SecEd Podcast

This episode offers practical advice, ideas and reflection for effective school improvement practices and processes. Four school leaders discuss the core elements and philosophy of effective school improvement, including vision, values & strategic priorities. We consider how to get everyone on board, communication and change-management, consistency, collaboration, distributed leadership, succession planning, CPD, building trust and social capital, middle leadership, supporting high-quality teaching & learning, the EEF Implementation Cycle, and how to stop chasing outcomes and focus on processes. We discuss common priorities and areas of focus and ask where our panellists would begin if they were parachuted into a challenging school tomorrow...

This podcast looks at the Everyone's Invited testimonies and Ofsted's review into sexual harassment, abuse and violence in schools – and the implications for safeguarding practice. We look at how schools can respond effectively to Ofsted's recommendations, not least the requirement that we "assume that sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are happening". How can we encourage victims to report incidents, change school culture, ensure pupil voice is at the heart of our response, and review RSHE provision? What kind of staff training is required? How do we review school policies and respond to different 'levels' of incident?

This episode looks at student-led eco-work in schools as well as how schools can reduce their carbon emissions. Our panel includes both teachers and students and offers a range of ideas large and small for projects and cost-saving initiatives. The podcast is inspired by the Let's Go Zero schools campaign. We look at practical carbon reduction ideas, wider eco-work including single-use plastics and food waste, how student eco-teams can work, using the free En-ROADS simulator resource, and the Youth Climate Action Network. We consider how schools can save money by prioritising carbon reduction, including energy surveys, reducing energy-use and procurement.

Following our popular podcast on quality first teaching (https://bit.ly/2R5PIT8), this episode looks specifically at effective marking and feedback practice for teachers. Our experts offer ideas and tips to ensure your marking and feedback is effective. Themes include: the purposes of teacher assessment, school assessment policies, consistency across the school, using assessment to inform curriculum-planning, target-setting, tracking progress, using assessment data, assessment points, and addressing misconceptions. We offer tips to reduce workload, including how to "live mark" during lessons, verbal mark schemes, self & peer-assessment, code-marking, hinge questions, exit tickets etc. And tips for effective feedback, including whole-class feedback, feedback sheets etc.

There is much talk about catch-up, lost learning and a Covid generation. Many politicians and commentators have adopted this deficit model to discuss schooling post-pandemic. But have we stopped to ask what our children actually need? Or what school should look like from September for those of us who reject this deficit mindset? This podcast sets out to do just that. Our guests, who include two headteachers and two students, discuss issues ranging from mental health & wellbeing to curriculum and mentoring. We also consider the Covid innovations we want to hang on to.

This episode considers the impact of poverty on children, families and education – and what schools can do to address these consequences. We look at the national picture of increasing child poverty (4.3 million children and rising), the causes of poverty, the barriers it creates to education, and the impact of Covid. We discuss why free school meals is a poor proxy for poverty and how schools can understand the (often hidden) poverty in their families and communities. We focus on a range of practical ideas for supporting pupils/families and consider how we can break the barriers that poverty creates.

In this episode, Matt Bromley interviews colleagues from four secondary schools to find out how we can ensure an effective transition of pupils from year 6 to 7. The panel shares perennial good practice advice for transition and ensuring a smooth start in September, but also touches on the particulars of transition in 2021 as pupils recover from the impact of Covid-19. We discuss issues relating to teaching & learning, pedagogy, pastoral and wellbeing issues, administration & management, liaising with feeder primary schools and families, and more. The podcast offers lots of quick, practical and useful ideas.

Host Adele Bates leads a reflective and practical discussion on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the school, especially within the curriculum, school culture and workforce. Adele and guests, including #DiverseEd's Bennie Kara, author of A Little Guide for Teachers: Diversity in Schools, discuss how far we have come and what needs to happen next. Topics include decolonising/diversifying the curriculum, LGBT, whole-school approaches, workforce training and changing school cultures. We consider EDI within school policies, recruitment and school values/culture. Where should schools start with this work? How do we get past tokenism and box-ticking?

This episode offers a wealth of practical insights, advice & ideas for effective safeguarding practice in schools. We look at general good practice as well as safeguarding during Covid-19. Our experts tackle issues including the key principles of effective safeguarding, safer working practice, making effective referrals/working with children's social care & the 'trends' to be aware of in 2021 (sexual harassment/abuse, self-harm, online abuse, esafety). We look at safeguarding considerations for September, how safeguarding practice has evolved during Covid-19, what changes are here to stay, the issues we are on the look-out for & what our response should be.

In this episode, three guests – who have more than 34 years' teaching experience between them – dissect what exactly Quality First Teaching looks like in the classroom, offering practical ideas, guidance, tips and reflection. We tackle issues such as teacher CPD, subject knowledge, and research-led teaching. We look at the environment for learning, some key principles of effective pedagogy, stretch, challenge and high expectations as well as explanations and modelling. We also tackle questioning techniques, how to tackle misconceptions, practice and revision, as well as feedback and assessment.