What I wish I knew as an NQT/ECT

We've already had education royalty on the podcast (aka Maria Rumsey). Well now we have an icon of the online education world, Andy Taylor. And why is he a star? It's not just because he has more than 28,000 followers on Twitter (@MrTs_NQTs) but because he is arguably the most generous tweeter there is. He freely offers endless advice, support and guidance to everyone who needs it as they take the...

Did Amy always want to be a teacher? No. She did a degree in Fine Art with Art History and thought about going into museum and gallery education. But after university she volunteered in a school, the teaching bug bit, the classroom beckoned, and 6 years later she is still teaching and absolutely loving every minute of it ... well almost every minute. In this podcast we talk about ... How training...

In this podcast I am talking to 2 SENCOs. Nicky Vangalis qualified in 2008, teaching first of all in Basildon and then returning home to Southend in 2012. While EAL lead she took every opportunity to increase her knowledge of SEND and became school SENCO in 2018. She has achieved many other things, including being EAL and MFL lecture for the Thames SCITT and writing various articles for The EAL Jo...

Kerry Tokley has a degree in Musical Theatre, performed at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and in 2017 became the freestyle dance national champion, which was the year before she qualified as a teacher! Prior to that she had spent 3 years as a 1:1 SEN LSA and it was during that time, as she gradually took on more responsibility in the classroom including covering a class ever...

Sara Trickey is a highly successful secondary teacher who writes a terrific blog called Teach with Mrs T, which is full of great advice on pedagogy and practice for trainee and newly qualified teachers and is highly relevant for primary and secondary colleagues. Sara is currently Head of Faculty for Business, Computing and Media Studies. She is also a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teachers, h...

This podcast discusses the vital teaching and learning strategy known as dual coding. Although the term has only been used quite recently, good teachers have used the approach for decades. Even Confucius knows the value of dual coding, though he wouldn't have called it that! I'm joined by 2 secondary school students, Zachary and Isla, who talk about their primary and secondary experiences with dua...

Louise Howlett has not been teaching long, but she is already an Assistant Headteacher in an outstanding school. What has made her so good, so fast? Probably it's her forensic attention to detail, because Louise had always wanted to be a forensic scientist before catching the teaching bug when helping an excluded boy see that school could really change his life. And that is what has motivated Loui...

Katie is an outstanding teacher and someone I have known since she started her SCITT training. From her very first day as a trainee, she stood out as someone who would have a big impact in the education world, and the years since she qualified have proved just that. Perhaps her greatest quality (though she has so many) is her ability to intuitively build great relationships with her students and c...

Maria Rumsey is an outstanding teacher and headteacher. Indeed I think of her as education royalty! She has achieved so much as a teacher and headteacher. She does this by always putting people first and she trusts her intuition to decide what is right and what is the best thing to do. She is a refreshing presence in the educational world, as she does not feel bound by Government or Ofsted diktats...

Maisie Smith has just qualified and starts her teaching career with a Year 3 class in a school in Basildon, Essex today! This podcast is a must listen for any teacher at the start of the autumn term because Maisie discussed the one thing that every teacher (not just NQTs) should do at the start of any school year. And what's that I hear you ask? It is the importance of making clear to her class wh...

Polly Wicks qualified as a teacher in 2016 having trained as an events manager. Having realised that wasn’t the job for her, she was unsure of what to do next. Feeling the draw of teaching, she became a volunteer in her old infants school and instantly knew that teaching was what she really wanted to do. During her training, she made such a good impression in her placement school that she was offe...

Sandy Thornton has been a primary school teacher since 2003. She is passionate about learning, and has a ‘can do’ approach to all things educational. After gaining QTS, her natural teaching ability was quickly recognised when she became part of the fast track teacher initiative. Then in 2010 she became an advanced skills teacher which enabled her to use her outstanding teaching skills both in her...

Cara Carter has just qualified and starts her NQT/ECT year in September in a school in North Essex. Her first career was as a garment technologist (and the shimmering drape behind her in her picture shows she intends to use this talent to the full to brighten her classroom!). In this podcast Cara shares with us her light bulb moment, the turning point in her training year, when she came to realise...

James Troughton is a primary school teacher. His route into teaching took him through 2 non-teaching occupations and a couple of years in South Korea (where he got his first taste of teaching), before returning to England and training to teach with the Essex and Thames Primary Consortium. Although he only qualified in 2014, he is now Assistant Head at Newlands Spring Primary School. He combines th...

Giavanna Ferreira is a primary school teacher, currently Early Years Lead at Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School. Her passion for teaching and working with children are evident as soon as she starts talking and she is a shining example of how passionate great teachers are every day in their work with children. During our conversation we discussed ... The importance of embracing the opportunity t...