We Are In Beta Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Kiran Mahil - History and politics teacher in East London. Obviously, things have changed a lot due to covid19, but what might not be obvious is how we will regain the things we’ve lost over this period. Kiran and friend (and fellow teacher) Hannah Dalton, have come up with a document that allows schools to understand what has been lost and consider how they will respond. It’s called the Roadmap to Renewal. We talked to them about it.
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In this episode, we speak with Sharifah Lee- The Deputy Headteacher of Dorney School in Windsor. We spoke to Sharifah in a previous episode and she mentioned that they're opening their school to more students. That was a couple of weeks ago... We wanted to see what worked, what hasn't and how it's been.
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In this episode, we speak with Chantelle Clarke -Head of Department at Frederick Bremer School, Waltham Forest. We talked about how recent events have led to more support of Black Lives Matter and similar movements. But what do we do with that support?
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In this episode, we speak with Anita Woodward-Benn about her role as the trust attendance manager at the University of Brighton Academies Trust. You could say attendance officers have a reputation for being the rule keepers. But Anita thinks about it differently. She thinks attendance practitioners could and should be the front line of support for families. How? By focusing on building relationships with parents.
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In this episode, we do something a little different. During lockdown, there's been a lot of online CPD. There's plenty of research about what good CPD and good online learning look like. But what do teachers who've attended these sessions say? We ask three teachers about their recent 145+ experiences . Hopefully, it will helpful for CPD leaders when delivering sessions.
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In this episode, we speak to Emily Reynard - Headteacher of MEA Central - about year 7 transition. Emily talks about why transition is so important and how it's not an isolated incident; a transition is felt by every year group.
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In this episode, we speak to David Sammels - Headteacher of Mayflower Community Academy - about how the lockdown has sparked David's change from a linear way of working to a non-linear way. We also speak about how David has been feeling more connected with parents, despite the distance and maybe because of the non-linear working.
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In this episode, we speak to Mike Wilson - Headteacher of St. Edmund's Catholic School in Dover, Kent - about the 'digital divide' - the gap between students who have access to data and devices and those who don't. St. Edmund's Catholic School is one where this divide is significant. Around 10% of students have limited or no access. Shortly after schools closed, the staff at St Edmund's were preparing to take their school online but realised they wouldn't be able to fully. Then they got a call.
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In this episode, we speak to Amit Hathi - Headteacher of Wembley High Technology College. In the wake of the pandemic, school closures and cancellation of exams, teachers have to provide centred assessed grades for their students. Grades which they believe their students would have been most likely to get in the summer. But doing this fairly and consistently is not without its challenges. Amit explains the three step approach they are taking at WHTC and the methodology they have designed to rank students.
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Since we've been working remotely we have had to change the way we do a lot of things. One of them is recruitment. Without being able to visit schools or meet candidates teachers and schools have to change their methods without necessarily changing what they're looking for.
info_outlineWe Are In Beta opens its second series. Host Niall Alcock gives you a taste of what's new and what to expect from upcoming episodes. There's a new addition to the team too. Meet our new producer, Jay.
Don't miss the first episode - out on October 27th 2019 - hit that subscribe button now.
To get access the podcast before anyone else and extra goodies like our guests' research and book recommendations, the services they couldn't do without and links to the policies and documents they talk about in their episodes, sign up to the newsletter:
https://weareinbeta.substack.com/subscribe
Coming up in this series, learn how school leaders are:
- driving whole-school, organisational behaviour change
- breaking ground in co-headship
- building schools from the ground up with flexible working in mind
- understanding what student behaviour is really communicating in PRUs
- meeting students' needs through unconditional positive regard in special schools
- building school communities through traditions
- using experiences of sexism to design recruitment processes
- promoting gender equality as a HeForShe advocate
- improving BAME leadership, representation and diversity
- providing allyship to support under represented groups
Featuring appearances from:
- Leann Swaine (Headteacher, East Barnet School)
- Lisa Farmer (Co-Headteacher, Thomas Russell Infants School)
- The founding team of The Shared Headship Network
- Sue Plant (Head of School, John Taylor Free School)
- Lucy Rose (Teacher & Co-Founder, Flexible Teacher Talent)
- Emma Sheppard (Lead Practitioner & Founder, MTPT Project)
- Marie Gentles (Headteacher, Hawkswood Primary PRU)
- David Whittaker (Director of Learning, Wellspring Academy Trust)
- Manny Botwe (Headteacher, Tythertington School)
- Clare Marie Cuthbert (CEO, Evolve Trust)
- Chris Hilldrew (Headteacher, Churchill Academy & Sixth Form)
- Allana Gay (Headteacher, Vita et Pax Preparatory School / BAMEed Network)
- Patrick Ottley O'Connor (Executive Principal, North Liverpool Academy) @ottleyoconnor
- Pran Patel (Decolonise the Curriculum)
- and...
- ...their colleagues, parents, students and governors.
Join the conversation. Follow me @NiallAlcock and these inspiring school leaders. See you there or via the bonus content newsletter.