The Leading, Language and Literature Podcast

In this episode, I’m speaking to Christopher Such. Chris is a primary school teacher by trade but has also served as a school leader, teacher educator and consultant. He has worked with many schools, multi-academy trusts and English organisations to develop teachers’ understanding of reading and implement evidence-informed classroom practice. He is also an author, having written The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading and Primary Reading Simplified: A Practical Guide to Classroom Teaching and Whole-School Implementation.
As a secondary English teacher, I was keen to chat to someone with Primary expertise to better understand the experiences younger children go through before entering a secondary classroom. Given the quality and applicability of his writing, Chris was arguably the best person for the job.
We discuss:
Chris’ broad explanation of what outstanding reading instruction entails in KS1 and 2.
The specific instructional routines Primary teachers use to develop fluency, vocabulary and other essential skills.
What struggles when reading aloud reveal about a child's needs.
What 'effective intervention' looks like.
And finally, the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing.

Thanks again to Chris for sharing vital ideas in terms of how to support students’ continual growth of literacy. His books, whilst including ‘Primary’ in the title, are equally effective when working with pupils who still require effective and efficient instruction in the secondary school.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Chris’ books: Primary Reading Simplified: A Practical Guide to Classroom Teaching and Whole-School Implementation and The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading
Beta version of Make Middle Years English Matter

In this episode, I’m speaking to Costas Constantinou. Costas is the co-founder and Director of Education at Veema Education, an organisation that provides professional development and school improvement programs internationally. A former London-based school leader, he specialises in training, coaching, and supporting educators globally. He is also the author of "A School Leader’s Guide to Leading Professional Development".
Professional development is a fascinating phenomenon, given those in charge are tasked with building a shared language of excellence for staff, who might have ten different definitions of what a "good lesson" even looks like. On top of this, it’s culturally and contextually complex, and is arguably one of the most interesting design challenges in education right now. So, getting Costas into discuss best practice was a real privilege.
We discuss:
How and why schools should move from one-off events to multi-year CPD that establishes whole-school priorities while still being relevant at the department level
How can leaders can make CPD meaningful for both early career teachers and experienced subject specialists
How we foster 'disciplined inquiry,' where teachers identify their own professional needs
Moving from measuring teacher satisfaction to measuring its actual impact on student learning
And finally, how to simplify engagement with evidence so it feels practical rather than a chore

Thanks again to Costas, someone who’s spent years truly deconstructing the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of school improvement, for his insights into the rigorous, evidence-backed architecture PD can offer.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Costas’ book: A School Leader's Guide to Leading Professional Development
Beta version of Make Middle Years English Matter

In this episode, I am speaking to Gina Davies. Gina is an experienced educator of Science with expertise in instructional leadership, coaching and serves the charity WomenEd as regional lead here in Hong Kong.
Our chat is the fifth conversation in a series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English. My intrigue in doing these is to see whether there are possibilities for connections across subjects that are at least shared in passing during class or actually and more excitingly, the basis of complex interdisciplinary units.
We discuss:
The products, processes or texts that are at the heart of studying Science
The deep concepts that an expert in Science uses to make meaning from these phenomena
The potential links that Science and English share from a conceptual or disciplinary point of view
And lastly, possible projects that students could work on to better understand both subjects, simultaneously.

Thanks so much to Gina for explaining the organising principles of Science in such a clear and concise way as well as offering numerous ways in which our two subjects intersect.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Beta version of Make Middle Years English Matter

In this episode, I’m speaking with Li Bin. Bin is a Deputy Head of School here in Hong Kong and formerly Asia-Pacific Regional Manager for the International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme. On top of that, she is a deeply experienced teacher of Chinese and has worked with many schools that offer bilingual instruction.
Our chat is the fourth conversation in a series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English. My intrigue in doing these is to see whether there are possibilities for connections across subjects that are at least shared in passing during class or actually and more excitingly, the basis of complex interdisciplinary units.
We discuss:
The products, processes or texts that are at the heart of studying Chinese Language and Literature
The deep concepts that an expert in Chinese uses to make meaning from these phenomena
The potential links that Chinese and English share from a conceptual or disciplinary point of view
And lastly, possible projects that students could work on to better understand both languages, simultaneously.

Thanks so much to Bin for providing me with incredibly substantial but eloquent answers that did so much to enlighten my understanding of Chinese and the similarities it might share with English teaching.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Beta version of Make Middle Years English Matter

In this episode, I’m speaking with Shanice Welsh. Shanice is a director of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum here in Hong Kong and an active sharer of good teaching practice on the likes of X where she posts under the handle @Edu_byCreation. She is an experienced Middle Years Programme teacher and has done lots of work to integrate the framework into her own department’s output but also across the school as a whole.
My chat with her is the third conversation in a series of discussions designed to learn more about secondary subjects and their possible interdisciplinary links with English.
My intrigue in having these chats is seeing whether there are possibilities for connections across subjects that are at least shared in passing during class or actually and more excitingly, the basis of complex interdisciplinary units.
We discuss:
The products, processes or texts that are at the heart of studying Design
The deep concepts that an expert in Design uses to make meaning from these phenomena
The potential links that Design and English share from a conceptual or disciplinary point of view
And lastly, possible projects that students could work on to better understand both subjects, simultaneously.

Thanks so much to Shanice who speaks with an excellent clarity, which speaks to both experience with interdisciplinary planning as well as a deep expertise in her subject.
If you’d like to be kept up to date on when chat like this happens, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn @chrisjordanhk or X @chrisjordanhk
Additionally, if you would like a head start on learning how to prioritise your middle years English curriculum, head to the bottom of this podcast’s show notes or top of my stream on X to find a beta copy of my forthcoming book: Make Middle Years English Matter. You can read as much as you want and even highlight elements that you like, dislike or find confusing to help make it better.
Links:
Beta version of Make Middle Years English Matter