Good morning,

This week’s guest is Cheryl Ballance, a teacher, school leader and maths specialist with 23 years of experience in education.

What I really enjoyed about this conversation is that Cheryl has been teaching for a long time, but there is absolutely no sense that she thinks she has teaching worked out. Quite the opposite. She talks openly about the things she has changed her mind about, the areas she still wants to understand better and how her experiences as both a teacher and leader have shaped the way she now thinks about schools.

There is plenty here about mathematics, classroom practice and professional development, but the conversation also goes much wider. We talk about belonging, expectations, curriculum, the pressures schools face from accountability, what happens when improvement becomes the priority, and how leaders can create the conditions for teachers to keep getting better.

Cheryl has also spent the past few years helping to lead a school through a particularly demanding period, so this isn’t a conversation about improvement in the abstract. It is rooted in the difficult decisions schools actually have to make, what is worth holding on to and what can get lost when external pressures begin to dominate.

Another really thoughtful contribution to Season 7, and one that gave me plenty to think about afterwards.

Hope you enjoy!

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Dr Nadine Burke Harris: work on ACEs and toxic stress

The Thrive Approach

GM100 - Developing the next generation of headteachers for Greater Manchester

This autumn, we’re taking our mathematics professional development programme on the road, with a four-session programme for primary and secondary teachers in Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.

When pupils begin to struggle with mathematics, it can be tempting to make the mathematics easier, slow everything down or give them something different. That may help in the moment, but over time it can leave pupils with fewer opportunities to develop the understanding they need to catch up.

We think there is a better way.

Across four sessions, we’ll explore how stronger subject and pedagogical content knowledge can help teachers make better instructional decisions within everyday classroom teaching. The aim is simple: to help more pupils develop genuine mathematical understanding without lowering ambition.

The first programmes begin in November, with dates in Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow over the coming months.

You can find all the dates, venues, prices and booking information here:

https://alta-education.com/cpd-tour-26-27/

We’d love to see you there.

Thinking Deeply about Primary Education is coming to Edinburgh.

Join us for a day of thoughtful, practical professional learning, bringing together teachers, leaders and some brilliant voices from across education to explore the ideas that matter most in classrooms and schools.

If you enjoy the podcast, this is the chance to be part of those conversations in person.

Tickets are available now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thinking-deeply-about-primary-education-conference-edinburgh-tickets-1994538692922

A huge thank you to everyone who shared last week’s episode. TDaPE continues to grow through those small recommendations from one teacher or leader to another, and every share helps these conversations reach people who might otherwise never come across them. If this week’s episode makes you think of someone, I’d be very grateful if you passed it on.

That’s all from me for now. As always, I’d love to know what you made of the conversation, so feel free to leave a comment wherever you listen or simply reply to this email.

Until next time, thanks for listening.