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The Growth in Educational Leadership Podcast
𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡?
𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪!
Through my recruitment work in the education and public sectors, I see trends emerging amongst the 1000s of candidates I've helped to date - from ➡️ career blindspots to➡️ long, complicated interview questions and➡️how confidence holds so many teachers back.
Because I understand the system that teachers work in, the language they use, the challenges they face, and the frameworks that shape education, this podcast (and the way I work) means that teachers grow professionally as quickly as possible!
Combining mindset with strategy, I'll be sharing ways to sell yourself better and how to make the Looking at Our School Document work for you. I'll also share insider stories from experts in education and beyond.
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Owner: Orla Dempsey
The Growth in Educational Leadership Podcast
E48: Nick Woolley on Building Coaching Cultures in Schools with Inclusive Futures Academy
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In this Growth in Educational Leadership podcast episode, I interview Nick Woolley, a former secondary maths teacher and now full-time coach and coach trainer, co-director of the Inclusive Futures Academy.
Nick describes discovering coaching on a leadership course, becoming an ICF-accredited coach, and returning to education after initially trying to leave the sector, now coaching students through senior leaders.
He explains Inclusive Futures (a not-for-profit CIC focused on social mobility) and the Academy’s ICF-accredited, phased coach training model that can be tiered across school roles to build a coaching culture, including a recent project training Year 10/transition-year students to mentor younger peers.
Key themes include coaching as effective communication, active listening, silence, curiosity over advice-giving, contracting (“what do you want from this conversation?”), and transparent leadership to gain buy-in during change.
TIMESTAMPS
- 00:52 Nick’s Teaching to Coaching Journey
- 02:22 Building Inclusive Futures Academy
- 05:55 Coaching Skills for Schools
- 06:52 Power of Listening and Silence
- 11:36 Training Pathways and Offerings
- 17:01 Ripple Effect and Hidden Impact
- 20:48 Leading Change Through Buy-In
- 26:03 When Change Isn’t Optional
- 27:03 Invite Staff Input
- 27:26 Transparency Builds Trust
- 28:49 Director Caught Middle
- 30:50 Coaching for Leaders
- 32:09 Loneliness at the Top
- 33:11 Coaching Skills Teachers Have
- 35:25 Coaching Not Advice
- 37:42 Clarify What You Need
- 39:05 Beware Scripted Coaching
- 40:54 Empower Not Depend
- 41:46 Permission to Mentor
- 43:53 Contracting Conversations
- 47:48 Feeling Heard Exercise
- 49:39 Change Needs Context
- 51:04 How to Contact Nick
- 51:59 Final Thanks and Wrap Up
CONTACT DETAILS
Nick's website: https://inclusivefutures.co.uk/
Email Nick here: nick@inclusivefutures.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickwoolleycoach/