Miss Estruch Teach & Tell

It's June. Year 11 are gone. Year 13 are gone. You have a list of jobs as long as your arm and a brain that is absolutely running on fumes. This episode is your gain time game plan. I'm walking you through exactly how I'd use Claude Cowork to work through the planning jobs you've been saving up all year — schemes of work, lesson resources, question packs, knowledge organisers — faster, and without...

Every four years the World Cup arrives and suddenly your students seem far more interested in football than biology. My argument? Stop fighting it. In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I explore how the World Cup can become one of the most powerful teaching tools in your biology classroom. From osmoregulation and respiration to infectious disease and plant biology, the specification i...

To get access to free resources on a wide range of biology topics, learn about upcoming teacher training courses (including a course on epigenetics this October), and find out more about the work of the EMBL Science Education and Public Engagement Team, you can subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on social media using the links below: Newsletter: https://www.embl.org/ells/newsletter/ LinkedIn...

  Revision lessons can be so tough to make engaging and fun, and not just answering exam questions.   In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I break down exactly how I structure revision lessons that build exam skills, improve revision habits, and develop the mindset needed for A and A* performance. This is an updated version of one of my most popular episodes, now combined wi...

Most teachers focus on content gaps when students miss out on top grades. But what if the real barrier between an A and an A* is not knowledge… but mindset? In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I break down the practical mindset strategies I use in my own classroom to help students move beyond fear, perfectionism, and fixed beliefs about intelligence. We explore: • Why some high poten...

Millie and I noticed during our teaching careers how much teacher CPD changed over time. When I started teaching in 2009, there seemed to be far more opportunities for meaningful training, schools were more willing to fund courses, and there was a stronger culture around professional development. But in recent years? Budget cuts, cancelled courses, generic online training, lack of cover staff, and...

I am so excited for this episode. Today, I am joined by Ross McGill , founder of Teacher Toolkit , whose work has reached over 21 million teachers worldwide. If you have ever felt overwhelmed by lesson planning, buried in marking, or unsure whether your feedback is actually making an impact… this episode is going to completely shift how you think about teaching. Ross shares practical, evidence-inf...

If you teach AQA A level Biology and want to prepare your students more strategically for the Paper 3 essay, this episode is for you. In this episode, I break down how I analyse every essay title that has appeared since 2007 to identify the themes most likely to return in 2026. I explain the patterns I look for, including frequency, recency, repeat cycles, and long gaps between appearances, and ho...

If you are teaching OCR A level Biology and wondering where to focus revision for 2026, this episode breaks it down using nine years of past paper analysis. In this episode, I share exactly: • The topics that are consistently heavily assessed across Papers 1, 2 and 3 • What was significantly underassessed in 2025 • How those two datasets overlap and why that matters • The highest priority topics f...

One topic has dropped to just one mark for two years in a row. Another was completely missing last year. Both of those patterns matter, and in this episode, I'm breaking down exactly what they mean for your revision priorities. This is my annual AQA A Level Biology past paper analysis for 2026, focused on Paper 1 and Paper 2. I go through every specification point, track how frequently topics appe...

Are you spending lesson time teaching content that students could have prepared at home?     In this episode, I'm joined by Henry Exham to talk about flipped learning. What it actually is, why it works, and how to implement it in a way that students genuinely engage with. We get into the practical side: how to set clear, directed pre-lesson tasks, how to model the process so students kno...

If you are still spending hours creating PowerPoints, worksheets, and revision lessons, or if you feel uninspired by your revision lessons and are struggling to engage your students, this episode is going to change everything!   In this step by step guide, I show you exactly how to use Canva AI and Canva Code to: • Generate full lesson PowerPoints in seconds • Create fill in the gaps activiti...

Lesson observations are one of the most daunting   aspects of teaching. When done poorly, they can destroy morale, create performative lessons, and erode trust within a school. But when done well, observations can become one of the most powerful professional development tools a school has. In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I’m joined by Craig Randall from Trust Based Observati...

In this episode, I’m joined by Bukky Yusuf, an experienced senior leader and coach, to talk about the real path into school leadership. We cover what progression actually looks like in practice, how to prepare for senior leadership roles, and the mindset shifts that matter just as much as your CV. Bukky shares her leadership journey from mainstream science teacher to senior leadership, including h...

At BETT 2026, I met Sarah Cooper and Curtis Scott from The Sixth Form Bolton, and I was blown away by what they are doing at their sixth form. Their presentation on how they are using Canva Education was not theoretical. It was strategic, practical and entirely focused on improving teaching and learning while reducing teacher workload. In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, we unpack ex...

The UK government is debating whether social media should be banned for under 16s. Australia has already introduced restrictions. Spain is considering similar moves. This is no longer theoretical; it is a real policy discussion that could directly affect students, teachers, and schools. In this episode, I sit down with Lewis Matheson from Physics Online to unpack what a ban would actually mean in...

Struggling to set a mock exam that your students have not already seen? In this video, I explain why I created brand new 2026 A-level Biology practice papers for AQA and OCR, and how they are built using detailed past paper analysis to mirror real exam structure. For years, I have analysed every single AQA and OCR paper, linking every mark back to the exact specification point. I track: • Topic fr...

If a student fidgets, forgets equipment, interrupts, or fails to start work, we often label it as poor behaviour or low motivation. But for many students, what you are seeing is ADHD. In this re-release episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I break down what ADHD actually is, how it really presents in classrooms, and what genuinely helps without adding to teacher workload. This episode covers:...

How much of your lesson is spent talking… and how much is students actually thinking? I n this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I’m breaking down flipped learning in a practical, realistic way for busy secondary teachers. This is not about reinventing your teaching or becoming a full time YouTuber. It’s about reclaiming lesson time from chalk and talk and using it where it actually makes...

Home education is growing fast in the UK, and for many families, science is the subject that causes the most anxiety. In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I’m joined by Amanda Childs, founder of Sparking STEM, to explore why more families are choosing home education, the challenges of teaching science outside a traditional school setting, and how high quality practical science can sti...

Are students’ attention spans really getting shorter, or is something else happening in the brain? In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I unpack the neuroscience behind student attention, executive function, and focus.  I look at what research actually says about attention spans, the role of the prefrontal cortex, dopamine, and digital distraction, and why staying focused feels h...

Leaving teaching is often framed as a dramatic overnight decision. That was never my reality. In this episode, I share the honest, six year journey of how I built a business alongside full time teaching and why I stayed in the classroom long after I could have left financially. I talk through my career from classroom teacher to Head of Science, how a flipped learning CPD accidentally led to a YouT...

We all agree that A-level students need to be independent learners. But what does independent learning actually look like in practice? In this episode of Teach and Tell, I’m joined by Maria Bateson to unpack a question many teachers wrestle with daily: Is it really independent learning if we tell students exactly what to do? And can students ever become truly independent if we do not explicitly mo...

Loneliness is often framed as an issue affecting older adults. But the evidence tells a very different story. In this episode of Teach and Tell, I’m joined by Farhana Mann ( https://www.youtube.com/@DocFMann ) to explore what research from the past 10–15 years shows about social isolation in teenagers, why 13–17 year olds are one of the most lonely age groups, and how this links to mental health,...

If you’ve ever wondered how to actually use AI safely and effectively in your teaching , this episode is for you. Today I’m joined by Matthew Wemyss, international school leader and bestselling author on AI in education, to dig into the realities of AI in schools: the opportunities, the risks, and the mistakes teachers need to avoid. We talk about: • The GDPR traps teachers fall into without reali...