The School Leadership Podcast

In this special episode of the School Leadership Podcast, NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman talks about the upcoming industrial action ballot and what it means for school leaders.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman gives his analysis of the current dispute over pay for teachers and school leaders, and explains why the government must act now to resolve the recruitment and retention crisis facing the sector.

In this conversation with NAHT’s director of policy James Bowen, he addresses the impact of strike action, the ongoing negotiation with the education secretary and the role of the teachers’ pay review body.

How can schools help tackle climate change? Are solar panels, heat pumps and retrofitting realistic solutions – particularly for older school buildings? And what exactly is the government’s plan to help schools reduce their carbon footprint?

NAHT director of policy James Bowen puts school leaders’ key concerns to Sharon McHale, a project director in the Department for Education’s new Sustainability and Climate Change Unit.

This episode of NAHT’s School Leadership Podcast brings you conversations with some of the key speakers at Inspiring Leadership Conference 2022, which took place in Birmingham last month. You’ll hear Dave Coplin, Steve Munby, Marie-Claire Bretherton and Ed Balls share honest and through-provoking reflections on what makes a great leader, and much more, in a series of interviews recorded during the conference.

Husham Khan, author of the best-selling book Financial Intelligence for School Business Leaders, speaks to NAHT’s Natalie Arnett about the pressures facing finances in schools, new ways to tackle them and the changing nature of the school business leader (SBL) role – and how the role is vital for dealing with some of the challenges ahead, including soaring energy costs and cybersecurity.

Along with exploring many of the new financial concepts outlined in his book, which schools and trusts can use to enable more informed and effective decision-making, such as the ‘pandemic ratio’, Husham also talks about the importance of considering emotional as well as financial intelligence as part of holistic budget planning in schools.

What does this autumn’s budget really mean for school spending? Will schools be better off in 2022, and beyond? And what will changes in the funding formula mean for head teachers? Luke Sibieta, an economist specialising in education policy at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, answers these questions and more in this conversation with NAHT’s director of policy James Bowen.

Plus: what’s your school’s motto, and why was it chosen? You’ll hear a head teacher talk about her school’s motto and what it means for them, and find out how to get in touch to share – and celebrate – your own school’s motto.

In this episode, hear primary head teacher and director of Educating for Equality Sabrina Edwards talk about her work supporting leaders on their journey to embedding anti-racism and gender equality in their schools, and the role schools can play in bringing about long-lasting and sustainable change in the world.

Geraldine Trotman, Black History Patron for Wales, reflects on the contribution of her lifelong friend, champion of multiculturalism and Wales' first Black head teacher Betty Campbell.

Betty was born in Butetown, Cardiff, in 1934. She qualified as a teacher in the 1960s and later became head teacher at Butetown’s Mount Stuart Primary School, where she made sure her pupils learned about the positive contribution made to British society by people of colour.

In March 2020, head teacher Alan Garnett decided to start a weekly column for a local paper chronicling the experiences of his school community as it responded to the pandemic. He ended up writing the diary for a whole year, and his articles have now been turned into a book, A Headteacher's Diary: Making it up as we go Along – Trying to lead a school through a pandemic.

Here, Alan shares some of his observations – talking honestly about how stressful it was reacting to last-minute announcements, and explaining why he wanted to tell the stories of “remarkable people doing remarkable things”, as they did in so many school communities across the country.

Football Beyond Borders is an education and social inclusion charity which transforms the outcomes for disadvantaged young people who are passionate about football but disengaged at school. In this episode, James Bowen speaks to co-founder and director, Jack Reynolds about the work the charity is doing with supporting young people’s academic and social and emotional learning as they transition to adulthood.

After a year that has seen school leaders “carrying the community” as they steer schools through the pandemic, Sinéad Mc Brearty, CEO of Education Support, speaks with NAHT’s James Bowen about the importance of compassion, connection and showing up in your best shape. Education Support is a UK charity dedicated to supporting the mental health and well-being of education staff.

Closing gaps, inclusivity and redressing imbalance wherever it may be is at the very core of the Global Equality Collective (GEC). Co-CEO and founder of the GEC, Nic Ponsford talks to James Bowen about the new GEC app which helps organisations track, monitor and embed diversity and inclusion into their day-to-day practices and behaviours. Nic discusses the core functions of the app and the work being done in schools to champion equality and inclusion.

Oak National Academy is the online classroom made for teachers by teachers. Created in April 2020 as a rapid response to the coronavirus outbreak, Oak Academy offers pre-recorded video lessons as well as quizzes, worksheets and creative activities to support remote learning. In this episode, principal at Oak National Academy, Matt Hood talks about how the online classroom came about, the important role remote learning has played throughout this year and considers what remote learning might look like post-pandemic.

One of the unavoidable effects of the pandemic has meant that we have been forced to almost renegotiate our relationship with outdoor spaces. For leaders, it's meant careful management of school grounds and for some children outside of school, lockdowns have resulted in a new dynamic where access to the great outdoors has either been severely limited or denied altogether. 

Jim Whittaker, chair of the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres, talks to James Bowen about health, well-being, learning and the importance of outdoor spaces. 

When the national lockdown took place earlier this year, many schools quickly turned to technology to bridge the gap and continue learning outside of the school gates. In this episode, director of NAHT policy, James Bowen speaks to author, public speaker and managing director of NetSupport, Al Kingsley about the future of technology to support learning. We also consider the challenges blended and remote learning can cause, including addressing the digital divide and ensuring students are safe online.  

Campaigner, activist and speaker; Natasha Devon MBE talks to James Bowen about the relationship between exam stress and mental health in children and young people. Natasha also talks about the impact the pandemic and lockdown have had on young people’s anxiety levels.

The past few months have been a rapidly changing picture for schools which hasn’t always been easy to interpret and then act on. It’s been our aim all along to bring as much clarity to school leaders as possible. In this month’s podcast episode, director of policy and NAHT Edge, James Bowen answers your most frequently asked questions about planning for a full return to school this September.

How can we minimise infection in schools and in the wider community? How can we protect the most at-risk groups? Should staff be wearing PPE? How often should surfaces be wiped down in classrooms?

Dr Matt Butler answers your most pressing questions about the covid-19 pandemic and outlines some practical steps you can take to keep staff and children safe.

In this episode, NAHT head of policy James Bowen talks to education author and former teacher Daisy Christodoulou about technology in schools.

We consider what the next big ed-tech development is likely to be, whether we should ban mobile devices in schools and why ed-tech hasn’t yet had the transformative impact on education that it has long promised.