A BEACON OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR ENGLISH

A school teacher in Widnes is one of the first teachers in the borough to be appointed ‘Mastery Ambassador for English’ for her role in implementing a new and ‘transformational’ English curriculum for key stage three students.  

Miss Blackburn, an English teacher at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School on Highfield Road, has been working in partnership with curriculum specialists ARK Curriculum + to lead the English department in delivering best practice teaching, which is already having a positive and significant impact on the learning and outcomes for students aged 11 to 14 years old. 

The English faculty’s work has also led to the secondary school being awarded national Mastery Ambassador status, enabling them to demonstrate their way of working and provide support to other schools with the development of their English programmes throughout the north west region and the rest of the UK.  

Miss Blackburn said, “Since we started to put our subject excellence programme in place three years ago, we have seen a considerable improvement in independent working and assessment results for students in Years 7, 8 and 9 who are now accessing a more challenging yet engaging English curriculum. Our students are becoming more resilient in their approach to their work and are exploring a greater breadth of text, as well as focussing on the technical elements of grammar and developing their craft in writing.   

This has been a wonderful opportunity to lead on something new for the benefit of not just our school but for other schools across the region too.  It has been so enjoyable to work alongside colleagues in other English department across Cheshire and Merseyside, and to showcase the tremendous work of our team as an example of best practice.  

Since putting the new curriculum in place, our staff have found it transformative to their English teaching, and our involvement in the programme will allow us to be involved in the design and creation of the programme’s curriculum and development offering in future, which is really exciting” 

Principal Mrs Scott said, “We have already received such positive feedback about our English department from parents of our students and I am delighted that they have also received further external recognition for the high standards they have in securing subject excellence for our students. I am so proud that they are leading the way across the North West, representing the very best of what Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School has to offer to children and young people. I share my sincere appreciation and congratulate Miss Blackburn and the entire English team for all their hard work in achieving this recognition.”