Tom is joined in the non camera-enabled studio today (sorry, YouTube subscribers!) by Sarah McErlaine, who works with schools in Caerphilly county here in Wales. Sarah has just completed her professional doctorate, in which she worked with literacy specialists to try and nail down the key concepts in English. In the absence of much in the way of clues in the Curriculum for Wales framework, this turned out to be an important and difficult undertaking, and resulted in the production of some very handy concept maps to help support those teachers out in school.

Sarah talks us through how she went about designing a support package by taking an international view of the key concepts of the subject, and collaborating with school colleagues to come up with something they could use.

Thanks to Sarah for taking the time to chat, and apologies from Tom for pressing the wrong buttons in very much the wrong order on the studio desk, resulting in Sarah sounding like she was dialling in on Teams when she was in fact sitting a few feet away!

———————————————————————

Recorded in studio B2.10A at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 22nd April 2026

This week we welcome two academics from the University of the West of England - Joe Brown and Dr Tim Clark - to the studio. They’re here to discuss their recently published book Debating Childhoods, which gives Tom and Sian the chance to have an in-depth discussion about how we think of childhood and how society’s values influence the things we prioritise and consider when providing education and experiences for children.

There’s lots to think about in this extended episode, and if you’re interested in doing some more deep thinking on this topic, Debating Childhoods is published by Sage and available wherever you get your books!

——————————————

Recorded in studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 10th February 2026

With the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) elections here in Wales just around the corner, the team got together in Cardiff Met's broadcast centre to discuss what we learnt from the six parties in relation to some of the big themes facing education today.

Tom is joined on the studio sofa by Dr Gareth Evans from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Finola Wilson from Impact Wales to discuss school standards, the future of Curriculum for Wales, funding, teacher recruitment, and more.

You can see this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/f_6xr3HAyjk

We hope you found our Senedd Elections Special project interesting - we certainly did!

-----------------------------

Recorded in studio B0.17 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 20th March 2026

For Cardiff Met Sport Broadcast & Media

Studio technical support: Rhys Evans, Jamie Hicks, Caitlin Meredith

Sound: Peter Lambern

Director: Adrian Rapps

For Impact Wales

Producer: Darren Evans

Any opinions expressed by the presenters are their independent views and not those of their respective employers.