Support and challenge
As summer approaches and end-of-term overwhelm takes hold, I’ve found listening to podcasts a great way to stay up to speed with the ever-shifting educational landscape.
With weeks to go before the break, one of the sector’s chief concerns is the possibility of Ofsted inspections starting in November based on a framework we know nothing about.
Unions have called for these to be suspended until September 2026 so that the sector can adapt to new judgments that, we do know, will focus more strongly on inclusion.
What that looks like is still unclear, and no wonder. This week’s Cornwall Research School podcast makes clear there are still plenty of misconceptions about what good inclusive practice looks like.
John Rodgers’ guest, SENCo and English lead, Eugene McFadden is unafraid to challenge some of those ideas.
He speaks compellingly about the way some well-intentioned support can accidentally create more dependence. “We’re not here to rescue,” he says. “We’re here to build capability.” Rather than watering things down or making them too easy, we should ensure the right scaffolds are in place so all children can access the curriculum.
The discussion around teaching assistants is particularly resonant. As Eugene notes, they’re only as effective as the training and clarity they receive.
“Briefings aren’t professional development,” he says, and he’s absolutely right. We can’t expect excellence from people we don’t invest in, and assistants deserve the same quality of professional development as the teachers they support.
Purpose and fluency
Meanwhile, over on the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Mr Lee was joined this week by Jocelyn Seamer, a literacy consultant from Australia with a calm voice and fierce clarity.
The episode was titled Know Thy Purpose, and for me it couldn’t have landed at a better time, reflecting as I was on how much of my working week I spend on teaching and learning, and how much I spend on the other elements of my role.
I loved Seamer’s insights on fluency. We talk a lot about decoding and comprehension, but she framed fluency as the bridge between them. “If they can’t read smoothly,” she says, “they can’t think deeply.”
Most compellingly, she talks about structured literacy as if it were a well-planned estate, neither dull nor overly rigid. “Explicit doesn’t mean boring,” she says. “It means intentional.”
There’s something reassuring about that. In a climate where we’re constantly pulled in a dozen directions, she argues for a curriculum that knows where it’s going.
Engagement by design
And on the subject of curriculum, I have been talking about design and technology a lot at my school this term. So I was pleased to find this latest episode of the Designed for Life podcast, in which Janine Pavlis makes a great case for the subject in primary schools.
Our accountability system can make allocating time to D&T feel like a luxury. Pavlis reminds us that it is a necessity. “Tinkering is thinking,” she says. I love that!
She describes the magic that happens when children are allowed to build, test, fail and try again. She also raises the important point that D&T can be a leveller, especially for those children who may not shine in more traditional subjects.
Sadly, so many teachers feel ill-equipped to deliver it. As with SEND and literacy, it circles back to training and support. Passion is one thing; preparation is another.
All three of these conversations were deeply practical, but they also made space for something we’re in danger of losing in our profession: purpose.
Schools are being asked to carry more and more societal weight – from food to feelings to futures – but we’re not robots. We’re human beings trying to make sense of an increasingly incoherent policy landscape while still showing up for the children in front of us.
These podcasts don’t offer magic fixes. But they remind me that in the midst of the chaos, there are still educators thinking carefully, acting deliberately and trying to build something better.
My takeaway is that we still have the power to choose our focus. We just have to make the time to listen.
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