Peer Coaching
Naila developed a peer-coaching programme as a tool for continued professional development. Naila was keen to understand what our aims and values were and presented a range of options and strategies we could use to impact the quality of teaching and learning across our school.
Naila coached our Senior Leadership Team and other selected staff on a 1:1 basis, exploring goals and values over the course of 3 intensive sessions.
Alongside this, Naila delivered a day of training for potential lead coaches to develop their coaching skills.
The day certainly delivered and was a well-balanced mix of theory, practice and enjoyment. Staff involved were able to consider how both verbal and non-verbal cues can affect both meaning and understanding. Most importantly, as a result of the training, our staff have felt more confident to share thoughts and impressions; challenging one another in a supportive manner.
After the training day, the coaching triads were eager to plan when they would meet to discuss their goals as a triad, to tailor their coaching work to their own goals within the classroom.
After Naila’s input, I visited some of the triads to observe a post-observation coaching session. It was great to see 3 colleagues (Reception, Year 4 and Year 5 -a Newly Qualified teacher) discussing lessons in such an open and honest way; actively listening to each other, asking probing questions, allowing each other to consider the choices they had made and how learning could be improved, clarifying questions and giving each other specific feedback on coaching techniques.
After a few weeks, the coaching triad were keen to discuss the impact of the sessions and what goals they had achieved. The first triads have completed a further 2 rounds of coaching.
Impact
The outcomes we have achieved for our school as a result of working with Naila are as follows:
Within 12 months
- Observations of Teaching by the Senior Leadership Team has evidenced a significant improvement in the quality of Teaching from the members of this group; with 100% judged as good and at least 50% outstanding.
- 3 members of the initial coaching group have successfully gained roles as middle leaders within a 3 form entry Primary School.
- 1 of the members has completed the National College Middle Leadership Development Course.
- 1 of the members has completed a qualification as a Forest School Practitioner and is developing this across school.
- 1 of the members has gone on to secure a headship at another school
Michael Thorp, Headteacher
