Engagement Coaches

In Spring 2021, secondary schools shared significant concerns about the health and wellbeing needs of some of their pupils and gaps in learning. This was in part a response to the pandemic and an increase in the number of students identified as struggling. It was also recognised that staff would welcome additional training in effective approaches to learning behaviours and independent learning strategies.

6 Engagement Coaches were recruited to work with Year 9 & 10 students to provide coaching support and to act as a consistent point of contact throughout academic year 2021-22.  Coaches also provided outreach support to the parents of students to support a positive parent/school partnership and facilitated access to, and encouraged, students to participate in additional tutoring or curriculum sessions.

Each Coach, alongside their manager in school, created an implementation plan with suggested changes to school systems to better support pupils, based on the understanding they have from this role and from sharing their approaches with other schools.

Anecdotal feedback from Coaches clearly identifies examples where this support has had a positive impact. Coaches describe how pupils have responded positively to 1:1 support, many seem to have improved wellbeing, engagement with learning is higher and students exhibit less in-school truancy.

Schools were given the flexibility to tailor aspects of the project to their individual circumstances so that the role was a good fit with their existing staffing, strategies and longer-term plans.  This worked well for schools but did mean that reporting and analysis of impact can’t be so clearly evidenced given small differences in the approach.

Coaches have worked with over 200 pupils during Spring & Summer Terms (ranging from 20-40 per coach). Given the length of time of this support and the complex barriers to learning faced by many pupils, as well as wider interventions this group receive in school, significant improvements to attendance, behaviour and achievement via this support cannot be clearly evidenced.

More than a third of students who were supported by a coach have seen improved attendance. There is evidence that almost all pupils have remained in their school in a classroom learning environment and 90% of children who were supported by a coach have had no fixed term exclusions, or have had a reduction since the intervention.