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Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
What if burnout in education is not primarily a problem for individual teachers to solve?
Episode 317: Ruth Poulsen has spent more than two decades working in schools around the world. After experiencing burnout herself, she began looking much more closely at the conditions that allow teachers and leaders to thrive, and at the systems that gradually make that harder.
In this episode, Ruth joins Kieran for a conversation about boundaries, leadership, chronic stress and the culture of self-sacrifice that still runs through much of education. They explore the difference between caring deeply about the job and allowing it to consume you, alongside the responsibility leaders have for creating schools that do not depend on people continually going above and beyond simply to keep things functioning.
The conversation eventually widens into something bigger: whether we think about schools too much like machines, searching for individual problems to fix, rather than complex ecosystems in which decisions, relationships and unintended consequences are deeply connected.
A timely conversation about burnout, professional responsibility and how we might build schools in which people can do excellent work without being slowly depleted by it.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Raheema Makhani believes that good teaching starts with knowing the person in front of you.
Episode 316: In this episode, Raheema joins Kieran to talk about the relationships that shape her classroom, why understanding pupils’ interests can change the way they engage with learning, and the importance of making children feel genuinely valued.
That philosophy also shapes her work as a teacher and Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation. The conversation explores personalisation, adaptive teaching and how technology can open up different ways for pupils to learn and express what they know. There is plenty of discussion about AI too, but less about the technology itself than about how schools respond thoughtfully to a world that is already changing around them.
Raheema also reflects on leadership, teacher autonomy and the kind of culture that allows people to try things, admit when something has not worked and ask for help without feeling judged. Along the way, she questions some of the pressures schools place on themselves and makes the case for teachers being a little kinder to themselves too.
A wide-ranging conversation about relationships, trust, innovation and why knowing the people in your school might be the starting point for everything else.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Episode 315: Todd Brown came to teaching later than most, after a previous career in podiatry and a long-standing feeling that he might one day find his way into the classroom.
Five years in, he has become deeply interested in the small things that make learning more likely: the routines that settle a class, the opportunities that keep everyone thinking, the fluency that frees pupils to tackle something harder and the knowledge that allows them to make sense of what comes next.
In this episode, Todd joins Kieran to reflect on the experiences that have shaped his teaching and the ideas he is still trying to refine. The conversation moves through mathematics, classroom culture, explicit instruction, curriculum and the balance between structure and challenge.
There is also a strong thread running through Todd’s thinking about attention. For him, high expectations and well-established routines are not ends in themselves. They create the conditions in which pupils can participate, think and learn.
Todd also reflects on what high-quality education looks like beyond a single classroom, why background knowledge matters, the value of consistency across schools, and why he is wary of rushing too quickly towards data and assessment before children have had time to settle into a new environment.
A thoughtful conversation with a teacher still relatively early in his career, but already thinking very deliberately about what deserves pupils’ attention, what deserves teachers’ time and what actually helps learning stick.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Work with Ben in Panama - https://www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/early-years-teacher-panama-2349341
Episode 314: Ben Cooper has spent much of his career thinking about what helps teachers get better, and what schools can do to make great teaching more likely.
In this episode, Ben joins Kieran to reflect on his journey from classroom teacher to headteacher, the experiences that shaped his thinking about professional development, and how moving from Manchester to Dubai and now Panama has influenced the way he sees teaching and leadership.
The conversation explores the tension between structure and professional judgement, the role of coaching, the importance of clear communication and what happens when schools become more interested in particular strategies than in the learning those strategies are meant to support.
There is also a wider discussion about what headteachers can do to protect the conditions for good teaching, how expertise develops over time, and why some of the most important decisions in a classroom cannot be reduced to a checklist.
A thoughtful conversation about teaching, leadership and the judgement that sits behind both.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Episode 313: Marwa Alsaraf does not want pupils simply to know what to do. She wants them to see how the thinking works.
In this episode, Marwa joins Kieran to talk about the classroom practices she has built over more than a decade in teaching, from clear routines and live modelling to the kind of dialogue that asks pupils to explain, challenge and build on one another's ideas.
Her own journey into teaching began differently from most. Marwa arrived in the UK at 18 with limited English, later worked as a teaching assistant, completed her degree while raising a family and eventually qualified as a teacher. After beginning her career in Birmingham, she moved to the UAE, where she now teaches and leads mathematics.
That experience shapes much of the conversation. Marwa explains why she models using the same books and equipment pupils use, why she deliberately makes and corrects mistakes in front of them, and why strong routines should never be confused with silence or rigidity. For her, a well-run classroom is one in which pupils know what is expected well enough to concentrate on the learning and talk about it.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Episode 312: Kylie Hoey has a simple rule in her classroom: no one opts out. But that comes with a responsibility. If she expects every pupil to participate, she has to give every pupil a genuine chance of succeeding.
In this episode, Kylie joins Kieran to talk about the small decisions that make that possible. She explains why she deliberately engineers early success for pupils who have learned to expect failure, how she creates a classroom where getting something wrong is safe, and why maintaining high expectations is very different from simply demanding more.
Kylie’s own route into evidence-informed teaching began when she found herself teaching older pupils who could not read and realised she did not know how to help them. What followed was a deep dive into reading, explicit instruction and the classroom practices she now uses and shares with other teachers.
The conversation moves from full participation and maths fluency to modelling, coaching and teacher development. Kylie describes seeing teachers transform when they are shown what is possible with their own class, including one who had been ready to leave the profession.
There is also a challenge for schools. Kylie argues that we can be too quick to reach for intervention before asking whether pupils are receiving strong enough whole-class teaching in the first place. In her analogy, there is little point worrying about the supplement if the main meal is not good enough.
This is a conversation about high expectations, but also about what teachers have to do to make those expectations achievable.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Episode 311: What does meaningful school improvement look like when the pressures of accountability are constantly competing for attention?
In this episode of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education, Kieran is joined by teacher, vice principal, mathematics specialist and NPQ facilitator Cheryl Ballance for a conversation shaped by 23 years in education and the experience of helping lead a school through a sustained period of improvement.
They explore the foundations of strong teaching, why Cheryl increasingly sees the early years as so important, the role of routines and mathematical representations, and why belonging, relationships and high expectations need to exist alongside one another.
The conversation then moves from the classroom to the school as a whole. Cheryl reflects on what she has seen successful schools do particularly well: creating consistency, knowing their children and families, establishing high expectations and ensuring pupils feel that they belong. She also discusses the slower, less visible work of improvement: building trust with teachers, giving change time to embed, developing middle leaders and moving from observation as judgement towards instructional coaching and professional development.
Along the way, Kieran and Cheryl discuss SATs, Ofsted and the difficult choices schools face when external measures begin to compete with what leaders believe is best for the children in front of them.
A thoughtful conversation about teaching, leadership and what it takes to improve a school without losing sight of why the school exists in the first place.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
Maths PD Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow - https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Episode 310: What does great teaching actually look like when you strip away the slogans, initiatives and performative “wow” moments?
In the opening episode of Season 7, Kieran is joined by primary teacher Tom Langlois for a wide-ranging conversation about the decisions, routines and professional thinking that sit behind effective classroom practice.
Tom shares how his teaching has changed across 14 years in the classroom, including the development of booklet-based guided reading, the use of modelling, retrieval practice, cold calling, mini whiteboards and backwards faded practice, and why strong systems can create the conditions for teachers to focus on what matters most.
The conversation also moves beyond individual techniques. Kieran and Tom explore how teachers get better over time, the importance of professional conversations with colleagues, what meaningful feedback for teachers might look like, how schools can understand pupils’ starting points, and why continually testing, refining and sometimes abandoning ideas is such an important part of the job.
It is a conversation about teaching as a craft: not finding the next big thing, but getting increasingly good at making the small decisions that shape what pupils experience every day.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Episode 309: If a school wants to improve its curriculum, where should leaders begin?
In the final episode of our curriculum mini-series, we move from curriculum design and classroom practice to the strategic decisions that sit behind long-term improvement. A panel of school leaders joins us to explore how curriculum change is prioritised, supported and sustained.
We discuss how leaders decide what to focus on rather than trying to change everything at once, what needs to be in place if curriculum work is going to reach the classroom, and why some changes may need to wait until stronger foundations have been established. The result is a conversation about curriculum improvement as a long-term process rather than a sequence of isolated initiatives.
Learn more about The Story of Maths and ACEL Pro - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro
For maths curriculum questions contact us here or via [email protected]
Get your tickets for the TDaPE Conference Edinburgh
For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the Hey! What You Reading For newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
AI For Teachers newsletter
Episode 308: A curriculum may be carefully designed, but what does it take for it to work in the hands of teachers?
In the second episode of our curriculum mini-series, we shift from curriculum design to classroom practice. A panel of teachers joins us to explore what curriculum looks like from the perspective of those responsible for enacting it every day.
We discuss the aspects of curriculum that make the greatest difference to teaching and learning, the knowledge and judgement teachers need in order to work with a curriculum well, and what happens when teachers need to adapt while still protecting the ambition and coherence of what has been designed. We also consider what allows curriculum change to become embedded rather than simply becoming the next initiative.
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