Executive coaching for
school and trust leaders

Leadership can involve decisions that are difficult to make, relationships that need careful attention and pressures that cannot always be discussed openly inside the organisation.

Coaching offers protected time to step back, think honestly and decide how you want to respond. My approach is calm, curious and appropriately challenging. The work is shaped around the person, the role and the context rather than a standard coaching formula.

Coaching sits within my wider work on leadership, relational trust and organisational culture.

Three ways to work

Individual coaching

Regular, confidential coaching for leaders who want time to think through decisions, change, relationships or the demands of their role.

Paired coaching

Coaching for two leaders whose ability to think, decide and work together has a significant effect on the wider organisation. This is often useful for a headteacher and deputy, or another senior leadership pair.

Group coaching

Coaching for an established leadership team or a small group of peers who want to think together around a shared question, challenge or period of change. The work pays attention to what each person brings and what becomes possible through the group. Where useful, this can take the form of an Action Learning Set.

Who this is for

• Headteachers and MAT CEOs navigating complexity or change.
• Deputies and senior leaders taking on greater responsibility.
•  New headteachers who want sustained reflection alongside the formal support available to them.
• Senior leadership pairs who want to pay closer attention to how they work together.
• Leadership teams or small groups who would benefit from thinking together rather than working on the same questions separately.

What coaching can support

• Making sense of complex decisions.
• Testing assumptions and possible choices.
• Noticing patterns in leadership practice.
• Strengthening important working relationships.
• Retaining clarity and agency when the pressure is high.

How the work is arranged

Sessions are usually online and are booked in an agreed block. We decide the frequency and shape of the work in response to the people involved, the context and what you want the coaching to support.

Where a school or trust arranges the work, expectations, confidentiality and practical arrangements are agreed before the coaching begins. For group coaching, we also agree how the space will be used and what remains confidential within the group.

Experience and qualifications

I am an AoEC-qualified executive coach and an accredited Action Learning Set facilitator. I have worked across education and social impact for more than twenty-five years, including as co-founder and trustee of Gesher School and through governance, strategy and leadership work with schools and other organisations.

This experience helps me understand the systems around school and trust leaders without claiming to have held their role or arriving with someone else’s answer.

How is coaching different from mentoring?

Mentoring usually draws on the mentor’s experience to offer guidance or advice. Coaching gives you a confidential thinking partnership in which you can examine your own context, judgement and choices. At times I may offer an observation or a question from my wider experience, but I do not assume that someone else’s answer will fit your situation.

How many sessions will I need?

Coaching is normally booked in a block, with the frequency agreed at the outset. Some people begin with a defined question; others want a sustained reflective relationship through a period of change. We agree what is appropriate before the work begins.

What is paired coaching?

Paired coaching is held with two leaders together. It pays attention to the relationship between them as well as the leadership questions they are carrying. We agree the purpose, boundaries and confidentiality at the start.

What is group coaching?

Group coaching creates a shared reflective space for an established team or a small group of peers. It is useful when people are carrying connected questions and can learn through listening, challenge and thinking together. The purpose, boundaries and confidentiality are agreed before the work begins.

Are sessions online?

Yes, most sessions take place online, which allows the work to fit more easily around demanding roles.

Can a school or trust arrange coaching for its leaders?

Yes, schools and trusts can arrange individual, paired or group coaching for their leaders. Scope, fees, confidentiality and invoicing are agreed before the work begins.