Leighton Park wins the ISA Award for Outstanding Local Community Involvement for the second year running

“If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem”. This is what Leighton Park tells new Year 7s when they enter into the school and, like all good schools, we hold ourselves to the same high standards. Giving the School’s Quaker values currency and purpose is central to our ethos and we are delighted to have won the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Award for Outstanding Local Community Involvement for the last two years running, most recently picking up the 2021 award on 11th November.

Announcing the award, ISA told us: The judges considered the programme of community involvement activities and charitable events at Leighton Park to be remarkable. From supporting literacy skills in local primaries, to delivering nutritious meals to those in need, to supporting a local pupil referral unit, the list goes on. Boarders at the school have spent their weekends volunteering for a local charity supporting new parents and their babies. The fundraising events are too numerous to mention and they clearly show that responsible, caring citizenship is valued very highly at Leighton park.”

Head, Matthew Judd, commented: “This is in recognition of the work we have been doing for the last year in outreach and partnership. The area has been led by Natasha Coccia, Assistant Head, Outreach and Co-curricular, and I offer my heartfelt congratulations to her and all colleagues involved in this area. We are hugely proud of what has been achieved.”

Natasha herself added: “I am so proud of our students, staff and parents who have given their time and energy to these initiatives. Doing for others is part of being a Leightonian, and it is wonderful to see this in so many areas of life on the Park and in our local community. Achievement with values, character and community is lived out in a tangible and meaningful way through our personal development programmes and we have seen a real impact on our students as well as those we serve through these projects. We can’t wait to see what 2022 brings!”

It is very unusual for a school to win the same award two years in a row. Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, CEO of the Independent Schools Association commented: “Contributing to the local community is clearly embedded in the culture of Leighton Park School, which is why the ISA have recognised them with this award for the second consecutive year. From the art fair held earlier this term to support the Royal Berkshire Hospital to the various activities in aid of homelessness charities, the entire Leighton Park family continue to help those in need, further cementing their position as valued members of the Reading and wider Berkshire communities.”

Leighton Park has worked to expand support and deepen relationships throughout the pandemic and place an increasing emphasis on student-led engagement. Initiatives have included:

• The Be Inspired programme for Key Stage 2 students in local primary schools to raise aspirations, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM)
• Providing music technology and production opportunities for students at the Foundry College Pupil referral Unit
•  Working together with Whitley Community Development Association and local families with our Let’s Cook Together initiatives
• Our Year 10 Literacy Change-makers working with buddies at ABC to Read to foster positive relationships and boost literacy
• Working with our catering provider Thomas Franks and local schools to deliver nutritious meals to those in need
• Student-led fundraising to support local organisations such as Launchpad Reading, a charity working with the homeless, and Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice, the only children’s hospice in Berkshire.
• Over 585 hours of local volunteering was achieved by those on the school’s Duke of Edinburgh programme during lockdown.

Find out more about the Outreach and Partnerships work at Leighton Park