No Running in the Corridors

We tell kids that hard work pays off, but talent, opportunity and circumstance all play a part in who gets ahead. How honest should we be about what it really takes to succeed?

In this episode, PE specialist James Munro and parent of four and educator, Shona Rae, join Helen Mulley to explore how schools should respond when some children are driven to win while others are simply happy to take part, and whether we send mixed messages about what success really means.

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

Bodies, relationships and sex are all part of growing up, so why can talking about them in school still feel so awkward?

In this episode, former teachers Elanie Ademokun and Sarah Brough, who now work at Jigsaw Education Group, join Helen Mulley to explore how to handle awkward questions without shutting children down, and how to help pupils build a confident understanding of bodies and boundaries.

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

Conker bans in schools due to health and safety concerns may be an urban myth, but when we’re responsible for other people’s children, how much risk should we accept?

In this episode, headteacher and author Rae Snape and teacher and founder of Learnella, Adam Petrie, join Helen Mulley to explore how schools can protect children without wrapping them in cotton wool, and why learning to judge risk is such an important part of growing up.

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

Call it zero tolerance, warm-strict or high standards – some schools take an approach to classroom discipline that leaves no space for individual ways of concentrating. But what if the child doodling all over their notes is paying attention?

In this episode, art teacher Emma Delpech and forest school teacher Rachel Summers join Helen Mulley to unpack fidgeting, doodling and stimming through the lens of self-regulation, exploring why a still classroom isn't always a listening one.

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

How can families unlock the support their child needs, and does it have to involve a formal diagnosis for schools to provide it?

In this episode, host Helen Mulley is joined by former headteacher Lucy Rundle and parent Laura Albero, whose children have SEND. Together, they explore what equitable support really looks like, and whether schools can respond effectively to individual needs within a system of limited resources and increasing demand.

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

Schools have been policing pupils’ hairstyles forever, but are strict hair policies really about maintaining standards, or simply about control?

Hair is deeply personal. It’s bound up with culture, identity and genetics. So why do schools care so much about it? In this episode, MAT CEO Anthony Benedict and headteacher Hannah Carter join Helen Mulley to explore what hairstyle policies reveal about power, control and individual expression.

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

A lunchbox might seem like a simple part of the school day, but who should decide what belongs inside it? In this episode, Helen Mulley is joined by assistant headteacher Lucy Fox and registered nutritionist Dr Jennie Cockroft to explore the role schools play in children’s nutrition and whether blanket food policies meet the needs of every family.

Together, our guests explore the challenges of supporting children with additional needs, working with families facing financial pressures and building positive relationships between schools and parents.

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

Should children move through school simply because of their age, or is it time to rethink a system that expects everyone to reach the same milestones at the same time?

In this episode, Helen Mulley is joined by metacognition specialist Nathan Burns and early years practitioner Kayte Cooling-Smith to examine whether age-based progression is serving every learner equally.

Together, they explore the challenges faced by summer-born pupils, question the limits of age-related expectations and consider how schools can nurture every child's potential without extinguishing their love of learning.

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

When planning becomes something to be obeyed rather than interpreted, what happens to professional judgement and the human moments that bring learning to life?

We're delighted to be back for series 2 with assistant headteacher Chris Dilley and Anthony Cockerill, director of the National Association for the Teaching of English, to explore whether a “teach-from-the-slides” culture is improving education or is, in fact, a worrying first step towards getting rid of the human element entirely...

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.

On the surface, a seating plan is simply a practical tool for organising a busy classroom and keeping learning on track. But in our desire to control chaos, do we risk constricting curiosity?

In this final episode of series one, host Helen Mulley joins Lewis Ames from Children of the Forest and education consultant Leslie Patterson to explore what a truly flexible and empowering education environment might look like – and ask whether, in fact, it’s not just the seating plans that should be sent to the shredder…

Got a school rule you think we should give the NRitC treatment? Get in touch with us at [email protected] and let us know about it!

Sponsored by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Pupils will have a magical and unforgettable experience at the Palace Theatre as you leave the classroom and enter the world of Harry Potter on stage. Inspire and challenge pupils with a specially crafted free education resource pack.

School group tickets are £30 for groups of 10+ from January 2027.