Beyond New Horizons

Fulfil your potential and improve your work-life balance with professional coaching to achieve your short and long-term goals.

I’m Martin Waller, a productivity advisor, coach and teacher.

I am an educational advisor, researcher and speaker who has worked with various organisations to improve outcomes, productivity and learning. I am passionate about improving the education system and helping teachers and school leaders achieve their goals in their careers and, more importantly, in their lives.

Thank you for everything you do for education and our young people. The future is bright!

Barbara Radding Morgan, NASA Educator Astronaut

What does Martin know?

I graduated in 2007 from the University of Durham with the highest-ever dissertation mark (95%) in the history of the School of Education. I also have an MA in New Literacy Studies from the University of Sheffield and an NPQSL from the University of Newcastle. In addition to this, I have been awarded an honourary fellowship to the Chartered College of Teaching for my contribution to the teaching profession.

I have sixteen years (and counting) of teaching experience working across KS1 and KS2. As a teacher, I have worked in both “SAT” years in the UK and have been through multiple successful moderations in these year groups. As a teacher, I have coordinated a range of subjects, including ICT, Computing, Creative Learning (managing a £50k budget), Science, Design and Technology and RE.

As a Senior Leader, I worked as a Phase Leader with responsibility for the deployment of a learning platform to improve productivity and learning as well as KS2. I also worked as an Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for data and worked as part of a leadership team to set up a free school, which subsequently achieved an “Outstanding” rating in its first Ofsted inspection.

I have also lectured at Durham University, Birmingham City University and school-led teacher training. I have spoken at multiple international conferences, including the Digital Media and Technologies Conference at the University of Tasmania in Australia and the Better Tools, Better Learning Conference at the Goethe Institut in Riga, Latvia. I’ve also published multiple book chapters for publishers like Routledge and organisations including the NSPCC.

I also advised Tesco Plc on engaging with education and worked with the BBC on their school-based television drama “Waterloo Road.” I was also on the National Council for the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) and coordinated their work in the North of England.

It’s fair to say I have done much in education since I graduated in 2007. However, that came at a price – namely, burnout and a very poor work-life balance.

I realised that I needed to slow things down and focus on what really mattered. For me, this was being a good teacher and living life in all its fullness. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I really wanted and decided to instigate some changes. I stepped back from Senior Leadership and returned to being a full-time classroom teacher because that is what I enjoyed most. After I became a dad, I reduced my hours further and decided to finally dip my toe into the world of advisory work so that I could still work in education but spend time with my family. I love teaching, which is why I still do it, but I also have a passion for helping others and improving the system.

How can Martin help?

I’ve been where you are, and I have learned a lot from the heights of school leadership – including a brief stint as headteacher – to the grassroots of classroom teaching. I know how schools work because I still work in one and over the past sixteen years, I have developed many lean ways of working and being productive.

I love education, but there is a world beyond it – like your actual life outside of the school building and the laptop you are attached to in the evenings. That’s why I sent up Beyond Education Coaching – to help teachers and school leaders work more effectively and develop boundaries with the profession that we love.

Interested?

I have very limited capacity to take on new clients, but it is always worth getting in touch. I do charge for coaching as I do this as part of my freelance work.

I work with both private (self-funded) and service-level (school-based) clients, so please get in touch using the form below if you’d like to find out more.