S2: Education: COVID-19 - a podcast by Abimbola Johnson and Ayo Afolabi

This episode focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on education. We consider the impact on school exams, analyse what information and guidance has been given to teachers and parents, and what will happen to vulnerable students and families.

This Episode's Panel:

Yansé Cooper graduated from Durham University with a first-class degree in Modern Languages and Cultures (French, Spanish & Arabic) before training to teach Modern Foreign Languages to secondary pupils through the Teach First Programme in 2010. Since then, she has taught across London secondary schools, led a primary school’s Spanish-teaching pilot, and obtained a PGCE from Canterbury Christ Church University, a post-graduate certificate in Leadership from UCL Institute of Education, and an MSc in Comparative and International Education from The University of Oxford. She has been working for Teach First as an Initial Teacher Educator since leaving the classroom in 2016, and undertook the role of associate teaching and learning tutor for early-career teachers in the inaugural training institute of Le Choix de l’école (formerly known as ‘Teach For France’).She is the co-founder of the Teach First BAME Network through which she addresses the under-representation of BAME leaders in education through: advocacy, research and consultancy, and convening sector events. She also is a committee member of the Amos Bursary charity.

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Ekow Oliver is the Communications Lead for @riverscoaching, a social enterprise dedicated to the abolition of social inequality through the dismantling of an unjust education system. Ekow's activist voice was formed by growing up black in the North London borough of Haringey, where social inequality was laid bare by a north-south wealth divide, that was effectively a form of segregation. Before finishing school, he had joined the borough's youth council and upon the creation of Connexions North London (Labour's initiative at creating an umbrella youth services organisation for 13-19 year olds) he joined and eventually chaired the Young People's Partnership Board. From there he transitioned to a full board member and after the financial collapse of 2008 and the cuts to youth services, sat as a director of a private company attempting to fill the void left by a now defunct Connexions North London.

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Charlotte Nicholls is a Deputy Headteacher based in a large comprehensive secondary school in Surrey, part of a multi-academy trust (MAT) of 10 schools spanning the county. She is also Director of Initial Teacher Training across the MAT, working to promote high-quality teacher training across all of the schools with the ambition of enticing more people to train to teach, and leading to the recruitment and retention of more excellent teachers in both the primary and secondary phases. Charlotte studied Modern Languages at Oxford University, before gaining a distinction in her post-graduate law conversion. After this, Charlotte realised her heart was in the classroom and has never looked back. Within two years of completing her PGCE at the Institute of Education,

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Guy Forbat is the Head of Music at William Ellis School, an all-boys secondary school in Camden, where he teaches Music Technology A-level and leads the school's Music provision. His department has exceeded national expectations for the uptake of Music GCSE since 2016, as a result of an outstanding team and highly supportive headteacher. He is extremely passionate about his subject and has a First Class degree in Music from the University of Leeds, as well as an MPhil in Management from the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School. After starting his career as a Teach First Music participant in 2012, he has been a Music Subject Tutor for Canterbury Christ Church University and has delivered teacher training to Teach First Music participants across London since 2014. Guy is also heavily involved in the Music provision in his local borough and is a Governor at WAC Arts, an alternative provision college aimed at supporting young people through the power of the arts.

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Lotis Bautista is one of the Co-founders of VOLO Group, a tech company aiming to help people develop careers they love through volunteering. She currently manages client relationships, training and operations in her role at VOLO, liaising frequently with university partners and students. Lotis started her career in education as a participant on the Teach First graduate programme in 2012, where she taught English and Politics in West London for 3 years, becoming Assistant Head of Sixth Form in her second year. After leaving teaching, Lotis was part of the Founding Team at the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership, who sought to develop a hub of resources and training for all teachers in Church of England Schools across the UK and she has also been a School Governor since 2015 for a Primary school in North West London.

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