SecEd Podcast
92 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago -The SecEd Podcast is dedicated to supporting best practice in the secondary school – with practical advice, discussion and tips for teachers, support staff and school leaders across a range of topics.
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Episodes
The SecEd Podcast: Classroom behaviour
July 03, 2024 07:35 - 1 hour - 135 MBIn 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 cla...
The SecEd Podcast: Preventing suspensions and exclusions
June 12, 2024 05:30 - 1 hour - 128 MBThis 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 se...
The SecEd Podcast: Delivering the Pupil Premium in secondary schools
May 22, 2024 10:52 - 1 hour - 118 MBIn 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...
The SecEd Podcast: Effective line management in schools
May 01, 2024 06:46 - 59 minutes - 109 MBThis 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 ...
The SecEd Podcast: A school leadership survival guide
April 10, 2024 07:26 - 1 hour - 128 MBThis 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 the...
The SecEd Podcast: The first & last 10 minutes of your lessons
March 13, 2024 06:21 - 1 hour - 129 MBIn 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 d...
The SecEd Podcast: Great teacher questioning
February 21, 2024 09:59 - 1 hour - 139 MBGood questioning is at the heart of great teaching – as such this very practical episode looks at how teachers can plan and ask effective questions that support student participation, learning and progress. Two experienced teachers discuss the different purposes of questioning in the classroom as well as the things teachers must consider when planning their questions and questioning techniques. We detail some of the common challenges and how we can overcome them, such as getting the timi...
The SecEd Podcast: Teaching neurodiverse students
January 31, 2024 04:56 - 1 hour - 110 MBThis episode of the podcast asks how classroom teachers and teaching staff can best support the learning, progress, and wellbeing of their neurodiverse students. Our expert panel offer a range of advice, ideas, and tips based on their extensive experience within SEND education. We define neurodiversity and discuss what makes a learner neurodiverse and the kinds of conditions the term covers while also busting some myths. We discuss how we can support the wellbeing of these learners in ...
The SecEd Podcast: Safeguarding in schools: Advice and tips for teachers
January 10, 2024 06:17 - 1 hour - 144 MBThis episode looks at the role of the classroom teacher and teaching staff when it comes to effective safeguarding practice, offering insights, tips and practical dos and don’ts. Classroom teachers and teaching staff are on the frontline when it comes to spotting students who are at risk or struggling due to safeguarding issues. In the episode, three experts consider how we can spot the signs of safeguarding issues, what to do if we’re worried, and how to support and handle disclosures f...
The SecEd Podcast: Subject reviews & deep dives
December 06, 2023 08:24 - 1 hour - 128 MBThis episode focuses on subject reviews or “deep dives” in the secondary school, asking what they are, how we can conduct them effectively without burdening staff, and what information we can and cannot expect to gather accurately. Our expert panel asks what a subject review or deep dive is and looks like and why we need to carry them out – ultimately, what is their purpose? We discuss how we can best conduct reviews/deep dives in order to ensure that we gather reliable and valid informa...
The SecEd Podcast: Curiosity and motivation in the classroom
November 15, 2023 06:51 - 1 hour - 120 MBIn this episode, three experienced teachers discuss ideas, tips and advice for fostering student curiosity and motivation in the secondary school classroom. We ask what curiosity and motivation look like in a classroom and discuss the key elements of the classroom environment and our teaching and pedagogy that can help to create curious and motivated students. Not least, we ask how we can create a “culture of curiosity” that students buy into in our classrooms, including inclusive practi...
The SecEd Podcast: Flexible working in the secondary school
October 25, 2023 05:06 - 1 hour - 125 MBThis episode looks at how secondary schools can plan and implement flexible working practices to help boost teacher recruitment and retention. Our panel of experts include headteachers who have placed flexible working at the heart of their recruitment and retention strategies as well as teachers who work flexibly themselves. We discuss why schools should consider flexible working, the impact it can have, and the benefits for staff and students. How can we be strategic about our approac...
The SecEd Podcast: How to be a calm school leader
October 04, 2023 07:15 - 1 hour - 121 MBWhat 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, l...
The SecEd Podcast: Building connection and strong relationships with your students
September 13, 2023 05:38 - 1 hour - 112 MBThis episode discusses how we can build strong connections and relationships with our students – especially those who are vulnerable – in order that they have the best chance of overcoming barriers and making progress in our classrooms. Two experienced colleagues discuss why this is important and some key principles to building these relationships. We ask how we can begin building connections with a new class of students and how we can foster strong relationships even when we might ...
The SecEd Podcast: Safeguarding & disclosure: A survivor’s story
June 28, 2023 07:14 - 1 hour - 129 MBIn this episode we speak with Rachel W – an abuse survivor who disclosed to staff at school when aged 14 after suffering years of abuse. Rachel talks powerfully about her story and the lessons schools and school staff can learn from it in order to improve safeguarding practice. Interviewed by pastoral specialist and teacher Adele Bates, Rachel discusses the impact of the abuse, including on her education and behaviour in school. She talks about her attempts to disclose and how she was fi...
The SecEd Podcast: How to teach oracy skills
June 14, 2023 05:16 - 1 hour - 135 MBThis episode focuses on how we can teach oracy and speaking skills in the secondary school classroom, with lots of practical tips, ideas, resources and advice. We discuss what oracy is – including the four strands of oracy skills – why oracy matters, the benefits of good oracy skills, what the national curriculum says about spoken language and student talk, and the impact we have seen on students’ speaking skills since Covid (spoiler: 44% of secondary teachers say the pandemic has hit orac...
The SecEd Podcast: Managing EHCPs & SEND in schools
May 31, 2023 05:51 - 1 hour - 129 MBThis episode of the SecEd Podcast offers best practice and tips for effectively managing Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) and supporting students with SEND in the mainstream secondary school. Our expert panel offer advice and tips for teachers, SENCOs, and school leaders across a number of areas. We discuss the main things that mainstream secondary schools need to bear in mind when a student has an EHCP. What do teachers need to be aware of when reading EHCPs and how should teac...
The SecEd Podcast: Developing students’ literacy skills
May 03, 2023 05:49 - 1 hour - 139 MBThis episode looks at how we can best develop the literacy skills of our students, offering whole-school, cross-curricular and classroom-specific ideas, interventions and tips. The podcast defines literacy as the ability to speak, read and write and to understand and use language in order to communicate effectively. We welcome four guests from four schools who discuss the range of approaches, programmes, and interventions they use to support students’ literacy. We ask why literacy skil...
The SecEd Podcast: How to be an effective form tutor
April 19, 2023 05:33 - 1 hour - 139 MBThis episode discusses the role of the secondary school form tutor – what the role entails, how teachers can become effective form tutors, key expectations and obligations, ideas for running your form day-to-day, and general dos & don'ts. Two experienced pastoral leaders offer their insights, including the key obligations of the form tutor and legal duties in terms of safeguarding and attendance. What is the purpose of a form tutor and how does this change with the age of the students? H...
The SecEd Podcast: Career progression options for teachers
March 22, 2023 06:00 - 1 hour - 113 MBThis episode looks at career progression pathways in the secondary school, advising teachers on the range of options and how to develop specialisms and experience. Our expert panel beings with key things to consider when planning where you want to take your teaching career. We discuss the different options and why all teachers – including early career teachers – should be thinking about career progression. How can you hone your plans and develop your skills? How should teachers go about ...
The SecEd Podcast: Aspiring to school leadership
March 08, 2023 06:16 - 1 hour - 115 MBThis episode offers advice, practical tips and inspiration for teachers who are thinking about taking on leadership roles within schools and for those already climbing the leadership ladder. Three experts discuss why teaching staff should aspire to leadership and the different pathways and roles within middle and senior leadership. What kind of skills are needed for leadership? How can teaching staff – including early career teachers – develop these skills and wider leadership experience...
The SecEd Podcast: High-impact classroom routines
February 22, 2023 08:04 - 1 hour - 117 MBThis episode looks at how to embed high-impact routines into your classroom and your teaching. We ask which routines or learning habits are the most successful and how can they be established in order to make teaching and learning more efficient and effective. We ask three key questions of our experts: Why are classroom routines so important? How can we establish classroom routines? What routines do we want to establish – which ones matter the most and will help to ensure that our classroo...
The SecEd Podcast: How to plan great lessons
February 08, 2023 06:07 - 1 hour - 127 MBThis episode considers effective lesson-planning in the secondary school, offering practical tips, advice and ideas for teachers and subject/curriculum leaders. Our experts discuss the difference between a planned lesson and a lesson plan. We ask what should be included in medium and short-term lesson planning. What are the non-negotiables, including key knowledge, skills, and the big questions? Which end-points should we include? What do we want pupils to think about, know and do? What ...
The SecEd Podcast: School inspection & Ofsted
January 25, 2023 06:56 - 1 hour - 136 MBThis episode tackles Ofsted school inspections, offering practical insights and tips – large and small – for secondary schools to help you thrive when the inspectors call. Three experts offer a wealth of advice including some simple tenets of best practice for preparing for and handling Ofsted. Our advice covers the 90-minute phone call, what needs to be in place pre-inspection, being ‘Ofsted-ready’ without burdening staff, and what data you need to have in place. We offer tips for hos...
The SecEd Podcast: Mental health in schools
January 11, 2023 06:02 - 1 hour - 135 MBThis episode offers practical advice and ideas for how secondary schools can support and protect the mental health of their students. NHS data shows that almost one in five students aged 7 to 16 have a probable mental disorder. Our experts discuss the most pressing issues they are seeing and offer advice for how schools can respond. We discuss creating a mentally healthy school culture, whole-school strategies, the role of the mental health lead, tips for things we can do to make a diffe...
The SecEd Podcast: Effective school governance
December 07, 2022 09:53 - 1 hour - 120 MBThis episode considers what effective governance looks like in the secondary school and how school leaders and governors can work together successfully and productively. We speak with three school leadership experts about: The distinction between the strategic and the operational and to what extent should governors be operational? How can we support governors who have little or no experience of schools? What makes for an effective chair and vice-chair of governors? What does an effective lin...
The SecEd Podcast: Diversity in School Leadership
November 23, 2022 06:26 - 59 minutes - 108 MBThis episode looks at leadership diversity in schools, offering a practical discussion about what diverse leadership looks like, how we can develop diverse leadership culture, and the benefits this can bring. We discuss how we “practise” diverse leadership – what should be in place to do it well and what are the crucial factors? How can we be vulnerable and admit mistakes – embracing the fear that this work can generate? What should we avoid when trying to achieve diverse leadership? We ...
The SecEd Podcast: Teacher wellbeing: Avoiding burn-out
November 09, 2022 06:15 - 56 minutes - 104 MBIn 2016, teacher and school leader Peter Radford finally quit the chalkface after burning-out and breaking down due to untenable workload and wellbeing pressures. In this episode – the second of two staff wellbeing podcasts – we hear his story and seek advice for other teachers battling poor wellbeing, high workload, and poor work/life balance. Peter talks about his own experience and how others can spot the signs before it is too late. For schools, we discuss the tenets of creating a me...
The SecEd Podcast: Protecting teacher wellbeing: Part 1
October 26, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 128 MBTens of thousands of teachers quit every year due to poor wellbeing and work/life balance. Across two episodes, we look at how schools can support the wellbeing of teaching staff and what teachers can do to protect their wellbeing. In part one, we discuss how to create a whole-school culture of wellbeing, including mentally-healthy working environments, the pillars of psychological safety, and everyday wellbeing. We consider how line managers can support colleagues and spot problems, how...
The SecEd Podcast: Boosting school attendance
October 12, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 144 MBOne in four children are persistently absent from school and new government guidance means attendance is a priority this term. In this episode, we discuss why students struggle to attend school, the barriers they face, and effective approaches/strategies to help raise attendance. We seek tips from children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza and the Education Endowment Foundation, discussing the findings and recommendations from two school attendance research reviews. We ask what secon...
The SecEd Podcast: School budgets and finance
September 28, 2022 08:03 - 1 hour - 134 MBWith soaring costs and real-terms school funding cuts, balancing the books has become a huge challenge. This episode offers practical advice for effective school financial planning and management. We consider the funding situation on the ground and contemplate some worst-case scenarios for the year ahead. We discuss how we can approach the challenges we face, touching upon generating efficiencies, managing cashflow, benchmarking, financial planning metrics, costing development plans, and m...
The SecEd Podcast: Closing the writing gap
September 14, 2022 05:16 - 47 minutes - 87.6 MBIn this episode, Alex Quigley offers tips and ideas for the explicit teaching of writing skills in the secondary classroom. Drawing on his book, Closing the Writing Gap, Alex explains how secondary teachers of all subjects can improve their students’ writing skills – and why this is important. We discuss general principles, the Simple View of Writing, explicitly teaching and modelling the stages of writing, using talk and rhetoric, disciplinary literacy, teaching grammar, sentence compos...
The SecEd Podcast: Back to school – A leadership checklist
August 31, 2022 05:39 - 1 hour - 143 MBAre you ready for the new school year? This podcast offers a checklist for senior leaders in secondary schools to help you prepare for the autumn term and beyond. Our experts discuss common ‘new year’ tasks for school leaders as well as common problems at this time of year. We focus on the school improvement cycle and self-evaluation – what should be in place and what lies ahead for the School Improvement Plan? We talk staffing, including CPD, succession planning, induction of new staf...
The SecEd Podcast: Supporting students with Long Covid
June 29, 2022 05:04 - 1 hour - 115 MBAt least 250,000 children and young people are living with Long Covid including an estimated 4.8% of secondary-age students. This episode looks at the implications for secondary schools and what we can do to support these students academically and pastorally. We discuss the many and varied symptoms of Long Covid and the impact they can have on learning, education, and wellbeing. We offer ideas and interventions – big and small – to address these issues and support pupils suffering from...
The SecEd Podcast: A teacher’s guide to memory
June 15, 2022 05:02 - 1 hour - 138 MBThis podcast tackles memory – asking what teachers need to know about how students learn, forget and remember information. Our experts offer a wealth of tangible teaching strategies as they discuss short-term, working and long-term memory, how they work and interact, and the implications for how we teach. We discuss how we can direct pupils’ attention, the limitations of short-term memory, and how to help students manage the cognitive load. We discuss how to present information effecti...
The SecEd Podcast: Year 6 to 7 transition
June 01, 2022 03:47 - 1 hour - 143 MBThis episode looks at supporting pupils as they make the transition from primary to secondary school. We chat with two secondary schools and two feeder primaries about common transition challenges and solutions. We look at when transition work should begin, what the process looks like, engaging with parents, identifying pupils who may struggle, and supporting vulnerable pupils. We discuss tried and tested ideas for transition interventions, activities and taster days. Other topics in...
The SecEd Podcast: Extra-curricular activities in schools
May 18, 2022 07:12 - 1 hour - 136 MBThis episode considers extra-curricular activities and what effective provision looks like in the secondary school. What are the common challenges when delivering extra-curricular provision? What kind of activities work best? How do we schedule these activities – when and where? How do we ensure equitable access and do we 'target' students? We also discuss how we can staff extra-curricular provision and encourage staff to take-on activities. And how do we encourage student take-up? How c...
The SecEd Podcast: Appraisal & performance management
May 04, 2022 07:17 - 1 hour - 135 MBHow can school leaders ensure that teacher appraisal and performance management processes are fair and effective. Our experts discuss what an effective appraisal and PM policy looks like and what kind of evidence the process should require. We discuss how to set objectives to enhance mastery and protect teacher autonomy, what happens to those objectives once set, and how they should be monitored and measured. We explain why we should avoid data-driven objectives and how to manage the p...
The SecEd Podcast: Making homework effective
April 20, 2022 07:31 - 56 minutes - 103 MBAll homework should have a clear purpose – but what? This podcast asks what secondary teachers should consider when planning homework. We discuss the purposes of homework, different types of tasks, and which are most effective. We agree some golden rules for setting homework, ask how much we should be setting, and what teachers should avoid doing. We discuss what we should do with the results of homework. Should there always be feedback? What about checks or whole-class feedback? Shoul...
The SecEd Podcast: A teacher’s guide to retrieval practice
March 30, 2022 07:47 - 1 hour - 133 MBThis episode considers how teachers can use test-enhanced learning – commonly known as retrieval practice – as well as spaced learning and interleaving techniques to help students remember/recall the information they are taught. Our experts discuss what these approaches look like in the classroom and the evidence and reasoning behind them. We consider activities that work best, what to avoid, test difficulty, feedback, addressing misconceptions, how memory works, how to create the gaps f...
The SecEd Podcast: Beating exam anxiety: Preparing your students for their exams
March 23, 2022 08:14 - 1 hour - 137 MBThis episode looks at how we can help students to prepare for their GCSE and A-level exams, including handling the anxiety and stress that exam season can bring. Our experts discuss supporting students academically and pastorally, including tackling the impact of Covid on exam preparation. We look at preparing students so they know what to expect, building techniques to use on the day, spotting the signs that students may be struggling, and revision support, including teaching ideas and ...
The SecEd Podcast: Trauma & adverse childhood experiences
March 16, 2022 08:16 - 1 hour - 126 MBThis episode looks at how secondary schools can support students living with trauma & adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). We ask what form trauma/ACEs can take and what impact they can have on young people and their education. We discuss signs to look-out, the key tenets of effective support, how to build strong relationships and trust, and creating safe spaces. We discuss behaviour as a form of communication, how to handle incidents/meltdowns, how to be curious about the causes of b...
The SecEd Podcast: Preparing students for post-16 education
March 02, 2022 08:06 - 1 hour - 127 MBThis episode considers how we can work with key stage 4 students, both academically and pastorally, to prepare them for the step-up to post-16 study. Our experts discuss why this transition point is so vital and the key challenges post-16 students often face. We consider: How we can help students to handle the increased independence of post-16 study, including study and research skills, time-management, self-organisation, and the increased difficulty of the curriculum? When should this p...
The SecEd Podcast: Edtech 2.0: Making the most of technology in schools
February 16, 2022 09:30 - 1 hour - 122 MBAfter 2021 – the year of experimentation – this episode talks all things #edtech, looking at examples of recent best practice and the elements that are crucial to successful technology-use in schools. We offer tips to teachers on risk-taking with edtech as well as making a success of hybrid learning. We also discuss: Confidence-building, edtech trends, CPD/training, good edtech leadership, supporting parent engagement with and via technology, and online assessment. We ask what edtech d...
The SecEd Podcast: How to be a great SENCO
February 02, 2022 09:24 - 1 hour - 135 MBThis episode looks at how to be an effective SENCO – considering best practice in the role, key duties, and how we can carry these out to a high standard. Our experts discuss what a SENCO can and should do in order to be effective, and how we can overcome common challenges – including insufficient time for the role and high workload. We offer advice for someone who is new to the role and we discuss tips for engaging with (supporting & empowering) teaching staff, as well as handling difficu...
The SecEd Podcast: School Leadership – The First 100 Days
January 19, 2022 07:20 - 1 hour - 146 MBThis episode looks at how middle and senior leaders should approach the first 100 days in any school leadership role with lots of advice and tips for school leaders new in post. We discuss: How to prepare for a new leadership role and identify early priorities; what a new leader should do and avoid doing in their first week; how we can engage effectively with new colleagues, including ‘difficult’ colleagues; how to build a culture of trust and bring colleagues with us; levels of leadership...
The SecEd Podcast: Parental Engagement in Schools
January 05, 2022 06:33 - 1 hour - 140 MBThis episode discusses effective parent/carer engagement work for schools, offering advice and ideas. We discuss a parental engagement timeline (when this work should begin and how it can be sustained), handling conflict with parents, how to engage with “hard-to-reach” parents, community out-reach, and protecting staff workload. We discuss best practice for your school website and how parental engagement has changed during the pandemic, including the future of parents’ evenings (online a...
The SecEd Podcast: Preventing challenging behaviour in schools
December 08, 2021 11:39 - 1 hour - 136 MBIn this episode, we catch up with Adele Bates, a behaviour specialist, ex-teacher and author of Miss I Don’t Give a Sh*t: Engaging with challenging behaviour in schools. Our practical discussion looks at how we can deal with and prevent challenging behaviour, what challenging behaviour looks like, when it occurs and handling incidents. We ask how we can create safety, boundaries and routines, including seating plans, how we can "see the child, not the behaviour", including issues of puni...
The SecEd Podcast: The Future of Digital Learning in Schools
December 01, 2021 11:37 - 1 hour - 155 MBThis episode looks at how digital learning in schools is evolving in the wake of the pandemic and what it will look like in the months to come. We discuss lessons learnt from Covid, how the pandemic experience has changed practice and use of technology – and where we go next. We offer ideas for edtech practices that free-up teachers to teach, including pedagogy, homework, assessment, blended learning, flexible working and CPD. We look at what we can do to close the digital divide. This...
The SecEd Podcast: Diversity and inclusion in the classroom
November 24, 2021 09:39 - 1 hour - 131 MBHost Adele Bates leads a reflective and practical discussion on diversity and inclusion in the classroom – how we can achieve this and what it looks like. We touch upon representation, avoiding tokenism, evaluating the resources we use to deliver our curriculum, and ask how we can include all students and ensure everyone feels they belong. We discuss how we can connect with pupils from diverse backgrounds. Other themes include advocacy & allyship for diverse colleagues, BAME & LGBT+ repr...