You became a School Leader to make a difference.

Not to disappear into the job.

  • "For the time limit, it is incredible what Gemma can cover."

    Lauren Groves, Head of Year

What is the Sustainable Leaders Membership?

The Sustainable Leaders Membership is for school leaders who are tired of running on empty and want something that holds up across a whole school year — not another CPD box to tick.

Small, weekly input. Space to think. Other people who get the specific pressures of the job.

What’s Inside:

Every week:

  • A short, practical action, plus a short video bringing it to life with real examples. Three minutes to watch, built to fit around a job that doesn't leave much spare headspace.

Whenever you need it:

  • Full access to everything I've built so far: past resources, training, tools. There the moment you join, not drip-fed.

Termly live webinars:

  • A session just for members, built around the specific pressures of school leadership. Ask a question, hear how other leaders are handling the same thing.

Early access:

  • First to hear about anything new I run, before it goes anywhere else.

Hi, I’m Gemma

I know what it's like to give everything to the job and have nothing left over. I lived it as a classroom teacher and middle leader, and it cost me my mental health, my life outside school, and eventually my teaching career.

At the time, it felt like a personal failing. It wasn't. It was a systems problem — I didn't have the right tools, the right boundaries, or the right support around me.

That's what this membership is built to fix. Not an abstract idea of thriving — a working pattern you can actually sustain, across a full year, without it costing you everything else.

Before this, you might:

- Struggle to switch off after a hard day

- Feel guilty for taking time for yourself

- Endure the same cycle every year — flat out in term, collapsing in the holidays

- Feel like nobody quite understands the pressure

After, you’ll:

- Know what actually helps you switch off, specifically

- Enjoy a working rhythm that holds across the whole year, not just until half term

- Be with other school leaders who get it, without explaining the job from scratch each time

The Actual Problem

Here's what school leadership often looks like from the inside:

You give everything during the day — to staff, students, parents. By the time you get home, there's nothing left, but school follows you through the door anyway.

Evenings go on emails. Weekends go on prep. Half term goes on recovering from the term you just survived.

That's not you being weak or disorganised. It's a job that was never built with anyone's sustainability in mind.

The longer that goes unaddressed, the closer you get to the point where even the parts of the job you used to like start to feel unbearable.

What the membership actually gives you:

✦ Reflective-supervision-informed input — grounded in over 600 hours of reflective supervision practice with school leaders, not generic tips.

✦ Practical ways to switch off — specific, not vague, so you can close the laptop and mean it.

✦ Boundaries that hold up under pressure, not just in theory.

✦ Spotting your own warning signs early, before burnout, not just recovering from it afterwards.

✦ Confidence to hand things off, so you're not the only person holding everything.

Who this is for:

- You’re tired of taking the job home with you — literally and otherwise.

- You can feel yourself heading toward burnout and want to get ahead of it, not just survive it.

- You want a working pattern that holds up across the whole year, not just until the next half term break.

- You'd genuinely value other school leaders who understand the specific pressure of the role.

Who this isn’t for:

- Anyone who treats exhaustion as proof they're doing the job properly.

- Anyone not currently open to trying something different.

- Anyone not ready to spend anything on their own wellbeing, only everyone else's.

Example Resources

Cost

£15.99 per month - cancel any time, no long-term commitment.

Includes:

- Weekly action and video.

- Full back catalogue.

- Termly live webinars.

- Member community.

- Early access to anything new.

FAQs

Do I need to be a school leader to join?

It's built with school leaders in mind. If you're in a senior or middle leadership role and want this, you're welcome to join.

How much time does it take?

A few minutes a week for the core action and video. The rest — back catalogue, community — is there whenever you want it, at whatever pace suits you.

What if I fall behind?

There's no behind. Everything stays in the back catalogue. Come back to it whenever.

Can I cancel?

Yes, any time, no questions asked.

School leadership is one of the most demanding jobs there is. It doesn't have to cost you everything else.

  • Would very much recommend Gemma. She came to do some work at Bradon Forest with colleagues and helped them reset after the pandemic times. Her calm approach is recommended. Thank you for all your help Gemma.

    Helen Wilkinson, Deputy Headteacher at The Athelstan Trust

  • Gemma managed to provide the right balance of support and coaching to help me arrive at the solutions I needed. Her approach is calm and patient, which I needed when navigating my decisions. I would highly recommend Gemma to anyone trying to tease out the answers."

    Aisha Thomas, Director at Representation Matters Ltd

  • "Gemma reminded me that I am good at my job and in a strong position to progress. Do work with Gemma if you get the chance; you'll get lots from it."

    Debbie, Primary School middle leader

  • "Listening to Gemma speak about creating boundaries helped me to make myself a priority and start saying no to non priority actions"

    Teacher at Magna Learning Partnership

  • "Gemma is very clearly non-judgemental - I felt quite at ease."

    Secondary School Teacher

  • "It is not easy to dig inside yourself and open up - but the safe space to discuss issues and ideas is remarkably empowering and a real confidence boost."

    Secondary School Leader

  • "Working with Gemma showed me that it is acceptable to tell yourself you have done a good job"

    Deb Wiltshire, Teacher of MFL/Head of Year 7 and Transition Leader

  • "Working with Gemma has helped me to feel more confident, more energised, more fulfilled."

    Debbie, Primary School middle leader

  • "The opportunity to reflect and hear your thinking phrased back by Gemma is very powerful. The benefits of this can't be adequately expressed."

    Andrea William-Jones, Assistant Headteacher

  • "Working with Gemma helped me reflect on the reasons or excuses why I might let work overspill and to acknowledge the benefits of switching off or making time for other things."

    Head of Humanities