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Ready to Teach: An Inspector Calls

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.

Haili Hughes: Belonging, Mentoring, and Why Teachers Leave

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0100

This was one of those conversations that really made us stop and think.

In this episode of The Kitchen Table, we sit down with Haili Hughes to explore belonging in education, not as a simple idea, but as something complex, personal, and often uncomfortable. We get into her journey, from feeling like an outsider growing up to shaping a career around mentoring, teacher development, and retention. This is a conversation about identity, courage, and what it really takes to build cultures where people feel they matter.

What You’ll Discover

- Belonging Is More Complex Than We Think: It’s not about fitting everywhere, it’s about understanding where and why we feel we belong.

- Why Mentoring Must Go Beyond Coaching: Real mentoring blends skill development with trust, support, and human connection.

- What Actually Keeps Teachers in the Profession: Belonging, agency, and identity matter just as much as workload when it comes to retention.

Haili brings a rare perspective to the conversation. She is currently the only professor in the UK still working within a school, combining her role as Professor of Coaching and Mentoring with her work as Director of Professional Development at a MAT in Merseyside. Alongside this, she has served as an ITT Quality Advisor for the Department for Education since 2021, facilitated and assessed the ECF and NPQs for both Teach First and UCL, and continues to contribute to national teacher development through her work with Teach First and the Ambition Institute. In 2024, she was elected to the council of the Chartered College of Teaching, and in 2026, she was awarded Fellowship status.

What really stayed with us is how honest this conversation is about the reality of education right now. The pressure, the complexity, and the challenge of creating environments where people feel safe to grow. But also the reminder that small shifts, better conversations, and intentional leadership can make a real difference.

Haili has written 10 education books:

Mentoring in Schools

Preserving Positivity

Teacher Hacks: English

Love the One You're With

Coaching for Adaptive Expertise

GCSE Literature Boost: A Christmas Carol

Humans in the Classroom

Clearing the Path to Leadership - not yet on pre-order.

Tackling the Unseen Poem - not yet on pre-order.

Mentoring English Teachers - not yet on pre-order.

GCSE Literature Boost: Jekyll and Hyde - not yet on pre-order.

Connect with Phil Banks

thebelongingcollective.blog.

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

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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.

Designing a Curriculum for Belonging and Inclusion

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0100

There has been increasing reflection on what belonging really looks like in education, not just as a concept, but as something intentionally designed into the everyday experience of schools.

In this episode of The Kitchen Table, Aidan Severs, an education consultant and former deputy head with over 20 years in teaching and leadership, shares what it truly takes to build a curriculum for belonging and inclusion that goes beyond good intentions. Drawing on his experience from the classroom through to whole-school leadership in Bradford, and now his work supporting schools across the UK, Aidan offers a practical, deeply grounded perspective on how real change actually happens.

What You’ll Discover

- Belonging Beyond Buzzwords: Why inclusion isn’t about policies or posters, but about how people actually experience a school every single day.

- Designing Culture Through Curriculum: How intentional curriculum thinking can shape identity, empathy, and connection across a whole school.

- Sustainable Change That Sticks: How leaders can support staff development and build improvements that genuinely last.

One of the key takeaways from this conversation is how deliberate this work needs to be. Aidan’s experience across teaching, leadership, and consultancy is evident in his perspective on change - not quick fixes, but thoughtful, sustained work that supports both staff and pupils. That’s what makes this conversation so powerful.

For school leaders, teachers, or anyone shaping learning environments, this is a conversation that is likely to stay with listeners. If it resonates, consider sharing it with someone working to build a more inclusive and thoughtful school culture.

Connect with Aidan Severs

Website | LinkedIn

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Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

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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.

Dr Ilene Winokur: Why Belonging Is Not a Buzzword

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0100

When we talk about belonging in education, are we truly living it or just writing it into policy documents? In this episode of The Kitchen Table, we sit down with Dr Ilene Winokur to explore what belonging actually looks like in practice, from classrooms in Kuwait to refugee communities in Kenya.

Ilene has lived in Kuwait since 1984 and has spent more than 35 years working at the intersection of education, storytelling and belonging. A professional learning consultant, author and global mentor, she supports teachers around the world, including refugee educators, and has published two books centred on belonging. Her work is rooted in one core belief: connection changes communities.

In our conversation, she shares her personal journey of moving to Kuwait at 29, learning Arabic to connect with her mother-in-law, and later navigating the loss of her citizenship while still holding onto her sense of home.

What We Explore

- Personal vs Professional Belonging: Why the relationships we build at home and at work shape us differently, and why both are essential in schools.

- Creating Space That Feels Safe: From greeting students at the door to co-constructing classroom norms, the practical ways teachers can nurture trust and voice.

- Belonging Beyond the Mission Statement: How leaders can align culture, policy and everyday behaviour so inclusion is lived rather than laminated.

Ilene reflects on walking school corridors as a principal and noticing how her own emotional state influenced the building. It is a powerful reminder that belonging is embodied. It is relational. It is felt.

If you are building community in a classroom, a school or beyond, this conversation will both challenge and steady you.

Connect with Phil Banks

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

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.

Why Does Belonging Matter, and Where Does Mattering Belong?

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

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

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

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.

Dr Lisa Cherry: Caring for the Carers in a Fractured System

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

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

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

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.

Henrik Appert: The Business of Belonging

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100

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

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

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.

Where Belonging Begins

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0100

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

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu

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.

Introducing The Kitchen Table

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0100

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

Drawbridge Collective | Mohamed Abdallah | Substack

Connect with Mohamed Abdallah

Connect with Danielle Lewis-Egonu