The School has been awarded the prestigious Prince’s Teaching Institute (PTI) Mark in four subjects, with a fifth expected to follow.
The award, which is given retrospectively for 2010/11, recognises and rewards school departments that develop inspirational ideas and activities which enhance the teaching of their subjects.
In addition, senior Queen Elizabeth’s School staff have been appointed by the Institute as mentors and are now helping other schools in their work with the PTI, an independent educational charity created by the Prince of Wales. Recently, QE’s Assistant Head, Anne Macdonald (pictured), was one of four geography mentors selected from schools across the country to meet the Prince.
“We are delighted to receive the PTI Mark, which reflects our excellent teaching practices and the creativity, dedication and knowledge in depth of our staff,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. "We gained the PTI Mark for Science last year and we are particularly pleased that not only has this been renewed, but an additional three departments have now gained the mark, namely English, Geography and History. Following this year’s PTI summer school at Cambridge, the School’s Modern Foreign Languages department is also working towards gaining the mark."
The PTI’s Schools Programme, which was launched in 2007, is open to all state secondary schools in England. To become members, school departments must demonstrate their commitment to increasing teachers’ subject knowledge. They must also show how they have furthered their students’ understanding of, and enthusiasm for, the subject, regardless of the students’ background or ability.
Mrs Macdonald, who has been involved in the programme since an early stage, outlined the long and rigorous process that QE has had to follow in order to gain the PTI Mark. “In the beginning we had to fill in an application outlining the current strengths of our departments and setting and agreeing targets for the year ahead with a Schools Programme mentor,” she said. “Once the targets were agreed we worked towards them over the following academic year. On 4th July we had to present and discuss our achievements. As we were successful in achieving our first-year targets and have set challenging targets for improvement next year, we have been awarded the PTI Mark,” she added.
In 2009, Mrs Macdonald was accompanied to the PTI Summer School by QE’s Head of Pupil Progression, Sarah Westcott, representing the Geography and Science departments respectively. Tahmer Mahmoud, QE’s Head of History, and Susannah Sweetman, the Head of English, took part in the 2010 Summer School. All four achieved the Prince’s Mark and are continuing their work with the School’s Programme.