“Working with the PTI is not just about improving results, it is also about making students passionate, curious, and culturally rich.”
Victoria Walker is Senior Assistant Headteacher at St Ursula’s Convent School. The school is a member of the Schools Leadership Programme and the English, Modern Languages and Music departments are all members of the Schools Programme. Victoria has been a Schools Programme Consultant since 2014, helping to direct and lead our New Teacher Subject Days and CPD Subject Days.
Why did you decide to get involved with the PTI?
I was at the end of my first, stressful, year as a head of department when my headteacher gave me a flyer for the English Subject Enrichment Residential with a note that said “as a reward for all your hard work”.
I looked through the flyer and was very excited – partly because it was an opportunity to spend days thinking about my subject in a way that hadn’t always been possible as a subject leader – but also because one of the speakers, Helen Cooper, had been my favourite lecturer at university. I relished the opportunity to listen to her speak again.
How has working with the PTI helped you?
Being involved with the PTI has helped me to reignite my passion for my subject. At the English Subject Enrichment Residential I listened to great lecturers and participated in seminars with colleagues.
Because of the PTI, I’ve been able to share my love of the subject not just with my students, but also with other teachers. Designing CPD days has given me the opportunity to speak to the best academic minds in the country, which is as interesting for me as it is for the delegates.
Why do you think the work of the PTI is valuable?
In education today there is a necessary emphasis on achieving academic outcomes, but sometimes so much emphasis is placed on this that it’s detrimental to everything else. Being involved with the PTI balances out this drive for results by placing an emphasis on reaching potential by inspiring a life-long love of learning, and that’s incredibly important.
Working with the PTI is not just about improving results, it is also about making students passionate, curious, and culturally rich, and giving them the educational experience that they all deserve.
The Schools Programme Days each year connect me to colleagues and help me to think about how we can make English lessons more fulfilling for students, not just in my school, but around the country.
“Improving results isn’t the ultimate aim of the PTI, but I have no doubt that my department’s involvement helps to improve academic outcomes for my students.”
What are you enjoying about being part of the Schools Leadership Programme?
I’ve been privileged to design our leadership project and it’s going to be transformative. Working on a project that aims to improve the leadership skills of students and staff means that everyone who works at St. Ursula’s, regardless of whether they are in a department that is part of the Schools Programme, will be changed by the ethos of the PTI.
How has the PTI helped you progress in your career?
Developing a three year project made me think in a much more strategic way than I ever had before. Finishing that project and achieving the PTI Mark for the third year in a row was a real moment of pride.
Being committed to my PTI work has also given me opportunities. Working with NQTs and RQTs at New Teacher Subject Days is exciting, and working with the colleagues who planned the days was a thrill. Helping out convinced me that I could take on other roles alongside being a full-time teacher. Since then, I’ve taken on a number of additional roles, including being a Council Member of the Chartered College of Teaching (another opportunity I first heard of through the PTI).
Why would you recommend working with the PTI?
Simply put, working with the PTI will help you to be a better teacher. You will make contacts, share resources (the Staffroom, which is part of membership, is brilliant at providing a wealth of resources and ideas from talented colleagues) and remind yourself of why you became a teacher in the first place.
I’ve encouraged several colleagues to attend events, and the feedback is always positive.
What impact do you think working with the PTI has on your students?
The PTI reminded me that it was the love of my subject, and conveying that passion to my students, which would drive up results in my department. Improving results isn’t the ultimate aim of the PTI, but I have no doubt that my department’s involvement helps to improve academic outcomes for my students.
When I think about the impact of the PTI, I think about the A level student sitting five rows from the front of the National Theatre at a performance of Jane Eyre, who whispered to me that she’d never been in a theatre before. I think about the student who I taught for six years, who experienced my enriched curriculum and is now reading English at university. I think about the fact that she is returning to my school in a few weeks’ time to talk to my current students about why English matters, and I know that the PTI’s work matters too.
“The Schools Programme connects me to colleagues and helps me to think about how we can make English lessons more fulfilling for students.”