Outstanding Headteacher Helps Difficult Year 11, Supports Senior Leader & Sleeps Better!

I thought I was signing us up to this very harmless coaching session that would maybe, every now and again, serve some kind of purpose, but, you know, limited. But at least it wouldn’t be harmful! And it would be useful in very, very specific situations in school.

Instead, what I now realise I’ve done is, I’ve put us all through a series of sessions that have shaped the way we think, the way we behave, and the way we talk. And what’s happened is that we now have a shared vocabulary. And we have a shared set of behaviours that people outside of this coaching group wouldn’t even understand.

And the few specific situations that I was envisaging we could use this in, has actually become EVERY situation, and ANY situation.

And coaching, I’ve realised you can use in all situations at school, at home, with colleagues, family, and friends.

And if I think about my own situation, the coaching that I’ve done with a Year 11, for example, has spurred a particularly difficult child, Demi, into going from not having a college place next year – and actually wanting to give up.

She wanted to meet with me and her mum to say, “I don’t want to be at school anymore because I haven’t worked hard enough. I’m not going to achieve anything, so I need to leave.”

And we’ve moved her on to having two college places that she can go to. And she’s still in school.

It’s also helped a Senior Leader to have a very, very difficult conversation with a colleague that she needed to, to put in his place. And she’d been putting it off because she didn’t have the confidence. And after the coaching session, she had the confidence to do that – and this colleague now understands where he stands.

And being coached myself has allowed me to find my own solutions, thanks to Julie.

And I’m able to sleep now, because I’ve solved my own problem.