Education charity, the PTI, has announced Appleby Primary School in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria as commended of the inaugural PTI Primary Impact Award during a ceremony last night at Butchers’ Hall, London.
The PTI’s Primary Impact Award promotes and celebrates excellence in primary leadership, recognising primary schools that put quality subject teaching at the heart of the classroom.
Appleby Primary School was nominated for their work on their Geography curriculum entitled “The Wonder of Appleby”. The curriculum at the school is designed to cater to all pupils, incorporating local community context and rural experiences, whilst broadening pupils’ horizons and developing aspirations. The school prioritizes providing memorable experiences to enrich learning, aiming to cultivate lifelong learners.
Appleby Primary School’s engagement with The PTI has had a significant impact on the development of the curriculum and the most notable impact has been in Geography. Geography subject leaders were inspired by the training they attended at The PTI Primary Hub with Paula Owens and returned to school to share what they had learned.
Hugh Rayment-Pickard, Co-Director, the PTI said: “The PTI is delighted to announce the Appleby Primary School as commended of the inaugural PTI Primary Impact Award. This award recognises primary teachers and schools across the country who continually strive to demonstrate a high quality of teaching. The award allows the PTI to highlight excellence in the classroom, and the impact that quality subject teaching can have on the future prospects of young students. Many congratulations to this year’s shortlisted schools, and to the tremendous teachers impacting lives around the country.”
David Spruce, Headteacher at Appleby Primary School said: “We are thrilled and honoured to be recognised for our school’s work in developing our curriculum and enhancing our provison of the highest quality teaching experiences. We have worked closely with the PTI for two years, having established a Hub of 29 primary schools in Carlisle and Eden. Our teachers have welcomed the opportunity to work with colleagues across the area and have been inspired by engagement with leading national specialists facilitated by the PTI. It has been an absolute pleasure to see how our teachers across the school have embraced this partnership and how this has positively impacted on the learning and engagement of our children, providing real-life learning experiences that have really brought the curriculum to life. We are very much looking forward to continuing to work with the PTI in the future.”
Christine Counsell, chair of the judging panel, said: “Appleby Primary School has really made the most of PTI CPD, support and enrichment. What was particularly impressive was the work in developing the PTI Penrith Primary Hub, and also the development of very high quality resources and lessons, for Appleby, as a result of Geography PTI training.”
The £5,000 prize and trophy will be awarded annually to an exceptional school which demonstrates the ethos and values of the PTI through their work with a PTI Primary Hub.
The judging panel consisted of Christine Counsell (Chair), Rod Mackinnon (former Headteacher and Education Consultant), Professor Dame Alison Peacock (CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching), Carolyn Roberts (Headteacher of Thomas Tallis School and Co-Director of The PTI), Professor Helen Cooper (formerly Head of the English Faculty at the University of Cambridge) and Jon Bishop (Headteacher, Robert Bakewell Primary School, Loughborough).