Context

This past year has brought many unprecedented challenges for the teaching profession and Headteachers in particular, have had to engage with their role, their staff and their communities in ways that they could never have imagined prior to the events of last year.

For many school leaders there is now an emerging need to:

 – Review their role and find a deeper meaning from what has unfolded

– Renew and revisit their sense of vocation and purpose within the context of the impact of the Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement

– Reflect on lessons learned from this period and how they might influence their own leadership and the relationship that they have with themselves and others

As important as these needs are, we know all too well, that the spaces to think and reflect deeply on such matters are few and far between. This lack of space can mean that there are very few avenues for exploring and talking in depth about the immense challenges of this past year and also exploring solutions for moving forward.

Our “Developing Headspace” programme has been designed to meet this need. The programme has run successfully for several years and in light of recent events, our September cohort will have a particular focus on restoration and rejuvenation and what this means in the lives of Headteachers.

The programme will provide a reflective space for leaders to renew perspective, think strategically and refresh the vitality of their core purpose. It will also support individual capacity for authentic, inspiring and sustainable leadership, as well as provide on-going care, support and encouragement for leaders across the school year.

Overview

Spread across three school terms, our Developing Headspace programme includes a range of activities designed to support school leaders in 5 key areas…

Vision: The programme uses processes and activities to help individuals stay anchored to their vision and purpose for leading in education.

Values: Participants are supported to identify ways of leading and managing themselves can that increase alignment with who they are and their key values.

Resilience: The programme aims to help participants to build a greater understanding of how they respond to stress. Individuals are supported to develop greater emotional, psychological and vocational resilience.

Relationships: The programme design facilitates the development of supportive and collaborative relationships with like-minded colleagues.

Confidence: The programme helps individuals grow their self-awareness and an appreciation of their core strengths and unique gifts.

Transforming Leadership Residential

The programme begins with our two day Transforming Leadership Residential, set in a beautiful location in the Suffolk countryside.  It is designed to lay the foundations for the programme, by helping participants gain clarity on their current situation, what they want to achieve and build relationships with their fellow participants.

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Online Group Coaching Circles

After the residential, Online Group Circles will provide a space for participants a much needed opportunity to take a step back from the busyness of school life. These interactive sessions are designed a chance to reflect on progress, build on the outcomes and delve deeper into the key themes that came out of the Transforming Leadership Residential.

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“Review and Reflect” Day

The “Review and Reflect” day which includes group nurture meal take place at the end of the programme to give Heads another opportunity to come together as the programme draws to a close. The day will seek to create a relaxed space where Heads can strengthen the relationships they have built over the year, revisit lessons learned and plot next steps.

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Accommodation and Meals: As part of the programme cost, accommodation at a Bed and Breakfast for the residential will be provided by Integrity Coaching. We will make all arrangements for your meals throughout your stay.

Bespoke Resources: You will receive free leadership think pieces and a reflective journal to complement the programme content and support your development.

Price: £1250 + VAT

Facilitators

Giles Barrow

Giles has a background as a teacher in mainstream and specialist contexts. He spent most of his leadership experience as head of support services in a south London authority. This involved establishing provision for children excluded from schools and in-school practice for students with additional and special educational needs.  Fifteen years ago he began training in transactional analysis. He is now a training and supervising transactional analyst in the field of education.

Giles is especially interested in the relational aspects of leading in learning and developing values-based approaches to creating school culture. He enjoys teaching, spends much of his time training school staff and getting alongside teachers in classrooms. Giles writes on a range of themes about learning, schooling and what it’s like to teach.  Outside of working in schools he runs a small farm in east Suffolk.

Viv Grant

Viv has been in the education profession for over thirty years. She is a former primary head teacher and seventeen years ago was one of the youngest heads in the country to turn around a failing primary school.

She has been a lead trainer and consultant for a number of educational training bodies, including the Department for Education, the National College,The London Centre for Leadership in Learning at the Institute of Education and the NUT. She was a  contributing author  to the 2011 publication Mentoring and Coaching in schools and in 2014 published her first book, “Staying A Head: The Stress Management Secrets of Successful School Leaders.”

She has written for the Guardian and appeared on TV, BBC Radio London and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s hour, talking about her work and the role coaching plays in helping school leaders to excel.