Springing into Easter with Final Collect 

Final Collect marked the end of term on Friday 27^th March as the school community gathered to celebrate the events and achievements of the springtime. As usual the impressive range of silverware graced the prize table with the House Cup in pride of place ready to recognise the exceptional talents of our students. The gathering is a chance for everyone to share a period of reflection on the achievements, values, character and community that makes Leighton Park such a special place to belong.

Computer Science: David Owen, Head of Computer Science, celebrated nine of our students for leading computer science lessons at Redlands primary school for KS2 pupils, building community relationships and inspiring younger students.

Maths: Year 9,10 and 11 mathematicians took part in the UKMT Maths Intermediate Challenge with Yezen (Year 10) and Bowen (Year 11)  going on to compete in the Pink Kangaroo. The RI Maths Masterclass Programme has been popular, with 26 Lower Sixth students working in teams to develop six masterclasses for Year 6 classes at Katesgrove and Southcote Primary Schools. They also celebrated a successful trip to the Maths Inspiration Lecture at The Hexagon in Reading.

STEAM: A successful British Science Week was held earlier this term, with volcano cake, microchemistry, and amazing science dresses for the inspiration of the LP community. Alongside the activities in the labs was the Inaugural British Science Week Expo in ALT, which was a small celebration of the projects our students have been working on. Upcoming STEAM activities include the UKROC competition, with students aiming to build a rocket for launch over Easter, and the International Chemistry Olympiad – with a handful of students receiving Silver and Bronze awards. In the Intermediate Physics Challenge for Year 11s, there were awards of Bronze 2 for Anson, Bronze 1s for Ben and Rohan, plus Silvers for Jack and Ollie who were in the top 25% of test takers.

Debate: Three students, Annabel (Year 11), Riordan and Alex (both Lower Sixth) recently attended the ECNAIS Debate Conference in Lisbon achieving 5th place against strong international competition!

Drama: LAMBDA  is a popular co-curricular activity and this term Elouisa (Year 10), Selin (Year 8), Annabel (Year 11) and Leo (Lower Sixth) were all awarded Distinctions! The Senior Production in February of ‘Into the Woods’ was very successful, with a huge celebration of community and support amongst the cast and crew, from rehearsals right through to curtain call. It was an elevated show that everyone should be proud of!

Robert Gillmor Award: Mark Wood, Head of Art, opened the windows to allow the whole hall to tune into nature for the announcement of the Robert Gillmor Award. There were a variety of entries that celebrated ecology, nature and the wildlife of the park. Jess Boswell, Head of English, read out Isabelle’s (Year 10) poem about the changing of winter to spring. Daisy (Lower Sixth) captured the magpies of the site in a wonderful sketch. Kenisha (Year 9) made a wonderful acrylic painting. Staff winner, Ruth Taaffe, wrote a wonderful poem that detailed the amazing journey swifts undergo when migrating. The winners of this year’s award were Megan (Lower Sixth) for making a complete booklet of photos, maps and diagrams of the Fungi of The Park, and Lana (Upper Sixth) who drew some beautiful sketches of the birds of The Park.

Sport: 300 fixtures have been completed since the start of the academic year with highlights of this term including the international football tour to Villarreal, Spain, during Long Leave. Our U15s Girls and U16s Boys were the Berkshire County Champions in Hockey. Our Basketball players were undefeated this season and Head of Rugby, Ellie Smales, was pleased that rugby has the highest points differential of any LP sport this year!

Progress: The winner of the Judd Cup for progress , in recognition of her academic and personal growth and the positive contribution she has made to the boarding community, showing resilience and effort in her endeavours, was Ruby (Year 11).

Merits: Congratulations to the 21 students with over 100 merits already this academic year! Sally Saunders, Head of Pupil Personal Development, was delighted to be able to award each of htem a Gold Merit Certificate.

The Dunston Award for community merits recognises that small meaningful gestures make a big difference. Presenting the award to Tubman with a quote from Quaker Advice and Queries, Head of PRV, Stephen Taynton said:  “Service should be the principal on which our lives are organised.”

The Sissons Cup for co-curricular merits encourages students to live adventurously including activities such as the Villarreal Football Tour, DofE in Wales (Silver) and the Lake District (Gold), the debating competition in Lisbon and the upcoming Ski Trip, the ‘Into the Woods’ production, the International Women’s Day and so much more. This award went to Tubman as did the Castle Trophy for academic success recognising through merits earned through academic endeavours. The overall winners of the Merit Cup this term were therefore Tubman.

Luke Walters, Head, concluded Final Collect with his end of term message and the announcement of the prefects for 2026-27 who will be on probation until the May half term, Our talented musicians opened and closed the assembly with “Etude No. 3, Op 10.” by Chopin performed by Leo (Lower Sixth) and Schubert’s ‘Gute Nacht’ performed by Henry (Lower Sixth) and Max (Upper Sixth), on piano and voice, framing the occasion.

You can see the photos in our online gallery.