Nicola Graham (School Business Manager), Clanfield Primary School
A School Business Manager’s Experience with Coachinginschools
What's the value of Coachinginschools Training for Business Managers?
When Nicola’s school decided to invest in the Coachinginschools system, she was keen to be part of the first cohort.
In this interview she explains the value gained and why it’s so important for School Business Managers to be trained alongside their colleagues in SLT.
'Golden Nuggets' include:
Q: How would you describe the CIS programme?
I feel inspired because of the difference that I see it’s having on the people that I’m coaching and how it empowers them, how it motivates them, how it builds their confidence, and how much they gain from it in a very short period of time.
Q: Does our coaching training represent value for money?
It’s certainly value for money. It’s an investment. We’ve now got that skillset in school. There are three of us. And by coaching, we want to go through the whole school – and that includes afterschool club workers and everybody. They’ll see it become common practice – and they’ll see we are a coaching school.
Q: What’s it been like training with Coachinginschools?
Being part of the coaching trio has been a great privilege and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience. To sum it up, it’s been one of the best training courses that I’ve been able to go on – for me personally and for the school. It‘s just been an eyeopener professionally and personally. I’m bringing it into everyday practice.
Q: What was it like learning to coach via the online training?
I didn’t find it challenging at all. If we tried to cram it into lots of face-to-face that might have been more of a challenge. To have the time to get us all out, that is a massive obstacle to schools these days. But because it’s all online, you can choose the time that it suits you. So if I wanted to work in an evening, I could work in an evening. If I had some time at lunchtime and I thought, “Oh, I just want to go back and listen to that again, I could do that. So I found the online side of it brilliant. It was so accessible, and the fact that I could go back over the previous sections, for my learning it was much better.
Q: Is the training relevant for Business Managers?
I’m very much for business managers not being overlooked. We’re a vital cog in the wheel, and if we’re all coming at everything in the same unified way, it would certainly help. I feel I’ve been able to contribute more effectively towards the team and the school.
If you do get any business managers – or Headteachers thinking about training their business manager – and they want to speak to somebody, I will be more than happy to have that conversation!