NetSupport Radio

In this episode of Insights with NetSupport, we are joined by Nicole Ponsford , Founder of the Global Equality Collective (GEC) and Top50 Inspiring Women in Tech Europe.View the questions we covered about diversity and inclusion below...A big question, but can summarise the key challenges of diversity and inclusion in today’s world?What is the impact of a lack of diversity and inclusion on young people?What are your top tips to building a truly diverse and inclusive classroom?Can you tell us about the work you do at Global Equality Collective?

In this episode of Insights with NetSupport we are joined by Jim Love, who is the CIO and Chief Digital Officer of IT World Canada (Canada's leader in ICT publishing and digital marketing). He's also the host of Hashtag Trending, a daily news podcast focusing on business and technology and author of Digital Transformation in the First Person.In this episode we discuss the below:Questions:What are your thoughts about companies that have eliminated or reduced the emphasis on needing a 4-year college degree to apply for a mid-level or a high-skill job? Here’s an article on that topic.What do you think might be lost by not pursuing a four-year college degree?What do you think can be gained by not pursuing a four-year college degree?I think it is an interesting shift in our mindset these days. It feels to me like - whereas 12 months ago it seemed like the average person was afraid of AI taking over the world - since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, it feels like that fear has faded. Do you sense that same shift happening? Do you find that your readership and perhaps your contributors and reporters have a sense for how IT and technology jobs might change now that LLM are accessible?Most of our listeners are in education. What do you think that teachers and administrators should be working towards given some of these changes we have discussed today?

In this episode of Insights with NetSupport, host Al Kingsley (NetSupport's CEO) is joined by Canadian teacher, author and founder of CodeBreaker, Brian Aspinall.They discuss about the topic of the moment – AI – and the opportunities it presents, as well as other technology developments happening in education.Brian talks about CodeBreaker (a consulting and publishing powerhouse in the education space), how it challenges the status quo and seeks to "educate the whole child – mind, body and soul," – and chats about the great work currently going on in the Canadian education system.To learn more and connect with Brian, follow CodeBreaker (@codebreakeredu) and check out the website, www.codebreakeredu.com.

Welcome back to Of Primary Importance! In this podcast series, we explore all things EYFS and primary with different topics and special guests each fortnight.In this episode each attendee discusses with the group a maths topic of their choice and everyone finishes the discussion with a top tip for sparking passion in maths. This episode’s topics include: ‘Thinking and communicating like a mathematician’, ‘Supporting children who struggle with maths’ and ‘Making maths books meaningful for children.’About our guestsLouise Pennington is the Professional Development Lead at Oxford University Press (OUP). She’s also the newly appointed Trustee for the Mathematical Association (MA) and chair of the MA PD Committee. A former Primary SENCO, lead maths teacher and Local Authority specialist teacher for maths difficulties. Before working for OUP, Louise led a Local Authority SEND Teaching Team. You can connect with Louise on Twitter at @pdLouiseP. Hari Neocleous is a Primary Maths and Chess Teacher. A former Maths Lead and Number Count Teacher, Hari works across schools as a Maths Intervention Teacher. She also teaches chess and strategy games. She recently spoke at the London Chess Conference showing how problem solving skills can be developed through the theme of chess. You can follow Hari on twitter at @hari_neo21 or at @the_maths_nuts on instagram.Sara Tilley is a Primary Maths Consultant whose company is called Curious Maths. Sara provides maths consultancy support, maths CPD training across three London boroughs and has recently developed a parent subscription service to show parents how we teach maths in primary school. You can connect with Sara at @curious_maths on Twitter or search for ‘Curious Maths’ on Instagram and Facebook.ContactHere’s the best way to get in touch with our guests!●Louise Pennington: @pdLouiseP●Hari Neocleous:  @hari_neo21 and @the_maths_nuts●Sara Tilley: @curious_maths and www.curiousmaths.co.ukYou can follow me (Kat Cauchi) on Twitter at @ReallyschoolK. Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content and see all our previous episodes here. If you are interested in coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM on Twitter or email rise@netsupportsoftware.com!   

May is Symptomatic Hypermobility Month and in this episode, Kat talks with Jane Green MBE all about ‘Understanding Symptomatic Hypermobility’ and Jane’s charity SEDSConnective.Jane: “I am a disabled, neurodivergent, autistic parent carer for her eldest neurodivergent adult child, who left school at 16 with two qualifications and was told I was ‘dim.’ Yet, I have an MA Ed., Advanced Diploma in Education, Secondary PGCE, BSc Hons Psychology., and a QTS.”Jane Green MBE is the founder and chair of SEDS Connective, as well as a non-executive director and a co-author (with Donaghy and Moore) on the peer reviewed paper, ‘Co-occurring physical health challenges in neurodivergent children and young people.’ She regularly presents at a variety of events including at Government conferences and she presented at the Global Learning Conference in Ireland in August 2023. Formerly, she led the Autism Education Trust (in the South East) and the National Autistic Society, and has been an assistant headteacher, LA advisory teacher and lead for ‘Autism Education in All Phases of Education.’ SEDSConnective is the first global neurodivergent (autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, Tourette’s’ +) and symptomatic hypermobility (Ehlers-Danlos syndromes EDS, Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders HSD) user led, voluntary charity. Their patron Dr J. Eccles and the team at BSMS provide the charity with evidence-based research.Here are some of the questions I asked Jane:1.       Could you introduce yourself to our listeners?2.       Can you give our listeners a description of what hypermobility is?3.       How can hypermobility be linked with neurodivergence?4.       What are some of the common symptoms of hypermobility disorders and what should teachers be looking for as possible signs their students may have a hypermobility disorder?5.       What kind of impact can hypermobility disorders have on learning, mental health and physical health?6.       You’ve mentioned before that hypermobility disorders can be often be overlooked and misdiagnosed- can you talk more about that and why you think it’s happening?7.       Can you tell us a bit more about SEDSConnective and how it started and why?8.       You mentioned it’s ‘Symptomatic Hypermobility Month,’ what kind of things is SEDSConnective doing to raise awareness and how can schools get involved?You can connect with Jane on…Twitter: www.twitter.com/@JGjanegreen     www.twitter.com/SEDSConnective LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janegreenmaed/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sedsconnective/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SEDSconnective Her website: www.SEDSconnective.org You can also read her research paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13575279.2022.2149471 and check out her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHzgTdMyUTXvx8ElSV4ZcYg Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content and see all our previous episodes here. If you are interested on coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM on Twitter or email contact@reallyschool

Dean Shareski, an Educational Consultant for Advanced Learning Partnerships, joined Al Kingsley on NetSupport Radio to discuss everything from an overview of education in Canada, the state of remote learning, the overall challenge of new teachers and leadership, along with some thoughts on the efforts around student well-being and workplace wellness.Questions included:Can you give me an overview of school governance in Canada?Can you also explain how it differs from the U.S. and perhaps the U.K?How do you think we are doing from a leadership perspective in the schools following the pandemic?Have you seen shifts in school administration and how governing bodies interact with schools?What are those challenges (new teachers and leadership face with respect to well-being and workplace wellness) and do you think they differ in our respective countries?What excites you most about some new trends we are seeing in schools?I am particularly interested in relevance in education and getting students onto career pathways where they can, rather quickly, have a trade or a career path that can earn a decent wage. What are your feelings about this? Are we doing enough? Website: http://ideasandthoughts.org/For more Insights and many more useful videos, please subscribe to the NetSupport YouTube channel or subscribe here.Or listen to more podcasts here on NetSupport Radio.

Kailey Lefko, a Math and Science Teacher, Co-Founder at Educalme Inc and The Balanced Educator Podcast Co-Host, joined Al Kingsley on NetSupport Radio to discuss everything from a mindful approach to student management, how to use classroom tools to help students stay focused, social-emotional learning - plus much more!The question covered included: What types of strategies do you use to help students stay focused?Do you use different classroom tools, desk configurations, music, colors, etc?Can you explain the process of teaching mindfulness?Do you have thoughts about the role of mindfulness in an age when technology surrounds and often leads everything we do?Did you recognize this when creating your program, Educalme?I’m curious about your thoughts on student management?What do you think is exemplary about the Canadian education system? For more Insights and many more useful videos, please subscribe to the NetSupport YouTube channel or subscribe here.Or listen to more podcasts here on NetSupport Radio.

Nick Corston from STEAM Co chats to Russell Prue about championing and inspiring creativity in schools and how that links to current vacancies in the IT sector. He talks about how students will need tech literacy in the future to do the jobs of the future.Nick's work involves setting off dynamite rockets in school playgrounds (yes, you read that right!) to engage children and parents – an off-curriculum activity to get them talking after school and drive engagement and motivation for everyone.@ST3AMCowww.steamco.org.uk#rocketkids23

EdTech entrepreneur, Michael Olagunju, joins Russell Prue to talks about how his life experience led him to where he is today as the Director of Exam Solutions, an online portal of resources to help students overcome difficulties in their studies. Exam Solutions offers students over 4,000 videos and there are also 100 qualified STEM tutors available. As one of first adopters of ChatGPT, the solution is using AI to accurately predict students' grades and then recommend precise learning tasks to help them improve based on their budget, their learning style and their interests.www.examsolutions.net@ExamSolutions

Kelly Hannaghan joined Russell to talk about the presentation she had given at Bett, talking about developing cost-effective digital strategies for wellbeing in education. She mentioned the huge focus on wellbeing, the plethora of resources around it, and the importance of 'cutting through the noise' to be clear on its purpose.She also explained the value of inspiring edtech confidence in teachers and using all resources available to share technology know-how and use school technology to its full potential.@mindworkmatters

Welcome back to Of Primary Importance!  In this podcast series we are exploring all things EYFS and primary with different topics and special guests each fortnight.  In this episode, I am joined by Tricia Fuglestad to talk about ‘Taking art into the world of AR.’ Tricia is a K-5 art teacher, author, and artist from Illinois, who has a MATL in K-12 tech integration. She has successfully blended digital and physical art making with her ‘transdigital’ lessons to expand the curriculum, give students an opportunity to explore new media and find transformative ways for students to demonstrate their learning dynamically.  Tricia’s classroom is featured in educational publications and higher education textbooks. Her students’ ‘Fugleflicks,’ student-created videos have screened at international film festivals and won national awards. She has been recognized with many state and national awards for her innovation and dedication to art education.  She is currently working on writing, illustrating, and animating ‘PETER O’Meter’, an augmented reality SEL (Social Emotional Learning) book about a robot who becomes emotional when his buttons are pushed.  Here are some of the questions I asked Tricia:   Could you please introduce yourself to our listeners? We're going to be talking a lot about augmented reality today (AR), so before we dive in, can you give our listeners a simple definition of what AR is? What are some of the benefits of using AR in the classroom? What do you think educators should know before using AR with pupils? Can you share an example of an AR project your students completed and what the outcomes were? How did creating those AR projects support student’s communication skills? Your 'emotional robots' have been a key component in using AR to support students' social and emotional learning and now are becoming a book! Can you tell us more about that please? Where can schools get support and how can they best contact you?   You can connect with Tricia on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out her YouTube channel and website for information and free resources.   You can follow me (Kat Cauchi) on Twitter at @ReallyschoolK  Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content and see all our previous episodes here. If you are interested on coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM on Twitter or email contact@reallyschool.com !    Kat Cauchi is NetSupport’s Community Engagement Manager, the Editor of R.I.S.E. Magazine and the Product Manager of ReallySchool. She is also a former Primary School Teacher, Member of the Global Equality Collective, a Technocamps GiST Role Model, an innovate <her>  role model and a Global EdTech Author.  

In this episode, I am joined by Kimberley Evans to talk about ‘Giving your staff a voice.’Kimberley Evans set up Nourish the Workplace in 20128 to make a difference to the profession that she loves. She is an experienced teacher and after seeing many people leave education due to unhappiness and workload, she made a commitment to show schools how easy it is to improve staff wellbeing.  Nourish the Workplace gives schools the tools it needs to prioritise and celebrate staff wellbeing. The survey gives every member of staff a voice and helps the school recognise their staff and their particular needs. She has worked with every type of school; primary, secondary, private, PRU and International, giving her a unique view of staff wellbeing from the ground. This provides a bespoke service to enable schools to improve the way staff feel about the school and improve retention and recruitment.Here are some of the questions I asked Kimberley: 1.  Could you please introduce yourself to our listeners? 2.  Can you talk a little bit about Nourish the Workplace and why you set it up? 3.  Why do you think sometimes leaders will make decisions to ‘try this’ or ‘try that’ to make an improvement without asking staff their thoughts? 4.  How can school leaders give opportunities for staff voice? 5.  How can they let staff know that they hear them? 6.  Why is it so important for leaders to listen to staff voice? 7.  What are some of the benefits you have seen in schools that have used your surveys?8.  Is there a difference between surveys and meetings for how comfortable staff feel about giving feedback, and if so, do you think this differs the kind of feedback given?9.   How can schools use staff feedback as part of their school development plan?10.  Where can educators get further support and how can they best get in touch with you?    You can connect with Kimberley on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. You can also check out her website. You can follow me (Kat Cauchi) on Twitter at @ReallyschoolK. Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content and see all our previous episodes here. If you are interested on coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM on Twitter or email contact@reallyschool.com !   Kat Cauchi is NetSupport’s Community Engagement Manager, the Editor of R.I.S.E. Magazine and the Product Manager of ReallySchool. She is also a former Primary School Teacher, Member of the Global Equality Collective, a Technocamps GiST Role Model, an innovate <her>  role model and a Global EdTech Author.  

Welcome back to Of Primary Importance! In this podcast series we are exploring all things EYFS and primary with different topics and special guests each fortnight.  In this episode, I am joined by Gemma Drinkall to talk about ‘Putting teaching back into its job box.’Gemma is an educational wellbeing coach and trainer who also hosts the ‘Teachers with Boundaries Podcast’. Her ambition is to transform middle leaders’ lives to benefit themselves, their students and team. With 8 years’ experience in education including middle leadership, Gemma understands the challenges that middle leaders face just to survive. After experiencing panic attacks, low mood and anxiety, Gemma burnt out, leaving her teaching career behind. She openly speaks about her experiences, making it her mission to help other middle leaders avoid the same fate and create clear boundaries so that they can switch off from teaching and switch on in their lives.Here are some of the questions I asked Gemma: ·         Could you please introduce yourself to our listeners?·         Today we’re going to be talking a lot about work-life balance in the education sector. So first off, can you tell me why you are passionate about this particular topic?·         You wanted to discuss setting healthy boundaries, so let’s talk about why this is significant and how staff can go about this.·         Why can the separation of work and life be particularly difficult for those working in education?·         Do you think part of the issue is that unhealthy work culture can be normalised in education?·         How can staff prioritise their own needs and why does this actually benefit everyone?·         How can staff harness the ‘power of saying no’ professionally?·         How can organisations support their staff in establishing and maintaining a healthy work-life balance?·         What are your top tips for putting teaching back into its ‘job box?’·         Where can educators get support and how can they best contact you?You can connect with Gemma on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.You can also join her ‘Teachers with boundaries’ Facebook group and check out her website You can follow me (Kat Cauchi) on Twitter at @ReallyschoolK. Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content and see all our previous episodes here. If you are interested on coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM on Twitter or email contact@reallyschool.com !    Kat Cauchi is NetSupport’s Community Engagement Manager, the Editor of R.I.S.E. Magazine and the Product Manager of ReallySchool. She is also a former Primary School Teacher, Member of the Global Equality Collective, a Technocamps GiST Role Model, an &l

elcome back to Of Primary Importance! In this podcast series we are exploring all things EYFS and primary with different topics and special guests each fortnight.  In this episode, I am joined by Ian Timbrell to talk about the importance of Relationships and Sex education (RSE) and how schools can communicate effectively with parents about RSE. Ian is an LGBT+ and RSE consultant, supporting schools become more inclusive for all pupils. Ian has taught for 15 years and been a deputy head teacher for 5 years. He hosts the Staffroom Soapbox podcast and regularly blogs and writes articles on his website www.timbrelleducation.com.  Ian is also a grammar geek and loves to nerd out on the history of languages.Here are some of the questions I asked Ian: Could you please introduce yourself to our listeners?What are the statutory requirements for schools in providing Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)?RSE can get a lot of backlash- why is that and how can we mitigate that?Have you had many examples of parents requesting to withdraw their child and citing ‘religious reasons’ and how can schools best respond to this?What are some common complaints you have had from parents about RSE and how have you best combatted those?How can schools best manage withdrawal requests?Is it more common for parents to be worried about RSE teaching for primary pupils than secondary?What would be your top tips for having conversations with parents about RSE?Why are you so passionate about RSE?Where can listeners get support and how can they best contact you?    You can connect with Ian on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. You can also check out his website. You can follow me (Kat Cauchi) on Twitter at @ReallyschoolK Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content and see all our previous episodes here. If you are interested on coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM on Twitter or email contact@reallyschool.com !     Kat Cauchi is NetSupport’s Community Engagement Manager, the Editor of R.I.S.E. Magazine and the Product Manager of ReallySchool. She is also a former Primary School Teacher, Member of the Global Equality Collective,  a Technocamps  GiST Role Model, an innovate <her>  role model and a Global EdTech Author.

Myles Pilling comments on the uptake in assistive technology in schoolsMyles Pilling chats to Russell Prue about assistive technology for schools. He reveals that his organisation is producing three films for schools, featuring pupils talking about what assistive tech means to them.He signposts that Nasen, Microlink and the DfE have come together to offer schools free assistive technology online training until August 2023, and encourages them to access it. He says it's an exciting time that is really moving things forward for students who use assistive technology.bataonline.org@BATAOnline@mylespillingFor more Insights and many more useful videos, please subscribe to the NetSupport channel. 

Emma Hawker talks about matching volunteer governors to schoolsGovernors for Schools is an education charity that matches volunteers to the schools that are right for them. Emma Hawker talks about how they listen carefully to both sides to ensure that the best match is found and that it works for everyone.governorsforschools.org.uk@SchoolGovNetFor more Insights and many more useful videos, please subscribe to the NetSupport channel. 

NetSupport Radio is honoured to chat to children's author, Michael Rosen!Russell Prue chats to none other than children's author, Michael Rosen! Michael talks about his upcoming book and presentation at Bett 2023, which will feature his book 'Write to feel right' (all about writing for wellbeing) and reading some of his poems.He discusses what the education system can do to improve the state of writing for young people – stopping the narrow focus on labelling the grammatical elements and trying to fit them all in and instead expose students to many styles of writing to inspire creativity.On reading, he comments that reading was invented for pleasure (not simply for the purpose of exams) and that it is important to allow young people to choose books they are interested in.michaelrosen.co.uk@MichaelRosenYes

NetSupport Radio puts on a great show for the final day of Bett 2023!In a broadcast packed with top guests for the final NetSupport Radio broadcast from Bett 2023, host Russell Prue kicked off with NetSupport's CEO, Al Kingsley, talking about the team's experience over the duration of the event.The absolute highlight of this day's interviews was a segment featuring none than children's author, Michael Rosen!Next up were guests including, Jane Basnett, Director of Digital Learning, Nick Causton from STEAM Co, Jeremy Waters from Elastik Learning and  Beverly Clarke who stopped by to talk about her Chip and Ava technology-themed children's books. Russell also chatted with Maria Wojciechowska-Caneda about her creative photography project, Ian Phillips from Inspire Edu, Emma Hawker from Governors for Schools – and had a catch-up with old friends Dr Dave Whiley and Myles Piling.Finally, we heard from students from Lanchester EP Primary School, Jonathan Bhowmick the founder of Action Mats and Mark Solomons, CEO of Wellbee.

Nicole Ponsford, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Global Equality Collective, joined us on this edition of Insights. The latest addition to the GEC app, a student module, was the subject of Nicole's discussion with Al Kingsley, Group CEO at NetSupport, and Kat Cauchi, Community Engagement Lead at NetSupport.   The GEC has gathered a sizable amount of data from their extensive research on youth, which has been incorporated into their new student module.  Ponsford, Kingsley, and Cauchi explore the significance of utilising data responsibly in schools with the goal of assisting young people in understanding not only what happens to their data once they add it into a survey system, as is frequently the case in schools, but what actions are subsequently taken. In this case, the app's data is used to give leaders actionable insights to improve equality, diversity, and intersectionality. The GEC team's goal is to better acknowledge and ground our differences through intersectionality awareness.   Nicole's Twitter handle is @NicolePonsford (https://twitter.com/@NicolePonsford) For more Insights and many more useful videos, please subscribe to the NetSupport channel.