NetSupport Radio

Of Primary Importance Podcast by ReallySchool: Ep. 26 - Putting teaching back into its job box

April 12, 2023 NetSupport Season 1 Episode 26
NetSupport Radio
Of Primary Importance Podcast by ReallySchool: Ep. 26 - Putting teaching back into its job box
Show Notes

Welcome back to Of Primary Importance! 

In this podcast series we are exploring all things EYFS and primary with different topics and special guests each fortnight.  

In this episode, I am joined by Gemma Drinkall to talk about ‘Putting teaching back into its job box.’

Gemma is an educational wellbeing coach and trainer who also hosts the ‘Teachers with Boundaries Podcast’. Her ambition is to transform middle leaders’ lives to benefit themselves, their students and team. With 8 years’ experience in education including middle leadership, Gemma understands the challenges that middle leaders face just to survive. After experiencing panic attacks, low mood and anxiety, Gemma burnt out, leaving her teaching career behind. She openly speaks about her experiences, making it her mission to help other middle leaders avoid the same fate and create clear boundaries so that they can switch off from teaching and switch on in their lives.

Here are some of the questions I asked Gemma: 

·         Could you please introduce yourself to our listeners?

·         Today we’re going to be talking a lot about work-life balance in the education sector. So first off, can you tell me why you are passionate about this particular topic?

·         You wanted to discuss setting healthy boundaries, so let’s talk about why this is significant and how staff can go about this.

·         Why can the separation of work and life be particularly difficult for those working in education?

·         Do you think part of the issue is that unhealthy work culture can be normalised in education?

·         How can staff prioritise their own needs and why does this actually benefit everyone?

·         How can staff harness the ‘power of saying no’ professionally?

·         How can organisations support their staff in establishing and maintaining a healthy work-life balance?

·         What are your top tips for putting teaching back into its ‘job box?’

·         Where can educators get support and how can they best contact you?


You can connect with Gemma on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

You can also join her ‘Teachers with boundaries’ Facebook group and check out her website 

You can follow me (Kat Cauchi) on Twitter at @ReallyschoolK

Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content and see all our previous episodes here. If you are interested on coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM on Twitter or email contact@reallyschool.com !   

 Kat Cauchi is NetSupport’s Community Engagement Manager, the Editor of R.I.S.E. Magazine and the Product Manager of ReallySchool. She is also a former Primary School Teacher, Member of the Global Equality Collective, a Technocamps GiST Role Model, an &l