We Are Teachers

This week Hazel chats to Andrew Moffat MBE. He is a teacher of primary children, the author of several books and educational resources, including the No Outsiders programme, an approach to teaching primary school-aged children about diversity and tolerance, for which he was nominated for the Global Teacher Prize. An influencer and trailblazer, Andrew is passionate about change.

Nic Marks, CEO of Friday Pulse understands that Happiness is your ultimate people KPI. Building on the last 20 years, he realised that happiness is a metric you can also apply to the workplace. He has appeared on Ted Talks, worked with Blair and Cameron Governments and has appeared in Forbes, The Guardian, Wired to name a few. Nic's ethos; When we feel supported, we cope better with change. The science of wellbeing can help individuals, teams and organisations get through this difficult time. As a statistician and a trained therapist it’s always been his mission to improve people’s experience of life.www.fridaypulse.com / www.nicmarks,org

Helen Hackett has worked in education for over 20 years, based in Birmingham. Helen is a maths specialist teacher (MaST), an SLE (specialist leader in education) and a Professional Development Lead (NCETM). Inspiring, passionate and eager to change perception about Maths, Helen discusses the importance of enabling children to understand maths in unprecedented ways to create the future mathematician's.

Emma-Leigh is 23 and a successful woman who is 'care experienced'. She bravely shares her story of life within the care system and the impact of school, the support system and how we can help care experienced students even more. We should be doing more and we can do more, Emma-Leigh kindly gives us an exclusive insight.

Detective Constable 9773 Gillian Squires MBE joins Hazel as this weeks expert guest to explain about Female Genital Mutilation (FMG) and the effects of school children; why we need to be educating children; what are the signs; what should the education sector do to prevent it. Gill has represented WMP on the West Midlands FGM taskforce, and is a member of the Home Office FGM Stakeholder and Enforcement Groups consulting regarding development of best practice and implementation of legislation. Gill has recently been seconded to the Home Office FGM Unit, where she devised and delivered a series of 10 multi agency roadshows across the UK raising awareness of Protection orders.Gill engages with professionals and communities providing training, and extends a hand of friendship to break down barriers, assist identification and promote reporting.Gill has been awarded a Women in Policing ‘Special recognition’ award for her dedication and pioneering FGM work, and was proud to be invested as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2018 by HRH Prince Charles.

Tim Boyes, CEO at Birmingham Education Partnership and an NLE in his 13th year of headship, having led three of the most challenging schools in Birmingham. Queensbridge, the school from which he is seconded is graded outstanding and was one of the first Character Award winners in 2015. It specialises in visual and performing arts and leadership. He was seconded to a local school in crisis for a period of 2.5 years at the request of Local Government. Tim has also led on the setting up of an innovative alternative provision Free School, serving 14 secondary schools in the south of Birmingham. Tim and Hazel discuss the improvement of schools, leadership and some advice.

Hazel Pulley, CEO of Excelsior Multi-Academy Trust, is joined by Professor Colin Diamond CBE, Professor of Educational Leadership at Birmingham University. Colin Diamond has worked in the field of educational leadership for many years in England. He has been a Head of Faculty, Associate Headteacher, Local Education Authority Adviser, Assistant Director and Director of Education/Children’s Services.He led improvements in two local authorities taking them from government intervention to strong performance. He has also worked for the Department for Education in England as Head of Education Advisers for the Academies and Free Schools Programme. He was Deputy Education Commissioner in Birmingham and he was also an OfSTED inspector. A long list of accolades before him, Colin and Hazel discuss the future of the education sector.