A little while ago I was approached by the cluster manager of seven local primary schools to provide some training for their teaching staff and assistants. My presentation was about ‘Communicating Effectively to Young Children’ and included some tools and techniques that I use on a daily basis when coaching my students.

The topics I covered were:

• Communication – Building rapport quickly , understanding body language, improving listening skills, using eye accessing queues to understand how little ones are processing information
• Emotional Intelligence – Understanding and expressing emotions and feelings, the effect they can have on behaviour and decision making, identifying symptoms and triggers, building coping strategies
• Effective Questioning – Types of questions, when to use different techniques, things to avoid

As I covered my techniques there was lots of nodding and acknowledgement gestures and even a few ‘light bulb moments’. Everyone went away with a hand-out covering the key points and a list of my most useful questions as I coach my students.

The aim of the training was to share my knowledge  and experience and enable teaching staff to create a more coaching environment in the classroom.  Using my tools and techniques means that teaching staff can assist young children to :

• Communicate more effectively
• Identify their feelings/emotions
• Understand themselves better and their behaviour
•  Increase their confidence and self-esteem
• Recognise they are being listened to

I thoroughly enjoyed giving the training session last week and knowing that it is not just the teaching staff that will benefit from my training, its the children too, is the reason I do what I do.

Primary schools are now starting to identify the many benefits that a coaching environment brings into the classroom. When introduced at an early stage it can make a huge difference to how children understand and live their lives. Combine all that with introducing Mindfulness into the classroom and just watch the positive effect it has on their behaviour. Other advantages can be smoother and happier transition to secondary school, reduced panic and anxiety and less behavioural problems.

Have a fantastic half term and if you would like me to present to your teaching staff or provide group or one to one coaching to your students then please contact me.

SUCCESS – 26.2 miles completed and my fund raising goal for Breast Cancer achieved – and exceeded! I have raised £1611 which is an amazing result!
WOW – what an experience it was. I have never seen so many men and women walking in decorated bras and such a fantastic atmosphere. I cannot even start to explain what it was like other than utterly mind blowing, especially knowing that what we were all doing was for such a good cause.
Just talking to people, finding out what had prompted them to do ‘The Moonwalk’ and listening to their individual stories and experiences was very emotional and also very motivating and uplifting.

I used my coaching skills to set small goals along the way by choosing a selection of my favourite London landmarks (London Eye, St James’s Park and Harrods) and when I got to the first one I set my sights on the next one. The half way marker of 13.1 miles was a real ‘biggie’ for me, but the realisation that I still had miles to go was hard. I heavily relied upon my support network of friends around me and together we lifted our moods by chatting, playing a few games and using our music playlists to help us focus on the final stretch. Dancing in the toilet queue certainly helped to pass the time as well!

This is the first time I have done anything like this so it was a whole new experience for me. Crossing the finish line was both painful and amazing at the same time. The mixture of emotions was unbelievable going from sheer exhaustion and desperation to an inner explosion of happiness, satisfaction and huge achievement.

I am so proud of what I have done to achieve my goals. I have learnt so much about myself and what I am actually capable of. I will be taking what I have learnt with me into both my personal and work life and aim to use my experience to enable others to achieve their goals too.

There are a number of people responsible for inspiring me to do The Moonwalk London 2016:

• Nina Panesar-Woods – thank you for asking me to spend time with you this year and do The Moonwalk with you.
• Steve and Holly Smith – you inspire me everyday, I love you both very much and wanted to make you proud of me.
• Jan Steward – My gorgeous and lovely friend who dealt with breast cancer in such a positive and awe-inspiring way, you are simply amazing.
• Curly Martin – my inspirational mentor, friend and life changing coach, trainer, speaker and author of the soon to be released book ‘Achievement: Cancer free for 20 Years!’ (A very worthwhile read for anyone that has experience directly or indirectly with cancer). Curly was diagnosed with breast cancer by The Royal Marsden Hospital and was told she had 8 months to live – 20 years later she is still here to tell the tale, and now in her new book!
• Stephanie White – An amazing person and teacher in our local community who lost her cancer battle in March 2016. My Moonwalk is dedicated to Steph.
• Jan, Phil, Isobel and Toby Turner-Wilson – this last 9 months have been hard for you all and I wanted to make you smile because you mean the world to me.

I have raised over £1600 for breast cancer which is such an amazing amount of money and I hope that goes towards making a difference for people now and in the future. Thank you so much to everyone that donated to my Moonwalk fund. I really am very very grateful and touched by the generosity and support that people have given me.

Thank you to all my friends and family that have walked with me during my training and got me over the finish line, I could not have done it without you. I am resting this week and recovering from my long walk and hope to be back to full fitness over the next couple of days with the help of Epsom Salts, Arnica cream and massage. Have an outstanding week everybody and see you next week when I am fully recovered.

#MoonwalkLondon

The final countdown to my Moonwalk is here! This time next week I will have completed The Moonwalk London 2016 and achieved my goal to raise money for Breast Cancer.

When I decided to do the Moonwalk I had no idea what  it really involved or what the time commitment  would be. It has been a huge learning experience for me. My job as a coach and mentor has most certainly enabled me to achieve my training requirements and get results by pulling from my knowledge and skill-set.

I really have had to practice what I coach my school students! Here are some of the things I have had to do to complete my training plan:

• Set clear and specific goals
• Plan, prepare and practice walking routes and techniques
• Measure and monitor my progress
• Recognise and reward my own achievements
• Push myself outside of my comfort zone
• Be determined and persevere, even when the going was tough
• Use my specific support network
• Use my toolbox of coping strategies when I hit ‘The Wall’ to push myself through the pain barrier
• Listen actively to what others had to say and picked up useful information to assist me on my journey
• Communicate to friends and family around what I needed to achieve

I have received some fantastic support from my friends and family and I would not be where I am today in my training if it was not for them. Their love and support has really helped to motivate and push me through to achieve results that I did not know I was capable of. It really is surprising what can be achieved when we put our minds to something.

I have 3 more training walks to do then a couple of days of rest before I go into London next Saturday. I look forward to posting next week and letting you know how I get on. If you would like to support me in my Moonwalk which I have dedicated in memory of the fantastic Stephanie White and to raise money for Breast Cancer – please go to my donation page.

Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine.