Phil Badham

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Phil Badham is an experienced teacher, speaker, and consultant.  He is the Director of Pedestal Education.

Phil is dedicated to equipping schools and colleges with the means and methods to deliver modern, engaging and creative learning experiences to students.

He is known for his practical and high-quality professional development delivered nationally and internationally, offline and online, on subjects including Metacognition, Creative Learning, Assessment, Mastery and Challenge, Digital Strategy, and Independent Learning. 

Phil is keen to ensure all technology use is tied to sound, evidence-informed pedagogy; he is a consultant for the internationally acclaimed Visible LearningPlus  programme, a longstanding and popular trainer with Osiris’ Outstanding Teacher Intervention, as well as serving as an Adobe Education Leader.

Passionate about giving students valuable experiences with technology, Phil enjoys running digital engagement projects for students of all ages to give them creative problem-solving experiences using industry standard digital applications and equipment.

Ultimately, Phil believes in delivering personalised, interactive and inspiring training, and with empathetic support for educators that has quantifiable impact.   

Recent Feedback

'I really liked the the blend of training, engagement,  community building and practice'

'Some of the models and training plans [Phil gave us] are going to be quite useful for training with ANY tool and the Adobe Express training really helped me understand what is available.'

'Phil was very professional, making the pedagogical concepts explored accessible to a range of subjects and practical to employ.'

‘Excellent. Superb. Best INSET in we've had in years’

Kim Wells MA (Cantab), PGCE, ACC is Director of Training & Research at Caterham School and has been teaching for 27 years - two decades as a Senior Leader. He has delivered school training at over 100 schools in the UK and Europe to date, and has spoken at numerous conferences  about teaching and learning.  

He is in a rare group of trainers – someone who is still in the classroom every day, and is responsible for leading teaching and learning at a whole school level.  

Kim qualified as an Executive Level 7 Coach with the Institute of Leadership & Management in 2016, and as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation in 2020. He runs the Coaching skills training programme for both HMC and ISTIP. 

Kim has been heavily involved in winning two national TES awards at Caterham, “Best Use of Technology” and “Education Initiative of the Year”.   

He is a De Bono Master Trainer in Education and guided Caterham to become the first independent school in the country to be awarded Thinking School status.  

He has also designed and led training courses on thinking with the NHS, the Foreign Office, Magistrates and the Insurance industry.  

Recent Feedback

“There can be few harder things than talking to teachers about teaching and learning. However, the response from staff was universally positive. You came across as intelligent, articulate, engaging and above all replete with practical ideas that were as relevant to experienced teachers as to new entrants to the profession. Having sat through endless disappointing Insets, it was so refreshing as a Head to begin term with staff upbeat, energised and enthused about their teaching and the pupils’ learning” 

Headteacher

“The short, sharp session was just what we needed and Kim's excellent delivery had our HoDs engaged and laughing within minutes even after a very long day. Inspirational!”

Deputy Head

"A school needs three things from an inset provider: an upbeat presentation which will make staff look forward to their own lessons, a stimulus to continue to develop practice healthily, and a set of skills, some of which can be applied immediately. Kim delivers all three with perfect reliability."

Headteacher

In addition to one off CPD days, Kim also offers long term coaching support.

Coaching is a highly effective management tool for developing both your staff and your students. It helps others to feel empowered to take ownership of a situation, and to come up with their own way forward. It is proven to increase both self confidence and resilience. 

Coaching involves asking rather than telling, eliciting rather than giving solutions, and focusing on the person rather than the topic.

Kim can help support your coaching journey in a number of ways:

• Intensive training for small groups of key staff (senior & middle leaders, professional tutors, mentors etc)
• Whole staff training on the core principles of coaching, together with practical coaching techniques to use in the classroom
• Upskilling older students to work as coaches with younger students 
• One to one coaching support for key staff (e.g. career coaching or those new to leadership roles)
• Advice for senior leaders on how to embed a coaching culture at a school

Author of three widely selling books, Claire Gadsby is an internationally renowned consultant, trainer and keynote speaker with more than 25 years of experience in education. She has worked with hundreds of schools around the world to raise achievement and believes passionately in ‘walking the talk.’ 

Claire regularly coaches teachers in the classroom to demonstrate her innovative pedagogies and approaches to assessment. A leading expert on formative assessment, time-efficient feedback and learning environments, Claire strives to improve outcomes for all learners and to help teachers to work smarter not harder.

When she is not working with teachers, Claire is busy delivering her signature ‘Radical Revision’ Programme directly to students and their parents.

Specialist Areas

• Assessment for Learning (Formative Assessment)
• Adaptive Teaching
• Marking and Feedback/ easing teacher workload 
• Outstanding teaching and learning 
• Creating active learning environments 
• Retrieval and dynamic revision 

“The team teaching lesson studies were an amazing learning opportunity to see Claire Gadsby’s AfL strategies in action – plenty of practical effective takeaways. The debrief after the lessons meant the learning stuck and the rationale behind the strategies was fully understood.”

Clare Connor, Assistant Principal

“I learned more with Claire in an hour than I did in a month on my PGCE! Thank you!” 

ECT teaching in year 4

"Claire’s first (and not last!) visit to JPS was a resounding success and enormously beneficial to all teachers and leaders at our school. The way that she explains the different strategies, with clear examples is so motivating and engaging. All of the teachers - both in the ‘team teaching’ sessions, as well as the whole-school PD sessions were absolutely brilliant. Teachers felt empowered to try out techniques in their class and were buzzing with enthusiasm. One of the real positives about Claire is that everything is research and evidence-based; this really gives her ideas context and as she has an educator’s background, direct experience too. Claire was simply inspirational during her visit to JPS. Already her adaptive teaching strategies have made an immediate impact on our school and there was so much positivity generated by her. Wherever your school is in its learning journey, I would 100% recommend Claire’s expertise and hands-on approach to using AfL in the classroom. Thank you Claire - come back soon!"

Josh Gonet, Assistant Principal, Jumeirah Primary School

 In 2011, frustrated by the current state of education I began to blog. Since then I have expressed the constraints and irritations of ordinary teachers, detailed the successes and failures of my classroom and synthesised my 15 years of teaching experienced through the lens of education research and cognitive psychology. The Learning Spy is widely recognised as one of the most influential education blogs in the UK and has won a number of awards. In February 2017, I recorded 2.5 million visitors to the site.

So, what have I done with all this influence? Well, Ofsted started listening. In 2014 I consulted on the Inspection Handbook and made a commitment to common sense and practical humanity which has resulted in lesson observation grades being scrapped and inspectors asked to ‘look at’ classroom practice and ask questions, rather than ‘look for’ preferred methodologies.

I’ve also spent a lot of time working in schools to improve the way teachers approach students’ literacy. The Secret of Literacy, urged teachers to ‘make the implicit explicit’. Teachers are highly literate but often have little idea how they are able to do what they do. Often teachers just assume students can do what they can do. Breaking down and codifying what teachers are able to do, allows them to teach reading and writing more effectively.

My new book, What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Psychology is out shortly.

What If Everything You Knew About Education Was Wrong? explores the idea that much of what happens in schools is based on unexamined assumptions. My most important insight is, contrary to our  intuitions, learning is invisible. All we can see is what students can do and from that we infer what they might have learned. But students’ performance turns out to be a very poor proxy for predicting long-term retention and the ability to transfer skills and concepts between different contexts. This simple observation is well supported by research evidence and classroom observations, but widely ignored in education. If true, many of the sacred cows of teaching are in doubt. The ways teachers teach, curriculums are organised and teachers held to account might all rest on a misapprehension of how learning happens. In the book, I suggest how we might go about rethinking education in order to realign schools with how children actually.

My most recent book, What Every Teacher Needs To Know About Psychology, co-written with Nick Rose, does exactly what the title suggests – discussing the classroom implications of the psychological principles most useful in an educational context.

As well as being a freelance writer, speaker and trainer, I am also running the English Studies modules as part of BPP University’s PGCE course.

If you’d like to know a little more about me, these two posts will give you a flavour: This is who I am and This is what I think.

Bob Cox, a teacher for 23 years, has presented ideas about high quality learning and English at regional, national and international conferences in his role as education consultant. He is the award-winning author of the ‘Opening Doors’ series of books, used in thousands of schools. The books and Bob’s associated training has acted as a key stimulus to the growth of a UK network of schools, all of which showcase the classroom impact of ambitious English. Bob’s work explores equity and excellence for all and how a challenging curriculum can be accessed and enjoyed by every pupil through key stages 1,2 and 3

Bob has now supported about 500 schools, cross-phase and cross-curricular, encouraging approaches using quality texts to quality writing routes. His recent speaking briefs have included The Education Festival and the Osiris World Summit. Currently, he is supporting many clusters, local authorities and trusts across the UK in ongoing ways.

Specialist Areas

•  Improving English at KS1,2,3
• Using challenging texts to do so and establish quality text to quality writing English
• Training schools and clusters on the principles needed to build a richer curriculum and the strategies that can deliver it, referencing research, the work of the ‘opening doors’ UK network and new ideas
• Providing the resources needed to start schools on an exciting journey. There are 80 units across five books modelling how literary texts have the scope for high pitch work. They are then linked with contemporary children’s literature and texts across the globe.
• Supporting ambitious curriculum design and delivery across a school and a cluster

Publications 

• Opening Doors to Ambitious Primary English (March 2023 and will become the lead book with the theory and explanations and case studies to clarify HOW challenging English for all can come about)
• Opening Doors to Famous Poetry and Prose
• Opening Doors to Quality Writing 6-9
• Opening Doors to Quality Writing 10-13
• Opening Doors to a Richer English Curriculum 6-9
• Opening Doors to a Richer English Curriculum 10-13

Bradley Busch is a Chartered Psychologist. He is one of the leading experts on how psychological research can best help students and teachers improve how they think, learn and perform. Outside of education, he works with Premiership and international footballers, as well as has helped members of Team GB win medals at London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. He is the co-author of ‘The Science of Learning – 99 studies every teacher needs to know’ 

His specialist areas include:

• Cognitive Science
• The Science of Learning
• Retrieval
• Leadership
• Cognitive Load
• Metacognition
• Resilience
• Mindset
• Feedback
• Motivation

“The CPD was amazing. Very informative and fun and entertaining Brad gave practical advice and frameworks to build on and made me analyse my own practical and think about ways to improve” - Teacher

 Amjad Ali (Instagram- @TryThisTeaching and Twitter/X- @TeachLeadAAli) is a teacher, trainer, TEDx speaker and Senior Leader. He currently works four days a week in a start-up secondary school and offers CPD/INSET on his other day.

Amjad has spent his teaching career working in challenging, diverse schools. He is a qualified SENDCO and was also trained as an Advanced Skills Teacher in Teaching and Learning. Before stepping into the world of education, he spent time as Play Worker and Teaching Assistant in Young Offender Prisons.  

Amjad has delivered CPD to all sectors in education from Early Careers teachers to Executive/Head Teachers and CEOs; delivering on a range of topics, all across the United Kingdom and different parts of the world. He has worked with over 250 schools and 1000s of students.

Amjad is ambitious and committed to making a difference to the education system. He is at 'the chalk-face' teacher, who shares 'what works' in an engaging and easy to understand format. Amjad also writes a reflective blog entitled NewToThePost where he discusses many elements of his leadership and experience.

For Amjad, education is about ensuring wherever you come from, whatever your parents do or not do, does not impact on a students' potential of success. Whatever success means to that young person, it should be found and celebrated.

Amjad has previously co-organised some of the country’s largest teachmeets such as #TMOxford and #TMLondon. He also presents keynotes and offers workshops and inspirational addresses at various educational events such as the Telegraph Festival of Education, #NRocks #SRocks, National subject conferences and many others all around the United Kingdom. Amjad's sharing 'portfolio' involves the setting up international initiatives such as #TwitterCoachingED and #CultureBoxED.

Amjad is the co-founder of the charity The BAMEed Network- #BAMEed a grass-roots movement aimed at ensuring our diverse communities are represented as a substantive part of the education workforce for teachers and leaders in education. See here for more information.

What can Amjad offer: (Please note, Amjad will try his utmost to create a bespoke package for you!)

Download here ---> Type-of-training-I-offer-Amjad

Throughout Amjad's career he has always strived to share effective practice and has been lucky to have been invited to deliver various CPD/INSETS across the age ranges, from Primary schools right through to HE Colleges, nationwide and internationally.

Booking in Amjad for your CPD/INSET/Twilight needs will give your staff a chance to reflect on their pedagogy and practice along with being presented with evidence informed suggestions for them to 'Try and Refine' for their own classrooms. It will always aim to have a long term, measurable impact on learning and achievement.

You will see from what others think about Amjad, that he presents with a humorous, engaging style, creating a perfect balance of lecture style presentation with practical strategies to try. It will be memorable and uplifting, perfect for the start or end of term!

Amjad will ensure he plans with the relevant leads with a free 30 minute planning call/Skype conversation to ensure the institutions values are upheld and main focus is addressed.

Amjad presents on a wide range of CPD/INSET topics. These include Teaching and Learning, Stretch and Challenge, Inclusion; SEND, Pupil Premium, Differentiation and Behaviour Management. Ideally, Amjad creates a bespoke package based on the needs in your school. He will work with your CPD lead(s) to ensure your school gets the very best from the time committed.

Amjad also offers a series of pre-recorded sessions on the following topics for purchase by individuals or schools. I can also offer bespoke, personalised recorded CPD for schools. Get in touch to find out more.

Specialist Areas Include

• Adaptive Teaching 
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• T&L - Research Informed Teaching
• Behaviour Management/Leadership
• Specific SEND needs 
• Questioning Techniques 

And more…!

See what others think: https://www.trythisteaching.com/about-me/amjad-testimonials/

 Grab yourself a copy of Amjad Ali’s latest addition to the “Little Guide for Teachers” series!

 Amjad has generously offered all of our blog subscribers an amazing 25% off with code UKAUTHR25 **Code can only be used when clicking on the link provided below ** 

 A Little Guide for Teachers: SEND in School | SAGE Publications Ltd 

Wendy has over 30 years of experience in education with a wealth of knowledge across various roles including working as a English Subject Leader and Senior School Leader in secondary education, as a Senior Adviser in a Local Education Authority leading a cross county Newly Qualified teacher support programme and moderation teams in KS1 and KS2 primary assessment and moderation. 

For the past decade Wendy has also worked closely with Professor John Hattie to provide teachers across the UK and recently into Europe, with some of the world’s most impactful teacher training through the Visible Learning Plus intervention programme. 

Wendy also has several years’ experience working as an additional Ofsted inspector in secondary education which has provided the knowledge and expertise to support leaders in primary and secondary schools through school improvement partnerships, undertaking School Improvement Reviews, and through bespoke training for middle and senior leaders. 

Wendy is passionate about developing teacher and leadership skills so that collectively, teachers and leaders can maximise the outcomes for all learners, and through teachers and leaders gaining a greater understanding of how their pupils learn.

Specialist Areas

• Developing a shared and deep understanding of pedagogy, focusing on self-regulation, metacognition feedback,
• Leadership – middle and senior leadership roles, particularly for teachers new in role through bespoke training packages or 1:1 support
• Teaching Assistant training – upskilling TAs in teaching and learning techniques, for example, questioning
• School Improvement support – analysing SEF and SDPs, supporting middle leaders in subject and phase roles
• Developing Literacy in secondary education

Recent Reviews

Wendy’s clear and concise delivery has made me a more reflective middle leader. Her knowledge of good practice, leadership strategies and approaches to your developing role, subject or phase will set you well on your way to building your ‘cathedral’ and realizing your vision!

Middle Leader - Primary

I found this course engaging and interesting with excellent opportunities for reflection. The guidance and discussions offered the chance to share good practice, practical strategies and to build confidence in the full role of a middle leader.

Middle Leader - Primary

I am an accomplished Primary Teacher, Education consultant and Trainer, Life Coach and Author, with many years’ experience and skill with a genuine passion for helping adults and children of all backgrounds develop positive emotional well-being to achieve happiness and success in all aspects of their lives.

I enjoyed a long and successful teaching career spanning all ages from Nursery to Year 6 which has given me the experience and skill I bring to my training and consulting. 

My work as a Sure Start Teacher and trainer working specifically with Early Years settings in deprived areas led me to pursue and gain an Advanced Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring from Oxford Brookes University.

As a former Trainer with Osiris Educational, I delivered my own bespoke Inset training days for Early Years, School Governance and leadership alongside specific programmes to schools covering all aspects of classroom management, planning and practice with an emphasis on both teacher and child resilience and Mindset. 

Since leaving Osiris I have concentrated on deepening my knowledge and skills in positive psychology, working with children and settings to help them develop the knowledge and skills to manage their own happiness and how to build better relationships with others.

I have also recently started working with Best Practice Network as a Learning Mentor for teachers following a leadership path in developing school behaviour and culture.

I am also enjoying working with Rockerbox, www.rockerbox.co.uk, an online learning platform for teachers to support the development of non-fiction literacy skills across the primary key stages, providing materials that raises awareness for the theory and practice of developing individual happiness levels.

I am now delighted to be working with Katie Cavill and The Learning Line in creating bespoke courses and workshops for schools wanting to raise awareness and skills in happiness and resilience for both staff and pupils and in supporting parents.

Specialist Areas:

· Early Years Training and Development

· Understanding emotions and how to manage them more effectively

· Developing more effective communication skills

· Managing personal, staff and children well-being 

· EffectiveTeaching and Learning

· Mindset and Resilience

Recent Feedback:

Beccy is a very engaging and knowledgeable presenter. She is enthusiastic, passionate, very entertaining, and clearly knows her stuff. The day was well paced, explanations were clear and easy to absorb. Beccy made us all feel very comfortable and was very approachable with a lovely sense of humour that made the content relatable and interesting.

West Norfolk Academies Trust

We found the day really interesting and packed with ideas to use. The practical elements were fun and thought provoking. Beccy’s style is very enthusiastic and engaging and she is very approachable, ensuring that all participants felt heard and involved.

St Teresa’s Effingham School for Girls

Beccy is a really great presenter who is really enthusiastic, professional  and knowledgeable. She is very willing to answer questions and is friendly in her approach. She included lots of interactive activities, created a good flow to the sessions and moved on to new concepts at a good pace.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Enfield

We found Beccy to be very friendly and down to earth and very insightful. She is approachable, professional and was able to explain concepts in a clear and engaging way for all. While very professional she was also easy going and fun, making the practical activities interesting and relevant. Her enthusiasm is contagious!

Bonnygate Primary School, South Ockendon

As a Headteacher in a large primary school it can often seem very lonely and Beccy’s sessions fill me with the confidence I need to be able to think in order to develop my team into being the most effective they can be.  I am able to discuss events which have taken place and she gives me insight and guidance in terms of understanding some of those human behaviours.  Mental health and wellbeing of staff has been a high priority in education for a while but support for Headteachers at this time is not often available. Through talking to her and under her guidance I am developing better insight into my own behaviour and how that impacts on others but also learning to question why people behave in the way they do. She has a warm and relaxed style and talking through day to day routines or events helps shape ideas which I can then immediately take back to the workplace.  She understands the fears and insecurities I have and helps find ways to break down some of those.   After a session talking to her I feel energised and charged with some new tools to go back and try again.

Elmgrove Primary, Harrow