It's a pleasure to welcome Paul Burrows as the guest for this episode. Paul is the Headteacher at Royal School for the Deaf Derby.

His career in front line education spans over three decades, 25 years in mainstream secondary teaching and leadership and 8 years Special School Leadership. He is passionate about high expectations for all saying that “we don’t lower expectations, we build better scaffolding.” He is a global advocate for inclusion and deaf awareness and accessibility.

In this powerful episode we explore Paul’s own childhood, growing up in a multi-ethnic family in the early 1960s/early 1970s and the impact that had on him as he developed and devoted his career to working with young people who felt like outsiders. He talks about special educational needs and the impact of deafness on young people and what we all need to think about in terms of inclusion and opportunity for all.

Subscribe to The Learning Bridge wherever you get your podcasts: https://thelearningbridge.bepodcast.network/subscribe

About the host

Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, world-renowned thinker, and bestselling author of books including Change and Simple Thinking. His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years.

Now regarded as one of the world's leading thinkers on human leadership and organisational transformation, Richard has worked with an extraordinary range of people, from elite athletes to former US President Barack Obama. Named UK Business Speaker of the Year three times, Richard has been invited to speak on the world’s most recognised stages, including TED, the RSA and the BBC.

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Frederick Afrifa is a motivational speaker and communication confidence coach. Born in Ghana and growing up in Milan, his family moved to London when he was a child. Frederick went on to become an Italian track star and was slated to take part in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He has gone on to dedicate his career to helping people overcome their fear of public speaking. He cofounded the communication coaching business Believe in Greatness and is one of the stars of the 2025 UK version of The Apprentice.

In this incredibly motivating and insightful episode, Frederick talks about his childhood as an outsider and how he used his experiences to shape the athlete and business person he has become. He shares deep insights into communication and how to control fear and nervousness in times of challenge and adversity. He also talks about his time on The Apprentice and what it has taught him moving forward.

Subscribe to The Learning Bridge wherever you get your podcasts: https://thelearningbridge.bepodcast.network/subscribe

About the host

Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, world-renowned thinker, and bestselling author of books including Change and Simple Thinking. His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years.

Now regarded as one of the world's leading thinkers on human leadership and organisational transformation, Richard has worked with an extraordinary range of people, from elite athletes to former US President Barack Obama. Named UK Business Speaker of the Year three times, Richard has been invited to speak on the world’s most recognised stages, including TED, the RSA and the BBC.

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Simon Cusden is a former professional cricketer, who now helps high performing individuals and teams prevent and treat wellbeing and performance crisis.

Born in Thanet in Kent, Cusden played for Kent County Cricket Club between 2004 and 2006. After being released by Kent at the end of the 2006 season he joined Derbyshire but was in turn released by them after making only one first-class appearance during 2007. He played a total of seven first-class matches and six List A matches in his playing career. He represented England Under-19's touring Australia in 2002–2003. In the Under-19s test against Bangladesh in July 2004, Cusden claimed four wickets and was top wicket taker in the test and one day series.

After playing for club cricket in Derbyshire for two seasons following his release by Derbyshire, Cusden moved to Australia. He set up his own cricket coaching company.

Cusden has spoken of the mental health issues he faced whilst playing and after leaving the professional game. For a time he abused alcohol and attempted to commit suicide on one occasion. The Professional Cricketers' Association Benevolent Fund provided assistance to him after the attempt and he was admitted to a rehabilitation centre to aid his recovery.

Nearly a decade later, Cusden now works as a private coach for senior leaders and high performers who are suffering silently from depression, addiction and suicidal ideation.

In this powerful and at times raw episode we talk about success and failure, addiction, suicide, mental health and resilience. Simon talks about coaching and leadership and what we need to consider as we prepare future generations for the complex world they will be inheriting.

Subscribe to The Learning Bridge wherever you get your podcasts: https://thelearningbridge.bepodcast.network/subscribe

About the host

Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, world-renowned thinker, and bestselling author of books including Change and Simple Thinking. His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years.

Now regarded as one of the world's leading thinkers on human leadership and organisational transformation, Richard has worked with an extraordinary range of people, from elite athletes to former US President Barack Obama. Named UK Business Speaker of the Year three times, Richard has been invited to speak on the world’s most recognised stages, including TED, the RSA and the BBC.