The Perse welcomes international educators for major conference

For the second time in recent years, The Perse School was delighted to host the Cambridge International Education Schools Conference.

Around 400 delegates from nearly 60 countries were welcomed to the Upper by Head Ed Elliott, who explained how The Perse was Cambridge’s oldest surviving secondary school, having been set up in 1615 to give children the education they needed to access Cambridge University.

In the intervening 400 years, he outlined how The Perse had pioneered new forms of teaching including the ‘direct method’ (learning foreign languages through the target language) and the ‘play way’ (experiential learning, especially through performance) and remained at the forefront of educational excellence.

Mr Elliott attributed The Perse’s success to an ethos of care where teachers were expected to care for their subjects, their pupils, their school and one another.

He also highlighted effective communication, both talking and listening, as being critical to The Perse’s successful transition from a medium-sized school to being one of the UK’s largest co-educational schools, with international campuses and a global outlook.

‘Effective Communication: From Competence to Confidence’ was the theme for the conference, with Deputy Head Simon Armitage running breakout sessions on ‘Promoting a Communicative Staff Culture’, drawing on his experience in the UK and internationally.

The two-day conference provided many formal and informal opportunities for delegates to share best practice and establish professional links.

Mr Elliott commented: “Such opportunities are professional gold dust with school leaders learning from each other to improve education and make the future better.”

Details of the conference presentations and workshops, including a copy of Mr Armitage’s session, are available here.