FAQ

Coaching is a space to pause, talk things through and properly think about what you want from the next stage of your working life.

It’s not about being told what to do or having someone hand you the answers. Instead, it’s a series of honest, supportive conversations where you have the time and space to explore what isn’t working for you anymore, what you would like to change and what your options might be.

In our sessions, I’ll listen carefully, ask questions that get you thinking and help you look at things from different angles. I won’t tell you whether you should reduce your hours, change roles, build something alongside teaching or stay exactly where you are. You’re the expert in your own life. My role is to help you explore the possibilities, challenge the assumptions that might be keeping you stuck and turn your thinking into realistic next steps.

You don’t need to come to coaching knowing exactly what you want. You might simply know that you’re exhausted by the way you’re working now and can’t imagine carrying on like this for another five or ten years. Coaching gives you somewhere to explore what a more sustainable working life could look like for you, without assuming that leaving teaching is the answer.

Coaching with me is a series of honest, supportive conversations focused on where you are now, what you want to change and what you want the next stage of your working life to look like.

Before we begin, we’ll have a free 30-minute initial chat. This is a relaxed, no-pressure conversation where we can talk about what has brought you to coaching, what you’d like support with and whether working together feels like the right fit.

If you decide to go ahead, we’ll start with an Intake Session where we take a broader look at your working life, what’s going well, what isn’t working for you anymore and what you’d most like to change.

From there, we’ll meet for 60-minute sessions online via Zoom. Each session is shaped around what would be most useful to you at that point. You might want to explore reducing your teaching hours, think through what you could do alongside teaching, work through a decision or tackle something that’s keeping you stuck.

I’ll listen, ask thoughtful questions and challenge your thinking when it’s helpful. We’ll explore possibilities and turn your thinking into realistic next steps, but there’s no rigid programme or assumption about where you should end up. The direction is yours. My role is to help you work out what you want and support you as you start making it happen.

That’s completely fine, and actually very common. You don’t need to know what the answer is before you come to coaching.

You might simply know that you’re exhausted by the way you’re working now and don’t want the next five or ten years to continue in exactly the same way.

Coaching gives you the time and space to work out what you actually want before you start worrying about how to make it happen. We can explore what’s working, what isn’t, what matters to you and what possibilities you may not have considered yet.

Not knowing the answer isn’t a reason to wait for coaching. It can be exactly where we start.

Not at all. In fact, many of the teachers I work with still love teaching and have no desire to leave the profession. What they do know is that they don’t want to keep working in exactly the same way for the next five, ten or fifteen years.

My coaching isn’t about helping teachers leave teaching. It’s about helping you work out what needs to change for your working life to work better for you.

You might ultimately decide that you want to stay exactly where you are but change how you approach your work. Or you may discover that you want your career to look different in some way. Either is completely valid.

The aim is to help you make a considered decision about what you want, while recognising that there is a lot of possibility between carrying on exactly as you are and leaving teaching completely.

Yes. Reducing your hours can sound like a simple solution, but in reality there can be a lot to think about. You might be wondering whether you can afford it, what it could mean for your pension, how your school might respond or even what you would actually do with the extra time.

Coaching gives you the space to explore the decision properly rather than going round in circles in your own head. We can look at what you hope reducing your hours would give you, what’s making the decision difficult and what would need to be in place for it to feel realistic.

I won’t tell you whether reducing your hours is the right decision for you. My role is to help you work through your thinking so that you can make a decision that feels considered, realistic and right for your life.

And reducing your hours doesn’t have to mean stepping away from your career. For some teachers, it can be a way of creating the time, energy and flexibility that allows them to stay in the profession for longer.

Absolutely. For some teachers, creating a more sustainable working life isn’t just about working fewer hours. It’s about making space for something else too.

You might already have an idea you’d love to explore, such as tutoring, further study, another part-time role or starting a business. Or you might simply know that you’d like something different alongside teaching that gives you a new challenge, another source of income or the chance to use your skills in a different way.

Coaching gives you the space to explore those possibilities while keeping your feet firmly on the ground. We can look at what interests you, what skills and experience you already have, what might realistically fit around your life and how you could begin testing an idea without having to make a huge leap.

Building something alongside teaching isn’t the goal for everyone, but if it’s something you’re curious about, we can explore what it could look like for you.

Coaching is at the heart of how I work, so I’m not there to make decisions for you. But that doesn’t mean our sessions are simply me asking you questions.

There may be times when my own experience or knowledge could be genuinely useful. I’m still a teacher myself, I’ve reduced my own teaching hours and built other work alongside my career, so if you’re exploring something I have relevant experience of, I’m very happy to share what I know.

Before we begin working together, we’ll agree whether our work will be coaching only or whether a blend of coaching and mentoring would be useful, and this will be reflected in your coaching agreement. If we are working in a coaching/mentoring relationship, I’ll always make it clear when I’m moving from coaching into mentoring, so you know when I’m helping you explore your own thinking and when I’m sharing my experience or perspective.

The focus always stays on you, your circumstances and what is right for your life. What worked for me won’t necessarily be what works for you.

I work with a minimum of six sessions because coaching usually benefits from having time to explore your thinking, work through what might be getting in the way and begin putting things into practice.

I offer packages of 6, 9 or 12 sessions, depending on what you want to work on and how much ongoing support you would like. We’ll regularly check in on your progress and make sure our sessions continue to focus on what is most useful to you.

If you’re unsure which option would suit you best, we can talk this through during your free initial chat.

That’s completely okay. Coaching gives you the space to talk honestly about things that matter to you, so emotions can naturally come up sometimes.

You might feel frustrated about how things are, relieved to finally say something out loud, excited about a possibility you’ve started to see, or emotional about a decision you’re considering. Tears and laughter are both very welcome.

You’ll never be rushed or judged, and you’re always in control of what you choose to share. We can pause when you need to and take things at a pace that feels comfortable for you.

There’s no expectation to hold it all together in a coaching session. You can simply turn up as you are that day, and we’ll work with whatever comes up.

Yes. Confidentiality is an important part of creating a coaching relationship where you feel able to speak openly and honestly.

What you share with me during our sessions stays between us. I won’t discuss the details of our conversations with your school, employer, colleagues, family or anyone else without your permission.

As a professional coach, I may occasionally discuss my coaching practice as part of supervision or professional development. If a client situation is discussed, identifying details are removed and confidentiality is maintained.

There are a small number of circumstances where confidentiality may need to be broken. These exceptions, and the boundaries of confidentiality, are clearly explained in your coaching agreement before we begin working together.

The aim is for coaching to be a space where you can talk freely, explore what you’re really thinking and consider your options without worrying about those conversations going any further.

No. While my coaching specialises in supporting experienced teachers, I can work with people from any professional background.

Teaching is a world I understand particularly well because I’m still part of it myself, and much of my work focuses on helping teachers create a more sustainable way to stay in the profession. But the questions that bring people to coaching aren’t unique to education.

If you’re questioning whether the way you’re working still fits the life you want, or you know something needs to change, the same coaching approach can be just as relevant whatever your profession.

If that sounds like where you are, you don’t need to work in education to work with me. If you’re unsure whether I’m the right coach for you, book a free initial chat and we can talk about what you’re looking for.