Workshop Overview 

Friday 31st October 2025 

Workshop 1: Leading with purpose

Begin the retreat by reflecting on your leadership journey, current challenges, and the impact you want to have. We’ll also explore the distinctions between coaching, performance management, and traditional leadership conversations. You'll reflect on the role of coaching in fostering equity, building relational trust, and cultivating the conditions where reflective dialogue and meaningful change can occur.

Workshop 2: Understanding the Impact Cycle 

Dive into Jim Knight’s Impact Cycle and explore each element - Identify, Learn, and Improve. Understand how this model helps structure coaching conversations and support change in a respectful, evidence-informed way. We’ll also explore the unique needs of the Early Years and the importance of a specialised coaching playbook to guide impactful, developmentally appropriate coaching.

Workshop 3: Introducing the Quality Interactions Instructional Coaching Playbook 

Explore the structure of the Quality Interactions Playbook, developed in partnership with Patana School and aligned with Kym’s online CPD platform, The Place to Learn. Learn how Sarah Gaughan was inspired by Tom Sherrington's work with Patana to create this early years specific coaching tool. She'll talk through how she has used it to improve practice, to link practitioners to appropriate professional development, and to strengthen adult-child interactions across the phase. Unpack the steps and techniques in the playbook and understand how they support sustained pedagogical improvement.

Workshop 4: Coaching Skills in Action (with Mark Verde)

In this highly practical session, guest speaker Mark Verde, who has worked on coaching projects with Jim Knight will take the floor. He will share key coaching skills to build effective, respectful conversations. Participants will explore deep listening, questioning, paraphrasing, summarising, and the power of noticing. With live modelling and paired activities, this session equips delegates with foundational techniques to support powerful coaching conversations.

Workshop 5: Coaching in Practice: Live Demonstration & Peer Coaching

Mark Verde will deliver a live model coaching session for delegates to observe, supported by a coaching tracker to help identify key strategies in action. Following this, participants will engage in preparing for a guided peer coaching, set individual coaching goals, and will then take part in a partnered peer coaching session after lunch.

Workshop 6: Coaching with the Playbook

Dive deeper into how the Quality Interactions Playbook can be used in daily coaching conversations. Participants will work through tailored scenarios, use coaching prompts, and practise using the playbook to structure impactful, supportive, and reflective sessions with colleagues.

Workshop 7: Embedding the Work and Moving Forward

 This final session helps delegates synthesise their learning into a personal implementation plan. Using the Quality Interactions Playbook and accompanying materials, participants will craft a plan suited to their current context, whether that means using coaching informally, setting up a coaching cycle in Early Years, or refining an existing model for greater impact.