Key Voices

This week we speak to Sarah Dove, Director of Phoenix Education Consultancy about her diverse experience of supporting children outside of mainstream schooling in a variety of different contexts. We discuss what prompted Sarah to write her book ‘Behaving together in the Classroom’. Sarah shares what she’s seen change in the last 20 years of working in education, the changes she’d like to see in the future and what she learnt from conducting her own surveys into pupils' experiences of remote learning. 

We talk about: 

• The different types of settings Sarah has worked in 

The report from the Centre for Social Justice Sarah mentions can be found here.

You can find free to download resources on Sarah’s website here and more about her book here.  

This week we speak to Claire Oatway, a Leadership and Strategy Consultant, and Sam Smith, Headteacher at Stoke Damerel Primary Academy about some work they did together to imagine the future of schooling. Claire created an immersive representation of what a completely AI and technology enabled school could look like. This was then passed on to Sam and her team, who used it as a jumping off point for thinking more about how they could prepare their pupils for the future, and embrace technology in their curriculum and practices. 

We talk about: 

• Sam and Claire’s backgrounds and past experiences

The original presentation Claire delivered at Sam’s school is here.

You can read about Claire’s work in this area here and you can contact her directly via LinkedIn to learn more. 

The television programme Sam mentions can be watched on catch-up here. 

You can find out more about Sam’s school here. 

This week we talk to Mike Foster, Assistant Head at Thorntree Academy in Middlesbrough, Tom Hooper, Founder and CEO of Third Space Learning and Baz Ramaiah, an associate at The Centre For Education and Youth (CFEY). We hear more about CFEY’s report ‘A Space for Maths: Exploring the need for maths tutoring and the potential role of Third Space Learning’,  the importance of early maths achievement and getting children confident with numeracy.  Mike tells us about his school’s experience of using Third Space Learning and we discuss what makes for a really effective maths tutoring intervention.

We talk about: 

• Mike’s school and the community it serves 

• The case for early intervention building strong maths skills early 

You can find the report from CFEY ‘A Space for Maths’ here.

You can find the Third Space Learning impact report here and read about other schools’ experiences here. 

This week we talk to Nav Sanghara, CEO of The Woodland Academy Trust  and Alice Gregson, Chief Operating Officer at Forum Strategy about Forum Strategy’s recent publication ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion amongst Academy Trust CEOs’. We discuss why the research was conducted and  the challenges that persist when it comes to tackling the lack of diversity at senior levels within trusts. We also delve into some of the more positive findings emerging from the research, and discuss the recommendations and potential solutions raised in the report. 

We talk about:

• Alice and Nav’s careers and backgrounds

You can download the report from Forum Strategy here

You can learn more about the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s nine protected characteristics here

If you would like to get in touch with Alice or Nav, or have any questions or feedback on the podcast, please email [email protected]

This week we speak to Professor Becky Allen, Co-Founder of Teacher Tapp, Ben White, Assistant Headteacher of a secondary school in Kent and Matthew Evans, Headteacher of a secondary school in Gloucestershire, about a book they wrote together entitled, ‘The Next Big Thing in School Improvement’.  We discuss the main themes of the book, namely: the complexity of the school system, the limits of our knowledge and the problems that arise when an approach to school improvement (that might well be effective in some contexts) becomes a generalised “fad” and actually has limited impact. 

We talk about: 

• How the three authors met and why they decided to write a book together on this topic 

You can order Becky, Ben and Matthew’s book here 

This week we talk to Katy Pinchess, Headteacher at Bentley Church of England Primary School about her school’s approach to reading. Katy shares how they have used a digital tool (Lexplore) that uses artificial intelligence and eye-tracking technology to dig further into exactly what children find challenging about reading. We also talk about other ways in which Katy has built a strong reading culture at her school, discuss briefly her recent experience of an Ofsted inspection and hear her observations of how pupils are adjusting to being back in school. 

We talk about: 

• Reading as a focus across the school 

You can learn more about Bentley Church of England Primary School here 

This week we talk to Anna Trethewey, Head of Strategy and Andrew Cook, HMI and  Regional Director North West, both from Ofsted about Ofsted’s rapid evidence review into peer-on-peer sexual abuse. We talk about how the review was conducted, the findings that emerged and how schools can start to take steps to respond to this issue. We also discuss the nature of the challenge in more detail and the importance of taking a deep and considered approach to building a safe and inclusive culture. We also touch on the role that governors can play in supporting schools with this work. 

We talk about: 

• How Ofsted worked to produce a high impact report that conveyed the scale of the problem at speed

You can read the full review from Ofsted here. 

This week we talk to Dr Helen Edwards, Co-Founder of Tapestry about changes happening in the Early Years (the new Early Years Framework and updated Development Matters). Helen shares some really useful tips for governors visiting the EYFS. We also reflect on the impact of the pandemic and the opportunity it presented for those working in the early years to embrace technology, particularly as a way to maintain the connection between their setting and home, and consider what the future might look like. 

We talk about:

• The changes to the EYFS Framework, Development Matters and Early Learning Goals and what these mean in practice

You can learn more about Tapestry here

“Heck! The reason this job is so hard is not just because we believe it to be so, but because a lot of the expectations of what headteachers have to do day-to-day... are implicitly demanding of a very high stage of adult ego development.”

This week we speak to Dr Neil Gilbride, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Gloucestershire. We discuss his research into School Principals at Different Stages of Adult Ego Development: Their Sense-Making Capabilities and How Others Experience Them. Neil tells us about why and how he conducted the research, what it tells us about leadership in a school setting and the particular challenges school leaders face. 

We talk about:

• Neil’s career and background 

You can read Neil’s paper here it includes full details of Loevinger’s model of adult ego development

You can learn more about his international project Getting Heads Together here

“Some people described the headteacher who was “individualist” as magical. They could just seem to put their finger on the problem and they think it is some kind of divine intervention, and it isn’t. Actually the way they make sense of the problem incorporated so many different perspectives and views that by the time they got there everyone felt they’d been heard and everyone could see where the headteacher was coming from.”

This week we talk to Kat Howard, Head of Professional Learning at David Ross Education Trust Teaching School Hub,  Author and Founder of Litdrive. We talk about some of the key themes of Kat’s books: Stop Talking About Wellbeing and Symbiosis. We also talk about some of the lessons that can be learned from remote learning for both teaching and flexibility in schools, and how to have meaningful conversations about curriculum development. 

We talk about: 

• Why we should stop talking about wellbeing

Here is the blog Kat mentioned about how she writes books and blogs

You can learn more about Litdrive, the organisation Kat founded, here

You can learn more about the Maternity Paternity Teacher Project here or listen to the Key Voices episode with its founder here