Charlie Burley

Vicky Bingham

Vicky Bingham is headmistress of North London Collegiate School, only the 10th head since the school's founding in 1850. A classicist by training, she's spent her entire career in girls' education after falling in love with the culture at her first teaching interview. In this episode, Vicky explains why girls' schools have a culture that enjoys change, shares her phone policy (Year 7s can't bring smartphones even onto the coach), and pushes back on the "let's teach mortgages" mentality. Her advice to her 16-year-old self: this too will pass, and what you worry about today, you will laugh about tomorrow.

Charlie Burley

Charlie Burley was a primary school teacher until a panic attack in his year six classroom led to a diagnosis of chronic stress and anxiety. The doctor told him he needed a whole lifestyle change. Now he runs The Teacher's Health Coach, helping teachers build sustainable habits without sacrificing their health. In this episode, Charlie explains his six Cs framework for teacher wellbeing, offers a reality check for those thinking of leaving the profession and shares his unpopular opinion: wellbeing isn't just about workload.

Jamie Beaton

Jamie Beaton started Crimson Education at 17 after getting into 25 of the world's top universities. He went to Harvard two years ahead of schedule, is now on his 12th degree and has built Crimson into a billion-dollar company operating in 20 countries. In this episode, Jamie explains what his mum did differently when he was growing up, shares his view that countries moving away from standardised exams generally pay a price and reflects on the mentor who transformed his life: the late Julian Robertson, who had more confidence in him than he had in himself.

James Hooke

James Hooke has been headmaster of Harrodian School for over 25 years. He joined in 1995, just two years after it was founded, responding to a tiny ad in the TES and turning up to the interview with his six-month-old daughter in a car seat. The school then had 60 pupils; today it serves over a thousand. In this episode, James reflects on how to retain a family feel as a school grows, explains the mentoring programme he's built over 19 years and shares what he looks for in Harrodian students: children who are happy to arrive and sad to leave.

Bill Kuhn

Bill Kuhn is head of school at Birch Wathen Lenox, a K-12 school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. He came to education late after a career in finance, and fell in love with explaining things to kids while tutoring on the side. In this episode, Bill explains why BWL puts "constructive dialogue" at the heart of everything, from kindergarten debates about ice cream flavours through to upper school students tackling complex opposing viewpoints. He shares his view that technology has "terrible default settings" and argues that schools should tackle controversial topics head on. His controversial opinion: protecting students from discomfort actually makes them weaker, not safer.