Welcome

Thank you for your interest in Penistone Grammar School (PGS) ALC. I hope that you find the information on this website helpful in providing an insight to working at our school.

As the Principal of PGS Advanced Learning Centre, which we moved in to at Easter 2011, I am very excited about our future plans and the learning opportunities now available to us. We have already started to share good practice and to collectively decide the key priorities for Penistone. Our new ICT infrastructure is first class and the strategic development of ICT is central to the learning and teaching agenda for the new ALC. This will be a major focus of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme, making sure that our staff have the skills to deliver learning in new and innovative ways.

I want us to develop a shared vision for what learning will look like in the new building. I agree with the new proposals for freeing up the KS3 and KS4 curricula so that learners can be more independent; we are finding ways to develop students’ ability to learn how to learn and we are responding in a more structured way to the individual needs of learners. Within this context I am keen to promote new approaches to learning such as co-operative learning for both students and staff. At PGS we want to research and develop the very best pedagogical practice to make Penistone a flagship for innovation and creativity.

We have a great deal to offer at PGS. Above all, we are a happy educational community where the quality of relationships is of paramount important for both our students and staff.

You will be joining a new learning organisation with exciting and challenging times ahead. You will be part of an excellent staff team whose aim is to deliver the highest quality learning opportunities for our students and to ensure that they achieve at the highest possible level. I am passionate about supporting your professional development and will work with you in the achievement of your professional objectives.

You will work hard if you join us, but the rewards will be great. We welcome creative, energetic, skilled, knowledgeable and innovative members of staff and hope you will help us to take PGS forward to become truly outstanding.

With best wishes,

Jo Higgins
Principal