Episodes
Aug. 17, 2025
Ep 126: Top Tips For New Teachers: How To Thrive In The Classroom
Starting your first year as a new teacher? It can feel exciting, overwhelming, and just a little bit terrifying. In this episode, we share our top tips for new teachers to help you survive (and actually enjoy) your first year...
Aug. 10, 2025
Ep 125: Why Aren't Children Reading For Pleasure?
Why Aren’t Children Reading for Pleasure Anymore? 📚 Reading for fun is at an all-time low and the stats are sobering. In 2025, just one in three children said they enjoyed reading in their free time. That is a 36% drop since ...
Aug. 3, 2025
Ep 124: Should We Shorten The School Summer Holidays?
Yes. Hayden has an auto-focus square on his head. Enjoy it! As always, like clockwork, when the summer holidays roll around, we are bombarded with opinions on how they are TOO LONG! We talk about it. Are they too long? Is the...
July 27, 2025
Ep 123: Has Creativity Died In The Classroom? Boring Schemes, Micro-Management & Arts Funding Cuts!
This week, we chat about how in so many schools, creativity is disappearing in two major ways. Firstly, the arts themselves are languishing. Huge drops in children taking subejcts at GCSE like drama and music. Why is this hap...
July 20, 2025
Ep 122: The New Writing Framework: A Force For Good Or Bad?
This week, Dylan clears out his teacher cupboard and uncovers some absolute treasures: an inflatable flamingo, old class photos, and three brilliant books every classroom should have – The House with Chicken Legs , The Book w...
July 13, 2025
Ep 121: Our Final Week Of Teaching: Have We Made A Mistake?
It's our last week as teachers... and it's all starting to feel very real. In this episode, we look back on the moments that made us -the unforgettable classroom highs, the amazing people we met, and the exact point we knew w...
July 6, 2025
Ep 120: Do Appraisals Actually Reward Good Teaching? Tick-Boxes, Free Labour & Ridiculous Targets
It’s the end of the school year, which can only mean one thing: performance appraisal season . But with targets that feel random, policies that haven’t caught up, and a system still obsessed with spreadsheets… we’re asking: D...
June 29, 2025
Ep 119: The Birth Rate Crisis: Teacher Redundancies, School Closures & Fewer Teaching Jobs!
The hidden crisis closing schools, cutting jobs, and reshaping teaching This week, Dylan and Hayden dive into a topic that’s flying under the radar but changing the future of teaching forever. UK birth rates have fallen to hi...
June 22, 2025
Ep 118: Life After Teaching: From Burnout To New Beginnings with Sophie Hayes (StoryZoo)
Last week, we shared the biggest news of our careers: we’re leaving teaching. In this episode, we dive into what comes next . We're joined by Sophie Hayes, a former teacher and founder of StoryZoo - a brilliant initiative hel...
June 15, 2025
Ep 117: We Are Quitting Teaching - Here's Why
BIG NEWS - We are stepping away from teaching. This has been a long-time coming & is a huge, difficult decision. You can't do a weekly education podcast without being passionate about it, but as you've seen form previous epis...
June 8, 2025
Ep 116: Term-Time Holiday Absences, Toxic School Stories & Online Teacher Trolling!
Hello Teach Sleep Repeaters! This episode is an eclectic mix of laughs, rants and putting the world of education to rights. We talk about why term-time holidays are so appealing for so many reasons, discuss some toxic story w...
June 1, 2025
Ep 115: The Writing Moderation Mess & Using AI Speed Up Report Writing!
In this episode, we dive into two hot topics every primary teacher is thinking about right now: ✏️ Writing Moderation Is it fair? Is it consistent? Or is it the biggest postcode lottery in primary education? We share our own ...
May 25, 2025
Ep 114: 2025 SATs Deep Dive With Sophie B: Great Questions, Ridiculous Mark Schemes & Key Findings
This week, we’re joined by teacher, education writer and Learning by Questions legend Sophie Bartlett for a full-on SATs debrief! We take a deep dive into the 2025 Year 6 SATs papers – English, GPS, and Maths – and break down...
May 18, 2025
Ep 113: Accidental Swearing, Spelling Nightmare & The Summer Behaviour Dip!
In this episode of Teach Sleep Repeat , we dive headfirst into the absolute state of spelling in schools right now – and why teaching it (and English in general) feels harder than ever. We chat about the importance of reading...
May 11, 2025
Ep 112: Top SATs Advice For Teachers & Should Faith Schools Still Exist?
It’s SATs week – and we’ve got thoughts . In this episode, Dylan and Hayden share their top tips for teachers to survive the chaos, keep kids calm, and not lose their minds during one of the busiest weeks of the primary calen...
May 4, 2025
Ep 111: Breaking Down The Broken UK Education System & Why Teachers Might Strike Again!
In this episode of Teach Sleep Repeat , Dylan and Hayden delve into the pressing issues facing the UK education system. They explore six critical areas where the system is faltering: Autonomy and Agency : Examining the dimin...
April 27, 2025
Ep 110: 10 Tips For Every Teacher To SMASH The Summer Term! Reports, Behaviour & Forward Planning
The summer term is here — but are you surviving or thriving ? In this episode of Teach Sleep Repeat , Dylan and Hayden share 10 practical tips to help teachers and school staff smash the summer term with less stress and more ...
April 20, 2025
Ep 109: Teacher Behaviour Hacks & Do We Teach Reading BADLY In School?
Welcome back valued education customer teacher school staff friends! We asked online for your best behaviour hacks and you didn't disappoint, so we go through our favourites that you can implement right away. Before that, we ...
April 13, 2025
Ep 108: The Most TOXIC School Stories Ever: Hidden Cameras, Grading Displays & Public Shaming
Flash back to episode 5 of this teacher podcast and the first episode that really struck a chord with many was our toxic schools podcast. We asked listeners for their most TOXIC school stories ever and we received nearly 1000...
April 6, 2025
Ep 107: 6 Ways Teachers Can Immediately Reduce Workload & Take Back Control
This week, we go back to our straight-talking roots in helping teachers gain back time. After talking about parents' evening and our experiences with it, we move onto our 6 actionable immediate ways teachers can claim back so...
March 30, 2025
Ep 106: How Can Teachers Eat Well Easily & Overcome Bad Food Habits? Top Tips With Charlie Burley (The Teachers' Health Coach)
Ever since our first chat with Charlie Burley (The Teachers' Health Coach), we've been itching to get back for another conversation about food. Teachers know how tricky improving our relationship with food is when working in ...
March 23, 2025
Ep 105: Managing Imposter Syndrome, Tips For ECTs & Spotting Workplace Bullying
In this episode, we chat about looooads of different teacher topics. The impact of striking. Tips for ECTs and trainees. Managing workload. Identifying workplace bullying. Getting over imposter syndrome & MUCH MORE! Get in to...
March 16, 2025
Ep 104: How Much Of An Issue Is Behaviour In School? Teacher Tapp Insights with Gráinne Hallahan
This week, we chat about the apparent disconnect between what class teachers and leadership believe should be a school's top priority - behaviour or adaptive teaching...? Joining us with heaps of data is the brilliant Gráinne...
March 9, 2025
Ep 103: How To Inspire Children Through Science: A Chat With Maddie Moate
This week, we are delighted to be joined by the wonderful Maddie Moate. Maddie is a children's TV presenter, YouTuber, Author and West End star who has just released her latest book "How Does It Work?" which inspires curious ...