Podcasts about gcses

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover?The intense, content-heavy exam system in the UK kicks off at this time of year with GCSEs and A levels; high-stakes exams that can feel like a make-or-break moment for teenagers. I've already discussed with Susie how we can support our teens through the stress, which you can download here:https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/exam-revision-parenting-through-the-pressure/This time I'm joined by journalist Jenny Anderson who writes extensively about education, the attention economy, learning, science and technology. She's co-author of that amazing book, The Disengaged Teen, which I featured in episode 125, https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/122-how-to-get-our-teens-to-love-learning-and-why-parents-are-the-missing-piece-of-the-puzzle/Jenny has a child who's currently sitting GCSEs so we thought it would be a great time unpack why our current exam system might be doing more harm than good. We explore the incredible stress these exams create by making kids work to a rigid marking scheme causing both boredom and stress, why intense memorization isn't learning and the widening gulf between our current education system and what's going on in the world of work. We discuss why exams shouldn't define our children's worth, how to help them manage stress, and why experiences outside the classroom are just as crucial as academic achievements. Whether your child is currently studying for GCSEs or you're looking ahead, this episode will give you practical strategies to help your teenager navigate this intense period while keeping their confidence and love of learning intact.CONTACT: Jenny Anderson https://www.jennywestanderson.org/Instagram @jennyandersonwritesSupport the showThank you so much for your support. Please hit the follow button if you like the podcast, and share it with anyone who might benefit. You can review us on Apple podcasts by going to the show page, scrolling down to the bottom where you can click on a star then you can leave your message. I don't have medical training so please seek the advice of a specialist if you're not coping. My email is teenagersuntangled@gmail.com My website has a blog, searchable episodes, and ways to contact us:www.teenagersuntangled.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/teenagersuntangled/Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/teenagersuntangled/Susie is available for a free 15 minute consultation, and has a great blog:www.amindful-life.co.uk

00:00 - Good Morning00:15 - Omer.MDYdaf.com00:20 - Guests01:07 - Save the date!01:27 - Emails08:46 - MDYsponsor.com11:02 - Introduction13:28 - Guests14:21 - Amud Beis20:07 - Amud Aleph40:40 - Amud Beis53:12 - Have a Wonderful Day!Quiz - http://Kahoot.MDYdaf.com----Mesechta Sponsors:Anonymous: Hatzlacha bruchnius U'vgashmius----Monthly Sponsors:לע״נ זכריה בן משה, לע״נ חיה בת יוסףParnasa Birevach for Baruch Tzvi Nissim ben Shoshana LeahYoni Klestzick: Refuah Shelamah יהודית בריינה בת צפורה רבקהJeffs Gourmet Los AngelesMoshe Aron & Miriam Landy: For the hatzlacha of all our children----Sponsor of the Week:Anonymous: Thank you MDY for the highlighted Gemara - Never Give Up & Always Keep Going Forward!----Sponsors of the Day:Moshe & Shani Szlafrok: L'zecher nishmas Menachem Yechiel Ben Dovid HaleviSzlafrok A”HAbba Rennert: לע״נ my grandfather Rav Meir Shamai ben R' Abba Moshe Rennert, on his yartzeitAsher Lang: Lezecher Nishmas Rochel Rus Bas Avrohom. Ruth Lang on her 15th yahrzeit Yud IyarHasmonean Beis Led by Rabbi Yehoshua Hartman: Zechus for boys who donated for: Torah, GCSEs, A-Levels, Yeshivos, Shidduchim, RefuosChaim Shimon (Shimi) Kleinfeld: Refuah Sheleima for my father Boruch Shmuel Ben Tziviah - Supported Alexander Mosed for many yearsThe Powwow Team: In honor of the incredible Nesanel Gantz who will be leading some of the sessions at the amazing Dot Org Conference. And the MDY booth----MDY Kids Monthly:Kidnovations: Zechus for Fishel, Elchanan, Akiva | Rivky & Mrs Stefansky----Art of the Month​:Refuah Shleima for יהונתן איתן בן בת שבע ברכהFor a zechus for Reb Eli and the whole MDY staff to continue to make Torah so enjoyable for so many In honor of Yossi Klein & Mark Ashkenazi for all the work they do----Turning of the daf:Kidnovations LLC: In honor of our sons; Kalmo (12yr) & Yisrael (9yr) for learning Sanhedrin & Makkos with Reb Eli ♥Adar Global: (Still!) Experts in International Financial ServicesAnonymous: In honor of the tzadik whose name we cannot say who shows us what is means to be a giver and tzadik_________________________________

The Education Brief: Saturday 26 April 2025 - Top stories include:Teacher job adverts are down, and the education sector is bracing for a staffing squeeze.Pupil suspensions surged by 12% last spring, with the North East topping the exclusions charts.An Inspector Calls reigns supreme for literature GCSEs, but calls for change are growing louder.School budgets are under fresh strain as pay rises and food costs outpace funding.This week's deep dive: Why CPD failsWe'll also tell you what's happening at HEP this week and what we've been watching, listening to, and reading!Watching - https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/live-lessons/articles/z7mdp9q#zrfwvj6Listening - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/roundtable-what-educators-really-think-about-the-new/id1608692574?i=1000703953285Reading - https://home.edurio.com/resources/insights/culture-driven-recruitment/AI Tool - https://gemini.google/overview/deep-research/?hl=en-GBMusic by Slo Pony

Harry and Gary chat with master ventriloquist Paul Zerdin about his journey from failing GCSEs to winning the 10th series of America's Got Talent and how it's not easy to be lots of different characters. Pau's on tour later in 2025 so head to his website now to get yourself some tickets and to meet his cast of characters - www.paulzerdin.com Do you know about Mudlarking? Well you will after this episode as we learnt all about it, and a new forthcoming exhibition at the London Museum - www.londonmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/secrets-thames You might have heard in recent shows Harry's clues to where he's on tour… a little less work is to visit harryhill.co.uk to find out where you can see him near you!  We always want to hear from you on the show so please send in your jokes, TV theme tunes lyrics, or maybe you have a minor irritation you wish to share.  Send them via voice note to harry@arewethereyetpod.co.uk and any that feature will be sent an Are We There Yet? badge.  Website: www.harryhill.co.uk Instagram: @mrharryhill YouTube: @harryhillshow Producer Neil Fearn A 'Keep it Light Media' production All enquiries: HELLO@KEEPITLIGHTMEDIA.COM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In episode 279 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Leah Morris. Leah currently works as a Centre Manager at the Liverpool branch of James' Place UK, a charity who are doing lifesaving work for men's mental health. Leah was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in her early 20s after experiencing some workplace bullying in a previous role prior to joining James' Place UK. Prior to that, she had experienced panic attacks as a teenager whilst studying for her GCSEs but didn't know what they were at the time. After she was diagnosed with GAD, she was prescribed medication in 2019, specifically Fluoxetine which she said helped get her back to a baseline level and she has now been off medication in 2020. At the heart of her mental health recovery has been fitness and exercise. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, she started running, doing the ‘couch to 5k' programme. She got to the point where she was running 5ks three times a week for a year. However, in Christmas 2021, she bought a house and stopped running when she was dealing with the upheaval that moving house brings. She tried picking up running again in 2022 but couldn't get back into it. In May 2023, she joined James' Place UK and at the start of 2024, she got back into fitness, this time trying swimming to help her mental health. She found her rhythm again and now swims three times a week at time of recording. In this episode we talk about Leah's anxiety, workplace bullying, the role fitness played in her recovery and the importance of having the right support network around you to maintain or boost your mental health. As always, #itsokaytovent Support Us: Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk

Episode Overview:This week's episode is absolutely buzzing — and not just because we're talking bees. Meet Emma: ethical beekeeper, skincare alchemist, and proof that you don't need GCSEs or a conventional path to build something extraordinary. From being a teen mum navigating the stigma, to cold-calling for dodgy kitchen companies (yep, we went there), Emma's journey is anything but beige.She's built a legacy from raw honey and raw grit, and if you've ever thought your life was too messy to build something meaningful — think again. Emma proves that the wildest journeys often make for the sweetest success.Think success looks like a neat CV, a degree, and a 5-year plan?Wrong. Sometimes it looks like telesales in a smoke-filled office, accidental skincare breakthroughs in your kitchen, and bee stings to the face.

In this Work It Like a Mum episode, we're delighted to chat with Emily Russell, Internal Recruitment Partner at Saint-Gobain. Emily, who specialises in recruiting engineers, shares her journey of balancing a full-time career with single motherhood. With two children—one preparing for his GCSEs and the other only three years old—Emily discusses how she manages the juggle and offers tips for other working mums.We also dive into Emily's career history and her transition into engineering recruitment, as well as some expert advice on how to make your CV stand out when applying for your dream role.Key Topics Covered:Emily's career path, from starting in administration to becoming a successful recruiter at Saint-Gobain.The role of a recruitment consultant and how it differs from in-house recruitment roles.The challenges of recruiting for male-dominated sectors like engineering and how Emily helps break down gender stereotypes.Tips for candidates on how to stand out in the recruitment process and the importance of applying for roles even when you don't meet 100% of the criteria.The rise of hybrid working models, especially in light of the changes at companies like Boots, and how it impacts candidates and recruiters, particularly single parents.Key Takeaways:Recruitment insights: A deep dive into what recruitment consultants do and how to find one that specialises in your field.Engineering recruitment: Emily shares how she got into engineering recruitment and why it's crucial to get more women into STEM roles.Making your CV stand out: How to tailor your CV for the role and why it's important to apply even if you don't meet all of the listed criteria.Hybrid work flexibility: The changing landscape of work and how hybrid roles are key for working parents, particularly single mums.Why You Should Listen:This episode is a must-listen for any working parent, particularly single mums, looking for advice on balancing career and family life.Whether you're looking for career advice, recruitment tips, or just some motivation to keep juggling it all, Emily's story is full of inspiration!Show Links:Connect with our host, Elizabeth Willetts HereVisit Saint-Gobain's Website HereConnect with Emily on LinkedIn HereBoost your career with Investing in Women's Career Coaching! Get expert CV, interview, and LinkedIn guidance tailored for all career stages. Navigate transitions, discover strengths, and reach goals with our personalised approach. Book now for your dream job! Use 'workitlikeamum' for a 10% discount.Support the showSign up for our newsletter and never miss an episode!Follow us on Instagram.And here's your invite to our supportive and empowering Facebook Group, Work It Like a Mum - a supportive and safe networking community for professional working mothers. Our community is full of like-minded female professionals willing to offer support, advice or a friendly ear. See you there!

Hospital admissions data suggests a growing proportion of patients admitted to wards in England after being stabbed are under 18 years old.It comes amid growing calls to finally crack down on online blade sales and London actor Idris Elba backing the blunting of sharp tips on kitchen knives.The Standard podcast is joined by Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, which was founded in honour of a 16-year-old Londoner stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in 2008 after celebrating finishing his GCSEs with friends.The charity and Elba are working with the government's Coalition To Tackle Knife Crime initiative, which aims to halve Britain's blades menace within a decade.In part two, Network Rail has sparked a commuter backlash over train times ‘vanishing' from information boards three minutes before departure - but could the nudge tactic improve disabled access and service punctuality?We speak with Michael Solomon Williams, head of campaigns at the Campaign for Better Transport. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Guy Claxton takes us beyond simplified conceptions of the learning sciences and explains why teachers are sometimes vulnerable to fads and trends. "We undersell ourselves as educators, educating young people for the future and for life, if we lazily assume that all we mean by learning is the kind of thing that leads to good grades in schools." Guy shares his hopes as an educator – to help young people develop beyond just the periodic table, the Tudors and examination technique, and cultivate something of more lasting value. He hopes to design a classroom culture that isn't solely defined by Ofsted, GCSEs or A-level results, probing at the question: what are you teaching? What are you teaching for? Full show notes and transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2025/jan/asking-awkward-questions-staffroom-s05e01

In spite of business liquidation and a divorce, award-winning f:Entrepreneur Beccy Dickson and now ex-husband Macey Mitchell decided to remain business partners, founding Branded Bio, which supplies sustainable walls and backdrops full of living green plants and flowers for events, to interior designers and even to cover electric vehicle chargers and furniture. In fact it was a living plant-covered bus touring round Westminster in London that sparked Beccy's appearance on the podcast.Stuck on holiday on the island of Madeira during an enforced extended Covid lockdown, Beccy and Macey spent time talking about where and what next, and settling a future path. But if that makes being a female entrepreneur sound a bed of roses, Beccy is quick to point out the graft behind the spectacular living walls that now make up the mainstay of their business.Beccy didn't have a clear route to becoming an award-winning small business owner. She left full-time education aged 15, with few formal qualifications. Through family connections, Macey helped her land a job with a small wine branding business, where a mentor believed in her potential and encouraged her further.It wasn't until she was a mum that Beccy returned to college to study for her GCSEs, initially thinking she'd like to train as a teacher. Across the years she has worked variously in sales, marketing and as a creative director, but it was a chance commission that led Beccy to find her passion. The print production agency she and Macey were running was asked to quote to brand a living wall and suddenly her interest was sparked and her outlook on life changed.Beccy is candid that her cousin, a long-time champion of sustainability, now teases her about being green and the awards she has won for it. Beccy jokes she may be an accidental sustainability passionista.Creating living green backdrops can use 1000 plants, all of which have to be looked after and watered to remain looking good. It's hard physical work that requires high energy levels on top of all the usual business worries. When she's not juggling family demands in a multi-generational house alongside the business office in the back garden, Beccy goes to the gym and swims to stay strong.She wants to pass on sustainability lessons to the next gen, including her children. And Beccy urges everyone to try to make a difference to the planet's future."We all have to do our little bit," she says.Links mentioned in the podcastBranded Bio websiteBranded Bio Instagramf:EntrepreneurSmall Business BritainSME business population (Table C)You might also like to listen to:Mark Sumner, Leeds School of Design at Leeds University S1 E6Rachel Warren, professor of global change and environmental biology S1 E7Content © Sandra KessellOriginal music © Lyze KessellEmail Hello@myPro-GRESS.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textThis was a video podcast I did several years ago and I felt it was important to have it recorded as an audio podcast.           When I was aged 18 years old I had sadly failed my A-Levels and found myself in a very difficult position of having to resit and redo my whole A-Levels again. I had missed years of school on and off due to being in and out of hospital since the age of ten facing some paralysis and various health issues to my left leg without a real diagnosis much later on in my life. Ironically doing my GCSEs was a breeze despite missing so much school and I outshined my male cousins in comparison but not when it came to the A-Levels.         Due to this reason, I pestered my strict Muslim Pathan father permission to apply for a job. This might seem 'normal' to some of you but back in those days Asian women did not, I repeat did not work! After much persuasion he finally allowed me to apply for a job and none of us thought anything of it since I applied many, and I mean many months ago. That is, till I got that home phone call that would change my life and the people around me in ways I hadn't imagined.          My dearest mother broke the rules that day and gave me the 30-pence bus fair to allow me to go to the huge shopping centre that had only just opened up in 1990. I recall seeing the demolishing of East Hecla Works of Hadfields Ltd as Meadowhall became the first largest shopping Mall within the United Kingdom. Little did I imagine that I would end up working there as the first person of colour, let alone as a Disabled Muslim female who was from a Pathan background.     The job not only changed me, but it changed many people in the community around me.Tune in to my podcast and discover why.Thank you for your support folks.Support the showThank you for your support. Your host Miriam Khan @ Raise Your Vibes.

Introducing Scott Davies. He's the founder of Hilltop Honey, the 2nd largest honey brand in the UK with a turnover of £44mn selling over 13,000 tonnes of honey a year, the equivalent of 1000 double-decker buses. And while honey sales have been relatively stagnant for the last few years, Hilltop Honey has bucked the trend growing at an outstanding 22% a year.  It's impressive. Scott grew up in a pretty low income family in the middle of Wales, got pretty average GCSEs, didn't go to university and only started the businesses because he slipped a disk down the coal yard. Aged 23 with a 5k overdraft, Scott was faced with a choice: start a dog walking business, sell sports equipment on Amazon or start his own honey brand. Lucky for us he did the latter, starting Hilltop Honey back in 2011 living with mum and dad, who now lend a hand in the factory.  Look up ‘grit' means in the dictionary you'll find a picture of Scott there. He didn't pay himself for the first 3 years. They were on their last £400 when Holland & Barrett took a chance on the brand. And they've never taken on any investment. Now 13 years on, he has a market share of 12%, is expanding to the states and pays 130 people's mortgages every month.  In this episode we talk about what resilience means, the power of being no.2 and the highs and lows along the road. Enjoy  

Christmas is in the air! And in this week's festive episode Ami is joined by her pal Phoebe Prentice. In this episode we hear about Phoebe's GCSEs, how her family feel about her influencing, her favourite brand collabs, and an amazing private story! Listen or watch every Wednesday at 5pm to keep up with the incredible guests and for exclusive insight into Ami's world - and make sure to subscribe/follow! Plus, feel free to like the show or leave a comment/review, and get in touch with your latest stories, dilemmas, or questions via Instagram. And be sure to follow on all socials...

Empowering Education and Healing Through Horses with Alex NorthoverAlex Northover is the director of Making Momentum CIC, a community interest company in Cheshire, UK, that provides alternative education and therapeutic services for children and young people. With a background as a science teacher and extensive experience in equine-assisted methods, Alex merges academic learning, nervous system regulation, and interactions with horses to create transformational opportunities. Her innovative approach focuses on child-led learning, trauma-informed care, and movement-based education, offering life-changing support for children struggling in traditional education settings.In this episode of Equine Assisted World, Rupert Isaacson speaks with Alex about her journey from teaching to building Making Momentum, the role of horses and other animals in therapeutic education, and her inspiring work with children dealing with trauma and school non-attendance.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeAlex's Journey to Making Momentum (Starts at 1:00)Alex shares her journey from being a science teacher to founding Making Momentum, where she combines her passion for education, horses, and trauma-informed care to create impactful programs.The Role of Horses in Emotional Regulation (Starts at 6:00)Horses, goats, and even chickens play a key role at Making Momentum, helping children with nervous system regulation and fostering emotional growth.Child-Led and Movement-Based Learning (Starts at 15:30)Alex discusses how tailoring education to each child's interests and incorporating movement-based methods lead to breakthroughs in learning and emotional resilience.Teaching Academic Concepts with Horses (Starts at 25:00)Alex explains how she uses equine interactions to teach subjects like math and science, demonstrating how these methods engage children in innovative ways.Addressing Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA) (Starts at 33:15)Alex highlights the importance of understanding EBSNA as a response to trauma rather than defiance and shares success stories of helping children rediscover joy in learning.Memorable Moments from the EpisodeAlex reflects on the challenges of working with school-refusing children and how emotionally based non-attendance stems from trauma (33:15).A heartwarming story about a child who used horses to regulate emotions and ultimately pass their GCSEs on the farm (42:00).The impact of incorporating personal interests—like Pokémon and French—into education, making learning fun and engaging for children (25:45).Alex shares her own journey of growing up horse-obsessed, working in riding schools, and building a lifelong connection to horses (49:30).Rupert and Alex discuss the importance of co-regulation with horses and the role of oxytocin in helping children achieve emotional balance and success (56:15).Contact Alex Northover

Skip the banter: 00:06:37This is a listener suggestion from Angela & Melanie.On Thursday, February 19, 2015 16-year-old Becky Watts was re-sitting for her GCSEs, or General Certificate of Secondary Education, which is an academic qualification in various subjects that take place in the UK starting in Year 9 or 10. It's more than likely that as she sat for the exams, she was exhausted since the night before, Becky had been out, having fun with friends & hadn't slept at all. Allison tells us the rest of this sad story. Amazon Addiction - color changing lights: https://amzn.to/40Pzq2MYouTube video for this story (see our faces!): https://youtu.be/OwwF1s6Ivw4Support the showAll our links (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Merch, etc):https://linktr.ee/crimeandcoffeeFacebook Group to discuss episodes:www.facebook.com/groups/crimeandcoffeecouplepodcast/References available at https://www.crimeandcoffeecouple.com a few days after this podcast airs.Case Suggestions Form: https://forms.gle/RQbthyDvd98SGpVq8Remember to subscribe to our podcast in your favorite podcast player. Do it before you forget!If you're listening on Spotify please leave us a 5-star review, and leave a comment on today's episode!If you're on an iPhone, review us on Apple Podcasts please! Scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the stars ;)We appreciate you more than you know.Reminder:Support us and become a Patron! Over 60 bonus episodes:https://www.patreon.com/crimeandcoffeecouplePodcast Intro and Outro music:Seductress Dubstep or TrippinCoffee by Audionautix http://audionautix.comCreative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audion...

A Kent dad is refusing to pay a fine he received after taking both his children on holiday during term time despite being granted permission for just one, saying he's not going to take one child away and leave the other behind. The family chose that time of year because it's quieter for their autistic son – but their daughter's school refused. Also in today's podcast, angry homeowners insist rehashed plans for a contentious new development will only worsen their already "infiltrated" village.The plans for Ashford have been described as “diabolical” and have already raised more than 600 objections. A Kent family have described their “noise hell” as the neighbour's children play drums, piano and saxophone “all day, every day”. The fed-up family say it's driving them mad, but the mum next door insists her children need the practise for their GCSEs. A cat rescue centre is appealing for help after hitting “an absolute brick wall” with its number of arrivals. The centre in Rochester says it's up to it's knees with rescues and the situation has just got worse with the arrival of six “Halloween miracles”. And in football, you can hear from the Gillingham manager after their disappointing result over the weekend. Mark Bonner isn't accepting a lack of confidence as an excuse for their poor run of form which has seen them go six games without a win. 

GCSEs. A-Levels. IB. University and apprenticeship choices. There are so many decisions that students need to make on their early career journeys. How can you as a parent / guardian,help? That's what we're talking about this episode of the podcast and I have at least 11 ideas for you so I hope you'll try at least one and let me know how you get on.Do feel free to engage with this topic (or indeed with me) at any of the below: The Dive Into Your Career podcast page of the Your Career And Future website where you can also leave me a message suggesting a careers-related topic for a future episode Follow Your Career And Future on Instagram and TikTok Via "Gina Visram" on LinkedIn (where they may be a post with a link to this episode where you can contribute some wisdom / reflections) Sign up for the mailing list (for students and graduates... a list for their supporters will follow) E-mail me on gina@yourcareerandfuture.com with any queries Also - are you a job seeker early in your career? Download the checklist: 25 UNMISSABLE TIPS TO SKYROCKET YOUR JOB APPLICATION SUCCESS RATEYou've got this!

This episode looks at how we can best teach and prepare our examination classes in the secondary school, especially our GCSE groups. A panel of experienced teachers considers what specific challenges come with teaching exam clases and exam course content and discuss how we can best prepare our students for the exam hall experience itself, including how we can build good exam habits alongside teaching course content. We discuss how teachers can support their students' wellbeing during their examination years – especially in years 10 and 11 – and how we can build their resilience, thus helping them to manage stress and exam anxiety as the pressure mounts. We focus specifically on how we can build exam technique, including the dos and don'ts for using past exam papers as learning tools. We look at other teaching techniques too, including modelling good answers. And how and when should we teach and model these exam techniques to ensure they are embedded while avoiding student burn-out? Finally to what extent should we be helping students to plan their exam revision? We ask what self-study and revision skills we should be teaching and how? Our experts even suggest a few particular techniques that they like to use, such as mnemonics and revision games.

A private college in the U.K. is about to start its first class taught using artificial intelligence instead of human teachers. David Game College in London is offering an alternative program of study for 20 GCSE students starting September. GCSEs are the general examinations that all students in the UK take at the age of 16. The platforms learn the strengths and weaknesses of each student and then adapt their lessons accordingly. Strong topics are moved to the end of the term so they can be revised, while weaker areas will be tackled more immediately. This means each student's lesson plan is bespoke to them. “There are many excellent teachers out there and we have many here at the college, but we're all fallible. If you really want to know exactly why a child is not learning, I think the AI systems can pinpoint that more effectively,” says John Dalton, Co-principal at David Game College. GCSE students have been testing out the new tech. “Teachers don't know exactly, precisely what I'm unable and able to do, where the AI can just figure out just by a few questions what I'm weak in and what are my strong points,” says GCSE student Michael. But some say removing teachers from the equation will harm students in the long run. Chris McGovern was a head teacher and an educational adviser to the U.K. government. Now he campaigns against this new type of education style. “Children will lose a great deal from that AI experience. They need to have teachers. They need to interact with other children. And that's fundamental. The problem with the AI in the computer screen is that it is a machine and it's inert. So you're straight away dehumanizing the process of learning. It's a soulless, bleak future if it's going to be on the AI path only,” he says. The U.K. government announced a new project in August to help teachers use AI more precisely. A bank of anonymized lesson plans and curriculums will now be used to train different educational AI models, which will then help teachers mark homework and plan classes. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Spice up your cheese! Would you like to do that? Well now you can, as the Spice Girls launch the career of Cheetah the Cheetah the Cheetah. ALSO: We recontextualise "Tuesday" and collect our GCSEs, and worlds converge as me & Chris' memories sync up.

Joel & Sarah talk all things moving house, why Chloe, Maddie and Sophie have been causing trouble and Grace's surprise party for finishing her GCSEs!Brand new podcast episodes available every TUESDAY! If you'd like to work with us, email the studio on workwithafterhours@fellasstudios.com

Are GCSEs the best thing for 16-year-olds to show as they leave secondary education? Is there a better method to assess what they've achieved in school and to set them up for their next step?    Niall Paterson explores the future for GCSEs on this episode – and asks why where you live can affect the grades you get.   He speaks to two headteachers - Becky Arnold at Framingham Earl high school near Norwich, and Farhan Adam at Crown Hills Community College in Leicester who was awarded "headteacher of the year" in 2023. Plus, Louis Hodge of the research organisation Education Policy Institute (EPI) joins Niall to discuss the "disadvantage gap" in today's GCSE results.      Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse Editor: Paul Stanworth 

This week the British wildlife artist Lucy Joyce. Lucy's painstaking attention to detail is her signature on portraits of a variety of animals. Her artistry is crafted from photographic images, and in some cases her own compositions, as she meticulously accounts for every hair and whisker. Lucy was born in Northampton in 1979, the oldest of two children—she has a younger brother Robert. Her mother Jackie Smith, is a part-time seamstress, and her father Brian was a precision engineer in motorsport. Lucy completed her GCSE and A Levels at Chenderit School in Oxfordshire including two GCSEs in Art and A Level Art, before working in print and design. She then attended Southampton Solent University where she earned a degree in Marketing Design. Lucy met her husband at uni and upon graduation the couple spent a year working in Canada before returning to the UK. After the birth of her two sons, Lucy returned to her art and built a clientele for pet portraits. In 2016, she became a full-time artist and now has commissions for her wildlife and pet portraits that extend far into next year. Lucy lives near Newbury in Berkshire with her husband Simon, two sons; Jack and Charlie and two Cocker Spaniels. www.mrsjoycedraws.co.ukInstagram: @mrsjoycedrawsTikTok: @mrsjoycedrawsFacebook: www.facebook.com/mrsjoycedraws Some favorite female artists:Carla GraceDina Brodsky Zoe FitchetDemi LangGeorgia HartJennifer Gennari Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support.

This week the British wildlife artist Lucy Joyce. Lucy's painstaking attention to detail is her signature on portraits of a variety of animals. Her artistry is crafted from photographic images, and in some cases her own compositions, as she meticulously accounts for every hair and whisker. Lucy was born in Northampton in 1979, the oldest of two children—she has a younger brother Robert. Her mother Jackie Smith, is a part-time seamstress, and her father Brian was a precision engineer in motorsport. Lucy completed her GCSE and A Levels at Chenderit School in Oxfordshire including two GCSEs in Art and A Level Art, before working in print and design. She then attended Southampton Solent University where she earned a degree in Marketing Design. Lucy met her husband at uni and upon graduation the couple spent a year working in Canada before returning to the UK. After the birth of her two sons, Lucy returned to her art and built a clientele for pet portraits. In 2016, she became a full-time artist and now has commissions for her wildlife and pet portraits that extend far into next year. Lucy lives near Newbury in Berkshire with her husband Simon, two sons; Jack and Charlie and two Cocker Spaniels. www.mrsjoycedraws.co.ukInstagram: @mrsjoycedrawsTikTok: @mrsjoycedrawsFacebook: www.facebook.com/mrsjoycedraws Some favorite female artists:Carla GraceDina Brodsky Zoe FitchetDemi LangGeorgia HartJennifer Gennari Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.

Katherine's Telling Everybody Everything about how to solve your dilemmas of the week. Bobby is challenged on his conspiracy theories, an educator tells us we only need 5 GCSEs, we're signing a petition to stop a p**do from competing for Netherlands in the Olympics, cosmetic surgery abroad leaves a woman TOO HOT for her husband, a bunch of men are cheating again....(but should we be whistle blowers or what!?!) and a woman despairs about an over-enthusiastic oral-loving husband. xx Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back!  It's been a long old wait - but for the best of reasons.  Joel has been taking his GCSEs.  That's all over now and what better way to celebrate than to listen to a somewhat polarising band - U2. Together as a band for over 45 years with no line changes or departures ever - U2 can lay claim to the Pride of being the most stable band in rock history. This is a trawl through their career up to the controversial Songs Of Innocence and that particular i-Tunes shaped can of worms does get talked about but do we get stuck in a moment we can't get out of? Joel has his revenge and there is a shock involved! My YouTube channel: Pockenrop 

Grace joins the podcast! Talking all things studying, growing up with lots of siblings...and her biggest vegetarian mistake!Brand new podcast episodes available every TUESDAY! If you'd like to work with us, email the studio on workwithafterhours@fellasstudios.com

Brand new podcast episodes available every TUESDAY! If you'd like to work with us, email the studio on workwithafterhours@fellasstudios.com

Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Ali Maxwell for the latest Euro 2024 Adjudication Panel. The agenda includes: the depths of Euros short-form video content, a curious commentator intonation for a full-back receiving a pass in their own half, a dramatic VAR development in Major League Soccer, why some England managers get referred to by their first names and Messi/Ronaldo sentiment reaching the world of transfer reporting. Meanwhile, the panel also explore the nuanced rules of demonymic footballing adjectives and the mid-tournament trigger point for a nation being described as "holding its breath". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"On today's episode, Ami is joined by one of her absolute besties...Nya Temple. The girls sit down to talk about how they met, getting into the world of social media, life at school, the new Girl Squad, and so much more. Listen or watch every Wednesday at 5pm to keep up with the incredible guests and for exclusive insight into Ami's world - and make sure to subscribe/follow! Plus, feel free to like the show or leave a comment/review, and get in touch with your latest stories, dilemmas, or questions via Instagram. And be sure to follow on all socials...

We've reached the end of another academic year! Eden's reflecting on sitting her first few GCSEs, and what she's learnt about "deep practice" on the guitar. Asher and Mirabelle are picking their favourite books and topics, and we're all discussing what we're looking forward to over the summer (starting with a camping trip in Cornwall).

In this episode the lads talk about their constant search for validation (even if it's in the form of a wolf whistle from a gay builder) and discuss Kevin's stint as a body double for Lewis Hamilton. They then read out some 6th year holiday horror story submissions and they want this episode to be a cautionary tale for Irish gays and girlies getting with Brits abroad; the GCSEs is the equivalent to the Junior Cert so don't be mauling young fellas.Get tickets for 'That's Showbiz' here: https://linktr.ee/Imgrandmam

Adam Cox talks to Matt Butcher from New College Swindon about Apprenticeships and new paths for young adults after their GCSEs. They talk about the discontent with universities, how apprenticeships have evolved and what paths are available for kids who believe that the academic route isn't for them. https://www.newcollege.ac.uk/

Still riding high after Lesbian Visibility Week and the DIVA Awards, on this episode of podDIVA we are celebrating everyone's favourite deadpan comic - Lucia Kerskin.When Lucia posted a video to YouTube about failing her GCSEs back in 2017, it didn't seem like the obvious route into comedy.But seven years later, she's racked up nearly half a million followers on YouTube alone, and starred in the likes of Channel 4's Big Boys and Dave's Sneakerhead.Plus she's written and starred in her very own BBC show.In this episode, podDIVA's audiogram whizz-kid Ella Gauci chats to the awesome Lucia abouther latest BBC show Things You Should Have Donefailing her GCSEs... and Ronnie Mitchell from EastendersHave you heard our top-rated ep? TheLWordGenQ with Rachel ShelleyOr ridden the temporal time train back through 30 glorious years of DIVA magazine, right here on podDIVA?Want to hear more of all things LGBTQIA? Grab your copy of DIVA's latest issue here.Produced by Rachel Shelley with love and support from #TeamDIVAEdited by Ella Gauci with additional editing by Rachel Shelley.podDIVA: Queers for your EarsDIVA - the world's leading brand for LGBTQIA plus women and non-binary peopleGet in touch: poddiva@diva-magazine.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's nearly Easter and Eden's talking about how she's preparing for some mock GCSEs. Mirabelle's discussing anatomy experiments, swimming badges and seed planting. Asher's doing an interesting astronomy experiment with fizzy cola, and we're discussing art movements, the end of our middle east topic and a film festival we took part in.

In this episode of the podKast we take our punishments for missing 3 weeks with our new punishment tools, we discuss how much GCSEs suck, how complainers are the worst, how much having a couch sucks, discuss our very quick thoughts on the TikTok ban and talk about the most mental weekend of our lives at TokFest. ENJOY!! Subscribe if you're a legend!Follow us on our socials!Craig:TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thecraignotcregInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/itscraignot...Letterboxd - https://letterboxd.com/ItsCraigNotCreg/Kieran:TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@kieranwitha.kInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/kieran.withak/0:00 - Intro0:29 - Our punishment3:41 - We have swords now 4:55 - Audio issues 6:22 - Viewer GitB11:25 - Kierans GitB14:58 - Craigs GitB17:18 - If people stopped coughing19:00 - TikTok ban quick thoughts21:06 - Camera store shoutout24:08 - Kierans Discord26:50 - TokFest was amazing57:27 - Outro TOKFEST WAS AMAZING! | PodKast: With a K - Episode 37 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, and as we fast approach exams, we look at how to help student manage their nerves. There are lots of strategies that can be employed but learning to sit comfortably with the uncomfortable feeling of exam anxiety can be challenging. This episode looks at one way we can help our students to learn to bring their thoughts and feelings under control using a technique stolen from sports psychology, but equally effective for high pressure exam performance situations: visualisation. It allows students to practise their coping skills and to understand that they can manage any exam scenario however terrifying! For further tips of Exam anxiety strategies do also listen to these two podcasts: https://changingstatesofmind.libsyn.com/control-the-controllables https://changingstatesofmind.libsyn.com/exam-preparation-exam-anxiety  

This week we look at why exam technique matters - the more working memory students can free up to write good answers, rather than figuring out what they need to do and how long they have got left, the better. This episode covers 5 things that students should practice to help make an exam go smoothly:  Knowing the rubric Overall plan of attack Managing timing (including extra time) Breaking down the question Spotting traps If you want to know more about working memory and cognitive load there are a couple of good episodes you can listen to here: Working Memory: https://changingstatesofmind.libsyn.com/long-term-and-short-term-memory Cognitive Load: https://changingstatesofmind.libsyn.com/cognitive-load-finding-the-sweet-spot-with-bradley-busch      

In this episode, we are joined by Will Goldsmith, Head of Bedales School. This was fascinating. We covered: Removing unnecessary hierarchies Promoting student agency and responsibility Co-curating a community WITH students Developing value to the wider educational system Preparing students in school for specific academic curricula Bringing your authentic self to your work Will and his team announced last year about scaling down GCSEs in their school. It won't take a rocket science to realise that this resonated with me & Steve! This has been mischaracterised as scrapping exams or arrogant ‘you must do what we do' proselytising. The link to one of the articles is here. Thanks so much for joining us again for another episode - we appreciate you. Ben & Steve x Championing those who are making the future of education a reality. Follow us on X Check out all past episodes Subscribe on iTunes Want to sponsor future episodes or get involved with the Edufuturists work? Get in touch: info@edufuturists.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/edufuturistspodcast/message

Not all of us are parents, and some of us are small children; however, many of us during this time will have the collision of teenagers, their exams stress and our period/menopause.It can be a heady combination as I well know when I was in the throes of perimenopause with the Tom doing the Australian HSC - it brought us to tears many times.In this episode of the 'Thriving Thru Menopause' podcast, host Clarissa Kristjansson engages with Emily Hughes, a co-founder of the Parent Guide to GCSEs and the Parent Guide to Post 16. They discuss the stress revolving around school exams during the phase of menopause and strategies to manage it. During these candid conversations, Emily shares how the guides provide support for parents, the struggle of teenagers in adapting to the academic curriculum, and the unique challenges teachers face. Apart from being an informative source regarding GCSEs, the guides also assist parents in understanding and supporting their teenagers' emotional and hormonal changes. The episode also highlights the need for holistic approaches to tackling menopause symptoms and encourages parental participation in the podcast community. Show Notes00:16 Introduction to Thriving Thru Menopause 00:16 The Intersection of School Exams, Teenagers, and Perimenopause 00:41 Introducing Emily Hughes: The Parent Guide to GCSEs 01:08 The Importance of Holistic Approaches to Menopause 02:40 Emily's Journey: From Teaching to Creating Parent Guides 05:02 The Impact of the Pandemic on Education 05:45 The Challenges of Parenting Teenagers 06:08 The Stress of School Exams: A Global Perspective 13:20 Understanding the Teenage Brain and Its Development 17:13 The Role of Parent Guide to GCSEs 29:20 The Impact of Perimenopause on Parenting 34:26 Conclusion and Preview of the Next Episode Connect with Emily: https://www.parentguidetogcse.com/ https://www.facebook.com/parentguidetogcse Connect with Clarissa https://www.instagram.com/thrivingthrumenopause/ https://clarissakristjansson.com/ Get the opportunity to get early access to Clarissa's new book Beyond Hormones: 7 Holistic Ways to Thrive Through Menopause. subscribepage.io/thrivethrumenopause Get full access to Heart of Menopause at clarissakristjansson.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of The Black Sherpa Podcast, join me for an inspiring conversation with Toni Kent – a dynamic speaker, writer, and stand-up comedian, specialising in social mobility and corporate culture. From her rebellious school days to becoming a recognised authority, Toni shares her transformative journey and insights on the value of mentorship.Toni Kent brings a unique blend of wit, wisdom, and 20+ years of IT industry experience to the table. As a sought-after speaker and workshop facilitator, she empowers audiences to embrace change and foster inclusive corporate cultures.Highlights:The Naughty Little Girl with Big Dreams:Toni reflects on her rebellious school years and how being a "cuckoo" in wealthier homes raised her aspirations. Discover how she transformed from a girl who failed her GCSEs to a respected authority in her field.Finding Gravitas and Authority:With her trademark humour, Toni shares how she cultivated gravitas and authority in what she says and writes. Learn how she leveraged the "gift of the gab" to navigate professional challenges and carve out her path.The Power of Mentorship:Toni emphasises the value of mentorship in her journey. Hear her insights on the impact of guidance and support from mentors, and how it shaped her career trajectory. Toni Kent's Workshops and Podcast:Toni's workshops on embracing change and fostering inclusive cultures are a testament to her commitment to social mobility.Don't miss out on her podcast, Challenging University, where inspiring non-graduate career stories are showcased, highlighting organisations that support disadvantaged individuals.Toni Kent's journey is a testament to resilience, humour, and the power of embracing change. Tune in to gain valuable insights and be inspired to create positive transformations in your own life and workplace.CONNECT WITH TONI Connect with Toni Kent:Website: www.tonikent.co.ukPodcast: www.challenging.universityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/toni_j_kent/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonijkent/CONNECT WITH THE BLACK SHERPA LinkedIn: Nyambe SumbwanyambeInstagram: @TheBlackSherpaPodcastWebsite: theblacksherpapodcast.com#theblacksherpa #socialmobility The truth about what it takes to get ahead in life and business is out there…. It just not evenly distributed… YET!If you like what you are listening to, please let me know. Post and tag the show on social media, rate and review wherever you are listening, or send me a message. I would love to hear from you.

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, Founder of Rubber Cheese.Download the Rubber Cheese 2023 Visitor Attraction Website Report - the annual benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcastCompetition ends on 29th March 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://www.kew.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-willison-22347a10/ Julia Willison is Head of Learning and Participation for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.  She is passionate about engaging people – young and old and from all walks of life - in learning about the importance of plants and fungi and the need for sustainable development.  Julia is responsible for schools, communities and access, families and early years, outreach, youth and volunteers at Kew Gardens.  She previously worked with botanic gardens internationally to advocate for and establish education programmes for the benefit of local communities and the environment. Transcription:  Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. On today's episode I speak with Julia Willison, Head of Learning and Participation at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.We discuss Kew's inspiring manifesto - their 10 year strategy to end extinction crisis and protect nature. Julia shares with us the 5 key priorities, and we focus on Kew's desire to improve inclusivity and what initiatives have been formed to support the organisation in doing this.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Julia, it's really lovely to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for joining me. Julia Willison: My pleasure, Kelly. Thank you for inviting me. Kelly Molson: So we're recording this right at the beginning of January. It's the 9 January that we're recording it. So icebreakers have got a new year's resolution theme because I thought we should talk about this. I want to know, do you set them? If so, what have you set yourself for this year? Julia Willison: I do tend to set them in my own mind. I don't often share them, but I do set them. And this year I've set the resolution. I want to start learning to play the piano and I've actually had my first lesson. I'm really pleased with that. Kelly Molson: I love this. So we just had a little chat about this off air, because that was one of the other icebreaker questions I was going to ask you is, what's the one thing that you've always wanted to learn? And then we had this conversation and you're doing it already, and I was like, "Oh, this is great." So you've had your first lesson and how did it go? Julia Willison: Well, I found myself apologising to the teacher profusely because of my lack of ability to play the piano, but it went really well and he was absolutely delightful, very supportive, and I learned quite a lot in the first lesson, so I'm looking forward to the second lesson now. I've got a lot start playing and practising every day, which I'm enjoying doing. Kelly Molson: That's the thing about learning something new is that you've got to make it a habit, haven't you? So you need to kind of. This is the thing that I did about the gym, is that I had to diarize it, so I had to make sure that it was like in red in my diary, immovable. At the same time, on those days, that I could go so that you could do it. Are you going to do that with your lessons and your training? Julia Willison: Well, the lessons obviously will have to be in my calendar, but I have almost crossed the threshold where I made a decision to play the piano. I've got a long term goal that in maybe ten years time, I'll be able to play in a group or something like this. So I'm really committed to wanting to learn. So we'll see. You have to revisit this space. Maybe in five years time. See if I'm still doing it.Kelly Molson: Right. I'm popping you on the list for five years to make sure that I check in with you, that you've achieved your goals. Okay. What is the worst thing that you've ever eaten or drunk? Julia Willison: Well, eaten for me is mussels, because I'm allergic to them. Kelly Molson: Oh, wow. Julia Willison: I only learned that through, obviously, eating mussels and even just a small piece just made me incredibly sick. Drinking advocaat. How do you say it. Advocaat? Kelly Molson: Is that what goes into snowballs? Julia Willison: Yes. I can't think of anything worse actually.  Kelly Molson: I love snowballs. I had one over Christmas. Julia Willison: You can have mine. Kelly Molson: I'll have your mussels. And your advocaat. What a mixture. And probably not at the same time either. Julia Willison: No. Kelly Molson: Yeah. My friends did a Christmas party and we had a snowball and it was, "This is so retro." I can remember my grandparents drinking these when I was a child. I remember if you ever come to my house for a Christmas party that you are not to have snowballs.Julia Willison: I'll bring my own, Kelly. Kelly Molson: Okay. Right. What's your unpopular opinion, Julia? Julia Willison: What I do feel, I suppose, strongly about is that, and I arrived at this opinion after talking to my children, after I had done this. And it says, I don't think that people should post pictures of their children and friends on social media without their consent. Kelly Molson: Yes. Yeah. This is an interesting one, isn't? Oh, ok. And actually, at what point do you ask their consent? Because I post pictures of my daughter. She might not be comfortable with me, she might not be happy with me, her face being over my Twitter account or my Instagram account. So, yeah, I guess at some point we'll have that conversation. If she says no, that's it. No more pictures go up.   Julia Willison: Oh, sad. And the thing is, you can't take down the ones that you've already put up, can you? Kelly Molson: No. Well, I guess you can go back and delete them from an Instagram account or delete them from your Twitter account. So you could go back and delete, but then they're out there, so that doesn't mean that they're not elsewhere in the ether. Julia Willison: Interesting. Kelly Molson: It is interesting, yeah. But I think you're right, I think. Absolutely, for other people. I've definitely had this conversation with a friend of mine about. We've been out together with our children and we've both taken pictures and she's actually asked my permission if she can post the pictures on her social media, but her platforms are quite. Her Instagram is a private Instagram account, for example, so she's happy to post pictures of her daughter on that, but she's not happy for other people to post those pictures if they're not private account. It is a huge debate, isn't it? Well, it'll be interesting to see what people think. How do you feel about this? Kelly Molson: People on Twitter, which is where we do a lot of our talking about this podcast, how do you feel about posting pictures of your children or your friends and your family on social media without having their consent? Let us know. Could start a little Twitter debate there. Julia Willison: I'd be interested to read it. Kelly Molson: Right, Julia, tell us about your role at Kew and what a typical day looks like for you. Julia Willison: So, I'm Head of Learning and Participation at Kew Gardens and what I'm responsible for is providing leadership in this particular area at Kew and wanting to position Kew as a centre for excellence in plant and fungal science education. And under my remit comes formal learning. That's all the schools programmes and teacher training. So we've got about 90,000 school pupils that come on site each year and we engage with about 200,000 online. We have a youth programme which is growing. There's a lot of demand there for young people to get involved environmentally as well. Families, in early years, we run programmes for families, but up to seven year olds, specific sessions.  Julia Willison: We run community engagement, and that includes community horticulture. I'm responsible for the access programmes across the site as well. That's for people who may have sensory needs or different access needs. We have a national outreach learning programme and then slight anomaly is that the volunteers also sit with me. So we've got 800 volunteers across Kew Gardens and Wakehurst, and the central function of that sits with my remit. So looking at some of the strategies around what we're doing with volunteers and diversifying our volunteers, et cetera, that's my remit.Kelly Molson: They're quite a bit. Julia Willison: Yeah. No, it's fantastic. I'm very lucky. And there's no one typical day, but you can imagine. Well, I get going with a cup of coffee every day and sometimes I'll spend one day a week working from home. Julia Willison: But the rest of the time, I like to be on site. Kew has got to be one of the most beautiful locations to work. Kew has got to be one of the most beautiful locations to work. I am so lucky. I know that.Julia Willison: And I've probably got the best office in Kew. If you come and visit Kelly, you'll see that the office I have looks out over the Palm House of Kew, which is the most iconic glass house. It was a glass house that was built between 1844 and 48 and it houses the tropical plants, so it is just the most amazing place to work. I attend a lot of meetings, as you can imagine, with my teams and staff across the organisation about operations sometimes, and strategy and new and exciting projects that we're looking at what we can do. I sit on cross organisational steering groups and committees that focus on public programmes. Julia Willison: We have a strong focus on equality, diversity and inclusion across the organisation. And safeguarding. Well, I still am the designated safeguarding lead for Kew, so I'm involved in that still. And I also lead the steering group for Kew on the outreach strategy and the schools learning strategy. And then, as well, I often work on preparing project proposals, because funding is a major issue for our organisation, and so funding and reporting and then talking to potential donors. So that's my sort of typical day, really. Kelly Molson: I feel quite privileged that I get to speak to so many incredible women that have these hugely varied roles and do so much in a day. Very capable people that I get to speak to. It's quite humbling. We're going to talk quite a lot today about a manifesto that Kew implemented. I'm just going to take you back. So I think it was in March 2021, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew launched a ten year strategy to end extinction crisis and protect nature. And it's a really bold and incredibly inspiring manifesto. I'm just going to read out the ethos of it. Kelly Molson: So, the mission of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is to understand and protect plants and fungi for the well being of people and the future of all life on earth. Our aspiration is to end the extinction crisis and to help create a world where nature is protected, valued by all and managed sustainably. So this was back in 2021. How has the manifesto been implemented within the organisation? How did it get created in the first place, and how does that kind of get explained and put into practise? Julia Willison: Good question. We started in the pandemic, looking at the need to build a new strategy, because our older strategy was coming to the end, and over the years has been a building of staff in Kew, talking about wanting to see more urgency in the work that we do, or to describe it in a more urgent terms, what we're trying to do at Kew. And so the pandemic, while it was a terrible time, it was a time that Kew took to step back and look at the bigger picture and then come together around this urgency of climate change and biodiversity loss. And there was a lot of consultation, a lot of iterations of the strategy that went out to staff to feed into this. Julia Willison: It was a significant job, and there was a team, a small team of people that were working on it, taking the consultation back in centrally. And then what emerged through the consultation were five key priorities that we then agreed, or was agreed then for the next ten years. And that was agreed then by the executive board and signed off by the board of trustees. I'll mention the five priorities, and I can give a few bits of examples of some of the work we do around those. The first priority is deliver science based knowledge and solutions to protect biodiversity and use natural resources sustainably. Kew is primarily a scientific and horticultural organisation, and we struggle sometimes that many people see Kew Gardens as the gardens and don't see the science behind the gardens. Julia Willison: The gardens are essential and they contain precious plant collections. There is also science and research behind that. We've got over 400 scientists and about 150 horticulturalists. And so it's the bedrock accused contribution to ending biodiversity and maintaining sort of healthy ecosystems. So there are lots of examples that I could give. People probably don't know this. We have a resource centre in Madagascar, scientific resource centre, and scientists there are working with the rural Malagasy people on food security and particularly on conserving yams that are native to Madagascar. We work in over 120 countries, working with partners in Ethiopia to reduce biodiversity loss. The Ethiopian economy depends very much on coffee, and something like 25% of the population rely directly or indirectly on coffee for their livelihood. And so Kew is working with partners to maintain traditional forest based areas where coffee grows natively. Julia Willison: And that is proving vital for sustainability, for livelihoods and also for biodiversity. Close to home. We have scientists here at Kew working on the chemistry of nectar and pollen, because many bee species in the UK, there are around 240 different species of bees in the UK. So honey bees are just one species. There's lots of different bumblebees, lots of different native bee species, and they're under threat because of climate change from disease and parasites. So what scientists here are identifying plants that have compounds in the nectar and pollen that could help bees themselves manage their own diseases more sustainably. So that's an important area of research. Kew is also, as part of manifesto, we're digitising our collections. We've got a wrap quarter a way through digitising 8.25 million preserved plants and fungal specimens. So it's an enormous task. And 200,000 botanical illustrations. What else we're doing? Julia Willison: We have a sister site. I don't know if you know this, Kelly. We have a sister site at Wakehurst. It's our wild botanic garden in West Sussex and it's a site of excellence, really, in conservation and science. It's home to the Millennium Seed Bank, where we've banked something like 2.4 billion seeds from more than 40,000 plant species. And so there's the project being run at Wakehurst called Nature Unlocked, and that's using the landscape of Wakehurst, which is about two kilometres squared, as a living laboratory. And the idea is to collect high quality scientific evidence of the value of biodiversity in the soil as well as in the landscape. This evidence to inform land management policies and practises, so that can then key develop. Decision makers can then use this evidence to make informed decisions about what they do around the land. Kelly Molson: That's just one point. Julia Willison: I'll be quicker with the other. Kelly Molson: Please feel free to share. Don't hold back. But it's quite mind blowing, isn't it, how much that you do that people just aren't aware of? Julia Willison: Yeah, this is just a very small snapshot. I mean, I could have taken any one of hundreds of examples of what scientists here at Kew are doing. The second priority is inspire people to protect the natural world, and that really is threaded through all our public engagement work. And that's going from our festivals, our exhibitions, all the interpretive panels we do, the website, our social media, all the learning and participation programmes we do. So we use this as a lens to look through and to make sure that the work we're doing is all checking ourselves, that we are inspiring people to protect the natural world. I mentioned earlier we have a national outreach programme and this programme is inspiring communities to take action for biodiversity, specifically through transforming their local spaces with UK native plants. Julia Willison: So community groups we know will grow other plants, but we also encourage them to focus also on UK native plants as well. Another plan in the manifesto is to create a carbon garden, and that's to communicate stories around how carbon is captured in plants and soil, and how we use this to mitigate climate change, for example, through planting trees and also looking at different carbon related services, such as biofuels. And we have the plans for the garden. It's in planning permission. It's gone for planning permission at the moment and we're waiting to hear. And as soon as we hear, it'll probably take us about a year or so to build the garden, but we'll use it then very much for learning and communicating about the importance of carbon, so people know. So that's priority two. Julia Willison: Priority three is train the next generation of experts, new scientists and horticultural is critical to the future of life on earth. And so Kew has accelerated its work in this. And we offer three month PhD placements for anybody across the UK who's doing a PhD. Part of their PhD often includes a placement. So we offer those placements at Kew and we're very keen to attract PhD students. We also are working in partnership with a couple of universities, Queen Mary, University of London and the Royal Holloway, University of London, to run in partnership master's courses. MSc courses. And we've got three courses that we run. MSc in biodiversity and conservation, an MSc in plant and fungal taxonomy, diversity and conservation. And then the newest MSc is on global health, food security, sustainability and biodiversity. Kelly Molson: I can imagine that the world that we're in now, there's actually a lot more demand for those courses as well. I imagine that they're oversubscribed multiple times. Julia Willison: Yes. And they're open to international students, so we get quite a lot of international students coming. So that's really good. We had 60 students starting this year on the courses, but on a master's course, taking 20 students, it's quite an intense course. And I know that Kew has, like you say, there's a demand to study further in this area, and so there are still developing the possibility of new courses with universities. That's good. Julia Willison: But one of the things for my remit that I'm very keen about is that there's a pathway and that Kew considers its pathway from very early years, attracting kids to become very interested in nature, and then going through and providing school programmes that then encourage children to then take science as a possible career choice, or be informed about science, which is one of the reasons why we launched the Endeavour Online programme to make our resources that focus on educational resources that focus on Kew, science and horticulture, but make them available to schools across the UK. Kelly Molson: That's phenomenal. And that's a lot of the things that we're going to talk about today. What point are we at? We've done point 3. Julia Willison: Okay. So extend our reach. Kelly Molson: Extend reach. That's right. Point 4. Julia Willison: That's about cubing a go to place for anyone and everyone to explore the importance of plants and fungi and how they add value to our lives. And we're working hard to expand our digital resources to make sure that we can engage with as many people as possible. But we also recognise that there are large numbers of the population that would love to visit Kew or either have never heard about us or don't see Kew as a place for them. So we've set down a target to increase tenfold the number of visitors from underrepresented communities to the gardens. And one of the ways that we've done this straight away is to introduce a one pound ticket for people who were on universal credit or pension credit, and that's to remove the economic barrier to visiting. Julia Willison: To date, around 50 - 60,000 people have taken advantage of the initiative in 18 months. However, we have a very ambitious director and he feels that we should be able to dial this up to about 100,000 per year. So that requires us then to go out specifically targeting people who are on universal credit and pension credit and say, "Look, we want you to come to Kew." But on top of this, we also run a range of programmes specifically for people who face barriers to Kew. And that's not only economic, that could be social barriers, psychological or physical barriers. That's priority four, which I think we're going to go into more about some of that.  Kelly Molson: Three and four we're going to focus on. Julia Willison: Yeah. So the fifth one is influencing national and international opinion and policy. So in order to do that, we need to encourage debate and shape decision making. And Kew works with a lot of policymakers. Kew is a large institution.  Julia Willison: We've got about 1400 staff that work at Kew and 800 volunteers. We have lots of different teams and departments. We do have a department that focuses specifically on working with government and policy makers. And the idea is to support them, to provide the evidence that Kew brings to the table so that people can make well informed decisions. One example is about Tropical Important Plant Areas, those TIPA for short. Kew is working with six countries across the globe and the idea is to work with partners in the countries to help them identify important plant areas so that these areas will then be conserved. That involves an enormous amount of negotiation, discussion, and to date there's three TIPAs that have already been established, so that's really important for conservation of those areas. Julia Willison: And, of course, we work closely with Defra, that's our sponsoring department in the UK government, and they've recently asked you to take the leading role as a strategic science lead for a new institution, I suppose, that has been set up. It's not a physical institution. It's a consortium. It's been called the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate. So what Kew will do is write the research strategy that will define the key themes for funding calls that will be given money, and then the projects that will then provide the evidence to feed into policies that will then help make decisions about the impact of biodiversity on climate and people's livelihoods. So that's a really significant thing that Kew's done. Kelly Molson: This is such an eye opener for myself, having been a visitor to Kew, appreciated the beautiful gardens and the plants that you have there, but actually really having no idea about all of the things that happen in the background. So this is just like you say, the attraction is just one very small part of this huge organisation. There's so much that you do. I hope this is eye opening for people that are listening to this as well, because there's a lot going on here. The points from the manifesto, the key priorities for manifesto are, I mean, each one of them you could take and break down into a different podcast episode. What we're going to talk about is points three and four. We're going to focus on those today. Kelly Molson: So point 3 was to train the next generation of experts, and point 4 was to extend our reach. We're going to focus on them because there's a huge desire at  Kew to improve inclusivity, and so we're going to kind of break down what is happening within those points to actually help support do that. So you said that one of the key changes that Kew has committed to achieving by 2030, I think this is to increase tenfold the number of visitors from the presently underrepresented communities to the gardens. And obviously the gardens facilitate the start of that learning journey. Right. That it's exposing people to, I guess, a world that they might not be familiar with, plants that they definitely won't be familiar with, or even just certain job roles that they might not have thought was for them. Kelly Molson: How do you begin to change the kind of views and attitudes from the general public who don't think that Kew is for them, a place for them in the first place? Julia Willison: Well, our aim is to break down that perception. So I think one of the things that has happened to be able to start on this journey is an organisational commitment to include everyone and bringing everybody on board, that we are really intent, we really want to do this. So that's involved training our visitor facing staff and our volunteers so that they provide a warm welcome to anyone, regardless of their background. We've trained our staff in accessibility and safeguarding and then diversity and inclusion. And this year we will roll out more diversity and inclusion training to staff across all areas of the organisation. So when people come here, it's making sure that they feel safe and they feel represented in the gardens. But just providing a welcome is not going to be sufficient. Julia Willison: We do need to reach out and connect with different communities to tell them that Kew exists. We have people visiting Kew from our local boroughs that have never heard of us, which is extraordinary, really. So we really try and encourage them to visit. So we have teams of staff who, in different teams, will visit the different groups and they'll run workshops with the groups at their venues so that groups can find out about Kew before they visit. They realise that the people that come to visit them are really quite friendly and really excited about them coming to Kew. And also, people have said that Kew is a very large place when you come here. I mean, people come and visit Kew, they come for a day, but you never see everything at Kew for a day. Julia Willison: So people feel that it can be a bit intimidating, especially if they've not visited before. So when we bring people on site for the first time, when we've made connections with community groups or other teams, what we do is we'll offer a programme or a tour, so that when they come to visit us, that they make them feel comfortable about returning on their own. Kelly Molson: Sure. So it gives them that level of familiarity by doing the tour that they can then come back and explore. They can do that again, or they could go and explore the different areas that were particularly appealing to them. Julia Willison: Yeah. So we have all sorts of different programmes and we have a community access scheme as well as the one pound ticket. We have community access scheme. So any groups that provide services to people who face barriers from visiting Kew, which I said earlier, sensory, psychological, social barriers, they can join our community access scheme and they can get 60 tickets for 36 pounds. So that works out about 60 pence a ticket and they can always top up as they go along. And then as part of the scheme, they all receive a newsletter and that informs them about the community activities that we run. So that's another way of connecting groups to feel that Kew is a place for them to come and visit. Kelly Molson: That's lovely. I was going to ask about the community access scheme and what initiatives have been formed to kind of support the organisations to do that, because I guess it's one thing the welcome is great, right. But that means that people have to come and get the welcome. So there's so much outreach that has to be done to bring the people to you in the first place. So the community access scheme, what kind of organisations would that be relevant for? Julia Willison: All sorts. We have about 350 members on our access scheme. When I first started at Kew, most of those groups, there were fewer number of groups, but most of those groups were, I would say, for third age people, different groups, but mainly servicing older people. Now we've got all sorts of groups, so we've got LGBT+ groups, we have deaf groups, asian women's groups. We have a whole different range of groups that see Kew as a place that they could join and come and bring with their members. And one of the things that we do run is continuing professional development training for group leaders, specifically for those leaders, so that they then feel confident to come to Kew with their groups on their own and will provide resources for them to use in the landscapes and enjoy with Kew. Kelly Molson: And that adds to that, I guess, like what you were saying earlier about, you want this to be the start of the journey. You need it to be the start of the journey for those groups as well, don't. You don't want to encourage them to come along once and that's like a box that they've ticked. They've done Kew. You want them to come back and keep reengaging with the environment there. So that's brilliant to then be able to train those leaders to take that bit on themselves. Julia Willison: I was just to say, a few years ago, we started a community open week, which is a free week for community groups, any community groups across London. In fact, some groups come from further afield, but we put on a range of workshops and tours during that week for groups to come and just experience Kew and the idea is, if we can, is to try and encourage them to sign up to the access scheme and continue, as you say, the journey and come back and find out more. Kelly Molson: I guess that's the community access scheme. And obviously you've got kind of partnerships going ongoing with kind of local community. What about national community groups? So how do you kind of expand your remit into the wider audience of people that aren't located near Kew?Julia Willison: Yeah. That's a good question because that costs money, doesn't it, for them to come to Kew. So we have had people come from Birmingham and people can join. We've initially contained it within the M25, so a lot of people coming within the M25, but we've just removed that barrier now, I mean, it didn't need to be there. And we have seen some people, some groups coming from outside. We don't have bursaries to be able to provide, sadly, to groups to come to Kew. They are, of course, very welcome. I think one of the things is that we've just brought somebody on board this year who is doing some more community outreach to going out and trying to connect with new groups to visit Kew and part of that will involve producing some marketing materials that can then travel further than just our confines. Julia Willison: So we'll see. We may then receive other groups in from much further afield, which would be great. And also Wakehurst, our sister site, has set up a community access scheme as well, so they will hopefully then encourage those organisations and groups in further south of London.Kelly Molson: Amazing. How is Kew helping to remove barriers and improve access to nature for children and families, both kind of on site and off site? Julia Willison: We've been running an early years programme since about 2018. Before that, we had a family programme and we've made connections with children's centres in our local boroughs. Every borough, every county in the UK will have a children's centre or multiple children's centres. And the aim of the children's centres is to try and help those families that may slip through the net to be able to ensure that they don't. And so what we have done is we have a recent project which is to work with children's centres in London and we're working in five boroughs with different about ten children's centres. And the team is going to the children's centres running nature based play sessions in the children's centres. And then over the summer, we invite the families to come to Kew. We give them funding to do that. Julia Willison: We refund their travel, we run activities on site and then later in the year, we've been running training sessions specifically for the children's centre leaders so that they can then take this work forward when Kew has to step back from going to the children's centres. And we've got this project running for about three or four years now, which is great. But on top of this, we also run on site sessions for early years and half of them are paid for sessions for those families that can afford to pay for earlier sessions. And then the money that we use from that, we then subsidise those families from children's centres, community groups that can't afford to pay. So we try and get a balance, because we don't ourselves have an endless pot of money and we're constantly looking for funding to try and support this work. Kelly Molson: It's really hard, isn't it, to get that balance right. There is a commercial aspect here, right. You have to make money to be able to do all of these incredible projects and initiatives that you have, but you also need the funding to be able to support the incredible initiatives that you're running, to be able to allow everybody access to it. So it's like a vicious circle. What about schools outreach? How are you kind of broadening your reach to engage all schools? And how does that become more inclusive against the manifesto? Julia Willison: So we've been very intent on saying that we want to extend our reach to embrace all schools, sort of all schools in different areas, but also, at the moment, we have about 60, 70. Well, it's now changed to 60% of pupils that come on site are from primary schools. We want to increase the number of secondary school pupils that we engage with. Children make career decisions around their GCSEs and their A levels, and many children from certain schools from more deprived areas will go for general science rather than triple science. And all the research shows that if children choose triple science, they're more likely to do science at a levels. So looking to try and influence those children in their career choices is important for us. And that means that we want to increase the number of secondary schools that we engage with. Julia Willison: And we also have an intent on increasing the number of schools that have higher pupil premium, because in London, pupil premium is, you probably know, is that those children who are generally on those children, on free school meals, the school will receive a bursary from the government to try and reduce the attainment gap between those children on free school meals and those children on not. Julia Willison: So we have had bursaries, we don't have any at the moment, but we have had bursaries then to attract specifically those schools on much higher pupil premium, and we've shifted the dial on this and we have higher numbers of schools with higher pupil premium students and those schools, then we try to influence and think about science as a possible aspect that they can consider further in their careers. So, in planning permission at the moment, we're looking at building a new learning centre at Kew, which would be really exciting. And we're going through ecology reports at the moment before we can get the planning permission through. Julia Willison: But part of the learning centre will include four science laboratories, and so pupils can come on site to Kew will be able to come on site to queue and do science experiments in the heart of a scientific organisation. And all pupils doing GCSE and A levels have to do practical science experiments. We know from all the research that teachers don't necessarily feel confident in teaching about plants. So this is something that Kew really can uniquely offer schools to come to Kew and bring their pupils and get hands on with plant and fungal science experiments. Kelly Molson: Oh my goodness. That would be incredible. Julia Willison: Yes. And also it will provide us with the facilities to be able to do CPD online as well. So that's something that we're really keen to do. Kelly Molson: That's a really interesting side of this, is because I know that one of your goals is to engage with all schools. Now, all schools aren't local to Kew. My school definitely wasn't local to Kew. So how do you do that? How do you make that jump from engaging with local schools that can actually access the site? What can you do digitally that can engage with more schools and more people, regardless of location? Julia Willison: And one of the reasons that we are committed to engaging with all schools is because Kew is a national institution and we are funded partly. About 28% of our funding comes from the government, so it's paid for by taxes by people all over the country. So our commitment is to make our resources as available as widely as possible. And so we have an online programme called Endeavour, and that's a bank of resources specifically for teachers on all sorts of different. It's strongly linked to the national curriculum, but all sorts of different activities that teachers can use then to teach about plant science and fungi. But it straddles the natural curriculum not only in science, but for the primary ages. Julia Willison: It will also look at history, it will look at geography, et cetera, so that we can try and make our resources as relevant as possible to teachers. Kelly Molson: Yeah, that is a phenomenal resource that maybe more teachers need to hear about that. I think I would have been really excited. I did do Science at school. I can remember. I'd have been really excited about doing something that was connected to Kew Gardens. There's quite a big buzz about that, you know what I mean? I don't know why there's a connection to that organisation that I think would have been really exciting to know that you were working on something that had been created by Kew.Julia Willison: That's nice to hear that. We have a youth programme, which I'm very proud of. I think that the youth team is phenomenal, as are all the teams, but we run a youth explainer programme and that's on site, and young people come for a training programme every Saturday for six months and they go behind the scenes. They meet the horticulturist scientists and they learn communication skills. And what they do is we bring a game designer on site and they learn how to design their own game to play with the public about endangered plants or habitats. And the young people have to work together in groups and they produce this game. And then six months after, once they've finished their training, they then become explainers in the glass houses. Julia Willison: And the public, actually, they love interacting with young people and they bring a real buzz about it. So that's been a very successful programme. And on the back of this, we've developed a young environmental leader award. And the idea is that young people will develop their project and they will evidence different dimensions of leadership through their project. So they'll keep a portfolio and they have to evidence how they've developed their leadership skills during this journey. And then we award them with a young environmental leader award, and that's something that we do in house. But then the possibility is then to scale that, to make that available to young people outside Kew as well. Kelly Molson: That would be incredible, wouldn't it? Yeah, that would be a really special thing to be involved in. Okay, so we said earlier we're recording this. It's January 2024. Wow. How is Kew delivering against the manifesto after its first full two years? Julia Willison: Well, Kew is nothing if not ambitious. There is a real strong commitment to ending the extinction crisis. I mean, we can't do this alone and we have to do it in partnership. But I would say that we're firmly on the way to achieving many of the deliverables in the manifesto. And there's a real. People have really bought into. The staff have really bought into the manifesto, and you see that through. We run a staff survey every year and ask for feedback about whether what people think about the manifesto, do they feel their work is contributing to delivering it? And we get very high scores on that consistently we have since the manifesto was published. One of the deliverables in there is to revision the Palm House that I sit opposite in my office. Julia Willison: And we want that to become net zero and engage new generations with science and conservation work and make our data available to everyone. So we are moving towards that. And we've got some seed funding to be able to do this. I'd say that the bricks are in place and the foundations have been laid, and much of the work requires external funding and partnerships. But we have a vision, and I think people and organisations recognise what Kew's work is as vital. And I don't think that's overstating it, but that helps to open doors for support. So I think we're moving forwards, and I think there's a very positive feel about the work that we're doing. We're very fortunate. Kelly Molson: Yeah, it sounds very positive. And like we said earlier, there's so much to cover in this, Julia, and thank you for coming on and just talking about a very small element of all of the incredible things that are actually happening at Kew. So we always end our podcast by asking our guests to recommend a book that you love, something that you love personally or something that's helped shaped your career in some way. What have you chosen for us today? Julia Willison: Well, I chose a book that is a phenomenal book and by a woman who is phenomenal, and it is related to my work. But I chose the book because I think it is so inspirational. It's a book called Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard. And we awarded her the 16th Kew International Medal for her work and her devotion to championing biodiversity in forests. She's worked in British Columbia all her life in Canada, and she was the pioneer of the theory that plants communicate with each other through a huge subterranean fungal network. And the book reveals how trees connect and cooperate with each other, and that each forest contains hub trees. So mother trees. And that these trees in the forest play a critical role in the flow of information and resources. Julia Willison: So I feel that the book will change the way people look at forests. They're not simply a source for timber or pulp, but they are really part of a complex, interdependent circle of life. And I think it's a magnificent book. Well, if one reader reads it and enjoys it, I think that will be brilliant. Kelly Molson: Do you know what? I have to read this book. So this is the second podcast, interestingly, where. Oh, not the book. The book has never been recommended before. No, this is a completely new one. So David Green, Head of Innovation at Blenheim, was on the podcast a couple of episodes ago, and he talked about how trees communicate with each other, and that was a new thing for me. I had no idea that trees talk to each other, and the way that he described it was really interesting. And now this has come up in this as well. And I feel like someone is sending me a message that I need to read this book. So that's going to go top of my list, right.Kelly Molson: Erveryboday, listeners, you know what to do if you want to win a copy of Julia's book, then head over to our Twitter account and retweet this episode announcement with the words, I want Julia's book and you could potentially be learning about how trees communicate with each other and are a vital part of an ecosystem. Thank you. That's fascinating. Everything that you've talked about today is so exciting, and I know that there's so much work still to be done. Thank you for coming on and sharing about all of the things that you do there and all of the things that you're hoping to achieve. I have no doubt that you will do them. It's been an absolute pleasure. Julia Willison: Yeah, it's a real privilege. Thank you very much, Kelly. Thank you. Kelly Molson:  Thanks for listening to Skip The Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, rubbercheese.com/podcast. The 2023 Visitor Attraction Website Report is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the report now for invaluable insights and actionable recommendations!

Ad: This episode is sponsored by tutoring organisation Explore Learning. If you have a teenager, it's pretty much inevitable that you're going to come up against exam stress and GCSE results at some point, and it's quite possible you've considered getting a tutor for your child.Carey Ann Dodah from Explore Learning has more than 20 years experience in education. She's also been a school governor, and chair of the PTA, and has two teenagers of her own, so she gets it. I ask her to give us her best strategies for effective study, online learning tips, and how parents can navigate educational challenges when we're worried, especially about GCSE exam results. 5:30 - Is getting a tutor really worth it? Why parents aren't always the best people to support their teenagers academically, and the value of a tutor.12:45 - How do we help our teens transition to adulthood? 16:40 - Why maths and English are the most useful subjects to have a tutor in.21:30 - What's the most important thing a child will learn from a tutor?22:45 - Is it ever too late to get a tutor for GCSEs?25:30 - Is there ever a reason NOT to get a tutor for our teenagers?31:00 - How to choose a tutor for your teenager. More about how Explore Learning works and the benefits of working with experts who help you find the best tutor for your teen. Explore Learning offers maths & English, SATs, 11 Plus & GCSE tuition both online and in person at UK centres. Check out their website for more information. More from Helen Wills:Helen wills is a teen mental health podcaster and blogger at Actually Mummy, a resource for midlife parents of teens.Thank you for listening! Subscribe to the Teenage Kicks podcast to hear new episodes. If you have a suggestion for the podcast please get in touch.You can find more from Helen Wills on parenting teenagers on Instagram and Twitter @iamhelenwills.For information on your data privacy please visit Zencastr's policy pagePlease note that Helen Wills is not a medical expert, and nothing in the podcast should be taken as medical advice. If you're worried about yourself or a teenager, please seek support from a medical professional.

Alex Head is the founder of Social Pantry which runs food events with the wow factor, as well as a restaruant, and a cafe. I first met Alex this Summer where she was rustling up a banquet twice a day, in a tent at Latitude Festval. Two of the banquets featured food from 'Love, Food, Family' and Richard and I had the much easier job of meeting and greeting everybody there.Alex got into catering aged 16 when she was expelled from school in Saudi, just before her GCSEs. As she says, she was quite naughty. But she ended up setting up a sandwich-making business to keep herself busy.Fast forward a few decades and Alex now runs Social Pantry which she describes as a non-shouty and nurturing catering environment where she often employs ex-offenders, to help them create a new life for themselves outside of prison.Alex and her husband George had a daughter Roxy, aged 3, who was born just before the pandemic, and they now have a one year old son Eddie.Alex spoke to me about Eddie's diagnosis of Down's Syndrome while she was pregnant, and how she and George made the decision to continue with the pregnancy, and what a gorgeous, smiley boy Eddie is. This I can vouch for, as I love to see Alex's happy Instagram posts showing Eddie beaming, at the centre of his family. Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Could Labour still lose the next election? What really went wrong under Jeremy Corbyn? What do the left actually think of the right? Rory and Alastair are joined by Labour's Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, to discuss all this and more on today's episode of Leading. TRIP Plus:  Become a member of The Rest Is Politics Plus to support the podcast, receive our exclusive newsletter, enjoy ad-free listening to both TRIP and Leading, benefit from discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, join our Discord chatroom, and receive early access to live show tickets and Question Time episodes.  Just head to therestispolitics.com to sign up, or start a free trial today on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/therestispolitics. Instagram: @restispolitics Twitter: @RestIsPolitics Email: restispolitics@gmail.com Producers: Dom Johnson + Nicole Maslen Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Muriel from Illinois has the beans discuss The Higgs Boson/Particles this week. Listeners might be concerned the beans are entering knowledge-gap territory here but it turns out between them they average 2 ⅔ science GCSEs a piece*.*grades attained unavailable and what do they mean anyway really???Join our PATREON for ad-free episodes and a monthly bonus episode: www.patreon.com/threebeansaladGet in touch: threebeansaladpod@gmail.com @beansaladpod

Welcome to the Fail Forward podcast. In this episode I talk about failure.    As my podcast name suggests, this topic forms the building blocks to my content. It's clearly close to my heart, I think the reason for that is because its so closely connected to business.    All you ever hear is, “80% of businesses fail in the first five years”, or “1 in 5 businesses fail in their first year”. There seems to be a new statistic every week!   I take the view that this is due to a fundamental issue with the way society perceives failure.    There's no doubting its a negative word.    In school children are taught that they've failed if they don't pass their exams. In 2023, 32% of 16 year olds failed their GCSEs. Take a second to imagine what that installs in young people's minds at an early age.    One of the biggest things we should be teaching our children is that its OK to fail because it is a part of learning.   I wonder how many young people are left with a negative mindset when they leave school. They begin to let failure define them, rather than view it as something to learn from.   In this episode I explain that learning from multiple failures always becomes a positive. Not learning from them will compound into something catastrophic, such as a failed business.    I invite you to have a listen and challenge what we're conditioned to believe about failure.    If you're enjoying the Fail Forward podcasts, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn for all the latest on my mission to help business owners Fail Forward.    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/failforwardhenri LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/henri-ghijben-539132101/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@failforward12 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/henrighijben/  

       In this episode of the Road to Growth podcast, we are pleased to introduce you to Jeremy Harbour. Jeremy is an investor, entrepreneur and advisor known for M & A advisory and creation of the agglomeration model. He is the founder and owner of The Harbour Club, a company that helps entrepreneurs buy and sell businesses. He is also the owner of Unity Group, a private equity firm Born in UK, Harbour started a business when he was 14 years old and left school to pursue it further. The business was shut after nine years. In the 1990s, he owned a telecommunications company and acquired a competitor without cash or debt. He later moved to the M & A industry. Based in Singapore, Harbour deals in mergers and acquisitions of small businesses, and focuses on building businesses by acquisition and exiting through trade sale or public quote. He uses an agglomeration model to help small businesses. He was the Advisory Director for The Mint National Bank, a DBS Business Class advisor, and Chairman of the Marketing Group, a digital agency. He has been invited to British Houses of Parliament to advise on matters of business and enterprise. He is also the author of the book – ‘Go Do'. Harbour was the Coutts Entrepreneur of the Year runner-up three times.         Jeremy's career began at 8, when he was selling his mother's flowers in jam jars outside her beauty salon, but really got going at 14, with the aid of his helpful grandmother who drove him to car-boot fairs. “I was the annoying kid at school who was always trying to sell you stuff,” he admits cheerfully. He quickly progressed to a Saturday and then also a Sunday market stall and was not only selling his own lines but supplying other market traders too. Leaving school the moment he finished his GCSEs, Jeremy's comment to the Telegraph that “the only reason to go to university is to learn how to roll a really good joint”, has come back to haunt him many times, but his point is valid; what would he learn there that he would not learn better running his own business? A view endorsed by his careers teacher who told Jeremy's mother that Jeremy had spent an hour outlining his career plans in some detail and that Jeremy had better be allowed to get on with it.          With hindsight, Jeremy regards his first setback, aged 19, as a good thing, although it was devastating at the time when the failure of his company selling arcade games to pubs wiped out the £60,000 of savings he had built up in his teenage years and he had to go back to the drawing board. Moving back in with his parents, he was forced to digest some hard lessons which, although they caused weight loss and heartbreak at the time, have served him very well subsequently. He also confesses that he would have been insufferable had his star risen much further and that a little humiliation probably saved him in the long term. He had discovered that it is impossible to learn from theory, “The most I knew about business was on the day I started,” he says, “but of course logic doesn't apply to real business and real human beings. Business books and MBA courses are all about theory, but however much you plan and hedge, there will always be that black swan event which pops up and over which you have no control.” The concept that the more you think you know, the less you actually know and that the only way to learn is by experience, has been key in Jeremy's subsequent career...      Learn more and connect with Jeremy Harbour by visiting him on   Website : https://www.jeremyharbour.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyharbour/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeremyjharbour       Be sure to follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/to_growth on Facebook: facebook.com/Road2Growth   Subscribe to our podcast across the web: https://www.theenriquezgroup.com/blog Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Cdmacc iTunes: https://apple.co/2F4zAcn Castbox: http://bit.ly/2F4NfQq Google Play: http://bit.ly/2TxUYQ2 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKnzMRkl-PurAb32mCLCMeA?view_as=subscriber   If you are looking to be a Guest on Podcasts please click below  https://kitcaster.com/rtg/  For any San Diego Real Estate Questions Please Follow Us at web: www.TheEnriquezGroup.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKnzMRkl-PurAb32mCLCMeA or Call : 858 -345 - 7829 Recently reduced properties in San Diego County * Click **** bit.ly/3cbT65C **** Here* ****************************************************************************

Mehreen Baig is a former teacher and British television presenter. She has presented several documentaries on topics relating to Britain's Asian and Muslim communities. Her show Glow Up Your Grades helps support many pupils with their GCSEs every year. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUn2zTSlKmGBQ-qnL8iDEtg Giles and Jim talked to Mehreen about her time as a teacher, the challenges of the education system in the UK, her move into broadcasting and her book Hidden Lessons - Growing Up On The Frontline Of Teaching. Buy a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Lessons-Growing-Frontline-Teaching/dp/152938303X Massive thanks to our patrons: Mary Catherine Byrnes, Victoria Nielsen, Manya Kay, Alex Williams, Joel Piveteau, Richard Astill, Samantha Beaton, Claudia McKelvey, John Holland, Katherine Keen, Lynn Robinson, It's Coming Home 2022, Alice Chrystall, Maddie Lightfoot, Alex Collis, Martin Grimm, Vicki, Julianna Williams, Rachel Bowen, Witnessthebigness. @blankpod @eliistender @jimdalycomedy @mehreenbaig blankpodcast2018@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices