This month we bring you a very special episode of MET Pod as we discuss the joys of leadership with our CEO, Mary Davies. Mary reflects on her fascinating and varied journey into leadership at the highest level and shares advice and guidance which will resonate not only with current leaders, but those who aspire to be leaders in the future. This episode is a truly inspiring look at what makes educational leadership such a rewarding career and a real must listen for all staff. 

In this month's episode of MET Pod, we discuss the challenges and pressures of headship with Paul Gibson, Headteacher at Maiden Erlegh School. Paul shares his inspiring journey and career path to headship and provides a candid insight into the unique pressures which make this role so challenging. The episode features a range of invaluable strategies to effectively manage the demands of the position and make headship a sustainable long-term career, whilst also highlighting what makes this job so special.

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In this month's episode of MET Pod, Sara Elliss, Director of Standards and Continuous Improvement across the Trust, is joined by Jo Ricketts, Trust Compliance and Procurement Manager and former Business Manager at Hamilton School. Jo shares the extraordinary journey that was the designing, managing, and realising of a brand new school site and building for Hamilton School, our SEMH Special School. This episode details the challenging process of developing a design and plan to incorporate the needs and wishes of all key stakeholders and seamlessly transitioning an operational school to a new site during the academic year. 

This month we joined by Head of Religion and Philosophy at Maiden Erlegh School, Sian Jones! In this invaluable and inspirational episode, Sian draws on her wealth of experience as Head of a department which has historically included multiple teachers with subject specialisms outside of Religion and Philosophy to share her top tips and strategies for effective leadership and management. Sian's unequivocal commitment to ensuring the best outcomes for Religion and Philosophy students and empowering her staff shine through in this practical guide perfect for any aspiring or new to role Heads of Department. 

In this week's episode of MET Pod, Sara Elliss, Director of Standards and Continuous Improvement across the Trust, is joined by Luke Baker, Special Educational Needs and Vulnerable Groups Manager at Cranbury College, to discuss how we can create the conditions for our most vulnerable students to thrive in the school environment. Luke draws on his wealth of experience to share how staff at Cranbury support vulnerable students with EHCPs to build their trust in the school system and realise and achieve their potential. This unique episode of MET Pod is not to be missed! 

In this week's episode of MET Pod, Leah Shepherd, History Teacher at Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge, reflects on life as a new teacher and offers a range of invaluable tips and tricks to help you thrive - not just survive - in your first years in the profession! Join us to hear Leah's advice on everything from managing behaviour to achieving a healthy work-life balance...

In this week's episode of MET Pod, Laura Ashton, Geography Teacher at Maiden Erlegh School, explores the possibilities of using gesture and movement in the classroom. Laura shares the fruits of her wide-ranging research into how gesture and movement can aid students' cognition, understanding of abstract concepts, and improve recall and mastery of topics within a spiral curriculum. 

To find out more about this topic, take a look at some of the articles mentioned by Laura in this episode...

Donnelly JE, Lambourne K. Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement. Prev Med. 2011 Jun;52 Suppl 1:S36-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.021. Epub 2011 Jan 31. PMID: 21281666.

Hudson, M “Students who gesture during learning ‘grasp’ concepts better - Hand movement appears to help in teaching about statistical models” American Scientific 13 April 2021.

Wagner Cook S, KuangYi Yip T, Goldin-Meadow S, “Gesturing makes memories that last”, Journal of Memory and Language, Volume 63, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 465-475, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2010.07.002.

Zhang, I., Givvin, K.B., Sipple, J.M., Son, J.Y. and Stigler, J.W. (2021), Instructed Hand Movements Affect Students’ Learning of an Abstract Concept From Video. Cogn Sci, 45: e12940. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12940

In this episode our CEO, Mary Davies, is joined by Nicky Watson, Assistant Headteacher at Great Hollands Primary School, to discuss the range of strategies she has used to transform students' writing! Nicky not only shares the comprehensive whole-school writing approach that Great Hollands have worked to develop, but also reflects eloquently on the process of initiating, managing, and sustaining long-term change within an organisation. 

If you would like to follow up any of the references mentioned by Nicky, do check out the links below...

Pie Corbett writing techniques: https://www.teachwire.net/news/pie-corbett-encourage-good-literacy-habits-with-these-shared-writing-techni

Kotter's 8 Step Process for Leading Change: https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/