Best Frank Norris And Stan Johnson Podcasts (2024)

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 193 35:14

7h ago35:14

35:14

A momentous night followed by a Frank and Stan Chat. What more does education need? The two gents chat about their views on the past 14 years, what might happen in the next 100 days and what they hope for in the future. It's just a gentle glide through a range of issues. For those who have been up half the night and had to teach today, it might be …

1
Frank and Stan Chat SPOTLIGHT No. 7 35:19

1d ago35:19

35:19

Ever wondered what it felt like to be a long-established tutoring provider during the pandemic? Ever wondered why existing providers were not included in the initial list of 33 national providers for the National Tutoring Programme but new providers were? Ever considered why the Randstad contract ended so quickly? How did tutoring programmes surviv…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 192 42:43

6d ago42:43

42:43

This week Stan returns from his two week break and we are joined by Education Director, author, keynote speaker and great guest Paul Ainsworth. Paul's most recent publication 'No Silver Bullets' draws on his considerable and varied career involved in school improvement. True to his character he doesn't plug any of his books, although Stan and Frank…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 191 33:02

13d ago33:02

33:02

It has taken a while but it was great to have Mags Bradbury, the Head of Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement at University of Manchester as our guest. Mags previously led the Coop Group's education programme which included their early foray into academy sponsorship. In fact, Mags was instrumental in encouraging Frank to apply for a senior ro…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 190 35:25

21d ago35:25

35:25

With Stan taking a couple of weeks away from the chat we are delighted to have Kendra Allen as the co-host. Kendra has been a longstanding follower of the weekly chat and has appeared on three separate occasions as a guest. The chat kicks off with Kendra discussing the level of abuse online that female politicians receive and why this makes it diff…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 189 33:13

1M ago33:13

33:13

Sometimes major news stories have relevance for education and the way they show poor leadership and/or judgement. This week's faux pas was not directly about education but it demonstrated poor judgement and a lack of awareness. John Cosgrove former headteacher, author and freelance writer joins Frank and Stan as they unpick the decision of the PM t…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 188 40:14

2M ago40:14

40:14

This week the gents are joined by a friend, colleague and keen follower of their weekly chat, Kendra Allen. This is the third time Kendra has been a guest and she never disappoints in being able to draw on considerable experience as a senior leader and adviser to get to the heart of the weekly education news. This week we chat about lecterns, rain,…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 187 41:18

2M ago41:18

41:18

The gents are delighted Aelwyn Pugh, Former HMI, Senior Effectiveness Officer and Head of Music Service decided to return as a guest. His first appearance was in September 2023 and led to comments such as 'at last we get to hear a proper HMI chatting about education' and 'this is what HMI used to be like. Aelwyn gets things moving by explaining how…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 186 49:32

2M ago49:32

49:32

When Frank and Stan held their first chat in May 2020 we never imagined others would be interested in them. We certainly didn't envisage that eminent thinkers, practitioners and respected colleagues would join us as guests. This week we are delighted welcome back Neil Jurd, author of 'The Leadership Book', former army officer and RMA Sandhurst inst…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 185 44:30

2M ago44:30

44:30

It was a privilege to be joined by Jan Rowe from John Moores University for a chat about ITE and the latest education news. It didn't take long for us all to reflect on the teacher trainer market review and the impact it has had. It is fair to say we found it hard to identify many strengths, if at all. Teacher recruitment numbers remain low and exi…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No 184B 2:52

2M ago2:52

2:52

This week the gents are joined by Neil Sheldon, Chair of the Teaching Statistics Trust, Fellow of the RSS and a Chartered Statistician Vice-Chair of the UK Linguistics Olympiad and Member of the Committee for Linguistics in Education. A teacher of pupils aged from 9yrs to 90yrs he's a fascinating and well informed colleague in the way statistics ar…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.184 Part A 36:58

2M ago36:58

36:58

This week the gents are joined by Neil Sheldon, Chair of the Teaching Statistics Trust, Fellow of the RSS and a Chartered Statistician Vice-Chair of the UK Linguistics Olympiad and Member of the Committee for Linguistics in Education. A teacher of pupils aged from 9yrs to 90yrs he's a fascinating and well informed colleague in the way statistics ar…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 183 39:34

3M ago39:34

39:34

We are grateful to Adrian Lyons for stepping in when the planned guest was unavailable. Adrian was one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education, one of the most experienced HMI in Ofsted with a national lead for economics, business and enterprise. He regularly led the inspections of secondary schools, primary schools and initial teacher training pr…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 182 32:03

3M ago32:03

32:03

Following a short Easter break the two gents are back this week with an amazing guest. Dr Vic Carr is a Primary headteacher on The Wirral, Reserve Army Officer; Chartered Manager; CollectivEd Senior Fellow; Chartered College of Teaching Fellow; Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Army Leadership; author and TEDx speaker who focuses on leadership and…

1
Frank and Stan Chat SPOTLIGHT No.6 32:37

3M ago32:37

32:37

The next SPOTLIGHT Edition considers a recent blog written by Mark Innes, Dr Elizabeth Gregory and Dr Lisa Murtagh on the apparent marketisation of professional leadership qualifications. The three academics published a BERA piece to explains the development of national leadership programmes and how they have shifted through the DfE's control into …

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 181 37:08

4M ago37:08

37:08

Frank met the amazing Sarah Davies at a conference last September in London. He was impressed by her insight, passion and commitment of Sarah so he reached out and luckily she agreed to be a guest on our weekly Frank and Stan Chat. She explains why Oracy is so important, how it unlocks doors in other areas of learning and is not just an English dep…

1
Frank and Stan Chat SPOTLIGHT No.5 38:10

4M ago38:10

38:10

Today Frank and Stan chatted with Ros McMullen and Peter Cockcroft, two colleagues closely involved with Headrest, a support group for senior managers facing significant stress from undertaking their role in education. Headrest explain why they exist on their website https://www.headrestuk.co.uk 'Never before has the job of running a school been so…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 180 36:04

4M ago36:04

36:04

On the day Ofsted announced the launch of 'The Big Listen' it is timely to have Tracey O'Brien, headteacher and author of the seminal book 'Rethinking Inspection as our guest. The chat covers a broad range of topics. Stan kicks off with the strange news story where apparently a Headteacher was dismissed for slapping her child's wrist while on schoo…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 179 45:55

4M ago45:55

45:55

This week the gents chat with two colleagues who appeared on the show in October 2022. Big advocates of the physically active learning movement, Alun Davies and Bryn Llewellyn bring us up to speed with their recent work. The chat also includes a consideration of the leadership approach adopted by James Timpson, of the shoe repair business, which gi…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 178 41:38

5M ago41:38

41:38

Every year in the build-up to World Book Day Frank and Stan invite children's author Dan Worsley to be their guest. The chat covers how he creates his ideas, drafts his work, edits and then publishes the successful books. These include the Eric Appleby trilogy and the Impossible Tales collection. As a former primary school teacher Dan appreciates t…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 177 37:59

5M ago37:59

37:59

This week the two gents are joined by Sam Gibbs, Leader of Curriculum and Development for the Greater Manchester Education Trust. Sam contributed strongly at a recent Forum Strategy event and also published a fascinating analysis of the risks associated with centrally driven training programmes. As she points out in the chat there is a need for pro…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 176 36:42

5M ago36:42

36:42

This week Stan gets the chance to chat with a colleague with a vast range of experience in offering supervision support for education staff including senior leaders. Lisa Lea Weston is the founder of Talking Heads Supervision which has provided support to over 1000 schools across the country. If you follow these weekly chats you will know that Stan…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 175 40:42

5M ago40:42

40:42

We were delighted to be put in contact with Sam Fox and Chris Walsh by a previous guest Shaheen Myers. Shaheen sang the praises of their work so we were keen to find out what all of her excitement was about. It turns out to be a new online support programme for PSHE in secondary schools. Sam and Chris explain the concept and where the idea for thei…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 174 34:47

6M ago34:47

34:47

Sometimes the Frank and Stan Chats connect with guests at just the right time. John Woodhouse, who set up and leads the Safeguarding Network, joined the two gents during a week when Ofsted announced changes to the way it intends to inspect safeguarding, a recent NSPCC report on child abuse was published and the awful events surrounding the death of…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 173 34:53

6M ago34:53

34:53

For the first edition of the New Year we were delighted to have Dr Ronda Zelezny-Green join us as our guest from sunny Grenada, in Southern Spain. Frank knows Ronda through their work as Board members (Ronda is the chair) of InnovateHer, a not-for-profit organisation committed to ensuring more females join the digital tech industries and ensuring t…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 172 33:46

7M ago33:46

33:46

The final chat of 2023 sees Eric Craven, the Scouse Poet, return for the third time. He is the regular 'go-to' guest for the final chat before Christmas and he never disappoints. He has a new anthology of poems just published called "Love, hurt and whimsy'. He reads two contrasting poems from the collection as well as a new poem about his son. Desp…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.171 32:38

7M ago32:38

32:38

We've been trying to secure a slot to have the brilliant Sameena Choudry back as a guest and she certainly didn't disappoint. In a week when there was the Coroner's verdict on the Headteacher at Caversham Primary School, the lack of strong leadership emanating from the Covid Inquiry, a Prime Minister trying to say that Rwanda is a safe country when…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 170 40:09

7M ago40:09

40:09

Sir David Carter was a guest on Frank and Stan Chat in September 2022 and we were delighted to welcome him back to find out what has caught his eye this week? The chat considers The Elgin Marbles and what it says about leadership. Also enables us all to reflect on the tricky meeting with a parent/carer and how best to deal with it. David then share…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 169 34:37

8M ago34:37

34:37

This week the chat tries not get in a tail spin over a variety of Ofsted issues. Meena Wood is a former HMI, Principal, local authority adviser, author and public speaker and a strong critic of the current inspection arrangements. During the chat she explains how differently other countries inspect their schools and wonders why there is not a great…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 168 39:54

8M ago39:54

39:54

It is great to have weekly chats with colleagues who know each other well and feel safe chatting about things. There is a higher level of trust and respect. This is certainly the case for this week's chat with Stephen McMullan. Stephen worked with Frank as one of the most senior colleagues at the Coop Academies Trust when Frank was CEO there. He be…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 167 38:23

8M ago38:23

38:23

Every week we usually have a great guest drawn from a range of roles involved in education. But, this week we have excelled ourselves by having as our guest Prof Andy Hargreaves, the visiting Professor at University of Ottawa, Research Professor at Boston College, an elected member of the US National Academy of Education and current adviser to the …

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 166 29:11

8M ago29:11

29:11

A few months ago Frank met Dave McPartlin at a glitzy event in Blackpool. Dave, Headteacher at Flakefleet Primary School in Fleetwood has recently spoken out publicly about the current Ofsted arrangements and how these were impacting on his wellbeing as well as other senior leaders. He mentioned some work he was proud of at his school so we decided…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 165 41:12

9M ago41:12

41:12

Carolyn Eyre is a nationally recognised expert on safeguarding. She returns to Frank and Stan Chat to discuss what's caught her eye this week but also to explain the significant changes in statutory and non-statutory arrangements that come into place before the end of 2023. Nearly all of the proposed changes were completely new to Frank (what's new…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.164 28:45

9M ago28:45

28:45

It is always a pleasure to have guests on Frank and Stan Chat who feel relaxed and willing to be open and honest. Lisa Fathers, Director of Education and Partnerships at Bright Futures Educational Trust, fits that bill. The chat covers mathematics for Primary Schools, what the Shadow Secretary of State for Education may have meant when she suggeste…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.163 31:47

9M ago31:47

31:47

The two gents are joined by three senior education leaders from the south coast. Shelley Baker, Will Baldwin and Grainne Byrd share a strong commitment to the importance of citizenship and use it to drive school improvement through engagement and connection. An interesting week for the chat with the Prime Minister announcing a number of education a…

1
Frank and Stan Chat SPOTLIGHT with Dr Rebecca Lawton 24:09

9M ago24:09

24:09

A few months ago Dr Rebecca Lawton was a guest on the weekly Frank and Stan Chat. During the discussion, she mentioned a number of initiatives she had introduced to improve teacher workload, recruitment and retention. We invited Rebecca back to focus fully on her initiatives including the introduction of a 4 day week for staff. It is an amazing cha…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 162 37:54

10M ago37:54

37:54

It is an absolute pleasure to spend an hour each week chatting formally (while recording) and informally (prior to and after the recording) with our guests. This week Aelwyn Pugh, a former longstanding HMI, joined our chat and provided real food for thought around what a broad and balanced curriculum looks like and whether it is actually available …

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.161 40:11

10M ago40:11

40:11

Timing is very important in ensuring we get the right guest at the right time. In the world of Frank and Stan Chat much of this is down to luck. Today's edition is a good example because the night before this edition Co-operative UK, the organisation that Rose Marley is CEO won the Business of the Year Award at a glitzy Manchester venue. Rose is a …

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 160 40:22

10M ago40:22

40:22

After a break of five weeks to recharge the batteries the two long time friends are back for their 5th academic year. This week's chat focuses on the problems some schools and the government have encountered regarding aerated concrete. A week when the Secretary of State for Education swore during an interview with ITV, when some schools returned th…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 159: The Chris Murphy Edition 38:40

12M ago38:40

38:40

A rather personal Frank and Stan Chat for Frank this week as he has invited a good friend of his son, Chris Murphy, as the guest. Chris chose not to follow the path many of his friends followed when they left secondary school and College finally ending up at university. Chris chose an apprenticeship through a sprinkler installation business and thi…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.158: The Nihad Cehic Edition 35:04

12M ago35:04

35:04

Another great guest this week as Frank and Stan Chat about Artificial Intelligence (or at least Nihad Celic does), the Secretary of State believes headteachers should provide one of the most expensive taxi services in the country and the honesty of a footballer revealing his mental health challenges. The section on AI is worth watching alone as Nih…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 157: The Dr Gill L'Anson Edition 34:48

1y ago34:48

34:48

This week Frank and Stan Chat with clinical psychologist Dr Gill L'Anson about her work on leadership and how the pandemic has affected the wellbeing of senior leaders. Gill brings her research and insight to bear on the issues of the week. She stresses the need to draw on 'the best psychological knowledge we have to help improve things..... and we…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 156: The James Eldon Edition 47:58

1y ago47:58

47:58

This week the two gents chat to James Eldon, Principal at Manchester Academy, a member of the Headteachers' Roundtable and advocate for the thinking around the recently announced MBacc. The chat begins with Stan reflecting on the power of Ministers in ordering or demanding that Ofsted inspects a school where a story about a student identifying as a…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No. 155: The Lucy Truman Returns again edition 33:47

1y ago33:47

33:47

This week our chat needed a quick change of plan. The planned guest was unable to join us but fortunately, Lucy Trueman Founder and CEO of TruemanChange Ltd was available. Having been a guest three times previously Lucy knew the ropes so we just ploughed into the weekly education chat. Stan considered the events in parliament and how he felt that a…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.154: The Debbie Clinton Edition 48:23

1y ago48:23

48:23

Following a week's break Frank and Stan Chat is back with Debbie Clinton as their guest. A former secondary school Headteacher in the NE, ex HMI and former CEO of a multi academy trust in the Midlands Debbie now supports a variety of schools around the country. The chat takes place following the resignation of Boris Johnson, the announcement by Ofs…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.153: The Dr Rebecca Lawton Edition 36:38

1y ago36:38

36:38

A fascinating guest this week and a focus on her Doctoral thesis into the uniqueness, or otherwise of Ofsted reports. Rebecca considered how language in the reports led to subsequent improvements in outcomes, were there any emerging trends, any influencing factors that affected language or impact and within the area for improvement were there any p…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.152: The Shaheen Myers Edition 37:05

1y ago37:05

37:05

This week Shaheen Myers, Deputy Director of Learning for Leeds City Council joins the guests and highlights issues around mental health and wellbeing for senior leaders. Stan chips in with thoughts about Ofsted while Shaheen considers the impact of variability within inspections on the confidence and sense of belonging for senior leaders. Frank sha…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.151: The Eddie Czestochowoski Edition 34:28

1y ago34:28

34:28

This week the two gents are joined by Eddie Czestochowski, founder and Managing Director of Cell Pack Solutions Ltd, a battery manufacturer based in the North east. In addition to having a busy working life Eddie is also a keen chess player and is encouraging children and young people to begin playing the game. Whether it is opening a chess club in…

1
Frank and Stan Chat No.150: The Russell Harvey Returns Again Edition 40:45

1y ago40:45

40:45

When we started Frank and Stan Chat in May 2020 we never imagined we would get to episode 5 but here we are at edition 150! And we are breaking new ground by having the brilliant Russell Harvey, the Resilience Coach as our guest for the third time. No other guest has managed that....yet! This week Stan wonders whether the Speaker of the House of Co…

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