For the last five years, players of People’s Postcode Lottery have supported the work of the PTI. This year £125,000 was awarded and as part of this valuable support, Kamala Sankaranarayanan from Little Ilford School, Matthew Soares from St Angela’s Ursuline School, Thomas Nyaku from Eltham Hill School, Elsie Onumonu from Thomas Tallis School and Haydn Hutchings from North London Collegiate School have attended the PTI Enrichment Residential for teachers of Maths, Science and Design and Technology, which took place in Crewe, Cheshire between 26th and 28th November.

The PTI Enrichment Residential is an inspiring course for heads of department and subject leaders, where they can share best practice, engage in constructive discussion about the new curricular demands with a community of passionate teachers. Over three days they enrich their subject knowledge, reaffirm the value of teaching their subjects, and equip students with lifelong skills to thrive in a wider global society.

Elsie Onumonu, Head of Chemistry at Thomas Tallis School said: ‘After attending the student panel session I have realised I HAVE to find inspiration from the physics I am teaching to further enthuse the students I am teaching.’

Kamala Sankaranarayanan, Science Cross-Curricular at Little Ilford School said: ‘I have found it the Residential to be valuable thanks to the fact it was in depth on ongoing growing science. It was fantastic for sharing good practice across London. The weekend has been really inspiring and there has been motivational speakers to bring about interesting facts in our classroom teaching.’

Chris Pope, Co-Director at the PTI said: “As society beings to return to normal following the pandemic restrictions being lifted, it was fantastic to see so many engaged teachers at our Subject Enrichment Residential this weekend. At the PTI we know that our training, and especially these residential events, make it more likely that teachers will stay in teaching. I’d like to thank attendees this weekend for investing in their own subject knowledge and passion, which will in turn benefit thousands of children from all backgrounds”.

The funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, which is part of wider support for The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation (PWCF), supports the expansion of the PTI Subject Leadership Programme and helps the PTI to increase the stretch and challenge within school departments. The Subject Leadership Programme encourages schools to engage in curriculum improvements and projects that will result in better subject provision, as well as motivating teachers to deepen their subject knowledge. The programme also connects secondary school teachers to a network of other teachers across England and Wales.