My Best Teacher

In this My Best Teacher podcast, we chat to TV entertainer and Strictly Come Dancing star Rhys Stephenson about his time in school including:

• Learning to love drama at primary school
• Feeding horse on the way to school
• Giving up on backpacks at secondary school
• Wonderful teachers who still support him now
• The joy of dancing and achieving a hallowed 40 on Strictly

In this My Best Teacher podcast, we chat to journalist, author and broadcaster Samira Ahmed about her schools days including

• The memorable teachers that play a crucial role in her career success
• Why she was a sponge for most subjects at school
• Trips out on trains and eating hot dogs
• Teenage romances on skiing holidays
• Why eating apples outside school was once the height of bad behaviour.

We chat to legendary children's writer Michael Rosen about his school days, the many teachers he recalls with fondness and the events that took place during that time including::

• A crazy phrase he brought home from nursery school that baffled his parents
• A frustrated actor English teacher who was a 'breathe of fresh air'
• A teacher who spotted his writing abilities from a young age - and let him know about it
• Why he wrote a new book about learning to walk again - and how it might help others
• The importance of empathy

We chat to the actor and writer Simon Farnaby, best known for appearing in Ghosts, Horrible Histories, and The Detectorists and for co-writing Paddington 2 about his school days, including:

• What it was like going to a tiny school of under 20 pupils
• Winning an art competition - despite not being very good at drawing
• An English teacher who said it was ok not to like Shakespeare
• Why school trips were not a source of great joy
• His new book, The Warrior in My Wardrobe 

We chat to wildlife documentary filmmaker Gordon Buchanan about his time in education, including

• The teachers that he remembers with fondness - and what happened when he bumped into them again
• Learning a love of cooking from home economics - and eating lasagna
• Why he never really enjoyed times tables tests - and still doesn't
• Some memorable wildlife encounters
• Why a school trip to Germany remains his biggest 'wow' moment when travelling the world

We chat to author Sathnam Sanghera about his school days and the teachers that inspired him, including:

• How his English teacher changed the course of his life.
• The problems he faced in his PE lessons.
• A love of practical jokes - including one on a school trip that didn't go down well.
• Developing a side business in selling his packed lunches.
• Introducing pupils in school to a more detailed history of colonialism.

We chat to singer Gabrielle about her school days and the teachers that inspired her, including:

• How her English teacher inspired a love of songwriting through poetry.
• A school exchange when she had her first exposure to the subject of psychology.
• A love of PE and her netball success.
• Discovering a passion for performing in school plays.
• Bringing music back into the classroom with The Big Sing.
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We chat to TV presenter and former Paralympian Ade Adepitan about his school days, including:

• Using sport to settle into primary school
• Wonderful teachers who created lifelong memories
• A school trip that opened his eyes to the wonders of the world
• Discovering a love of wheelchair basketball
• Teaching young people about climate change - and how to tackle it

We chat to Homes Under the Hammer presenter and all-round TV legend Martin Roberts about his school days including:

• A lovely teacher who played a key role in his school life
• A very memorable school trip in more ways than one
• Not always being a model pupil
• His initiative to get a copy of his book Sadsville into every school during the pandemic to help children understanding their emotions

In this episode of the My Best Teacher podcast we chat to jazz musician, broadcaster and children's TV show host YolanDa Brown about:

• Attending an all-through school and the benefits this provided
• Her lovely primary teacher and thought-provoking media studies teacher
• How her music teacher introduced her to the power of jazz
• A very business-like trip to Disneyland
• The joy of teaching children about music through her show, YolanDa's Band Jam