Optimise Leadership Solutions

As a former primary Head Teacher of three substantive posts and one interim headship, I now enjoy my role in providing independent consultancy support and challenge to leaders at all levels in a wide range of context. I am former School Improvement Partner (SIP) across four Local Authority areas, Ofsted and Diocesan Inspector. I am an accedited and experienced leadership coach and employ a coaching approach to much of my work with the school leaders. I have trained many leaders to become effective coaches and facilitated the implementation of a coaching culture in a number of schools. I continue to facilitate and lead the review of Head Teachers’ performance since its introduction in 2001, across many part of the country. I am tuned into the needs of governors with regard to this and offer training to governors who are new to the process. I have assisted the development of governing bodies in many areas of governance. NICKI BELL Former Head Teacher I first became a Head Teacher in January 1995 and was substantive Head Teacher of three schools and an interim Head Teacher of a fourth. Between my last two headships I worked for four years for a national training company in Cambridge that was, at that time, an affiliated centre for the National College. I was responsible for rolling out a number of a national programmes in the East region, including Leading from the Middle. I retired from headship in 2016. My final school was a three-form entry Infant and Nursery School in Birmingham judged by Ofsted to be an outstanding school. We were federated to our adjoining Junior school which was the lead school in a Teaching School Alliance, (TSA) and I was heavily involved in the CPD element of this. My career has offered lots of opportunities to do exciting things. I was a seconded National College Associate for four years supporting school leadership in the West Midlands. I have been lucky enough to write and deliver leadership training in many different places, the two most distant being in the Middle East and China. I now have two roles. I am Director of Primary Education for a Trust for 40% of my time and the rest of my working life is freelance, frequently working with Alistair. We write and deliver training for leaders, at all levels, in primary schools and develop resources to support head teachers with many of the bureaucratic tasks of headship. Alongside this I do a lot of 1-1 support of schools, acting as an Improvement Partner, supporting HT performance management and providing CPD.