Primary & Secondary Education
Services for Heads
Practical, school-based support aligned to the EIF November 2025 and EEF evidence
What do you need support with?
what to expect
Experienced support for Headteachers.
Andy Mitchell is a former headteacher with over 20 years’ experience leading schools through Ofsted, structural change, and complex leadership challenges. Now an independent education consultant and executive coach, he supports headteachers with practical, evidence-informed strategies grounded in the Ofsted framework and EEF research.
21+
Years as a headteacher across three local authorities and a multi-academy trust
7
Ofsted inspections led as a headteacher - requires improvement to outstanding
30+
Organisations worked with directly as a specialist in the last twelve months
ILM7
Executive Coaching & Mentoring — the highest professional coaching qualification
1.
School Performance Health Check
“You know your school better than anyone — but sometimes you need an honest, external pair of eyes to see what you have stopped seeing.”
How this helps you
This is a structured, evidence-informed check of your school’s performance – conducted by someone who has been a headteacher, who understands the complexity of your context, and who will give you a straight, honest assessment without the politics.
It is not an inspection. It is not a judgement. It is a rigorous, supportive review that tells you what an Ofsted inspector would be likely to find if they walked through your door tomorrow – and what you can do about it before they do. Whether you are preparing for an imminent inspection, wanting an independent check on your school improvement journey, or simply needing someone to confirm that your own sense of where the school is is accurate, this service provides exactly that.
Further information
What it involves
- Pre-visit analysis of your school’s IDSR – attainment, progress, attendance, persistent absence, disadvantaged gaps and SEN data interrogated across all available years, with a written briefing note provided before the visit
- Full day on-site – learning walks across year groups and subjects, work/book scrutiny with a focus on consistency and challenge, pupil voice interviews, and a focused conversation with you and your SLT
- Safeguarding check – a structured review of your safeguarding culture, Single Central Record and DSL confidence, aligned to KCSIE and the EIF’s binary Met/Not Met standard
- Attendance and behaviour deep dive – your current data reviewed against national benchmarks, with particular attention to FSM and SEN pupils as per the IDSR
- Honest verbal feedback at the end of the day – no surprises in the written report that were not shared with you directly
- Written school health check report within 5 working days – including an emerging EIF-aligned assessment across all six evaluation areas, three key strengths and three priority actions
Working Model
One-off commission | Termly health check programme
why choose high pass?
- EIF: All 6 evaluation areas
- EIF: Secure fit model
- EIF: Safeguarding – MET / Not Met
- 7 Ofsted inspections as headteacher
- IDSR Analysis expertise
Cost
All-inclusive fee – prep + visit + written report
Price
£675
Per session
Book your School Performance Health Check Today
To find out more about this service or other services offered by Andy Mitchell, please get in touch today for a free, no obligation chat.
2.
Evidence-Informed School Improvement Planning
“A good school improvement plan does not just describe where you want to go. It is built on evidence of what will actually get you there.”
how this helps you
Too many school improvement plans are written under time pressure, anchored in Ofsted’s previous framework, and built around the strategies that feel familiar rather than those that the evidence says work.
Andy works with you and your leadership team to build an improvement plan that is genuinely rooted in EEF evidence, explicitly aligned to the November 2025 EIF’s six evaluation areas, and designed to drive real change in your school rather than generate paperwork for your next monitoring visit.
He brings a headteacher’s understanding of what is realistic in your context, and a consultant’s rigour in ensuring that what you plan is grounded in what works.
Further information
What it involves
- Pre-session analysis of your current improvement priorities, your school’s IDSR data and your existing SDP or SEF – Andy reads everything before he arrives so the day is a genuine working session, not a briefing
- Facilitated full-day planning session with your SLT – mapping your improvement priorities to the EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit, identifying the high-impact, low-cost strategies most relevant to your school’s specific context and cohort
- Explicit alignment to the EIF’s six evaluation areas using the ‘secure fit’ model – so you can see, for each priority, how the planned work would be evidenced on inspection
- Particular focus on the strategies with the strongest evidence for closing the disadvantaged attainment gap and improving outcomes for SEND pupils in mainstream classrooms
- A structured evidence referenced document delivered post-session that can be used to complete your SDP.
Working Model
One-off commission | Annual planning cycle — two sessions per year
Why choose High Pass?
- EIF: All 6 areas – secure fit
- EEF: T&L Toolkit
- EEF: Implementation guide
- RI to Good to Outstanding
- 21 years SDP development
Cost
All-inclusive fee – prep + facilitation day + written plan
Price
£675
Per session
Book your School Performance Health Check Today
To find out more about this service or other services offered by Andy Mitchell, please get in touch today for a free, no obligation chat.
3.
Inclusion & SEND Deep Dive
“Under the November 2025 EIF, Inclusion is a standalone judgement for the first time. If you cannot evidence it clearly, it will cost you.”
how this helps you
Inclusion is now one of the six named evaluation areas in Ofsted’s November 2025 inspection framework – and it is the area where many schools are least prepared.
It is no longer enough to have a good SENCO and a broadly positive culture; inspectors will want to see specific, evidenced practice across the school in adaptive teaching, the graduated approach, TA deployment, and the outcomes of your most vulnerable pupils.
Andy’s depth of experience in primary schools serving complex and diverse communities, combined with his rigorous grounding in the EEF’s SEND evidence, makes this one of his most distinctive and practically valuable offers for headteachers who know inclusion matters but are not certain their evidence is inspection-ready.
Further information
What it involves
- Pre-visit analysis of your school’s IDSR inclusion data – disadvantaged pupil gaps, SEN figures, attendance for FSM and SEN pupils, pupil movement data and any alternative provision links, reviewed in detail before the visit
- Full day on-site inclusion review – structured SENCO interview, graduated approach documentation review, TA deployment observation and analysis, lesson walk focused on adaptive teaching quality, and pupil voice with targeted groups including SEND and disadvantaged pupils
- Book/work scrutiny with a specific inclusion lens – examining the quality and ambition of work set for SEND and disadvantaged pupils relative to their peers
- Staff knowledge check – a brief, informal conversation with two or three class teachers about how they adapt their teaching for SEND pupils.
- Written inclusion audit report delivered within 5 working days – identifying strengths, gaps and a prioritised set of actions, each one referenced to the EEF evidence and the EIF Inclusion evaluation area criteria
Working Model
One-off commission | Half-termly monitoring visits
Why choose High Pass?
- EIF: Inclusion (new standalone)
- EEF: SEND in Mainstream Schools
- EEF: TA Deployment
- Special school co-location
- Complex community leadership
Cost
All-inclusive fee – prep + review day + written audit report
Price
£675
Per session
Book your Inclusion & SEND Deep Dive Today
To find out more about this service or other services offered by Andy Mitchell, please get in touch today for a free, no obligation chat.
4.
Headteacher Executive Coaching Programme
“The most important thing a headteacher can do for their school is to keep developing themselves as a leader. Most never have the space to do it.“
how this helps you
Headship is one of the most isolating leadership roles in the country. Andy has done it for 21 years across three local authorities and a MAT.
His coaching is not delivered from a textbook – it is grounded in the lived reality of headship, tailored to you and your context, and underpinned by a rigorous ILM Level 7 methodology.
He brings what almost no other executive coach can: genuine peer-level understanding of what the role actually requires.
Further information
What it involves
- Initial diagnostic conversation – establishing your goals, your context, and what you most need from a coaching relationship
- Psychometric profiling used at the start of the programme to build self-awareness and inform coaching focus
- Six coaching sessions per programme – typically one per half-term across the academic year, each 90 minutes, in person or remote
- Sessions are yours: focused on whatever you bring – whether that is a specific leadership challenge, a difficult decision, your confidence and resilience, your relationship with governors, or your longer-term career development
- Between-session reflection prompts and accountability tools to embed learning in your daily practice
- Optional: a brief update to your headteacher appraiser or line manager at mid-year – agreed boundaries of confidentiality maintained throughout
Working Model
6-session annual programme | Single session — £375
Why choose high pass?
- ILM7 Executive Coaching
- Psychometric profiling (MBTI & DISC)
- 21 years headship experience
- CUREE trained headteacher coach
- New heads induction lead
Cost
6-session programme — all-inclusive (profiling, sessions, reflection tools)
Price
£2,025
Book your Headteacher Executive Coaching Programme Today
To find out more about this service or other services offered by Andy Mitchell, please get in touch today for a free, no obligation chat.
5.
Inspection Readiness Programme
“Every headteacher knows inspection is coming. The question is not whether you are ready — it is whether you know exactly what ready looks like.“
how this helps you
This is the most practical and time-sensitive service in Andy’s offer for headteachers.
Whether you have received an Ofsted notification, have a sense that an inspection is imminent, or simply want to make sure you are not caught unprepared, this programme gives you a clear, honest, structured assessment of your school’s inspection readiness – and a practical plan for the days, weeks or months between now and the visit.
Andy has led schools through seven Ofsted inspections. He knows what inspectors look for, how they use the IDSR, what questions they ask, and what answers leave them satisfied or concerned. This programme puts that knowledge directly in your hands.
Further information
What it involves
- IDSR forensic review – a detailed written briefing on every significant data point in your school’s IDSR, including the questions an inspector is most likely to ask and the narrative you need to give in response; attendance data reviewed against both national benchmarks and the government’s 94% target
- Evidence audit – a structured review of the evidence you have available for each of the six EIF evaluation areas, identifying gaps where evidence is weak or absent before an inspector finds them
- Leadership narrative development – a facilitated session helping you and your SLT articulate a clear, confident, honest account of your school’s journey, strengths and current priorities that will hold up under inspector questioning
- Safeguarding readiness check – SCR review, DSL confidence check and safeguarding culture assessment against the EIF’s binary Met/Not Met standard
- Written inspection readiness report – a concise, honest summary of your position across all six EIF areas with specific actions prioritised by urgency and impact
Working Model
Full programme — recommended | Rapid pre-notification support (1 day)
Why choose high pass?
- EIF: All 6 areas – inspection lens
- EIF: Safeguarding – Met/Not Met
- 7 Ofsted inspections as headteacher
- IDSR analysis expertise
- RI to Good to Outstanding
Cost
Full programme (2 days + IDSR briefing doc + written report) – all-inclusive
Rapid 1-day pre-notification support: £675
Price
£1,250
Book your Inspection Readiness Programme Today
To find out more about this service or other services offered by Andy Mitchell, please get in touch today for a free, no obligation chat.
Pricing at a glance
| Service | Fee | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| 1. School Performance Health Check | £675 | Prep + visit + written report |
| 2. Evidence-Informed School Improvement Planning | £675 | Prep + facilitation + plan framework |
| 3. Inclusion & SEND Deep Dive | £675 | Prep + review day + audit report |
| 4. Headteacher Executive Coaching — 6 sessions | £2,025 | Profiling + 6 x 90 min sessions |
| 4. Headteacher Executive Coaching — single session | £375 | 90-minute session |
| 5. Inspection Readiness Programme — full | £1,250 | IDSR doc + 2 days + report |
| 5. Inspection Readiness — rapid (1 day) | £675 | Pre-notification rapid support |
All fees are all-inclusive. High Pass Coaching and Consultancy Ltd is not VAT registered — no VAT is added on top of the fees stated. Travel is charged at cost for distances over 20 miles from Warwick. An initial conversation is always complimentary and without obligation.
Ready to find out more?
All services can be commissioned directly by a headteacher or as part of a MAT-wide programme. An initial conversation is always free and without obligation – it is simply a chance to explore whether working together would be right for you and your school.