lu gerlach
  • learn
  • shape
  • Connect
    • blog >
      • blog history
    • book club
    • podcast
    • shout-outs
    • sketch club
    • traveling teacher
    • voices
  • Develop
    • consultancy
    • membership
    • retainer
    • workshops
  • Transfer
    • consultancy pricing
    • membership pricing
    • retainer pricing
    • workshop pricing

Professional Development · thinkchat

Consultancy is not a visit. It is a turning point.

Is This Right for You?

Consultancy is for schools ready to look honestly at what is happening.

It works best when a school has already begun asking the hard questions and wants someone from the outside to help them see what they cannot see from within. It is not for schools still deciding whether to begin. It is for schools that have started and want to go further.

Every consultancy engagement is anchored in one or more of the four CARE pillars. If you are new to CARE, start with the whole child page before going further.

Not sure where your school sits across the four pillars? Find your focus.

Consultancy is not a workshop and it is not a one-day event. It is a sustained, focused partnership where someone comes into your school, looks honestly at what is happening, asks the questions that are hard to ask from inside, and helps you find a path forward that is genuinely yours. It is for schools that are ready to go beyond professional learning days and into the real work of change.

Every consultancy engagement is anchored in the CARE framework. It begins with honest listening and ends with a path that is genuinely yours.

What This Looks Like in Practice

A story from the field.

A school in the Asia-Pacific region reached out after their curriculum coordinator attended one of my workshops. What began as a single conversation turned into something much larger than either of us expected.

Before anything else, I spent time in regular dialogue with the leadership team to understand where the school was and where they genuinely wanted to go. Their goal was clear: they wanted to deepen the amount of agency and inquiry happening across classrooms.

From that conversation, I designed an online session tailored to their specific starting point. That session created a real buzz and set the stage for the two-day visit that followed. The first day on site was spent entirely in observation. I visited every classroom, listened carefully, and read the school through the CARE lens.

Months later, I received word that the ideas were being implemented across the school. A teacher presented the impact at an education conference. The follow up call became a celebration. It was an absolute delight to see the school spark to life.

This is what consultancy is. Not a visit. A turning point.

Three Pathways

Choose the engagement that fits where your school is right now.

Each pathway is designed for a different stage of the CARE journey and builds naturally toward the next. Full pricing and service details are on the consultancy pricing page.

Head

Culture
Coaching

For schools taking their first steps with the CARE framework. Building understanding, creating clear pathways, and making sure the foundations are solid before the deeper work begins.

What is available:

New Staff Induction Coaching · Curriculum Clinics

Starting from $275

Curriculum clinics from $275. Coaching series from $1,500.

Full pricing

Heart

Consultation
Visit

For schools that want an honest, outside view of how it is actually going. The visit examines classrooms, planning documents, and the spaces between people through the CARE framework.

What is available:

On Site Visit · Remote Consultation · Whole Staff CARE Day

Starting from $1,800

Remote package from $1,800. On site visit from $5,500.

Full pricing

Hands

CARE
Review

For schools ready to examine the system, not just the surface. This pathway brings all four CARE pillars into genuine alignment, builds leadership capacity, and sustains the change over time.

What is available:

Full CARE Review · Leadership Coaching (single session, package, or term series)

Starting from $3,500

Scoped after discovery call. Leadership coaching from $275.

Full pricing

Always Included

What every engagement includes.

Every consultancy engagement, regardless of which pathway you choose, includes these foundations at no extra cost.

01

Pre-Visit Call (60 min)

A structured conversation to understand your context, goals, and what you most need from the engagement.

02

Classroom Observations

Scheduled and unannounced observations across year levels, looking for what the data does not show.

03

Stakeholder Conversations

One to one and small group conversations with teachers, curriculum leads, and leaders, confidential and purposeful.

04

Document Review

Reading your curriculum as a system through the CARE lens: planning documents, unit planners, and assessment samples.

05

Leadership Debrief

A structured, honest, constructive debrief with your leadership team anchored in the CARE framework.

06

Written Next Steps Plan

Commendations, areas for growth, and prioritised next steps delivered within 10 business days.

07

Follow Up Call (45 min)

One remote call within 60 days to review progress as implementation begins.

08

Remote Option Available

Three structured 90 minute sessions for schools unable to host on site visits. Same rigour, no flights.

09

Curated Resource List

A follow up reading and resource list tailored to your school's specific context and next steps within CARE.

How It Works

A process built around your school.

Every consultancy engagement begins with genuine listening, not a pre-packaged solution looking for a problem.

01

Discovery Call

A free 30 minute conversation to understand your context and goals. No obligation, no pitch.

02

Needs Assessment

You share relevant documents before we begin. I read everything before arriving or starting remote sessions.

03

On Site or Remote Work

I observe, listen, ask questions, and work alongside your team, not above them.

04

Written Deliverable

Every engagement produces a clear written output, either a Next Steps Plan or Alignment Report, within the agreed timeframe.

05

Follow Up Support

A remote check-in call is included in every engagement. Retainer options keep support sustained over a full term or year.

06

CARE Framework Lens

Throughout every engagement, I use Culture, Agency, Roles, and Experiences as the shared language for seeing and improving practice.

Real change in schools does not happen in a single day. Every step in this process is designed to protect the quality of your program and to make sure that what comes out the other end is genuinely sustainable, genuinely yours, and built to last well beyond the visit.

Ready to take the next step?

Let's talk about what your school needs.

Every engagement begins with a free 30 minute conversation. No pressure, no pitch. Just an honest conversation about where your school is and where you want to go.

Book a Discovery Call See Full Pricing
FAQs
​CONTACT
​
SUPPORT

© 2026 thinkchat consultancy. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy Terms
  • learn
  • shape
  • Connect
    • blog >
      • blog history
    • book club
    • podcast
    • shout-outs
    • sketch club
    • traveling teacher
    • voices
  • Develop
    • consultancy
    • membership
    • retainer
    • workshops
  • Transfer
    • consultancy pricing
    • membership pricing
    • retainer pricing
    • workshop pricing