Inspiring Voices: Recent Episodes
Nicholas McKie
Hello, and welcome to the Inspiring Voices Podcast, brought to you by Persyou Ltd. At Persyou we believe everyone can flourish. We offer coaching programmes that create coherence and flow in individuals and teams, shaping inspiring leadership and refreshed organisational cultures. In these conversations we connect with recognised leaders from across the world of education and beyond, from sport to politics to the armed forces. These influential expert guests offer listeners the perfect blend of theory, opinion and best practice guidance. These are go-to podcasts for leaders looking for insight and real, actionable inspiration, featuring fascinating people who have reached the highest levels in their field.
In this episode Nicholas McKie speaks to Barry Dequanne. Originally from Canada, Barry is currently serving as the Director of the International School of Zug and Luzern (ISZL) in Switzerland. Barry has more than twenty-five years of international administrative and teaching experience, including work at schools in the Kingdom of Swaziland, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Brasilia. Barry is currently serving as a Board Member with the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE) and the Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS). He has also served as a consultant and facilitator working with international schools in school improvement, leadership, governance, strategic planning, and program and policy development. This is a fascinating insight into a top international education leader.
Hannah Rankin is a professional boxer and the Reigning WBA and IBO 154lb World Champion making history by becoming Scotland's first ever female world champion! Alongside boxing, Hannah is also a professional musician performing with the likes of the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre and London Sinfonietta after studying for a Master's degree at the Royal Academy of Music, London. With a wealth of high performance experience, Hannah has also worked with companies such as Deloittes, Siemens Mobility and National Rail covering a variety of topics including building confidence in performance, resilience and health and well-being within the workplace. This is an honest and insightful conversation on how to compete at the top level of high performance.
In this episode, Nicholas McKie speaks to Eddie Mensah, the managing director of Right to Dream Academy in Ghana. Born and raised in Ghana, he left at 16 to attend, on scholarship, a boarding school in Canada where he earned an IB diploma. A bachelor's degree in economics from Franklin and Marshall college in Pennsylvania followed. Eddie has been in various academic positions for the last 25 years. Most recently he was the Head of School at Charlotte Prep School in North Carolina before taking on his role at Right To Dream. Eddie holds a masters degree in Education Leadership from the university of Pennsylvania and certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard University. This is an inspiring conversation exploring how we can uplift and empower children.
In this episode Director of Persyou Ltd Nicholas McKie welcomes Emma Bateman, Chief Operating Officer, of the Repton Schools Group. Emma’s current role is responsible for all professional services and all operational support to the three UK schools and other group entities. Her role is also responsible for Mergers and Acquisitions and Digital Strategies as well as delivering group strategy, income and services through Repton School Enterprises and Repton International Schools Limited. Emma joined Repton in 2019 from a broad commercial and corporate career, which began on a city trading floor. Prior to her commercial career, Emma began life as an academic, studying for a PhD in American History, lecturing in American Studies at Birmingham and Warwick Universities. This is a fascinating and honest conversation that unpicks why business isn’t (always) a dirty word in the education sector.
In this episode, Nicholas McKie talks to David Haze, also known as Nomadic Paddler. He is a former prisoner turned 7x world record holding SUP adventurer, attempting world firsts and world records. However, it is not all about the pursuit of records and glory. SUP has transformed David's life; his tool for growth & change and he hopes his adventures can encourage more people to reconnect with themselves through adventure by taking that small step out of their comfort zone proving that we are much more than our pasts and mistakes. An inspiring episode to motivate you to get out of your comfort zone and make meaningful change a reality.
In this first episode of series 6, Nicholas McKie speaks to Chandini Misra who is the Head of Senior School at Repton School Al Barsha, Dubai. Chandini read Chemistry at Keble College, University of Oxford before venturing into a career in broadcast journalism at BBC News 24 and later teaching. Her leadership experience began in inner city contexts in the UK and later incorporated the competitive international school landscape of Dubai. This episode explores the journey of a new Head growing into their role with humility and integrity at the heart of their leadership philosophy.
This episode is with Dr Glenn Moodie, Principal at Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar school in Malaysia.
Born and raised in New Zealand Glenn moved to the UK in 1998 to pursue a PhD at Bristol University. He became a teacher along the way, by mistake, in an independent boarding school and has been in British, independent boarding schools all of his career at Clifton College, Uppingham School and Wycombe Abbey School. Before joining Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar in 2018, Glenn was also Headmaster of Truro High School for four years. This is a fascinating conversation about the place of coaching in schools from a highly experienced school leader.
Kiran Bir Sethi is a designer who became a teacher, a principal who grew into an education reformer and subsequently morphed into a social entrepreneur. Kiran founded the award winning Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India, in 2001. Riverside, is viewed as a laboratory to prototype design processes that uses a systems approach to build a culture of empowerment, graduating young citizen leaders with an ‘ I CAN Mindset’ – using their agency for the greater good. In 2009, Kiran launched “Design for Change” which uses a simple 4 step design framework – FIDS (Feel, Imagine, Do, Share) to cultivate the I CAN mind-set in all children. Today, Design For Change is the world's largest movement of change - of and by children, and is in 60+ countries — impacting over 2.2 million children and 65,000 Teachers. This is a wonderful conversation on how an education vision was brought to life.
Major Pat Burgess joined the British Army in September 1992 and started his career at The Second Royal Tank Regiment in Germany. He served with the regiment in Germany, Northern Ireland, Canada, Poland, Iraq and Afghanistan in a career that saw him from Trooper, through Tank Commander to Regimental Sergeant Major. He has deployed on operations to Northern Ireland, the invasion of Iraq (and subsequent tours) and a further three tours of Afghanistan.
He is currently involved in the implementation of Physical Awareness Training (PAT), an innovative approach to bringing Mindfulness based coping strategies into the existing culture of physical training. He runs Mindfulness classes for the permanent staff, both military and civilian, and has recently created a defence-wide online mindfulness course, which currently has seen over 4000 subscribers internally and has since been released on the Army’s external webpage as open source. He has most recently been awarded an MBE in recognition of his tireless work in bringing mindfulness to Defence. A fascinating conversation not to be missed!
You can visit Pat's website for free mindfulness material: www.oneworldmindfulness.co.uk.
Stuart Lancaster is a former teacher and rugby union coach. He was the Head coach of the English national rugby union team from 2011 until he stepped down in 2015 after the rugby world cup. In September 2016 he joined Irish provincial side, Leinster Rugby and has overseen an incredibly successful period in the clubs history. Before becoming a rugby coach, Stuart attended Carnegie College in Leeds to train as a PE Teacher, while continuing his rugby career and began teaching at Kettlethorpe High School. Stuart is an in demand leadership speaker focussing on building high performing teams with the power of authentic leadership. This is a superb conversation exploring leadership with a top performing sports coach.
For more information you can visit Stuart's website www.stuartlancaster.com
Michelle Scott is the founding Principal of Downe House school Muscat, Oman. Michelle began her career in Australia as an English and Drama teacher before moving to the UK in 1997 to join Downe House as a specialist Drama teacher. Over her 23 year career there, she was Director of Drama, Director of External Relations, Assistant Headmistress (Foundation) and most recently, Deputy Headmistress. In January 2021, she took up the post of founding Principal of Downe House Muscat. In this episode Michelle gives an honest and insightful account of her move to Oman, outlining the challenges and opportunities involved in such a trail blazing international educational project. If you would like to watch a video of this podcast please head over to schoolmanagementplus.com
Sara Cox is a professional English rugby union referee. In 2016, she became the world’s first professional female rugby union referee, and in 2018 she became the first female to referee a Premiership Rugby Cup match. With a load of international’s already under her belt, in 2020 she made a breakthrough into English Rugby’s Gallagher Premiership as an assistant referee for the Bath v Wasps game and is making her mark on the sport in both the Men’s and Women’s games. In this episode Sara discusses how to develop relationships and run teams within teams in a professional high performance environment. She draws on a wide range of leadership approaches including a police decision making model to support her decision making during a game. This is an inspiring conversation from a ground-breaking athlete jammed packed with take outs for leaders in all settings. If you would like to watch a video of this podcast please head over to schoolmanagementplus.com
Sue Aspinall is the Headteacher of Junior School Vlaskamp, The British School in The Netherlands. Over the last twenty years, Sue has been leading schools through significant change, intent on raising the quality of learning and teaching available to their students. Sue has led schools in Japan, Malaysia, as well as the UK. As the lead facilitator at the BSN's International Leadership Academy, Sue has been providing impactful learning experience for leaders who want to make a difference. This is a fascinating conversation of how to empower and lead staff effectively in a variety of contexts relevant to all sectors. If you would like to watch a video of this podcast please head over to schoolmanagementplus.com
Sedem Ama is an undefeated two times UK national boxing champion representing the prestigious Repton Boxing Club in East London. Raised in South East London, Sedem found her way into amateur boxing by chance, having needed a positive outlet for her mental and physical health after working in the challenging industry of Public Relations for many years.
Now an Account Director at London based agency, The Fourth Angel, Sedem juggles being an account lead across their wellness brands while training and competing as a full-time elite athlete. In this episode Sedem discusses her approach to high performance, the transferable leadership skills needed to be successful in business and sport as well as taking us into the boxing ring itself. If you would like to watch a video of this podcast please head over to schoolmanagementplus.com
Mike Seaton is the founding Head of Kings College, Chengdu, China, opening in September 2021. He is an award-winning British educator who has led schools to consistently outstanding performance in Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia. Mike has also been on the European exec team of the global education group, Cognita, where he oversaw the educational development of 12 independent schools as Director of Education (UK). In this episode Mike discusses how he is going about setting up his new school in China and the leadership philosophy behind this exciting project. This is a fascinating insight into international project management covering culture development, recruitment and leadership. If you would like to watch a video of this podcast please head over to schoolmanagementplus.com
Mandy Hickson is only the second women to fly the Tornado GR4 operationally. She spent 17 years in the Royal Air Force, completed 3 tours of duty and flew 45 missions over Iraq. Throughout her time, Mandy was the only female aircrew. Now a civilian, Mandy draws on her experiences to train and inspire others, covering the core areas of human factors; decision making, communication, leadership, behaviour, workload, conflict, fatigue and stress management. Mandy has also launched her book, 'An officer, not a gentleman' an inspirational journey of a pioneering female fighter pilot. This is a fascinating discussion of how to lead from the front with lots of leadership nuggets to take into your own role. If you would like to watch a video of this podcast please head over to schoolmanagementplus.com
Jon Perriss has had a varied career in education, from New Zealand to Norfolk. His first management position was as a boarding housemaster at Tonbridge; from there he was Deputy Head at Christ’s Hospital and since September 2019, Headmaster of Langley School, Norfolk, UK. He completed his Masters in Educational Leadership in 2018.
Craig Considine is the CEO of Tanglin Trust School, a large international, not-for-profit,
school in Singapore, established in 1925, providing British-based education from Nursery
through to Sixth Form. As CEO, Craig leads three schools within the Tanglin organisation, on
one site, building a world class reputation. Each school has achieved the award of Outstanding in its UK BSO inspections. After holding posts at several Australian independent schools, including Geelong Grammar School, and Headship of Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand, Craig moved to the UK as Headmaster of Millfield, a leading co-educational independent school, for 10 years. In 2018, he joined Tanglin Trust School. Craig represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games in track and field and played professional AFL football, pointing to his passion for sport and co-curricular activities.
Stephen Cox is the CEO at New Nordic School and is a successful international leader having worked over 20 years in the government and private educational sectors. He has worked at a senior board level leading year on year improvement in all aspects of leadership, change management, professional development, coaching, innovation, start-up, digital strategy and future of learning in the MENA region, Finland and internationally.
Anu is the former Head of the International School Bangalore and has worked in different capacities with leading schools in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kodaikanal. She serves on many National and international boards, and accreditation teams. Anu is the first Indian to be inducted into the International Education Hall of Fame in Atlanta. In 2005, she founded TAISI - The Association of International Schools of India, a platform for training and networking purposes.
Dave Strudwick is Principal at REAL School; an innovative new school in Budapest focussing on making the world a better place. He’s worked as a teacher and leader in mainstream and specialist settings in the UK, US and China. Dave is a published author with extensive experience around leadership, learning needs, habits and mental health. He’s been a Headteacher and co-founded three schools, including the UK’s first trauma informed school, for at risk youth, School for Inspiring Talents. He also co-created the world’s youngest published scientists - Blackawton Bees and the i,scientist programme at the National Science Museum in London.
Dr Steffen Sommer has been Principal of Doha College since September 2015. With over 25 years of experience in education, and having led three very successful British international schools across Europe, prior to taking on the headship at Doha College, his expertise in the field of education is substantial. Steffen is a well-known and active figure within the international education scene; he is Vice Chair of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), and co-founder of the international division of HMC, a professional association of heads of the worlds leading independent schools. A family man and passionate linguist, Steffen has a PhD in Translation Studies and speaks six languages.
Liz Free FCCT FRSA @LizAMfree is CEO & Director at the International School Rheintal in Switzerland, an IB World School. She is also the Founding Director of the International Leadership Academy @BSNIntLA, Global Board member @TES_Institute and is the Strategic Lead @WomenEd for Europe & Asia.
Brian Cooklin is an international educational leader who has led schools and delivered highly effective and influential educational projects in three continents over 23 years. As Managing Director for Nord Anglia India, Brian will lead the group’s strategic development and support the leadership teams of all five Oakridge International Schools (OIS), based in Hyderabad, Bengalaru, Mohali and Vizakhapatnam. The schools are part of the Nord Anglia group of schools, the world’s leading premium group of international schools, with 69 schools in 29 countries. Immediately prior to joining OIS, Brian was Principal of Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong. As the Founding Principal of this multi-campus K-12 school running the Cambridge and International Baccalaureate curriculums, Brian led the school to a number of achievements, including outstanding examination results, the highest possible ratings from the Independent Schools Inspectorate and rapid expansion. He was responsible for it developing in a few short years into one of the most highly regarded schools in the Nord Anglia Group. More recently, he led the school as it moved to Nord Anglia’s Virtual School Experience delivering enhanced outcomes for some learning groups and hugely positive student and parent reviews.
Originally recorded in our 2nd Series, in this episode we welcome Professor Damian Hughes, an international speaker and bestselling author who combines his practical and academic background within sport, organisational development and change psychology, to help organisations and teams to create a high performing culture. He is the author of eight best-selling business books, including Liquid Thinking, Liquid Leadership, How to Change Absolutely Anything, How to Think Like Sir Alex Ferguson, The Five STEPS to a Winning Mindset and The Barcelona Way: Unlocking the DNA of a Winning Culture. He has also been nominated for the 2007 William Hill Sports book of the year award for Peerless, his biography of boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson. In 2013, his latest biography, Marvelous Marvin Hagler became the UK’s best selling sports biography. He was appointed as a Professor of Organisational Psychology and Change for Manchester Metropolitan University in September 2010. He is the co-host of The High Performance Podcast, an acclaimed series of interviews with elite performers from business, sport and the arts, exploring the psychology behind sustained high performance. He is currently serving as a member of the coaching team for Scotland Rugby Union and Canberra Raiders. His innovative and exciting approach has been praised by Sir Richard Branson, Muhammad Ali, Sir Terry Leahy, Sir Roger Bannister, Tiger Woods, Jonny Wilkinson and Sir Alex Ferguson.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie talks to Kim Green who is the Head of School at International School Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. As a leader of three programme IB World schools, Kim is committed to creating strong connections across the learning continuum through impactful leadership, a strong curriculum that leads to mastery, and mindful practices that place wellbeing first. Kim is passionate about building authentic frameworks for professional learning, leadership development, and removing linear roles and responsibilities in education. She believes that leadership networks that synergistically deploy agile methodologies, courageously take risks to positively impact wellbeing and learning outcomes, ultimately unlock human potential and collective intelligence enabling innovation to embed into the fabric of the school community.
Lord Jim Knight works in education, digital technology and as a legislator.
He is the Chief Education Adviser at Tes Global Ltd, advising on key strategic partnerships. He founded Tes Institute in 2014, which is now the fifth largest qualifier of teachers in England; he has also managed Tes Resources, a global teacher community of 13.5 million users. As a UK government minister his portfolios included rural affairs, schools, digital and employment. He was a member of Gordon Brown’s Cabinet 2009-2010, before joining the Lords after the 2010 General Election. He is also Honorary President of COBIS, on the Global Advisory Council for BETT, Chair of Whole Education, advises the London School of Commerce and is working with the social impact agency Purpose on teaching climate change.
Jason McBride is an experienced international Head of School who is currently in his fourth year at United World College Thailand in Phuket. Having previously worked in Canada and the UAE as a school leader, he has spent the majority of his career with IB schools that were being founded or significantly expanded—including three schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi—and across a range of programs from small to large, not-for-profit and for-profit. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Jason received undergraduate degrees from McMaster University (Bachelor of Kinesiology) and Queen’s University (Bachelor of Education), before pursuing a Master’s degree in educational leadership with Michigan State University and then Doctoral coursework at the University of Calgary.
Professor Deborah Eyre is a global educational leader, academic researcher, writer and influencer focused on helping good schools become world class. 40 years of her research culminated in the creation of the High Performance Learning philosophy and framework which re-imagines education and creates schools where almost everyone performs highly and students are able to perform well in school and in their later lives. In 2015 she founded the High Performance Learning Services Ltd to enable schools to adopt the High Performance Learning approach and become accredited HPL Schools. This approach is being adopted in schools across the worked with a growing number of HPL accredited World Class Schools.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie talks to Irfan Latif, the Principal of DLD College London which was recently named UK ‘Boarding School of the Year 2020’. Irfan has been the Chairman of the UK State Boarding Schools Forum, the Vice Chair of the Boarding Schools Association (BSA) and is currently it’s London Chair. He also sits on the Executive Committee of the BSA as the Inclusion and Diversity representative and is the co-founder of the International School Consultancy’s Inclusion and Diversity Group. He regularly lectures at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie talks with Rene Carayol MBE. René is quite simply one of the world’s leading executive coaches, working with some of the Fortune 500’s and FTSE 100’s top Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) and their executive teams. He has worked closely with Jim Yong Kim – President of The World Bank, Antony Jenkins – CEO Barclays Bank, Mario Greco – CEO Generali and Maria Ramos – CEO Absa Bank. René is also an accomplished visiting professor at Cass Business School. His critically acclaimed latest book, Spike – 'What are you great at?' enables all of us to unleash our inherent strengths and realise our true potential. This is a fascinating conversation of how to unleash your leadership potential.
We would like to introduce you to a new series of Persyou THE TALKS starting on Tuesday the 3rd November 2020
In this 4th series of weekly conversations, we’ll be exploring High Performance and leadership in education. We’ll bring you cutting edge stories from across the global education sector connecting with recognised education leaders and experts from around the world, bringing you insights into their own leadership journey and philosophy.
We’re also really Excited to announce that in this latest series of ‘The Talks’ we are supported by FOBISIA; the Federation of British International Schools in Asia.
FOBISIA is a diverse and inclusive community of 78 leading British international schools spanning 18 countries across the Asia region.
Subscribe now via our website Persyou.com, Apple podcast, Google podcasts, Amazon Music and Spotify.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie connects with Amanda Karr, Director of marketing and communications at the University of Texas, Austin, one of the biggest colleges in the US. The changing landscape of higher education in the US in explored with Amanda outlining how marketing is being adapted to meet the needs of a new type of student embarking on a different type of college experience. Key marketing strategies such as 'concierge marketing' and 'nurture' campaigns are identified and described providing you with ideas on how to attract students to your own institution. This is a fantastic conversation from a leading education marketing Director outlining ways forward for a sector in transition.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by former UK Head Teachers Hannah Wilson and Angie Browne to discuss building a future of diversity in education. Hannah has a wealth of experience establishing networks across education sectors specialising in diversity, equality and inclusion. Angie has launched her new book 'lighting the way' exploring the case for ethical leadership in schools which offers a counter narrative to current leadership approaches.
In this conversation Hannah and Angie unpick what is holding education back in terms of achieving diversity offering ideas and strategies on how to promote diversity in schools moving forward. Topics cover training, early career recruitment and curriculum. This is an insightful exploration of what can be an emotional, sensitive and complex space in education and beyond.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by John Gwyn Jones MBE, CEO of the Federation Of British International Schools In Asia (FOBISIA), a membership of 76 schools in the region. John provides an overview of the future of international schools in Asia, exploring the growth of British branded education and the current context across the Asia region. John outlines how FOBISIA member schools collaborate and the benefits this brings to individual institutions. This is a superb insight into the running of an international federation with lessons for all education systems.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by internationally recognised author and academic, Dr Stephen Whitehead. His 13th book, titled: International schools: The teacher's handbook, will be published this year. Stephen outlines how the Asian century is underway with Covid-19 finally busting the colonialist mindset in Asia. The implications for international education going forward are explored in this fascinating discussion.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by Dr Elly Barnes MBE, CEO and founder of Educate and Celebrate. Educate and Celebrate equips communities with the knowledge, skills and confidence to embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the fabric of your organisation. In this conversation Elly outlines her vision for education going forward framed around LGBT+ friendly schools and promoting diversity across the sector. An insightful discussion on building a future of inclusion and social justice.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by Chris Binge, Head of Markham College in Lima, Peru. Chris discusses a wealth of topics ranging from freeing school structures, adding curriculum breath to promoting interdisciplinary learning as a way forward for education. Chris provides an insightful outlook of education development drawing on his vast experience of leading schools in Geneva, Hong Kong and Singapore. You can learn more about the work Chris is engaged with through his websites: www.educhanges.com and www.mathsthoughts.com.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by Dr Victoria Carr, Head teacher of Woodlands School in Chester, UK. Victoria discusses how she has led her large primary school of 600 plus pupils through recent uncertain times and outlines adjustments to be made going forward into the new academic year. An honest and insightful account of school leadership on the front line and how education can be improved moving forward.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by Kai Vacher, Principal of British Schools Oman, a Council Of British International Schools board member and country rep for British Schools in the Middle East. In this conversation Kai outlines his vision for education going forward framed around 'FlexEd', a new project he is developing in Oman. A fascinating discussion on a new way of education.
In this 'Lite Bite', Certified Professional Coach and Director of Persyou Nicholas McKie discusses challenging assumptions to move forward.
In this 'Lite Bite', Certified Professional Coach and Director of Persyou Nicholas McKie discusses how being grateful can support our well being.
In this 'Lite Bite', Certified Professional Coach and Director of Persyou Nicholas McKie discusses how coaching methodology can support honest feedback conversations.
In this 'Lite Bite', Certified Professional Coach and Director of Persyou Nicholas McKie discusses how coaching methodology can support resilience.
In this 'Lite Bite', Certified Professional Coach and Director of Persyou Nicholas McKie tells a story of how a professional music ensemble coped without a conductor and the leadership lessons learnt.
In this 'Lite Bite', Certified Professional Coach and Director of Persyou Nicholas McKie outlines 2 types of leadership energy; anabolic and catabolic.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie talks to Professor Christian Van Nieuwerburgh, Professor of coaching and positive psychology at the University of East London, UK and a leading authority on coaching in education. Christian discusses the relevance of coaching in times of uncertainty and explores the benefits of a coaching approach to leadership across school communities.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie, is joined by Peter Symth, Senior Associate for Search Associates, international recruitment specialists since 1990. Peter provides a context to the current education recruitment climate with advice for both teaching candidates hoping to secure new teaching positions and international schools looking to recruit staff.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by renowned clinical psychologist, Dr Chris Thurber all the way from New England, US. Discussions centre around the adjustments being made in education at this time from both teacher and student standpoints with strategies to cope with the stress of our 'new normal' outlined.
How would you go about leading an international boarding school through uncertain times? In this informal episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas Mckie talks to Di Riley, Head of Boarding and Pastoral care at Letovo School in Moscow about the provision that she has put in place to support the students and staff under her care.
In the episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by Mandy Coalter, CEO of Talent Architects. Mandy has previously worked in senior roles in the UK National Health Service (NHS), Local Government, the Charity sector and with schools. She is also a very experienced Board Director and advisor on aspects of corporate governance. In this conversation we explore a range of topics discussing how Mandy's background in the NHS has given insight in to how schools can run and operate effectively as well as staff retention and flexible working. A must listen for schools looking to promote great people management.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by former Headteacher and author Viv Grant. Viv has developed a deep interest in approaches for supporting the emotional and psychological well being of school leaders. We explore how important cultivating self awareness is for school leaders in supporting their emotional resilience in times of change and Viv offers her top tips for leading schools.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas Mckie is joined by Andy Buck, CEO of Leadership Matters, to get a grasp on the main issues school leaders are facing in the current 'virtual' context in which they are operating. Andy offers some great tips for leaders to take on board citing the importance of coaching and self awareness in relation to leadership practice.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie, is joined by Ciaran Cunningham-Watson, Principal at the Belvedere British School, Abu Dhabi to discuss the current education climate in the Middle East and the implications for school leadership going forward.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie, is joined by Colette Firth, Executive Head Teacher of three primary schools in the UK. Colette outlines how she has managed the transition of her schools to virtual learning and the challenges she has faced leading schools at this time. Nicholas goes on to explore how Colette's own leadership has developed as a consequence of the current education climate and offers top tips for other school leaders looking to thrive in times in change.
In this episode, Director of Persyou, Nicholas McKie is joined by Chris Seal, Principal of Shrewsbury International School Bangkok Riverside since August 2017 to talk about the unique challenges of leading an elite school in uncertain times. Nicholas discusses what measures have been put in place to ensure the school continues to operate and also explores the attributes most vital to current educational leadership. Finally, Chris offers advice and top tips for schools managing change going forward.