Leighton Park students achieve the best academic progress among Berkshire schools, UK Government 16-18 data shows

The Department of Education (DfE) released new data on 25th January 2018 that aims to show the academic progress students have made since joining a school. This change follows concerns around previous league tables that showed the percentage of students achieving grades A* to C. The previous system was considered unfair by many as it took no account of students’ starting levels and therefore the actual impact the school had had on students’ academic attainment.

The new Progress 8 measure for A Levels gives Leighton Park a score of 0.55, placing it in the top 40 schools in England and the best performing school in Berkshire. Other schools that performed very well include UTC Reading and Reading School. The DfE does not include Independent Schools in its equivalent Secondary table, which looks at performance at the end of Key Stage 4.

While all league tables must be viewed with a degree of caution, we are naturally delighted that the government’s new measure recognises the outstanding and dedicated work of our vibrant learning community. Leighton Park’s holistic approach to education, informed by our Quaker ethos, places great emphasis on seeing each student as an individual and working hard to ensure that young people enjoy their learning. We believe that this approach, combined with a culture of high performance, creates an empowering environment in which students can succeed as themselves, live, learn and grow.

Deputy Head (Academic) Karen Gracie-Langrick commented: “This positive measure of performance is a useful marker of a school’s contribution to students’ academic attainment. Leighton Park’s results demonstrate a year on year trend for improvement and are the result of the incredible investment made by all staff to securing the best outcomes for our students.”

Our holistic curriculum offers a choice of A Levels or the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. Our small class sizes and specialist teachers ensure strength across the academic spectrum, albeit with particular strengths in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics as well as the Creative Arts. These strengths are reflected in Leighton Park achieving the following accolades:

• Runners up in the Regional Team Maths Challenge, beating 24 Berkshire schools
• One of only two Lead Schools in Berkshire for the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science
• A Yamaha Music Education Partner

The school greatly values its industry and educational partnerships to extend and contextualise students’ learning. Examples of partnerships include Cisco, Intel, Bion, Pfizer and Pinewood Studios.

While founded in 1890, the school is forward-thinking, winning the Ripple Effect Prize last term for its innovative use of learning technology. Students are issued with Chromebooks to help them get the most out of the schools’ Google Classroom online learning environment, which integrates with the school’s interactive ActiveTouch classroom screens.

The full report on all schools in the Reading area is available on the gov.uk website.