Perspectives on coaching: What schools need to clarify

Hayley Guest, Headteacher, East Park Primary, Wolverhampton, UK Jan Rudge, Director, Leadership Edge Coaching in Schools, UK Even the most seasoned of leaders are questioning themselves about the new demands placed on them. One of the challenges that lies ahead is how best to provide for your staff’s needs; with NQTs and RQTs nationally having experienced the most challenging year in living memory, our children are not the only ones with gaps in their learning. So what can be done? With statistical data still demonstrating the high percentage of early career teachers thinking of leaving the profession, how we support and develop the next generation of teachers and leaders is a matter of high importance. Every employer needs to be asking: What do our younger workers want from the workplace? What benefits a more experienced professional? Are we providing this? Research from the Gallup organisation (Sinyan and Nink, 2021) shows that the number one retention factor by far is that