Milk first or milk last? It sounds like a harmless question until you ask it in a British staffroom. We tumble from casual brew chat into a proper national obsession: tea-making etiquette, why coffee somehow escapes the same scrutiny, and how a single mug can generate stronger opinions than most staff meetings.

Along the way, we pit science against George Orwell in the great milk debate, discover the surprisingly specific "correct" colour of tea, and somehow find ourselves using He-Man as an entirely reasonable reference point.

Eventually, we arrive at this week's list.

This week's victim is a list of end-of-term classroom activities that promises to keep secondary students engaged during the final week of school. Instead, it raises far more questions than it answers. Who is supplying thirty board games? How exactly do you "host Taskmaster" without the room descending into chaos? And why do so many online teaching ideas seem to have been invented by people who've never actually met a class on the last Friday in July?

We also tackle the annual debate over end-of-term films, the frustration of only ever watching the first forty minutes, and why we'd often rather teach a normal lesson than pretend half a Disney film counts as learning.

If you've got stronger opinions on tea than teaching—or better ideas for surviving the last week of term—we'd love to hear them.

Leave us a review, share the episode with a colleague, and if you've got a better last-week-of-term activity—or a definitive answer to the milk debate—we'd love to hear from you.

Email: bandjcdb@gmail.com
Website: benandjamescoulddobetter.com

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

A checklist can look impressively professional and still be completely useless. This week's proof is an "ultimate guide to organising school trips" that can't even keep track of its own Step Four.

Before we get there, though, we wander off into the story of Jack Wild, the Artful Dodger from Oliver!, and the way celebrity encounters slowly evolve into family folklore until someone is convinced their dad was one casting decision away from Hollywood. From there, it's school productions, choir memories with Harry Secombe, and why the smallest performances often become the stories people remember for decades.

Eventually—unlike some recent episodes—we remember this is supposed to be a podcast about secondary education. After a brief disagreement over this week's postcard, we set about dismantling the list.

This week's victim is a school trips checklist that promises to tell teachers everything they need to know. Instead, it:

• Skips crucial steps,
• Muddles the order completely, and
• Somehow makes one of the most complicated parts of teaching sound like assembling flat-pack furniture.

We pick apart the advice, discuss what actually goes into organising a successful school trip—from risk assessments and parent communication to medical information and logistical chaos—and ask whether some educational guidance is written by people who've ever organised a trip in the first place.

If you've ever planned a school trip, spent hours chasing consent forms, or found yourself shouting, "That's not even the next step!", this episode is for you.

Leave us a review, and while you're there, tell us about your best (or worst) school trip memory.

• Email: bandjcdb@gmail.com
• Website: benandjamescoulddobetter.com

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Crisps on a microphone shouldn't lead to a serious conversation about education. And, to be fair, it doesn't. Instead, it leads to a deep dive into the world of crisps, followed closely by Ben trying to recreate James' morning routine as though it were a gritty Sunday night TV drama.

Once we've finished auditioning actors for this dark, brooding biopic, we drift into the rest of the domestic chaos: reluctant wake-ups, hair dramas, and a child who currently insists on wearing a rotating collection of animal ears wherever they go. Along the way, we debate whether adults need to "perform" for children, what a proper homecoming from work actually looks like, and why Friday night pizza is less of a treat than a survival strategy.

Eventually, we remember this is supposed to be an education podcast.

This week's victim is a list of advice on helping pupils move from Year 6 to Year 7. On paper, it promises practical guidance. In reality, it's another collection of educational clichés, obvious observations, and suggestions that sound far more impressive than they are useful.

We pick apart the recommendations, wonder how five pieces of advice can contradict each other so spectacularly, and lament missing the webinar that promised to use the power of celebrity to help Year 6 pupils settle into secondary school.

If you've ever read an education article and wondered whether the author has actually met a Year 7—or if you just want to hear the pitch for James' upcoming television debut—this one's for you.

Leave us a review, and while you're there, let us know: what's your Friday night comfort food?

Email: bandjcdb@gmail.com
Website: benandjamescoulddobetter.com

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show