 Hello everyone, this is Ross at teacher talk at the most influential blog on education in the UK today I am delighted to be joined by John Smedley of teach active which will introduce to you in the moment and Teach active is an online resource tool provided in teachers with lesson plans and resources which to deliver primary math and English curriculum through physical activity and I've been very proud to work with teach active through the kind of latter half of 2020 and early 2021 To share some of the brilliant resources with you. So this week I'm with John John. Hello. How are you? Yeah, very good. Thank you. Yeah, just enjoy the bank holiday weekend. Yeah, thanks for joining me Could you introduce yourself to our listeners and tell everyone what your role is at teach active? Yeah, of course. So yeah, as Ross said, my name is John Smedley and I'm the founder at teach active Talk for 20 years, which may perhaps we'll talk about so I was an advisory teacher for PE the physical activity Went back. I was a deputy head for many years and then left in 2050 in order to kind of set teach active up Which at that point was just myself and now there's a team of nine. I was based here in Chester So so you've earned your teaching stripes we can we can safely say. Yeah, certainly Okay, so what I like to do with people like our kind of interview is just unpick their own little education story So, um, could I get you to describe yourself your 16 year old self to listeners? 16 year old self probably sport math loved sport love physical activity played everything at school I represented the you know the county in a few sports, but and Yeah, I liked school but probably more for the social side than anything else wasn't particularly the most academic But always wanted to be a teacher, you know, I used to coach a lot of tennis to Children and I think that gave me a kind of love of wanting to go into teaching So after a levels then went to Chester University to do the four-year be ed program Fantastic, can I can I put you to pin you down for a specific year you started you teach your training? 1996 yeah So that good old-fashioned four-year be ed degree where you go exclusively to want to be a teacher Something that plucks my heart strings John. I did the same Were you a kind of person that did all your assignments on time or your last minute calm type person? I Was probably I was probably a last-minute calm if I was really honest with you and I came out of University with a 2-2 degree If I should admit to that but I actually you know in terms of all my teaching practices I was always getting ones and an outstanding regards to that So it's why when the government said that you needed a 2-1 to do a PGC I didn't necessarily agree with it because I might have not been the best at writing assignments Actually trying to inspire kids I think we should all agree that we won't qualify teachers I think you know putting people under certain pressure to have a certain grade is another one I think you know if we we excluded a lot of teachers for specific grades to get on degree courses We probably wouldn't have half the teachers of that. We Currently have I think I'm also one of those and could you describe some of your memories from your teacher training placements? Yeah, I Lots of fun memories. I enjoyed all of them around. I was at Chester. So all around kind of the Chester area and on the on the widow and just Working in some really Deprived areas and I think I really enjoyed that You know really helping children who had a tough home life who didn't have much help and really You know realizing a teaching was a lot more than just teaching subjects But it was it was self-esteem and confidence and looking after the whole child as well And that was something I kind of made me want to then teach in Those type of areas when I graduated So I know qualifying to become a PE teacher obviously you've got that love and interest already But at what point did the kind of physical curriculum start to become a conversation with yourself? Was that in your life as a school leader? It was when I was the advisory teacher for PE So I'd been teaching for five years. I was seconded to the local authority and supported the you know 100 primary schools And I remember my boss. It was the director of PE a guy called Bob so under this great guy Um, he walked into the office and he said John there's a school town film primary school They're They're math results are really poor the children really attitudes are poor attainments poor I want you to do something about it because they love physical activity And I kind of thought loss. Well, you know, I actually thought to and we'll go and talk to the maths advisor But you know, he was my boss and and schools at local authority You did but so I actually started going in and teaching each week maths but through physical activity And it's a really trying to engage those children and turn their attitudes around to the subject Now I'm just reading your you know, how we started story on your blog and You know, I was having a little nose through your website, which I've been doing over the last few months But a deeper look before we chatted this morning. There's a lot of great ideas and resources on there But that story about how you started at townfield primary school is uh It's you know, historically a romantic story. It's a real story and I guess that's the experience for most of us Is that you develop something you really love You're then asked to go and share your wisdom with others and then you kind of unlock this whole Kind of Corridor of progress I suppose for one of a better term You know, but specifically math through PE So where is it taking you today? You know, fast forward, you know, 13 14 years We now have teach active. You've got a a small team around you. Tell us the teach active journey Um, well, I mean the funny thing is that that conversation that happened all those years ago I didn't realize that years later. I'd be running a business just doing exactly that But um, yeah, I went back into school as a deputy head into a school that similar circumstances You know long story short We shared it with a lot of schools locally Um, it was in a sharing of good practice paper through off-stab. It was in a df international project And I just thought well actually yeah Children absolutely love this. So let's take it from a file of ideas that can be shared locally to a An online resource which today has three and a half thousand lesson plans on How to teach the whole of the english in the mass curriculum, but through through movement and through getting children Open about an active so so your your impacts wider than that, you know, you've got x number of lesson plans on there But you've got a lot of skills signing up and I guess if we replicate the number of pupils I guess your impact on pupils is is quite significant You give us some general statistics Yeah, well something that we're really proud of. I mean we we we've got good data systems here So we can see how many teachers we've trained how many lesson plans are getting downloaded Gives us an indication of You know rough estimates and ox approximations for children and we think probably 300,000 children every week are benefiting from from teach active lessons And that's what was probably being quite conservative really with the amount of patterns that are getting downloaded So if I'm a um, if I'm a primary teacher listen to this and I don't know much about teach active If I if we were in our lift going up to the sixth floor, what's your lift pitch? How would you sell it to me? Uh, I just look at the the four benefits, which I think all teachers love, you know I'd say we want to get that it gets children more active It raises attitudes. Uh, it raises attainment And it develops the whole child. So um as a teacher, I think it it takes, you know, we want children to love learning We want them to do well in English maths But we want them to do it with self-esteem and confidence and now it's also a good, um, you know, as ever these resource platforms There are great workload strategy for our teachers out there So, you know, what kind of things would it benefit me as a teacher? And could you just maybe emphasize that I don't necessarily my school to sign up? Can I play around with the resources as an individual? Yeah, as an individual you can go on to the teach active and just sign up for free trial You'll have access to You know 50 lesson plans and foundation stage to your six Uh, and you can just have a good go and see if it's something that your children and your class really enjoy And then feedback to the best of the staff Now I'm going to switch hats. I'm a cynical school leader. I've got a little bit of budget in reserve And I'm looking for a curriculum kind of bank of resources Um, you know math p those types of things from my primary school Um, what's going to push me over the line? You know, what are the kind of frequently asked questions concerns? Thoughts that you hear from school leaders to help tip them over the line about the benefits of teach active I suppose the people want to know is it airy fairy or just good food? Is it just we've got children running around with a smile on their face and and actually We lose the objective and the outcome but all of our lesson plans have written by maths and english consultants We will say to you actually this will improve standards in english and maths Um, so physically active learning just because what we're open about doesn't mean we're missing out on learning We're just doing it in a bit of a different way and you know the amount of case studies Data impact that we've got teachers listen to teachers and you know, we've got A thousand plus schools in the uk alone who will testify to the difference it's making at their school Now I was going to ask, um, you know, if I was a teacher, maybe listen to this overseas You know, maybe outside of the british system, but maybe following the british curriculum Could I use it? Um, and have you got other examples of Teachers beyond the world of a primary school using it So maybe parents maybe school people working in special Needs settings or early years Yeah, so the Every teach active school. There's also a free Homework element to it as well so that parents can access it It used to be worse as a nice little added extra overlocked down. It went absolutely barmy as you can imagine with the amount of downloads there We have quite a few international schools coming on board now through word of mouth Which is great and in terms of yeah, it's mainly a primary school product You know, we've got secondary schools that you were using as we've transitioned With year seven se and children and we've got a lot of Secondary special schools where perhaps the children are still working at key stage one and key stage two level And it's really supporting that as well Now we've done some work in the past together with steve I remember when we had a little live session with teachers and we've got one coming up soon with ben Could you um, I'm really interested with ben's story, you know, the well-being school of the year Could you tell us a little bit more about his work and how teach active may be supported that? Yeah, so ben leavenson kensington fire school is the primary school of the year and the tes mental and health well-being school of the year and they've just Really put health at the heart of their curriculum as his case study is called and he wants to ensure that Perhaps some of the challenges that he's got at his school He bin leavenson physically active curriculum can really support that in in building up his children And and really putting that the center of the child at the heart of that curriculum And physical active learning is a huge part of that and they use active maths and active english You know daily with across their school and it's something that's had a huge impact into attitudes and attainment Um, and you'll know that I'm a big fan of trying to make workload life Easier for teachers and what are the kind of things that you've seen throughout the pandemic You know, you've seen a huge spike in people using your resources So, you know, what are you kind of most popular or what are the ones that people go to the most? And I know we're under an umbrella of physical learning and math so to speak So there'll be some common themes, but any any insights that you can share with us Yeah, I think, you know Again, I always say that the credibility factor of me being a teacher for 20 years I say this isn't going to be something that your teachers will Not enjoy they're going to welcome it because it saves them hours of planning time and that's what teachers tell us We've highlighted all the plans out of the three and a half thousand that are covid bubble safe So it can be still continue meeting government guidelines if you like and a lot of those will be Taking opportunities to take learning outside, which is a great thing to do at the moment, especially in the summer term When perhaps that socially distancing is really easy To achieve a one we can get out and get fresh air, which is you know, we know from governing bodies is something that's recommended as well Now I'm I'm going to switch hats and put my parent hat on I've got a nine-year-old boy here at home Who's a bit more obsessed with his switch and rocket league rather than Maybe did a bit of physical exercise with these mum and dad and to be fair though, you know He is enjoying the odd outdoor walk during covid Um, what tips would you have for parents in general? You know, if I wanted to dabble with your resources log in have a play Uh, how would it benefit me as a parent? Not just through the pandemic, but long term as well. What what kind of things can I What what things would I find and find of most use? Okay, I mean I'm a parent of two primary school age children myself who who love the playstation and the iPads and everything else and everything in moderation as we'd say, but I think you know People have different views of homework and what I try to create is to say well If we're going to give homework then rather than it be sedentary and sitting down at the dining room table and doing more More more well, let's play a game and an activity with either with a sibling or with mum and dad and something that You know, we've all probably had that occasion when you know I'm trying to get my son to do it do his homework and he's he's disengaged and it's actually It's actually creating a loss of love of learning With his maths rather than making him enjoy the subject and that's why our simple fun games are Really there to help so yeah, if we I know the kids might rather be on the the nintendo switch But if I've got to do homework then actually this is a nice alternative and something I think actually I really enjoy this Now I'm gonna I'm gonna test your expertise. I'll I'll sure you'll find this a doddle But I'm gonna give you two scenarios and I want you to tell me how teach active resources could help So your first scenario is a pandemic I'm a parent in a maybe a sixth full flat with no no garden. How could I Get my children physically active through your kind of math curriculum English resources Okay, so all of our plans are Written for the parent plans for whether you live in a flat or live in a five bedroom detached house for the huge garden So we could simply be I mean In a flat you could maybe even go outside for a moment go up the steps and start doing your times tables as we're going up around them We could get a balloon and play balloon tennis and do our times tables as we're doing it through that as well So we we we don't need a huge amount of space in order to do any of the activities Okay Another scenario. I've just been given a cover lesson. It's a pee lesson But the hall's been used for exams and the school has no playground space Um, what would I do in that scenario? Okay, well, we're in the classroom. No problem. It's just uh, what we look at is non sedentary behavior So sometimes it's just bombs off seats. So it's not going to be a vigorous lesson But we're just going to get rid of our chairs. We're going to be around the table And we're going to use a going around robbing and visit different tables where there's going to be a different activity Where we might be sorting and working with numbers or fractions, whatever it may be Um and moving around just non sedentary just not sitting down Very good. Well you've passed my scenario test so I'll I'll ask kind of deeper question, I suppose But um, you know the cognitive science the research on education mental health and well-being we know is important Could you signpost listeners to some kind of key pieces of research? Which kind of suggests that you know being physically Impact on people outcomes across the school Um, you know what what research could you signpost us to what could we read? Tip those school leaders over the line with the decision I mean the the one thing I would say is that there is so much Research and so much data now with regards to the the the difference in the impact between You know being physical physical active learning and and the memory and concentration To give you a few I mean google you'll find lots and if people want to come to me directly On our news page on the youth sport trust. There is something at the moment called the creating active schools framework, which With a team in Yorkshire and a guy called Andy daily smith, which is really interesting and fantastic I'd had a good look into that There's a guy called gentlemen called dr. William bird In particular, you may see one of his videos on you could youtube called Movement is life, which again is really based about the the difference and the impact that it can that it can have and you know with just those guys that alone in terms of The impact that it can have is quite significant Now some breaking news I suppose is you've just made it to the final of the education resource awards, haven't you? Could you tell us a little bit more about that and what that means? Yeah, I mean we've been very lucky with lots of awards and and they are something which are great um, I love schools telling schools how great team chanting is but awards are always lovely the education resource awards for um the classroom Sorry the resource of the year and also for supply of the year and then we've also become We've just had news that we're in the finalist of the bet awards as well, which is always nice And congratulations and one last thing I want to unpick is that your work with the parliamentary review What tell us a little bit more about what was involved there? Yeah, so we were approached To be part of the government's parliamentary review Just for outstanding practice in education It came about of one of our schools, Steve Tindall and the Holy Family where the school went from national averages with their math results to the top 5% of maths results nationwide And that was picked up by DFE and then subsequently government So and it was lovely to be part of that again spreading the good word till the schools and A nice visit to the House of Lords as well. Yeah Very nice That's part of that which was nice Great um great work out there and uh, you know lots of good work by your good self So um, john you'll you'll you may or may not know that after the 20 minute back um To kind of wrap things up for listeners and then I uh posed some quick fire questions to you to try and catch you out And see if it can catch you off guard And you know after a bank holiday kind of wake our brains up in some respect So I'll start off easy with you. What project is on your desk today? What you working on? Uh looking at The early years the new earliest framework and updating the all of our active Plan or active maths and English plans to In with that. So a nice easy one. Yeah, no small job there. Um, how did you look after yourself during the pandemic physically? Uh, I converted my garage into a gym, which was uh, you know, most people did di re projects That was mine and I actually started doing um, a lot Yoga ability Right, which I'd say if you haven't had a look at have a look at yoga ability Yoga ability a lady called Alex Donovan who plays rugby for Wales and uh, it's fantastic. Yeah on instagram. I was I started doing that All right, well have a look. Um, what book are you reading? Um, I am reading let me think it's uh, it's a it's a book that I was bought by will who was my colleague It's uh, golf is not a game of perfect, which is about the psycho because I'm a golf player The psychology behind golf Uh, I'm also reading the 5am club by Robin Sharma, which is about why we should get up at 5am in the morning and smash the day Crikey. Um, I were you a better maths teacher or a better pe teacher? Probably pee to start with Quarter I'd say What's your golf handicap? 18 Um, if if you weren't doing your dream job now, what's that abstract job you would have liked to have had when you were growing up? Uh, if it wasn't the professional sports player, which I would have loved, uh, I think maybe either journalism or photography I'll go okay. Um, yeah, I want to take you back to when that moment you thought right I Need to step out of the classroom full-time and do a sideways move, you know to start teach active Could you just briefly highlight some of the key decisions that you made for teachers who think, you know, I guess that fear of Is there a life outside of teaching? Um, kind of what what the what were the kind of key messages or methods that you use to make that leap? Um, yeah, there was a bit of anxiety there, you know, obviously I I had a very good job at Secure a job. So I kind of just thought if I don't do it, I'll always regret it and that was my one I did a lot of the I did the two jobs side by side One another for a little while until I felt comfortable for the leap and then I just thought, you know That had to be the over. I'm so passionate about it. You know, let's go for it And I always thought, you know, I'm not going to lose that skill set if it doesn't work after six months I can go back or luckily I loved my job. I always did but luckily So what would be your top tip if we put your kind of business hat on what's your top tips for running running a business? Um, I'd say surround yourself by good people work with good people. That's always been for me You know, I I I I set up this business with two other guys Um, and so there's three directors and I think that And now we've got a really good team and that's that supports, you know, the growth of the business But also my well-being and and customer service to schools, which is really key to us If we had, uh, well, I'm due to come over to your neck of the woods in the future But if we had 24 hours together, what what would you do? Where would we go? What would be the kind of things to see in your part of the world? Ah, great answer. Well, um, I actually even though the office is in Chester I live in north wales. So we've got everything on our doorstep. So we'd probably go for If you're up for it was we'd probably go for a bike ride along the prom and all the way to land on now And then we probably have some lunch there and then we'd go to Snowden and I'll take you on the longest zip wire in Europe I've seen that. Yeah And then maybe we could go for a walk along the lovely north coast To So when uh, when I do come to your office in a kind of safe social distance way in the future What what am I going to be surprised about most about the teach active team and set up? What's most exciting? Uh, I'm really proud of our team here. I think that, uh, we've got a small what A great team and Um, like the purpose and the mission of our of our company, you know, we we want to work in collaboration with people We want to help schools support schools support teachers and children And I think you'll get a feeling about from the staff that we have here Okay, um nearly done there John. Um, if you could recommend I interview someone next who would it be and why? Oh, I definitely say uh, Ben Levinson, but we're uh, you've got him on board already, haven't you? Um, I would say uh A guy called Ben Smith who did the 401 challenge which is 401 marathons in 401 days And is a real inspirational story about how physical activity Saved his life actually Okay Yeah, uh one last math question for you. Um, could you explain what a high pot in use is for listeners? Okay, I got I got you I got you. Okay. Um, uh final question, I suppose, um, where can listeners find out more About teach active, you know social media website addresses Uh, yeah, okay, so we we've on facebook on twitter run into that But just look at us on the website and from there sign up for free trial Or you can sign up for one-to-one dinner with myself and I look forward to maybe showing you the resource and talking you through it So there you go everyone teach active.org forward slash free hyphen trial. Um one last question. John squeeze it in What do you hope to be your legacy? Um to have impacted on millions of children and Um really giving them a whole helped them to have a love of learning in in particularly in english and maths and lifelong love of keeping active So thank you john. There you go folks. Um teach active. John Smedley. Do check it out. John. Thank you for your time Thank you for the amazing work that you're doing the the incredible impact you're having on our young people Um fingers crossed you get another 10 000 skills sign up over the next couple of years And you're super busy and much bigger and making a big difference To the teaching of primary and hopefully we can get a secondary version of you soon in the future We can start to influence curriculum at key stage three Perfect. Thanks. Well, thanks for your time. I look forward to speaking to you. Take care Thanks everyone. Thanks for listening. Bye for now