Building a Culture of Coaching & Reflective Practice

Recognising that staff support is often reactive, this programme offers a structured framework to enhance wellbeing, retention, and professional development to foster a permanent cultural shift.

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Introducing Coaching & Reflective Practice

Schools today face a critical challenge: while they are expected to prioritise staff wellbeing and retention, support often remains reactive rather than structured, leaving limited space for meaningful reflection, coaching, and professional dialogue.

This session provides the solution by moving beyond temporary initiatives to embed a sustainable coaching and reflective supervision culture across your entire setting. By establishing the time, structure, and consistency needed for staff to think and process their roles, this training translates theory into a practical model that strengthens practice and enhances leadership at every level. Participants will gain the confidence to lead meaningful coaching conversations using the EdWell Coaching & Supervision Toolkit, fostering a workplace culture in which staff are empowered to grow and excel.

Understanding Coaching & Reflective Practice

The reflective supervision and coaching model is designed to move school environments away from reactive support toward a structured, sustainable culture of professional dialogue and growth by:

Structured Reflection vs. Reactive Support: Rather than only addressing issues as they arise, the model provides structured space for staff to think, process, and grow in their roles.
Sustainable Culture Shift: Not treated as a temporary initiative; instead, it focuses on building the time, structure, and consistency necessary for reflective practice to become a permanent part of the school's fabric.
Universal Application: Coaching and supervision are intended to be embedded at every level of the setting, ensuring leadership and practice are strengthened across the entire staff.

The training is grounded in DfE workforce wellbeing priorities and aligns with the leadership and personal development expectations found within the inspection framework. This ensures that the practice supports both institutional compliance and staff health.

By prioritising structured reflection, the training aims to improve decision-making, professional growth, and wellbeing to ultimately empower staff to handle the complexities of their roles more effectively, leading to better retention and practice.

Why this training matters

Transitions are a significant challenge for many children and young people. Whether this is moving between lessons, starting school, changing year groups, moving from primary to secondary, returning after absence, or transitioning through different emotional states during the school day, moments of change can increase anxiety, dysregulation and challenging behaviour.

Effective transition support is not simply about managing behaviour; it is about understanding why behaviour changes during periods of uncertainty and how schools can create predictable, relational environments where pupils feel safe, connected and ready to learn.

High Levels of Workplace Stress - 76% of all school staff and 86% of senior leaders

Education Support: Teacher Wellbeing Index

over 2.5 million working days are lost annually in UK education due to work-related stress, depression, and anxiety.

Nearly half (49%) of all education staff state that their institution's workplace culture negatively impacts their mental health

Education Support: Staff wellbeing across drops to its lowest since 2019

Relevant Policy Frameworks & Official Reports

Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) — Professional Development & Coaching Evidence

High-Impact Professional Development: EEF research highlights instructional coaching and structured reflective practice as one of the most effective, evidence-based forms of Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
Teacher Self-Efficacy & Retention: Coaching increases teacher confidence, improves pedagogical practice in the classroom, and directly reduces feeling isolated—one of the main precursors to burnout.

Department for Education (DfE) — Education Staff Wellbeing Charter

Leadership & Organisational Culture: The DfE's Education Staff Wellbeing Charter explicitly calls on school leaders to create a culture that supports workload reduction, values staff feedback, and embeds non-judgmental professional dialogue.
Moving Away from High-Stakes Monitoring: Traditional, evaluative observation cultures drive high anxiety. A coaching model shifts the culture toward psychological safety, continuous improvement, and peer collaboration.

Ofsted Inspection Focus (Leadership and Management)

Staff Workload and Wellbeing Evaluation: Under the Ofsted framework, inspectors directly evaluate how effectively school leaders manage workload, protect staff mental health, and foster a supportive working environment.
Continuous Professional Learning: Inspectors look for evidence that professional development is coherent, supportive, and embedded in daily practice rather than delivered through top-down compliance exercises.

Why Schools Need This Training

You cannot solve the teacher retention crisis with superficial perks; schools must address the core drivers of stress, isolation, administrative scrutiny, and a punitive oversight culture. Training staff in peer coaching and reflective practice transforms school culture from one of high-stakes performance management into one of psychological safety and shared growth. This directly addresses the 49% of staff who feel their school culture harms their mental health, driving down sickness absence and boosting retention through meaningful, structured professional support.

Useful tools and resources to support

To support student wellbeing, schools can access a variety of external resources and mental health guidance tailored to help young people navigate transitions and emotional outcomes they produce.