Teachers Talk Radio

Beejesh Deva and special guest co host Michael Wright discuss the idea of trusts serving and representing their local communities and how well they do this. Is the academy system working better than local authorities? is the funding being used democratically and are stakeholders including teachers represented in the decision making?

The 11+ is supposed to identify academic potential. But what happens when success in the test increasingly depends on how much preparation a family can afford. Success based on parents ability to pay not the child’s abilities. A recent Schools Week investigation found families paying up to £600 for 11+ practice materials, highlighting a growing tutoring industry built around parents’ fear of their children missing out on limited Grammar School places (Schools Week⁠) In this episode, TTR will bring together teachers some who have sat the 11+ themselves, to ask whether the 11+ is really a test of ability — or increasingly a test of preparation, opportunity and parental resources. We’ll explore the history and purpose of grammar schools, the explosion of the tutoring industry, the advantages available to affluent families and whether an apparently meritocratic system can actually reproduce social inequality. But we’ll go further. Why do we stream and select children at all? What does early academic sorting do to children’s expectations, confidence and future opportunities? And is there a contradiction between believing that every child can achieve while simultaneously creating systems that label some children as academically successful and others as less capable at just eleven years old? Is selection an efficient way of matching children to education or does it simply turn existing inequalities into apparently legitimate differences in ability? A conversation about the 11+ becomes a much bigger conversation about merit, privilege, social mobility and what we actually want our education system to achieve. On the panel: Tony Harwood, Emma Gallagher, Carl Smith and JP.

Famida Choudhary is in conversation with educator Crystal Frommert as we explore what it really means to be a teacher in an ever-changing educational landscape. From the unseen work of constantly learning and adapting to becoming connectors who bring authentic voices and real-world experiences into the classroom, we examine how teaching reaches far beyond curriculum and assessment. We reflect on the influence educators may never see, what students teach us in return, and how the teacher’s role is evolving in the age of AI. Because some of the most powerful outcomes of teaching cannot be measured and its impact may travel further than we ever know.

Join Toby and Piers Gledhill as they discuss their hopes and dreams for the new academic year. What changes do they expect and how can they make them happen?

A 10-year-old autistic boy who brought a replica butterfly knife into school has had his permanent exclusion quashed by the High Court. The object was passed to another pupil during a playground altercation but caused no significant injury. The judge questioned whether the school’s decision was proportionate and emphasised that permanent exclusion should be used only as a last resort. Was permanent exclusion justified in this case and what does “last resort” really mean? How should autism, SEND or unmet needs affect the consequences for serious behaviour? Should the response depend on the nature of the object, the child’s intentions or the potential risk? When inclusion conflicts with the safety and education of other pupils, whose rights should take priority? The Points of View panel debates whether the ruling provides essential protection for vulnerable children or risks school leaders being second-guessed when making difficult safeguarding decisions. Are mainstream schools properly equipped to support children with complex needs and could making permanent exclusion harder lead to more suspensions, managed moves or informal exclusions instead? On the panel: Tom Rogers, Rae Whitehouse, JP and guest Andrew Old.