“Since its beginnings in 2002, the PTI has had teachers from 30% of all the state secondary schools in the country come to a PTI event…10% of schools are actively involved in our Schools Programme, and consistently around 90% of those which have signed up tell us that they have increased the coherence and quality of challenge in their department’s curriculum as a result of their participation and that it has enriched the pupils’ experience and raised their aspirations", said Bernice McCabe, co-director of The Prince’s Teaching Institute, opening its Summer School in Cambridge today, Monday, 22nd June.
The 2015 three-day Residential Summer School for secondary school teachers is being held at Homerton College, Cambridge, with lectures and workshops covering Geography, Mathematics and Science. Speakers include Dr Ellen Donovan, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust; Alan Kinder Chief Executive of the Geographical Association; Anu Ojha OBE, Executive Director of the National Space Centre and Director of the UK’s National Space Academy Programme, and Professor Sheila Bird OBE, Medical Research Council; Dr Vinay Kathotia, Head of Mathematics Education, Nuffield Foundation; Yvonne Baker, Director, National Science Learning Centre and Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. There will be a closing plenary session on the last day of the Residential – the panel discussion will include Glenys Stacey, CEO, Ofqual.
In her opening speech today, Mrs McCabe said: “The fact that there are such differences of opinion about what the purposes, methods and contents of education should be and that they are subject to so much change prompts the thought that there should be a better way of determining policy. Delegates at our Headteachers Residential of 2011 evidently thought the same and urged the PTI to take the initiative and bring together all parties who might be interested in the creation of a member-led College of Teaching with the power to define and set professional standards in education.”
“After two years of delicate negotiation, led with great patience and tactful persistence by my Co-Director Chris Pope, a Blueprint was produced in February 2014 and ultimately agreement was reached not only about the concept but also about the operational model. With the active support and participation of the teaching community, we are confident of seeing the vision become a reality. This will surely help to raise the profile of the teaching profession and attract more talented young people to join it. When we read that according to analysis done by the Institute of Physics, ‘only about a fifth of Physics teachers have a specialist background in the subject; and more than 500 state schools lack any Science teachers with Physics qualifications’, we can see how desperate the need is. And the fact that, of the 17,000 Maths and Physics teachers to be trained over the next five years, no fewer than 15,000 will come from the existing workforce – that is, without a specialist qualification in these subjects – merely reinforces the point.”
She concluded: “We are not here to wring our hands over the shortage of teachers in this or that area, but to make the very most of the resources we do have; to give you some new ideas, some fresh impetus, and a greater sense of confidence and empowerment that you can take back to your own schools and carry forward to the benefit of your pupils, your colleagues, and ultimately a whole generation of schoolchildren, who will come to realise that education is for life and not just for schooldays.”
The Curiosity Project by Siemens is supporting this year’s Summer School Residential for Mathematics and Science. The Curiosity Project, launched in September 2014, is a 3 year engagement programme by Siemens, broadening their existing investment to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to life in the UK. For the next 3 years as part of The Curiosity Project, Siemens will support five major science and related festivals throughout the UK, each with a clear ambition to reach out to parents, teachers and children to make the world of science available in a fun and engaging way.