My aim is always to provide a supportive and collaborative environment for leaders to undertake professional development that generates a lasting impact on both the individuals involved and the organisations they lead, in terms of skill enhancement and the creation of sustainable learning communities.
My programs are designed to develop future leaders, or to enable current leaders to perform more effectively in their roles. I am committed to delivering programs that deliver value for all the leaders who participate in them
Who I worked with:
In 2022 I was approached by the Golden Way & Tea Tree Gully Local Partnerships, known as the Felixstow 3 Portfolio (all South Australian government preschools and schools are part of the local partnership model) to deliver coach training for a group of 25 school leaders. As the program was developed and promoted, the group size grew to 50 school leaders.
The challenge:
The client wanted to embed a coaching approach across all schools/sites. Evidence of the coaching approach being adopted, would be greater use of listening and questioning skills by leaders to develop team members and create a positive school culture.
The client was looking for a tailored small group approach to building and practicing coaching skills over a number of sessions.
The process:
With a cohort of 50 school leaders, two programs ran concurrently and there were 25 participants in each group.
The program ran over a period of 9 months.
The face-to-face full-day workshops were scheduled early in Term 1, for dates that suited the group.
Post-workshop, participants were allocated into small groups (5-6 people per group) and small group coaching sessions were scheduled in consultation with the client for dates/times that suited the group. These sessions ran every 6-8 weeks throughout Terms 2/3. Pre-work for small group coaching sessions and other supporting resources were provided throughout the program.
Each participant was also supported with two individual mentor coaching sessions (these were held virtually and scheduled by individual leaders to suit their own calendar).
The results:
Based on reported outcomes from participants of the 2023 Coaching Conversations Program, I was engaged to run another program for 50 school leaders in 2024. The 2024 Program was on Challenging Conversations.
A sample of positive feedback from the 2023 Coaching Conversations Program is provided below:
“Thought provoking because it was subtly different to other PD we have done in this space. Even though I’ve done quite a lot of PD around coaching, this really made me re-reflect on what coaching is and isn’t, which is really useful.”
“Loved the mixed approach which allowed me to listen, learn and then apply the strategies. Really appreciated the time to practice and being vulnerable within a safe environment.”
“Really valuable information and strategies to build culture and become a coach. Things that can be applied straight away, which is great.”
“Thought provoking, strategies you can use right now.” “Informative, practical and strategies you can implement straight away.”