Phil Keay Education Associates
Bespoke School Improvement Support
Testimonials
"The impact Phil had on my journey towards headship was significant. Working with Phil really has been invaluable."
"Phil drew upon his wide experience within the education sector and brought an up-to-date knowledge of the current educational climate and frameworks"
"As part of my continued professional development as an aspirant Headteacher last year, I was lucky enough to work with Phil.
"As a Deputy Headteacher looking to move into headship, I benefited immensely from Phil’s wealth of experience as a Headteacher. The coaching and support sessions were invaluable and very bespoke. Phil was able to tailor the sessions to the areas for development I had identified via my appraisal.
"Phil was very easy to work with and had a very measured and down to earth approach to things. He was able to give really useful concrete examples of some of the challenges faced by school leaders coupled with really practical tips and strategies to deal with them. Scenario based discussions were particular useful.
"The impact Phil had on my journey towards headship was significant. His approachable and personable manner along with his wealth of experience meant he could provide me with really excellent advice and guidance to aid the application process and interview. Our discussions around school leadership have then equipped me with a raft of ideas and strategies to cope with the day to day demands of headship.
"Working with Phil really has been invaluable."
Richard Henderson
Headteacher, Northfield School and Sports College
"Phil’s experience as a Head has also been instrumental ... I would recommend his services to any school leader across a range of contexts and age ranges.”
“We have been using the services of Phil Keay Education Associates for several years now. We recognised that we needed bespoke support for our middle leaders in order for them to be operating and thinking as effectively as possible. Phil offers a coaching service which balances support with challenge. He uses his wide leadership experience and exceptional inter-personal skills to explore all aspects of leadership and management with them. This coaching has led to a dramatic improvement in our middle leaders.
"Phil’s experience as a Head has also been instrumental in the formal and informal coaching of our relatively inexperienced senior team. I would recommend his services to any school leader across a range of contexts and age ranges.”
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James Andriot
Head of School, Queen Elizabeth High School, Hexham
"The feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive. I consider Phil to be a major factor in achieving the rapid improvements we have made as a school."
"Phil has been working with us for three years, providing 1:1 coaching and mentoring sessions for middle and senior leaders across the academic year. He has also led a three session programme for aspiring middle leaders, and run leadership development sessions for the senior leadership team.
"Phil’s support is always bespoke, meets the needs of me and my school, and is planned to support the individual leaders he works with. The feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive and there has been a clear improvement in whole school and department leadership as a result. Phil brings a different perspective, extensive experience of working in other settings, and an objective eye which can’t be achieved through in-house support. His relationship with the school is close enough that we are getting much more than off-the-shelf training. I consider Phil to be a major factor in achieving the rapid improvements we have made as a school."
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Andy Byers
Headteacher, Framwellgate School, Durham
"The school requested some bespoke evaluations to be conducted into key areas of our practice that we were looking for from an external source to highlight areas for development within and apply a level of impartial challenge.
"This work was conducted highly professionally by Phil, who brought a well-balanced set of principles and systems in to carry out the required work, in conjunction with senior leaders, in order to provide us with detailed feedback and suggested areas to consider to enable further school improvement.
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"Phil drew upon his wide experience within the education sector and brought an up-to-date knowledge of the current educational climate and frameworks currently in place. His small group work sessions and one-to-one workshops with middle leaders particularly resulted in strong and positive feedback from staff and has contributed well to staff professional development.
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"We have no hesitation in making plans to continue using Phil’s wide range of services in the future."
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Richard Carr
Head of School, Sandhill View Academy
"The impact Phil had on the school exceeded my expectations and I intend to continue working with him "
"Being a school leader is a really difficult job and sometimes we find ourselves overwhelmed or facing challenges that can appear and feel difficult to resolve. Recently, the school I lead had faced a period of unexpected significant turbulence and I commissioned Phil, as someone whose professional judgement I know and trust, to do some coaching and support with myself and the senior leadership team.
"Phil has a keen understanding of the realities and challenges of school leadership and a 'down to earth' approach in tackling them. His approach and the support he provided was pivotal in identifying what the key challenges were, and the coaching model used, enabled me to quickly apply solutions and move the school forward.
"The impact Phil had on school exceeded my expectations and I intend to continue working with him on wider leadership development in the future."
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Vicki Mawson
Headteacher, The Link School, Sunderland
"His support and advice is universally respected and sought after amongst senior leaders in the Trust. He brings a unique skillset to the role."
"I have worked with Phil in his capacity as Trust Achievement Partner for about a year now. He brings a unique skillset to the role. His wealth of experience, including many years of secondary headship, allows him an informed perspective of all of the challenges we face. His high level communication skills and natural coaching style means he can advise, guide and challenge in appropriate proportion and he always frames thought provoking questions which help provide clarity and enable you to face a situation with confidence and a sense pf purpose.
"Above all else, because Phil has been there and has faced many of the same challenges, he is always empathetic, managing skilfully to anticipate the problems, ask the difficult questions whilst always being mindful of your professional and personal well-being. His support and advice is universally respected and sought after amongst senior leaders in the Trust"
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Chris Richardson
Acting in CEO, Prosper Learning Trust &
Executive Headteacher, Newcastle Bridges School & Mary Astell Academy
"Phil has provided professional and knowledgeable insight, supporting and challenging developments."
"Phil has provided thoughtful and challenging support over the last few years. As a new head in post I wanted someone who was supportive but also willing to be frank when it was needed. Phil has provided professional and knowledgeable insight, supporting and challenging developments."
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Domenic Volpe
Headteacher, KIngsmeadow Community School, Gateshead