Coaching in Education
Over the years of working as a secondary school teacher, I often experienced overwhelm and the feeling of burnout approaching. My core motivator has always been to support students and peers in helping them reach their full potential. I was lucky to feel valued, successful and fully committed to a job that I loved, but lacked the necessary tools of how to manage realistic expectations of myself and maintain it as a sustainable career.
My more recent role working within a training school partnership has kept me up to date with the challenges those who work and study within education face. It is now that I realise I am truly in the position to help and pass on the skills, knowledge and tools I wish I had understood during my own teaching career.
My services offer an opportunity to empower groups of individuals within the educational community. To view their own vision of 'success' as entirely possible and plan next steps towards it.
See below for exciting opportunities School Leaders can provide for their staff and/or students....
Workshops
I am able to run a number of bespoke workshops encompassing coaching concepts, depending on the priorities within your school.
Examples of popular workshops are...
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Powerful Beliefs- Challenge those limiting beliefs that keep individuals from reaching potential and learn how to form and act upon more empowering beliefs.
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Time Management- Participants identify priorities, how they are choosing to spend their time, how they waste time and how this aligns with what they truly want. Tools are then introduced to create daily action plans based on this knowledge.
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Stress Management- Participants reflect upon triggers which cause their own stress, what their specific responses are and tools which can be used to prevent stress manifesting.
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Coaching Skills- Would you like to create a Coaching Culture within your school? This workshop will equip participants with the necessary core skills to empower others to achieve their goals. It includes training on using the GROW model to coach and plenty of opportunity to practise!
These workshops are appropriate for staff INSET, Twilight sessions or tailored to groups of Post-16 students.
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DISC Personality Profiling
After completing a short questionnaire, you will receive a detailed report, raising your awareness of your motivators, fears, values and behaviours. Together and with this information, we are able to evaluate how this impacts on your interactions with others, motivation to complete tasks and how this knowledge can be used to benefit you in the future . This may also be used to analyse group dynamics if purchased for more than one person. DISC profiling is available for both staff and students.
Working 1:1
Supporting teacher wellbeing is vital not only for the members of staff but also for their students. An increasing body of evidence suggests that teacher wellbeing has an impact on student achievement and welfare. Coaching as an intervention works on a goal-striving model, shown to be very successful in the realm of mental health.
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Educators can choose to work with me on a 1:1 basis in order to improve well-being or to succeed in career progression. This may be funded through the school itself or the individual may choose to invest privately.
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Click below for more details...
Ruth, SENDCo
Sophia’s sessions have helped me to make some significant changes in my life. Most importantly, she helped me to really acknowledge how the issues in my life were affecting me and how it was necessary to make some changes. I always felt at ease with her, yet I know that she prompted me to ‘dig a little deeper’ into my motivation for making change. The new ways of working that I have put into place have meant that my mental health has improved and this is having a tangible impact not only for me but also for my workplace and family. I also know that the changes I have made will be long-lasting. Thank you!
A.Carter Head Teacher
Sophia’s session was engaging, motivating and empowering. In an hour and a half Sophia enabled us to explore the power of beliefs, both positive and negative and she gave useful strategies on how to challenge negative beliefs. There were some activities which encouraged our participation and the handout was very useful to refer to, as well an enabling us to make personal notes to support us in forming habits for our professional and personal lives.
The session gave the opportunity to stop and reflect on how our beliefs impact on us, as well as look to the future to understand how forming new habits can positively impact not only ourselves, but the children too.
Sophia led the session sensitively, recognising that some of the reflections could be challenging, depending on individual circumstance. Sophia had a highly engaging manner, and she used science and evidence based research to give validity to the training.
I would recommend this training without hesitation as it supports the individual to challenge negative beliefs and make positive changes.
R.Rusling Head Teacher
I cannot recommend Sophia highly enough. She provided an inspiring and uplifting training session for our teachers about how to develop a positive culture for professional wellbeing. During the session, the teachers explored different types of beliefs and learnt about those that empower us, but also beliefs that limit progress. Through her guidance, we were able to identify pro-active approaches when finding solutions to barriers that impact on our attitudes and beliefs.
Sophia’s expertise as a coach was instrumental in creating an environment of trust amongst colleagues. She listened attentively; challenged our thinking and shared her subject knowledge about the complexities of the brain. Having been a teacher herself, she understands the pressures associated with education. Her ability to empathise, but also to provide strategies to positively impact on attitudes and beliefs was valued by our team of teachers.
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