Peter Flood is the Continuing Professional Development Co-ordinator at Bishopbriggs Academy, a new school formed from the merger of Bishopbriggs High and Thomas Muir High in August 2007. The school has a roll of 1300 with 102 teaching staff.
A programme of coaching was introduced into the school as part of a wider programme of peer support intended to promote the emotional wellbeing of staff. Initially coaching was delivered to a mixed group of staff (guidance, PT home economics, two modern languages teachers and the RMPS department) who now act as peer mentors.
Peter defines coaching as two people in an equal partnership working on a specific issue belonging to one of them which they seek to clarify and set goals for, and for which they come up with specific strategies to achieve these goals. He sees the key skills of a coach as empathy, being non-judgemental and genuine.
He suggests that the benefits of peer support for staff in a busy school with demanding jobs is in providing them with opportunities to step back from what they are doing, ask questions about what they are doing and clarify why they might be getting stuck.
Peter sees the programme of peer support helping staff maintain a sense of perspective and reducing work-related stresses and anxieties. He hopes this will also contribute to developing an ethos within the classroom and school which is about being in control and resilient. He believes pupils will also benefit through staff having, and conveying, a sense of balance and wellbeing, direction and proportion, with the ethos in the classroom changing from one of direction to one of participation which underpins Co-operative Learning and Assessment is for Learning.
The programme is an integral part of the School Improvement Plan and is being implemented and evaluated in conjunction with colleagues from Educational Psychological Services. For evaluation purposes, pupils were issued with a questionnaire at the start of the programme and will be issued with another next June. The evaluation focuses on the impact of coaching on the ethos of their Personal, Social and Emotional (PSE) classes, these classes are taught by teachers involved in the programme. The teachers also completed questionnaires about professional support and their feelings of efficacy as a teacher.
Teacher paired working ensures peer support and there is also a move towards Action Learning Set (ALS) during department meetings, the idea being that department meetings will be given over to peer support once per month. While there is no shortage of enthusiasm from the participants on the programme, Peter is clear that for sustainability the programme needs to have a focus (tied into PSE in this case), a clear operational structure, and time built in to the school day for peer support (department meetings).
His previous experiences in this field would suggest that impact is gradual but incremental and comes at a time of crisis when people are under pressure, the fact that there is a structure in place helps at these times.
Peter finds his coaching training of benefit in all areas of his work and he now finds he uses active listening skills more and doesn’t make judgement as quickly as before. His coaching techniques allow him to focus on what his real priorities are and to keep a sense of perspective.
He sees huge benefits in colleagues from different departments working together as part of an ALS. He is looking forward to the programme of peer support extending to include all staff in the school with all staff trained and actively involved in peer coaching with all meetings having monthly ALS built in.
For more information please email Peter Flood (Deputy headteacher, Bishopbriggs Academy).
In association with Education Scotland