A more chilled-out episode, where we chat about all things Christmas... - Christmas Traditions - Our plans over Christmas - Crimbo Limbo - Playing sport over Christmas vs watching it.   Then some hard-hitting topics in the New Year...   Merry Christmas everyone!

Kate is back from Dubai, and what better topic to talk about than travelling? Kate talks about her experiences taking little Beau to Dubai with her and Oscar and what an eye-opener this was... We also talk about: Family holidays as a kidSchool fines for parents taking their children out of school in term timeWow experiences for childrenThe attention children get when on holidaySiobhan and my travelling experiences of going away for nearly a yearOur views on travelling with our children and how important this isCreating memories and experiences.  I hope you enjoy today's episode. See you on next week's episode where we will be talking about Christmas and FUN!!

Why did we host our very first awards 'Inspired Awards Dinner'? In 2015, when the business started taking shape, in it’s 3rd year, I wrote out some goals! One was to give back to Bridgwater and another was to inspire children and families to be more activeTranspire and Manifest My own childhood was filled with opportunities at home and my primary and secondary schools.  I was so fortunateI think children have fewer opportunities to be active and we see that as our job, to fill this gap and provide as many opportunities for young people to be active and moreover make these opportunities FREE.And that is why we decided to host an awards dinner.To celebrate all things PE, sport and physical activityThere are so many wonderful things that are happening, and unsung heroes that are going unnoticed to provide opportunities to young people.We know the power that it can have, learning about success and failure, friendships, role models, mental well-being, physical health and so much more.Here to celebrate those people, schools and clubs and raise the profile of sport and PE. I also talk about our business values, plus my personal values as a parent, reflecting on the England football and cricket teams.   Enjoy...

Why are girls dropping out of Sport?   Who better to talk about this than Kate!  Someone that has been faced by pretty much every barrier imaginable. We talk about a range of topics, some that I am certainly not qualified to talk about, but am fascinated to learn more on, so I can be the best Dad possible.   A BBC article, only last week saying that the total number of girls who stopped playing sport entirely went up from last year.   With one in four girls feeling unconfident to play sport in primary school, and this figure rises to one in three by the time they get to secondary school.   One of the main reasons they said they stopped playing sport is that they they don't feel welcome in a male environment.   Elsa said: "I tried to join a football team but it was all boys and me and when we actually played, no one passed to me."   https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63553277   What can we do to address this and ensure that more girls can find a sport or physical activity that they love?

This episode is all about failure.   If you put failure into google it will come back with quotes from inspirational people about how important failure is.  But we dive into the complexities around failure and how we both agree that yes, it is important, but there are other factors to consider, creating a positive environment, how we can plan for failure and a quote that I found when researching the podcast from Gary Vaynerchuck about micro failure vs macro success, which I love and what this means for us as parents, coaches and teachers.   “I’d argue that I didn’t really fail, I learned I might have micro failed, but I macro won” - Gary Vaynerchuck   “I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying again” - Michael Jordan   When in search of a great quote, Michael Jordan is my go-to!   During this episode, we give our take on failure and how we can use failure in parenting, teaching and coaching to help make our children resilient, and patient and have the personal characteristic to use failure as a building block to success and reaching their potential.

I think you'll all agree that Kate has been amazing on the podcast.  I love speaking to her about the topics discussed so far and this week we go into: Nature vs Nurture We discuss the role of hard work vs natural talent. Is one more important than the other?   What else is important when our children are growing up?  Should we praise more than just the outcome, so that values such as work ethic as instilled in the children in our care?   We also talk about Matthew Syed's book 'Bounce', Malcolm Gladwell's quote around 10,000 hours and my hero growing up, Michale Jorda, and his attitude to failure. We put all of this into the context of parenting, teaching and coaching and we hope you enjoy listening as much as we did recording.

I am delighted to welcome a special guest and co-shot to the podcast - Kate Alder Kate was on the only the 3rd episode ever of The School Run Podcast which was released in May 2021  ·      Since then Kate has become a mother to now 9 months old Beau and started a recruitment company at the height of the pandemic! ·      I can’t wait for you to hear all about how she is managing everything as we explore work-like balance, running businesses and being a parent. We explore: - What are your values and what is most important to you? - Me failing to juggle school correspondence! - Kate's incredible work ethic and getting back into rugby - Kate launched a new business and then found out she was pregnant! - Being the best version of yourself - Being open and honest with your partner so they understand what you need and want and vice versa. And lot's more.   I hope you love the new format as much as I did and I look forward to welcoming to next week's episode 😊

When should your child be allowed a phone?   Do what is right for your children. Not you, to make your life easier!   Children are drawn in by trying to do things before they are supposed to. Drinking, smoking etc   Or because all their friends have a phone.   There doesn’t seem to be a right answer, but there are definitely wrong answers.   What were the concerns for our parents? Drinking, smoking,    I’m not a worrier by nature, I’m pretty laid back as a parent, but the digital world scares me.    Why?  Innaproriate use of social media, the internetNot having ‘real models’ as I spoke about last week 13 for social media. Roblox is the most popular online computer game in the UK for under-13s, according to a recent survey. It's free to use and it's a platform that lets you play millions of different games, or you can build your own game and let other people play it. It's played by more than 25 million children worldwide and many schools and institutions use it to teach children how to build games online. But I've been looking into a worrying rise in the number of children finding upsetting and harmful content on the site. I was playing Roblox and I was on a game where you work at a pizza place and two people were pressuring girls to do inappropriate stuff with them and if they did, they would get extra money in the game. Girl aged 14 7+ is the age limit. Then you have Fortnight - 13+ as well.  But the children in Primaries when it came out all knew the dances!  TikTok algorithm. The notice sets out the ICO's provisional view that TikTok breached UK data protection law between May 2018 and July 2020. The ICO investigation found the social platform may have: processed the data of children under the age of 13 without appropriate parental consentfailed to provide proper information to its users in a concise, transparent and easily understood wayprocessed special category data, without legal grounds to do so According to Ofcom, 44% of eight to 12-year-olds in the UK use TikTok, despite its policies forbidding under-13s on the platform. YouTube - Learning how to draw on YouTube Parental controlsGive them a phone without the internet.  Izzy is going to be disappointed when she gets her first one, when she’s 18!  The Social Dilemma The documentary examines how social media's design nurtures addiction to maximize profit and its ability to manipulate people's views, emotions, and behavior and spread conspiracy theories and disinformation. So social media is a big concern of mine. But also communicating with other children. What’s app and communicating with their friends.  - what’s app legal age requirement if 16! Pressure on parents By the time kids are in middle school, the pressure from kids can be intense, and parents worry that their child will feel isolated if other kids have phones and they don’t. According to Common Sense Media, 42 percent of kids have a phone by age 10. By age 12, it’s 71 percent. By 14, it’s 91 percent. And so when should your child get the first phone? At what age should a kid get their first phone? Return to menu Anywhere from 10 to 14, though there are valid reasons to give a child a phone earlier (they commute alone, or switch between two parents’ houses) or later (they’re not mature enough, have shown previous problems with tech overuse). There is not one magic age for every child, but we’ll help you find the sweet spot for your own family. Ultimately, the decision is up to the parent or guardian, who knows the child and their own child-rearing philosophy best. Mental Health crisis - children using phones in their bedrooms.  Can’t switch off.  Keeping up to date with the latest TikTok, or social media platform “If we are in a mental health crisis – which we are – and we have some factors that are really hard to change, like our educational system, and some factors that are really technically easy to change, like an algorithm or code, we should,” Radesky told me. “We should work with the tech companies to figure out what settings, what content filters, what guidance would help kids have healthy relationships with these social sites.” We live in a digital world, and I don’t the girls to miss out on opportunities that might arise in the future that might be around social media and tech, but not at the expense of being a child and having a rich childhood.  There is plenty of time to grow up!  They are only a child once.

What is technology doing to our children?Real models vs role modelsWe need real models… What does real model vs role model mean?  Alex Scott said after the Lionesses won the Euros, they are real models and not role models. You can’t be what you can’t seeMore women in the media, particularly thinking of sport. Alex ScottAlex Hartley Isha GuaLaura WoodsDenise Lewis I’m ashamed to say that I googled this, to see who was broadcasting and who I’d missed, and the third result that came up was ‘the hottest 15 female broadcasters! Shocking! Perhaps this speaks to the point that Alex Scott is talking to, as a father of two girls, I want them to have real models, women that are pioneers and breaking down barriers for participation and also careers in previously a male-dominated industry. This leads me to social media and technology.  What is it doing to our children? Let’s start with social media as it links to ‘real models’.  Is it real?  You look at some of the people that have the biggest followings, the Kardashians.  Are they real, definitely not, so why do they get such a following?  I think this is really toxic.  We can get so wrapped up how we look, filters on social media being used so much that people are blurring into the background and what is this teaching children? Anything positive? Further to this young people injecting botox into their faces so they ‘look better', this cannot be healthy. Equally, if you are watching Love Island, but wouldn’t want your children going on the show, then you have to question yourself surely.  You are funding the programme, you are endorsing that careers exist following the programme.   Is this damaging the work ethic of society?  Children and young people see people making a living off of doing perceived little work and think that earning £20,000 a year is beneath them because of someone from love island making 6 figures through their endorsements…  Where are the grafters?  Are we in danger of people wanting everything now?   I want more money in my job…Ok, great, how are you going to bring more value into the business?Recruitment is so hard now, we used to get 50 applicants for a job, interview 8 and then recruit accordingly.  We learned some big lessons on what type of people we were looking for… Will vs Neil.  Sam A.Now - 8 applicants, none of which want to be interviewed or watched deliver a lesson! Back to social media…  And linking it last week’s episode about praising winning too much, we aren’t building personal skills that will make a difference to children growing up.  Depression, anxiety and mental ilnesses are at an all time high!  We are able to connect with more people than every before through the internet, but we are lonelier than we have ever been before. Whilst I am on almost all social media, I do think it is a dangerous place if it isn’t used safely and properly.  I don’t want the girls thinking that Kim Kardishian is a brilliant role, I want to look at Alex Scott, listen to her journey and be inspired by her drive and work ethic to get to where she is today, plus she is an Arsenal legend!   Further to this, social media isn’t going anywhere and so it is pointless to ignore it.  Creators now have a vehicle to make an income without having to be signed by a management company, studio, music label etc.  So more people have an opportunity to ‘make a career’ from this than ever before and I have now heard on two podcasts this week, one with Fearne Cotton and another with Richard Osman about how they approach devices and tech with their children.  Richard Osman actually saying that he is ok with his son gaming for large period of time, because if the active interest he shows on the stuff that happens behind the scenes to create a game and that he as a child, was fascinated by TV and he would spend hours watching it, but was always interested in the credits and finding out about what jobs there are in TV.  The same now with his son potentially finding a career in the gaming industry. I don’t disagree with any of this, I guess there just needs to be a balance.  Richard also said how he loved sports growing up, but being visually impaired found it difficult to access them.  If he were growing up again now, I would hope that provisos were put in place so that he could find joy in taking part in something that loved from a distance.  And the same for all children, we can’t solely rely on technology and gaming as hobbies for children.  They need to experience the outdoors, sports and physical activity and it is why it is more important now, than ever before for children to find something that they love and enjoy that will keep them healthy and active throughout their lives. I feel sad that kids today aren't aren’t having the kind of experience that we did in the 80s and 90s.  It would blow their minds. In a Good way - Matthew Marsden Careful we don’t fantasise too much about the old days, but it is hard not to appreciate the childhood I had, playing outdoors, no phones, no social mediaAs I said earlier, this is the loneliest generation we have ever had, and perhaps the art of calling for a friend being lost is part of the reason… Finally, it is 7 years ago today, at the time of recording that I lost my best friend, Luke.   Better Never StopsLegacyCharityImpact on me to this day

What values should be promote in our children? This is the main theme of the episode and below you will see some of the topics that I will cover The education system is too heavy on dataPE is underavalued.My many hats as a governor, parent, business owner, former secondary school PE teacherWinning vs LosingMedals for participation. My thoughts on thisShould we celebrate winning?Steven Biddulph raising girlsOther values.  Work ethic, kindness, empathy, resilience Resilience vs winning. What happens when it’s time to get a job or start a business or try to be a professional sportspersonParents evening at secondary - They would rather listen to Brad the coach with his team winning 7-0 every week!What happened when our school team started to lose?English and Maths aren’t everything.  Maths isn’t for everyone.I actually did well at school, not amazing, some A’s, B’s, couple of C’s and an A* for PE!The main reasons behind where I am now?  Work ethic and resilience!   Summary. Take a look at all my socials: - https://www.tiktok.com/@benkirk1984 - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-kirk-08448848/ - https://www.instagram.com/benkirk8/

I heard this phrase listening to Eddie Jones' book - 'Leadership - Lessons from my life in rugby'. It is the main topic this week and I will be unpacking what this means and how Eddie Jones described it, relating it to Christiano Ronaldo, Kevin Pietersen, and Shane Warne.  How players and children sometimes would rather look good and demonstrate skills rather than the character to be successful within a team environment or individual sport.  As always, I bring this back to children and what implications it has for parents, coaches, and teachers. The second section is focussing on opportunities and barriers that might exist, and prevent children from taking part in physical activity opportunities.  In my mind, I believe we need to do more to remove barriers to do all we can to help children and families be more active. I also look at how negative news is more profitable and how dangerous this is for young people going into the world of social media.  Having listened to Johan Hari, it is easy to see just how damaging social media can be if measures are not put into place to stop companies like Facebook from making money from people's attention on negative news, and the amount of time they spend online.   Finally, a bit of a moan on an experience I had this week. Do people actually want to work? I hope you enjoy this week's episode.  If you liked it, please bring a friend along next week, it would really mean a lot.  Have an awesome week and don't get sucked in by negative news.

When speaking to my business partner earlier in the week, he said "children's fitness levels are on the floor", this stuck with me and I wanted to discuss it in this week's episode.  He was covering a year 6 lesson and was shocked that the children couldn't even jog across the length of a netball court without stopping. That's only 30 meters!! In the second part of the episode, I'll take this further and talk about why I believe it is important to be active, children, schools, and families.  It is pretty obvious and clear, but it needs saying and as always I bring it back to fun, which for me is the most important aspect of raising physical activity levels in children, but also across the board. The final discussion point is around strengths and weaknesses.  Leaning into strengths but looking to improve those areas we know are not our best.  This is important for parents as well, sometimes it is too easy to let our children focus on strengths, but neglect their weaknesses.  Don't. They will thank you for this later in life, I hope...... If you want to jump to different topics, below are the timings: 0:53 - Children's fitness levels are on the floor 12:41 - Why it is important everyone is active 22:21 - Leaning into your strengths and improve your weaknesss Enjoy the episode.

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to a bit of a summary episode of the 'The School Run Podcast'. I recently watched Russell Howard's Lubricant show and there was a section in it that really struck a chord with me, it was about moments and memories and how they should be cherished and that they are far more important than a selfie. I also take a look back at the episodes from 2021 and what the podcast will have in store for 2022.  What would you like to hear?  What did you like, not like? Let me know and I will use this to shape future episodes. There are likely to be more solo episodes which I feel will make the podcast more sustainable over the long term, but if you want your voice heard, or someone you know would be a great guest, please drop me a message.  You can do this on any of the socials, or just over email. benkirk@inspiredschools.co.uk  I look forward to hearing from you and here's to creating more memories in 2022.

Nicole nearly lost her life through her pregnancy and having sepsis. She still has PTSD from the ordeal and nightmares which must be so tough, and I could not begin to understand. The takeaway for me is the way she has come back from this, and the role that sport has played.  It was able to take her away from her own mind and solely concentrate on her cricket, a 30-minute net session became a 3 hour one and she was able to find herself again. It is easy to underestimate what sport can do, and not just from an elite level perspective, but from a participation level, it can give us so, so much. Every child should have the opportunity to experience the joy that sport can bring. 😁

This was just one of many things we discussed, but certainly, one that stood out. The 2005 Ashes was an AMAZING summer, I loved that England cricket team, and Kevin Pietersen became a national hero as we took it to the Aussies for the first time in my life at that point.  Mark describes an innings in New Zealand, where KP got out quite cheaply, but more frustratingly for him was the manner of the innings, he let Scott Styris bowl at him, without taking the attack to him as he had done so many times in the past.  He sat on the balcony with Mark and they decided that he couldn't allow Scott Styris bowl at him like that again.  3 months into practicing a new shot, he faced Scott Styris again in an ODI, in England and the first and 3rd ball he faced from Styris, he 'Reverse hit' for 6.  And, changed the game of cricket forever! I love stories like this so much.  We only ever see the result, I had no idea it had taken that long for him to perfect the shot.  We often think of these superhumans, that have so much talent, that it is easy for them.  But actually, the reality is one of hard graft and 1000's of hours of practice, setbacks, tweaking, and honing their craft. My point is, if you want something, go and get it. But be prepared to work hard to achieve your goals, no one is going to give it to you, but opportunities are everywhere for the taking, don't give up. Mark is a wonderful coach and I certainly learned so much from this conversation.  With Mark being based down the road, I'm hoping our paths will cross again in the future and I can learn some more gems from him

James' passion and commitment to his work are very clear in this episode and actually, he shares many of the same values and beliefs we do at Inspired Schools. He talked passionately about the health of the nation and how he believes we need to do more at the root of the problem, invest in our children, into getting them more active, and relieve the burden on the NHS and the crazy amount of money that is spent on obesity-related illnesses. James is a grafter, he works so hard in his job and provides opportunities for many athletes at his running club in the evenings.  As you will hear, I joked that he has some time to squeeze more in...!  I sometimes get concerned with work-life balance, but James has brought his children into his working life and it sounds as though they are reaping the benefits of this.  They are around this environment, this high-performance environment and I know that his children will develop their personal skill set along with developing a healthy and active lifestyle. Inspired by their Dad. James has inspired me to look into starting a running club in my local town, giving FREE opportunities to children in the Bridgwater to be active and be a part of a community where being active is celebrated. What could you do? If you want to find out more about James and what he does, please go to: http://www.teamthie.com

Enthusiasm, passion, drive, determination, infectious, fun. I felt all of this after speaking with Alex for the School Run Podcast.  When speaking to someone with such passion for what they do, it always make me think, 'could we be doing more'.  Everyone that works with children, whether you are a teacher, coach, volunteer, teaching assistant, or lunchtime supervisor, can all make a huge difference.  Everyone that I have spoken to can almost instantly remember someone that impacted their childhood and I think we impact young people more than we realise.  This can be coaching or teaching, or simply by supporting and being there for someone. Just give it 100% and be there for the children in your care. Learning more from your losses isn't something new to 'The School Run Podcast', but it is worth mentioning again as it is so important.  Creating environments where children are able to express themselves, without fear of failing, they should feel comfortable to try new things, be creative and solve problems on their own.  Then if they make a mistake or get an answer wrong, they will be willing to give it another go, to keep trying until they do get it right and this is so powerful.  Even more so if we encourage problem solving, and let children work out their own solutions, they become problem solvers and will start to take ownership over their mistakes. I loved this episode and I hope you will as well.

I love speaking to Sue, I’ve only met her 3 times, twice on Zoom and once in person.  I always feel motivated and enthused after our conversations, but more so it always reaffirms that we are on the right track with what we are doing as a business. We talked about so much in this episode, legacy, how Pe has changed over the years, but how it still remains so important in our eyes and much more.  It is our job to help schools realise the power of raising the profile of PE, physical activity and sport can have, if it’s put up there with Maths and English. Sue talked about a school in Wakefield where parents can book to go into the school and watch any lesson.  How cool is that?  On last week’s episode I talked about the journey back to human, and this is an amazing way to start doing this.  Bringing the community together in relation to sport and festivals, which I think is the easiest way to involve parents.  I think that schools can celebrate this more than they do, bring the community in to watch the wonderful things that are going ahead (thinking non-covid times here, but still possible outdoors).  We typically make quite a big deal of sports days; I am a big advocate of having an inclusive sports day AND a traditional competitive one.  If you embed festivals and competitions throughout the year, bring the community in and it will bring a huge amount of pride and enthusiasm into the school and the most important thing is that children will LOVE it. Plus, parents might see their children thrive in a different environment which they didn’t know they loved. The power of community. Take a look at the resources section of the AfPE website, there is so much in there to support you in your PE journey. https://www.afpe.org.uk/physical-education/#

This was a thinker of an episode, certainly for me. It has made me evaluate our business practice and actually, I think we can improve what we are delivering into schools instantly. I am confident we deliver an excellent service into our primary schools, but I think by planning in leadership opportunities and other soft skills into, we can be even better. I believe that through PE, sport and physical activity we have a unique opportunity to inspire children to be active and help them find something they love.  But more than this we can give them skills such as leadership, resilience, creativity, teamwork etc, that will benefit them in later life, when going for jobs, managing people and communicating with peers and adults. I really enjoyed the documentary film 'Steeler', I found it thought provoking and I would recommend giving it a watch. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steelers-Worlds-First-Rugby-Club/dp/B092C28G8Z  Bottom line - sport and physical activity can be transformative, we need to do all we can so that more children can experience this.

When out running listening to Steven Bartlett's book 'Happy Sexy Millionnaire', I was inspired to record this episode to review and give my thoughts on one of the chapters 'The Journey Back to Human'. In this episode I take a look at some quotes from Steven's book about "Silicon Valley taking the life out of our lives" and how "18-37 year olds are the loneliest generation in human history".  I review this and give my take, relating it to PE, Sport and Physical Activity and how these three things can have a huge impact on our journey back to human, the importance of human interaction and the relationships that can be forged through sport. Have a think back to the most enjoyable parts of your life... For me, one was playing on the school playground with my friends, playing football, cricket, tag, 1,2,3 in and even street hockey at times.  Anything active, as long as we were together.  Amazing times.  We need to cherish these moments and schools should be putting PE right up there with English and Maths, because it will have a huge impact on the lives of young people and start our journeys back to human. I hope you enjoy the episode.  The links to Steven's book and podcast are below.  Hell, my book link is below as well, but get Steven's first! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Happy-Sexy-Millionaire-Unexpected-Fulfilment/dp/B08666P6FK/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=steven+bartlett&qid=1636838522&sr=8-1 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-diary-of-a-ceo-with-steven-bartlett/id1291423644 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healthy-Happy-School-performance-integrating-ebook/dp/B093ZSMW8R/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ben+kirk&qid=1636839023&sr=8-1 Enjoy.