An English teacher, senior leader and advisor, Helen Prince, Founder and CEO of ChatterStars, has led English, literacy and drama provision in schools for over 20 years. Her experience as an Ofsted Inspector, top leader, author, trainer, and speaker has benefited her work. Helen’s work has benefited over 300 school leadership teams in the UK. Helen presents a series of the Oxford Education Podcast called “Word Up”, where she chats with various educational experts, actors and authors to explore what they can do to bridge the Word Gap from Early Years to Key Stage 4.
Chatterstars gives schools and parents a pleasant, entertaining way to deal with the word gap while increasing vocabulary confidence, which is the best indicator of future success. Games that allow students to dissect layers of meaning and connotation—the cornerstone of English assessment—can be played alone or as a way to spark conversation. Through a range of targeted puzzle types, it tracks each child’s progress and reports a unique ‘Vocabulary Age’, providing schools and parents with the information needed to help bridge the word gap and improve life chances.
Helen asserts, “We have also just launched ChatterStars 11+, a fun, engaging solution for 11+ and entrance exam success. ChatterStars11+ develops the skills needed to identify synonyms, compound words, odd ones out, anagrams, word connections, and more.“
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Helen Prince:
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
Reflecting on who we are and our character traits is quite a task! For me, I am guided by an unwavering belief in our mission, a clear vision for the best version of ourselves, and the resilience to overcome barriers along the way. Creative thinking and effective communication are vital for me and give clarity to every step. When the way ahead seems unclear, these attributes all help inspire, calm, and conquer. It’s just the start for ChatterStars, but I know this is the path I was meant to follow. In the words of the brilliant film LaLaLand, “Here’s to the ones who dream!”
My three children are my world. They provide the heart and focus of my life and are all growing much too fast! I am part of an acapella singing group and perform regularly. I love swimming all year round with my fabulous mermaid friends and also enjoy reading, theatre, good wine and even better coffee!
Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?
About seven years ago, through my work with Ofsted and academy trusts, the word gap and its impact on the life chances of increasing numbers of young people became frighteningly clear. Academic achievement, self-esteem, confidence, and well-being were all suffering from poor vocabulary, limiting our children’s ability to express themselves and their ideas.
I searched hard for a few little and often digital resources to build vocabulary, but soon realised what I wanted did not exist. I spent a year crafting the plans for a gamified, puzzle-based app to meet the need I saw in schools and their families. Our brilliant tech entrepreneur, Matt Salter, came on board and ChatterStars was born with a clear mission-to equip all young people with an eloquent, brave, world-changing voice that enables choice, regardless of barriers.
Now in 2022, we are elated to have a partnership with TwinklHive; adding their twinkle to our stars means we can take even bigger strides to bridge the language gap for millions of children.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
The world of start-ups isn’t always easy to navigate! At the heart of our journey are clarity of vision, relentless optimism, and total belief in our mission. We are also so thankful to have the expertise and guidance of some incredible colleagues – teamwork really is the answer. Having the benefit of partners like Twinkl, OUP, and Pobble gives real insight and depth of experience and knowledge in these early days and beyond. We are stronger together.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
We are building a team. Our team is united by a clear vision, unwavering optimism, and a complete belief in what we do and why we do it.We are mission-driven. We build this through recruiting the right people and playing to their strengths, through effective communication; and by ensuring each of us feels valued.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
Creativity is essential. Our USPs, such as our vocabulary age, are not easy to create but vital to position us as an integral part of the toolkit for teaching vocabulary.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
We need to be inspired. We need to feel we are making a difference.
What are your responsibilities as the Founder/CEO/Managing Partner of the company? What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
Right now, a bit of everything! I am at my happiest being creative, exploring new content ideas, talking to teachers and pupils and learning from their feedback, and moving our mission and team forward.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Be brave, be focused and be kind. You will get things wrong — that’s OK! The important thing is to learn from them and keep going with a relentless optimism.
