CONNECTING
HOW WE CAN COLLABORATE
CONNECTING
HOW WE CAN COLLABORATE
OUR TEAM
INBOX INSPIRATION
EVENTS
At the Thinking Academy we believe in the fundamental values of compassion, courage and connection. In any and every situation you can apply these values to both professional and personal development. We believe in making a difference, ultimately we work to improve performance in every person we work with.
Coaching with the Thinking Academy means you experience a confidential, impartial, and non – judgemental process, which enables the you to find solutions to any challenges you may face. Overtime our process builds your confidence and self-awareness to empower you to continue improve their performance.
Investing in time with a coach was the best thing we ever did and continue to do.
Many of the best Headteachers, Senior Leaders and Teachers have the self-awareness to know that they cannot go it alone and need a great coach to grow and succeed.
Our Team
LEONIE HURRELL
Founder & Lead Coach
Leonie has always had a passion for learning and supporting others to achieve personal and professional success. As a former Headteacher, she knows the tremendous expectations that can be placed upon schools and their staff.
Leonie was fortunate to have the opportunity to invest in coaching as part of her leadership development. It was transformational. Coaching enabled Leonie to improve professionally and create positive change for others. managing to successfully balance the demands of an intensive job with a young family and feel far more confident and with energized.
Leonie understands leadership can be tough, but she also knows it can be the most enjoyable and rewarding role you will ever have. Experiencing great coaching reminds us of what we value and why we love what we do. Whatever challenges you face as a leader. Leonie can assure you investing in a coach is the best decision you will ever make.
KIM GAMMON
Associate Coach
Kim has always loved teaching and has worked in Secondary Schools as a Subject Leader for over 15 years. As a current practitioner Kim understands the challenges that teachers and leaders face on a day to day basis and believes in the importance of being authentic and true to yourself.
Kim invested in coaching five years ago and has found it invaluable in developing confidence, prioritising and managing her workload efficiently as well as learning how to get the most out of herself and her team. Kim has implemented and led coaching practice and strategy across her school by providing quality CPD for teaching staff as well as supporting the design of effective coaching systems.
Kim has completed the Advanced Coaching Programme and the ILM Level 5 certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring. Kim knows how empowering coaching can be and understands the value in developing and inspiring fellow educators through coaching conversations..
RACHEL HINGSTON
Associate Coach
Rachel has always been motivated by developing people and workplace teams. She believes this approach is at the heart of enabling both organisations to flourish, and people to realise their fullest professional and personal growth.
Rachel is a School Business Improvement Leader and experienced Executive School Business Manager. After over a decade of leading in the education sector, she understands the challenges and complexities this journey can bring.
Rachel has received coaching as part of her own leadership development and found it to be an inspired process, and one that facilitated extensive positive and lasting change. Having completed the Advanced Coaching Programme, she now holds the ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring Practice and believes that coaching is one of the greatest transformative steps you can ever choose to take.
Julian Churchill
Associate Coach
Julian is a Headteacher of a large primary School in Poole, Dorset and a Specialist leader of Education for behaviour and attitudes. He has worked in very diverse and challenging settings which have offered a variety of opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of pedagogy, cognition and how young people in particular, behave.
Julian has always been a very strong advocate of the self-improving system and empowering those within the organisation to maximise effectiveness and achieve positive outcomes. The improvement has often been successful through the use coaching as a tool for change. Julian has worked to establish coaching cultures in his own settings and across a MAT of thirteen schools. He has enjoyed the challenge of deepening his understanding of how best to help those around him to be solution focussed. Julian has been accredited through the ILM coaching programme and through securing a masters in professional studies from Kingston University which majored in coaching and mentoring.
Inbox Inspiration
Every month we curate and write about all things leadership and coaching wise. We have written a series of articles over the past two years covering a range of issues; managing work/life balance, hardwiring for happiness, resilience, difficult conversations and great coaching questions for leaders. They are great pieces to explore and reflect on for yourself but even more powerful to share with others. Have a sneaky peek at our previous articles below.
Events
If you’d like to join in with the learning and conversations join one of our programmes:
Advanced Coaching Programme - Virtual
This ILM approved course will give you a deep understanding of the coaching process and will help embed vital skills to develop your coaching ability. You will gain greater self-awareness of yourself as a coach and how you can get the best outcomes for your coachees with a clear vision and plan of how to implement best practice coaching in your setting.
When: TBC
Time: 9am - 2pm
Where: Virtually via Zoom
Price: £395 + VAT
Advanced Coaching Programme- Kingsleigh Primary School, Bournemouth, Dorset
This ILM approved course will give you a deep understanding of the coaching process and will help embed vital skills to develop your coaching ability. You will gain greater self-awareness of yourself as a coach and how you can get the best outcomes for your coachees with a clear vision and plan of how to implement best practice coaching in your setting. .
When: 20 January 2023, 9 March 2023 , 20 April 2023
Time: 0915 - 1530 (0900 coffee on arrival)
Where: Kingsleigh Primary School, Hadow Road, Bournemouth, BH10 5HT
Price: £495 + VAT (additional delegates from same school/MAT £395+VAT)
Resilient Leaders, Resilient Schools - Captains Club Hotel & Spa, Christchurch, Dorset
This programme educates school leaders and managers in resilience; what resilience is, what challenges our resilience and how we can develop resilience. We will take action to improve our ability to manage challenging circumstances and support our organisations to navigate change successfully using adaptive strategies.
When: TBC
Time: Day One 0900 - 1500 (0840 coffee and breakfast on arrival) Day Two 0900-1200 (0840 coffee and breakfast on arrival)
Where: The Captains Club, Wick Ferry, Wick Lane, Christchurch BH23 1HU
Price: £325 + VAT (£295 + VAT for additional delegate)
ILM Level 5 Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring
Ideal if you are a manager with responsibility for coaching and mentoring or planning to move into a development role.
This 9 month programme is stimulating and challenging, and includes the development of essential and in-depth knowledge, skills and confidence to perform effectively as coaches and mentors. Participants engage in collaborative learning workshops, reflective learning, and elements of distance learning.
The programme is ambitious. It will seek your time, involvement and commitment to study for a minimum of 9 hours distance learning; 4 days of workshops, 2 x days of group tutorial supervision, 2 hours of observed peer coaching and includes 1 hour of tutorial supervision (a mix of face to face and remote). There is a lot of ground to cover and plenty of learning to be gained from personal study, input, experiences, reflection and reviews.
When: September 2023 (at weekends)
Time: Varied - 3/5 hour training sessions
Where: Virtual
Price: £1,800 +VAT
Resilient Leaders, Resilient Schools - Virtual
This programme educates school leaders and managers in resilience; what resilience is, what challenges our resilience and how we can develop resilience. We will take action to improve our ability to manage challenging circumstances and support our organisations to navigate change successfully using adaptive strategies.
When: TBC
Time: 0900-1300
Where: Virtually via zoom
Price: £225 + VAT