37.6K
Downloads
105
Episodes
The wellbeing of staff in schools has never been more important. With almost a third of new staff leaving the profession after just five years and 26% of teachers saying they are thinking of leaving in the next 12 months (National Foundation for Educational Research), we are facing a teacher retention crisis. The We Lead Well Podcast has been created in response to this crisis, to encourage and support schools to create places where people love to work. We support leaders to enhance the wellbeing of all staff in schools. Each week, leading educationalists share their experience, views and tips on how other school leaders can promote wellbeing in their organisations for the benefit of all staff.
Episodes
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Sue is the Head of School at John Taylor Free School. She has worked in education for the last 23 years with experience of a wide range of schools and different settings. Her extensive leadership experience spans 2 highly successful Multi Academy Trusts based in the East Midlands. She has established a Teaching School Alliance and School Centre for Initial Teacher Training and understands the importance of professional learning for teachers and leaders. Sue is also a huge supporter of part time and flexible working - every job advert for roles in her school is advertised with the line 'applications are welcome from candidates who want to work flexibly'. Her experiences of being a full time working single mum have ensured she is able to understand that family life has a major impact on working life and she is quite prepared to support her staff by making adjustments that support them and their well-being in work. As a result, she has created a positive culture of well-being in the school; this is supported by a culture of coaching to support staff development and to create autonomy, respect and trust amongst the staff who work for her. Sue is a truly empathetic leader; she clearly cares about her staff and their differing individual needs and she sums this up in the interview when she refers to leading with kindness.
@plant4sue
www.johntaylorfreeschool.co.uk
www.transformeducationcoach.com
Sunday Oct 25, 2020
Sunday Oct 25, 2020
For the latest COVID special edition, I spoke to Sean Trimble, CEO of the Larwood Academy Trust and Headteacher of Larwood School in Stevenage, which is a primary SEMH special school. Sean and I discuss the difficulties he's faced leading such a school in such extraordinarily challenging times and how he has had to draw on all his resilience as a leader to get through it. And get through it he has, by staying positive. Sean's pragmatic and optimistic approach are so inspiring to listen to. He's taken control when necessary and done his utmost to reduce anxiety for his staff and pupils. Sean is emphatic in his advice to take some time out for yourself as a leader. Sean is a triathlete who has competed as an age grouper at many triathlon distances and he's kept this up throughout the COVID crisis. Sean sums up in the interview what leaders need to in challenging circumstances: challenge, adapt, change.
www.transformeducationcoach.com
@leadwellpodca1
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
Tuesday Oct 20, 2020
In this episode, I talk to Julie Norman, an executive headteacher from Somerset who is leading in a different way with brilliant results. Julie took over schools in an area that was well below the national average for performance. All of the schools had been good previously but were now in serious decline and heading for RI judgements from Ofsted.
Out of all the schools in the area, only the ones led and supported by Julie showed any improvement and the improvement in Julie's schools was remarkable.
Julie is responsible for developing the Character Curriculum - listen to the episode and she'll tell you all about it. Workload for teachers is significantly reduced when this curriculum is introduced into a school. Assessment is carried out through careful questioning, listening and observing the children. Teachers don't plan individual lessons so they have time to spend on their passion - helping children to love their learning.
Julie has gone on to set up her own consultancy company SOS so that she can help more schools' transformations.
https://schoolomegasolutions.co.uk/
https://www.transformeducationcoach.com/
https://www.headteacherchat.com
https://www.teachwellalliance.com
@weleadwellpodc1
Friday Oct 16, 2020
Friday Oct 16, 2020
Being a school leader is a challenging and demanding job at the best of times. The COVID pandemic has increased the stress on leaders, who are at breaking point. Heads are feeling isolated and under pressure to take decisions about the health and welfare of their staff and pupils daily. In this series of COVID specials of the podcast, heads, executive heads and school leaders share their experiences of the pandemic. David Waugh will start us off in this episode with his pragmatic approach to leading from the top and supporting his senior team. You'll get insight into how David has looked after the wellbeing of his staff and some advice on practical strategies you can put in place in your school to ease the pressure on everyone. David is currently the trust leader of The True Learning Partnership, a MAT consisting of 2 high schools and 3 primary schools in Cheshire. He was also previously the Vice President of ASCL.
www.transformeducationcoach.com
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Monday Oct 05, 2020
In this first series of the podcast we'll hear from a number of headteachers and wellbeing advocates who are making a difference to the wellbeing of staff in schools and who are finding new ways of leading schools differently. We're currently in a recruitment and retention crisis with almost a third of teachers leaving the profession within five years of entering it. Moreover, 26% of teachers are thinking of leaving the profession within the next 12 months. One of the actions we can take in response to this is to start to take the wellbeing of the staff in our schools serious. In this first episode of the podcast, I talk to Steve Waters, founders and CEO of the Teach Well Alliance. Steve and I explore exactly what the term wellbeing means, and its implications in the workplace. We discuss how, as a leader, you can gain a clearer insight into the wellbeing climate in your organisation and what you can do to start improving it to benefit your staff.
Email: steve@teachwellalliance.com
Twitter: @teachwellall
Internet: teachwellalliance.com
This episode was brought to you in partnership with Transform Education Coaching - Coaching to change lives, Headteacherchat.com and the Teach Well Alliance.
www.transformeducationcoach.com