Welcome!
Hi, I’m Rachael. I support school leaders and their teams to untangle the challenges of the job.
I know that life as a school leader can be pretty busy so here are some short articles to give you more information about how I can support you or your team.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, get in touch.
Working together; coaching support for resilient school leaders
Every academic year has its own rhythm and familiar patterns, and always comes with new wins, unexpected pressures and unpredictable twists. Navigating these demands mental strength, resilience and adaptability, which is where a year-round coaching partnership can make all the difference for a school leader.
How’s your year going so far? Reflect and take control
As the first half-term break rolls around and you have a moment to catch your breath, what better time to pause and reflect on how the year has gone so far and, more importantly, how you want the rest of it to unfold.
Building Resilience: Strategies for school leaders to recover quickly from setbacks
As a school leader, your team looks to you not only for guidance through challenges but also as a model for how to manage setbacks. They pay attention to not just the speed of your recovery but also how you handle yourself during the process.
Keeping expectations in check: A balanced approach to the new academic year
The problem with expectations is that they’re often a moving target. What starts as a reasonable goal can quickly spiral into something unmanageable. Those high expectations you hold for your own performance quickly have a way of backfiring and becoming unhelpful and even detrimental.
The Power of Reflection: Wrapping Up the Academic Year
As the school year draws to a close, it’s tempting to just simply get to the finish line and collapse, but if you can take a moment to reflect on the past year, you may find it’s a powerful tool that can lead to big improvements.
How workshops and team coaching was used to support a whole staff team in a UK state school.
A case study outlining how a combination of workshops and team coaching was used to support a whole staff team in a UK state school.
How group coaching was used to increase leadership capacity across a large group of international and private schools in China.
A case study outlining how group coaching was used to increase leadership capacity across a large group of international schools in China.
Slowing down for success; a deliberate approach to the final term
As the final term of the academic year approaches, it’s natural to feel a panicked sense of urgency – something I remember all too well! With the many events and tasks already filling up your diary, the temptation to rush and squeeze everything in can be overwhelming and difficult not to give in to.
Self-awareness; the best superpower a school leader can have.
In my opinion, self-awareness really is the best superpower a school leader can have! Apart, of course from maybe flying, invisibility, control of time etc… but those haven’t been added to my repertoire yet, so I’ll focus self-awareness today.
Coaching vs. Mentoring: Understanding the difference
Coaching and mentoring are often mixed up because they share a lot of similarities. But, even though they’re similar, coaching and mentoring serve different purposes and have different approaches.