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Best Practice Day 2023: The Four Seasons of Coaching

MARCH 10, 2023 10:00–17:00

City of London School for Girls

Important notes about the day:

  • Please arrive at 9:30 for refreshments and to get settled.

  • Snacks, tea, coffee and lunch will be provided.

  • Bring a book to share and be open to bringing a different book home with you.

  • We'll be taking videos and photos on the day including headshot opportunities for Certified Facilitators.

  • Follow us on Twitter and join in as we live-tweet the event using the #coachingwithheart hashtag


share your best practice day feedback with us


Every school is in a season of coaching. Join us to identify the season you’re in and how to prepare for the next.

Whether coaching is thriving or has hit a plateau, this day will give you the insights and inspiration to activate changes in your school.

Walk away connected to your vision, empowered to act and supported by a global community of coaches.


What will you gain from THE Day?

  • Deep connection with new and old friends.

  • Time to practice your coaching skills.

  • Understanding of the challenges and triumphs that come with coaching.

  • Insights into how best to embed coaching.

  • Develop a new community of collaborators and champions.


EVENTS OF THE DAY

The day will comprise of activities and discussions to facilitate coaching application and exploration. Whether you’re new to coaching or old friends, you’ll learn new ways to use and embed coaching with plenty of time to network and build your community of support.

During the day we will:

  • explore the seasons of coaching including Vision, Planning, Momentum and Plateau

  • coach in pairs to uncover each school’s ‘weather’ as well as how best to move through each season

  • collaborate in mastermind groups to explore challenges and overcome barriers towards embedding coaching

  • explore how each of us can show up as the most authentic version of ‘Coach You’

  • learn how to spot coaching inspiration in our daily lives

  • create coaching activities influenced by our passions and interests

  • celebrate our community with our Best Practice Awards


Event Registration FAQ

  • Click the Register button above. We'll ask you to fill out a form and make your payment. You'll then receive an email from us with a receipt.

  • Yes! You can either register yourself or someone else. You’ll have the opportunity to enter the participant’s name and email as you register.

  • This is an in-person event only and that means the only way to attend is to join us in London. So get on a plane!

  • All Graydin coaching courses and events are practical and effective professional development for educators. Feel free to share our Coaching + Education brochure with your school leader. Please let us know if you need any further support from us.

  • Yes! The event will be catered. Please let us know any allergies in advance.

  • This is a non-refundable registration. If necessary, the registration may be transferred to another person within your school or organisation.


best practice awards

Take a look at just a few of the achievements of some of our wonderful facilitators and schools. Join us in celebrating them by voting for our first ever Best Practice Awards.


CERTIFIED FACILITATOR NOMINEES

Christina Young

‘When the pandemic required us to adapt to teaching and learning online, we had the opportunity to facilitate the Anatomy of Coaching online for our parent community. Three cohorts of parents, 64 in total, took the Anatomy with us and used the portal. They have become the biggest advocates of coaching at our school! In March, we are running our first in-person parent Anatomy with 18 new parents participating and three parent alumni returning to help facilitate.’

Julian Murray

‘At CLSG, we have now trained people in coaching from Hasmonean School, Berkhamsted, City of London School, Shoreditch Park, Aldgate, Galleywall, Highgate Hill and City Junior School.   We have trained members of SLTs from several of these schools.

As part of giving back to our local community, we hosted a pro bono Anatomy course for local state schools in the Corporation of London umbrella.

Since qualifying as Graydin facilitators in June 2021, the coaching team has now facilitated 3 x internal staff Anatomy courses, 1 x internal Journey course (next one in May), 2 x Y12 prefect cohort Anatomy courses (next one in June), 3 x parent Anatomy (next one in May) and 1 x external teacher Anatomy. 

The initial enquiry to parent body in March 2022 led to 104 sign-ups and we now have parents asking if they can do a Journey course – proposed for September 2023.

Core elements of coaching and PP are now embedded in PSHCEE lessons from Y7 – 11. CLSG and CLS have piloted joint sixth form General Studies lessons with an option including the ‘Sixth Form Survival Guide”. This has a coaching and PP framework with elements of CBT and exploration of eudaimonic and hedonic happiness.

I have now been Head of Coaching for CLSG since September 2020, with 1/3 of my time allocation devoted to it. CLSG has a team of 5 coaches. After an excellent start from McKenzie and Quinn, we have picked up the reins in facilitating courses. All of the SLT have now done the Anatomy and all but one have done the Journey. All HoDs (except classics!) have been coach trained, as are all Heads of Years. In total, CLSG has trained just over 100 members of staff in Coaching since 2018. The school prefect body (16 Y12s) are annually trained in the Anatomy and two of them are the student coaching leads who offer 1:1 coaching for younger students. We run parents’ forums on wellbeing and PP – both on-line and in-person.’

Ana Henderson

‘Having experienced wonderful teamwork in coaching at Rugby School with three other amazing facilitators (with amazing staff and students who made The Anatomy, Journey and the Art (2016-2018) so uplifting and enjoyable), I have become a licenced “fascination” team of one in 2022 at Loughborough Grammar School. I am looking to bring more schools to the coaching family, some independent, some local Midlands state schools. “Start with Heart” coaching model provides such a empowerment that it needs to be shared’.


RISING STARS NOMINEES

Monika Kukol Sochorova

My big dream is that coaching becomes a part of teachers education with a lifelong repetition. I got my Certification in December 2022 and have managed to lead a lesson here and there. I am currently planning to run pilot Anatomy and Journey courses for teachers in the Czech Republic. I still have a long way to go, but I am moving forward. One step at a time.’

Lorenzo McLellan

Lorenzo works at the British School of Milan, an international through school from Nursery to Y13. After taking ‘The Anatomy’, he participated in a whole school steering group with the aim of reviewing and improving the performance management system for staff, which now has coaching at its core. Moving forward, his vision is that every member of staff who is willing and passionate, independently of their role or rank, will be able to receive coaching training in order to support others in setting and achieving their professional goals.

Sally Bradley

4 x 1 hour face-face after school workshops training for 8 Senior Leaders.

4 x 1 hour face-face after school workshops for 10 Middle Leaders (mixture of Head of Year, Head of Dept & Head of House). To be repeated with new group.

Numerous coaching practice sessions with SLT & MLs including pairs, trios, demos & playgrounds at lunch / after school / in shared free period, over the phone, in the holidays.

Coaching sessions with colleagues.

Observations of the Deputy Head coaching other colleagues (with their consent).

HoD & HoY meeting coaching ‘pitches’ to whet appetites / put on radar.

The Anatomy for SLT, ML & any other interested colleagues in the summer term (in-house this year; next year to be offered as outreach to other schools free).

Meetings with DSL, Careers Advisor & Well-being Mentor to promote using coaching to join the dots in our Peer Support Programme - offering Be Curious & Be Fulfilled 2 x 4 hours sessions to Yr11 after GCSEs as part of their Intro to 6th Form week including a digital badge pathway in line with The Be modules.

Liaised with Assistant & Deputy Pastoral Heads to re-structure ‘ground rules’ for PSHE / RSE using the Partnership Agreement & Fulfilment Wheel.

Implemented Effective Questions using the Start With Heart structure for post-lesson observations, replacing judgemental discussions with coaching sessions on teaching & learning techniques.

Initiated a twice half-termly teaching & learning ‘nutshell’ ending with Effective Questions to promote coach-like teaching & learning conversations in the staff room / corridors.

All SLT considering their coaching roundabout exit plans at the moment.

Shared success stories of SLT using Effective Questions & SWH model in difficult conversations.

Converted SLT including Head.

Coaching on the Whole School Development Plan for the first time! It now says ‘Developing & embedding a coaching culture’

Using coaching skills with my terminally ill dad. Invaluable getting him through the dark days.  And I must also mention making jazz hands our new thing with my Y10 class - gratitude circles & jazz hands at the end of our Friday double lesson. It’s a beautiful thing.


SCHOOL NOMINEES

Merchant Taylor’s School

The school is currently providing:

  • Anatomy course for every new member of teaching staff before they start at MTS in September

  • Anatomy refresher sessions throughout the year

  • Journey course every summer term available to staff from the Upper and Prep Schools

  • 3 x Parent Coaching Evenings each Year to train parents

  • BE Programme lessons delivered to years 7 & 8 within the curriculum

  • Introductory coaching training and support meetings with 4 local schools

  • Coaching format in our PDR meetings

  • Teaching & Learning Coaching Partners for every member of teaching staff.

  • Trios with protected timetable time for all staff

  • Extended tutor periods to make time for coaching conversations

  • Coaching Booklets for all pupils to use in tutor time

Westminster Academy

Over the last two years, we’ve trained over 22 leaders in our school in foundational coaching skills, who have used these to guide and support staff and students in their areas. Coaching language and tools have become standard practices across WA, including partnership agreements built between all pastoral tutor groups.

We’ve also worked with 15 other educators from 5 different partner schools to train their leaders and teachers in coaching skills. We also presented our coaching work at the ECIS conference in Autumn 2022
.’

Berkhamsted School

‘Our goal at Berkhamsted Schools Group this year is to move from pockets of Graydin Coaching to it being a central part of our colleagues’ practice.

Most ably supported by McKenzie and Quinn, the year began with a ‘Coaching Kick-off’.  Led by McKenzie, all teachers, teaching assistants and senior leaders participated in a 90 minute long interactive introduction to Graydin coaching.  Trained Graydin Coaches were present in each room to facilitate the activities introduced and explained by McKenzie.  Additionally, across the year, we have provided one Live Online Anatomy Course, two Live Online Journey Courses and one Live Online The Art Course.  In addition to this, every colleague was offered the opportunity to complete the self-paced learning version of the Anatomy.  The final deadline for completing this is the 19th February, but at the start of this term 44 colleagues (ranging from Berkhamsted Day Nursery to Heads of House in the Sixth form) had completed the course successfully.’

Rugby School

The school is currently providing:

  • The Anatomy course for all new teaching staff + O&A staff.

  • The Anatomy courses for parents.

  • The Anatomy course delivered to a school in South Africa

  • BE lessons within the PSHe curriculum.

  • Coaching courses for all Year 12 students, peer listeners and school prefects.  Heads of

    School hold coaching-style weekly meetings with their prefects.

  • Coaching format at heart of the PDR processes.

  • Coaching trios to support staff induction and CPD.

St. Edward’s School, Oxford

‘All the staff, teaching and support are encouraged to take part in The Anatomy. We have had the librarians, archivist, cleaning supervisors and catering teams attend recently. We aim to have 100% of the teaching staff trained by the end of 2024.

The Journey runs yearly for those who want to progress their coaching skills and we are looking at x2 yearly if demand rises.

Tutors use coaching in their tutor periods every Wednesday, especially when it comes to choosing options.

The Director of Behaviour and Standards, uses coaching conversations to get pupils to evaluate their behaviour and improve.

Our Shell year (Y9) are coached on their approach to learning and how they are settling into the school.

Our peer listeners go through The Anatomy course, to help them with conversations.
Peer listeners are also coached by their lead member of staff to make sure they feel supported in their roles.

HMs use coaching conversations with parents, to ensure partnerships are created rather than a them and us culture.

Coaching leads contact each other to facilitate coaching conversations between themselves when needed.

Support is given within the coaching framework, to facilitate the courses running.

We are hoping to revitalise the coaching trios we had before COVID with our buddy system on the staff.’

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February 27

Coaching Practice Session - Three Truths of Coaching

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March 16

Coaching Practice Session - Effective Questions