After welcoming Kelly Bubbins from Willows High School in Cardiff to our studio a year ago, we're delighted to be having a chat with one of Kelly's colleagues. Nicola Lo Celso is literacy coordinator at the school, and has been responsible for developing the school's literacy policy.

Listeners who remember our discussion with Kelly last year will know that Willows have a strong view about how they want to do things, and we've always found it rewarding to dig into that and see how the school's vision leads to specific things happening in classrooms.

Nicola tells us about the school's potentially controversial emphasis on booklets for all subjects, while explaining how she works with subject specialists to make this happen, and outlining the nuts and bolts of what's going on when they are designed.

Thanks to Nicola for coming in - with literacy a perennial hot potato, it's always good to hear from someone who's making decisions on the front line.

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Recorded in Studio B2.15 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 25th June 2025.

It's time for our notoriously long and self-indulgent Christmas special, in which we bring in strange, interesting and (sometimes) festive things we've found, to see what others make of them.

This year we also welcome Emma's stunt-double, Sian Wickersham, who's standing in for some episodes this season, to join in the fun.

We've got everything from poems to articles, festive food and unsung heroes of music (of course), and we hope it whiles away a bit of washing up or a long walk for you over the break.

We'll be back in 2026 with our normal service. Merry Christmas from all of us at the podcast!

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Recorded in studio D0.12 at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed Campus on 23rd July 2025 (yes, really...)

For this episode, we’re delighted to welcome back our colleague Kerry Bevan who runs the PGCE Secondary Languages programme here at Cardiff Met. Kerry’s here to contribute to our occasional series of episodes on individual subjects in the curriculum.

It’s always fun to geek out about the subject we love, and Kerry’s got plenty for us on the purpose of languages in the curriculum, what the subject looks like in the classroom, and the various issues, myths, challenges and opportunities that characterise languages as an important part of the educational experience.

Thanks to Kerry for joining us, and as ever we’ll be back in a fortnight with more!

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Recorded in studio D0.12 at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed Campus on 21st July 2025