In this episode, Claire talks over the internet with Abigail Hawkins: an experienced teacher, special educational needs coordinator and, now, SEN consultant. Abigail talks about her journey to becoming a teacher including how, as a teenager, she herself found being a student challenging and how, initially, she had her heart set on becoming a research scientist rather than a teacher. Abigail also discusses how she became increasingly involved in the special educational needs (SEN) aspect of schoo...
May 27, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 52
In this episode, which was recorded just before the coronavirus restrictions were brought in, Claire talks to Katy Cox who is the headteacher at St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School, Bradford. Katy began her headship at the age of 33 and, 15 years in, she continues to seek ways of improving and supporting her staff. She talks about her keen interest in supporting her staff and newly qualified teachers with leadership roles. Katy talks in detail about the benefits of working in a Catholic partner...
May 20, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 51
In this episode, Claire talks over the internet to Glenn Russell, executive headteacher of Stalham Academy and Stalham Infant & Pre-School in Norfolk. Glenn talks about his background in education including about how he initially trained as a secondary teacher. He took on roles in middle schools in Norfolk before the county closed these to become a primary and secondary only system. Glenn decided to move into leadership roles in primary schools and became a deputy headteacher in a federation...
May 13, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 50
In this episode, Claire talks over the internet to Ben Cooper, vice-principal of GEMS Wellington Academy in Dubai and founder of the WAGOLL teaching and Literacy WAGOLL websites. Ben talks about how he began developing his Literacy WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) website ten years ago in England just after the key stage two writing assessments were adapted to use moderated evidence. After creating a range of example texts for his class and publishing them online, other teachers began contact...
May 06, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 49
In this episode, which was recorded just before the coronavirus restrictions were put in place, Claire meets with Jonathan Glazzard, professor of Inclusive Education at the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University. Although Jonathan initially wanted to work in secondary education, he taught for ten years at two primary schools, eventually being promoted to assistant headteacher. Earlier in his teaching career, Jonathan took on the role of being the Special Educational Needs Coord...
Apr 29, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 48
In this episode, Claire talks over the internet to Haylie Saunders, deputy head academic at St Swithun’s Preparatory School in Hampshire. Haylie shares with Claire how, after leaving school herself, she had little interest in being a teacher. However, this changed following a conversation with an honest member of her family who pointed out how much she enjoyed teaching dance as a part of a local group. This prompted Haylie to enrol on a Bachelor of Education degree course and, having some experi...
Apr 22, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 47
In this episode, Claire talks over the internet to four members of the Classroom Secrets team about the varied (and sometimes quite confusing) terminology that schools and teachers use or need to know. As a result of the coronavirus ‘lockdown’, many parents are trying to provide some form of education for their children at home. Many schools have provided wonderful ranges of resources to help with this, but, sometimes, these materials do contain words or phrases which class teachers would regula...
Apr 15, 2020•1 hr 53 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In this episode, Claire remotely interviews Helen Woodhead, a proofreader at Classroom Secrets and now, through her videos of home-learning activity ideas, a Facebook Live star. Alongside her two children, Gabriel (4) and Noah (7), Helen regularly presents short, accessible and easy to follow videos on Classroom Secrets’ Facebook groups. These videos showcase fun and practical tips and suggestions for parents who, with the current coronavirus restrictions, will be finding themselves teaching the...
Apr 08, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 45
In this episode, Claire talks over the internet to Deputy Headteachers Steve Eastes and Russell Pearson who, online on social media and with their own podcast, are known as the Dynamic Deputies. Steve and Russell talk about how, although now both deputy headteachers at different schools, they met at the same school in Kent and remained good friends after Russell moved to take up another post in Devon. Although they kept in contact, they felt that they had begun to lose some of the valuable profe...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 44
In this episode of the Teachers’ Podcast, Claire reflects on her initial experiences educating her children in the early days of the national lockdown. Despite the huge changes to our way of life, many parents are looking to keep their children entertained while still getting some form of education. Claire talks about how she has tried to make a start with this for her own children. Claire discusses how her expectations of what home-schooling would look like contrasted with the reality and how, ...
Mar 26, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 43
In this episode of the Teachers’ Podcast, Claire considers the extraordinary circumstances we are all currently experiencing and shares some ideas for home-learning in the event of school closures or isolation. Over the last few weeks, everyone, not just those in education, has faced a great deal of uncertainty about what will happen. Parents will, almost certainly, face some very troubling and difficult times in the coming weeks. Along with the likelihood of jobs being affected and family membe...
Mar 19, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In this episode, Claire meets with Andrew Midgley, headteacher at Raynville Primary School and interim headteacher at Carlinghow Primary School. Andrew talks about how, initially, he had no interest in a teaching career after seeing how much work his parents, who were both teachers, had to do as he was growing up. However, this changed after he began helping his girlfriend’s son who was falling behind at school. This motivated Andrew to pursue a PGCE at Bradford University after which he ‘never ...
Mar 12, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In this episode, Claire interviews Suneta Bagri: a mindset coach. Suneta has over 20 years’ worth of experience in education including being in a headteacher role for four years. Together, they discuss how Suneta always felt that she was a spiritual person knowing that she wanted to be a teacher from a very early age. She gained an interest in personal development aged 18 and this is something that she carried with her throughout her career. She talks of overcoming adversity and regaining a pass...
Mar 05, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 40
In this episode, Claire meets with Jonathan Chippindall: a part-time teacher and computing specialist. During the episode, Jonathan talks about his passion for computing and technology as well as giving teachers tips and advice on how to deliver the computing curriculum. He explains how the new curriculum opened doors in terms of his interest in coding and engineering allowing him to get involved in developing resources for Barefoot Computing and pursuing his specialism. Jonathan reassures teach...
Feb 27, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 39
In this episode, Claire speaks with Kate Aspin, a former deputy headteacher and now a senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield. Kate begins by explaining her teaching journey, how she progressed three times in three years from class teacher to deputy headteacher and subsequently acting headteacher. During this time, Kate supported several Newly Qualified Teachers – including some who were finding the year a challenge - in Calderdale. This led to an interest in further developing her rol...
Feb 20, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 38
In this episode, Claire talks to Kelly Ashley a former teacher and current Primary English Specialist and author. Kelly starts by explaining how she moved from America to the UK. She explains her experience of the American schooling system as a teenager and young adult. She also talks about her university journey and what options were available to her. After choosing various subjects including anthropology, sociology and child psychology, Kelly decided to choose teaching as her career. She compl...
Feb 13, 2020•1 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode, Claire speaks with Martin Cutting, a former primary Deputy Headteacher and now Product Manager at Classroom Secrets. Martin begins by explaining his teaching journey, how he progressed from a class teacher to key stage leader, then assistant headteacher and finally deputy headteacher. Martin had a keen interest in computing and coding but always aspired to become a teacher. Martin talks about the changes he witnessed whilst working as a senior leader in a primary school and how ...
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 36
In this episode, Claire meets with Christina Gabbitas: an author, publisher and honorary member of the NSPCC council. Throughout the episode, Christina talks about how she uses her writing as an opportunity to open up conversations about hard-hitting concepts such as abuse and knife crime. She discusses her shyness as a child and how she overcame this, channelling those childhood fears into her writing. Christina talks in detail about the research she carried out in preparation for writing her b...
Feb 06, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this episode, Claire speaks with Aaron Stevens, a former primary school teacher and now Product Manager at Classroom Secrets. Aaron begins by explaining how he studied Law at university but decided to pursue a career as a teacher through the Teach First route: an employment-based route for top-performing graduates. Graduates are placed in challenging schools: over half of the pupils come from the poorest 30% of families according to the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index. Aaron talks...
Feb 04, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In this episode, Claire talks to Mel Standbrook a Chair of Governors at a primary school in Lincolnshire. Due to the locality of the school, Mel informs Claire that the school was categorized as a category 5 school by the DfE because of the deprivation levels. The staff at the school quickly acknowledged the need to educate themselves, in order to support pupils with their mental well-being. After asking various people, researching and seeking advice they started developing interventions to supp...
Jan 30, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 33
In this episode, Claire speaks with Chloe Daykin a teacher, award-winning writer and children’s author. Chloe begins by explaining her journey of attending art school, becoming an artist and creating pop-up books. After becoming a mother, Chloe decided she wanted to follow her childhood dream of becoming a writer and set out to do just that. Chloe began writing and sending out short stories and playscripts in order to help her receive a bursary for a MA at Newcastle University. She was successfu...
Jan 23, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this episode, Claire speaks with Jack Watson, a former primary school teacher and now Resource Creator at Classroom Secrets. Jack joined Classroom Secrets in October 2018 and started his journey as a Customer Service Administrator, then Sales Representative and currently works as a Resource Creator. Growing up, Jack always knew he wanted to be a teacher. He studied, attended university and graduated with a teaching qualification. After his graduation, Jack got his first job in Halifax and was...
Jan 21, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode, Claire talks to Dan Storey, a teacher currently working at a Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) school. He begins by explaining how he started his teaching career in mainstream schools in Manchester and moved to America to work as a football coach. Dan decided to move back to the UK and continued working in mainstream schools on long term supply. He briefly explains how the American schooling culture and ethos is different to the UK but states that this experience helped...
Jan 16, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In this episode, Claire talks to Tom Wallace, a former teacher and founder of ‘Balance’, an assessment software tool which helps teachers to reflect on their assessment in school and adapt it to make it more efficient and meaningful for the children. Tom’s desire to be a teacher came from hours of watching and helping his mum (who was also a teacher) make displays with great sheets of paper, rulers and big wooden stencils. He thought that this would be a great job and put aside his dream of beco...
Jan 14, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 29
In this episode, Claire talks to Simon Smith, headteacher of East Whitby Academy, at the Reading Rocks North Conference, where he was delivering a workshop about how teachers can encourage children to read. In Simon’s school, the staff stay. The culture is open and honest, and feedback is given in a constructive and supportive way. As with many of our podcast guests, Simon never wanted to go into teaching. He had numerous other career paths in mind, including becoming a vet, farmer and rockstar,...
Jan 09, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 28
This episode is a first for The Teachers’ Podcast, as Claire is interviewing not one, but two guests: Jenny Wood and Hollie Hindle from Alfresco Learning, a company focused on helping teachers to find ways in which to use their outdoor environments to deliver lessons across the curriculum. Having both been teachers themselves, Jenny and Hollie give useful advice for teachers still in the classroom. Jenny and Hollie had quite differing views on their futures before teaching at the same primary sc...
Dec 15, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode, Claire chats with Katie Morigi-Eades (a fellow parent at her daughter’s nursery) about her new role as a PhD education researcher, specialising in school leadership. They discuss what Katie has done so far and what others in the field believe good leadership in schools looks like. Katie did not originally want to become a teacher; she wanted to be a musician. Graduating with a degree in music (and being able to play 7 instruments!), Katie went into retail where she soon found th...
Dec 08, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 26
In this episode, Claire speaks to the knowledgeable and inspiring play expert Ben Kingston-Hughes (Managing Director of Inspired Children Ltd) after his keynote speech at the Brilliant Boys Leading Learning event in Leeds. They discuss why play is such an important part of a child’s development and Ben gives some interesting insight into the effects of play on a child’s brain. Ben had always dreamed of being a teacher, inspired by his mum’s teaching of history, but he had quite a rocky education...
Dec 01, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In this episode, Claire had the chance to chat to the wonderfully effervescent and inspiring education consultant, Jane Considine, about the teaching of reading and writing in schools, while they were both at the Reading Rocks North conference. Jane grew up in Birmingham, and despite having a mother who was a teacher, Jane never wanted to follow in her footsteps. In fact, she resisted it quite significantly, instead choosing to embark on a retail management scheme (although her real dream was to...
Nov 24, 2019•54 min•Season 1Ep. 24
In this episode, Claire meets Nicola James, the headteacher of St Andrew’s Primary School in Bishop Auckland. Having recently had an OFSTED inspection under the new framework, Nicola shares her experience with Claire in order to help other schools who may be facing an imminent inspection themselves. After initially wanting to work in a bank (mainly so she could wear a smart suit every day!), Nicola was inspired to teach by her secondary school tutor, Mr Wilson, who told her she needed to be work...
Nov 17, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 23
