Videos

It is not every week you get to put the questions teachers are actually asking straight to the person in charge. For our 200th episode, Dylan and Hayden are joined by the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, for a wide-ranging and honest conversation about the issues facing schools…

Two hundred episodes in, and somehow we ended up across the table from the person who runs the whole system. For the TSR 200th, Dylan and Hayden sit down with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, and waste none of it on small talk.First, the SEND white paper. The move from EHCPs to the new In…

"What's the biggest thing you two actually disagree on?" A listener has finally called out the I agree, I agree tic on the podcast and demanded a real disagreement, so Dylan and Hayden open this one by actually trying to find the fault line. Spoiler, the split between teaching staff and non-teachin…

"What's the biggest thing you two actually disagree on?" One listener has clocked the I agree, I agree tic and wants a proper scrap, so Dylan and Hayden dig into the teaching vs non-teaching divide and find it's spikier than either expected.Then a brave question lands. Should politics be explici…

🔢 Sign up for a free Maths Zoo demo right now and start using it in your school before the end of term. Boost maths fluency and arithmetic across every year group, completely free trial, no strings attached. Book it at www.mathszoo.orgAnother Q&A and this batch is properly varied. From genuine eth…

🔢 Sign up for a free Maths Zoo demo right now and get your school using it before the end of term. Boost maths fluency and arithmetic across every year group, completely free trial, no strings. Book it at www.mathszoo.org (http://www.mathszoo.org) A teacher writes in asking if it is genuinely ac…

There's a bowl of fruit in the staffroom. Someone's put up a shoutout wall near the printer. Wellbeing Wednesday is in the calendar. And yet teachers are still staying until six every night redoing planning because the format changed again.This clip is taken from the Q&A section of Episode 194 of…

Teach Sleep RepeatA major new EEF study has just produced the strongest evidence to date on ability grouping in English schools. Dylan and Hayden break down what it found, what it means for teachers, and whether it actually settles one of education's longest-running arguments.In this episode:📊 W…

For about twenty-five years, the dominant message in teacher training has been clear. The research says mixed attainment is better. Setting damages confidence, harms low attainers, and widens the gap. Then in April 2026, the EEF published a study that complicates all of that.Nine thousand pupils…

Another Q&A and this one has a bit of everything. A boundary question, an observation culture rant, a genuinely interesting debate about SATs, and a follow-up on memory and facts that takes the conversation somewhere unexpected.In this episode:📧 The parent emailing at 10pm expecting a reply befor…

A teacher is getting emails from a parent at 10pm most nights with an expectation of a reply before school the next morning. Their SLT's advice? Just manage the relationship. Dylan and Hayden have slightly stronger thoughts on that.Then unannounced learning walks, two-line feedback emails with n…

Most schools have a reading for pleasure strategy. It usually looks like this: children get a book, the timer starts, the room goes quiet. Independent reading slot, ticked off. Except Hayden's argument in this clip is that what just happened there has almost nothing to do with reading for pleasure.…

The government has just announced it is making the school phone ban statutory, turning existing guidance into legal obligation. Dylan and Hayden break down what that actually means, who it affects, and whether the people celebrating it are right to.In this episode:📱 What the new law actually say…