Science department

Following attendance at our first PTI Summer Residential, the Science department has grown from strength to strength. The lectures and workshops delivered by leading scientists inspired us to create discussion groups for Sixth Form students. In addition, one of our teachers has led to a development in teaching practice within the department as a whole.

Outside of the main programme of events, the chance to network with so many other enthusiastic Science teachers meant that the department was reinvigorated with many new ideas. Our move to a two-year Key Stage 3, gradual introduction of Triple Science and Science Club were all inspired or informed by colleagues met through the PTI. From discussions with colleagues from other schools, we have sourced a range of excellent ideas, one of the most successful being our now annual Key Stage 3 Science Week. We enjoyed sharing these ideas and many more that we have developed this year at the annual Schools Programme day this month.

The website has been a good source of new materials – the schemes of work, lesson plans and video resources on the site are regularly used by our department. We have uploaded our own resources, so hopefully our work has been useful for other Science teachers.

English department

Our work with the PTI has re-energised and refocused our Key Stage 3 teaching in the English department. Our desire to balance engagement and intellectual rigour in Key Stage 3 has been driven from our work with the Institute, as we seek to address our targets to ensure a purposeful transition from Key Stage 2. Our students have benefited from a number of strategies we have implemented from the project, including brand new schemes of work designed to motivate and engage our male students and the provision of independent journals. Students use these journals to encourage more engagement and reflection on the texts in the curriculum. 

Our commitment to outstanding teaching and learning in the department is reflected in our work with the PTI.

History department

Access to academic lectures through the PTI has been an inspiration for a range of teachers in the History department. The podcast from the recent Annual Lecture with Professor Simon Schama is a particular highlight. Not only has the PTI renewed enthusiasm for the topics we teach for those of us who were fortunate enough to attend the PTI Summer Residential, but it has also inspired us to invite academics into school to share that privilege with students. Inspired by the PTI’s offerings, our History colleagues now regularly attend lectures to keep their subject knowledge fresh and to keep abreast of developments in History teaching.

The creative ideas shared by other colleagues at both the Summer Residential and the annual Schools Programme Days have led to the development of some extremely successful schemes of work for delivery across the key stages. Since becoming an Associate Member of the PTI, the department has invested significant time in considering the impact of these and we look forward to sharing our findings at the next Schools Programme Day.

Teachers at Holland Park have also benefited from the following subject areas: Geography, Modern Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Latin and Music.