What I know about your week.
You're three meetings into Monday by 9.15.
The deputy needs you. The Trust needs you. The chair of governors emailed at 11pm. There's a parent in reception. Ofsted are overdue. Your SBM left in March and you've been doing two jobs since.
You're managing it.
You're also exhausted in a way you've stopped trying to name.
What heads have told me in a first session.
Almost always some version of one of these:
- "I don't know who I'm being any more."
- "I can do the job. I'm not sure I can keep doing it like this."
- "There's a decision I keep deferring."
- "I'm afraid to find out what would happen if I stopped."
- "I love the children. I'm not sure I still love the role."
If any of those landed, you're not alone. They land for almost every head I've worked with.
What changes.
Most heads don't come to me for an outcome. They come for somewhere to think. Somewhere that doesn't need them to be confident, decisive or fine.
What I've watched shift in six sessions:
- Clarity on a decision that had been deferred for months. Not from advice — from finally hearing yourself say it out loud.
- Better conversations with the Trust, the chair, the SLT. Often the same content, said with a clearer spine.
- A more sustainable rhythm of work. Not less work — just less of the work that wasn't yours to do.
- Permission to name something that had been unnameable. Often this is the whole engagement.
- A clearer sense of what "enough" looks like. So that on Friday at 5, you can leave.
It's not magic. It's one place where you don't have to be on.
Why heads tend to work well with me.
Over 20 years' experience supporting leaders and managers, with particular expertise in education. Drawing on deep leadership experience, I bring a depth of insight that helps me quickly recognise patterns, anticipate challenges, and support leaders with grounded, strategic guidance.
Which means:
- I know what Year 6 writing moderation feels like in March.
- I know what a difficult parent meeting does to the rest of your day.
- I know what it's like to have your governing body misunderstand the funding formula.
- I don't need to be told what ECT, SDP, MAT or KS2 mean.
- I'm not impressed by Ofsted in either direction.
- I won't pretend the system isn't broken. I will point out where you're inventing constraints that aren't there.
— A specific story
From below national to above.
One academic year.
A partner primary school asked for support with writing outcomes. The Head was carrying the pressure of it — from the Trust, from inspection, from her own internal standard.
Over twelve months we worked together on two tracks. Educational training and curriculum review across the phases — modelled lessons, CPD aligned to the School Development Plan, embedding Talk for Writing principles. And, alongside, 1:1 coaching with the Head as she made the hard staffing and timetabling decisions the work required.
By the end of the academic year, writing outcomes had moved meaningfully — the school subsequently became a referral point for other schools in the borough.
"Hiral worked closely with our school on English writing provision. The impact was that our school's Key Stage 2 outcomes improved by 18%, moving from below national expectations to above. I would gladly work with Hiral again."
— Mrs K. Portou · Assistant Head, Y4–6
How a typical engagement goes.
Six sessions, paced to your term — usually fortnightly or three-weekly. We start with an honest map of what you're carrying. We agree what you'd like to be different by session six.
Sessions are 75 minutes. I'll travel to you where practical from Ross-on-Wye; otherwise we work online. You decide.
Most heads work with me through one term. Some come back for a second arc in a different year — or when a new role brings new weight.
Cost.
Bespoke. Schools, MATs and small academies have a reduced rate compared to corporate engagements. The discovery call is the right place to talk numbers — once I understand what you're carrying and what you're hoping six sessions might shift.
Most heads I work with fund this through the school's CPD or leadership development budget. Some self-fund. Both work. The decision tends to be less about the money and more about whether you can give yourself the time.
— Heads have asked
Questions that come up.
Is this confidential from my Trust / chair / governors?+
Yes. Confidentiality is absolute, subject to the standard exceptions (safeguarding, the professional supervision relationship I'm in). If your school is paying, I'll never share session content with them — only confirmation that sessions are happening.
I'm in my first year of headship. Is this too early?+
Often it's the most useful time. The first year is when you're working out who you are in the role, what you'll accept, and what you won't. Having a confidential thinking partner during that is worth more than later, when habits have set.
What if a session runs into a crisis I have to handle?+
We reschedule. I work in schools' rhythms — I've never charged a head for a missed session that was caused by an actual school emergency.
Do you do team coaching with my SLT?+
Yes — but never alongside 1:1 work with the head, in the same window. The two relationships need different boundaries. If you'd like both, we'd sequence them.
I'm not a head — I'm a deputy / AHT / MAT lead. Is this still for me?+
Yes. Different role, similar weight. The work is the same shape.
— Further reading
If you're new to the role — or about to be.
A long-form essay I wrote about the first ninety days as a head — what I've watched go well, what I've watched go badly, and the four questions worth sitting with in your first term.
Read the essay →— Start with a conversation
Book a free discovery call.
Thirty minutes. About what you're carrying, and whether coaching is the right thing for it. If it isn't, I'll say so — and I'll point you at who I'd send you to instead.
Book a call →