The Huddle

The world of education has changed a lot over the last 4 months, despite the many challenges our panel discuss the positives to take from the last term, followed by the best way to recharge the batteries over the holidays.

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Anna Whiteley - Parent, HLTA and Pobbler
Louise Robinson - Teacher and Pobbler
Sam Keys - Deputy Head and SENCO
Vinny Turner - Headteacher and parent

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) Panel review - The panel each share something they have learnt from the podcast community by being on the panel this term.

2) Panel discussion - The world of education has changed a lot over the last 4 months. Teachers have faced many challenges, however there have been positives too. Our panel each share something positive they're taking from the last term.

3) Educators advice - Many of us are planning some down time over the next few weeks, and some listeners might have chosen to listen the podcast while unwinding at home. The panel discuss what they are planning to do to recharge the batteries and also share advice for our listeners.

4) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing! This week the panel share their top tip for preparing for the new school year.

Other resources mentioned -

Designing a social media policy for your school
That Peter Crouch podcast
25 places to visit in the North East
Pobble.com
25 school holiday well-being ideas for teachers
Flipboard app

Thanks for tuning in to season 1, see you in season 2!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

At Pobble, we're passionate about helping children write and making writing exciting, 

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Louise Robinson - Teacher and Pobbler
Martin Bailey -  Digital Enrichment Leader
Stacy Murtagh - Primary school teacher, English lead
With special guest:
Ros Wilson - Education Consultant and creator of Big Writing / Power Writing

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) Ice breaker - Why do you think so many children might not like writing?

2) Educators advice - Strategies to engage your young writers.

3) Panel discussion - How might technology help or hinder progress with writing?

4) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing! The panel each share their top tip for writing.

Other resources mentioned -

Animate to Educate
Talk 4 Writing
Big Writing
My Talking Pet
Merge Cube
HP Reveal
Book Creator
Green Screen by Do Ink
Pobble.com
Pobble 365

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

At Pobble, we're passionate about helping children write and making writing exciting, but with reading being such a focus in so many of our schools the panel discuss how to help children develop a love of reading as well. 

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Anna Whiteley - Parent, HLTA and Pobbler
Louise Robinson - Teacher and Pobbler
Sam Keys - Deputy Head and SENCO
Paul Tullock - Apple Distinguished Educator and Apple Professional Learning Specialist
Andrew Jennings - Vocabulary Ninja

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) Educators advice - How can we help children to develop a love of reading?

2) Panel discussion - How might technology help or hinder reading? 

3) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing! The panel each share a book recommendation of a book to start the year with a new class with.

Anna Whiteley - The Truth Pixie - book by Matt Haig
Louise - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Sam - Clockwork by Philip Pullman
Paul - Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
Andrew - Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd Stanton. Shackleton's Journey by William Grill. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl.

Other resources mentioned -

First News
Vocabulary Ninja
Power of Reading - CLPE
Microsoft Office Lens
Epic! Books
Reading Eggs
Nessy
Lexia
Love reading for kids
Local Libraries
Teach Your Monster to Read

Books mentioned -

The BFG by Roald Dahl
Skellig by David Almond
George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian
Murder at Wayne Manor by Duane Swierczynski
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar
You Choose! by Pippa Goodhart

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

In this episode the panel discuss possible changes to the curriculum and ideas around summer catch up programmes for students.

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Anna Whiteley - Parent, HLTA and Pobbler
Louise Robinson - Teacher and Pobbler
Martin Bailey -  Digital Enrichment Leader
Vinny Turner - Headteacher and parent
Sam Keys - Deputy Head and SENCO

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) Educators advice - What's the best piece of advice the panel have ever received from someone in education.

2) Adapting the curriculum - With lots of discussion around how schools are adapting their curriculum, the panel share what they are doing and their thoughts on what would most benefit the children. 

3) Summer school catch ups  - As we go to air there is much debate around summer catch up programmes. The panel share their thoughts on what they are considering. 

4) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing!
This week, each of the panel share a recommend read for fellow teachers and parents.

Anna Whiteley - The Humans, book by Matt Haig
Louise - When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, book by Gabor Maté
Martin - Within the White Lines: How the Beautiful Game Saved My Life, book by Ruth Fox
Vinny - 1. Introducing a School Dog: Our Adventures with Doodles the Schnoodle, Book by Cherryl Drabble. 2. The Wellbeing Toolkit: Sustaining, Supporting and Enabling School Staff, book by Andrew Cowley
Sam Keys - Yes Man, book by Danny Wallace

Other resources mentioned -
Forest School
Now Press Play

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

In this episode we discuss what it's like to teach in an international school. Our panel of experienced expats share their experiences and discuss cultural diversity, facilities, technology and more!

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Stacy Murtagh - Primary school teacher, English lead
Andi Price -  Primary school teacher at Ranches Primary School, Dubai
Immi Akhtar - Year 6, primary school teacher
Tom Sale - Head of Year 6 at Kent College Dubai
Rachael Wilding - Primary head at Smart Vision School, Dubai

Resources and take aways mentioned -

Pobble 365
Learning by Questions
Love to teach by Kate Jones
Seesaw

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

In this episode we discuss the return to school for some of our pupils, advice for teachers and how to approach the subject of the last few weeks with children, as well as ideas to support teachers working with new pupils.

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Louise Robinson - Teacher and Pobbler
Martin Bailey -  Digital Enrichment Leader
Vinny Turner - Headteacher and parent
Paul Tullock - Apple Distinguished Educator and Apple Professional Learning Specialist

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) Well-being roundup - What the panel have done over the past week to look after themselves.

2) School returns - Many schools have returned or are planning to return soon, we take a look at how things have been in the education world since then.

3) School issues - As some pupils return to school many teachers are being placed in bubbles with pupils and age groups they are not familiar with. The panel share their advice on dealing with this.

4) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing!
Each of the panel share one idea for fellow teachers and parents to take away from the show and use to support their practice.

Vinny: Go with children's interests
Martin: Voice to text for report writing
Louise: Active learning - get outdoors!
Paul: Apple’s 30 Days of Creativity

Other resources mentioned -
Nike trained podcast: Simon Sinek
Inside Out - Film

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

In this episode, we’ll be discussing the potential return to school for many of our pupils and ideas to support the well-being of staff and children.

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Anna Whiteley - Parent, HLTA and Pobbler
Vinny Turner - Headteacher and parent
Louise Robinson - Teacher and Pobbler
Martin Bailey -  Digital Enrichment Leader

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) Thoughts and feelings about education currently - in 3 words

2) Planning for school returns - Inevitably talk over the last week has been dominated by discussions around schools returning. It’s clearly a very difficult situation, with still so much uncertainty as we go to air, we hear from the panel about things their schools are already planning to do.

3) Well-being - The current situation is putting increasing pressure on teachers and people working in education, the panel discuss what strategies they are introducing to manage well-being in their own schools and for themselves.

4) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing!
Each of the panel share one idea for fellow teachers and parents to take away from the show and use to support their practice.

Anna: Book - The Boy, the Fox, the Mole and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
Vinny: Two people to follow on Twitter - @unclem00se and @Mickheidie
Martin: Time for a digital detox
Louise: Oops! Helping children learn accidentally, by Hywel Roberts
Simon: Book - Remote: Office not required, by David Heinemeier Hansson

Other resources mentioned -

Bereavement counselling course
9 ways to stay safe and happy on social media

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

In this episode, we’ll be discussing some ideas for supporting children with Special Educational needs and suggestions for some non screen activities for the children.

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Anna Whiteley - Parent, HLTA and Pobbler
Paul Tullock - Apple Distinguished Educator and Apple Professional Learning Specialist
Vinny Turner - Headteacher and parent
Sam Keys - Deputy Head and SENCO

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) A weekly roundup - The panel will each share something that sparked their interest this week or something new they've tried at home or school.

2) SEN - A focus on children with special educational needs, what the panel's schools are doing and other ideas they've seen.

3) Non screen activities - There are lots of brilliant online tools and resources out there, but these are not always accessible. The panel discuss alternative activities and learning opportunities to  keep kids busy and engaged whilst not using screens.

4) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing!
Each of the panel share one idea for fellow teachers and parents to take away from the show and use to support their practice.

Anna: 'Kid Normal' book resources from Literacy Trust
Vinny: Cherry Garden Branch Maps and Kaligo Handwriting App
Paul: iPad accessibility and Microsoft Office Lens
Sam: Headspace

Other resources mentioned -

Tapestry
Digital 5 a day
Pobble
Minecraft Education
Special Needs Jungle
Facebook Group - SEND Lockdown Essentials

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble

A big focus in education at the moment is teaching children remotely. In this episode we discuss what is and isn’t working, as well as the challenges and successes both teachers and parents are finding with home learning. We'll also be sharing some ideas to help teachers and parents.

Your host:

Simon Blower - Experienced Primary School leader and Co-founder of Pobble.com

Each week we are joined by a panel of educators and friends of Pobble who have given up their time to share ideas and help you, our teaching community.

This weeks panel:

Anna Whiteley - Parent, HLTA and Pobbler
Louise Robinson - Teacher and Pobbler
Martin Bailey -  Digital Enrichment Leader
Vinny Turner - Headteacher and parent
Sam Keys - Deputy Head and SENCO

Show notes.
In this episode we cover:

1) A weekly roundup - The panel will each share something that sparked their interest this week or something new they've tried at home or school.

2) School focus - We've seen many ideas in the world of education recently for what is and isn’t working with distance learning. We take a look at how the panel are approaching this and what they've learnt so far.

3) Parent focus - The general consensus is that parents are feeling overwhelmed with home learning. The panel offer their thoughts and advice.

4) Teacher take aways - Teachers are great at sharing!
Each of the panel share one idea for fellow teachers and parents to take away from the show and use to support their practice.

Sam: Dyslexia resources on Nessy virtual school
Anna: Astro Science Challenge
Vinny: Resources on Talk4Writing
Martin: Learning by Questions
Louise: Connect with your pupils, for example, personalised letters home to the children.

Other resources mentioned -

Seven of the most imaginative picture books for lockdown life
Pobble 365
eSchools
Evidence Me
Twitter challenges
Pobble
YouTube channel

Thanks for tuning in!

The Huddle is brought to you by Pobble