Sarah Sudea

I am a former teacher and mother of three. Wanting flexibility when my children were small, I moved from classroom teaching to 1-1 tutoring. The kids I tutored were brilliant in all kinds of ways but too many of them were coping in school, not thriving. Sometimes the pressures of school were proving detrimental to their overall wellbeing; I found myself taking on the role of mentor and coach, for my students – and their parents, who were so often feeling lost and alone in their worry.

I formally retrained as a family coach in 2019 because I recognised that a one-size-fits-all approach to schooling was failing some children.

I now work primarily with parents to create tailored plans that address the specific educational needs of your child. This includes:

• helping you understand the wide range of educational options available, including possibilities you might not know about, like delaying school start for your summer born child or negotiating flexi-school arrangements.
• supporting you with tools to recognise your children’s distress signals around school so you can differentiate between the Monday blues and something more serious.
• equipping you with strategies to help your child at home when they don’t want to go to school.
• offering guidance on how to communicate with schools so they will listen and act.
• challenging you to trust your instincts about what’s best for your child when it’s hard to work out a way forward.
• If things are difficult for your child at school, or they are suffering from anxiety that’s impacting on their attendance, I will enable you to understand what’s really going on and what the options are to improve things.

I believe that young people have a right to an education that enables them to thrive. As has been widely documented, increasing numbers of children and young people in the UK are struggling with their mental health. Through my coaching sessions I aim to help you better understand what your children are experiencing at school and empower you to prioritise their wellbeing, when making decisions around education.

I am a warm and empathetic coach and will always check in with you on what balance of support, guidance and challenge you are looking for. I will never analyse you or tell you what to do as I presume that the answers to your questions and solutions to your problems lie within you. I draw on my understanding of school and family context to create space for calm reflection and give you somebody to lean on. Through this safe and confidential space, you will learn to recognise what you can do to make positive changes for your child and for yourself.

Following an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies I embarked on the Fast Track scheme to school leadership and worked as an English teacher in London comprehensives. In 2011 I left the classroom and moved to 1-1 tutoring work. Alongside this I advocated for many families applying to delay school start for their children, lobbied for flexi-schooling to be formally adopted at my children’s school and read widely on child development and emotion coaching, the neuroscience of the developing adolescent brain and alternatives to conventional school for children who struggle to cope. I now run a family coaching practice, focused on supporting parents and children when children are very unhappy at school. I work with secondary schools and local authorities to promote parent and pupil voice and devise common sense, trauma informed policies that allow families greater flexibility. I have a BA, MA, PGCE, Level 3 Distinction Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellness Diploma, an enhanced DBS and am an ICF approved coach.