Leighton Park School playing a leading role in UK Government initiative to improve digital literacy in UK

Leighton Park’s Master Teacher in Computer Science, Peter Marshman, is sharing his expertise – alongside world-leading tech companies such as Google, Facebook, BT and Microsoft – to advise UK Government on Digital Skills education. 

The Digital Skills Panel, which brings these organisations together, is an initiative supported by the Department for Education.

Leighton Park is the only school represented in the group, reflecting the school’s leading status for Computing education, offering advice, training and outreach programmes to schools in the South East. Recently, the school has been the host of the Royal Institution Masterclasses, providing challenging projects and workshops for high achieving students from a number of regional secondary schools.

Peter Marshman commented: “I'm delighted that the Computing & ICT department at Leighton Park School can share its experience of offering innovative and creative Computing and how these approaches can prepare students for vital future pathways.”

Leighton Park has gained recognition for its innovative approach to digital skills acquisition, with the school’s iSTEM+ programme achieving top spot for secondary schools in the national STEM Community Awards in 2018. The school was also a finalist in both the Education Business STEM Innovation Awards and the Independent Schools Association Innovation in STEM Award. Part of the School’s approach involves close collaboration with industry partners, including Cisco, Intel, Pfizer and Bion. It also places the arts and creativity at the heart of its STEM education programme - an approach sometimes referred to as STEAM.

Karen Gracie-Langrick, Deputy Head (Academic) commented: “Leighton Park School is proud to be at the forefront of Digital Literacy within the education sector and to support students and staff in developing Digital Skills, both within and across the curriculum, but also in its advocacy of the opportunity to learn ‘Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace’. 

"Investing in teaching and learning, we have created a STEAM Innovation Hub, provided ChromeBooks for all students from Y7-11 and CleverTouch screens in classrooms to optimise our Google Classrooms virtual learning environment and Apps for Education. This investment has opened up a wide range of opportunities for our students - for collaboration, independent research and creativity.”