cpdl services for education & business

‘Sue is a consummate education professional who has vast experience in the leadership and organisation of professional development for teachers and school leaders. Having been a successful teacher and then led a Science Learning Centre and the professional development arm of the Association of School and College Leaders she has an in-depth understanding of the needs of the profession and the most effective ways of meeting them.’

Sue has helped us to deliver our annual conference for the last three years, providing support around programme development and speaker sourcing/liaison. Her knowledge and expertise has ensured that our flagship event delivered a high quality and relevant programme featuring more than 60 speakers each year. Over these years, Sue has been incredibly flexible, fulfilling her hours to meet the needs of the project and always happy to take on extra elements that fall outside of her remit as Conference Producer. Sue has been a huge support to all of us at IOSH and key to the success of each event.

I thought it was a great balance of material delivered by Sue and face to face coaching sessions. I was also directed to a wide range of useful literature as well as online material that I could then reflect upon, discuss with the course leader and add relevant detail to my own folder in preparation for headship applications. I’m in a far better position to apply for a headship now than prior to the course as I have been helped to form more clarity on my vision as a leader, leadership style etc.

I am a new Head now and Sue has helped me to focus on the main priorities in my first terms of Headship. The sessions have given me confidence in my new role and gave me an opportunity to discuss with like-minded colleagues the expectation and challenges of the role. Coaching with Sue is always highly valuable, and I feel she has helped me focus and prioritise to improve my skills as a leader.

‘Sue has brought professionalism, experience and expertise to all our dealings that is immensely re-assuring and productive. The depth of her experience in the provision of CPD for schools, in particular, (primary and secondary) has proved invaluable. A strength of her approach is her ability to design and develop bespoke, needs matched CPD programmes including leadership development, that are tailored to what schools need. She is also able to set up really effective systems and processes for evaluating and measuring CPD impact. In today’s climate, knowing you are working with someone who has both professional expertise and personal integrity is essential. Sue brings bucket-loads of both!

I thoroughly enjoyed my sessions with Sue and miss them. Sue has enabled me to be the person I want to be without worrying to much what others say. I would recommend everyone to be part of the process, as it is a positive experience for all. Through each session I felt I grew as a person and a leader. The sessions made me stop and think and not be afraid to do so. It is also alright not to get it right first time!

‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for everything you have done on the Leadership Now course and for being an amazing coach. You have truly made me look at things in a new way and given me back my confidence and more, which I was lacking coming back from maternity leave. Your support has meant so much and I can honestly say I don’t think I would be in this situation if it wasn’t for you so thank you.’

Each and every session was so useful to me. Sue allowed the conversation to be led by me, and each session was personalised in a very clever way. In fact, some of the time we ended up solving a problem that I didn’t even realise I had (because I hadn’t had the time to reflect on it). After each session I felt empowered to move forwards with my career and it gave me the time to reflect on what is most important to me. Sue has a wonderful way of being non-judgemental whilst guiding you in the direction that will benefit you the most. The overall impact is that I have been successful in getting a new job with more opportunities for leadership. I was able to use some of the aspects discussed in the coaching sessions through the interview process. Sue will always go above and beyond the sessions. Throughout the coaching period, she offered to be at the end of the phone or e-mail if I needed to talk about anything in-between. My job interview was after my coaching sessions had finished so Sue was able to email some invaluable hints and tips to help me. I am very grateful for all her support.

The most useful training that I have been to. Great that it covered many different aspects of leadership and was personalised based on survey at the start.

Sue is truly amazing! Her vast knowledge was incredibly useful, I felt so relaxed and able to be myself during sessions. It was a great opportunity that has shaped my career. I feel I can choose the next position I move to rather than falling into something convenient. I believe in the power of coaching and would love the opportunity to have further coaching from Sue.

‘I found the coaching sessions (with Sue) extremely supportive. At the end of each coaching session I always came away empowered and ready to take on anything!’

‘A huge thank you! Sue…you have been an amazing role model…’

‘It has been a real boost, changing my mindset on what I actually could apply for and have the skills for now. It’s made me more aware of my strengths and weaknesses and the barriers I put in my own way. It’s been great having a coaching session with Sue – it has helped me think strategically about where I want to go in my career and how I’m going to go about it.’

‘Sue brings a wealth of experience of developing effective training and professional development for teachers. She brings calm professionalism to an area that can sometimes become over-complicated, and has developed courses, conferences and consultancy that have won huge praise from delegates. Her ability to tailor what is offered to the exact needs of clients is a special strength. Recommended.’

‘Coaching has been very helpful. it has been so nice to concentrate on my own professional development and talk to someone so supportive.’

‘I’ve worked with Sue for three years developing the content and format of a major education leadership conference. Sue’s knowledge of the sector and insight into key emerging issues and network of contacts was essential to the creation and development of a compelling and inspiring conference programme.’

‘Coaching (with Sue) was an excellent experience. Very reassuring, explorative, enlightening and intelligently managed.’

‘Sue has shown a clear understanding of how CPDL (continuous professional learning and development) is pivotal to school improvement. I have valued Sue’s contributions as a ‘critical friend’ in my role as Vice Principal through the support and challenge that she offers not only in formal meetings but also on an on-going basis. Sue is very approachable, knowledgeable and a valuable source for new ideas.’

‘My coaching sessions were able to get me thinking about what difficulties I had and what I could do to make improvements to my practice.’

‘Working with Sue is a pleasure. She adopts a pragmatic, ‘can do’ approach to whatever she engages in, presenting solutions rather than highlighting problems.’

‘Sue has a good knowledge base and understanding of the principles of leadership and leadership development which makes her a significant contributor to leadership programmes….’