Coaching for our Partners and Leaders

To our school partners and social leaders,

We are reaching out to you to support you during these uncertain and difficult times.

We are aware of the many challenges you are facing in dealing with the current COVID-19 situation, and we appreciate all of the effort you have been dedicating to help your various communities.

As a team of trained and accredited executive coaches, we wanted to offer free executive coaching to help leaders doing valuable work navigate these tricky times.

We coach leaders to think through who they are and how to make better, more impactful decisions. If are looking to take some time away from it all through the support of a listening ear, some reflection, or a boost in your self -awareness, we would love to chat with you.

During these challenging times, the accredited coaches at CoachBright are offering complimentary sessions that can take place over video call or over the phone.

To qualify for these sessions, you must be a leader in the education or social sector and be willing to learn about yourself. If this is of interest to you or someone in your network, please click on the link below to book in a telephone call to get started.

Book in time (click names below) with:
· Robin Chu (CEO and AOEC Practitioner Diploma)
· Carole Reniero (Coaching Lead and AOEC Practitioner Diploma): 

Both are accredited coaches with the Academy of Executive Coaching (AOEC). If we don't get to chat, do know we are rooting for you and the incredible work you are doing for us.

We wish you all the best in the days and weeks to come.

If you would like to arrange a separate time email robin@coachbright.org.

Thanks,

The CoachBright Team

Letter to Year 11's and 13's

Dear Year 11 and Year 13,

There are no amounts of words that can do justice or provide comfort or even tell you how gutted we are that this is the way you had to say goodbye. That this is how you would remember the end of your school journey. We as your coaches, your teachers, your mentors are devastated for you but also ultimately proud.

Despite all the uncertainty, it is you that kept focused, you that tried your best and worked hard. You who turned up each day talking about TikTok and that programme that is way too young for us to watch. You that talked about becoming that banker, that doctor, that politician, that lawyer, that teacher, that good person. You who thought you couldn’t do it because Maths wasn’t for you but you believed and you thought and you realised Maths is for everyone willing enough to work hard for it.

And for that we thank you, we celebrate you for all your hard work which I promise has not gone unnoticed and will not be forgotten. And even though you have said goodbye, know that we as a community are always here believing in you and will be here for you for whenever you need us.

We’re on team@coachbright.org if we can help.

The CoachBright Team x

How Can I Manage my Learning at Home?

How will I revise for my exams? How can I make sure I remember everything? How can I find something that works for me? Are there any English videos on Youtube for Macbeth?

These might be questions you are asking yourself at the moment. With the news of schools closing because of coronavirus, some of you may be nervous or scared about how to manage your learning at home. 

Managing Your Day

We have all had times when staying at home when we woke up at 12pm, watched some Youtube videos until 3pm and then maybe did some studying before going back on Youtube to watch more videos. 

Part of making sure you manage your learning at home is keeping to a routine. Getting up at the same time every day will help you to sleep regularly an ensure you are still keeping on top of your own revision schedule. 

Another factor is also making sure that you are taking regular breaks, getting out of your pyjamas into different clothes and finishing in the afternoon. At school, breaks and lunchtimes and even transition times are there to help you take a pause between activities. When studying and revising, make sure you are taking time between tasks, whether it by by getting a snack, watching a fun Youtube video or just standing up to stretch your legs.

Looking After Your Wellbeing

Studying can be fun but also stressful particularly when preparing for exams especially when you have to manage it alone. That’s why it is so important to take care of yourself - this is what we mean by wellbeing. Ways to do this is: every 40 mins take a 5 minute break, ensure you take an hour for lunch, talk to people at home or if you can chat to your friends.

Online resources

As you probably already know, the internet is filled with various types of websites, apps and videos that you can use so that when you are in charge of your own learning at home, you can still make progress, still get the grade that you want and still keep aiming high. Below are some examples of resources available to you online and for FREE. Some may need you to create an account, while some you may have a login already so it’s worth checking if you do. 

We will be updating this list as we go along but we would love to hear from you should there be any resources you would like going forward.

—

Name: Seneca

Website: https://www.senecalearning.com

Great For: Making sure you are able to remember all the information you have learnt

Subject: All

Name: CorbettMaths

Website: https://corbettmaths.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Worksheets on different areas and topic - Past papers and worksheets also have answers!

Subject: Maths

Name: MathsGenie

Website: https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Past exam style questions

Subject: Maths

Name: MathsBot

Website: https://mathsbot.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Skills practice, a variety of questions to practice for exams - also gives you the answers

Subject: Maths

Name: ExamSolutions

Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/ExamSolutions (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Going over exam style questions

Subject: Maths

Name: BBC Bitesize

Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Learning individual topics and bits of information

Subject: All

Name: BBC Teach

Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/secondary/zkqp47h (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Teachers use this mainly but it doesn’t mean you can’t! Many videos for you to teach yourself

Subject: All

Name: Quizlet

Website: https://quizlet.com/en-gb

Great For: Quick speedy tasks to test one’s knowledge

Subject: All

Name: Sparknotes

Website: https://www.sparknotes.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Study guides for all texts

Subject: English

Name: Video sparknotes

Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/VideoSparkNotes (Mobile friendly)

Great For: If you would like to watch some videos on the text you are reading

Subject: English

Name: Kahoot

Website: https://kahoot.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Quick quizzes - You can use this to revise with your friends when you are at home!

Subject: All

Name: PhotoMath

Website: https://www.photomath.net (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Solving equations when feeling stuck

Subject: Maths

We hope these are all useful!

The CoachBright Team

FAQs for CoachBright and COVID-19

1) What is coronavirus?

This is a new illness that affects a person’s lungs, airways, and primarily causes a cough and high fever. Please have a read through this nhs page if you would like to gain more clarity on the symptoms or context.

2) What if one of our pupils has coronavirus?

In this case, we are not in the best position to answer that question. The best thing to do would be to check with your school’s policies and updates.

3) What is CoachBright's current policy on COVID-19 (coronavirus)? 

Our policy is in line with the latest governmental updates as well as our own to ensure the safeguarding of all the pupils we work with, our volunteers and our community of partners. We will be sending regular updates with regards to this situation and ensure that everyone understands the next steps.

4) Are there going to be any more CoachBright sessions? 

At the moment all of our sessions and graduation events have been postponed until after the Easter holidays. This is in line with the latest university and school closures and recent changes the government has announced as of 20/03/2020. 

5) What should I do if I am a Coach and I am ill? 

We advise that if you are feeling unwell and are showing any of these symptoms, please self-isolate for 14 days. If you are living in a flat with other people, they will have to self-isolate as well. For more guidance, we encourage you to contact your university directly.

6) Why have the graduations been postponed?

Due to many universities deciding to close doors to face-to-face coaching and encouraging every student to stay at home, it is safest for us to postpone our events for now and wait for further updates before we decide to run our events. 

7) How long will graduations be postponed for?

At the moment, it is very hard to tell. We are monitoring the government's decisions very closely, and we are committed to celebrate the successes of the pupils when it is safe to do so. At the moment graduations have been postponed until after Easter, but this could change in the next few days and weeks. 

8) What are the next steps from today?

We will follow all new governmental updates closely and continue to communicate with schools and volunteers on a regular basis to support each other's safety and understanding amidst this time of uncertainty. 

9) Can I still continue Coaching?

YES! We would love to receive your support in the coming days and weeks, as we will continue to support our pupils virtually through online learning. Please fill in our quick form if you are interested and we will get in touch to let you know the next steps.

10) I will be travelling to another coronavirus affected area in the coming weeks. When should I come back to the UK?

We advise that you follow the guidelines set out on this page of the government's website. Every country will have its own policies and the situation may look very different when on the ground. Should you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to make it back for future CoachBright sessions or events, please inform your Head of Region as soon as possible. 

The CoachBright Team

Guidance for Coaches: COVID-19

Coronavirus Support for Our Coaches: Remembering What is Important

Coronavirus is at the front of everyone’s mind at the moment. Discussion of the virus currently dominates our news, conversations and thoughts, with an overload of information available at every turn. Amongst this climate of distress, it’s important to focus on what is important.

At CoachBright, our wonderful community of social justice warriors are of paramount importance to us. This is what has been at the heart of our decision to postpone the remainder of our programmes and events. 

Our amazing coaches are in a unique position of largely living in temporary locations close to their universities, often away from their loved ones and in sometimes unfamiliar surroundings. We have had so many lovely messages from our coaches updating us with their travel plans and sharing their appreciation for being part of our programmes. This has brought so much joy to us across our regions and this is a huge testament for what kind people you all are. Thank you all for joining us with such enthusiasm, compassion and diligence in fighting for social mobility and social justice throughout the UK. 

We are indeed living in unprecedented times and we would like you all to remember the following three aspects to focus on what is important for you.

Mental Health and Wellbeing  

Often the most neglected area amongst global panic, it is essential to remember to look after your mental health and wellbeing in however works best for you. We recommend:

-       Getting fresh air and appreciating natural beauty wherever possible. Could you take 5 deep breaths at your front door/an open window in the morning? Could you take time to appreciate the night’s sky?

-       Increasing digital connection with those closest to you through regular online check-ins and sharing positive content. Could you send a song of the day to your loved ones?

-       Limit exposure to new updates as much as possible. Could you implement a news-free hour a day? Could you follow @thehappynewspaper on Instagram for positive updates?

Personal Health and Safety

-       Please follow Coronavirus advice from the NHS online

-       Make sure you are aware of how to stay safe at home

-       Keep updated with latest Government guidance

Maintaining the Safety of Others and your Community

-       Always remember to be kind and think of the effects on those less fortunate.

-       Support those in your local vicinity wherever possible. Could you text your neighbour to check how they are doing?

-       Think about acting in a way that best supports everyone you live with, especially those who are more vulnerable.

What’s next for our programmes you may ask? All graduation events will be rearranged for a later date that will be communicated to you all at first instance.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGNS

In light of current events, we’re also launching a couple of campaigns and would love your help in rallying for the cause!

Virtual coaching

We’re currently looking into the best way for us all to be able to continue to support our pupils no matter where we are. This will be through virtual/online coaching! You can sign up to join the coach community and provide valuable help at bit.ly/virtualcoachbright. We’d also love your friends, family and anyone else that can help out to sign up and help us make this a (virtual) reality.

Campaign against holiday hunger

We’ll be writing another blog post soon about our campaign to help reduce the holiday hunger that will undoubtedly be faced by our free school meals/pupil premium pupils in the coming weeks. You can find out more by keeping up to date with us on social media, through this blog and by checking your whatsapp groups/emails.

The CoachBright Team

Guidance for School Partners COVID-19

To our school partners,

We understand that we're negotiating difficult times at the moment amidst the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation. As this continues to develop, please be assured that we remain committed to safeguarding the health and security of pupils, our volunteers and everyone else in partnership with CoachBright. We are keeping up to date with policy changes and are adhering to the latest government guidelines and university policies across the UK. 

We want to reassure our partner schools that we will shed as much clarity as possible as soon as there are updates. This blog will help us to send out these updates in real time. 

For the time being, CoachBright has made the difficult decision to postpone all current and future sessions and events in London and Plymouth until after the Easter holidays. Sessions in Birmingham and Exeter will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and in line with school visitors guidance. This is based on yesterday's briefing from the PM on 16/03/2019 alongside many universities closing doors to face-to-face teaching. 

We understand the big impact that this situation is having on schools and communities at the moment, but most importantly on the pupils. For all of our pupils, but particularly many of the year 11s/13s that we work with, times are difficult and uncertain. At CoachBright we want to try to play a part in making some of this a little easier. 

In the coming days and weeks, we will be emailing our partner schools with resources, websites and links that might be useful for moving to online learning. We'll also be starting a campaign to tackle the 'holiday-hunger' aspects of isolation that will no doubt have an impact on many of our pupils, particularly those who rely on your school for meals during the day. You can expect emails from Jen, Trish and the rest of the team with news on this. 

Of course at this time, we want to support our partner schools as much as possible.  If there is anything you need from us, please do not hesitate to contact us through your head of region (details below). 

Thanks, 

The CoachBright Team 

Jennifer Love, jennifer@coachbright.org, 07384 113269 - West Midlands and South West

Patricia Mbangui, patricia@coachbright.org, 07511 982773 - London and South East