Leighton Park wins Green Senior School of the Year!

Leighton Park School, Reading, is delighted to be awarded joint winners of the Green Senior School Award 2023 by Citykids magazine!

Sustainability is one of Leighton Park’s core Quaker values. The importance of environment is reflected in the curriculum, and particularly emphasised in the interdisciplinary, cross-curricular projects, and expansive co-curricular programme.

Melanie Sanderson is a competition judge and The Good Schools Guide Managing Editor. She says the award celebrates Leighton Park for delivering an “extremely impressive firm commitment to change-making at a high level.”

Sustainability Co-ordinator and Head of Geography, Oliver Staines, commented: “Working in this school and environment, it is such a special privilege to witness and be involved in helping to facilitate the passionate work of so many students and members of staff committed to leaving the community in a more sustainable place than they found it. I am thrilled that the hard work of so many individuals and groups in our community can be rightly celebrated through this award!”

The school’s climate action

So far this year ,students from Year 8 through to the Lower Sixth have joined the University of Reading for a Climate Change Action Planning Workshop. Leighton Park students also created a sustainability game ‘How Bad are Bananas’. This kept primary schools present engaged with sustainability issues. Pupils recorded the experience of the day to make a follow up documentary. “I love the idea of creating documentaries which enable students to share their experiences and learnings from quite remarkable access to key climate summits.” commented Victoria Evans, Editor of Citykids magazine.

In March 2023, two teams of Year 7 students from NEWTs (Nature, Environment and Wildlife Team) Club met with the President of COP26, Sir Alok Sharma. They hosted a youth Climate Summit entitled: ‘There is Only One Earth’ at Green Park Business Park. The event united local schools and brought together climate experts from the University of Reading and an energy consultant from Reduce Energy Ltd. The aim was to come up with pupil-led pledges in teams. The delegates then collaboratively chose one pledge to commit to as schools for a year. The ambition is to meet annually for this summit.

The Eco Schools student-led groups have achieved the coveted Green Flag Award. The school has planted over 1,200 trees on the park this year. Plus, the community also sponsored a project to re-wild an area of the ancient Caledonian Forest in Scotland.

COP26 school events

The School has a long-term commitment to sustainability and a strong interest in green issues. In recognition of COP26, in November 2021, the school ran a series of events:

• Sixth formers making a documentary after attending COP26.
• Whole school debate on the pros and cons of degrowth versus innovation across different economies.
• Each year group representing a continent, and each tutor group representing a country.
• Giant jigsaw entitled ‘Together for our Planet’ curated through the Art Department which involved a dozen local primary schools.
• Year 9 and 10 Drama students visiting three KS2 schools to deliver a climate change play.

The Green Senior School Award was awarded jointly to Leighton Park School and to Putney High School.

Images:

1. Students at COP26 in Glasgow
2. Students at the University of Reading Climate Change Summit
3. Green Senior School Award winners logo (Gold)
4. Students on the 65 acre parkland, one of the ‘green lungs of Reading’ alongside the University

For press enquiries:

Please contact marketing@leightonpark.com.

Editorial notes:

Leighton Park is Leighton Park was founded in 1890 and is a day and boarding school for girls and boys aged 11-18 set in 65 acres of beautiful parkland in Reading, Berkshire. The School has been fully co-ed since 1993 and has a 50:50 ratio of girls to boys at its Year 7 entry point. The next Open Morning is Saturday 23^rd September from 9am and interested families can book online at www.leightonpark.com/visit-leighton-park/.