Cathy Anwar
Cathy Anwar
Coaching Bio
Cathy has been coaching formally and informally for almost 20 years. She followed a coaching course with Zinnia coaching in 2009, and during and following this, coached external clients as well as those in her organisations. She’s successfully used Active Coaching, and her own ‘Professional, Collaborative Curiosity’ model in work with colleagues as a school and MAT leader. Currently she leads her consultancy business and coaches a range of clients in educational settings. Recently she has supported three colleagues to achieve permanent roles as a CFO, Headteacher and Deputy Head. Curiosity, empathy and warm challenge are her trademark qualities.
Coaching Experience
Coaching senior team as a headteacher 2005-13
Zinnia coaching course 2009-10
Client from IBM 2009-10
Coaching colleagues Civil Service 2013-16
Coaching colleagues Summit Learning Trust MAT 2017-22 and other education leaders
CA Consulting – successfully coached CFO; Secondary Headteacher; Deputy Headteacher; Trust senior leader; Primary Headteachers
Currently following EMCC accreditation course (to be completed end 2024)
Career Experience
Cathy currently leads CA Consulting. For the last 18 months she has worked with a wide range of Trusts and schools to support leadership and strategic development, and equalities work through school visits and online coaching.
Cathy was Chief Executive Officer of Summit Learning Trust in Birmingham from 2017-2022. The Trust comprises 8 academies in south and north Birmingham. All saw transformational improvements during this time. Prior to this role, Cathy was a senior HMI in London and HMI in the South-East for 4 years, following her successful headship of a large secondary school in Hampshire for 8 years.
Coaching Accreditations
Fierce Conversations
Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Coaching Tools
EMCC (in progress)
Cathy is a brilliant coach and a joy to work with. She is insightful, humane and direct. Over six months we covered a lot of ground, talking both around the planned goals as well as responding to situations in the moment. We started with my current reality, what was secure and what needed attention, then delved into these areas. Cathy used an excellent set of questions to probe my thinking. We always summarised the main points / actions at the end of each session. Over six months I achieved the majority of the goals that we had set out at the start.I would highly recommend Cathy as a coach for senior leaders.
Louise Cooper, COO, E21
During my first year of headship I benefitted greatly from Cathy’s leadership coaching and would recommend it without reservation to anyone new to leadership, or keen to develop and grow in role. Each session lasted between one and two hours, with coaching sessions booked in around my commitments and in response to need. This flexible approach was very much appreciated as it meant I could engage fully without distraction, and focus on the areas I needed guidance and support with the most. In advance of each coaching session Cathy would contact me to ask what I would like to discuss, which made the sessions focused, relevant and incredibly helpful. She would also pick up on previous discussions and developing themes, and I felt that by the end of the programme she had got to know me, my strengths and my areas for development, incredibly well. Cathy never provided solutions, but empowered me to unpick problems to find the solution for myself. She also gave some very sound advice which helped me keep things in perspective when the going got tough! This approach really helped me to grow in confidence as a new headteacher and over the course of the year I felt increasingly able to successfully manage the many and varied challenges of the role. Now, well into my second year of headship, I still find myself reflecting on the coaching sessions and advice given – the coaching has definitely had a lasting positive impact on my leadership, and subsequently how I lead others.
Debbie Anness, Headteacher, Belle Vue Girls’ Academy, BDAT