CSM Directory

Biography:

I am self employed and work with schools and school leaders on their journey of school improvement. I provide coaching and mentoring support to Senior and aspiring Leaders and support schools and school colleagues with training, strategic reviews and planning and school improvement projects.

Through my roles in Senior School Leadership, I have been informally involved in coaching for over 12 years, most recently through the performance management of my staff team and support to other Headteacher colleagues within our school Development Group. This has included focusing on aspects of personal development, career progression and development of role-specific performance. I am particularly passionate about developing aspiring leaders and so enabling and supporting others to reach their full potential and reach their career progression goals is where much of my experience lies. Though most of my coaching skills have developed through a natural aptitude and practical experience, I have opted to take coaching modules as part of my own professional development to hone my skills. I have also committed to receiving long-term coaching myself as I believe that it makes me a better coach to those I support.
I am committed to continuous learning, demonstrated most recently by my further studies for my NPQH and Masters qualification. Since leaving my roles as Headteacher to start my Education Consultancy business, I have regularly participated in workshops, seminars and courses to build my theoretical understanding of coaching and stay up to date with the latest research and developments in the growing field of coaching.

My coaching is based on the values of empathy, trust and respect, whilst ensuring that I lead coaching conversations with honesty and integrity. I believe that building strong relationships and trust is essential for creating a positive atmosphere from which to enable honest and productive coaching conversations.
My coaching style is person centred and solution focused; I am committed to empowering those I work with to reach their goals and full potential. I pride myself on my ability to quickly build positive relationships and so building a rapport with a coachee, aiming to understand them as an individual and establish their goals, is central to my approach.
In terms of the coaching process, I first seek to understand my coachees, both as individuals and as professionals (believing that one very much informs the other). In initial sessions, we establish goals, whether they are known to the individual already or whether we come to them through exploration, and set expectations for our working relationship. Through subsequent sessions, we work together to set goals and targets, identify strategies and solutions and consider specific action points, set timelines for progress reviews and check ins and celebrate wins and successes during each coaching conversation. I always encourage coachees to be self-reflective, developing their ability to work towards having a deeper understanding of issues that arise outside of the coaching context in order to support lasting and sustainable personal growth. Empathy, trust and respect are central to my coaching, so I aim to maintain a trusting and supportive relationship throughout.