Round Square Talking Heads
Welcome to Round Square, where we bring you a series of insightful podcasts featuring Heads of School from across the globe. Join us for bite-sized episodes as we delve into the knowledge, experience, and inspiration of Heads from Round Square schools. Learn about how they foster community, character, and personal growth in unique contexts.
Round Square is an international community of 280+ schools in 50 countries that collaborate on character education around six themes (the Round Square IDEALS) – International Understanding, Democracy, Environmental Stewardship, Adventure, Leadership and Service.
Visit www.roundsquare.org to discover more.
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Episodes
32 episodes
Patrick Roberts - Diplomacy
In this episode of Talking Heads, Patrick Roberts, Head of School at Palmer Trinity School in Miami, USA, reflects on how diplomacy skills are developed through Round Square International Conferences and within the life of his school.<...
Berdine Beukes - The Responsibility of Progress
Berdine Beukes, Executive Head at St George's Diocesan School in Namibia talks about how Round Square is primarily driven by women at the school and how our greatest strength lies not in perfection, but in authentic leadership grounded in compa...
Vanita Uppal OBE - Women in Leadership
Vanita Uppal OBE, Director of The British School New Delhi, India, talks about women in leadership, women defining leadership and women aspiring to leadership for International Women's Day.
Martha Perry - International Women's Day
Martha Perry, Head Teacher of St Clement's School, Canada talks about why as a girls’ school of privilege, it is vital that we highlight that the theme of International Women's Day this year hones in on the theme ALL as there continues to be a ...
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Pratima Gupta - Courage
Pratima Gupta, Head of School at Sunbeam Suncity (School & Hostel), Varanasi in India explores what courage looks like in schools and poses the question: when our students step into the world, will they simply be qualified or will they be c...
Francis Retter - Internationalism at BJAB
Francis Retter, Headteacher at British Junior Academy of Brussels (BJAB) in Belgium, talks about his experience of his first ever Round Square International Conference in Dubai and why it is more important than ever to take an international out...
Luke Hartley - Discovering a Spirit of Adventure
Luke Hartley, Head of College at Woodridge College and Preparatory School, South Africa, talks about how Adventure is not just about taking a break from the classroom, but is as an amazing educational tool, to build personal growth and characte...
Alan Redfern – Exploring our Wellbeing Journey
Alan Redfern, Headmaster of Stanford Lake College in South Africa, discusses the benefits of a holistic approach to wellness. He discusses implementing a comprehensive well-being program, designed to empower staff and students, shifting focus a...
George Vance - Round Square from the Perspective of a Car Enthusiast
George Vance, Headmaster of Rockport School in Northern Ireland, offers a light-hearted reflection on the Round Square Community, drawing inspiration from his passion for cars. George discusses the understated, transformative nature of Round Sq...
Matthew Davies - Consequence Management - supporting a holistic approach to education
Matthew Davies, Headmaster of Thomas More College in South Africa, outlines the school’s ‘Consequence Management’ approach, and discusses how it prioritises student well-being, community engagement, and collaborative partnerships between parent...
David du Toit - The portrait of a St Stithians Knight
David du Toit, Headmaster of St Stithians Boys’ College in Johannesburg, South Africa, discusses character education, Leadership, and the Round Square Discoveries. He shares what it means for his students to be St Stithians Knights, building th...
Amrita Burman - How Round Square has impacted mindsets in the small town of Varanasi
Amrita Burman, Head of Sunbeam School, Lahartara in India, reflects on the impact that being part of the Round Square Network has had on the school and local community, and the changes she has observed. She considers how the RS IDEALS have enri...
Nargish Khambatta - How school leaders can help students to discover their potential
Nargish Khambatta, Head of GEMS Modern Academy, Dubai outlines the role that education leaders have in helping young people to discover the power within. She discusses how a leadership model built on principles of holacracy and sophrosyne can c...
Wayne Brown - Passion and Commitment
Wayne Brown, Headmaster of Whanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand, explains how passion for service creates a deep sense of belonging, an understanding of care and compassion, and a connected community. He shares some ways in which students...
Chris Townsend - Best Foot Forward
Chris Townsend, Headmaster at Felsted School in the UK, talks about the value of setting a challenge. During Covid, Chris began running. In this podcast he shares the steps that led him to run the London Marathon, something he never thought he ...
León Trahtemberg - Schooling is structurally abusive and discriminatory, so let's do damage control
León Trahtemberg, Headmaster of Áleph School in Peru, shares how the school approaches each child’s learning in an individual and responsive manner. León uses two scenarios to illustrate his argument that a “one size fits all” approach to educa...
Bernd Westmeyer - Courage and Backbone
Bernd Westmeyer tells the story of seven alumni from Klosterschule Roßleben in Germany, whose courageous, 1944 coup d’état against Adolf Hitler led to their arrest and execution. Bernd shares how this tale of bravery in the face of oppression, ...
Phillip Heath - The importance of knowing your why
Phillip Heath. Headmaster of Barker College in Australia, reflects on the purpose of education and the value of kindness. He shares how a desire to create positive impact outside Barker College led to partnerships with remote communities, and t...
Lucy Gowdie - The Power of Policy
Lucy Gowdie, Head of School at the Inter-community School Zurich explores the power of policy in aligning purpose and values for students, families, and educators within school communities. She discusses the importance of an inclusive process f...
Sally James – Unpacking Success
Sally James, Head of St Stithians Girls’ College, considers how success is defined in school and in life. With reference to Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book, “Man's Search for Meaning”, Sally reflects on the notion that if you make personal success yo...
Nick Reeves – Building Character
Nick Reeves from Colegio Colombo Británico explores some of the factors that contribute to decreasing levels of resilience in young people, and outlines how his school addresses them using the IB’s Approach to Learning (ATL). Nick discusses int...
Cory Lowde – The Teenage Brain Part 3 of 3
Cory Lowde from Box Hill school in the UK takes us on part THREE of a three-part journey through teenage brain development, offering insights into some of the challenges faced by teens, and how we might support them in navigating adolescence. H...
Cory Lowde – The Teenage Brain Part 2 of 3
Cory Lowde from Box Hill school in the UK takes us on part TWO of a three-part journey through teenage brain development, offering insights into some of the challenges faced by teens, and how we might support them in navigating adolescence. He ...
Cory Lowde – The Teenage Brain Part 1 of 3
Cory Lowde from Box Hill school in the UK takes us on part ONE of a three-part journey through teenage brain development, offering insights into some of the challenges faced by teens, and how we might support them in navigating adolescence. He ...
Arti Chowdhary - Fostering capable leaders for a happy world
Arti Chowdhary from KC Public School in India draws inspiration from Daisaku Ikeda and Soka Humanism (believing in the infinite potential of others) to discuss the role that empathetic leadership plays in building a happy world. Arti discusses ...