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PODCAST

Frank and Stan Chats

Frank Norris and Stan Johnson

Frank Norris and Stan Johnson have been friends since 1995. Both have had successful and lengthy careers in education. Frank was a very senior HMI with Ofsted for 11 years and was the CEO of the Coop Academies Trust for 6 years. Stan was seconded to Ofsted for a year and then returned to headship before working as a senior adviser with Lancashire LA. He has latterly led a successful education consultancy in the North West. Prior to Covid-19, the two gents would meet in Manchester for a pint or two

education

All Episodes

47:15

Frank and Stan Chat SPOTLIGHT No.14

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/04/25

Every now our channel is contacted by an individual who asks to be a guest. Some of these requests are rejected mainly because the issue to be covered has already had an airing in a previous chat. When Rebecca Hanson contacted us we felt she was going to bring a fresh perspective on a current issue in schools and she didn't disappoint. Rebecca works as a supply maths teacher in a number of inner city schools in the north of England. She also provides maths tuition for children who are struggling

en

37:02

Frank and Stan Chat No. 221

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/04/03

This week the two longtime friends chat about personal loss and how it impacts as life rolls by. They then consider how toxic social media has become and reasonable debate and discussion is proving increasingly difficult. This isn't helped when those who should be claiming the higher ground fall well short of the standards expected. A YouGov survey is then considered and how it is being used to influence responses to an important national survey on the future of inspection. Frank then reflects on

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39:31

Frank and Stan Chat SPOTLIGHT No. 14

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/03/27

This special SPOTLIGHT edition of the Frank and Stan Chat considers the work of Alan Braven and Anthony Benedict who have a new book being published 31 March called 'Educating Everyone - An introduction to Relational Inclusion in schools'. The book recognises the struggle schools face around funding, behaviour, attendance, increasing rates of exclusions, lack of SEN support and adequate suitable places and teachers leaving the profession. It identifies the present time as a transitional point in

en

38:30

Frank and Stan Chat No. 220

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/03/20

This week the two gents are not joined by a guest. We find it hard to believe that some of our followers like it that way. We know, however, that our guests add so much to our weekly chats and we are grateful for their time and commitment. Anyway, today we cover two main issues1. The recent documentary on the failings within Thames Water and what the lessons are for leadership in education and elsewhere2. The Interim Francis Curriculum Review ReportThe chat meanders a little but it is punchy and

en

40:16

Frank and Stan Chat No.219

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/03/14

This week Frank and Stan are joined by Rebecca Leek, the author of the recently published book 'The School Ready Governor'. Rebecca has written an insightful and easily accessible book that covers the history and development of the governor role, how effective governance manages to bridge the operational and strategic divide as well as encouraging governors/trustees to be brave and firm when things do not seem right. The chat includes Stan drawing attention to a mechanical device his father created

en

44:32

Frank and Stan Chat No. 218

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/03/08

This week the gents are joined by Paul Ainsworth, a Director of school improvement for a Primary Phase MAT in Eastern England. He's also the author of the seminal books 'No Silver Bullets 1' and 'No Silver Bullets 2'. Frank and Paul have worked together in programmes designed to support future school and trust leaders. Paul's previous guest appearance was very well received and we enjoyed it immensely so we were happy to have a further chat. This week we consider a range of school improvement issues

en

45:49

Frank and Stan Chat No. 217

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/02/27

Due to Frank's personal circumstances, it has been necessary to move some planned weekly chats around. This has meant that the chat with amazing Rebecca Leek, author of 'The School-Ready Governor', planned for the end of this week has been delayed until the middle of March. We had a planned chat with Ross McGill as part of the SPOTLIGHT series so we asked him if he would follow the usual weekly pattern of our chat, and he agreed. Ross was our guest last year and proved very popular. His Teacher

en

38:09

Frank and Stan Chat No. 215

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/02/21

The latest chat is with Kerry Harrison, the Digital Skills Coordinator for the Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub. Frank worked with Kerry when he was chair of the Blackpool Education Improvement Board and she was a key figure in engaging schools and Colleges in the digital and STEM drive that Frank led on. In addition to Kerry chatting about her varied career which leads the discussion into skills for employment, transition arrangements, the benefits of cross curricular planning and managing work

en

30:41

Frank and Stan Chat NO. 214

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/02/14

Our planned guest Ross McGill was unable to make the recording date for this edition so we decided to record a chat between the two of us. Apparently, some of our followers like to have this sort of chat every now and again so here is a treat...for some.This week we announce that our little video cast/podcast won an award as the most popular education podcast in......wait for it.....OTTAWA! Who would have thought five years ago when these chats started that it would lead to this.Our chat kicks off

en

42:43

Frank and Stan Chat No. 213

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/02/07

Sometimes the choice of guests aligns with a major development in an area they have a keen interest in. This was the case this week when Tracey O'Brien, Headteacher at Wallington High School for Girls and author of 'Rethinking School Inspection' joined the chat to consider the launch of a draft school inspection framework and the announcement by the Secretary of State of a fresh approach to school improvement. With a deep understanding of inspection drawn from 30 years experience Frank and Stan were

en

40:31

Frank and Stan Chat No. 211

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/02/01

The two gents are delighted to be able to welcome back Sarah Davies, an Assistant Headteacher, keynote speaker and author with a keen interest in oracy. Sarah provides an interesting update on where the oracy issue is at the moment and provides some underlying principles for how it should or could be introduced into every teacher's classroom. Stan considers what he's gained from a garage clearance and reflects on how useful it is for all in education to just reflect on what is useful and what is

en

37:43

Frank and Stan Chat No. 212

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/02/01

The two gents are delighted to be able to welcome back Sarah Davies, an Assistant Headteacher, keynote speaker and author with a keen interest in oracy. Sarah provides an interesting update on where the oracy issue is at the moment and provides some underlying principles for how it should or could be introduced into every teacher's classroom. Stan considers what he's gained from a garage clearance and reflects on how useful it is for all in education to just reflect on what is useful and what is

en

37:22

Frank and Stan Chat No. 210

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/01/17

Life is full of contradictions and this week's chat is no exception. The two gents reflect on the knowledge, skills, understanding, attitudes and behaviours necessary for living in today's world and the one that is coming. Stan considers the challenges he has faced in rebuilding a family member's bathroom. It has been a journey of discovery both for him and for those he has sought help from during the past three weeks. Frank reflects on the PM's speech about AI and considers whether all of the

en

31:12

Frank and Stan Chat No. 209

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2025/01/10

Frank and Stan are delighted to welcome back Lisa Fathers. Lisa was a guest in Edition 164 just over a year ago. During that time she's been promoted to Deputy CEO of the trust. The start of 2025 has seen a very cold spell and no let up on the education news front. This week Stan considers the power of AL and the somewhat circular nature of some of its insight. Lisa then picks up the baton to consider the Schools Bill that passed its Second Reading this week as well as the impact of the various news

en

42:32

Frank and Stan Chat No. 208

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2024/12/13

The final chat of 2024 sees Eric Craven 'The Scouse Poet' return for his fourth appearance as a guest on the chat. He reads some of his whimsical poems and Stan offers one to him! We also reflect on five chats drawn from the year that made an impression long after they were broadcast. We have been fortunate to have so many colleagues willing to join our chats each week and as we always say these are the real stars. We have noticed that some very high profile guests often receive correspondingly high

en

37:38

Frank and Stan Chat No. 207

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2024/12/06

Dr Vic Carr was a popular and insightful guest back on our chat in April so we decided to invite her back again. She is a mum to two young adults, the school dog, primary school Headteacher, Reserve Officer in the British Army Intelligence Corps, Chartered Manager, 'CollectivED' Fellow at Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University, Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Army Leadership, author and TEDx speaker who focuses on leadership, the

en

47:05

Frank and Stan Chat No. 206

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2024/11/29

This week the gents are joined by Emma Knights, the former CEO of the National Governors Association (NGA) and someone who was last on the chat as a guest in May 2021 (our 55th edition of the chat). Emma led the NGA for 15 years and transformed it into a more robust, open-facing member organisation. She stood down from the CEO this summer and has begun to carve out a different role that includes writing insightful pieces for Schools Week on Report Cards as well as enjoying more cultural experiences

en

35:38

Frank and Stan Chat No. 205

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2024/11/22

It dawned on us as we were planning for this week's chat that we had never really covered the area of Youth Work in any depth. Well, we managed to put that straight this week through chatting with Owen Sedgwick-Jell, the Head of Membership and Programmes at the Woodcraft Folk. Woodcraft Folk is a charity that works with young people across the country offering a place where children can grow in confidence, learn about the world and start to understand how to value our planet and each other. It is

en

40:34

Frank and Stan Chat No. 204

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2024/11/15

A regular guest to the chat returns this week as we welcome Carolyn Eyre to discuss developments, insights and future changes to safeguarding arrangements. Carolyn worked in the Local Authority safeguarding arena for many years, first in Education Welfare services before becoming Child Protection coordinator for a large local authority. More recently, she was Head of Health, Safety & Wellbeing for the authority - combining also the roles of Senior Allegations Manager and Safer Recruitment lead

en

34:13

Frank and Stan Chat No. 203

Frank and Stan Chats ·

2024/11/08

This week the two gents chat with Maxine O'Neill, a Headteacher of a special school in Liverpool and her brother Prof Adam Boddison. They are co-authors of the book 'The Secret Life of SENCOs' and provide a clear insight into the practical and strategic challenges faced by school leaders and the government in improving SEND provision. The chat covers several themes from their book as well as the attention given to SEND by the Secretary of State this week and as Adam points out the focus on SEND

en

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