What’s special about this course?

In just a few hours, you’ll get the hands-on experience that typically only comes with years in the job, thanks to classes packed with real-life scenarios and opportunities to quiz your trainer on the people issues that keep you up at night. Whether new to a school or stepping up, you’ll meet others on the same path, to lean on for life. 

Thursday 21 November
4pm to 5.30pm, on Zoom

With Ella Hughes
 

The nuts and bolts of managing people

Learn how to:

  • Get buy-in, inspire trust and bring even the skeptics along with you
  • Navigate the sudden change in dynamic when you step up to manage
  • ‘Do’ those line-management essentials – performance management and appraisal 
  • Delegate effectively, so you aren’t ‘doing it all’! 
     

Thursday 5 December
4pm to 5.30pm, on Zoom

With Ella Hughes
 

HR: the really tricky people problems

  • Handle those difficult and sometimes painful conversations 

  • Follow the rules (and get your head around them!), so you don’t slip up by mistake

  • Play your part in formal procedures, including capability and investigations

Your expert course trainer

Ella Hughes

Ella is the headteacher of a 3-form entry primary school in Manchester, where she leads a large SLT. She has over 18 years’ teaching experience, including 13 years as a senior leader and 6 years as headteacher.

Passionate about relationships and leadership, and an ILM-accredited coach, Ella provides coaching for school leaders and has run training for leading education organisations. She is also particularly interested in neurodiversity, having been diagnosed with ADHD this year.
 

Who can attend

This course is for you if you’re:

  • New to an SLT role involving managing people
  • Aspiring to an SLT role involving managing people, any time soon

Relevant to all phases and settings.

This course is exclusively available to The Key's Whole School members. If you're not yet a Whole School member,
find out more here.

More reasons to love this course

Active learning, not passive instruction

Your live classes won't be lectures. Ella will engage the class, invite discussion, prompt breakout activities and leave plenty of room for Q&A. You'll learn by doing, with practical tasks between classes and regular feedback from the trainer and your class colleagues

Learn with a cohort
of peers 

Learning virtually doesn't mean learning solo. This course is designed to be rich in energising interaction between you and your course colleagues. You'll solve real-life people-management dilemmas together, feel safe to ask questions and seek peer feedback, and make connections for life. 

Develop your own menu of practical strategies that work

Apply what you learn straight away, with practical strategies drawn from immersion in real-world scenarios and expert advice. Adopt the best of what works, to handle the knottiest of people situations with confidence and grace.

Earn a certificate of achievement

Complete your classes and get a certificate of achievement from The Key for your learning record.

What other participants have said about our courses

“I now know what steps
to take to be an
effective leader"

 

“This course gave me confidence, opportunities to share good practice, and up-to-date research”

"The tasks were very practical and a brilliant way to
secure that knowledge"

 

Frequently asked questions

Live classes are held on Zoom, and you’ll collaborate on practical tasks with small groups of colleagues in breakout rooms. You’ll have practical tasks to complete independently between your classes, and 24/7 access to your own online course community forum.

Ideally, yes! Working together with your colleagues is where much of the magic happens, and you’ll have opportunities to ask Ella questions directly. But we know that some school days run away, so you’ll be able to catch up on-demand if you have to miss a class. We’ll let you know when the class recording is available.

Deeply practical tasks. They’ll help you put learning into practice immediately and get ahead on work you need to complete in your day-to-day role. You might work with colleagues on a task, and get supportive feedback.

Yes! This course was built for full-time school leaders. You'll attend two 90-minute classes in November and December, after school at 4pm. Outside of that, expect practical tasks to complete at any point ahead of the next class, and an on-tap peer community to engage with as you like. All your practical tasks will directly relate to your day job – they’ll never take you more than an hour.

Yes! You’ll get a certificate on completion of the course.

Just email any questions to cpd@thekeysupport.com. We’ll get back to you within 2 working days.

These courses are included as part of The Key's Whole School membership and places are exclusively available to those members. 
If you're not yet a Whole School member, find out more here.