“Helping your children win at interview.”
SJB Consulting
“I give children the greatest opportunity to be themselves and be successful in taking their next steps in their education journey. Specifically, I help them to succeed in interview situations - in particular helping children in years five and six at prep school to identify their preferred public schools and get offered a place at one of their chosen schools.”
Steve Batchelor, OLY
“Helping your child win at interview. ”
Helping your child win at interview
What’s involved?
Firstly I will talk to your child all about themselves in order to find out as much about them as I possibly can – covering their favourite subjects, interests, family, friendships, activities, worries and concerns, how they communicate and a great deal more.
I will then build on this by working closely with you and your child to find out which schools you are looking at; which ones are most likely to be a successful match for your child, and for your family’s wants and needs.
Finally and most importantly is a mock interview with detailed feedback*, that enables me to identify how best to support and guide your child and help them to succeed when they get to the assessment day and interview.
(*I usually provide a detailed set of guidance notes for each child - unique to them - to use as a refresher and guide as their interview day approaches.)
Why I am qualified to help your child?
I’ve worked in the school admissions environment for over 20 years, including 15 years as Head of Admissions at a leading independent senior school, working closely with over 80 prep and junior schools.
I have an intimate knowledge of the leading day, weekly and full boarding English independent schools.
The knowledge I’ve gained through talking to prep school head teachers, academic staff, parents and pupils has given me a unique insight into all the different elements involved in successful admissions and recruitment, from all sides.
I listen. I learn. I build a great rapport with children and parents alike. This enables me to really understand your child; to gain their trust and hence to coach them (and you) about how they can prepare for and achieve success when it comes to the whole, sometimes daunting and often overwhelming, admissions process.
What does it cost?
It depends, very much, on what you want. However, as a general guideline, using my core four stage approach charges start from £60
Initial chat to explore your wants and needs : FREE
Google Meets (or equivalent) “discovery” chat with your child
Follow up Google Meets call with you (the parents) and your child
Google Meets “mock” interview and debrief
Production of detailed guidance and refresher notes from the “mock”
Ideally, I recommend all four stages. However, you may choose to only take two or three stages.
Stephen Batchelor OLY founder and coach
What others say about my service
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“Steve was a key influence in the decision for our three children to join XXXX school. From our first interaction, he put us at ease, asking insightful questions to really get to know what was important for us as a family. He always listened to our questions and was able to advise us honestly giving a balanced view in terms of various schools as well as bringing to life the pros and cons of a boarding lifestyle versus a day school option.” “Steve supported us throughout the whole process and we are truly thankful for his patience, advice and warm and caring approach.”
Vicks and Johnny
Parents
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“Steve was instrumental to myself, my wife and my daughter helping choose the right fit of school for us as a family. I have been in business for many years working with many high-profile professional sportsmen and women. Steve, as an Olympian himself, as well as a business person, made us all feel comfortable going through the process of making that big decision in picking the right school for our daughter. He really got to know her during the interview process asking her about herself and all things she enjoys about school life. I would highly recommend a personal chat with Steve. “
Kevin Vandrau
Group Commercial Director CSM Sport & Entertainment and parent
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“Steve has been a huge part of my children’s lives. From an initial meeting when eldest was at nursery we loved his passion and easy way with teenagers. Kids love him because he is approachable, funny and most importantly kind.”
Coral- Parent
Other Services
School admissions and marketing support
With over 20 years’ experience in leading and delivering a highly successful admissions process and outreach programme, I am in a great position to offer advice and guidance to schools on how they might be able to improve what they do. I operate on a low-key, informal basis, looking to understand, review and suggest ideas that could help a school develop and improve their activity in these two areas and offering hands-on support if and where appropriate.
Group workshops and discussion groups
Working with various year groups, primarily years five to eight, I – and a small group of experienced colleagues – offer a range of specialist workshops featuring role play work covering: interview practice, interpersonal and communication skills, social media and technology impacts and, peer group pressure.
Prices for the above services start from £300 a day, depending on requirements.
Stephen Batchelor OLY founder and coach
Meet the Team
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Stephen Batchelor
FOUNDER
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Sarah Dean
Coach
Sarah has spent the majority of her career running the European graduate recruitment, MBA and Apprenticeship programs for large global employers within the Professional Services, Investment Banking, Defence and Legal sectors, and consequently has learned how recruitment and selection processes are designed to identify the ‘top talent’. Sarah has also seen first-hand what makes one student stand out from another in what is a highly competitive marketplace.
Having developed a genuine passion and interest for helping students, whether that’s been through coaching them on ‘skills workshops’ that she has run at Universities and schools, providing constructive feedback to them during their Summer Internships or after an unsuccessful interview, or mentoring them through an application and interview process.
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Vicky Doughty
Coach
Victoria has over 25 years experience of working in Recruitment, HR, Training and Coaching. The last 10 years has been focused on working with schools, students and Universities and has a wealth of experience as an Assessor for Early Year's recruitment campaigns across a variety of private and public sector employers. She adopts a hands on, down to earth approach and has a genuine passion for helping children and students understand and achieve their potential.
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Nicole Birrill
Coach
Nicole Birrell has over 20 years experience in Human Capital Management and Coaching within different environments. She has a passion for career coaching, and is currently a Director at
Discover You which aims to inspire young minds to identify their individual passions and strengths through interactive workshops that empower each individual to confidently articulate their unique talents and develop skills in the following areas: confidence building, communication and interview skills.
About Me
The sportsman
I’m a gold-medal-winning Olympian with the Great Britain Hockey team in 1988, and an internationally renowned hockey coach. I’ve led countless teams and players of all abilities and have played a significant part in the development of several current members of the men’s and women’s England and Great Britain squads.
As a school coach I have taken several teams, from U15s to U18s, to national finals, winning numerous championship titles. Whilst at Cranleigh, I successfully led my own academy programme, SJB Hockey, which has developed players from both the school and the local community, inspiring many young athletes of all abilities and from all backgrounds .
The professional
I hope my sporting ability and achievements speak for themselves. I pride myself on my ability to form relationships with people and build a sense of team spirit and confidence. As an Assistant Head – Liaison, with over 20 years’ hands-on school experience behind me, I know how to make students feel comfortable in conversation and can inspire them to be the best version of themselves. This, of course, is essential both as a teacher and a coach and I am particularly good at bringing out the best in nervous children at an interview.
I am a strong informal communicator and also an experienced and accomplished speaker in public, frequently
Book a chat.
For an informal, no-obligation and free chat with me to find out how and if I may be able to help you and/or your child, please follow the link to book an auto-scheduled Google Meet chat; or just give me a call during normal working hours on +44 (0) 7736073025 or email me at steve@sjb88consulting.com