Videos
April 14, 2024
Ep 58: The Hilarious Mrs Smith: Learning Stalks, Knobservations & Stand-Up Comedy
In our weekly catch-up, we discuss the difference between self-care and self-soothing, the fact Hayden is always ill & why McDonalds chicken nuggets taste like cardboard.
Then, we welcome the awesome Mrs Smith to the podcast to chat about her stand-up tour, politics in education & her famous classr…
April 7, 2024
Ep 57: Making The Most Of Your Time Off: Say NO, Prioritise Tasks & Stop Comparing!
Join us as we have a wide-ranging chat around making the most of your time off.
As teachers, we get a LOT of time off. We know this isn't as straight forward as it sounds. We work HARD & have a lot to do.
So, why do some teachers thrive in their time off, but others feel so bogged down.
Toxic schoo…
March 31, 2024
Ep 56: Sophie B: SATs Insights, The Best Way To Prep & Widespread Cheating (Part 2)
Our chat with Sophie morphed into a marathon conversation, so we are back with week with part 2 that is all about the Key Stage 2 SATs.
Sophie is a SATs data guru and talks us through past patterns and what we are likely to see this year. She shares some super insight into what's needed to pass the…
March 24, 2024
Ep 55: Sophie B: Parenting and Teaching, Setting Boundaries At Work & Job Sharing (part 1)
Sophie B joins us as our first ever return guest on the podcast. Last time we spoke, Sophie was on maternity leave. Now, she has returned to work and is navigating parenthood whilst also getting back into the swing of things at school.
We chat about how tricky it is returning to work, how you HAVE …
March 17, 2024
Ep 54: Mixed Ability or Sets: Should We Group Classes Based On Ability?
Over the years, the narrative has changed as more and more research became available.
The overarching thought now is that setting in primary schools is not the way forward and that instead we should teach mixed-ability classes across the board.
But does this work in reality?
What are the d…
March 10, 2024
Ep 53: What Children Should Be Learning At Home (& What To AVOID!)
Following on from the discussion what exactly the role of a teacher is in last week's episode, we flip the narrative this time and discuss exactly what learning children should be doing at home.
Times tables?
Complex problem solving?
Grammar and punctuation?
Endless projects?
What's actually usef…
March 3, 2024
Ep 52: Brushing Teeth & Toilet Training: What Exactly Is The Role Of A Teacher?
This week, we saw a study where half of parents felt it wasn't solely their responsibility to toilet train their children.
Labour want to introduce teeth brushing to primary schools.
What exactly is too much to ask for teachers?
We discuss it all in this week's episode, and more!
Join us on Instagr…
Feb. 25, 2024
Ep 51: The Best Things About Teaching Are.....
Doing a podcast about education during the most turbulent year in memory (strikes, funding crisis, retention and recruitment issues) is bound to throw up some negativity.
This week, we thought we'd focus solely on what keeps us coming back to the job.
Why do we still love it?
Why haven't we quit, i…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 50: Top Tips To Avoid Teacher Burnout
Teaching is consistently placed in the top 5 most stressful jobs there are.
Burnout feels inevitable.
With the wrong school & policy in place, it's practically impossible to avoid.
However....
We do have control of enough in our job to help. Even just a bit.
Here we talk about our top 6 actionable …
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 49: Writing Assessment: How Many Schools Are Cheating The Broken System?
Writing assessment is broken.
Ridiculously high bar for children to reach; a moderation procedure open to fudging; increasing pressure to meet certain end goals.
Should we go back to formal tests?
Is there a way to fix teacher assessment?
Why are 'Published' pieces of a work a complete waste of tim…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 48: Is OFSTED Actually About To Change For The Better?
Join us for a chat about the current state of OFSTED in schools and the committee report into what needs to happen to change the horrific narrative around school inspections.
What are the main problems currently?
What are the most important and urgent changes we need?
Is the new chief inspector ser…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 47: The School Absence Crisis: What Caused It & How Can It Be Fixed?
School absence is at crisis-level post-pandemic and doesn't seem to be budging much.
We chat about the underlying causes, why playing the blame game won't help & what are the actionable steps that need to be taken to solve it.
We look at a cross-party committee report from the House of Commons and …
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 46: Will The Teacher Workload Reduction Taskforce Actually Make A Difference?
The initial findings of the Teacher Workload Reduction Taskforce have been published and make for interesting viewing.
The government have already responded to two suggestions, ruling out an extra INSET day but promising to rapidly review performance related pay.
How many of the recommendations are…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 45: Is The Primary School Timetable Fit For Purpose?
How do primary schools timetable an over crammed curriculum? Are some subjects given too much time compared to others? Can a more flexible timetable have more pros than a fixed one, or is the change too disruptive?
Over 50% of people we polled on Instagram said they would change their school's time…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 44: Hayden Vs Dylan: New Year's Resolution Challenge
The boys see in the new year with the usual light-hearted look at the last week & the 12 months ahead.
Both set a daily target for 2024 and set up a competition to see who will last the longest.
Silly games are played, government 'leaks' and the usual shenanigans.
Thank you so much for all of your …
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 43: THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: Secret Santa, Memorable Gifts & Why Turkey Is Massively Overrated
Join us for a festive hour of laughs, quizzes, games and anecdotes! It's Christmas and boy are we ready to celebrate.
Hayden tries to ruin Christmas for Dylan.
Dylan serves up the hardest quiz round you'll ever see.
They both rant about how rubbish turkey is.
It's not to be missed!
M…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 42: The Struggles Of Staying Fit And Healthy In Teaching: A Chat With Martin Malone (@TheTeach...
Noticed your health, fitness and wellbeing declining over the years as a teacher? Us too!
This week we chat with Martin Malone, an ex-teacher who is now best known as 'The Teachers PT' and pick his brains on how to battle against the relentless pressure of the job, and ultimately stay fit and heal…
Feb. 22, 2024
Bitesize #5: School Dinner Desserts, A Finger Dilemma & The Ultimate Friendship Test
Hello and welcome to a laid-back, fun bitesized episode from Dylan & Hayden.
We enjoy some more blind ranking, discuss how much money our fingers are worth & Hayden tried to catch out Dylan with the ultimate friendship quiz.
If you want to lighten up your commute, this might just be the thing…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 41: Christmas in School, Teacher Gifts & A Whole Bunch Of Owls
Welcome back valued listener/customer/friend!
This week we lean into our unhinged and playful side with an episode all about Christmas!
We play games. We talk about Christmas in school. We reminisce on our own good times. We delve into Christmas parties for the kids and Christmas parties for …
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 40: The Drastically Changing Teaching Profession: Chronic Underfunding, Enormous Workload & Dw...
We are BACK in the same room with a full, normal, feature-length episode.
Hayden debriefs on life as a new dad with his 2-week old, Dylan laughs at Hayden going through exactly what he did last month and EVENTUALLY we talk about the drastic changes in the teaching profession.
We talk about th…
Feb. 22, 2024
Bitesize #4: Try These 5 Things Before You Quit Teaching (It Worked For Us!)
More teachers than ever are quitting, which means even more
teachers than ever are currently thinking of taking the plunge and leaving the profession.
Here are 5 things you should definitely try before packing
it all in.
These won’t work for everyone, but we’ve seen first-hand how
these small…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 39: Can You Help Us?
A short stop-gap episode with just Dylan (Hayden is new-born Dadding!) & a small request from us....
Would you leave us a review? :)
Thank you so much to all of our listeners. You are the best.
Please let us know who you are and get in touch with us. You can find us on:
Instagram: @tea…
Feb. 22, 2024
Bitesize #3: Reflections on Newborn Parenting: The Best Hardest Thing Ever
With Hayden entering the new-dad club, the boys have an
honest discussion about the life-changing event of becoming a father. From
funny stories to serious thoughts, this is a must-listen for anyone wanting to
learn more about the process and the realities it entails.
It is definitely the Best Hard…
Feb. 22, 2024
Ep 38: Heather Wright & Jane Considine on Amazing Books, Boosting Writing & Representing Female T...
We are joined this week by two extremely knowledgeable and lovely guests: Heather Wright and Jane Considine.
Heather created and runs the amazing 'Reading Rocks' which provides amazing opportunities to children, from book deliveries to author events.
Jane is a widely respected and well-known …