| I learned yesterday that I have passed the final assignment of, and therefore completed, the ILM5 "Certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring". It's worth half a degree, so it was was quite a challenge when my brother Dave suggested I give it a try last year. It was a fascinating course to be on. I learned a lot of background knowledge about coaching and gained experience in one to one work. And it often helped me see things in a new way. |
|
Next week, I interview for a 1:1 Teaching Assistant job at a nearby Primary School, to work alongside a student with Special Education Needs. Many areas studied on the Coaching course would overlap with those required in that role, so things seem to be tying together nicely in terms of timing and transferrable skills. Watch this space!
0 Comments
I learned this morning that I have passed the second assignment (ILM501) of the Coaching Qualification which I have been working my way through for the last 6 months. This one was about 100 pages long. The next, and last, one will be shorter, but perhaps trickier for me. Hoping to complete everything by the Summer.
Back to Hereford for the second day of face-to-face training for the Coaching qualification I am studying towards. We started outside, chilling for a few minutes in the countryside, which was no bad thing after a rather stressful, flood-impacted drive to get there! Later in the day we were thrown into a first coaching session. I found it a little awkward, but not a total disaster. Plenty more of that awaits!
I've spent about 30 hours over recent weeks putting together the first of three assignment towards the ILM Level 5 Course in Coaching for which I am studying. My first draft was only ⅔ "pass", so I strengthened some sections and my second draft has now passed. Onwards...
Today was the first class of a 6-8 month course I've signed up for. It's an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) foundation degree course in "Coaching". Most of it is online and self-study, but there are four days of meet-up classes. I'm not sure where, if anywhere, the qualification will lead, but the course is being run by Mind-gap - my brother's training and coaching business. So there's a bonus aspect of being able to see him in action as well as being a student, instead of a teacher, for a change. The first day went very well, but was also the starting gun for a month of self-study leading to a 5000 word assignment. Better get cracking...
One of the questions I'm often asked now I'm back in the UK is, "Do you have a job?". I'd love to say I'm retired or even semi-retired, but there is a certain pressure to be busy and bring in some cash (despite the wife often earning in a day what I earn in a month, from phone business to do with her Chinese fashion shop!). Anyhow, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the last decade of my working life... I needn't have worried. Once we settled in and the initial flurry of paperwork calmed (change of addresses, tax, biometric immigration card, school registration, child support, bank accounts, insurance, TV licence, "loyalty" cards for six supermarkets, etc), work found me!
A friend of a friend introduced me to a lady in Bath who was looking for online tutors for Chinese students and, before I knew it I had four weekly classes. She is now talking about doubling that workload. Also, my brother Dave [training above] runs a very busy and successful leadership training consultancy (Mind-gap) and, as the work has continued to grow, he has found he needs more help. So I have also been involved in proofreading, research and course development, with more opportunities to come. He has also encouraged me to join one of Mind-Gap's "Leadership and Management" courses. So I've also committed to six months of study to gain a qualification in "Coaching", equal to two years of a degree. Alongside moving house in December, I don't think I'll be twiddling my thumbs anytime soon! |
AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
August 2025
Tags
All
|
