The Primary PE Huddle

Who is our guest? Sajid Akram brings a wealth of experience and passion to his roles at Chandos Primary School. With eight years of teaching under his belt and 18 months as the assistant PE lead, Sajid's dedication to enhancing the physical education landscape is evident. His journey began as a local to the school, and despite moving further away, he remains deeply committed to the community...

Who is our guest?  Stephen Clarke has been a school governor for 15 years in the Staffordshire three-tier school system, firstly at Primary School, then Middle School and finally High School. He then stepped up to the challenge of being Chair of Governors back at the Middle School in 2019 and shortly after helping to guide the school with the Headteacher strategically through the COVID crisis, rem...

Who’s our guest?  Luke Brown launched the Spiral Free Run CIC in Late 2016 during his time studying at university and has been working multiple jobs simultaneously since. In April 2021 he took the leap of faith to turn the company into a CIC (Community Interest Club) and run full-time. ​ He has been training Parkour for 10 years now. Parkour was only just beginning its rise back in 2011 and theref...

Who is our guest? Lee Davis is now Head of Finance at BDMAT.  Before this, Lee was a School Finance Partner at BDMAT and had acted as the Chief Finance and Operations Officer for a short time.  Lee also worked within the trust at St Clement’s Church of England Academy as a School Business Manager before taking up the post as a School Finance Partner in September 2018.  Earlier in his career Lee wo...

Who’s our guest?   Will Roberts is the Chief Operating Officer of the national children’s charity the Youth Sport Trust and led the process for the creation of their new strategy Inspiring Changemakers, Building Belonging which sets significant ambitions to 2035 and was launched in May 2022. Having joined the Youth Sport Trust in 2007 to run the then UK School Games (now School Games National Fina...

Who are our guests?  Dr Andy Daly-Smith is a Reader in Children’s Physical Activity and Health at the University of Bradford (UK). Within Bradford, he co-leads the Centre for Applied Education Research and research on the JUMP project; the UK’s first whole-systems approach to physical activity for children and young people. Andy’s research focuses on the implementation and effectiveness of whole-s...

Who’s our guest?    Siobhán first found wheelchair basketball in 2010 following a playground to podium event which introduced her to the sport. As a junior, she first played for CWBA where she achieved great success at the School Games and Junior Championships. Alongside her junior game, she also competed with the clubs National League and Women’s League teams. An award-winning player, Siobhán has...

Who’s our guest? Sam Horton is a passionate PE teacher who believes strongly in physical education, sport, and physical activity as essential contributors to children's love for healthy living and a tool to end physical inactivity. Sam possesses six years of experience at Wollescote Primary School and prior experience in sports coaching. He is particularly enthusiastic about sports and pursue...

Taking the plunge: The evolution of primary school swimming Who’s our guest?  Kaylë has been a swimming teacher for 23 years and specialises in baby and pre-school swimming. With 19 years of tutoring experience, she is passionate about encouraging people to learn to swim and be safe in water. She has spoken internationally about the importance of learning to swim within a safe, supportive, and inc...

Who’s our guest? Natalie Weir is an ardent advocate for physical education and bodily literacy. With over 15 years of experience in the field, Natalie has worked in national sporting bodies, including a twelve-year stint at British Orienteering in positions ranging from sport development to being on the senior leadership team.   She is also the Chief Playmaker and mother to two children, whose phy...

Who is our guest? On our new season of PE Huddle Podcast, we had the pleasure of hosting Glenmead Primary School's class teacher and PE Lead, Hannah Davis. Hannah has been teaching for 4 years and has been in the PE Lead position for 3 years, having shadowed and supported the Deputy Head with PE previously.   Her background includes obtaining a degree in PE and Sport Studies combined with Chi...

The series 3 finale of The Primary PE Huddle is here and what a series it’s been! For this final episode, we’re taking a look back over the series to bring you the very best insights, advice and words of wisdom.   Who’s joined us on the podcast this series? Series 3 has seen us welcome a whole host of experts from the field of primary education:   Episode 1 :  “We don’t move for functional reasons...

This week on the podcast we’re joined by class teacher and PE Coordinator Louisa Mulvey.   Who is Louisa Mulvey? Louisa is a qualified teacher based in Hampshire. Louisa has been working in primary schools since 2014 where her career began on the sunny, leafy side of Wimbledon Village. Louisa spent three years teaching PE exclusively before qualifying in 2017 where she managed the role of class te...

This week on the podcast we welcome United Learning’s Head of Sport Shaun Dowling.  Who is Shaun Dowling? Shaun is Head of Sport at United Learning , a national group of primary, secondary and all-through schools across the state and independent sectors. As Head of Sport, Shaun supports Heads of PE and Directors of Sport in further improving the quality of their PE curriculum, school sport program...

In the words of a Key Stage 2 pupil, this week’s podcast guest “is a genius”. For episode 3 of The Primary PE Huddle, we welcome Tagtiv8  founder Bryn Llewellyn.    Who is Bryn Llewellyn? Bryn worked in multiple UK schools for over 20 years as a teacher and school leader. In 2012, Bryn founded Tagtiv8. His pioneering approach to Physically Active Learning (PAL) provides a valuable and enjoyable al...

This week on the podcast we’re joined by primary school PE lead John Haycock.   Who is John Haycock? John has been a teacher at Chilcote primary school for 11 years, both as PE and class teacher. Joining the school with a view to take over PE, John completed his NQT and became PE lead in his second year. 10 years on, John’s passion for sport and physical activity combined with his drive has put PE...

The Primary PE Huddle is back for Series 3 with a whole new host of experts from across the sport and physical activity sector. To kick off the series, we welcome Greg Dryer, co-founder and CEO of miMove .   Who is Greg Dryer? Greg is the co-founder and CEO of miMove, the world’s first bespoke app enabling schools to help pupils make physical activity a normal and regular part of their lives.   Pr...

This week on the podcast we welcome two of the team from Wodensfield Primary School, Deputy Headteacher Liam Gould and PE Lead Teresa Shackleton.  Who is Liam Gould? Liam is Deputy Headteacher of Wodensfield Primary School. Liam has over twenty years’ experience working in schools and leadership roles, but his passion has always been in sport and PE.   From a young age Liam’s parents provided him...

Episode 9: Don't be scared of healthy competition With just shy of 30,000 followers, Emily is well-known in the Teacher Twittersphere. She’s known for her love of books, stationery, and initiating #TeacherSelfcareSunday which aims to help teachers focus on their own wellbeing and banish Sunday blues. Just as she is always generous with her ideas and resources, Emily has taken time out of her...

In the penultimate episode of this series of The PE Huddle, Dan meets Ryan Ellis to talk about what Ryan sees happening in schools and his tips and tricks for juggling the many demands on you as a PE Lead, including pointing out that the National Curriculum for PE doesn’t actually require you to teach specific sports.  Who is Ryan Ellis? ‘The PE Umbrella Man’, as he is often called, lived a childh...

Whole school improvement is no small matter. As a teacher, SLT member, or school governor, it is your responsibility to plan for and make changes that will have a positive impact on not only assessment data but also the wellbeing of all members of the school community.  As an experienced school governor, Andy Heald is no stranger to school improvement and he believes that physical activity is key...

International athlete Ryan Bradley champions holistic development through gymnastics   An ex-international gymnast, Commonwealth Games Bronze medalist and five times British Champion, Ryan Bradley is now the Director of RB Gym & Sport, working to develop and enhance the teaching of gymnastics in schools and supporting both teachers and pupils. In his conversation with Dan Hayes in this week’s...

In episode 5 of this series of The PE Huddle, Dan is joined by teacher (and five-ball juggler) Brendan Rouse.    Who is Brendan Rouse?   Brendan is a primary teacher who specialises in teaching PE. He works across two different schools and also leads Forest School.    In 2002 Brendan won the LTA Tennis Teacher of the Year Award, which opened the door to becoming a School Sports Coordinator. He has...

Helen Lowe took over as Headteacher at Penns Primary just two months before the first lockdown. Despite all the disruption that ensued, she has worked hard to raise the profile of PE and physical activity in the school and to put it at the heart of school life.  Helen joins us on this week’s episode of The PE Huddle to share her nuggets of wisdom.  Who is Helen Lowe?  Helen hails from Merseyside b...

When Karl Rogerson walked into his Headteacher’s office and declared that PE teaching in the school wasn’t good enough and that he could make it better, he probably didn’t realise he was taking the first step in a career which would involve using PE to improve schools at all levels.  Karl joins us on this week’s episode of The PE Huddle to share his experiences   Who is Karl Rogerson? Karl started...