Tell us your stories
Nominate someone, or submit your own story, to be a guest on the We Are In Beta Podcast - Series 3
Series 2 of the We Are In Beta podcast came to a close just before Christmas. It was a blast to make! I can’t thank you enough for listening and sharing it. If you’re new to the podcast catch up on previous episodes here.
We want to hear your stories
We’re working on Series 3 - out in the spring - and we want to get you involved.
We’ve recorded some great stories you submitted and nominated. But we have some slots left.
So we’re on the look out for stories. Personal, practical and positive stories.
(Hannah Wilson at the WomenEd West Midlands careers event (Image credit: @TheHopefulHT)
Why?
We don’t celebrate the positive stuff in schools enough. Or take time to reflect on our growth. Nor do we share it widely enough with the community.
We are proud to give schools a voice. So we can all learn from them.
We - the education community - Are In Beta - always learning.
Who from?
Things that would make a story perfect for us are:
The person telling the story is school-based. Currently, actively working in a school at any level or school governorship.
They are creating or working towards positive change.
If other people can share their perspectives from their place in the story.
Your story is worth telling
You might think your story isn’t worth telling. But it is.
Your submissions and nominations help us find and share all kinds of unexpected and great practice. They help us understand how to best tell them. And a great story pitch helps us understand the motivations of everyone involved.
We want to hear your story if:
It has interesting and specific ‘why’ and something happens around a particular topic or project. A topic that would interest others.
You like telling it, your colleagues and friends enjoy hearing it and because you’d like others to learn from it.
You have favourite moments and different scenes in the story. Let us know them. Tell us anything you think will help us understand what a great story it is. The people involved. Ups and downs. Twists and turns.
There are practical takeaways or a realisation for you or other people in the story.
People - teachers, leaders, governors, parents, policy makers - can learn something from it and take action.
Stories we’d like to hear about
We are looking for stories on all kinds of topics that help schools learn from each other.
Check out this tweet thread to see some ideas we had. Feel free to add your suggestions. We want to learn what’s important to you.
You can also see the story ideas we are looking at here.
Some resources to help you
📝 A great example of a submission is what Co-Headteacher Lisa Farmer sent us before we recorded her ‘Two Heads Are Better Than One’ story. Yours doesn’t have to be anywhere near as long of course.
🎧 Have a listen to ‘Unconditional Positive Regard’ featuring some amazing people from Wellspring Academy Trust: parent governor - Deborah Firat; Director of Learning - Dave Whittaker; and Head of Behaviour Support - Luke Mitchell. It will give you a sense of what we’re looking for.
How to tell us your stories
Let us know what happened and who was involved in a page or so. For some stories, just a few paragraphs is fine.
You don't need to be formal about it. Just tell the story the way you'd tell it to someone over drinks or coffee.
1) If you want to nominate someone you think has a great story that everyone should hear, hit the button below so we can reach out to them and let them know you’ve nominated them.
2) If you have a personal story you want others to learn from hit this button to submit it.
How else can you help?
Do you know someone who has a large network who can share this call out? Perhaps you know someone who works at a Local Education Authority? A Multi Academy Trust? Or a large school network or national provider?
Help us spread the word to find excellent practice by sharing this post them.
There is an untold amount knowledge hidden in schools and most people are so busy doing the things they’re great at that they don’t get to share it.
We want to find it and celebrate it.
Thanks for reading. We look forward to hearing and telling your stories on Series 3 of the podcast.
Thank you,
Best,
Niall
❤️️ Think giving schools a platform to celebrate the good stuff is important? Give us a cheer. Hit the ‘like’ button - either up top or down below. It also helps others discover We Are In Beta.
🆕 If you’re a new subscriber, thanks for joining us. Catch up on previous We Are In Beta interviews here.