Worldwide Performance Coach Training for Leadership

Coach Training for Teachers

We specialise in coaching in education in many ways, mainly by providing coach training for teachers, headteachers, advisers and  managers, and train the coach trainer programmes for teachers. We find that teachers and educationalists naturally possess very highly developed and innate communication skills, and of course the ability to deliver coach training themselves. In our experience, anyone involveCoaching in Educationd in teaching discovers an easy natural affinity with coaching methodology and its applications with their students, colleagues and parents.  Our ILM accredited coaching and mentoring training for teachers and headteachers provides a recognised qualification and essential practical leadership skills. We have delivered programmes all over the world including to schools in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, sometimes training teachers to become coach trainers themselves (see further down this page for case histories). Coaching skills training not only enhances teaching skills but brings about an improvement in all communication skills, faculty teamwork and leadership.

  • Specifically designed for head teachers, teachers, and educational leaders
  • Structured to be practical and to embed the skills for the long term 
  • Uses best practices, proven methods and novel learning techniques that are refined and shaped by feedback from hundreds of attendees from schools and educational institutions all over the world

Coach Training for Teachers: the Performance Coach Training for Schools course

Performance Coach Training for Schools
Performance Coaching Edition of the Learning & Teaching Journal, King George V School, Hong Kong

The Performance Coach Training for Schools course is divided into two or more modules over a period of weeks or months. Between the modules, participants are paired up and given structured assignments in order to practise their skills in a supportive learning environment.. This builds confidence and fluency, enabling participants to embed the new skills and use them naturally in the workplace once they have completed their accreditation.

The style of our coach training is ‘learning by doing’. It is a very practical approach in which participants have the opportunity to observe and practise live coaching sessions about issues arising in their workplaces and to receive constructive and personalised feedback from our trainers and from one another.

We are committed to ensuring that the impact of our interventions with your school or university is captured in a way that is meaningful to you. We work with participants to develop methods that meet their specific requirements and give them the information that they need throughout the programme.

All modules are specially tailored with examples relevant to your school or university. Participants observe live demonstrations and coach each other practically on real issues currently occurring in their workplace. We are skilled at integrating our programmes into your existing teaching and leadership models so that your investment in any prior learning and training is retained.

Culture at Work is an approved Centre for the ILM, the leading UK awarding body for general and specialist management and leadership qualifications. Its awards are internationally recognised.

Coaching Train the Trainer for Teachers

Through our Train the Coach Trainer for Teachers program, your school can develop its own excellent trainers and license our Performance Coach Training for Schools programme to deliver in-house.

Entry level is accreditation on the Performance Coach Training for Schools programme described above, and the Train the Coach Trainer for Teachers course will go on to train your teachers to deliver the Performance Coach Training course in your school themselves, to pupils, teachers and managers.

Your teachers learn how to deliver coach training by acting as apprentices as our trainers deliver courses to your faculty. Your trainers are encouraged to incorporate their own ideas and styles of delivery. We also provide a full script of the training course, for reference and as a blue-print so that your in-house delivery does not
stray too far from the original principles.

This is how we train our own new trainers and however qualified and experienced they are, they report that attending our coaching course is stimulating and provides a good refresher plus some new material.

Structure of the Performance Coach Training for Schools Train the Coach Trainer course:

1. Candidate attends the Performance Coach Training for Schools course as a participant and gains accreditation
2. Candidate attends a second Performance Coach Training for Schools course as an assistant trainer, mainly observing our trainer and mentoring participants, and receives pre and post course half hour sessions from our trainer at each day of training
3. Candidate attends a third Performance Coach Training for Schools course delivering approximately 50% of the modules and receives pre and post course half hour sessions from our trainer at each day of training
4. Our trainer assesses whether candidate is ready to be accredited as a trainer or needs to attend one or more further courses.
5. Candidate attends one mentor call within one month after completion of each of 1, 2 and 3 above.
6. To complete accreditation candidate provides:

  • A log showing 100 hours of one to one coaching delivered since first attending the Performance Coach Training for Schools course (use of coaching skills in meetings does not count).
  • A reference from two coachees confirming that candidate has completed a series of coaching sessions lasting at least 6 sessions over at least 3 months.
  • A confirmation from candidate’s coaching supervisor that candidate is attending
    supervision sessions of at least one hour per 15 hours of coaching (supervisor must be a practising and accredited coach, though not necessarily by us).
  • An account of the main learning candidate has obtained from each of the 4 books on the book list (300 words per book).
  • A Case History of a series of coaching sessions delivered (1000 words).
  • A discourse on coaching in the workplace (in your case in schools): the benefits, the challenges and how it can be achieved (1000 words).
  • Refresher training six months after accreditation as a trainer.

Comprehensive materials are provided including:

    • a manual with full script for delivery of the Performance Coach Training for Schools course
    • a copy of the slides
    • a PDF of the student manual.


Generative Thinking Programmes for managing change

As well as providing coach training for teachers, our facilitators are experienced in providing proven structures for drawing out ideas for change management, team-building, school amalgamation and integration projects. We support you in developing your existing teams, creative, innovative ideas and embedding proven leadership skills. Generative Thinking Programmes can be conducted during a half day or over several weeks or months of combined meetings, skills training and leadership development coaching.

Find out more

For further information or to find out how to bring this training into your organisation, please contact us.

Case histories of our train the coach trainer programmes for teachers

Video:  Client Testimonial – KLASS

Please click on the logo below to see participants in our ILM accredited coach training course at Alice Smith School in Kuala Lumpur discuss their experiences of attending the course and putting coaching principles into action.coach training for teachers

Click here to read Deputy Head Teacher Fiona Lewis’s account of creating a coaching culture at Nexus School Singapore

Please click on the links below to see examples of previous programmes we have delivered in schools:

Tanglin Trust School  Singapore: Performance coach training for schools; train the coach trainer
Alice Smith School, Kuala Lumpur (KLASS): Performance coach training for schools, train the coach trainer, creating a coaching culture
English Schools Foundation Hong Kong: Performance coach training for schools, train the coach trainer, creating a coaching culture
Gordano School Portishead: Performance coach training for schools and creating a coaching culture
North Somerset Coaching Partnership: Performance coach training for schools and creating a coaching culture
Canterbury Schools: Facilitation Day for change management in amalgamating two schools into one
Nexus School Singapore: Performance coach training for schools, train the coach trainer

Reviews of our coach training programmes in schools:

  • I honestly have never had such consistent positive feedback from any course I run, and I run a lot. It was interesting that after doing six straight days of running coaching courses last week how my dialogue with leaders changed this week. I tell people often that the reason I believe in coaching and in your model is that it makes me be the best person I can possibly be and this week has certainly been an example of that. Thank you once again for the opportunity to experience this personal and professional growth.” – David Fitzgerald, Senior Education Officer, English Schools Foundation, Hong Kong
  • “A huge big thank you for 6 brilliant days of coaching training for our staff. Feedback has been 100% positive with comments such as ‘Transformational!’, ‘The best CPD I have ever had’, ‘The best training I’ve had in years’, ‘Simply life changing’. We are so excited about creating a coaching culture at Alice Smith and moving forward.” – Dr Sarah Howling, Secondary Principal, Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur
  • “Now we are at the stage where coaching is well-established, and we continue to train new cohorts of staff every year. We talk about coaching at interviews – the training and choice to be coached has become a right and entitlement of working at Nexus. Coaching has become synonymous with our ‘way of being’”. – Fiona Lewis, Deputy Head Teacher Nexus International School, Singapore
  • “I’ve been really impressed at how well the ‘face to face’ sessions have worked on Zoom.  James is clearly very comfortable with the remote format and it feels like we are all ‘in the room’. I have two key takeaways as a coach: 1. Active listening is incredibly powerful. I learned to resist jumping in with advice. 2. Having an EXACT goal has a massive impact on individual motivation and performance.” – John Ridley, Director of Learning, Tanglin Trust School Singapore
  • “This has been the most valuable training I have received in my 6 year career- but has also had a profound influence on my personal life too. The facilitators were inspiring, motivating, challenging, fun and adaptive. Thank you so much!” – Kerry Evans, Primary Teacher, North Somerset Coaching Partnership
  • “We are starting to see how the strong foundations, training, systems and investment in professional learning, are impacting the way we have conversations outside the formal coaching conversation. The skills and language of coaching are starting to infuse our ways of being across the community.” – Judy Cooper, Principal Nexus School (Singapore).
  • “By the end of the coaching course, I felt a kind of euphoric feeling, that something similar to magic was possible. I now believe that with the right language, attitude, and purpose everyone is capable of coaching and being coached.” – Donavan Zegna, Head of Integrated Technology in the Junior School, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
  • “There are several levels on which it was superb and timing was right for me at this point in time.  Coaching gives a practical and systematic way to enable ownership of a development, however difficult.  You will have heard me express that as an adviser, I will need to think even more carefully about advice.  I love the positive and neutral language around conversations.  I’ve never thought non-judgemental language is possible in my role.  I am now working on that.  Getting people to really accept that you are not being judgemental will be hard if they see you in a certain way.” – Chris Durbin, School Development Adviser, English Schools Foundation Hong Kong
  • “This has been one of the most useful courses I have ever taken part in.” – Lyn Hunt, Headteacher, North Somerset Coaching Partnership
  • “The course was fantastic.  I plan to incorporate this into my everyday interactions, line management, as well as continue with some private coaching clients. It was so valuable and really highlighted the value of coaching to me.” – Sophie Harle, Director of HR, Tanglin Trust Singapore
  • “The facilitators were real experts who guided my development without ever preaching. Thank you so much for a great set of training.” – Peter Turner, Primary Headteacher, North Somerset Coaching Partnership
  • “Overall, from this enrichment class, not only did I learn about how to coach, I also learnt a lot about myself, in terms of character and emotional intelligence, and in general, the mindset that I need to be at, not just to succeed/ achieve something, but also just to become a better person altogether. The sessions were incredibly fulfilling, and enjoyable.” – Karen Chan, Year 11 student at South Island School, Hong Kong.
  • “The best course I have attended – huge potential for personal development and the development of the school.” – Carole Sharp
  • “I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and it has definitely made me think differently about how I approach my role as an educator. Enabling children or adults to solve their own problems, through targeted guidance is incredibly empowering and I look forward to continuing to learn how to become a better coach and teacher as a result.” – Matt Hastwell, Learning Support Teaching in the Junior School, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
  • “I thoroughly enjoyed the course particularly the sessions toward to end of the course. Generative Thinking has been huge for me in my current and future role. I also find myself having more sporadic coaching conversations with peers.” – Courtney Conlon, Assistant Head of Year, Tanglin Trust Singapore
  • “We are developing as a coaching school and the course was spot on”. – Lis Jeffery, Headteacher
  • “We are starting to see how the strong foundations, training, systems and investment in professional learning, are impacting the way we have conversations outside the formal coaching conversation. The skills and language of coaching are starting to infuse our ways of being across the community.” – Judy Cooper, Principal Nexus School Singapore
  • “Insightful exercise that raised good thoughts and left people feeling positive about the future. A key benefit was listening to the staff and involving them to make difficult change.” – Participant in Canterbury Schools Facilitation Day.
  • “My goals for this course were twofold: to encourage and inspire others to become coaches at our school, and to qualify as a trainer. Thanks to the changing partner system I was able to encourage the others on the course as I met with them. Through a bit of support, I hope that I was able to help the others explore the transformative power of coaching.’ – Sarah Aldous, Head of Faculty for Mathematics and Computing in the Senior School, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
  • “I found the process both enriching and enjoyable. I feel there is tremendous scope to implement coaching into so many of our conversations around school.” – Anna-Louise Brutti, Head of Year in the Senior School, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
  • “A huge thank you for setting up and delivering the inspiring coaching course. People who attended the training have been keen to praise the course and are delighted with what they have got out of the experience and are keen to use the skills in their teams. I do believe that the impact will be in empowering more people to have an even greater sense of being able to influence not only the lives of young people but their own lives as well” – Jenny Fennell, Education Adviser, North Somerset Coaching Partnership
  • “By embracing and strategically incorporating coaching into the fabric of our language of interaction and reflection opportunities, we are moving beyond superficial performance management structures and tokenistic professional development.
    By placing the spotlight on our individual and collective responsibility towards each other as learners and team members, and providing the means to actuate this through the introduction of Professional Growth and Accountability structures grounded in trust, reflection, self-directed goals and collaboration, relationships have been transformed and professional growth and team accountability have been accelerated.
    By investing heavily in coaching training for our teachers – and increasingly so for parents and students – and building a coaching philosophy across our school, we are now shifting our cultural outlook, enhancing collegiality and resilience. This has led to further innovation in the classroom and pastorally, particularly in the areas of assessment, feedback and restorative conversations, and greater cohesion in our school community.
    The results from our 2017 staff survey were striking in terms of the positive upturn in teacher perceptions of their own learning and place within a learning community – 100% of our teachers stated that they enjoy coming to school each day.” – Dr Sarah Howling (Secondary Principal) with Maria Osowiecki and Jaime Thistleton (Vice Principals) KLASS Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur
  • “The Generative Thinking meeting coaching approach is something that I will definitely continue to use when conducting or facilitating meetings. Allowing each contributor to share a goal, we were able to acknowledge and build upon each other’s ideas without writing any off. It was an eye-opening experience for me as the Head of Department as quite often it became a snowball effect of exciting ideas. We now have some actionable points that have had ownership opted in on by team members.” – James Bleach, Head of Design and Technology in the Senior School, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore
  • “I was pleased to learn that being a coach has a very important role to play and consists of much more than being a passive listener. Understanding that ‘making people think’ is a core principle of coaching and allowing people  to guide their own self-directed learning was something that I was excited to explore and delve into further.” – Sophie Usher, Nexus School Singapore
  • “The future is bright for our new school and events / meetings like today are very important and need to keep happening.” – Participant in Canterbury Schools Facilitation Day.
  • “I would like to say to you thank you very much for the opportunity to be part of this course. Being a full time swimming coach I have to deal with many swimmers who often have emotional and social issues on daily basis. I found that my coaching skills helped me to conduct my conversations with the swimmers in the way which allow them to be more open and seek for the solution themselves.” – Ivan Bunakov, Nexus School Singapore
  • “I found the course a really fulfilling and motivating experience. At the end of four days I felt that I had acquired some really valuable new skills to help me as a leader as well as an insight that coaching as a model might help to drive forward the aims of my organisation. The whole experience was engaging and refreshing.” – Graham Silverthorne, Headteacher, Gordano School, Portishead
  • “What I found most valuable was the opportunity to experience the coaching feedback model with direct correlation to our coaching. Thank you for the exceptional level of quality and challenge, reflection and skill development experienced over the last three days. Greatly appreciated.” – Participant in Canterbury Schools Facilitation Day
  • “I feel privileged to have partaken in this excellent coaching workshop. The trainers gave me a clearer glimpse as to the coaching process as they took on the role of coach many times to demonstrate skills throughout the workshop.” – Deborah Uy, Nexus School Singapore
  • “I valued the time with colleagues, discussing and using the coaching model so that discussions were professional and focused. The discussion about the future of coaching in the foundation and its commitment to sustainability of coaching was inspirational and built further confidence.” – Participant in Canterbury Schools Facilitation Day
  • “An opportunity to learn something new with colleagues. An exciting prospect of cascading the information down through the school. Really interactive learning days! Fast moving, relevant and thought provoking. Challenges every single participant. Thank you for a fantastic three days! Really enjoyable.” – Lesley Greenway Department Head, Gordano School, Portishead
  • “An excellent facilitator (thank you!). The modelling of different skills was particularly powerful. Exceeded my expectations.” – Paul Jacobs Principal Secondary Advisor North Somerset Education Council
  • “Having seen the effects this process/training can have on individual cements my view that all staff in my school should experience the training and be able to utilise it in their everyday lives. Thank you James for your time and expertise.” – Rod Bell Asst Headteacher & PE Teacher – Gordano School, Portishead
  • “I feel more confident about supporting staff who have particular issues that ‘lock’ their ideas. Thank you for enabling me to understand and unpick another way of helping people find their own answers” – Lynne Yelland, Headteacher
  • “The facilitators were real experts who guided my development wihout ever preaching. Thank you so much for a great set of training.” – Peter Turner, Primary Headteacher
  • “The facilitators were excellent; great mix of humour, information-sharing combined with great modelling.” – Lisa Dadds
  • “The manual was well structured and helpful. I also found Carol Wilson’s book very readable. I hope to convey the coaching ethos to all staff, parents and pupils. A huge thank you – it was an excellent course which has left me even more certain that coaching is an area I would like to expand into.” – Jacky Kerly, Deputy Head