Deeper reflective insight
- Space to step back from the day-to-day
- Clearer perspective on challenging staff, student and whānau situations
- Stronger alignment between your values and your decisions
For principals and school leaders
Professional Coaching for Principals and School Leaders
Sharper decisions. Better conversations. Leadership that lasts. Confidential coaching with registered psychologists.
MoE-approved provider of supervision and coaching.
Trusted by leaders in high-demand roles
Why this, why now
Being a principal is one of the most demanding leadership roles in this country.
Principals and senior school leaders carry the weight of their school community: the staff, the tamariki, the whānau, the board. Yet dedicated time for your own reflection and development is often the first thing to slip.
Critical incidents. Board friction. Staff conduct. Mid-career questions about whether you still want to be doing this. None of those land well in the same conversations as your strategic plan.
This is the gap professional coaching is built to fill.
The offer
What we provide.
Confidential, one-to-one coaching with a registered psychologist, shaped entirely around you. What’s said in the room stays in the room: your board and your staff see none of it.
Most of our coaches are registered psychologists, the rest experienced therapists from related fields, every one accountable to a professional standard and with at least six years of practice since qualifying.
How it works
Three steps. Principal-led.
1
Choose your coach
Browse our team of registered psychologists. Read their backgrounds. Pick the one whose experience fits what you need. If you’d rather a recommendation than browse, give us a call.
2
Book your first session
An hour with the coach you chose, with no obligation. A real first session, not a sales call.
3
Continue, if it’s a fit
If you and your coach are a good match, sessions begin within two to three weeks of the first session. You set the agenda from there.
Tangible outcomes
What principals experience through coaching.
Enhanced leadership effectiveness
- Greater confidence in difficult conversations
- Improved boundary-setting and delegation
- Clearer thinking in times of pressure or change
Improved personal wellbeing
- Reduced stress and emotional load
- Support for managing fatigue and work-life balance
- A safe space to process the weight of leadership
Stronger school culture
- More emotionally available leadership
- Healthier staff relationships and modelling of wellbeing
- Sustainable leadership over time
Funding and board approval
Built for the way principals are actually funded.
If you’re a principal, your professional coaching entitlement is built for exactly this kind of work. The form produces a personalised, board-ready Word document you can hand to your presiding member. About a minute to complete. Detailed answers on collective-by-collective funding mechanics, OAG audit safety, and board approval are in the questions below.
Download the form
Generate your application form
Three fields. Personalised. A board-ready Word document downloads straight to your device.
Common questions
What principals ask us.
What is principal coaching?
Principal coaching is confidential one-to-one support for a school leader, with a registered psychologist, to think clearly and lead well without running themselves down. It’s professional coaching, not therapy or performance review, and for most principals it can be funded through their wellbeing entitlement.
Can I use my professional coaching fund for this?
Yes. Professional coaching from a registered psychologist sits squarely inside the purpose of your entitlement. The mechanics differ by collective:
Secondary principals (SPCA 2025 to 2028, clause 4.4): $6,000 per annum tagged in operational funding for Professional Coaching and Wellbeing Support. Annual declaration to the board by the last day of Term 4.
Area school principals (ASPCA, clause 4.5): $6,000 per annum, same mechanics as SPCA.
Primary principals on PPCBU 2025 to 2028: five tranches of $3,000 across the term. Each tranche elected as Curriculum Change Allowance (paid to you) or PLD Fund (paid to your board, used in line with the Ministry’s Professional Development for Principal Leadership Criteria V2.0).
Primary principals on NZEI 2026 to 2028: $15,000 over the term as Curriculum Change Allowance, paid as five taxable allowances directly to you.
What does coaching cost?
Our standard rate is $250 + GST per session. Most annual engagements run to about 12 sessions across the year, totalling around $3,000 + GST.
What about the OAG audit findings on the wellbeing fund?
The Office of the Auditor-General’s December 2025 report flagged 178 boards over how the Professional Coaching and Wellbeing Fund had been spent without a clear business purpose. The fund has not been removed. The bar for evidencing its use has been raised.
Professional coaching from a registered psychologist, charged at a standard professional rate, sits squarely inside the six sensitive expenditure principles in the OAG’s Controlling Sensitive Expenditure guide. The application form on this page makes that visible to your board on a single page.
Will my school board approve coaching funded from the wellbeing fund?
Most boards approve it, particularly when the application is presented in the structure recommended by the OAG. The form above does that work for you. If your presiding member would like to talk to one of our clinicians before approving, we can make that happen.
Is the coaching confidential?
Yes. What’s said in the session stays in the session. We don’t report session content to your board, your staff, or your community. The standard professional exceptions apply: legal disclosure obligations, clear risk to self or others.
How do I choose my coach?
You choose. Browse our team of registered psychologists, read their backgrounds, and book your first session with the one whose experience fits what you need. If you’d rather we recommend someone, give us a call on 0800 324 484.
How long are coaching sessions for school leaders, and how often?
Most school leaders settle into 50-minute sessions every three to four weeks. Some prefer fortnightly during a difficult patch. Some prefer six-weekly. You set the cadence.
What if I’m a deputy principal or senior leader, not a principal?
Coaching is open to all school leaders. The funding mechanics above are principal-specific because the wellbeing entitlement is principal-tagged. The coaching work is the same regardless of role.
Are you on the Principal Development Map?
We’re listed (or pending) on the Ministry of Education’s Principal Development Map under Professional Supports. This makes us an eligible provider for primary principals using the PPCBU PLD Fund.
Ready to invest in your leadership?
Lead your school well, with the right support alongside you.
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