The quality of a school cannot outstrip the quality of its teachers. In schools in the UK, it matters less which school you go to than which classrooms you attend within that school.
As Professor Dylan Wiliam points out, in this country there is a four-fold difference between the most effective and least effective classrooms. At Pangbourne, one of our core roles is to eradicate this internal variation. To that end we invest heavily in the training and development of our teachers. We have partnered with StepLab to ensure all our teaching staff have a coach and receive frequent, actionable feedback to improve instruction. The aim being that a teacher at Pangbourne improves as much in one year as the average teacher does in twenty years.
We have also codified our model of teaching based on what the science of learning suggests are the best bets for teachers to make to enhance outcomes. The same way that we want our heart surgeon to have a full grounding in the science of heart surgery before they operate on us, we want our teachers to have a full understanding of the science of learning so they can make good decisions in the classroom.
ICT at Pangbourne
Pupils and staff enjoy a modern, fast, high-capacity fibre network that is resilient and has two independent internet connections. These connect to the College network via Wi-Fi, which is available throughout the campus.
Learning resources are shared using Google’s Enterprise Workspace for Education, which includes Email, Drive with unlimited file storage, Classroom for electronic work, and Meet and Chat for interactive and remote learning.
All pupils are expected to use their own device in lessons or for prep and a suggested specification is available in our 'Bring Your Own Device' (BYOD) policy.
Pangbourne makes extensive use of cloud-based services and is well-placed to react swiftly to any incidents in the local or national environment.
Our network is secure and monitored to ensure pupil well-being and safety. Parents have access to key information through a parent portal, which includes reports, timetables, documents and attendance records.
