It was great to welcome Kiran Gill onto the podcast to start our 2019 episodes. Kiran is Founder and CEO of The Difference – an organisation which is creating a new generation of school leaders, specialist in improving outcomes for the most vulnerable children. Kiran began her career in inner-city London, as an English teacher …
Read the full article…

You will probably know Vic Goddard from the TV show, Educating Essex but in this week’s episode he talks candidly to Tara Elie about a wide range of topics including: Whether he would agree to filming in his school now His experiences with Ofsted How damaging he thinks overtesting is Tips for surviving in school …
Read the full article…

Ollie Frith gives an exclusive insiders’ viewpoint on Pivotal’s Recent Instructors’ Conference this week. There are clips from some of the sessions and lots of inspiration from delegates and organisers. Ollie encourages us all to Stop, Collaborate and Listen, rather than blindly following ‘what we have always done’. The video Paul uses in his session: Tweet …
Read the full article…

Siobhan has been  headteacher of a Primary school in Morecambe, Lancashire for 14 years. Morecambe is a coastal town with pockets of extreme deprivation from which the school’s intake is drawn.  The school has established outstanding Pastoral Support systems and makes excellent use of links with other agencies and sectors. Siobhan works as a member of the County …
Read the full article…

Ashley Mclaren is a criminologist who has recently completed her Master’s thesis. Tara spoke to her about unconscious bias but Ashley has also been influenced by Dr. Karen Graham who has worked on the ‘School to Prison Pipeline’. Ashley’s thesis is entitled, ‘Black and Blue – an exploration of the work and identity as a …
Read the full article…

Ollie Frith guides us through some of the earliest episodes of the podcast which cover aspects of the Five Pillars of Pivotal Practice: Consistent, calm adult behaviour  First attention to best conduct Relentless routines Scripted interventions Restorative follow up The episodes he refers to are: Restorative Practice – PP3 Scripted Behaviour Interventions – PP10 Managing …
Read the full article…

Tara Elie  welcomes Emma Brown back shortly after her previous visit to answer some questions about autism from podcast listeners. Emma is a Practice Development Coach working in Social Care with clients who have learning disabilities and/or Autism. The answers to the questions posed are equally applicable to those in mainstream settings who come into …
Read the full article…

This week, Paul speaks to Elaine Halligan. The London director of The Parent Practice, Elaine has been a parenting facilitator since 2006, teaching parents in the Wimbledon and Clapham centres. She works in schools and nurseries, coordinates our corporate and business seminar programme and works with special educational needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. …
Read the full article…

Ruth McKay is Headteacher at Portobello High School, a large comprehensive in the east of Edinburgh. Ruth began her career as an English teacher and quickly moved into Guidance and Pastoral Care. Following a national secondment looking at new ways to measure progress and improvement in education, she spent time working in a local authority …
Read the full article…

Victoria Tait is Education for Sustainability Coordinator at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. As EfS coordinator, Victoria’s role is to ensure that sustainability is an integral part of both staff and students’ experiences and learning whilst at our University. Victoria works with staff to explore how sustainability links to the curriculum, and supports individual staff members to …
Read the full article…