This week we talk to Josie Rayner-Wells, National RSHE advisor, about the new Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)  requirements that came into effect in September 2020 but that schools still might be working to respond to. Josie gives very practical advice about how to consult parents, pupils and staff on RSE and move their provision on. Reassuringly she explains how schools that feel stuck in their progress on parental consultation can use remote methods to their advantage and take some more creative and potentially fruitful approaches.

We talk about: 

• Josie’s hugely varied experience working and training on RSE

Josie mentions a resource called Everything you need to teach effective RSE during the podcast. You can find out more about it here or by emailing [email protected]

This week we spoke to Sarah Baker, CEO, Leanne Noone, Chief Financial Officer, Alison Bingham, Director of Development and Rachel Watson, Director of Education and Achievement at the TEAM Education Trust about their experiences of launching in June 2020. We recorded this episode in December, 6 months into their first year as a trust. We will be returning to them at Easter and in the Summer as they share what they have been learning on their journey.

We talk about: 

• Why they decided to set up their own trust rather than join an existing one 

You can read more about TEAM Education Trust on their website here

This week I give a quick rundown of episodes this term and send my best wishes to everyone listening to the podcast for 2021. 

If you’ve only recently discovered Key Voices, this will provide you with a handy snapshot of some recent episodes to get you started. 

A huge thank you to all our wonderful guests for finding the time to talk so honestly with us during this year like no other and thank you very much for listening. 

Information about all of our Key Voices episodes can be found here and they are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major platforms.

This week we talk to Dr. Helen Kelly, retired school principal, researcher and writer. Helen tells us about the 20 years she spent teaching and leading in international schools and the importance of school leader wellbeing as a strategic issue for governing boards.  Helen explains the impact stress has had on her physical health and her decision to retire early, while also sharing the findings of her international research into school leadership. 

We talk about: 

• Helen’s career prior to teaching and her work in international schools

“It is hard work but it is so worth it.” 

This week I talk to Jo Jukes, Trust Curriculum Research Lead at The Education Alliance Academy Trust.  Jo tells me about her 20 years in teaching and how adopting an evidence-informed approach to teaching has made a difference to her. She candidly describes a time she felt less happy and confident professionally and what that was like.  We also talk about trust leadership, performance management and remote learning. We end with  Jo sharing her thoughts about why teaching is such a brilliant profession. 

We discuss: 

• Jo’s career and the different leadership roles she has had 

“There are the leaders that make you aspire and the leaders that make you perspire.”

This week I talk to Desmond Deehan, CEO, Odyssey Trust for Education. The trust is an unusual collaboration between a girls grammar school and a local secondary modern. Desmond has taught in a wide range of schools and his leadership style is heavily influenced by thinking creatively and trying new things. 

We discuss:

• Desmond’s background and career in teaching and the ideas that have influenced him 

“Before you can be understood you have to learn to understand.”

“We need to realise these solutions aren’t going to come from the government, any government or the Department for Education. We will create the education for the future on the ground, in our trusts and with our communities.”

This week we talk to social media educator Rubbi Bhogal-Wood. Rubbi explains her approach to working with young people to help them navigate social media with clarity, intention and purpose. We reflect on why it can be hard for teachers and parents to support young people when we have our own issues with social media and the tech evolves so rapidly. 

Rubbi shares some of the insights she has gathered from her conversations with pupils about how and why they use social media. She expresses concern that some children don’t feel they can talk to trusted adults about what they are seeing online. She stresses that teachers and parents have all the right instincts to help young people but would often benefit from arming themselves with some more knowledge of the platforms. 

We also consider whether children are having different experiences on social media in the current situation, where almost all of our interactions now take place online.  Finally, we think about the ways in which parents, pupils and schools can work together more effectively to make sure young people can control their use of social media. 

This week we talk to Adrian Bethune and Dr Emma Kell about their new book A Little Guide for Teachers: Teacher Wellbeing and Self-care.  They share their ideas about how to put learning about wellbeing into practical action including having difficult conversations with yourself and other people. We consider the different aspects of wellbeing and the need for everyone to take a personalised approach. 

We talk about why individual action is important because system-wide change happens slowly and ultimately, individuals make up the system they work in. We also discuss how important it is for school leaders to role model healthy behaviours if they want to truly support staff with their own wellbeing. We close with Emma and Adrian’s tips for keeping morale high during the long winter term, and some positive hopes for the future. 

This week we talk to Pete Crockett,  Retired Headteacher and Governor and 

Linda Unternahrer, Senior Content Editor at The Key about a number of topics to do with governance. We discuss how governors can balance both support and challenge during COVID-19 and what holding senior leadership teams to account looks like at other times.  We also think about ways in which how governors can support senior leaders with difficult issues, yet ultimately avoid getting too involved in operational decision making. 

We consider how governance is changing, in some ways for the better, in this period of enforced remote governance.  Pete shares his thoughts on what makes a great chair, and we discuss practical ways boards can increase their diversity, including recruitment and how accessible they make governance to new joiners. 

We close by thinking about priorities for boards in the short term, including headteacher wellbeing and looking after themselves. 

You can read Pete’s blog 7 C’s for Chairs of Governors here 

This week we talk to Mary Myatt, Education Thinker and Writer about her book Back on Track: Fewer Things, Greater Depth. Mary explains why she wrote the book and she shares her thoughts about how best to help children catch-up lost learning.  We then dig deeper into her ideas about curriculum and teaching. We focus particularly on understanding why subjects are being taught, the importance of teaching concepts thoroughly and using high-quality texts and materials. She also expresses concern about some practices, particularly around administration, assessment and tracking that divert teachers attention away from focussing on pupils’ learning. 

We go on to talk about how to build trust in schools and how leaders can meaningfully consult with teams.  Mary also explains how governors might be able to hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils with less “data” in front of them.  We close by wondering what external assessment might look like in this academic year and with some hopeful thoughts for the future.