Just wanted to say...

I'm mega looking forward to the next one. The last one was excellent and it was really good to be able to let off steam about things but more importantly come up with some practical ideas that might help us out. I've been trying out a few that we came up with and it's definitely having a positive effect even if it hasn't quite solved the problem yet. Small steps, but in the right direction!

Before

After (sort of)


See you all Wedensday!

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 28th September, 4pm

The headline issue for the second meeting of "On the Coach/Couch" will be differentiation at KS5. 
New members welcome!  We'll be in C13 at 4pm on Wednesday 28th September.

Meeting One: 13th September 2011

Here is what the first coaching-couching group thought were reasons why this forum would be important for themselves, their students, their departments and the school.


















We also established a set of ground-rules for the forum - our coach-couch-code-of-conduct:










Listening
Carefully, objective, intelligent listening is important in coaching.  Each coach/couch session will involve listening non-judgementally - and without offering comments or "helpful" approvals or prompts - to a teacher describe an issue pertinent to his or her practice. 

So, having established our coach-couch-code-of-conduct, each participant raised one or two issues with which he or she is currently grappling.  As a group we chose to focus this week on "fire-fighting versus time-management".  We listened to one teacher describe her difficulties with balancing larger projects with smaller deadlines, marking with planning, administration with blue-sky thinking - and feeling that doing it all, all the time, felt more like fire-fighting than thoughtful, well-organised time-management.  Was this strange - or normal? Realisically, what can be done to ease this struggle without compromising teaching and learning?

Does this sound like a familiar issue?

What is "on the coach / couch"?

"On the coach / couch" is a forum for teachers interested in problem-solving pedagogy-related coaching.  This is one of our signature initiatives as a National Teaching School.  We hold fortnightly sessions for teachers in school which aim to: 

Who is it for?

The sessions are for teachers who have completed their Initial Teacher Training programmes and therefore do not have regular CPD meetings or mentoring.  Once we have QTS and start to gain experience and responsibilites, our opportunities for reflective practice become scarce.  "On the coach / couch" seeks to address this need by providing dedicated time for qualified teachers to grapple with ways to improve their teaching and learning through practical yet meaningful, realistic yet aspirational dialogue with other professionals.   

-          provide a reflective and practical forum in which teachers can develop their professional skills and insights

-          develop more productive cross-departmental sharing and communication

-          share experiences, ideas and best practice

-          practise what we preach