Sophie McGeoch - Primary Lead

Sophie has a split role, for part of the week she works at Hollyfield School as Deputy Head leading on Safeguarding and the other part as the Primary Lead for The Trust. Her experience spans 24 years, 21 of which were spent in primary education culminating in a successful Headship at Meadlands Primary School in Ham. As well as this Sophie has grown expertise in developing school culture, leadership coaching and safeguarding; she leads on school reviews and subsequent INSET, coaches new Headteachers and has been seconded to schools to help develop senior and middle leaders. In addition to this she is a guest lecturer at St Mary’s University and has presented for SWLSEP and the National College.         

Sophie is able to offer a number of Trust services at silver and bronze level. Such packages are often bespoke reflecting the needs in the school and therefore we would encourage you to contact Sophie to discuss your priorities. Her details are below.

Pearsons Headteacher of the Year award: silver finalist 2021 

 

Post Grad in Psychology Attachment Theory & Research, Roehampton  

Post Grad in Education, Institute of Education, London 

BA Hons Psychology, Newcastle University  

Harry Page, Headteacher, East Sheen Primary School

Stepping into a new role as headteacher is an exciting, but equally daunting, task. Sophie was instrumental in supporting a smooth transition to my new role. Her expertise was shared in a coaching and supportive manner, and her guidance on complex human resourcing matters, safeguarding procedures and the importance of looking after wellbeing as school leaders was invaluable. She worked with curriculum leaders, allowing them to reflect on their own development, action plans and practice. Our leaders found this incredibly helpful, and I noticed the boost in confidence and effectiveness, which resulted in distributed leadership across the school where all areas moved forward. Most importantly, Sophie’s passion and enthusiasm for primary education and school leadership was infectious. Her warm, positive and fun manner allowed me to ask questions openly and reflect on the wonderful opportunities we have to improve children’s lives. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sophie and the Trust, and will forever be grateful to her for her support and guidance in my role as a primary school leader.

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Wendy Hughes. Senior Lecturer. St. Mary`s University, Faculty of Education, Theology and the Arts.

We have been extremely fortunate in the Faculty of Education at St. Mary`s University to have Sophie work alongside us to enhance our provision. To date, Sophie has supported Final Year students on Primary Undergraduate, PGCE and  Work- based  route programmes both during Best Practice and Exit Day sessions. Themes covered have ranged from First Appointments to the E.C.T. Years from a Headteacher perspective. All presentations have been large lecture audiences and presented with both humour, knowledge and experience and charisma. A recent feedback comment from a Final Year Undergraduate student was: ` It feels as though Sophie really knows us and we really appreciate the fact that she has taken the time and completed the research to plan and deliver exactly what we need to know. She is an inspiration to us.` Sophie continues to have a major impact on our students and she has become a firm part of our provision. We look forward to our continued partnership.

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 Jess Bunker, DSL and Deputy Headteacher, Albemarle Primary School, Wandsworth 

With a new leadership team in post and OFSTED inspection on the horizon, we really wanted to assess the effectiveness of our safeguarding systems and procedures, as well as of the staff team's understanding of safeguarding. Sophie (Primary and Safeguarding Lead at ECED Trust) initially spent a day in school completing a safeguarding audit/review, which included work with the DSL team and meetings or informal conversations with staff, governors, parents and children. She provided a proposed structure for the day in advance, but was also responsive to our needs and suggestions, which made it all the more helpful. I (as DSL) learnt a lot from the review process itself, and Sophie also shared a comprehensive report following her visit, outlining her findings including clear next steps for the school. She also offered a follow up visit, which allowed us to review progress made and create a safeguarding action plan.  Sophie's experience and expertise in safeguarding, as well as in primary education/leadership generally, was really evident. She has been a great support to our school, and her work has enabled us to make huge amounts of progress, as well as developing my confidence as a safeguarding lead. We hope to work with Sophie and the ECED Trust team again in the future.

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