The SecEd Podcast: How to build school culture
SecEd Podcast
In this episode we discuss ideas for how we can build a positive and inspiring whole-school culture which is inclusive of all, drives high standards, and sustainable in the long-term. We ask what we mean by “school culture” – the way we do things here – and consider how a school culture intersect with its vision, ethos and values, rules, attitudes, and social norms. We speak with three school leaders about how they have developed the culture in their institutions and offer a range of practical ideas and “lessons learned”. We ask how a school leader can go about creating and...
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The SecEd Podcast: Ideas & examples for reducing workload in schools
SecEd Podcast
In this episode, we discuss practical actions that secondary school leaders and teachers can take to reduce workload and working hours. The Department for Education’s Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders research shows that secondary teachers are working almost 50 hours a week on average while secondary leaders work more than 58 hours a week. This episode features two experienced school leaders who have both undertaken a range of initiatives in their schools to bring workload down for all staff. We discuss some of the most common workload challenges before hearing about some of their...
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The SecEd Podcast: Teaching exam classes
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at how we can best teach and prepare our examination classes in the secondary school, especially our GCSE groups. A panel of experienced teachers considers what specific challenges come with teaching exam clases and exam course content and discuss how we can best prepare our students for the exam hall experience itself, including how we can build good exam habits alongside teaching course content. We discuss how teachers can support their students’ wellbeing during their examination years – especially in years 10 and 11 – and how we can build their resilience,...
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The SecEd Podcast: Effective deployment of teaching assistants
SecEd Podcast
This episode offers practical advice for the effective use of teaching assistants (TAs) in the secondary school classroom. Packed full of practical ideas and examples, the episode features three experienced educators, including teachers and TAs. We ask why we need TAs in the modern secondary classroom and the kinds of skills, training and CPD that our TAs need to have in order to be effective. From there, we move on to discussing effective deployment and how teachers can work effectively with their TAs to support teaching and learning in the classroom. We discuss a number of ideas and...
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The SecEd Podcast: Classroom behaviour
SecEd Podcast
In this episode we offer practical advice and tips for teaching staff to help you manage behaviour effectively in your classrooms. Focusing on the secondary school classroom, our experts discuss why school culture is vital to promoting positive behaviour and what this looks like in practice. We discuss where the line lies between overarching principles of whole-school behaviour and how that manifests itself in different classrooms and different subjects? We offer concrete, tangible classroom strategies, ideas and tips for your “in the moment” behaviour toolkit. We consider the role and use...
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The SecEd Podcast: Preventing suspensions and exclusions
SecEd Podcast
This episode considers what schools can do to spot vulnerable students at risk of suspension or exclusion and how we can intervene to pull them back from the brink. Official figures show the number of suspensions and exclusions is increasing year-on-year, not least due to persistent disruptive behaviour. Related factors seem to include unmet mental health and SEN needs, poverty, safeguarding issues, trauma, criminal exploitation, social media, and more. In this episode, we chat to a secondary school headteacher and a virtual headteacher to find out what they are seeing on the ground. We ask...
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The SecEd Podcast: Delivering the Pupil Premium in secondary schools
SecEd Podcast
In this episode we discuss excellent Pupil Premium practice and offer practical tips and ideas for how schools and teachers can support their most disadvantaged pupils. We explore the causes of disadvantage and why the attainment gap between rich and poor has remained stubbornly large. We look at the tangible classroom consequences of disadvantage and what that means for teaching and learning. Specifically, we touch upon how we can improve the attendance of disadvantaged students as well as their language and vocabulary levels. We look at how we can ensure the funding benefits all pupils...
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The SecEd Podcast: Effective line management in schools
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at how to be an effective line manager in the secondary school, offering practical advice, examples and strategies for middle and senior leaders who have line management responsibilities. We chat with two experienced school leaders to discuss the golden rules and key skills required to be an effective line manager. We look at the different type of line manage roles and identify the biggest challenges for line managers. We focus specifically on appraisal – a key duty of line managers. We look at effective appraisal practice, supporting CPD, how to prepare for and have...
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The SecEd Podcast: A school leadership survival guide
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at how school leaders can thrive and survive in their role, including wellbeing advice, tips for leading from the front, and advice for those new to leadership roles. We interview two experienced school leaders to get their insights and practical advice. We look at the hardest challenges of school leadership for those new to the role and tips to help you start off on the right foot. We ask how school leaders can be visible in school and available while protecting their workload and work/life balance. We also ask how leaders can model good work/life balance and working...
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The SecEd Podcast: The first & last 10 minutes of your lessons
SecEd Podcast
In this episode, three experienced teachers discuss how to start and end our lessons in the secondary school classroom – focusing on getting the first and last 10 minutes right. We kick off with some “golden rules” and key ingredients for opening and closing our lessons. We look at achieving calm lesson starts from a behaviour and classroom management point of view, including setting the right tone for behaviour, meeting and greeting, and dealing with students who are late or those who do not settle well. We also consider ideas for getting into learning as quickly and smoothly as...
info_outlineWhat is “calm leadership” and how can this philosophy help middle and senior leaders in schools to be effective and inspiring in their roles?
In this podcast, we chat to Patrick Cozier, the long-serving headteacher of Highgate Wood School in London, about his philosophy of calm leadership.
In a nine-article SecEd series last year, Patrick described his calm leadership approach, discussing what being a calm leader looks like in practice and the many elements involved, including empathy, listening, honesty, integrity, humility, trust, and so much more.
The series is now being turned into a new book and in this episode of the podcast we chat to Patrick to get practical insights into what calm leadership involves and how we can all aspire to be “calmer” in our leadership approaches in schools.
We discuss the challenges of leadership and how to deal with them in a calm and reasoned way, including the paranoia of leadership, imposter syndrome, when doubt sets in, handling difficult moments, and difficult conversations.
We also talk about how to keep calm in challenging situations, keeping a sense of perspective, staying optimistic, and working with colleagues to make good decisions.
We consider how to lead people effectively, including building trust, empowering colleagues, listening properly, and being kind. And we ask how we can nurture other key elements such as humility, empathy, integrity and more. And we discuss coping with the emotional rollercoaster that is school leadership.