Reading Blues Podcast

#020 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

In this episode we speak with Nina and Tytus, two new heads of school. We learn what the Heads of School actually mean, how you apply to get the position , how relationships have changed between teachers and students and what they are planing to do after Blue Coat.

So come with me now as we jump into this conversation with Heads of School Tytus and Nina

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool

#019 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

In this episode we’re outdoors into some pretty harsh conditions as we find out about something called the Ten Tors event, a 45 mile hike across Dartmoor. Director of Adventure Education, Stephen Lamacraft is joined by Year 12 students Nina, Sergio, Chris, Sophie and also Eloise who’s dialling in from home. Together they explain what the Ten Tors event is, how you prepare for something like this, what it’s actually like to endure this and what it feels like to cross the finish line. But we also hear about teamwork, something that’s at the heart of Reading Blue Coat School.

So let’s get boots out, laced up and step outdoors for this episode right now.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool

Additional resources:
Ten Tors: www.tentors.org.uk
Mr Lamacraft's email: [email protected]

#018 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

In this episode we’re speaking to Scott Yates, Director of Middle School, and Robert Tidbury, Deputy Head Academic.

They’ll be walking us through the process of choosing GCSEs at Reading Blue Coat, the kind of systems in place to ensure students pick the right GCSEs for them and what advice they’d offer to students in Year 9.

So come with me now as we jump into this conversation with host Tracey and Reading Blue Coat staff Scott Yates and Robert Tidbury.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool 

#017 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school. 

In this episode we’re going to be talking to Sarah Langdon, member of the Sixth Form pastoral team, who’s joined by some students from the school, Archie, EJ and Ben.

Sarah will tell us all about Rainbow Flag Award, what it is, why it is that Reading Blue Coat has applied and what it means to Sarah.

But we’ll also get to hear from some of the students, how they have been involved with the Rainbow Flag Award application and what is like being part of the LGBT+ community.

This episode is great, the students and Sarah are very passionate about the Rainbow Flag Award and the LGBT+ community within the school, they open up about the challenges faced, the focus on inclusion and diversity and how things are changing.

So enough from me, let me take you into this episode right now as we speak to Sarah and some of the Sixth Form students.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool 

#016 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school. 

In this episode we’re going online and finding out about the future of education with the Head of Physics at the school, Benjamin Schuler. Now, fun fact, Reading Blue Coat was one of the schools that was already looking at online learning before the pandemic arrived which means they were naturally in a good place to make that rapid switch back in 2020. Not that it came without its issues though, something that Benjamin talks about in this episode.

So we get to hear what challenges they faced, how it all worked at school (especially in the Physics department) and what the opportunities were that came as a result of this.

So enough chit chat from me, let me take you into this episode right now as we speak to Head of Physics, Benjamin Schuler.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool 

#015 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

In this episode we’re in the sixth form department talking to Director of Sixth Form, Katie Fatania. Now Katie joined the school recently, you can probably tell from her accent she’s not a local Reading girl, see if you can work out where she’s from before she shares this with us all.

But, more importantly, we find out how she feels able to engage with people around in the sixth form, we hear how Blue Coat is different to other schools and we explore the words ‘educating the whole person’ to see if it’s simply a marketing phrase at school.

But we also find out how girls settle into sixth form life if they’ve joined from another school that’s not co-ed, so one that’s all girls.

But come with me now as we step into this conversation with Katie Fatania.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool 

#014 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

In this episode we’re talking to the Head of History but actually not about history. Instead we’re talking about overseas expeditions and CCF. If you haven’t guessed we’re with Tanya van der Werff about, well, the world!

So we’re going to find out which countries have been visited in the past, why following foreign office advice is so important for a school, the learning and development that comes from trips like these and, as expected, we also hear about the Navy section of the CCF.

So grab your passport, bring a PCR negative test result and let’s explore the world with Tanya van der Werff.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool 

#013 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

In this episode we’re talking to Head of English, Malcolm Stewart. He’s going to share with us his own experiences that led him into the world of teaching, whether pupils fit the stereotype of not wanting to English, how to encourage children to do more reading and whether Shakespeare is still such a big deal.

So come with me now while we step into the world of English with Malcolm Stewart.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool 

#012 - Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

This episode is all about the outdoors because we’re talking to Stephen Lamacraft, Director of Adventure Education (possibly the coolest job title in the world!) So, we’re going to hear all about why outdoor education is so good for children today, what parents can do to encourage their children, how you don’t need to go to some far-flung country to experience adventure and how a move in the school to co-educational all the way through will change things. Or won’t change things. Stick around to see what that answer is.

But for now, come with me and let’s find out more about adventure education with Stephen Lamacraft.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool 

#011 -Welcome back to the Reading Blues Podcast, the place to find out more about the school and to connect with staff, pupils and parents at a deeper level. Each week we’ll be interviewing people within the school community, asking them questions and spending time understanding more about them and more about the school.

In this episode we’re back speaking with Headmaster Pete Thomas. The new academic year is well and truly underway but I still wanted to know what he got up to in the summer holidays, how much downtime a Head really gets when those eight weeks of summer begin, but we spend most of this podcast talking about what’s happening in the next three school terms.

And not just what’s happening but why those things are happening and even how. Intrigued? Well, you should be. So let me take you into the Headmaster’s office to spend 20 minutes with Pete Thomas.

Reading Blue Coat School online
Website: www.rbcs.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReadingBlueCoatl
Twitter: @ReadingBlues
Instagram: ReadingBlueCoatSchool