Celebrating Co-看片狂人 Through Sport!
Leighton Park School celebrated 50 years of co-education with a Festival of Sport
between Monday 9th and Friday 13th June.
The Festival brought together the well-established boys Cricket Week and the innovative LPGirlsCan Week, a week of sports focussed on empowering girls linked to the national #ThisGirlCan campaign which has been part of the LP calendar since 2018. Synergising these two long-standing school events and incorporating awareness of the national campaign for Men’s Health Week ties in perfectly with the celebration of our 50th anniversary of co-education.
Zoe Macpherson, Head of Girls’ Games and the 2025 Festival organiser, enthused, “It’s really important to bring boys and girls together to try out different sports, especially when we are celebrating 50 years of being co-ed. Keeping our students active is important for their health and being engaged in team sports boosts their friendships too.” Over the week students from all year groups were involved in a variety of sports including netball, football, cricket, tennis, rounders, judo and boxing.
The Lower Sixth Co-Ed netball match drew an enthusiastic crowd to watch the girls beat the boys 14-3. “I think they are putting up a good fight” laughed Anna, with Cameron agreeing: “It’s fun; it’s harder than I thought, definitely more tiring. I learnt the rules this morning! I think it’s good to improve inclusion in sport and also have more diversity in the sports we play.” Netball is one of the School’s three core sports, alongside hockey and football. Whilst these sports are a focus for the competitive teams to develop their skills and progress in local and regional leagues, Leighton Park also offers a variety of other popular options in the games curriculum including swimming, rugby, basketball, badminton and yoga.
Two highlights of the Festival have been the football tournament on Tuesday for boys from five local schools, Leighton Park, St Joseph’s, Holyport, Sherfield and Maiden Erlegh and on Friday for girls, with players from Bohunt, Holme Grange, Holyport, LVS, Pangbourne, Sherfield and St Joseph’s College. YouHQ, the health and wellbeing app, were sponsors for the Friday event building on Leighton Park’s relationship with this important tracker for teens. Callum Beasley, who organised both tournaments enthused: “It’s such a brilliant event to put on for all these girls who just love to play Football. No matter if they win or lose their games, everyone just looks like they’re enjoying themselves so much and that is what it is all about. This tournament provides an invaluable platform for young footballers from across Berkshire to compete, connect, and grow in confidence. It was also great to host our first Boys’ Tournament on Tuesday and I am positive that both tournaments will continue to grow even further over the years”.
Several sports personalities joined the school community over the week to share insights into their expertise. Danny Williams, who represents GB in judo, led sessions on safe practices and core judo moves whilst Old Leightonian, Mia Waldmann, who represents GB in long distance running delivered a whole school talk reminding students that “Success isn’t linear. You have to find your purpose for why you started in the first place”. In a powerful message, Mia emphasised the importance of listening to your body and pursuing sport for yourself—not for external validation. She shared “If I’d never come to LP, I probably wouldn’t have even started running because I was really encouraged by the people in the PE Department.”
Co-Ed Sport Cricket 1st XI vs Old Leightonians
The traditional end to Cricket Week was once again honoured with the Leighton Park 1st XI Cricket Team vs the Old Leightonians. In the spirit of our Co-Ed Festival of Sport it was good to see talented cricketer Chloe (Year 11) on the team and a range of year groups represented from Year 10 to the Upper Sixth. The Festival of Sport has included cricket, football, netball, boxing, judo, tennis and rounders this year plus a talk from GB long distance runner, Mia Waldmann.
Speaking before the match against the Old Leightonians, 1st XI Cricket team Co-Captain and Head Boy, Oscar commented, “This week is Cricket Week which means there is an extra push to get everyone involved, all the boys involved and all the girls involved, and we have the game against the Old Leightonians which is always a bit of fun and I think that’s special about Cricket Week. This is my third year of playing in the match; first in Year 10 and then last year as Vice Captain and this year as Co-Captain.”
Oscar’s Co-Captain, Calder, was looking forward to the game, saying: “This is my fourth time playing against the Old Leightonians and it’s always been a good game. It’s a fun opportunity for sure to be Co-Captain this year; it’s always a nice thing to have, it’s a privilege.”
June 2025