Coaching Case Study: Embedding educational coaching at Ladybridge High School, Bolton, to strengthen culture and develop leaders
Shaping school culture with the Temple Index of Functional Fluency (TIFF©) and leadership coaching.
Stephanie Carlin Coaching
Can educational coaching really transform your school?
The obvious answer is, “Yes!”
You may even be sure of this yourself.
But where do you start? Who do you work with? What frameworks do you use? Why is one model better than another? How do you make it impactful and sustainable?
It can help to hear from leaders using coaching to successfully build their school culture, develop their leaders, and strengthen staff and pupil relationships.
For two years now, I’ve been partnering with Ladybridge High School, Bolton. From a training day in September 2023, all teaching and many support staff have now worked with me to assess their TIFF© profile. This year, I’ve worked with all Senior and Middle Leaders, offering tailored leadership coaching. While there’s more to come, it’s a perfect time to show you what’s possible in your school.
Paddy Russell, Headteacher, was keen to share his experience of working with me at Stephanie Carlin Coaching (and trusting me with his wonderful school).
Read on to find out how the story goes, and consider the great things something similar might do for your school…
Tell us about Ladybridge High School, Bolton
We’re a secondary school with just over 1100 pupils aged 11 – 16, serving a brilliantly multicultural and diverse area. While the figure never defines us, our pupil premium numbers are significantly above the national average – I mention it because this shapes how we look to define our Ladybridge mission.
“…pupils perform and present their ideas… right from the beginning.”
I joined the school just over six years ago. One of our first jobs was to co-construct (with staff) our core beliefs and WISDOM qualities.
These ideas are the foundation of our Trivium, which is the educational philosophy we use to prepare our learners to succeed in life.
The Ladybridge Trivium focuses on: Knowledge, where students work with experts beyond school; Exploration, where real-world experience is part of the curriculum to help children form their ideas; and Communication, where pupils perform and present their ideas… right from the beginning.
How does your mission play out in your curriculum?
“…it’s all about building relationships.”
Learning becomes real when students see, feel and experience it all in context. It’s all about getting practical.
All pupils in years 7 – 10 have been involved in a real-life project relating directly to the curriculum. For example, students have recently been out to the Martin Mere Nature Reserve, completing “eco maths” and real-life mapping, before presenting back at school.
Pastorally, it’s all about building relationships that benefit the staff team, pupils, and learning across the school. To get these relationships right, we have a big emphasis on training staff to understand each other and themselves. This understanding shapes our thinking on behaviour, helping us to strike a balance between structure and nurture. All this is supported by the mixed-age, family tutor group system we moved to this year.
“Anyone working in schools knows there’s always a problem to solve…”
Absolutely. It does fit. I completely believe that coaching (done well) will help a school to improve… and keep it moving forward.
I’d worked with Steph before, and we’d had our first coaching experience together when we were in different leadership roles in another school. I had experienced Transactional Analysis, as well as Functional Fluency. I was convinced, if all my staff were learning habits of self-reflection, the school would continue to improve. Coaching is centred around reflection and building resilience in problem-solving. Anyone working in schools knows there’s always a problem to solve, and coaching helps get under the surface and remove barriers.
What did you want from educational coaching?
We’d decided on Functional Fluency as the right fit for our school. The idea of the “Golden 5” behaviours, and the tendency to slip into unhealthy “purple” variants of these, is incredibly relevant to school life. Through my own experience of coaching, I can easily recall times during my early career when my spontaneity (which was often positive) could become more immature and a distraction. Or, when my desire to fix and support moved from nurture to “marshmallowing,” as Functional Fluency calls it.
I wanted all my team to benefit from this type of self-awareness, which I knew would benefit students.
How did you go about finding the right coaching partner?
To do it well, we knew we needed to make the coaching project central to the school. We wanted all teachers involved, along with as many support staff as possible.
It was a case of “doing it properly”, not just paying lip service to it, so we looked for an accredited TIFF© provider. It was important for everyone to get the chance to work with an expert and assess their own profile, including their strengths and areas for further growth.
What things did you need to consider about the coach you’d work with?
“…you don’t have to explain the things only those working with teenagers each day will know about.”
We wanted someone who would “get it” and have an inside understanding of the unique challenges of school life. But it was equally important for us to work with someone from the outside, who could bring a different type of nurture and challenge to the team.
Steph was the perfect fit… and I already knew and trusted her, of course. Her coaching expertise is obvious, but her years of school experience mean you don’t have to explain the things only those working with teenagers each day will know about.
How did the coaching project work?
Steph’s been part of the team at Ladybridge for nearly two years now. We started with a training day back in September 2023. Over these first two years, Steph oversaw every teacher and member of the pastoral team, along with other members of support staff, completing their TIFF©.
We saw the team gain an understanding of their way of working, along with the areas they could develop. We were then able to start thinking about the profile and strengths of teams and departments. The feedback from staff was excellent.
From here, Steph started a programme of leadership coaching to run in parallel. This year, she’s worked with the entire Senior Leadership Team and every Head of Department individually. We didn’t want to be gatekeepers of growth, so other members of staff who asked could also take part. Steph met with her coachees once a half term. We wanted to protect this time, so meetings were scheduled for the staff, with provision for covering lessons if needed.
Steph’s planning and vision were brilliant, as she was able to refer to and focus her coaching on the TIFF© profiles staff had completed. It brought continuity and continued purpose.
Tell us about working with Steph
Lots of people in education have some experience of instructional coaching. This generally focuses on pedagogy or teaching and learning – there is absolutely a space for it!
But we wanted something more for our team. I knew, the more self-awareness our team had about their interactions, relationships and leadership, the better. The more time we could get our staff operating in the “Golden 5” behaviours, the more our pupils would thrive.
Steph’s coaching was what we needed. She uses more of a “pure” coaching approach, giving space to talk and find solutions. The result is ongoing momentum, positive accountability, and challenge to allow staff to reflect and go deeper.
Steph’s organisation is excellent. Everything runs smoothly, it’s straightforward, expectations are clear, and she’s adaptable… she is a teacher, after all!
How have the staff responded and benefitted?
One of the important things is staff knew their coaching time was confidential. As Head, I don’t want to know the specifics of coaching meetings – it’s completely right that I don’t.
Some general feedback and themes are useful for leaders to receive, and Heads of Departments benefit from seeing the headline overview of their department's strengths and challenges. And, staff often speak to me about the benefits of their coaching, and of course, I see the impact around the school.
Recently, one of my pastoral leaders was able to identify when they were being sucked into a “rescuer” mode by a situation. As a result, they were able to lead and nurture in a more effective, sustainable, and helpful way. With self-awareness comes control. We’re seeing fewer instances where incidents escalate, with adults confidently remaining as the type of adults children need. Lots of pupils don’t spend time around adults showing healthy adult behaviour. I see nurture, understanding, and willingness to lead humbly and say sorry when it’s right to, winning over our pupils each day.
The staff are incredibly positive about their coaching experience. I’ve no doubt it contributes to the well-being, retention and development of my team.
Any final words on finding the right coach to work with your school
“We’re looking forward to extending our coaching programme with Steph into the next academic year.”
You need to work with a coach who combines expertise and a real investment in your school. They also need to share your coaching vision, listen to your ideas, and be ready to share theirs.
I’d recommend Steph wholeheartedly. She’s what you need from an external coach coming into your school – a partner.
We even used Steph’s expertise in our recent Deputy Head interview process. We wanted her on the panel because she knows the school so well, and she helped us observe and explore applicants’ self-awareness and reflection.
We’re looking forward to extending our coaching programme with Steph into the next academic year. Teaching within a coaching culture is now just what we do at Ladybridge.
A note from Steph
It’s great to reflect on how far the coaching partnership with Ladybridge has come, especially when there’s momentum to see it grow further. In many ways, we’re just getting started.
Where has your school reached in seeing coaching transform your corridors and classrooms? You might want to take a look at my recent blog post on how coaching from an “insider-outsider” will benefit your school.
If you have any questions, get in touch or connect with me on LinkedIn… there’s lots to talk about and lots we can do.
