park
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the Leighton Park School newsletter
Spring 2016
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Book Week and Writing for Teenagers Super 8 Netball League Victory
Headlines I am delighted to end this term with the welcome news that planning permission for our new Music and Media Centre (MMC) has finally been granted and that the long-anticipated build is scheduled to begin during the summer holidays. By the start of September 2017 we should have the new facility up and running, offering new practice rooms, a media room, exhibition space and an overall enhanced pedestrian area at the centre of the school. This will be a wonderful facility for the whole community to use and share. Meanwhile many projects have been, and are, taking place to upgrade our facilities and continuously improve our students’ experience of learning and living on the Park. We have continued to upgrade the IT system by installing 131 new PCs, primarily in the three IT suites in Old School and the MFL Department’s Language Lab and this will continue for the rest of the academic year. During the spring term we have opened a
brand new fully-equipped Fitness Suite and created a smart Sixth Form common room, both on the ground floor of Field House. We have also updated the foyer of Reckitt House. The outdoor classroom in the orchard is being prepared and we are looking forward to welcoming bees into our hives later in the year. The students have continued with their multitude of activities and commitments with trips both within the UK and abroad offering opportunities for adventurous learning as well as preparing for forthcoming examinations. The Senior Production, Sweeney Todd, and Book Week were both highlights of the term. Academically we continue to push forward our improved teaching and learning programme, led by Ken Sullivan, to deliver the best possible academic experience for all of our students. With best wishes, Nigel Williams, Head
Contents News
pages three, four, five, six and seven
Learning Adventurously pages eight and nine
Plans for the MMC
Sport
pages ten and eleven
Library
pages twelve and thirteen
Music & Drama
pages fourteen and fifteen
Science
page sixteen
Art and Design page seventeen
Sixth Form
page eighteen
Old Leightonians page nineteen
PSC
page twenty
The Gift of Education
Please visit www.leightonpark.com for up-to-date news throughout the year.
Last year the school was humbled to receive a significant legacy, in excess of over £700,000, from Old Leightonian, Michael Malnick (1938-1944), who specifically wanted the monies to be used to fund bursaries. In September 2016 we will welcome our first Malnick sponsored students to the school and are immensely grateful to Michael and his legacy for providing this opportunity.
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The front cover picture is from the 2016 Senior Production, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
News
Chocolate Box Challenge
Duke of Edinburgh Groups Get Practising
Both the Year 11 and Lower Sixth Silver Award and Year 10 Bronze Award students were out on practice exhibitions for their Duke of Edinburgh Award this term. Whilst the Silver Award hiked a very muddy trail from Goring Station to Crays Pond, Bronze Award students planned routes through Silchester and the surrounding countryside, passing the Calleva Atrebatum Amphitheatre and Roman city walls. Aside from route planning and camping expeditions, the Award also places importance on respecting the countryside, a value that was echoed by students who went out on both practice walks.
“Duke of Edinburgh has taught me how to respect the environment and appreciate the beauty around me”, said a Year 10 student, whose spirits clearly weren’t dampened by the cold weather! This was the first walk that the Year 10 students have taken on without an adult and many of the groups realised that they needed to spend more time planning a detailed route for their real expedition! “It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, we learnt a lot of new skills and had a sense of shared responsibility” said the students in Group S.
Students Dazzle at 46th Annual Woodley Festival On Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th March, Leighton Park entered the Woodley Festival of Music and Arts. The festival gives individuals, groups and schools the opportunity to take to the stage and showcase their talents before a professional adjudicator and an audience. Individuals competed in various categories, as did members of Fryer House as an ensemble. In total, fourteen students from Leighton Park entered ten different classes including solo acting, public speaking, verse reading and group acting. In an incredible show of hard work and talent, students medalled or placed in nine categories. Gold medals were clinched in prose reading and group acting whilst silver and bronze medals were awarded in public speaking, solo acting and sight reading. Students also received glowing reviews from the judges and an invite to perform in the finale concert of the festival - praise indeed! Adrian Stewart (Head of Fryer (Lower School)), was extremely proud of all who took part, commenting,
“Hopefully it will be a successful start to our relationship with the Woodley Festival!” 3
At the beginning of February, Year 9 students took part in the Chocolate Box Challenge; a fun and informative business game all about chocolate! Teamwork, leadership, decision making and working with numbers are all part of the challenge, delivered by our careers guidance consultancy, Inspiring Futures. The Chocolate Box Challenge is arranged to coincide with the GCSE Options Information Evening, which outlines available courses, offers guidance on how to make informed choices and details the logistics of the process.
“The Chocolate Box Challenge is all about making choices and learning about different roles within business. It’s like a miniversion of The Apprentice!” explained Elaine King (Art, Head of Careers).
News Ready, Steady, Bake! Bakers from Year 9 Food Tech certainly could have shown Mary Berry a thing or two with their scrumptious cupcakes! With a number of hungry expert judges on hand to decide which were the most aesthetically pleasing, most creative and most delicious, competition was very strong indeed! In the end Lucy Childs was awarded Best Taste, Josh Booth won the Creativity prize and Livvy Edwards the Best Looking Bake, but with so many delicious cakes created, everyone’s a winner!
Students Inspired at 2016 Careers Fair and Masterclasses
World Book Day 2016 World Book Day was celebrated across the Park in style by both students and staff this year. Book-related lessons and events took place across the site, including exciting poetry slam readings in Year 9 English lessons. The highlight of the day for many was the amazing Gruffalo cake crafted by caterers Thomas Franks. Accompanied by pea soup from Roald Dahl’s ‘The Witches’, meteor meatballs from Judi Barrett’s ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs’ and a special book quiz, it really was a scrumdiddlyumptious lunch!
Students from across the school spent a day being inspired by visiting entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors, engineers and event planners at the 2016 Careers Fair on Thursday 17th March. This year also included some much-anticipated Careers Masterclasses, which were on topics as diverse as ‘The Chameleon Known as Marketing’ and ‘What Does a Management Consultant Do All Day?’. The talks were extremely popular with students from all years, who were then able to ask questions of the experts at the afternoon’s session in Peckover Hall. Peckover was buzzing with conversation as students were able to speak with professionals from companies such as Jaguar Landrover, Microsoft and the BBC, as well as students and academics from universities as diverse as Portsmouth, Sussex, Cardiff, Bath, Southampton and Imperial College London. The Careers Fair even featured a few Old Leightonians who kindly returned to impart their wisdom to the next generation of students.
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Vicar of Baghdad Visits Leighton Park
On Monday 1st February, the whole school gathered for a special extended Collect taken by Canon Andrew White, affectionately famous as ‘The Vicar of Baghdad’, known for his reconciliation work in the Middle East. He opened with a blessing in Aramaic, talked about his experience of peaceful negotiation with Arabs, Jews and Muslims in the Middle East and then invited questions. Assistant Director of Music, Chris Mitchell, who organised the event, explained how the Vicar of Baghdad came to visit the school,
“I became friends with Canon Andrew White just a few months ago, and having offered to come to Reading to speak at my church, when I suggested that he also visit Leighton Park School, he immediately agreed.”
Talking to China
“Canon White’s visit was both interesting and challenging.” said Head Girl, Asha Sumroy (Upper Sixth),
“He not only brought stories of his courageous peace making work, but sparked debate and discussion on some contentious topics, particularly amongst the students and teachers who attended the Q&A following his Collect.” Archivist, John Allinson, who attended the morning’s Collect commented,
“Andrew exudes goodness and goodwill. It is wonderful to think of the influence he will have had on the school community today.”
A Burger Bonanza
Last term, Deputy Head Eddie Falshaw travelled to China to represent Leighton Park at the K-12 Global Educational Resource Association Conference in Shijiazhuang. The theme for the conference was science and reading and Eddie spoke to an audience of around 200 delegates about Leighton Park and our approach to these important areas. Needless to say, there was a lot of interest in our fantastic school with many people wanting to know more about silence and reflection, and its part in the school day at Leighton Park. Following the conference, Eddie visited an education group in Beijing, speaking with Professor Wen Cao (pictured), Dean of the School of International Education, at the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) about future partnership. As part of this collaboration, Leighton Park hosted two different groups of visiting Year 7 and 8 students from Beijing, some of whom got to enjoy the experience of boarding for two weeks in January. It was certainly an educational and exciting experience for everyone involved and Fryer student Pratush Prasad (Year 7) commented,
“The Chinese culture is very different from ours and it’s interesting to find out about different parts of the world.”
This term, the Year 9 Food Technology Hobby Group had fun getting down to some stateside tunes while making American-style burgers! It’s reported that their efforts smelt so delicious that there were no shortage of students and teachers keen to help out with a quality check. The verdict? Awesome!
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News
Putting Mental Health on the Agenda
Spring Term Celebrated in Final Collect
Thursday 25th February saw students enjoying an inspiring talk about the importance of mental health from author and speaker, Jeremy Thomas. The first part of the talk, based on Jeremy’s own experience with bipolar disorder, gave an honest and hopeful view of dealing with mental illness, whilst the second part focused on sharing practical tools to help students deal with anxiety and low self-esteem.
The end of the spring term on Friday 18th March bought excitement for Easter, awards, a trophy full of Crème Eggs and celebration in an inspiring final Collect. As always, Collect began with a moment of reflective silence, before a band made up of students from Grove House took to the stage to perform an original song that they played in this term’s House Music competition.
The engaging talk was received with interest by many students, including Alyssa (Spud) Rowson (Lower Sixth) who said
After the wonderful performance, both students and staff were honoured with a variety of awards in celebration of everyone’s hard work throughout the spring term. Prizes included a special Roald Dahl print to recognise Leighton Park Librarian Chris Routh, who made it onto the School Librarian of the Year Honours List. Gold certificates were presented to students who took part in the UK Schools Intermediate Maths Challenge Awards by proud maths teacher Prem Samyrao, and Oscar Gutierrez (Upper Sixth) was given a framed newspaper cutting commemorating his achievement of hitting 134 against Marylebone Cricket Club; the highest score ever by a schoolboy. Collect came to an end with the awarding of the Merit Cup, which had been cheekily filled to the brim with Cadbury Crème Eggs by Deputy Head, Eddie Falshaw! Many well-deserved academic merits were awarded this term, but it was merits awarded by the Head and Deputy Heads that changed the leader board and secured an overall win for School House.
On Your Marks, Get Set, Pancake! This year’s Shrove Tuesday saw the introduction of a very popular inter-House Pancake Race! Delicious looking pancakes were provided by Oakview, whilst a list of extensive rules were devised and strictly implemented by our very own independent adjudicator, Myles Nash (Head of DT, Head of School House). The Pancake Day relay race started outside Oakview Restaurant, continuing past the Astroturf pitches before rounding the Peace Pole to the home straight. It was a close race and despite ‘eggscellent’ performances and flipping good team work from all of the runners involved, Fryer House were crowned the champions of the pancake toss!
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“Our recent Sixth Special talk really made an impression on me. This is for many reasons but mainly because, in my opinion, it reminded me of the serious effects that mental illness has on those struggling with them and the people surrounding them. I think this talk was especially valuable for us, as teenagers, to learn ways to deal with mental illness as it is very likely at some point in the future that someone we know or we ourselves will be faced with one”. Jeremy’s main goal is to reach out to students and young people and give them useful and honest tips about how to stay happy and healthy, as well as reassuring them that it’s always okay to talk about mental health.
Busy Boarders It really has been a busy spring term for our boarders! Alongside the regular cooking lessons provided by our knowledgeable Oakview chefs and evening cinema trips, students have been on plenty of exciting excursions that have kept their weekends interesting. This term, boarders have brushed up on their potions skills at the magical Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford, met the cast of glitzy Laurence Olivier Award nominated musical ‘In The Heights’ and done some convincing impressions of Lewis Hamilton on the Premier Go-Karting track in Woodley.
Greenfingers Group Prepare for Planting After a very busy and successful autumn term, the Greenfingers Group have once again been hard at work undertaking some serious planning in order to select and organise seeds for planting in the bountiful and popular allotment. We can’t wait to see (and eat) the fruits of their labour at lunchtimes next term!
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Learning Adventurously A Tempest at The Globe
Warwick Castle and Constructions
On 23rd February Sixth Form students visited the beautiful Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at The Globe Theatre in London to watch a special performance of ‘The Tempest’ as part of their A Level English Literature course. The entirely candlelit performance was directed by Dominic Dromgoole as part of The Globe’s ‘Winter Shakespeare’ season and is advertised as ‘a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Shakespeare’s late, great plays in the kind of theatre they were written for’. Victoria Roberts (Upper Sixth) described the show as
“a fantastic opportunity to see the text come to life and performed in a similar fashion to the original productions. Infused with the traditional performance were more comical, modern-day anecdotes used to replicate the entertaining experience a contemporary audience would have had. It was definitely the first time that any of us had heard the words ‘kung-fu mooncalf’’ spoken in one of Shakespeare’s plays!”
On Thursday 11th February Year 7 visited Warwick Castle to explore an example of a complete castle, as part of their History course. It was useful to understand how the castle has changed over the years and its importance in various historical events such as the Wars of the Roses. The students loved the dungeons exhibit in which live actors involved them in scary role plays; dissecting plague victims; chopping the head off their teachers and losing themselves in a maze of mirrors! The students were then able to enjoy the glorious weather seeing the castle grounds, and making friends with the peacocks, before testing their heads for heights on the ramparts.
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Earlier in the term the students created some fabulous motte and bailey castles using whatever materials they desired; including a delicious cake with walls made from KitKats!
Year 10 Explore Contrasts in the City Budding young artists and textile designers from Year 10 headed to London on 25th January seeking some fresh inspiration. Arriving at Waterloo they were quickly immersed in the lively Southbank, focusing their cameras on the contrast of textures and colours not only seen in the array of street art on display, but also in the bold lines of the surrounding brutalist architecture. Stopping for reflection at the Tate Modern, they could question the validity of contemporary art before tackling the splendour of St Paul’s Cathedral through drawing. A short walk through the City presented more opportunities for dynamic photography centred on the shapes, patterns and signs of both old and new art and architecture. Exhausted and inspired in equal measure the annual trip is already featuring in the work they have produced throughout the spring term. Mark Wood, Head of Art
Conscientious Objection and the Houses of Parliament On Wednesday 27th January a group of Sixth Form students were invited to Westminster to attend a Quakers in Britain reception on Conscientious Objection in the First World War. The event was sponsored by several Quaker MPs and talks were given on the experiences of conscientious objectors in recent wars. Readings from diaries of conscientious objectors were made by actor Geoffrey Durham, as well as speeches by MPs and notable Quakers. The students, most of whom study Government and Politics, very much enjoyed attending and examining that all important question: What would we have done?
On Friday 29th January, Jessica Metheringham (Parliamentary Liaison Officer for Quakers in Britain) visited Leighton Park to lead a workshop on Quakers and Politics. Jessica led two thought-provoking sessions, on ‘Speaking Truth to Power’ and encouraging students to think about how they engage with politics. Both sessions were very useful in promoting awareness of issues relating to Quakerism and politics and inspiring students and staff to question their own views and think more freely about some of the key principles advocated by Quakers.
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Sport Glamorous Sports Awards Dinner Honours Athletes
Students Form Guard of Honour for London Irish On Sunday 7th February, students from Years 7 to 9 enjoyed a match day experience with London Irish rugby club. The exciting day began with a two hour training session on the Park, run by the Community and Academy coaches. The session was action-packed and the boys learnt lots of new skills and techniques. The Fryer students were very excitable on the coach journey to the stadium as they thought about the questions they’d like to ask the three professional London Irish players. These included what was the worst injury they’d witnessed and who was their toughest opponent.
The annual Sports Awards Dinner took place in Oakview on Tuesday 3rd March, held to celebrate the dedication, commitment and achievement of all of the students involved in sport at Leighton Park. Awards for football, netball, hockey and basketball are given out, as well as individual awards for Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year. The event was attended by 98 students and staff, who were dressed for the occasion in black tie and sophisticated party dresses. Everyone enjoyed a delicious three course meal of before speeches, awards and a very special interview with three VIP guests.
Berkshire Table Tennis Championships Ryan Hong (Upper Sixth), Andre Chu (Upper Sixth) and Giacomo Musso (Lower Sixth) played in the Under-19 singles and Andy Yuen (Year 8) in the Under-13s at the Berkshire Table Tennis Championships in January. Andy had a fantastic, hard-fought win against the runner-up from the other group in the Last-8 knock-out, earning himself a shot at the number one seed from Langley Grammar. Sadly, that’s where his run in the tournament came to an end, as his opponent
Five students were then lucky enough to be ball boys for the match, getting to sit pitch-side, retrieving the balls for the players and enjoying an incredible view of the action! At half-time all of the Leighton Park students went on to the pitch to have a group photo and create a guard of honour for the players to run through as they came on for the second half. The day was topped off by a victory with London Irish beating Worcester Warriors 20-13! In attendance were London Irish rugby players Ollie Curry and Joe Cokanasiga, who are actually younger than some of our own Sixth Form students! Along with GB hockey player, Chloe Rogers, who has an amazing 164 caps to her name, they spoke with passion about what it takes to make a career in professional sport. Determination, commitment and the ability to carry on even when you get dropped from a team were cited as the most important qualities for any aspiring athlete.
(who later became Berkshire Under-13 Champion) overcame him 3-0. The match of the tournament was between Andre and Giacomo in a titanic struggle of a five-setter where Andre overturned a 2-1 deficit to clinch the match. Ryan earned himself a shot at the County title against the top Under-19s seed from Forest School. He played extremely well, but eventually went down 11-9 in the first set to a very experienced and skilful player.
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League Wins for Leighton Park Netball Teams With two fantastic senior netball teams playing in the same Super 8 League, this has been an exciting term for senior netball at Leighton Park. The 1st VII have played outstandingly this term, demonstrating enthusiasm and an incredible level of skill on court, leading them to win all of their games and finish at the top of the leader board. Thanks to a fabulous performance throughout the season, the Leighton Park 2nd VII turned out to be the other team to secure a place in the title match. Nicky Williams (Coach, Head of Pastoral and Safeguarding) commented, “The girls have had an outstanding season on the netball court. Both teams have been playing in the same league. The 1st VII won all of their games, finishing as outright leaders and have since been waiting to hear who came second for the play off.” she said. “It’s a great feeling knowing that no matter the outcome of the game, Leighton Park will have won the title!” added Nicky. Both teams have played with commitment this year and this game was no exception! Captained by Kara Ellis (Lower Sixth) and cheered on by a crowd of Leighton Park staff and students, the 1st VII eventually fought their way to an impressive 48-11 victory. In the junior part of the school, netball teams have also had successful seasons. Year 7 and Year 10 netball teams finished 4th and 6th respectively in their Reading School’s Netball Leagues, whilst Year 8 and 9 have dominated on the court this term, with Year 9 finishing 2nd in the league and Year 8 topping the scoreboard. Well done all!
Fraser Sets Sights on England Rugby Spot Graduate Resident Fraser Majoribanks has recently been selected for rugby league’s England Universities 2016 ‘Train On’ Squad. The squad will head up to Nottingham to take part in friendly matches against France and The Royal Airforce, before final team selections are made for the Student Four Nations Tournament in June.
House Cross Country Breaks Records This term saw the return of the annual inter-House senior cross country competition, which turned out to be an extremely hard fought race. By the last lap of the senior race Oscar Gutierrez (Upper Sixth) and Kirsty
Walker (Year 11) were neck and neck, starting their sprint finish as they rounded the path next to the swimming pool. Each tried to outrun the other as they came up the middle of the Park, but Oscar slowly edged ahead. Kirsty finished with a fantastic time of 27.57, with Oscar only 4/100ths of a second ahead of her at 27.53, making for a real photo finish! Oscar now joins only two other boys who have their names engraved on the Cross Country Cup three times, as he has now won the race in Year 11, 12 and 13.
Junior Teams Show Footballing Promise Junior Football has seen many highlights this term, with both the Under 14 and Under 15 boys’ teams reaching the last sixteen of the County Cup. In addition, the Under 14 team have reached the final of the Reading School’s League after beating Theale Green School 1-0 on Tuesday 15th March. The newly formed Under 13 girls’ team have shown great promise in their first matches together as a squad, winning their first ever 7-aside tournament at the Dolphin School on 8th March. The girls will look to continue their winning form when they compete at the Independent Schools Football Association Tournament in June.
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Library Book Week Shop Delights Students, Parents and Staff
Christopher Lloyd Brings Shakespeare to Life
Christopher Lloyd is a publisher, author, speaker and journalist whose ‘What on Earth?’ books specialise in telling historical stories and scientific facts through fold-out timelines. On 2nd February, Year 8 enjoyed an interactive workshop on William Shakespeare’s plays using Christopher’s book; ‘What on Earth? The Wallbook Timeline of Shakespeare’. From ‘The Tempest’ to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Hamlet’ to ‘Julius Caesar’, students were able to learn about the themes of Shakespeare’s plays through Christopher’s engaging, interactive talk and giant timeline display. The group enjoyed learning to use colour to identify the changing emotions in each of Shakespeare’s plays, but the favourite part of the workshop for many was getting to put their drama skills into practice in two mini-plays complete with props and costumes! Everyone did a great job of bringing scenes from comedy ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ and tragedy ‘Macbeth’ to life, drawing cheers and giggles from the group. This made a fantastic introduction to Shakespeare in the year of the 400th anniversary of his death.
The Book Week Bookshop has become a well-established tradition and since last year we have used a specialist book supplier called Heath Books. The books were set up in the Cadbury Room on the morning of Monday 29th February, complete with celebratory balloons and ready for the first visitors. Members of Fryer Book Group were invited to choose a book for the library and members of the PSC Book Group were given a sneak preview that evening. During the rest of the week, students from Years 7 to 11 visited with their English teachers and were encouraged to browse and talk about books, which created a real buzz. The following week, the shop was enjoyed by students from ten visiting schools attending the Writing for Teenagers Conference. Once again, money raised from the book sales will be donated to The Book Bus charity which takes books to schools in Zambia and Malawi. Chris Routh, Librarian
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Poet A.F. Harrold Entertains Year 7
Year 7 students were treated to a special workshop from local poet and author, A.F. Harrold, in his second visit to Leighton Park. He performed a selection of funny poems from his new book ‘Things You Find in a Poet’s Beard’ which covered everything from crocodiles in your cornflakes to gargoyles that collect bellybutton fluff! The book is illustrated by the current Children’s Laureate, Chris Riddell, whose doodles are perfectly matched to Harrold’s whimsical poems. The bearded poet had Year 7 in floods of laughter throughout, but he also got them writing and performing their own poetry. He gave students a sneak peak of his new novel ‘The Imaginary’, a sometimes scary fantasy illustrated by Emily Gravett, which was longlisted for both the Carnegie and Greenaway Awards this year.
Third Annual Writing for Teenagers Conference is a Hit
Two Carnegie Medal winners (Tanya Landman and our Patron of Reading, Gillian Cross), one acclaimed slam poet (Hollie McNish) and a knife juggling author (Julian Sedgwick) wowed an audience of 180 students, teachers and librarians at our annual Writing for Teenagers Conference.
Magical Celebrations for Harry Potter Book Night
Students chose from seven practical workshops, run by the speakers, plus an award-nominated comic book artist (Neill Cameron), editors from Britannica School and our own philosopher, Mitch Whitehead. As in previous years, we were joined by groups from ten other secondary schools, but this year the whole of Leighton Park’s Year 9 attended and were all involved in helping the day run smoothly, by meeting and greeting, guiding, organising sound and vision, and overseeing refreshments. Staff from LVS Ascot commented,
“Thanks once again for a great day. My students were absolutely buzzing today!” We were delighted to welcome a group of KS2 pupils from St Mary’s School, Henley, to join us for a morning of Harry Potter themed activities on 4th February. The library was rearranged and decorated to suggest Hogwarts Hall, complete with beautiful stained glass windows made by library assistant, Peter Westhead. The day started with a treasure hunt for hidden clues (and rats), followed by a game of pass the parcel with treats and prizes for everyone! At break time, we were joined by members of Fryer Book Club, each of whom introduced and talked about a favourite book. For the finale, everyone was sorted, Harry Potter style, into teams for a book quiz. The morning was rounded off with a delicious Harry Potter themed lunch in Oakview, which was also enjoyed by Leighton Park’s own students and staff. In the evening senior students and guests were entranced by a lecture on ‘Luck, Magic and Superstition’ delivered by our very own wizard philosopher and magician, Mitch Whitehead!
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Student Alex Allison (Year 9) also commented:
“I found today very interesting, especially having an insight into what stages a book went through before being published, which was covered during an engaging workshop led by Julian Sedgwick.”
Music & Drama Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street The Senior Production from 9th to 12th February led audiences into the dark, rank streets of Victorian London, where the tale of Sweeney Todd unfolds; a convict from Australia, seeking revenge against those who separated him from his wife and child. The depraved and ultimately self-destructive relationship between Sweeney and Mrs Lovett was brilliantly portrayed by Sixth Formers Dan Barber (Upper Sixth) and Niamh Green (Lower Sixth), but the whole cast’s performance is remarkable in piecing together the tragic and blood thirsty tale of the demon barber. Students from Year 9 to the Upper Sixth contributed to the technical crew, choreography, set design, the costumes, make-up and the orchestra as well as the on stage musical and dramatic performances. Rosemary Scales (Director of Music) commented, “We knew that asking our students to undertake Sweeney Todd was going to be a serious challenge but we have been delighted by the way in which our company has adapted to the demands of creating this unique style of performance.” One parent, whose daughter Yasmin Koro (Year 11) was in the chorus ensemble, was enthralled by the whole show.
Photographs kindly provided by Nigel Blain and Fiona Mowlem
“Wow! What an amazing performance from a stellar cast. Everything from direction to music production was incredible! I actually forgot I was at a school! Fantastic!”
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House Music is Pitch Perfect
Harry the Piano
Nervous energy, excitement and creativity filled the Park’s Main Hall on Wednesday 16th February as the four Senior Houses went to head to head to lift the House Music Trophy. Students from Year 9 to the Upper Sixth have been practising for weeks in order to perfect and polish their performances before taking to the stage. Each House is required to submit a solo act, an original composition and a small and large ensemble, which includes a group dance! With the tough job of deciding upon the winners, this year’s four esteemed guest judges came from a range of musical backgrounds. We were delighted to welcome Dale Davis, Mark ‘Tufty’ Evans, Karen Gibson and Chrissie Townsend-Robbings. Between them they have conducted choirs in front of the Prince of Wales, led the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, played bass on stage as part of Amy Winehouse’s session band and produced hit music for Elton John, Girls Aloud and Status Quo. After some exceptional performances and much deliberation, Field House were announced as the winners of House Music 2016. They were presented with a special trophy by Leighton Park Archivist, John Allinson, Head of Drama, Geraint Thomas and Old Leightonian, John Blazé, who has kindly donated the award to Leighton Park. The award is a replica of the Ballard Baton, which was presented to the school’s first Music Master, E.R. Ballard. The baton was first given out at the inaugural House Music competition in 1956, when Grove House were the triumphant victors.
One of the world’s most gifted improvising musicians, Harry the Piano, joined the school on Thursday 10th March to lead a student workshop and special evening concert.
Photographs kindly provided by Nigel Blain, Mikki Choy and Jacco Hui
During the workshop student pianists were taught the basics of improvisation and how to change their style. “Students were all buzzing with excitement as they left the building, it was awe inspiring!” commented Rosemary Scales, (Director of Music).
Concert Series This term has seen two concerts performed by our talented musicians; some experienced performers and some taking their first steps onto the stage. With the Scholars’ Concert on 20th January and Soloists on 3rd February, audiences were delighted by a variety of music.
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At the concert students demonstrated their improvisation workshop skills to an enthusiastic audience. Harry’s encyclopaedic memory was then put to the test as members of the audience shouted out different music titles and genres for him to perform. From a punk rock styling of ‘Tubular Bells’ with Celtic undertones, to a version of ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ as Handel might have performed it, to a rock version of the hymn ‘How Great Is Our God’, Harry delighted the audience with his outstanding skill. Headmaster Nigel Williams commented, “Harry is a Yamaha Artist and we are very grateful to them for enabling us to engage with such wonderful musicians through their Music in Education Partnership Program, of which we are proud to be members. Our students gain so much from being able to access the wonderful resources that Yamaha can provide”.
Science Fryer Ice Cream This term the Science Ambassadors went on an exciting trip to the Reading University to learn how ice cream is made on a commercial scale. The group were guided around the labs and pilot plant and saw the complex machinery used for food manufacture. “We started making the ice cream by measuring out all of the ingredients including over 600g of sugar” said student Kabir Toor (Year 7). The students then put the mixture into the pasteurising machine
where it was heated and cooled to kill all of the harmful bacteria. After the hard work was over, everyone was rewarded with two flavours of ice cream and a range of different toppings. The trip to the University of Reading Food Science department was fun for everyone involved, with Eleanor Hawkins (Year 8) saying: “I have learnt a lot about food science and have realised that there is a lot more to food than meets the eye!”
Morning of Inspiration for Sixth Form Mathematicians On Monday 29th February, a group of Sixth Form mathematicians attended enrichment lectures entitled ‘Maths Inspiration’ at The Hexagon theatre in Reading. The event was hosted by Matt Parker, a ‘stand-up mathematician’ who gave a bonus lecture on leap years. Hannah Fry, Lecturer at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London, talked about ‘The Hidden Connections’ between us, revealing every-day examples from movements of crowds, through to the mathematics of friendships.
The talks not only had excellent content, but they widened the horizons of everyone concerning the use of mathematics in life. Kara Ellis (Lower Sixth) commented, “I really enjoyed the Maths Inspiration trip, because it showed me how maths is essential for real world situations, from knowing which card to pick in a game to designing a structure like the Olympic Stadium.”
Rob Eastaway, author of books like ‘Why Do Buses Come in Threes?’ gave a talk called ‘Decisions, Decisions’ where he used examples from TV game shows, card games and to give examples of good and bad decisions.
Nat Dean-Lewis (Upper Sixth) agreed, “A great event combining maths with comedy and mixing real-life and more theoretical examples. It was an excellent opportunity to further our mathematical education.”
Biologists at Science Live
With speeches on IVF, evolution, bumblebees and laughter, there was a great variety of speeches from leading scientists at Science Live in London on the 4th February. Feedback from our own keen biologists reveals just how much they enjoyed the day:
“Today made me feel more into Biology in a way that it felt like I was part of this whole ‘discovering things’ group of scientists and that I was learning what they had discovered - that’s pretty cool. It made me see Biology as more than just my A Level.” - Scarlett Hudson (Lower Sixth).
Success in Intermediate Mathematics Challenge 2016
Lower Sixth Psychologists Visit the Natural History and Science Museums On Thursday 3rd March Lower Sixth psychologists visited London’s Natural History and Science Museums to build on their knowledge. The morning was spent in the Human Biology Gallery at the History Museum, where students got to see a preserved brain before discovering which areas of our brains are responsible for different functions. The group also had a chance to test their memory skills as witnesses, a perfect opportunity to revise which factors can affect eyewitness testimony! In the afternoon, students explored
displays in the brilliant ‘Who Am I?’ gallery of the Science Museum. This included an engaging exhibit where students were able to find out the gender of their brain in preparation for next year’s studies about gender development. A favourite part of the trip for many was getting to listen to an interview with ‘HM’, a famous case study of a man who could no longer form new-long term memories. For the members of class looking for the shock-factor, there were also some slides of his brain on display!
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Each year Leighton Park participates in the reputed UK Maths Challenge for secondary schools. On Thursday 4th February, 67 pupils from Years 9, 10 and 11 took part in the Intermediate Level Mathematics Challenge and a wonderful 43 of them achieved merit certificate; 8 of them gold, 12 silver and 23 bronze. We are very proud that 63% of our students obtained merit certificates in this challenge and we especially congratulate Tianqi Zheng (Year 11) for achieving both ‘Best in Year 11’ and overall ‘Best in School Certificates’.
Art & Design Transience and Memory in Art
Mini Me Dolls
The work of Upper Sixth A Level artist, Vlada Evtushenko, became the first exhibition of 2016 to impress visitors to Oakview. Vlada’s project consists of several pieces in different media, reflecting on the passage of time and the ephemeral qualities of the landscape around us. Vlada has been focussing on the intersection and intervention of man and the environment. Commenting on the display, Vlada said, “I am interested in the temporary nature of the senses. From the visual beauty seen in nature to the distant aroma of coffee. I am fascinated by the exact point of intersection between man (or woman) and the world around them. Be it our daily interactions with architecture and people or our appreciation of nature. All of these points are transient but leave a trace on our memory.”
Collaborative Portraiture Two excellent collaborative portraits by 7A and 7N were on display in Oakview at the end of the spring term, in readiness for the summer Olympics. The students have been exploring all aspects of portraiture with a focus on upping their brushwork skills and learning the benefits of collaboration. Each student has painted their own square to contribute to the portraits of Mo Farah and Jessica EnnisHill, inspired by Chuck Close’s photo realist style and David Hockney’s joiners.
Fryer’s Map Masks Students in Years 7 and 8 have worked hard to design and create masks for a new exhibition in the library. The Fryers chose four different countries and collaged masks which represented China, India, Mexico and Africa using the appropriate maps. All Fryer students were involved in the creative process, and they will be exhibited as part of the 2015-16 academic year ‘Mapping the World’ display. Jo Jones, Art
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Year 8 have spent the term working on a project inspired by French Artist, Cecile Perra, who makes fabric sculptures in the form of creative abstract dolls. Her imaginative, complex creations combine a mixture of materials which add different surfaces and textures to the work. The key quality about Cecile Perra’s artwork is her collage technique where she combines and layers stitch, photography and fabrics. She sews the dolls together and then embellishes them with buttons, eyes and assorted oddments, giving the dolls an experimental quality. The project gave Year 8 the perfect opportunity to explore their creative ideas as well as practice key textiles skills such as machine, free embroidery and hand stitching as well as photo fabric transfer as they used images of their own faces. Their hard work resulted in collection of superb final pieces that a have more than a touch of their own personality about them! Lauren Kelly, Textiles
Sixth Form Deputy Head Girl’s Novella Raises £180 for Charity Victoria Roberts (Upper Sixth) has always had a love of creative writing, explaining, “When I was about nine I knew I wanted to write a book and I bought lots of self-help books.” Her novella, ‘Watching Amelia’ is a psychological thriller. “It is about a girl who grows up in the circus, and when she is separated from it she tries to make her way back. Along the way she meets a girl called Amelia.” explains Victoria. The novella is targeted at young adults aged 16 years plus. Creating the novella involved following the EPQ project structure, conducting thorough research before putting pen to paper. “I did about 60 hours as I needed to research not only content but formatting and how to publish.” The entire process took about 130 hours and was the longest piece Victoria had ever written. To mimic the professional creative writing process she enlisted the help of three mock editors to review her work. She
also managed the publishing process herself, including ensuring the novella was formatted correctly for printing. As a member of Amicus the proceeds of the 50 copies printed were always intended to raise funds for Reading Refocused, a local charity which offers counselling and support to young people. To date, over £180 has been raised by sales. For Victoria, finally seeing her words in print is “a great feeling; I’m very proud of it.”
Sixth Form Stun at EXPO 2016 A diverse range of lectures were delivered by the Upper Sixth at February’s EXPO 2016. The audience were entertained by students speaking about everything from ‘The Philosophy of Superheroes’ to ‘The Future of Sustainable Energy in the Home’. Following a year of hard work, many were pleased to have completed this key step towards their EPQ qualification or their IB Programme. The EXPO builds confidence in public speaking, gives experience of preparing a university-style dissertation and allows independent research into a topic students are passionate about. Andre Chu (Upper Sixth) who presented on ‘The Worth of Supplementary Cancer Treatments’ commented “The EPQ provides me with an opportunity to challenge myself intellectually. Lecturing in EXPO also trained me with public speaking and gaining confidence. The whole process of research and learning was very stimulating and exciting.”
“The quality of these projects was impressive.” added EXPO organiser and Head of Teaching and Learning, Ken Sullivan.
“Parents, teachers and students all left the event with a renewed respect for their achievements. One student had made a model of a futuristic form of transportation to illustrate his lecture, and one speaker brought along her sister to be a living poster for her talk on ‘blonde stereotypes’. There was academic rigour, creativity and tremendous excitement in the air.”
UCAS Higher Education Exhibition On Monday 14th March Lower Sixth students travelled to the University of Surrey, Guildford, for an exciting Higher Education Exhibition run by UCAS. The exhibition is a chance for students to get an insight into what happens after exams – whether that means going travelling, going to university or looking for employment opportunities. Students got the chance to attend seminars on subjects such as student finance, student life and applying to Oxford and Cambridge.
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Cooking for Survival Sixth Form students have been brushing up on their chopping, dicing and slicing skills on Tuesday evenings in ‘cooking at university’ workshops. These sessions have not only been great fun for all involved, but have also been a useful place for everyone to share tips on how to cook healthily on a budget.
Old Leightonians Benefitting from Bursaries Summer 2015 saw the introduction of our very first ‘Leaver’s Gift’, an opportunity for parents to make a donation to the school out of their original deposit. The inaugural request was met very positively and almost £8,000 was raised. Parents chose to support either a department of their choice or the Bursary Fund, offering much needed financial assistance to students whose circumstances would otherwise preclude them from the benefit of a Leighton Park education. We hope that this year’s request will be just as warmly received and that we might be able to help even more children access a future at Leighton Park.
Reaching More OLs than Ever! We are keen to share news about our alumni and details of our development plans with the wider school community and have been delighted by the receipt of over 800 responses to our recent survey. If you are in touch with former students, staff or Friends please do share their details with us so we can reach out to them.
OLs Mixed Hockey and Football
What’s coming up next? We are excited to be organising a regular London-based social and networking event for members of our OL community under the age of 30. We will be planning this over the summer term and would be grateful for any suggestions of a suitable venue. We are also looking forward to a glorious summer, to the over 60s afternoon tea which will be taking place in June and to our 06’s reunion in July.
It was great to see over 50 OLs back on the Park on Saturday 5th March for football and hockey matches with current students. With five football teams in the sixes tournament we welcomed 2005-07s, 2008s, 2009-11s and two teams from the senior school onto top field. A smattering of 2012-14 leavers made up for their late arrival by joining in with gusto, switching in and out of teams as needed. There was a good sporting atmosphere and lots of banter, with well-deserved congratulations finally going to the Class of 2008. The OLs hockey team benefitted from the dynamic duo of Myles Nash (Head
of DT, Head of School House) and Adrian Stewart (Geography, Head of Fryer), striding confidently onto the pitch. The squad were up against a mixed team of enthusiastic current students with youth on their side. Despite this, and hopes for a swift victory, the OLs were declared the winners as the match closed after a slow start: 5-2. Exhausted by their exertions the players were rewarded by a delicious match tea starring the traditional combination of sausage, chips and beans. Following the match tea, the Old Leightonians retired to the Queen’s Head to continue reflecting on the games and on their memories of Leighton Park.
Laurence Olivier Award Nominee OL Phil Dunster (2010) has been nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre for his role of Arthur in the Old Vic production of ‘Pink Mist’ by Owen Sheers at the Bush Theatre. On hearing about his nomination, the former Head Boy said: “I can’t quite believe it really- it was totally unexpected.” Phil’s talent and love for acting stood out while a student, performing in several school
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productions, including the lead role of John Proctor in ‘The Crucible’ (with Eliza Hope Bennett (2010) as his wife). Phil said “Geraint Thomas, Head of Drama, was so influential. He was not only encouraging, but inspiring in how he saw theatre. It was his passion that enthralled me.”
PSC Theatre Trip
This year’s West End Theatre Trip, open to all parents and staff, is to the award winning show ‘Kinky Boots’. We have top price stalls tickets, discounted to £45 each. ‘Kinky Boots’ received six Laurence Olivier Award nominations, including Best New Musical in 2015. The last date for bookings is Friday 22nd April. To secure your tickets please email psc@leightonpark.com.
The PSC were delighted to support another wonderful production by serving refreshments at Sweeney Todd. Twenty of our volunteers kindly gave their time over the four performances, helping to raise funds, which will be split equally between the Music and Drama departments. News on how funds have been spent will follow in a future edition of The Park!
Photo courtesy of Fiona Mowlem
PSC
Senior Production Bar
Family Quiz Night
Nearly New Shop The Nearly New Shop is open in Fryer House selling good quality school clothing on the following dates between 4.00pm-5.30pm. Proceeds will be donated to charity. Friday 13th May Friday 24th June
Thanks to PSC Volunteers All PSC volunteers are invited to our ‘Thank You Evening’ in the Cadbury Room on Tuesday 7th June from 5.30-7.30pm. We’d like to thank everyone who has helped with an event in the last year. We also welcome anyone considering helping out in the future to come along. Canapés and light refreshments will be served and we hope to see many of you at this informal drop-in event.
On Saturday 12th March we were delighted to welcome back this popular family event. Quiz master extraordinaire, Max, returned with his flurry of quirky questions to test seven teams of parents, staff and students. Thomas Franks provided a wonderful dinner and the evening was brilliant fun for all – winners or not! Congratulations to ‘The Spitfire Birds’ who won and to all who took part. Funds raised will be donated to the autumn 2016 Africa trip charities.
Farewell to … Very many thanks to Denise Schult who has managed communications with PSC volunteers over the last four years. We’ll miss her jolly ‘sign up’ sheets, gentle reminders and efficient communication. We thank her for her service.
Coming Up in the Summer Term Further information on our upcoming events is available at www.leightonpark.com/420/parents/psc-events or by emailing psc@leightonpark.com. April June July
Monday 25th Tuesday 7th Friday 17th Monday 20th Saturday 2nd
PSC Book Group: ‘A God in Ruins’ by Kate Atkinson PSC Volunteer Evening: 5.30-7.30pm, Cadbury Room PSC Theatre Trip: ‘Kinky Boots’ - Adelphi Theatre PSC Book Group: ‘Midwinterblood’ by Marcus Sedgwick PSC BBQ and Bar for Music for a Summer’s Evening
www.leightonpark.com The Park is printed using paper from a sustainable source.
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Can You Help? We have some fantastic support throughout the year from parents and staff, both teaching and non-teaching, at our events. Without them some of these community events simply could not take place. If you would like to spare a few hours to help, please feel free to sign up to our volunteers list by emailing psc@leightonpark.com. In addition, some committee roles will be vacant at the end of this school year, please do contact us if you’d like to know more.