The Renaissance Space Podcast

Join this conversation with Ben McGarry, Director of English for the OGAT primary academies, as he shares his experiences pitching and developing their trust-wide reading strategy and curriculum. This consistent approach across the academies allows them to pilot impactful and innovative activities which not only support student learning, but also build engagement in reading – and don’t just take their word for it, Ofsted thinks so too. An informative session for those building and refining reading curriculums and looking for inspiration.

Jeffrey Boakye is an author, broadcaster and educator with a particular interest in issues surrounding race, masculinity, education and popular culture. Jeffrey taught English to 11- to 18-year-olds for 15 years and now provides training for schools, universities and businesses on race, identity, masculinity and education. He is also Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Manchester’s Institute for Education.
Jeffrey’s published books are: Hold Tight: Black Masculinity, Millennials and the Meaning of Grime, Black Listed: Black British Culture Explored, What is Masculinity? Why Does it Matter?
And Other Big Questions (co-authored), Musical Truth: A Musical Journey through Modern Black Britain (winner of the Quiz Writers’ Choice Secondary Non–Fiction Award) and I Heard What You Said. Jeffrey co-hosts BBC Radio 4’s double award winning Add to Playlist. He received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Leicester in January 2023.

In the first episode of our new series, EdTech Focus, James speaks to International School Librarian Jack Morris at Cranleigh School, Abu Dhabi.
Jack is the Prep School Librarian and Accelerated Reader Coordinator. Cranleigh School's Prep School library is available to students from FS1 (nursery) to Year 8, and they use Renaissance products (Star Reading, Accelerated Reader and myON) with Years 3 to 8. Jack has been working with Renaissance products for the past 4 years in two different schools in Abu Dhabi.
In the episode, Jack tells James about how much the school relied on EdTech strategies and solutions to ensure students remained engaged with reading during a period of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please subscribe to The Renaissance Space podcast on whichever platform you're listening to.
And, don't forget to leave a comment or start a conversation about any episode on Twitter, using the hashtag #RenaissanceSpace
You can follow Margaret and James on Twitter:
@margaretcallen
@JamesWillats
Visit our webpage to listen to every episode of The Renaissance Space podcast and learn more about Renaissance Learning.
Enjoy the episode!
Music: www.bensound.com

The conversations between colleagues are a great opportunity for everybody, including the participants, to learn more about what makes Renaissance tick and how it all came to pass and this podcast with Dr Gene Kerns is no exception. His knowledge, understanding and length of time with the company makes this a fascinating inside story.

A third-generation educator with teaching experience from elementary to university level, Gene currently serves as Vice President and Chief Academic Officer for Renaissance Learning. With more than 20 years of experience in education and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree in Education Leadership, he has also presented at international conferences, including the Ministry of Education of Singapore, the Westminster Education Forum, and the Global Education Technology Forum of China. He is the co-author of three books, including Literacy Reframed: How a Focus on Decoding, Vocabulary, and Background Knowledge Improves Reading and Comprehension (2020)

We’d love to know what you do at your school too: tweet us @RenLearnUK and let us know, and check out our blog for even more ideas.
Please subscribe to The Renaissance Space podcast on whichever platform you're listening to.
And, don't forget to leave a comment or start a conversation about any episode on Twitter, using the hashtag #RenaissanceSpace
You can follow Margaret Allen and Renaissance Learning on Twitter:
@margaretcallen
@RenLearnUK
Visit our webpage to listen to every episode of The Renaissance Space podcast and learn more about Renaissance Learning.
Enjoy the episode!

To kick off our new series entitled, 'Reading - More Than Just Words on a Page', Margaret chats with the Assistant Headteacher of Tor Bridge Primary School in Plymouth. They discuss how a combination of whole-class reading and reading ed-tech resources have transformed their school.
Olivia discusses how a simple change in strategy with reading practice and the right reading resource results in the perfect combination. She explains how this dream combination has resulted in accelerated levels of reading engagement and proficiency. In addition, she outlines how the improved reading culture has provided teachers with a better understanding of pupils' development with reading.
Please subscribe to The Renaissance Space podcast on whichever platform you're listening to.
And, don't forget to leave a comment or start a conversation about any episode on Twitter, using the hashtag #RenaissanceSpace
You can follow Margaret and James on Twitter:
@margaretcallen
@JamesWillats
Visit our webpage to listen to every episode of The Renaissance Space podcast and learn more about Renaissance Learning.
Enjoy the episode!

Renaissance Learning
Home of Accelerated Reader, Star Assessments and myON the digital library.