During Coronavirus, we have launched a series of free measures to support schools during this uncertain time. This includes pro-bono executive coaching for school and social leaders, a partnership with SSAT to run a project based learning scheme via Google Classroom where pupils can think about their future aspirations, a donations campaign supporting local food poverty charities and transferring our 1-1 coaching programmes online which will be free for any school for 7 sessions who signs up in April. Our Head of London, Patricia Mbangui explains the reasoning behind that virtual coaching decision.
For millions across the country, this has been a time of high anxiety, confusion, pause and uncertainty. For pupils that has been amplified tenfold. The anxiety that they have faced over the past few weeks is one that as school leaders, teachers, and staff in that school community has been unlike any other. For the first time, all of us find ourselves unable to give definite answers, unable to assure them of their academic future, academic success as we ourselves do not know the answer. And it is in this time of uncertainty that we have worked hard to ensure that we can still be a support to all our school communities through virtual coaching.
Coaching has always been for us the best way to engage pupils as it encourages them to take action, be independent and confident learners. To gain resilience in the face of academic challenges. This is why we have now moved this online. We believe that it would be a disservice to those pupils not to encourage them to be independent, not to help them gain confidence in their academic abilities and also keep up those important skills that without the daily intervention of school may be lost.
This generation of pupils will face the biggest challenge going forward and we hope we can be a support through virtual coaching in preparing them for those challenges. We believe, now more than ever, our approach of helping pupils to develop a growth mindset, improve their metacognition and become that bit more self-aware as to what they want to achieve is vital.
Virtual 1-1 coaching with a university student will be focussed on:
Independence: helping pupils build and restore academic confidence and cement independent learning skills
Resilience: helping year groups bridge the learning gap to their next level of learning whether that is transitioning year groups or Year 10 to Year 11.
Intrinsic Motivation: encouraging students to consider what their future options are in terms of university or apprenticeships and what really drives them
Subject-specific support: tutoring around key topics and areas pupils need support in
The sessions will take place over Zoom over seven weeks for an hour each week where pupils will be coached 1-1 in a subject of their choice. The day will be selected by them but the time will be 3pm-4pm (unless a school specifies otherwise) from Monday to Friday. We ideally want to focus on Years 9-13. For year 11 and year 13, we recommend they choose a subject that will help as a bridging gap toward their next level of study.
They will be coached by one of our amazing community of university coaches who will be trained and DBS checked by us and be paired according to subjects. These sessions will be recorded by safeguarding purposes.
During April, for any school that signs up this will be free for 7 sessions. Our aim is to do our best to support schools up and down the country as much as possible during this time of uncertainty.
If you have any questions, please check out the FAQ attached as well as the mock coaching video which should give a sense of what the session will feel like.
If you still have any questions beyond this or of course you want to get signed up, feel free to get in touch at patricia@coachbright.org.