Hi, my name is Jacqueline Harrop. The Staff College has provided opportunities for me to ensure my coaching practice remains relevant inclusive and proactive. It has given me a chance to work with colleagues from a range of backgrounds and disciplines. The College remains a dynamic and energising influence on my work, for which I am extremely grateful.
When I first worked with The Staff College, in the early 2000s as a Children’s Services Adviser working for the DfE, I was engaged with others in challenging performance across the regions. We were well funded and able to establish residential programmes bringing people together to strengthen networks, learn from each other, and build confident relationships based on mutual professional trust and enthusiasm. We may not have had the funding in those days, but the ethos and mindset remained forward-looking and positive, for that reason, I was happy to become an associate in 2010 coaching Aspiring ADs and Directors. Also getting to occasionally facilitate events.
I began as a science teacher, moving through SENCo to Advisory Teacher roles, then managing and challenging local authority Children’s Services as an Ofsted Inspector. This evolved into roles as Assistant, then Deputy Director, then Assistant Chief Executive in a small unitary authority taking on Children’s/Adult services as well as Culture, Leisure and Libraries. By the time I technically reached retirement as Director for Government Office for London, I had worked for local, regional, and central governments challenging performance in Children’s, Adults, and Youth services for forty years.
It is hard to transition to retirement when you have held high-profile roles. I still haven’t fully managed it, and with the backing of London’s directors, set up the Leaders for London programme, which has been a joy to develop and deliver for the last 14 years. This keeps me grounded and satisfies my need to keep in touch with what’s going on for those on the front-line improving lives for children and families in the capital.
I enjoy individual coaching assignments with Cambridge University and as an associate of The Staff College have coached emerging directors in London, the Home Counties, and the South East.
When I’m not coaching, I make pots and small sculptures in a small garden studio, which is my attempt to transition into the retirement I was supposed to be taking in 2010.
But with the encouragement of The Staff College, I won’t be letting go of my role as a coach for a while yet.