Teaching Leaders 2012 Development Coach Application Pack
Due by Tuesday, 14th February 2012
Contents Page
Section 1: What Is Teaching Leaders 3
Section 2: The Development Coach Role 3
2.1 Role Overview 3
2.2 Person Specification 4
2.3 What Do We Expect From Our Development Coaches? 4
2.4 Development Coach Commitments 5
2.5 Teaching Leaders’ Commitments to Coaches 5
2.6 Contractual Arrangements 6
Section 3: The Assessment Centre 7
Section 4: Induction and Development 8
Section 5: Coaching With Teaching Leaders 8
5.1 Why is Coaching Part of the Teaching Leaders Core Programme? 8
5.2 Teaching Leaders’ Philosophy of Coaching & Coaching Model 9
Section 6: Teaching Leaders’ Vision, Mission and Values 9
Appendices
Appendix One: Regional Coach Recruitment and Induction Timelines 12
Appendix Two: Teaching Leaders 2012 Development Coach Application Form 15
Appendix Three: Assessment Centre Venues 19
Appendix Four: Teaching Leaders Coach Expense Policy 20
Section 1: What is Teaching Leaders
Teaching Leaders is an innovative non-profit organisation whose mission is to grow a movement of outstanding middle leaders whose teams measurably raise the life chances of children in challenging schools.
The programme was developed in partnership with four of the UK’s most forward thinking organisations: Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), the National College, Teach First and Future Leaders. We realise our mission by delivering two specific training and development experiences: the Core Programme which is focused on retaining and stretching high potential individuals; and Teaching Leaders On Demand which is focused on building capacity across groups of middle leaders in one school.
The Core Programme was launched in 2008 with an inaugural cohort of 30 and has worked with 300 participants across 150 schools in the South and North regions – and has secured 3-year funding from the National College for our expansion to all regions of England. Following strong demand from schools to bring our programme to a wider audience, we launched Teaching Leaders On Demand, and are currently delivering 30 modules to schools in London, the South East, West Midlands and North West and aim to rapidly grow our client base and product offering over the next two years.
It is an exciting time for the organisation. We recently received confirmation of £8.9 million of expansion funding from the National College, which will enable us to train and develop over 1,000 participants across 400 challenging schools over the next three years. Our participant numbers will be growing substantially year on year, with a target intake of 240 middle leaders from across the country in 2012. As the organisation grows, there will be a key focus on ensuring we grow our impact and mission; this will be done by maintaining programme quality and innovation, building an outstanding team who deliver according to the Teaching Leaders’ values, and building lasting relationships with schools making Teaching Leaders a ‘rite of passage’ for all middle leaders in challenging schools, and thereby influencing national policy.
More information can be found at www.teachingleaders.org.uk.
Section 2: The Development Coach Role
2.1 Role Overview
The Development Coach role is a two year role supporting between 4 and 10 high potential middle leaders to improve pupil outcomes in their departments or areas of responsibility. Teaching Leaders participants work in challenging schools, and have been selected through a highly competitive application and assessment process. Senior leadership experience in a challenging secondary school is a minimum requirement for this role. The Development Coach role is open to currently serving or former senior school leaders.
Coaching is a crucial and central part of both participants’ experience and development on the Teaching Leaders Core Programme. Development Coaches are the link between our curriculum and training delivered on the programme, supporting participants to incorporate this learning into their practice as middle leaders. Coaching is the most personalised element of the programme, and where participants see a direct impact within their roles, their leadership and consequently outcomes for their pupils.
By the end of their 2 year personalised relationship with their Development Coach and completion of the Teaching Leaders programme, participants will have:
· Overcome difficult situations through building their resilience and capacity to face challenges head on
· Learnt to objectively reflect upon their own practice within their school context
· Planned strategically to deliver a high-impact Improvement Initiative
· Lead highly effective teams and created a culture of accountability for themselves and their teams
· Understood and demonstrated a repertoire of leadership behaviours and approaches
· Used data fully to set targets, monitor progress and evaluate results
· Developed the necessary confidence to fully step up to outstanding middle leadership and are highly motivated to take on any future role.
2.2 Person Specification
Essential:
· Experience working as a senior leader in a challenging secondary school
· An interest in, and passion for, developing middle leaders
· An understanding of the challenging environments in which our participants work
· A desire to develop as a Coach and professional
· A desire to learn, show enthusiasm for working with Teaching Leaders, and see becoming a Development Coach with us as a development opportunity
· Cultural fit – Development Coaches should be aligned with our mission and values, and be flexible and comfortable with being a part of a growing, dynamic organisation
· Willingness to act as an ambassador for Teaching Leaders, demonstrating their commitment to, and passion for, our programme when representing our organisation
· The ability to employ a variety of coaching models and techniques and to adapt approach in accordance to the needs of individual participants moving along the mentoring/coaching continuum with the participants as they develop
Desirable:
· Whilst a formal coaching/mentoring qualification and accreditation would be useful, the most important factor for us is your commitment to your own development as a Coach and the development of others
2.3 What Do We Expect From Our Development Coaches?
· They develop our participants to become outstanding middle leaders by unlocking their potential to effectively lead their teams, raise pupil performance and become self-aware school leaders
· They behave professionally at all times and set appropriate boundaries
· They work in partnership with our partner schools
· They are resilient and mentally tough
· They challenge and encourage
· They know how to flex their style
· They are honest
· They set high standards
· They are great at giving and asking for feedback to support their professional development as a Coach
· They see themselves as part of the Teaching Leaders team and truly understand our mission and programme, working with the regional teams to support participant development
· They are well organised, with good IT skills, and meet deadlines
2.4 Development Coach Commitments
The Development Coach core and per participant annual remuneration package has been calculated to cover the following commitments:
· Complete 8 Coaching Visits per participant per year within the timeframe specified by Teaching Leaders—6 of these are face-to-face visits completed in the participant’s school unless exceptional circumstances apply; 2 are telephone visits; each visit is a minimum of 2 hours long
· Coach within our framework: we expect our Coaches to utilise their educational experience and knowledge of coaching within the framework of our coaching programme, which is defined by a set agenda, topic, Coaching Visit Prompt and timeframe for each of the 6 face-to-face and 2 telephone visits each year of the programme; therefore we expect Coaches to conduct each Coaching Visit according to the Coaching Visit Prompt supplied in advance of visits by the Regional Lead Coach and Core Programme Manager
· Record and upload Coaching Visit Reviews (CVRs) onto the Teaching Leaders online Platform within 5 working days of completing each visit, capturing the discussion and identifying agreed action points with dates for completion
· Submit comments about participants’ development termly to be included in Termly Progress Reports sent by regional teams to partner schools
· Support participants to complete programme tools
· Commit to attend the Residential and all Induction, Development and Supervision Sessions (see Appendix One for dates); in the event that a Development Coach is unable to attend a required session, it is the duty of the Development Coach to offer payback time or submit a reduced invoice
· Meet face-to-face with the Regional Lead Coach twice a year, and additionally as necessary, for 1:1s as part of a quality assurance process
· Attend any additional Coach Days as arranged by Teaching Leaders
· Submit an invoice for 1/12th of annual contract on the 14th of each month to the Regional Associate Director
· Undergo a CRB check for Teaching Leaders
· Commit to a coaching allocation of between 4 and 10 participants (to be finalised in conversation with Teaching Leaders at the end of participant recruitment, normally July)
2.5 Teaching Leaders’ Commitments to Coaches
· We will offer ongoing professional development including opportunities for peer supervision and 1:1 support from the Regional Lead Coach
· Membership of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) will be provided to all Teaching Leaders’ Coaches; Coaches will be required to sign up to the EMCC Code of Ethics (see EMCC website for details)
· Coaches will be expected to attend 2 EMCC lectures/seminars per year as part of ongoing CPD
· We will provide opportunities for each Coach to feedback on their Teaching Leaders’ experience and contribute to the ongoing development of our coaching programme
· We will remunerate Coaches monthly for 1/12th of the value of their annual contract
2.6 Contractual Arrangements
Successfully appointed Development Coaches will be offered a consultancy contract with Teaching Leaders. Contractual agreements will be formalised during July 2012, once participant recruitment has ended and final participant numbers are confirmed. Contractual coaching-load/participant allocation is subject to change in the event that participants leave the programme or their school.
Each Development Coach will be issued an annual contract outlining remuneration for work undertaken that academic year; the contract will be revised and reissued in the second year of the programme. Remuneration is calculated by adding a set core amount and a per participant amount. The core amount is remuneration for Induction and Residential (year 1 only), and ongoing development and supervision requirements including 1:1s with the Regional Lead Coach. The per participant amount is dependent on coaching-load allocation and is remuneration for required coaching work. The daily rate used to calculate the remuneration for the coaching package is based on £400. Coaches will also be reimbursed up to a maximum amount for travel to participants’ schools for face-to-face Coaching Visits and for travel to central London, Manchester and Birmingham for induction, development, supervision and 1:1 sessions. Please see the Teaching Leaders Coach Expense Policy in Appendix Four.
Coaching remuneration package break down by year
Year 1 AmountAugust 2012-July 2013 / Year 2 Amount
August 2013-July 2014
Core Amount
Covering payment for Induction & Residential (year 1 only) and ongoing development, supervision and 1:1s with Regional Lead Coach / 11.5 days / £4,600 / 3.5 days / £1,400
Per Participant Amount
Covering coaching work & requirements / 3.5 days / £1,400 / 3.5 days / £1,400
We will discuss desired coaching-load allocation with successfully appointed Development Coaches prior to the issuing of contracts, but as a rule, Teaching Leaders will cap coaching allocation: for Development Coaches who hold senior leadership positions in schools, the maximum allocation is 8 participants, and for those Development Coaches who are self-employed, the maximum allocation is 10 participants. This is to ensure Development Coaches can meet the coaching commitments of coaching within the specified timeframes.
Additionally there is also a minimum coaching allocation, to ensure value for money for the organisation: for Development Coaches who hold senior leadership positions in schools, the minimum allocation is 4 participants, and for those Development Coaches who are self-employed, the minimum allocation is 5 participants. We will require all successfully appointed Development Coaches to commit to the minimum coaching-load allocation in order to coach with us.
For self-employed returning Coaches who will have coached for Teaching Leaders for at least one year by the start of the 2012 cohort, and therefore have experience of the coaching programme and timeframes, the maximum total coaching allocation is 12 participants, as long as the Coach can meet the per cohort minimum allocation (e.g. can take on at least 5 participants from the 2012 cohort without exceeding a maximum of 12 participants total).
Section 3: The Assessment Centre
We are recruiting 12-15 Development Coaches to work with our London & South East cohort of 120 participants, 9-11 Development Coaches to work with our North cohort of 90 participants, and 3 Development Coaches to work with our inaugural Midlands cohort of 30 participants.
Because we value attributes, professionalism and values more highly in our Development Coaches than formal coaching experience, we have found that paper qualifications and professional recommendations are not necessarily accurate indicators of candidate quality and suitability. However, it is imperative that all Development Coach applicants have senior leadership team experience in a secondary school as a minimum requirement.
We believe that Development Coach Assessment Centres provide an objective method for comparing candidates and ensuring that they have the appropriate skills, values, and personal attributes to work with our participants and organisation.
This application and assessment process will enable us to better understand you and your strengths, so we can make the best appointments for our organisation and match successful candidates most effectively with our participants.
We will review all applications received by the deadline and those who are shortlisted will be invited to participate in the final stage of the application process: an Assessment Centre.
Please be aware that we do not have capacity to give feedback at the application stage due to the huge volume of applications we receive. Please refer to Appendix One for region specific application timelines and Assessment Centre dates. Applicants can indicate preferred Assessment Centre dates when submitting their Application Form.