Our Latest articles:

• Online community events in the Covid age – an experiment in digital fundraising
  by Joshua Russell
  As mentioned in my SMART fundraising post, I believe that fundraising efforts have the most success when they offer something in return. I’m excited to report that working with Ed 2 – Parents united learning community, I had the perfect opportunity to put my framework to the test! This article is a longform write-up ofContinue reading “Online community events in the Covid age – an experiment in digital fundraising”
• The Democratic Allegiance Podcast – Coming soon
  by Joshua Russell
  It is absolutely tragic that current affairs feel like we are in the final act of Revenge of the sith. Each new week brings new tales of horrific corruption, illegality and shocking incompetence from those in charge of our country. How did we get here? How does this problem get fixed? I think there isContinue reading “The Democratic Allegiance Podcast – Coming soon”
• Making times tables more engaging
  by Joshua Russell
  Times tables are a key foundational skill in most areas of mathematics. In several of the schools I’ve worked in, year sevens were tasked to be beginning every lesson with tables practice. One of the better ways to encourage this practice involves using the rather brilliant Times Tables Rock Stars, which uses music and carefulContinue reading “Making times tables more engaging”
• Engagement from the first minute – creative maths starters from integratemaths.org
  by Joshua Russell
  I’ve worked in some very tricky comprehensive schools. With most classes, I find that at least one of the students in my class will have either a lack of motivation and/or a lack of understanding of key terms and topics. My work as a fundraiser taught me the importance of grabbing attention early, and makingContinue reading “Engagement from the first minute – creative maths starters from integratemaths.org”
• Talking activism and electoral reform with David Miliband, Kate Garvey, Lisa Nandy and Gayle Smith
  by Joshua Russell
  Another brilliant event from Tortoise media – hosting a summit on global leadership at a time when it is incredibly important. I asked David Miliband, CEO of International Rescue Committee & Kate Garvey, co-founder of Project Everyone, for what we can do at home to aid the cause of the sustainable development goals. My questionContinue reading “Talking activism and electoral reform with David Miliband, Kate Garvey, Lisa Nandy and Gayle Smith”
• Strategies for traditional maths teaching at home: Deadly Division with Joshua Russell
  by Joshua Russell
  I have been helping the Ed 2 Brtus community provide support to parents who are concerned about returning their children to school. I have created this broadcast to talk about some of the key strategies I use to ensure my students succeed. Skip to 9:55 where I finally manage to sort out the technology enoughContinue reading “Strategies for traditional maths teaching at home: Deadly Division with Joshua Russell”
• Emotionality and Disordered Eating; Why helping children understand and process their emotionality is key
  by Joshua Russell
  By Food Freedom Coach Chloe Jane Prince The hardest part of my journey was when I sat across in the garden from my mum, and told her I couldn’t live anymore. I thought I had healed my eating disorder, but it was about so much more than the food. Many people believe that disordered eating,Continue reading “Emotionality and Disordered Eating; Why helping children understand and process their emotionality is key”
• An introduction to meditation
  by Joshua Russell
  Meditation is something that many know about, or have heard about, but few people practice. It’s an incredible skill to have and I think it is so important to teach to children. Meditation means different things to different people and religions, but what I’ll be showing here is my take on it. I see meditationContinue reading “An introduction to meditation”
• Creative student led maths teaching: where I start
  by Joshua Russell
  When I start maths tutoring, I often find students and parents have negative concepts of maths, and students are (rightfully and naturally) wary of tutors. The best way to start is always by building rapport and demonstrating value. Give them a reason to listen to you. I’ll say hello, introduce myself, ask a student whatContinue reading “Creative student led maths teaching: where I start”
• What is the risk of home education?
  by Joshua Russell
  I’m involved in a project that provides support to parents worried about their childrens’ safety and education. Today, I’m seeing a number of posts from parents wondering if they have what it takes to home educate. It is a daunting prospect and compassionate parents are the most likely to overburden themselves with guilt and anxiety,Continue reading “What is the risk of home education?”
• Confident maths lessons at home: a guide for parents with Lucy Rycroft-Smith, hosted by founder Russell Wellbeing
  by Joshua Russell
  Maths is a subject that can often cause parents and children alike to recoil in fear. I would love to say that this is an undeserved reputation, but given the trauma many experience during their school maths lessons, that just isn’t true. But maths isn’t intrinsically distressing, and being in charge of your child’s mathsContinue reading “Confident maths lessons at home: a guide for parents with Lucy Rycroft-Smith, hosted by founder Russell Wellbeing”
• Common decency prevails as students and teachers speak out over A level results
  by Joshua Russell
  Yesterday, whilst students took to the streets to protest, I was listening to Edward Snowden on Joe Rogan’s podcast. I found myself endlessly fascinated by his story. I see similarities between his journey in the intelligence service and mine in teaching. His family came from a military service background, mine from a political and educationalContinue reading “Common decency prevails as students and teachers speak out over A level results”
• What really went wrong with exams 2020? By Debra Kidd
  by Joshua Russell
  I write this in the time between the release of A Level and GCSE results and media attention is at fever pitch. What went wrong? Who’s to blame? How can we put it right? There are all kinds of questions to be answered and much better mathematicians than I can analyse the flaws in theContinue reading “What really went wrong with exams 2020? By Debra Kidd”
• The vital importance of vocabulary in maths
  by Joshua Russell
  Editors note: Article originally written for the wonderful people over at LessonWriterBlog.org For some students, learning maths can feel like assembling a particularly tricky piece of IKEA furniture.  Now this might not seem that challenging to you: for teachers and experts, the pieces are all there and the instructions are in English and you knowContinue reading “The vital importance of vocabulary in maths”
• Using Before, During, and After Reading Questions – by Madeleine Hogan of LessonWriter.com
  by Joshua Russell
  COVID-19 has created an unprecedented change in the schooling system. Many teachers will be teaching remotely this fall, and some parents have and will be their children’s teachers. With the lack of in-school instruction, it’s important to educate new homeschooling parents on the best techniques to keep students learning and growing. Fortunately, we can keepContinue reading “Using Before, During, and After Reading Questions – by Madeleine Hogan of LessonWriter.com”
• Bestselling Author Matthew Haig speaks out for mental health education reform
  by Joshua Russell
  Tortoise Media continue to organise and host incredible events – this time allowing Tortoise members to have a conversation with bestselling author Matthew Haig. Matthew has just released his latest novel “The Midnight Library” today, which has jumped straight to the top of my reading list, prioritised over the novel I am currently in theContinue reading “Bestselling Author Matthew Haig speaks out for mental health education reform”
• What parents need to know about modern video games
  by Joshua Russell
  There’s a question that most parents will face, that can be tricky to answer: “What’s the harm in playing video games?” Especially if you have a smart child, who can provide arguments on developing teamwork, social skills or lateral thinking, it be very difficult to come up with a great answer to! But parents areContinue reading “What parents need to know about modern video games”
• Using psychology to maximise memory recall
  by Joshua Russell
  Our current education system is driven by results. As a dedicated teacher I wanted to make sure that my students were getting the very best results that I could get them. One way of ensuring my students succeeded involved unpacking the psychology that governs memory. I drew on a number of sources, but two particularContinue reading “Using psychology to maximise memory recall”
• Fundraising the SMART way
  by Joshua Russell
  Fundraising is a key component of any community focused organisation. If your organisation has enough employees or dedicated volunteers to call upon, smart fundraising can allow you to be far more ambitious with your future projects. Fundraising is not an easy skill. As a street fundraiser you had 3 days to prove you could handleContinue reading “Fundraising the SMART way”
• The power of high expectations featuring teacher and entrepreneur Richard Gray
  by Joshua Russell
  What do you imagine is the greatest indicator of student success? IQ? Socioeconomic status? Emotional resilience? Any other guesses? The answer is teacher expectations. Teachers with high expectations work miracles. Those with low expectations are unsurprised when their students fail. This is known as the pygmalion effect and is widely researched and well documented. ItContinue reading “The power of high expectations featuring teacher and entrepreneur Richard Gray”
• Speaking up for enterprise to the Shadow Chancellor
  by Joshua Russell
  Tortoise Media continue to host absolutely incredible events. The events that they put together are worth far more than their subscription fee, and they have a free trial, student options and more! I got the chance to speak to Anneliese Dodds and put forward the case for a more compassionate and supportive employment system. MyContinue reading “Speaking up for enterprise to the Shadow Chancellor”
• How to get students started in young enterprise
  by Joshua Russell
  Speaking at the Tortoise Media employment conference yesterday, it became clear that I need to be more specific on what I mean by “no risk no investment business.” Most people will cite a whole host of anxieties when you discuss starting their own business with them. They fear they don’t have any skills to offer,Continue reading “How to get students started in young enterprise”
• Helping children with their emotions
  by Joshua Russell
  The first thing that you need to understand about emotion it is not a mystery. For thousands of years people put their hands up and went “Well, we can’t understand it, let’s not bother” But the world’s finest scientists have been developing our collective understanding of emotion, I’ve read it, and created this video toContinue reading “Helping children with their emotions”
• What’s all this emotion about?
  by Joshua Russell
  After starting teaching, it immediately became apparent that the job was incredibly complicated. Each of your 33 students would have a different relationship with the each of the other 32 students, and endless friendship groups with their own group dynamics. If you didn’t command their attention, persuade them to work, they would all soon startContinue reading “What’s all this emotion about?”
• Founder Russell Wellbeing speaking at the first Global Schools Alliance conference
  by Joshua Russell
  I am currently at their second conference and was reminded that I was at their first! This was the first educational conference that I attended! First question 1.32.30, second question 1:44:00. Ignore the beard. Global Schools Alliance is an incredible organisation doing tremendous work in this world. The entire world is dedicated to finding everContinue reading “Founder Russell Wellbeing speaking at the first Global Schools Alliance conference”
• Wednesday inspiration!
  by Joshua Russell
  Wednesday is a tricky one. For some people it is known as hump day – where you have gotten over the worst and it’s downhill from there. It always felt draining as a teacher, the point where my weekly admin would start to overflow. But since starting my own business every day is an amazingContinue reading “Wednesday inspiration!”
• Founder Russell Wellbeing speaking on the SCG “lockdown show” podcast
  by Joshua Russell
  Here’s the founder of our organisation speaking on mental health in lockdown and the issues in the education system The Future of Education w/ Russell Wellbeing | The Lockdown Show Podcast Ep. #23
• Press Release: Our mission
  by Joshua Russell
  We are “Believe in better education,” a group of teachers who have faced the incredible challenges that stem from the crippling failure in education policy. At the dawn of the new millenium, the landscape of cognitive psychology changed, but the UK education system is still adapting from its Victorian past. The politicians responsible have theirContinue reading “Press Release: Our mission”
• Founder Russell Wellbeing speaking up for holistic education at Tortoise Education Summit
  by Joshua Russell
  With 500 top educators in attendance, and countless high profile educators, the public chat function was excellent in communicating with the very best in the business. Our co-founder Josh “Russell Wellbeing” was able to put key questions to those at the forefront of academia, politics and social media influencing: A very useful discussion, worth watchingContinue reading “Founder Russell Wellbeing speaking up for holistic education at Tortoise Education Summit”
• Show them proof: Using surveys to achieve change
  by Joshua Russell
  Schools are mandated to follow specific curriculum expectations, but often the narrow curriculum leaves out important topics that students need to know. Persuading a school to consider new approaches will often require more than words – so we have created a data collection tool for you to easily illustrate the problem. Contact us if youContinue reading “Show them proof: Using surveys to achieve change”
• Make them listen: Contacting Politicians Effectively
  by Joshua Russell
  Copy and paste the letter below into your email app, and use the {gaps} to make it personal. MPs are busy but they are human and their emails are often read by their assistants, who summarise them. Make them see how important this issue is and they will pass that along. They notice when hundredsContinue reading “Make them listen: Contacting Politicians Effectively”