<![CDATA[The Kitchen Table]]>4b437aef-6428-5b14-89dd-5235ccc9f380Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:57:30 +0000Captivate.fmUrban Podcastshttps://artwork.captivate.fm/8e7d8fef-eb99-4e56-9feb-0fc15dd43e52/Pink-and-Yellow-Retro-Playful-Club-Logo-2.jpgThe Kitchen TableUrban PodcastsUrban PodcastsWelcome to The Kitchen Table, with Phil, Mohamed, and Danielle. A space where research meets relationships, and where we slow things down to talk about what really matters. This is where you’ll get to know us - our journeys through education, the questions we’re still wrestling with, and why belonging, mattering, and social justice sit at the heart of the work we do. We’ll also be joined by friends from across education and beyond, people who are committed to building communities that are rooted in care, courage, and the belief that everyone matters. So grab a cup of tea, a coffee, or whatever comfort food you have at arm’s reach, pull up a chair, and spend some time with us at The Kitchen Table.https://urbanpodcasts.co.uk/falseepisodicnopodcastWhy Does Belonging Matter, and Where Does Mattering Belong?Why Does Belonging Matter, and Where Does Mattering Belong?Mo and I have been circling this debate for a long time. I talk about belonging. He talks about mattering. And if we’re honest, we’ve both walked away from conversations thinking, I like him, but he’s wrong. So today at The Kitchen Table, it’s just the two of us finally putting it on record.

This is not just a word game. It’s about what we actually want students and teachers to experience in our schools. Is it enough to feel included? Or do we need to feel significant, relied upon, even missed?

What We Explore

- Belonging and Mattering Defined: Where they overlap, where they differ, and why being noticed and missed might be the real shift.

- The Achievement Debate: What the research says about attainment, dropout rates and whether belonging truly changes outcomes.

- Culture in the Everyday: How small relational moments, not big declarations, shape identity and long-term wellbeing.

This conversation reminded us that schools shape identity as much as they shape grades. When someone feels invisible or replaceable, the consequences are serious. When they feel valued and significant, something shifts.

If you’re leading a classroom, a team or a whole school, this episode is an invitation to look closely at the moments that quietly define your culture. Because the cost of getting this wrong is too high, and the impact of getting it right can echo far beyond the classroom.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>Mo and I have been circling this debate for a long time. I talk about belonging. He talks about mattering. And if we’re honest, we’ve both walked away from conversations thinking, I like him, but he’s wrong. So today at The Kitchen Table, it’s just the two of us finally putting it on record.

This is not just a word game. It’s about what we actually want students and teachers to experience in our schools. Is it enough to feel included? Or do we need to feel significant, relied upon, even missed?

What We Explore

- Belonging and Mattering Defined: Where they overlap, where they differ, and why being noticed and missed might be the real shift.

- The Achievement Debate: What the research says about attainment, dropout rates and whether belonging truly changes outcomes.

- Culture in the Everyday: How small relational moments, not big declarations, shape identity and long-term wellbeing.

This conversation reminded us that schools shape identity as much as they shape grades. When someone feels invisible or replaceable, the consequences are serious. When they feel valued and significant, something shifts.

If you’re leading a classroom, a team or a whole school, this episode is an invitation to look closely at the moments that quietly define your culture. Because the cost of getting this wrong is too high, and the impact of getting it right can echo far beyond the classroom.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>1900e8f2-884e-415c-81ce-dd461d22ade7Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +010045:12falsefull1441Dr Lisa Cherry: Caring for the Carers in a Fractured SystemDr Lisa Cherry: Caring for the Carers in a Fractured SystemThis is exactly why we created The Kitchen Table. In this episode, we sit down with Dr Lisa Cherry to explore what it really means to care for the people who care, in schools and services that are holding more than ever before. From trauma-informed practice to leadership vulnerability, from exclusion to belonging, this conversation is honest, searching and deeply human.

Lisa shares how her own cancer diagnosis reshaped her thinking about organisational care, why self-care on its own is never enough, and what leaders must model if psychological safety is going to be more than a poster on the wall.

Dr Lisa Cherry is an author, researcher and international trainer who has spent over 35 years working across Education and Children’s Services. She supports schools, services and wider systems to rethink how they respond to the legacy of trauma, combining academic research with professional expertise and lived experience. Her work has reached more than 35,000 people globally across education, health, adult services and criminal justice. Her MA research explored the long-term impact of school exclusion on care experienced adults, and in 2024 she completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford examining how care experienced adults who were also excluded from school make sense of belonging. She is the author of Conversations that Make a Difference for Children and Young People, The Brightness of Stars, Weaving a Web of Belonging and Caring for the People Who Care.

What We Explore

- Caring Beyond Tokenism: Why wellbeing hours and helplines mean little without cultures that genuinely protect and value staff.

- Belonging as a Turning Point: How exclusion, care experience and education shaped Lisa’s journey and why one teacher can change a life trajectory.

- Vulnerability as Leadership Strength: Why modelling help-seeking and repair after rupture is the foundation of psychologically safe organisations.

We reflect on moral injury in schools, rising exclusions, the weight carried by safeguarding leads and pastoral teams, and the danger of placing all the responsibility on individual resilience. Lisa reminds us that trauma does not sit only with children. Adults in our systems carry their own histories too, and ignoring that reality comes at a cost.

There is something powerful in her phrase that educators are “there in waiting”. That the conversation you have today may not show its impact for years, but it still matters. That belonging is not soft or sentimental, it is structural. And that if we want people to stay in caring professions, flexibility, supervision and relational cultures are not optional extras.

If you lead in education, health or any caring profession, this episode invites you to look again at how you hold your people.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>This is exactly why we created The Kitchen Table. In this episode, we sit down with Dr Lisa Cherry to explore what it really means to care for the people who care, in schools and services that are holding more than ever before. From trauma-informed practice to leadership vulnerability, from exclusion to belonging, this conversation is honest, searching and deeply human.

Lisa shares how her own cancer diagnosis reshaped her thinking about organisational care, why self-care on its own is never enough, and what leaders must model if psychological safety is going to be more than a poster on the wall.

Dr Lisa Cherry is an author, researcher and international trainer who has spent over 35 years working across Education and Children’s Services. She supports schools, services and wider systems to rethink how they respond to the legacy of trauma, combining academic research with professional expertise and lived experience. Her work has reached more than 35,000 people globally across education, health, adult services and criminal justice. Her MA research explored the long-term impact of school exclusion on care experienced adults, and in 2024 she completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford examining how care experienced adults who were also excluded from school make sense of belonging. She is the author of Conversations that Make a Difference for Children and Young People, The Brightness of Stars, Weaving a Web of Belonging and Caring for the People Who Care.

What We Explore

- Caring Beyond Tokenism: Why wellbeing hours and helplines mean little without cultures that genuinely protect and value staff.

- Belonging as a Turning Point: How exclusion, care experience and education shaped Lisa’s journey and why one teacher can change a life trajectory.

- Vulnerability as Leadership Strength: Why modelling help-seeking and repair after rupture is the foundation of psychologically safe organisations.

We reflect on moral injury in schools, rising exclusions, the weight carried by safeguarding leads and pastoral teams, and the danger of placing all the responsibility on individual resilience. Lisa reminds us that trauma does not sit only with children. Adults in our systems carry their own histories too, and ignoring that reality comes at a cost.

There is something powerful in her phrase that educators are “there in waiting”. That the conversation you have today may not show its impact for years, but it still matters. That belonging is not soft or sentimental, it is structural. And that if we want people to stay in caring professions, flexibility, supervision and relational cultures are not optional extras.

If you lead in education, health or any caring profession, this episode invites you to look again at how you hold your people.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>af904bc8-9e34-4464-a87a-517470d83806Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +010051:22falsefull1331Bio Dr Lisa Cherry is an author, researcher, leading international trainer and consultant, specialising in assisting schools, services and systems to create systemic change to the way that we work with those experiencing and living with the legacy of trauma. Lisa has been working in and around Education and Children’s Services for over 35 years, combining academic knowledge and research with professional expertise and personal experience. Lisa has worked extensively with those in Adult Services, health and criminal justice, training and speaking to over 35,000 people around the world, including in the US, Australia and Pakistan and across the whole of the UK. Lisa has produced multiple pieces of research for various settings and Lisa's own MA research looked at the impact on education and employment for care experienced adults who experienced school exclusion as children in the 1970's and 1980's. In February 2024 Lisa completed her DPhil research at The University of Oxford in the Department of Education. The research asked "How do care experienced adults who were also excluded from school make sense of belonging?" Lisa is the author of the hugely successful and award winning book 'Conversations that make a difference for Children and Young People' (2021), and of 'The Brightness of Stars’ 3rd Ed (2022), Weaving a Web of Belonging (2025) and 'Caring for the people who Care' (2025). LinkedIn Instagram WebsiteHenrik Appert: The Business of BelongingHenrik Appert: The Business of BelongingWe love starting conversations that blend personal stories with big ideas in education, and Henrik's journey is a perfect example.

In this episode of The Kitchen Table, we sit down with Henrik Appert - founder and CEO of Magma Math, an internationally recognised and award-winning maths learning platform. We hear about his move to England at seven without speaking the language, finding belonging through football, his path from engineering to teaching, and how he built Magma Math to help teachers and students thrive in five countries.

What We Explore

- Henrik's Personal Journey: From arriving in England as a child to discovering purpose in teaching and founding a global edtech company.

- Building Magma Maths: How an AI platform puts teachers first, fosters ownership, and scales ambition to reach students worldwide.

- Culture and Belonging: Why high ambitions, trust, and a teacher-centric approach create teams that deliver real impact in education.

This conversation reminded us why personal stories like Henrik's fuel innovation - if you're passionate about education, tech, or belonging, it'll spark something in you.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>We love starting conversations that blend personal stories with big ideas in education, and Henrik's journey is a perfect example.

In this episode of The Kitchen Table, we sit down with Henrik Appert - founder and CEO of Magma Math, an internationally recognised and award-winning maths learning platform. We hear about his move to England at seven without speaking the language, finding belonging through football, his path from engineering to teaching, and how he built Magma Math to help teachers and students thrive in five countries.

What We Explore

- Henrik's Personal Journey: From arriving in England as a child to discovering purpose in teaching and founding a global edtech company.

- Building Magma Maths: How an AI platform puts teachers first, fosters ownership, and scales ambition to reach students worldwide.

- Culture and Belonging: Why high ambitions, trust, and a teacher-centric approach create teams that deliver real impact in education.

This conversation reminded us why personal stories like Henrik's fuel innovation - if you're passionate about education, tech, or belonging, it'll spark something in you.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>b62bb6cf-6c18-42f4-bd1f-60e2b56f41fdMon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +010057:02falsefull1221Where Belonging BeginsWhere Belonging BeginsPull up a chair - this is where research meets relationships, and we explore what belonging, mattering, and pursuing social justice really look like in education.

In this first episode of The Kitchen Table, we share our stories: from growing up, feeling forgotten and the power teachers have to change everything. We unpack why belonging isn't just a buzzword - it's the foundation for thriving communities and how our personal journeys fuel the work we do.

What We Explore

- Personal Paths to Belonging: We each share our own journeys from childhood roots and formative moments to the people and places that shaped our sense of belonging and why it drives our work today.

- Identity and Place: How roots, people, and spaces shape who we are and why feeling "at home wherever you are" is the ultimate goal.

- Building Communities: The role of relationships, vulnerability, and cultural agency in creating spaces where everyone feels they matter.

This conversation reminded us why belonging drives everything we do - if you're in education or just care about people connecting, pull up a chair and join us at The Kitchen Table.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>Pull up a chair - this is where research meets relationships, and we explore what belonging, mattering, and pursuing social justice really look like in education.

In this first episode of The Kitchen Table, we share our stories: from growing up, feeling forgotten and the power teachers have to change everything. We unpack why belonging isn't just a buzzword - it's the foundation for thriving communities and how our personal journeys fuel the work we do.

What We Explore

- Personal Paths to Belonging: We each share our own journeys from childhood roots and formative moments to the people and places that shaped our sense of belonging and why it drives our work today.

- Identity and Place: How roots, people, and spaces shape who we are and why feeling "at home wherever you are" is the ultimate goal.

- Building Communities: The role of relationships, vulnerability, and cultural agency in creating spaces where everyone feels they matter.

This conversation reminded us why belonging drives everything we do - if you're in education or just care about people connecting, pull up a chair and join us at The Kitchen Table.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>52fec975-89aa-45da-95b0-1d13f9b3c140Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +010044:44falsefull1111Introducing The Kitchen TableIntroducing The Kitchen TableWelcome to The Kitchen Table, with Phil, Mohamed, and Danielle. A space where research meets relationships, and where we slow things down to talk about what really matters.

This is where you’ll get to know us - our journeys through education, the questions we’re still wrestling with, and why belonging, mattering, and social justice sit at the heart of the work we do.

We’ll also be joined by friends from across education and beyond, people who are committed to building communities that are rooted in care, courage, and the belief that everyone matters.

So grab a cup of tea, a coffee, or whatever comfort food you’d have at arm’s reach, pull up a chair, and spend some time with us at The Kitchen Table.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>Welcome to The Kitchen Table, with Phil, Mohamed, and Danielle. A space where research meets relationships, and where we slow things down to talk about what really matters.

This is where you’ll get to know us - our journeys through education, the questions we’re still wrestling with, and why belonging, mattering, and social justice sit at the heart of the work we do.

We’ll also be joined by friends from across education and beyond, people who are committed to building communities that are rooted in care, courage, and the belief that everyone matters.

So grab a cup of tea, a coffee, or whatever comfort food you’d have at arm’s reach, pull up a chair, and spend some time with us at The Kitchen Table.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

Danielle Lewis-Egonu | Substack

The Kitchen Table are grateful to our sponsors Magma Maths, Zen Educate, St Christophers Trust, Cygnus Academies Trust, The Reach Foundation and it is produced by Urban Podcasts.

]]>532f9217-067c-4cfe-93e4-bc754f9b7232Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +010001:39falsetrailer