SecEd Podcast

This episode offers practical advice to those taking on new leadership roles in the secondary school, with dos and don'ts, useful tips, and lessons learned from our experienced panel. If you are a teacher taking on a new leadership role in school – whether that be a headteacher, senior leadership or middle leadership post – then this episode is for you. Three experienced school leaders offer us so...

This episode offers practical insights for teachers on how best we can support our high-attaining students in the secondary school classroom. Our panel discusses the language we use when referring to this cohort of students and how we might define what "high-attaining" means. We then move on to outline a number of classroom strategies for teachers to help them teach and support these learners as w...

In this episode we offer practical tips and ideas for how teachers can support the communication skills of students as they make the step-up to the year 7 classroom and key stage 3 study. An experienced panel – including a speech and language therapist – discuss how we can help those students who struggle with communication needs, including oracy and vocabulary. We consider the increase in academi...

This episode talks everything supply teaching – with practical advice for schools on how to enable your supply teachers to excel as well as a range of tips for supply teachers themselves. In the first half of our discussion, our expert panel focus on how secondary schools can set their supply teachers up for success, including what must be in place before they arrive at the gate and top tips for h...

This episode discusses how teachers can create the perfect classroom environment for their students, offering a range of practical tips and quick wins. Our expert panel discuss four core aspects – the physical classroom environment, the social environment, the emotional environment, and the learning environment. Physical environment: We ask what we can do to create a positive physical space in the...

This episode offers a range of practical ideas, advice and teaching techniques for engaging students in the work of William Shakespeare – both in the English classroom and across the school. Produced in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the episode features a panel of experts and educators who discuss how we can make Shakespeare enjoyable for our students. We talk about Shakespeare's...

This episode dissects the revised Ofsted inspection framework, setting out actions that school leaders can take now to prepare and offering expert insights and tips. Our panel has extensive experience of Ofsted inspection, and they break down the key changes that schools should be focused on and how best we can respond. We highlight key aspects of the revised framework, including the implications...

This episode focuses on belonging and inclusion in the secondary school – namely how can we ensure that every student can take part in school life. Our panel of experienced school leaders define what "belonging" means in the context of a busy secondary school. We talk school culture: what does a culture of inclusion and belonging involve, how can we develop this in a natural way, and what approach...

In this episode we break-down the secrets to effective adaptive teaching approaches in the secondary classroom. Our experts define what exactly adaptive teaching is and offer insights to help teachers to know when we should adapt our teaching, how we can adapt teaching, and who we should be adapting it for. We discuss the importance of using adaptive teaching to maintain high expectations in the c...

This episode offers a range of ideas and advice for identifying and supporting students with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in the secondary school. SLCN are the most common need for the more than 1.2 million students who are on SEN Support in England's schools – and the evidence tells us that there will be many more who are going undiagnosed. This discussion features four experts...

This episode considers how teaching staff can effectively support autistic students in the classroom and across the mainstream secondary school. Our expert panel offers a range of practical insights and advice to help teachers and support staff, including teaching tips and pastoral care. We begin our discussion by busting some of the common misconceptions and myths about autism and autistic studen...

In this episode, we consider what makes for excellent library provision in the secondary school, including ideas for supporting literacy and curriculum delivery. We speak with four experienced and expert school library professionals to glean their advice, ideas and tips for excellent library provision. We discuss the most important elements in effective library provision and why schools should con...

This podcast discusses teacher training and induction, offering practical advice for trainee and early career teachers (ECTs) and their mentors. Our expert panel explores the Department for Education's new Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework – due to come into effect in September 2025. The combined ITT-ECF   sets out what trainee and ECTs need to know – and know how to do – at the...

To celebrate the 100 th 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. W...

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 who...

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 r...

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 sc...

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 lead...

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 w...

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 teach...

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. Fro...

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 manife...

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 issue...

In 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. Spe...

This 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...