We celebrate the release of our 250th episode with an inspirational conversation with Andria Zafirakou - 2018 Global Teacher Prize winner and founder of the charity Artists in Residence.Andria, a teacher at Alperton Community School in Brent, won $1 million when she was crowned the best teacher in the world by the Varkey Foundation.Andria was born in north-west London to Greek-Cypriot parents and state-educated in Brent and Camden.She is an art and textiles teacher in Brent on the outskirts of London, one of the world’s most ethnically diverse places. She is passionate about education and changing the lives of young people and underserved communities through creativity.She has worked her entire teaching career of 14 years at Alperton Community School and was promoted to Deputy Head of Art within a year of her arrival. She is now Associate Deputy Headteacher leading on staff professional development.Using the prize money awarded by the Global Teacher prize, Andria founded a charity called Artists in Residence (AiR) with an aim to improve arts education in schools.  Andria has also been named in the top ten of The Evening Standard's 1000 Londoners List, a list of the most influential people in London. She is a Culture Leader for the World Economic Forum's as well as a member of their Global Future Leaders Council.  Andria sits on the Advisory board for the Cultural Leaders Alliance.Artists in Residence is a new initiative to promote creativity in schools founded by Andria Zafirakou.“In recent times, there has been a decline in children choosing to study arts at GCSE, or enter into the workplace in an arts based job. Artists in Residence brings prestigious artists into schools and enables students to vision an exciting world they can be part of. This programme is not just about celebrities performing inspirational speeches; it is about real exposure to inspirational experiences, lasting creative relationships, and inspiring children to start a journey into artistic industries.”Websitewww.andriazafirakou.comwww.artistsinresidence.org.uk𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐥⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢,⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠,⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛,⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑙𝑓,⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣Social Media InformationTwitter @Andriazafwww.facebook.com/ArtistsinR/Show SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events this summer at nape.org.uk/online-eventsMental Health/Wellbeing - How to support pupils with transition to secondary school with Sam Moinet from Student Breakthrough (16th May 2022)Ocean Plastic & Climate Change - Join Ellie Jackson author of the Wild Tribe Heroes book series as we invite pupils to write a story based on this topic in a writing festival (13th June 2022) Mentioned in this episode:NAPE Al Kingsley Summit PromoWatch Mark Taylor interview Al Kingsley about 'Creating Digital Strategies for Schools' as part of the Primary Education Summit 2023 - Visions for the Future - presented by National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) https://www.educationonfire.com/creating-digital-strategies-for-schools/

Mark Taylor shares everything EdTech with conversations from those speaking, attending and exhibiting live from the Bett Show in London 24th March 2022.ViewSonic very kindly invited me to be involved with their EdTech Talks.You can watch my conversation with Peter Claxton and Peter Godwin now.The Role of Podcasts in Education Marketing and Education Technology | BETT 2022 EdTech TalksListen to my Education on Fire podcast with Peter Claxton from ViewSonic Ep 226Prof Ger Graus OBE, Member of Bett’s Global Education Council. (05:15)Professor Dr Ger Graus OBE is a renowned figure in the field of education, where, since March 2017, he holds the position of the first Global Director of Education at KidZania.KidZania, where children aged 4 to14 can experience the world of work through role-play, is designed to inspire and empower: “from inspiration to aspiration”. Since its inception in 1999 in Mexico City, KidZania now has a presence in 24 cities on 5 continents with plans for further developments in some 20 locations including the USA, Canada and South Africa. KidZania London is the UK’s first such educational entertainment centre.Ger Graus has been at the heart of innovation and project development such as 'KidZania World Online', 'KidZtalk', 'KidZania Careers Week', ‘KidZania LitFests’; education ‘Think-Tanks’, 'Ambassador Schools' and independent evaluations by, amongst others the University of Cambridge, Cass Business School, Havas Helia and Ernst & Young. Based on these evaluations’ findings, Ger is now spearheading a ‘Futures Awareness’ campaign to introduce careers education into the primary phase. After all, as he frequently reminds us: “Children can only aspire to what they know exists.” Ger started at KidZania London in 2014, where he has been responsible for developing the UK-wide education strategy, including partnerships with schools, Higher Education, commercial and third sector learning partnerswww.bettshow.com/global-education-councilkidzania.co.uk/Alexa Joyce - Digital Transformation & Skills Director at Microsoft. (19:54)Alexa works across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region to drive digital transformation of education institutions and digital skills development, from primary through to higher education. She focuses on enabling them to develop the skills that students need to succeed in work and life. Over the last 20 years, Alexa has worked with governments in more than 100 countries across the world in digital transformation.She previously led the global strategy at Microsoft for engaging and support education system leaders as they evolve their institutions, and was formerly EMEA Director of Policy, Teaching and Learning, focusing on supporting national device deployments across the region. Prior to Microsoft, she worked with leading international education organizations: European Schoolnet (the network of 34 Ministries of Education in Europe), UNESCO and OECD. She’s on the advisory board of the EDUCATE incubator ed-tech startups in the UK.www.microsoft.comCypher Learning (31:02) offers schools and universities an online learning platform to help revolutionise and personalise hybrid education. The platform is used in hundreds of countries, supporting over 40 languages, trusted by hundreds of thousands of users.The learning management platform, NEO, empowers teachers to deliver a seamless learning experience by making it easy to create and manage all learning activities. This includes building online classes, assessing students, enhancing collaboration, identifying knowledge gaps and tracking achievements. This system takes the best of online learning and injects it into the everyday classroom, to modernise and streamline education.www.cypherlearning.com/Listen to my Education on Fire podcast with founder Graham Glass Ep 244Sparx Learning - Colin Hegarty (42:31)Sparx is working with 2000 secondary schools to help more children to make good progress with maths. In particular, they ran a large scale pilot with 4 MATs during the 2020 lockdowns and are waiting to see if the work will be recognised with a Bett award for school collaboration. Sparx uses AI but is cautious about its use and is also a great advocate for evidence about the impact of Edtech, they're founder members of the of EdTech Evidence Group.sparx-learning.com/jamf (53:44)Education technology solutions for Apple. Educators need powerful, intuitive tools that serve all students — no matter who they are, how they learn or where they learn. Jamf helps schools deliver an active learning environment to everyone with iPad, Mac and Apple TV devices.I chat to Aaron Webb - Global Senior Product Marketing Manager for Education and Suraj Mohandas - Sr. Director, Strategy, Educationwww.jamf.com/Class (01:08:21)Add teaching & learning tools to Zoom. Everything you can do in a physical classroom, you can do with ClassI chat to Matt Baker SVP Strategy Internationalwww.class.com/www.class.com/blog/class-is-partnering-with-intel-to-improve-virtual-learning/Encyclopaedia Britannica (01:19:27)Britannica has provided people with researched and trusted information for more than 250 years. In the current climate of the Internet being cluttered with misinformation more schools are moving to use Britannica Digital's learning content. In addition to this Britannica has worked with Shirelands Academy Trust on a full STEAM curriculum called LaunchPacks. Britannica has also worked with the Government in Egypt and Japan on similar STEAM learning content.I chat to Hayley Mills and we discuss:Britannica's journey from print publishing to being a must-have digital resource for students globallyThe need for trustworthy information in this era of increasing misinformation for young peopleHow we are reaching younger audiences in creative ways such as TikTok and YouTubeHow we are partnering with companies like Dynabook to provide a better rounded EdTech solution for schoolswww.britannica.com/Show SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them.Watch their Christian Schiller Lecture 2022 with Nancy StewartCherishing the growth of young children: what early years education can be.

Simon Antwis is Senior Education Consultant at STEER Education. He has been a headteacher of three schools and a school inspector. STEER Education is a whole-school mental health platform that empowers teachers to measure, track and improve the self regulation and mental wellbeing of young people.It supports being proactive in safeguarding young people’s mental health.STEER Education exists to prepare young people with the human skills they need to thrive in life. Research shows that self-regulation is a critical skill that young people need for that journey. STEER'S mission is to safeguard the mental health of the young people by teaching them to self-regulate. They do that by serving families, schools and young people themselves.STEER provides schools with a standardised, data-driven, impact-focused approach to measure, track, and improve social-emotional health across their schools, and demonstrate a high level of proactive safeguarding.Their tools track how every young person steers four factors of self-regulation: their self-disclosure, trust of themself, trust of others, and seeking change.STEER schools track their young people 3 times a year, year on year, from 8 to 18, providing early mental health risk flags, and personalised action plans to guide teachers’ response. We even provide practical guidance for children’s families.Websitesteer.education/Social Media InformationTwitter @simonantwishttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/simon-antwis-50132b31Resources MentionedFever Pitch - Nick HornbyLeadership Matters - Andy BuckShow SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child

Edward is a secondary school science teacher who out of nowhere developed insomnia. This happened for roughly 6 months and was an extremely stressful and tough period to go through.However he managed to fully get over his insomnia and return to being a normal sleeper. As a result he created a website to offer support to others suffering from insomnia.This website also aims to help the wider population to sleep better and to get the best nights sleep possible. This is especially important for teachers who have stressful days and need to arrive feeling fresh everyday.Ed offers two different services. Firstly he helps individuals improve their sleep to benefit their health, performance and wellbeing. Secondly if you are suffering from insomnia, he offers therapy to help you get out of that vicious cycle that is insomnia.Everyone deserves and can get a good nights sleep. Listen to find out more.Websitewww.cambridgesleepcoach.co.ukResource MentionedDr Guy MeadowsShow SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child

Moira is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and Wellbeing Coach who specialises in helping men and women with or without a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome or long covid to regain their energy through a combination of nutrition and other lifestyle changes. Chronic fatigue is not for life, you can fully recover. Moira can support you to understand what has gone wrong with your energy production and how to reboot it to get your energy back and your life on track again.As educators we need to support ourselves in all areas of our lives so we can show up in the best possible health for our pupils.Moira uses a food first approach to make sure you are nourishing your body as much as possible through your diet, adding in nutritional supplements if needed. She can support you to make changes in other aspects of your life such as sleep, stress, time spent outdoors, chemicals you might be exposed to as well as supporting relaxation and joy in your life. She finds this holistic approach provides the best results as we layer up small changes until you get a significant change in how you feel.Websitewww.moiranewiss.co.uk/www.moiranewiss.co.uk/burnout-to-balance-ebookResources MentionedMy Octopus TeacherShow SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child

Iona Jackson is Head of Research at Edurio, managing a team of survey experts and data analysts through projects relating to stakeholder feedback in schools.New Edurio research reveals half of children feel stressed and a quarter feel lonely.Edurio has published their latest research examining pupil wellbeing, support systems in school and how pupils feel about school. The study drew on responses from 45,000 children of which 15,000 were from primary.Children feel progressively less well as the move through primary school – 76% in year 1 feel well but this drops by 17 percentage points in Y6 when 59% report feeling well.Children feel more stressed in Y6 (36%) than in Y1 (22%)More primary aged children feel overworked in Y2 and Y3 than at any other time during primary school.The research shows that the transition to secondary school has a negative impact on children’s wellbeing and the drop is greater than at other times during school.Children’s overall wellbeing drops from 59% feeling well in Y6 to 46% in Y7.More students often feel stressed – rising from 36% in Y6 to 43% in Y7More children report not sleeping well in Y7 (30%) than in Y6 (28%) A survey of 45,000 school-aged children conducted by Edurio reveals that less than half (47 per cent) of pupils reported that they had been feeling well in the period leading up to the survey. A similar number (46 per cent) often felt stressed. Added to this, a quarter (24 per cent) of pupils admitted feeling lonely. This is much higher than a previous study by the Office for National Statistics in 2018 which found 11 per cent of 10-15 year olds felt lonely. It suggests that the pandemic has had a significant impact on pupils.The research, which was conducted during the summer term, found that pupils in the latter stages of their schooling fared worst for overall wellness, sleep and overwork. A third (31 per cent) of pupils in their final year of GCSEs reported feeling well; four in 10 (41 per cent) slept badly; two-thirds (66 per cent) felt overworked and over half (63 per cent) of year 11 pupils felt stressed. The research found significant differences in wellbeing between girls and boys, with girls reporting lower wellbeing scores. More than half (55 per cent) of girls feel quite or very often stressed compared to just a third (36 per cent) of boys. Almost half (48 per cent) of girls feel frequently overworked compared to just over a third (38 per cent) of boys. Furthermore, less girls (43 per cent) felt well than boys (54 per cent) and less girls (40 per cent) slept well than boys (47 per cent).Interestingly, the research points to a correlation between pupil wellbeing and a school’s Ofsted rating. Pupils at schools judged ‘outstanding’ have consistently higher stress levels, problems sleeping and feel overworked:Almost half of pupils (49 per cent) have felt stressed lately compared to 44 per cent at ‘good’ schools and 45 per cent at ‘requires improvement (RI)’ schools.Under half (41 per cent) reported having good sleep compared to 44 per cent at ‘good’ schools and 45 per cent at RI schools.Just under half (46 per cent) feel overworked compared to 42 per cent at ’good’ schools and 44 per cent at RI schools.Edurio found that 71 per cent of students feel safe in class. However, eight per cent reported feeling unsafe in class which means, in an average-sized class, two to three pupils feel unsafe. Furthermore, when there is an issue, less than half (41 per cent) feel they have an adult at school whom they can trust and talk to. Similarly, just over a third (37 per cent) feel that they would rarely or never have an adult at school that they can trust and talk to. So, who do pupils turn to when they feel sad or worried? Almost half (48 per cent) choose to speak to their parents, 41 per cent to their classmates and just 29 per cent choose to speak to teachers. Most concerning is that less than a quarter (15 per cent) do not speak to anyone when they feel sad or worried.Ernest Jenavs, CEO of Edurio, said: “From the many conversations I have had with school leaders, COVID-19 has magnified the challenges facing pupils. With the spotlight now firmly on wellbeing, we can collectively focus on how to address the issues pupils of all ages are experiencing. We hope our report plays a small part in paving the way for positive, lasting change.” Co-author of the report, Daniel Muijs, Dean of the School of Education and Society at Academica University of Applied Sciences, and formerly Deputy Director at Ofsted, said: “The report highlights many key areas that warrant further discussion – not just within the education sector – but also within society. A substantial number of children are not happy and many experience sleep problems and stress. Loneliness is increasing and, as children move through education, these negative factors simply get worse. As education leaders, we need to ask ourselves difficult questions about how we can help reduce the pressure of GCSEs and-A Levels; how we can ensure girls as well as boys flourish. Other notable findings from the research include:A far larger proportion of children with extra responsibilities, such as caring for a parent, felt overworked. More than double (65 per cent) reported feeling overworked compared to those without extra responsibilities (30 per cent).More than a quarter (28 per cent) of girls felt lonely compared to just under a fifth (18 per cent) of boys.Almost two in 10 had been bullied in the three months before they took the survey. Three in 10 know someone else who has been bullied in the three months leading up to the survey.Wellness reduces as children progress through primary. 76 per cent of year one pupils reported feeling well lately, but the figure fell dramatically to 59 per cent for those in year six.Two-thirds (65 per cent) of pupils are happy to be studying at their school.Just under half (43 per cent) of pupils feel that they are quite or very often overworked. Indeed, almost a third (28 per cent) of those who spend less than two hours on homework feel quite or very overworked compared to less than a quarter (20 per cent) of those who spend more than two hours on homework.The full report can be found at: https://go.edurio.com/pupilwellbeingSocial Media InformationTwitter: @ionaatedurioLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iona-jackson-7a980255/Resources MentionedMatt HaigShow SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child

Study Help was co-founded by academic expert, Aimee Buckley. With over 25 years of teaching experience, Aimee is a highly sought-after expert and has been featured in many podcasts. With a distinguished career as a public school teacher (with a focus in Special Needs Education), she is uniquely qualified to ensure that our students get the help they need to be truly successful at school!Their mission is to help students succeed in elementary, middle school, high school, and beyond. All of our sessions are led by accredited teachers and/or field experts following the guidelines of your school’s curriculum. This way, rather than just completing their homework, students get the comprehensive help they need to improve their school experience and grades.Websitestudy.helpSocial Media InformationInstagram and Facebook - studyhelpinc Show SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child

Cypher Learning NEO is the next-generation platform your school has been waiting for. It’s the ideal solution for all learning activities, whether it’s creating content, assessing students, or tracking student achievement. NEO provides a refreshingly new way to teach and learn that boosts student engagement and makes teaching easier. With an intuitive design and powerful features, NEO has all the tools schools and universities need for a great learning and teaching experience.It all started with a young boy named Graham Glass who had a tremendous passion for education. Growing up in the U.K., Graham was lucky to attend schools where he encountered some great teachers. He enjoyed going to school and learning new things. He even thought of choosing teaching as a career.Later on, after finishing university, Graham became a teacher and was a senior lecturer at the University of Texas, where he taught Computer Science. He gained a good reputation for his teaching skills at UTD, and was soon getting offers to teach the same materials at local high-tech companies. Back in those days, Learning Management Systems (LMS) did not exist to help facilitate teaching and engage young learners with their studies. Even then, he was wondering why isn’t there a way to package his instruction materials in a scalable way and make it available to millions of people. Graham built his first company based on his teaching experience and ventured on to corporate training and software products. He founded two more companies related to computer tech and training, but his passion has always remained teaching and education. Even though he spent most of his career in the enterprise software space, there has always been a significant educational component, whether it was teaching at University, writing books, teaching in corporations, or explaining complex topics at seminars.That's why in 2009 he decided to go back to his educational roots by starting a new company called EDU 2.0. The company focused on something that was very close to Graham's heart, which was improving education through an innovative e-learning platform. His mission was to provide a better way of facilitating teaching and learning and have a bigger impact on the way people learn.In 2014 EDU 2.0 rebranded to NEO and EDU 2.0 for Business rebranded to MATRIX. Both products are now under the umbrella of CYPHER LEARNING. In 2017, the company launched a new LMS product for entrepreneurs named INDIE.Over the years, CYPHER LEARNING products have received numerous awards and recognitions, are used by over 20,000 organizations, and are available in 40+ languages. Graham's passion for education and innovation has become the essence of who we are as a company and motivates us as a team to offer the best solutions for each market.CYPHER LEARNING is currently the only company that offers learning management systems in all major e-learning sectors: academic, corporate, and individuals.Websitehttps://www.neolms.com/Social Media Informationhttps://twitter.com/cypherlearningResources MentionedSociety of Mind - Marvin Minsky Show SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child

Astro Pi Challenge calls on young people to run their own experiments on the International Space Station.I find out more from Olympia Brown, Head of Youth Partnerships, Raspberry Pi Foundation. Two upgraded Raspberry Pi computers were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2021, enabling young people aged 19 and under to run scientific experiments in space and communicate with astronauts aboard the ISS.The European Astro Pi Challenge from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, in partnership with the European Space Agency, empowers young people, no matter their experience with computers, to write a simple computer program and share a message with the astronauts orbiting 408km above the Earth. The two Raspberry Pi computers will replace older, less-advanced models called Ed and Izzy that were originally deployed as part of Tim Peake's Principia mission in 2015.The European Astro Pi Challenge Mission Zero is aimed at beginners and primary school children and guides young explorers through the steps of writing a computer program to measure the humidity on the ISS. They can share a personal message and create a digital animation that appears on the LED display for the station’s astronauts to read and enjoy. Previous messages sent to the ISS included, ”Do you like pizza?”, “Can you take pets to space?” and “I want to go to space one day.”Mission Zero is free, takes about an hour to complete and can be done at home or in the classroom through the Astro Pi website: astro-pi.org. Everyone that follows the step-by-step guidance is guaranteed to have their computer program message and animation run in space and will receive a personalised certificate to confirm the date, time and location of the ISS when their program was run. They will also have the opportunity to name the Raspberry Pi computers heading to space in December. Young people can have a go and send their messages to the space station until 18 March 2022.Philip Colligan, CEO, Raspberry Pi Foundation said: “I can’t think of many free science-education projects for young people that have their own space programme. The Astro Pi Challenge is a fun activity to support children to discover coding, explore digital creativity and take part in an ‘out of this world’ learning opportunity. You don’t need to be a computer whizz to have a go, you don’t need specialist equipment, and parents don’t need to have any knowledge of coding to support their child to take part, we talk you through it step-by-step. We are putting the power of computing into children’s hands with one of the coolest educational opportunities out there.”In addition to Mission Zero, the Astro Pi Challenge Mission Space Lab is aimed at teams of young people with some prior experience of coding. Teams develop more detailed experiment ideas in school or as part of a coding club that can run on the two Raspberry Pi computers, learning about the real-world impact that their experiments can have.Olympia Brown, Head of Youth Partnerships, Raspberry Pi Foundation said: “More than 54,000 young people from 26 countries have taken part in the Astro Pi challenges to date to run their own computer programs in space . Our two new Raspberry Pi computers mean even more young people can learn about coding and digital creativity to empower them to share messages with the International Space Station. The upgraded technology allows young participants to develop and run more detailed and complex experiments than they have ever been able to before.”The deadline for entries to this year’s Mission Space Lab has now closed but the most promising experiments will now be supported by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to progress their ideas, with selected teams receiving hardware to refine their experiment on Earth before the best ideas run on the ISS. Previous Mission Space Lab experiments designed by young people explored the health of forests and plant erosion and monitoring for wildfires. The Astro Pi Challenge has been designed to be “device neutral” meaning participants do not need to have access to a Raspberry Pi computer to take part – however they do need access to an internet-connected computer.  The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based charity that works to put computing and digital-creativity into the hands of young people all over the world. It aims to empower young people to harness the power of community and digital technology to solve problems that matter to them and to express themselves creatively . To find out more about the Astro Pi Challenge and take part in Mission Zero today, visit astro-pi.orgSocial Media Informationhttps://twitter.com/astro_piShow SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child

Gail Swift is fiercely committed to guiding students and families to take action in their natural abilities.As a proven professional who can guide you to address how your child solves problems, the questions to motivate them, and their ideal career you’ve come to the right place!Gail’s work has impacted lives, such as Brittany, a 15 yr. old with anxiety who believed that she was “not normal” when in fact, the way she worked was normal for her and Taylor, who Gail worked with as a Senior to make sure she was spot on with her electives and internships in the zip code her school was in.What really excites Gail Swift about her work is knowing that every single student is created with a pattern of taking action that does not change over time. That pattern predicts their Path which leads to their purpose.Her expertise has been honored by being in the first group of Kolbe Youth Advocates in the world, appearances on Podcasts, Television segments, Educational stages and College open houses.Three unique things about Gail that might surprise you include: she loves watching her kids dance in the rain, takes a hike with her husband most Saturday mornings and snuggle with her Rhodesian Ridgeback Jax!Websiteplanstoprospercoaching.comShow SponsorThe National Association for Primary Education speaks for young children and all who live and work with them. Find out more about their online CPD events at nape.org.uk/online-eventsListen to Mark’s audio course 10 Pieces of Advice You’d Like to Have as a Child