What To Expect From A Supervision Session

Reflective supervision offers a supportive and collaborative space for practitioners to thoughtfully reflect on their practice, explore challenges, and feel both valued and heard. It’s about empowering you to grow in your role, always placing the well-being and development of children and young people at the core of your work.

The first session: Building the foundation

Our first session is about getting to know each other. As the supervisor, I’ll begin to understand the context of your role and your unique circumstances. This helps establish a foundation for our work together. Before we begin, you’ll receive a working contract outlining confidentiality, ethical practice, boundaries, cancellations, and session reviews.

Sessions are tailored to you, the supervisee, and it’s essential that they work for you. If something isn’t useful or isn’t resonating, it’s important that you feel comfortable sharing this so we can adjust accordingly.

In the first session, we will explore:

• Your expectations from the supervision process

• Your understanding of supervision and how it may benefit you

• How we can form a strong working alliance and ensure we’re the right fit

• Setting a structure and format for future sessions

• Specific areas or challenges you’d like to explore

• Reflecting on the session and setting a plan moving forward

What happens in regular sessions

Reflective supervision sessions typically involve regular, focused meetings, either 1:1 or in small groups with colleagues. These sessions are designed to provide a confidential and trusting space for processing the impact of your work, encouraging development, and fostering personal and professional growth.

During a session, we will:

• Build a safe, trusting space to explore the emotional and professional impact of your work

• Discuss and review ethical or professional challenges and celebrate successes to reignite your purpose and ambition

• Create time to share and explore feelings, challenges, and reactions from work with families, staff, or the community

• Deepen connections with colleagues by hearing and supporting one another

• Clarify ethical concerns or organisational policies when relevant

My approach to supervision

In education, we often focus on questions and answers, but I won’t be giving you all the answers! My style of supervision is to listen, support, and guide in a safe, comfortable space. You may bring a situation, a person, or an issue from the wider context into the session, and together we’ll navigate it in a reflective way.

I will challenge your thinking when needed and encourage you to view situations from different perspectives. This helps foster growth and new ways of working. Supervision is not about hierarchy and whilst I will lead the sessions, we will collaborate together to explore your practice and drive your development.

Each session is designed to help you reflect, recharge, and thrive in your role, ensuring you’re supported both personally and professionally.