Back for episode 248 and it kicks off with the realities of the summer term: SATs, GCSEs, mocks, revision timetables and that slightly terrifying moment when you realise your children are suddenly much older than your brain has agreed to process. The opening chat turns into a proper reflection on parenting, growing up and those little moments that make you realise time is absolutely flying. There’s also a brilliant thread on clever parenting “hacks”, although most of them are less hack and more just genuinely thoughtful parenting. From encouraging reading and building life skills to quietly teaching responsibility, it’s a lovely reminder that the best parenting tricks are often the ones children don’t realise are tricks at the time. Then it’s time for this week’s blind ranking: fictional teachers. Mr P has to rank which famous screen teachers he’d most want as his parallel teacher, and it brings up everything from inspirational teaching to questionable behaviour management. Some choices are obvious, others are… brave. Let’s just say Miss Honey might not survive a modern Year 6 classroom without serious backup. With SATs week in full swing, the episode then dives into funny test answers and classroom misunderstandings. It’s full of those moments where children technically answer the question… just not in the way anyone expected. There’s maths logic, spelling confusion, history mix-ups and the kind of literal thinking that makes teachers both laugh and question every instruction they’ve ever given. There’s also a run of brilliant misunderstandings from pupils, from mixed-up vocabulary to accidental wordplay and those classic moments where children hear something completely different to what was actually said. As always, the innocence makes it ten times funnier. And finally, the episode ends with a properly awkward school story involving a very serious misunderstanding over an item brought into class. Panic, embarrassment, safeguarding concern, parental conversation… and then the reveal that it was not what anyone thought. Classic school life. Absolute chaos from start to finish. 📬 Want your story featured on the pod? Submit it here: 👉 forms.gle/sWCUVURZjtn6GeN16 Here’s where you can catch the show 👇 🎭 May 2026 22nd May - Salford, Lowry 🎨 🎭 October 2026 25th October - Norwich, Epic Studios 🏰 26th October - London, Soho Walthamstow 🎤 27th October - Tunbridge Wells, Assembly Hall Theatre 🌳 28th October - Eastbourne, Devonshire Park 🌊 29th October - Colchester, Charter Hall 🏺 30th October - Southampton, O2 Guildhall ⚓ 31st October - High Wycombe, Swan 🎶 🎭 February 2027 14th February - Blackpool, Grand Theatre 🎡 15th February - Carlisle, The Sands Centre 🏞️ 16th February - Chester, Storyhouse 🐎 17th February - Crewe, Lyceum Theatre 🚂 18th February - Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall 🏹 19th February - Stoke, Victoria Hall 🏺 20th February - Stockton, Globe Theatre 🌐 27th February - Dublin, Ambassador Theatre 🇮🇪 🎟️ Tickets available at 2mrpspodcast.com/live Get it booked, round up your people and give yourself something to properly look forward to 👏🎤 Get instant access to hundreds of lessons at ⁠talk.economistfoundation.org⁠ -- Just search Topical Talk to sign up. Head to ⁠neu.org.uk/abolish-ofsted⁠ to find the Ofsted risk assessment guide from the NEU. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related