Prince William School has been awarded an additional Leading Edge specialism by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. This opportunity is only offered to a limited number of schools which meet demanding national criteria after a successful Ofsted inspection and brings additional funding for work with partner schools.

The school’s Headteacher, Mr England, has welcomed this national recognition for the quality of Teaching and Learning at Prince William School & Sixth Form Centre and feels that the Leading Edge work will complement the school’s existing specialisms of Languages and Applied Learning very well.

“The Leading Edge specialism will strengthen the collaborative work with our partner Middle Schools and will contain a particular focus on enrichment activities beyond the usual curriculum – particularly for Gifted and Talented students. As a Leading Edge school, we have been offered the opportunity to join a network of other successful schools across the country and in order to establish these new links representative staff from PWS will be attending the national Achievement Conference at the Emirates Stadium Conference Centre next month.”

The school has a long-established specialism in Modern Languages and was awarded Applied Learning as a second specialism in September 2007. This has allowed the introduction of a broader range of subjects (e.g. Engineering) through the new Diplomas for which PWS is a pilot school. In the summer, work will begin on a new £1.3 million Applied Learning Centre which will house specialist engineering and ICT facilities for 14-19 year old students.

Mr Snelling, Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for Applied Learning, feels that many students can benefit from the wider range of courses on offer. “Our students now have access to the widening curriculum choice provided through the new Diploma lines and we are very pleased that we have recently been given permission to offer a second Diploma in Business, Administration and Finance from next year. These qualifications complement our GCSE and A level courses by offering practical opportunities to apply learning within realistic settings, and by working in partnership with other schools and businesses we hope to extend the range on offer in future years”.

As the school plans its role within the Leading Edge network, a joint School Council has been established in partnership with Oundle and Kings Cliffe and King John Middle Schools. The intention is to ensure that students can influence the priorities for the project. The first meeting was held in late April at King John School, Thrapston. Thomas Baxter, one of the PWS Year 9 representatives at the first meeting said, “I think that the day was a great success and the whole concept of Leading Edge is a very good idea. It really gives all the students lots of opportunities to let people know exactly what they want out of their schools.”

The additional funding for Leading Edge will run for at least four years. The government wishes to see a full range of Diplomas on offer as an entitlement to all students by 2013.