The SecEd Podcast: The Greatest Hits
SecEd Podcast
To celebrate the 100th edition of the SecEd Podcast this episode counts down our top 10 most popular podcasts of all time. Have you listened to them all? Launched in early 2020, the SecEd Podcast has been on air for five years and to mark episode 100 podcast co-hosts Pete Henshaw and Matt Bromley reveal our top 10 most listened to episodes – interspersed with clips and highlights from each one. Without giving the game away, themes include oracy education, senior and middle leadership, quality first teaching, classroom management, Pupil Premium, inclusion and SEN, and much, much more. Matt...
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The SecEd Podcast: Artificial intelligence in schools: Opportunities and risks
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at the opportunities and risks presented by the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in education. We speak to three experts who are working in schools to develop AI in effective and safe ways. We kick off the discussion by asking our panel to list what they consider to be the three biggest benefits of AI in schools and the three biggest risks/threats. We then look at whole-school AI strategy and policy. What does a good AI strategy look like and what elements need to be included in a school’s AI policy? What does effective staff training look like? How should...
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The SecEd Podcast: Research-informed schools (and teaching)
SecEd Podcast
This episode looks at what it means to be a research-informed school and how we can use research to improve teaching, learning, and student outcomes. We talk to three experienced and research-engaged educators about what kind of research it is best for schools to use – and how we can know that any particular piece of research is valid and trustworthy. We then consider how we can balance external research studies and findings with our own evidence collected internally in our schools. Our panel advise how we can help teachers to engage with academic research, including via in-school CPD...
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The SecEd Podcast: Protecting staff wellbeing in schools
SecEd Podcast
This episode offers practical advice and examples for how we can protect the wellbeing of our teaching staff – with ideas for teachers and schools. The episode has been inspired by the recent publication of Education Support UK’s Teacher Wellbeing Index 2024, which has once again painted a worrying picture about the wellbeing of those who give so much to educate our children and young people in schools. As such, we hear from Education Support about the findings of this year’s Index research findings and speak to our guests about the wellbeing challenges that teaching staff face. Our...
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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...
info_outlineThis 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 what preventative actions schools can take to keep students in school and what the signs are that we need to be alert to that a student is on a suspension/exclusion trajectory.
We discuss a graduated response to supporting students and the role of the school environment and climate for learning, including how routines and expectations can help and “teaching” behaviour.
We also touch upon potential interventions for students at risk, including pastoral support plans, unmet needs, a change of curriculum, family support workers and more.
We also ask how we can support students who have been suspended to help them reintegrate into school life successfully, including running reintegration meetings.