Here to have the conversations that matter - exploring leadership that works, wellbeing that lasts and innovations that stick. Each episode is designed to leave you with actionable insights and renewed energy for the important work you're doing. Whether you're a teacher, practitioner or leader, these conversations are for you. We're not just talking about the future - we're helping you create it, one conversation at a time.
https://x.com/sarahphilpcoach
https://x.com/William_J_Burke
https://x.com/changingconver1
https://www.instagram.com/saorsapsychology/
sarah@saorsa-psychology.co.uk
A conversation with Billy about leadership, reform and hope.
This episode marks the final conversation of Changing Conversations, a podcast that began in June 2020 during lockdown, born from a desire to create space for thoughtful dialogue in education.
In this closing conversation, Billy reflects on his journey from secondary headteacher through the pandemic to his current role as Head of Children and Young People at Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH).
We explore what he’s seeing nationally in relation to children and young people’s mental health, the realities behind the word “crisis,” and what gives him hope. We talk about curriculum, reform, anxiety, belonging, neurodivergence, attendance, AI, teacher wellbeing — and the human threads that connect all of it.
What’s Next
While Changing Conversations comes to an end, the work continues. Over the coming months, Sarah’s podcast Space to Think will become Space to Think – Conversations in Education, bringing together reflective dialogue, research, lived experience and courageous thinking about education as it is lived, led and felt into one coherent space.
You can continue listening, reflecting and connecting there. You can also join Sarah on Substack (https://spacetothink.substack.com/), where she shares longer-form writing on leadership, learning and wellbeing (https://spacetothink.substack.com/ (https://spacetothink.substack.com/)).
29 Jan 2026
S1 E09. Leading with Presence with Maggie Farrar
In this episode, Sarah chats with Maggie Farrar about presence in leadership. Maggie has worked in Education for many years as a teacher and as a leader, and found that her personal mindfulness practice was a cornerstone of her leadership practice. Having trained as a mindfulness practitioner, her work with leaders focuses on supporting others to cultivate mindfulness in life and work.
We explore how mindfulness practice and wellbeing, in general, have become more acceptable to talk about and how well they integrate into leadership practice and development. Maggie has a wonderful way of honouring the tradition in which her work sits and sharing it in a way that engages and supports busy, tired and often overwhelmed leaders.
In 2022, Maggie published her book Leading With Presence, It’s An Inside Job. Her experience of leadership programmes was that they tended to focus on the outer world of leadership, leaving the inner world of leaders neglected and unexplored. She hopes that her book helps to re-dress the imbalance and supports leaders in cultivating awareness and practical ways of developing mindfulness and presence.
Find out more about Maggie’s work - https://www.empoweringleadership.co.uk/ (https://www.empoweringleadership.co.uk/)
Connect with Maggie on X - https://x.com/FarrarMaggie (https://x.com/FarrarMaggie)
Read Leading With Presence, It’s An Inside Job (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leading-Presence-Its-Inside-Job/dp/1838007342/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FXRKOJ9U5CZ3&keywords=leading%20with%20presence%20maggie%20farrar&qid=1665622406&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjY4IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=maggie%20farrar%2Caps%2C67&sr=8-1)
15 Jan 2026
S1 E08. Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage with Sean Harris & Katrina Morley
In this episode of Changing Conversations, Sarah is joined by Katrina and Sean for a rich and reflective discussion inspired by their book Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools.
Drawing on their work within the Tees Valley Education Trust, Katrina and Sean explore what it means to take a genuinely place-based approach to school improvement, one that recognises the complexity of poverty, values lived experience and sees schools as part of a wider ecosystem rather than the sole solution.
Together we explore:
Their approach to being “furiously curious”
Why education alone cannot address educational inequality
The importance of dignity, relational work and deep social listening
How co-production with children, families and communities reshapes practice
The difference between collaboration as a slogan and collaboration as design
How values, place and policy intersect
What brings hope
Katrina and Sean share concrete examples from their context, from co-produced community magazines and uniform access, to partnerships with funders, charities and local organisations, all illustrating how small, intentional design choices can reduce or remove barriers and build belonging.
Throughout the conversation, there is a clear invitation: not to replicate their work, but to reflect on your own context, values and assumptions and to ask what might be possible if we gang up on the problem rather than on one another.
This episode will resonate with school leaders, educators and system leaders who are grappling with complexity, seeking hope without false optimism, and looking for ways to lead with integrity in uncertain times.
Useful links:
Connect with Katrina (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrina-morley-obe-16a59a100/) and Sean (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-harris-fcct-55118418b/)on LinkedIn.
Book insights & discount code here (https://thatpovertyguy.substack.com/p/i-dont-want-a-lot-for-christmas).
Read and download the PLACE: Our Journey So Far Impact report (https://www.teesvalleyeducation.co.uk/place-impact-report/).
Tees Valley Education Trust website (https://www.teesvalleyeducation.co.uk/)(including the community magazine mentioned in the conversation).
Child of the North: more information about their campaign work as a movement and resources/reports for colleagues to download (https://www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/child-of-the-north/).
Substack: Sean’s personal Substack (https://thatpovertyguy.substack.com/) with obvious implicit and explicit links to the work of Tees Valley Education Trust and contained in the book.
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