We Are In Beta Podcast

To get access to the podcast before anyone else and receive a curated list of organisations and resources guests recommend, join the free We Are In Beta community mailing list here In this episode, Dr, Chris Tomlinson, Director of Harris Secondary and soon to be CEO of Coop Academies Trust, shares his thoughts on: Why his experience of education wasn’t great and what gave him confidence What he believes headteachers should all still do What he says is the key to leading 5 schools from inadequate to outstanding Which groups of students he thinks defines you as a leader Why he disagrees with tabloid newspapers What he thinks about Ofsted His advice to new leaders about how to approach Ofsted What he believes is the most effective CPD Which external organisations he recommends working with How to get the most out of SEN funding How he responds to the criticism that Harris academies are exam factories How schools and the government can tackle teacher retention problems Why his weaknesses might be his biggest s

To get access to the podcast before anyone else and receive a curated list of organisations and resources guests recommend join the free We Are In Beta community mailing list here In this episode of the We Are In Beta Podcast, Hannah Wilson, Executive Headteacher, Aureus Primary and Secondary Schools, Oxfordshire shares her thoughts on: How she got into teaching The time when could’ve left teaching for good and the time when she left a school without a role to go to next The skills she’s learned that she never knew she’d need as a head What the NPQs don’t teach that she learned when winning her local community over How the values at Aureus have driven the design of their curriculum The award they’ve been working towards that’s given them strategic vision on mental health Why so many qualified teachers are not in the classroom anymore and how she’s tempting them back in How she has recruited 2 years into the future without spending any money How she manages to fund a very healthy CPD budget through both sav

To get access to the podcast before anyone else and receive a curated list of organisations and resources guests recommend join the free We Are In Beta community mailing list here In this episode of the We Are In Beta Podcast, Clare Rees, Headteacher, Havelock Primary School, Ealing shares her thoughts on: Why it’s her ‘grandmother’s fault’ she became a teacher The advice her colleague gave her that she ignored Why she didn’t believe she could do a doctorate but took it on anyway How, over the course of three years, she gradually implemented and embedded a coaching culture The difficulties she and her team faced and how she overcame them What you need to get in place to make building trust surprisingly easy Why looking to hospitals could help solve teacher retention What we need to do that will help teachers exceed all performance goals The problem they face when implementing a zero-tolerance behaviour policy and what they did to make it disappear How good behaviour for learning helps them to balance the b

To stay up to date with interviews and updates from the We Are In Beta community and access links to all the resources, people and organisations guests mention sign up here In this episode of the We Are In Beta Podcast, Ed Vainker, Executive Headteacher, Reach Academy Feltham, shares his thoughts on: How he got into teaching How North America influenced his education philosophy Why Reach Academy Feltham may never have come to exist Why is he reluctant to shout from the rooftops about Reach Academy’s success Which strand of work runs through everything they do and which organisations have been pivotal to their success An unpopular opinion he has about student attainment data How they can afford to timetable teachers to not be teaching to make teachers lives easier How this work will be shared with other schools and thousands of trainee teachers Why he thinks teachers leaving the profession might actually help the retention His latest thinking on offering staff more flexibility Which leadership model has bee

In this episode of the We Are In Beta Podcast, Will Smith, Chief Exec at Greenshaw Learning Trust, shares his thoughts on: How acids and alkalis altered his life direction What everyone at Greenshaw is entitled to What impact changes to the Ofsted framework will have How he re-defines accountability The organisations that you probably think about that MATs are accountable to  The leader mindset shift he thinks is required in the system His trust’s statement of intent around inclusivity The other side of the exclusions debate he thinks should be recognised How he works to embody the culture of the organisation and who helped him realise it The strategies Greenshaw uses to value staff What they ask schools to stop doing when they start working with them The best CPD initiative he has ever pursued Why he has found himself in car parks with tears in his eyes The one question he says he would ask every head if he could How Greenshaw has developed a healthy pipeline of new leadership talent into the trust Why he t

In this episode of the We Are In Beta Podcast, Evelyn Forde, Headteacher at Copthall School, shares her thoughts on: how her daughters inspired her to make a change, how she overcame the odds to secure her dream role at Copthall, how she led the school to achieve exceptional results, how she improved teaching and learning through incremental coaching, what she is doing to improve staff wellbeing, which stakeholders she included in developing the school’s culture, which headlines do headteachers a disservice and why, how performance tables can actually deter schools from off-rolling rather than incentivise them, the one question she would like to ask every headteacher if she could, what excites her about the future of education and why, how running for presidency always make her smile, even when she’s feeling a bit down. To learn more about We Are In Beta head over to: https://medium.com/@WeAreInBeta To access a full transcript of the interview with links to all the resources, people and organisations Evelyn

In this episode of the We Are In Beta Podcast, Elroy Cahill, the newly appointed headteacher at Kingsley Academy in Hounslow, shares his thoughts on: How one teacher transformed his view on education when he was going down the wrong road, What he thinks would be a grave error in relation to the new Ofsted framework, What Ofsted should do in circumstances of inappropriate off-rolling, Why he thinks morally driven leadership is important, Why is he thinks coaching is so important and where best to access it, often for free, His initial scepticism about a pilot project that has been having a huge impact on teacher development How to set up live lesson coaching effectively, The one question he would ask every headteacher is he could, How the worlds of Lego and Ofsted can collide, How recent education documentaries could influence the electorate and shape the future of education. To learn more about We Are In Beta head over to: https://medium.com/@WeAreInBeta To access a full transcript of the interview with lin

In this first episode of the We Are In Beta Podcast, Rob Carpenter, CEO of the Inspire Partnership - a group of 5 primary schools in southeast London, Medway and Kent shares his thoughts on: How the challenges he faced as a student led him to becoming a teacher What he believes great professional development to be How we can improve teacher retention Why school exclusions are on the rise and what we can do about it Why the new Ofsted framework offers schools an important opportunity How his partnership is helping students connect more deeply with the world and the local community The one question he would ask every head in the country Why he's optimistic about the future and How an Ofsted inspection left him on his hands and knees. To learn more about We Are In Beta head over to: https://medium.com/@WeAreInBeta To access a full transcript of the interview with links to all the resources, people and organisations Rob mentions go to: https://medium.com/@WeAreInBeta/ofsteds-2019-curriculum-focus-the-opportunit