be involved in student led projects at Leighton Park, by encouraging the students creative minds to have a vision and making this into reality.” commented Zoe.

There are three new prefect roles this year for Zoe to manage supporting Diversity, Outreach and Sustainability in line with the School’s Quaker values of respect, equality and sustainability. Zoe hopes to involve these prefects, together with several others, in her plans for a Peer Education Programme where Sixth Formers will receive training in areas such as the Quaker values or mental health and be empowered to share their knowledge with younger students. Whilst it is possible that the presentations may need to take place virtually due to Covid-19, the opportunities for growing confidence, improving public speaking skills and forging relationships across year groups remain as robust as ever.

“An ethical leader is someone who respects the values and integrity of others” reflects Zoe and she has seen plenty of examples of this on the sports pitches, in the boarding houses and on trips and tours over the years. She continues, “One of the main Quaker values is community and we strive on that at this school. It’s such a good thing to do, to be able to help people around you.”