In this episode we discuss how to deliver excellent and high-quality school food on a budget in your primary school.

We chat with two headteachers and the founder of the Chefs in Schools charity to explore ideas and options for how schools can deliver quality food experiences for pupils.

We ask how we can work with families to improve packed lunches and also discuss how we can raise money via our food growing and education initiatives.

We talk about what we can do to improve the take-up of free school meals, and we offer advice how we can deliver high-quality breakfast clubs that make a difference.

We discuss food education. What should we be teaching about food and how? What does a good food curriculum look like? And we consider the impact that high-quality school food can have for children and their attainment and wellbeing.

In this episode we take a deep dive into the different roles and models of executive school leadership, looking at best practice and how executive leaders can best support individual schools.

Our panel of experts ask what different executive leadership roles exist and what purpose they serve; we consider the different structures and models of executive leadership, too.

We discuss how executive leaders can effectively support the individual school leadership teams within each of the schools they oversee.

We also detail the the main responsibilities for executive headteachers and their deputies and ask what processes and elements are required for executive leadership to thrive.

We ask what skills make a good executive leader and hear examples of good practice and effective models from the experience of our three experts, including some of the challenges they have faced as executive leaders.

In this episode we look at the recruitment and retention of teachers in the primary school, including how to attract the best teachers and ideas and tips for how to keep hold of them.

The podcast features three experienced school leaders who begin their discussion by each offering their three core principles of best practice for effective recruitment and retention.

We then consider how we might go about finding the best teaching staff, including how we recruit effectively for specific roles, and what kind of things might attract high-quality candidates to want to work in your school. We also discuss what an effective recruitment process looks like.

When it comes to retention, our panel considers in depth how to build a school culture that is “difficult to leave”, including how we integrate new staff, mentoring, professional development and support, systems of appraisal, and more.

And we talk about effective systems of induction for new staff as well to ensure they can hit the ground running when they begin.

This episode focuses on how we can teach oracy and speaking skills in the primary school, with practical tips, ideas, resources and advice.

Our expert panel discuss what oracy is, why it matters, and the impact we have seen on pupils’ speaking skills since Covid.

We look at how we can teach oracy in the classroom and across the curriculum, including practical activities for the explicit teaching of oracy as well as ideas for authentic opportunities to encourage talk.

We consider the role of vocabulary teaching, ask what high expectations for classroom talk look like, and hear examples of practice from two primary schools.

And we address the important differences between “learning to talk” and “learning through talk” and the vital role of developing listening as well as speaking skills.

We discuss whole-school strategies, including creating a culture where pupils feel able to speak-up, cross-curriculum planning for oracy, how to ensure consistent approaches, staff CPD, the role of extra-curricular clubs, and more.

And we look at how we can engage parents in this work while also considering how we can best assess and monitor our pupils’ progress in terms of oracy.

This podcast has been produced in partnership with Pearson. Visit www.pearsonprimary.co.uk/podcast

In this episode three school leaders discuss effective behaviour management strategies and approaches in the primary school.

We ask how we can build a culture that supports consistent behaviour management across the school.

Furthermore, what does an impactful behaviour policy look like and how should it be applied in practice to ensure consistency in classrooms, corridors and playgrounds?

The panel also discusses what support and CPD school staff need in order to ensure consistent and good behaviour management across the school.

We also tackle how we can work well with our families to help support good behaviour, and how our behaviour policy should be adjusted as required to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.

We offer a range of practical strategies with examples and lessons learned from our panellists' schools.

In this episode we discuss how headteachers can “market” their primary schools effectively – not least to prospective parents and their wider communities.

Pupil rolls are due to fall notably in the coming years, meaning that promoting our school’s ethos, culture and educational track record will become ever more important – especially for small primary schools.

But how do we go about doing this well? We speak to two experienced headteachers of small primary schools and ask why marketing our schools is essential and get their insights, ideas, and tips.

We discuss general principles of good practice and proactive marketing work as well as some “quick wins” for schools. We talk both short-term and long-term marketing strategies, how to make tight marketing budgets stretch, and how to ensure you capture and communication clearly and effectively your school’s unique selling points and ethos.

We talk about how we can “compete” for pupils from our local communities in the right way and touch upon involving our pupils in promoting the school as well.

This episode looks at how schools and school leaders can lead change and make sure new approaches, interventions or improvement practices have the biggest possible impact.

Inspired by the publication of the Education Endowment Foundation’s updated implementation guidance – Putting Evidence to Work – the podcast features advice, examples, and ideas from three experienced school leaders.

The EEF’s new guidance distils the latest research into effective implementation and is aimed at helping schools to ensure new approaches, interventions and practices are successful.

Our episode kicks off with some general tenets of good practice when leading and implementing new approaches and we discuss how school leaders can structure and implement new initiatives.

We ask how the new EEF guidance can be woven into school practices, not least to ensure our interventions are meeting the needs of our most disadvantaged pupils. We also ask what we need to do when interventions are not working.

We also ask how we can respond if members of school staff are reluctant about the changes we are proposing.

Finally, our guests share case studies of successful implementation along with lessons learnt and top tips/takeaways.

In this episode we discuss a range of ideas and strategies for how primary schools can support the good mental health and wellbeing of their pupils.

We chat to three guests who work in three different schools. We hear their tenets of good practice when it comes to supporting good pupil wellbeing in school before discussing what wellbeing challenges they are seeing on the ground and at the chalkface in their schools.

We delve into some of the work taking place in our guests’ three schools and hear anonymised case studies of successful interventions they have had with pupils who have struggled.

We talk extensively about their approaches to mental health and wellbeing education – within PSHE but also more generally across the curriculum and in the classroom with lots of ideas big and small.

We look in particular at what we can do to support our pupils, including while they are waiting for CAMHS referrals, and we discuss what support we can access via other outside agencies.

Elsewhere, we discuss how we can build positive relationships with pupils and families so that we can better recognise the warning signs of emerging problems and intervene quickly.

In this episode we discuss tips, ideas, and strategies for protecting the wellbeing of headteachers – and other school staff – during Ofsted inspections.

Our guest is Paul K Ainsworth, who has held director of school improvement roles in four multi-academy trusts in the last nine years and in that time has experienced more than 40 Ofsted inspections.

We get Paul’s practical insights – both small ideas and more substantial advice – about how we can protect our mental health and wellbeing, and that of our school team, during inspection.

We get lots of tips for reducing and managing anxiety and hear useful anecdotes from Paul’s experience of inspection.

We hear about what inspection has been like this year in light of changes brought in after the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry.

Ofsted has brought in a number of reforms, including new complaints procedures, mental health training for inspectors and better support – we find out what this looks like on the ground and ask what headteachers can expect to see when they get inspected in 2024.

Paul offers insights for how we can prepare for inspection in such a way that will build resilience and confidence, including how best to prepare for the pre-inspection phone call.

Other topics include where headteachers can turn to for support during inspection, how to challenge inspectors effectively, and how to handle the emotional rollercoaster and exhausting nature of inspection.

In this episode, three schools talk about the impact of the cost of living crisis and their work to support Pupil Premium and disadvantaged pupils.

Our guests identify their key tenets of effective Pupil Premium practice and talk about specific approaches they are using in their schools. We delve into a range of strategies and ideas for addressing the consequences of poverty in the primary school, including tips for success and lessons learned.

We hear about what is happening on the ground in our guests’ schools and the particular impacts they are seeing of the cost of living crisis and increasing levels of poverty.

We look at different aspects of school life through the lens of poverty, including the day-to-day running of the school, curriculum design, wider school systems, and more.

We discuss how to track Pupil Premium interventions and strategies, how to evaluate our spending, and the key ingredients of an effective, high-impact Pupil Premium Strategy.

Other topics under discussion include pupil voice, raising aspiration, attendance, quality first teaching and more.