Coaching for excellence
Coaching is the most effective way to achieve continued professional development (CPD) for your staff.
Maximising the potential of your staff and making the most of their skills, will allow the school to operate more effectively and improve the quality of education for the pupils.
Many leading schools have already recognised the benefits that coaching can bring to their workforce, pupils and overall achievement.
In essence coaching can:
- Motivate staff
- Develop the professional skills of staff
- Transform the learning culture within the school
- Improve quality of education
Why is coaching necessary?
Coaching is an effective way to help individuals maximise their potential, which in turn has a beneficial effect for the school.
Yet many staff members who are asked to fulfil a coaching role in schools, do not have the necessary skills to be an effective coach. In our experience, there is often a huge gap between what is asked of coaching staff in schools and the level of training and experience that they possess.
CCDU’s coaching programme addresses this issue. It develops the skills and learning techniques of the workforce so that they can undertake their role with greater confidence and competency.
Successful coaching in schools
Introducing coaching throughout the school can involve a fundamental change in culture at the school and usually requires external support and development activities.
We will work closely with you to create a coaching system that works for your school. By creating an environment that enables change, we can help you to make coaching a central theme in your drive to improve the quality of education for your pupils.
Our coaching services include:
- Audit of current position
- Creation of action plans
- Skills workshops for coaches
- Ongoing advice and support for coaches
Coaching for smaller schools
Our coaching workshops usually consist of 8-10 individuals which works well for secondary and larger schools; primary and smaller schools may find it more effective to join together to take advantage of our coaching services.
Misconceptions about coaching
1. Coaching is the same as mentoring
It is not about advising or teaching the individual. The mentor provides advice, whereas the coach provides the right questions which enable the individual to work through the problem.
Coaching is about encouraging an individual to discover solutions for themselves in a structured manner that produces lasting results.
2. Coaching has been ‘done already’ as part of another programme.
Many people think that they have already acquired coaching skills during other programmes such as LfTM (Leading from the Middle).
Although the concept of coaching may be touched on in such programmes, true coaching is a skill that requires in-depth development and support to accomplish.
CCDU can offer help with all aspects of coaching and can offer a variety of services to enable your staff to become coaches.
The next step
If you would like to discover how coaching could help your school or for information on our coaching programme, please contact Philip Warren: 0113 283 6174 email: philip (at) ccdu [dot] co [dot] uk or complete our online contact form.