Testimonials

We had another excellent Resilience workshop delivered by Kim for our Y12 assembly. Kim is a great presenter who connects well with her audience, offering some great tips and some memorable ideas for students struggling with revision. Our students were fully engaged with the workshop and came away with some useful strategies that can easily be implemented to support them with the workload of A levels. We would highly recommend!

Thank you very much for two more fantastic sets of workshops delivered for our North East target schools! Kate's sessions received excellent feedback from both students and staff on the day.

Chelsea was fantastic - lively and enthusiastic! A great interactive session - 5 stars!

Matt delivered three outstanding sessions to both staff and students. Students who typically lack confidence to engage with others or be in large group situations, left the day with big smiles and really took onboard some effective strategies to manage their motivation and time. Outstanding presentation - 5 stars!

As a member of staff, I've sat through many a revision/exam piece of training. This was something else and it made me sit up and start taking notes. After 20 years in the job, I still learnt some new ways to revise. Loved it and hope to get Positively You back in the school in the future - 5 stars!

I had experience with Positively You in a previous setting and was once again delighted by their ability to bring their resources and ideas into an Alternative Provision format. My staff enjoyed their training and are already using the ideas in their teaching. We look forward to welcoming Matt again to work with our students and their parents/carers.

These workshops were of enormous benefit to the students and Matt was very enthusiastic and inspiring - we had lots of positive feedback from those in attendance. The sessions delivered by Positively You are invaluable.

Shenaz delivered the Resilience workshop to our students, who found her to be instantly relatable and dynamic. She had a calming and encouraging presence and we wouldn't hesitate to book further workshops with Positively You - absolutely 5 stars!

Dave presented the Making Informed Decisions workshops to our students, who really took a lot from the event. He was engaging and knowledgeable and gave them a lot to think about and consider. We have already been considering booking again next year.

Natalie and Shenaz delivered a highly engaging workshop to our students, which was all the more impressive considering it was an online event. Every Positively You workshop funded through Future Me has been incredibly well received and this one was certainly no different. Highly recommended - 5 stars!!!

I can't thank Positively You enough for the session Shenaz delivered to our students on July 14th. The young people responded so well to her and even the teachers at the event were raving about her! Her manner and approach was a breath of fresh air and we are all extremely grateful for her support.

Matt and Shenaz delivered the Making Informed Decisions workshop to our students. The session was great, with the presenters able to engage with the students by giving real life examples and having clear and friendly communication skills. All in all, the students really enjoyed the day and got a lot out of it - 5 stars!

A really high-impact Goal Mapping workshop that the students got a lot out of. Shenaz was an outstanding presenter. The techniques she used to engage with the group worked perfectly and her energy was something else! Based on this, we wouldn't hesitate to book future Positively You workshops for our students.

Shenaz was a highly engaging speaker who built rapport with the students and motivated them to participate, while putting them at ease throughout the event. The content for both workshops was informative and relatable and the delivery was exceptional. We would absolutely be looking to book future workshops, especially Mastering Student Motivation.

Kim presented the Future You workshop to our Year 12 cohort. The content was engaging and very relevant to our Workskills Week programme. The students enjoyed the mock interview sessions, which tied in very well with the employer visits later in the week. 5 Stars!

The Super Speed Study Skills workshop from Positively You interesting and entertaining for the students. Matt was personable and funny. Based on the strength of this event, we would be looking to book several workshops in the future. "Even some of our most demotivated students loved the session."

Our school took part in two Positively You workshops: Super Speed Study Skills and Future You. Both workshops were innovative, challenging and though-provoking and they were very well delivered. Shenaz, the presenter, was incredibly energetic and professional. "A morning full of challenges, pushing boundaries and inspiration!"

This Goal Mapping workshop was inspirational and motivational. Shenaz always delivers workshops that make a real difference to the students. We see an instant boost in their confidence, motivation and drive to succeed - 5 stars!

The Super Speed Study Skills session was creative, fun and full of realistic and achievable strategies. Matt was knowledgeable and approachable and we would love to book more workshops with him in the future! "Excellent workshop, set at the just the right tempo."

We received the Exam busters workshop from Kim, 5 stars, she was a very engaging presenter with good content. 4 stars for the event, "A very engaging session that delivered key revision techniques to our students in a fun and interesting way."

The Bridging the Gap session was a great start to the year and really got the students thinking about how they learn effectively, reinforcing all the messages we give in school. Shenaz is always so full of energy and 100% committed to getting the best out of the students!

Matt is very lively and engages the students, 5 stars!  He is lively, enthusiastic and a positive role model.  Students were fully engaged in the workshops due to the lively and enthusiastic delivery of the Positively You speaker.

Thank you for your session on Tuesday. Our Year 12 students, in the past, have struggled with virtual workshops, but on Tuesday I could see an improvement, they were engaged, actively listening and most importantly involved. Our students enjoyed the personalisation they were able to apply to this workshop. After the initial identification of the key principles of success, they were able to personalise their experience.....which I think was very important to them at this moment in time, with the pressures of mock exams next week and 'real' exams, for some, in January. As the session progressed it was evident to see that their level of positivity and belief in themselves increased......not one student identified themself as not being able to achieve their main goal. A number of students after the session asked for more sheets as they wanted to take their goal setting a step further and set themselves a goal for each of their academic subjects....how fab!

We have been incredibly lucky to work with the Positively Mad team for 3 years now, and we were very thankful that we were able to welcome Shenaz back, so early on in the academic year, despite the current Covid-19 situation. For our new Year 12 cohort, Shenaz delivered the first workshop as part of their 2-day Sixth Form Conference. For the majority of the Year 12 students in the room, they had not been back in school since we went into lockdown in March, so as you can imagine, some of our students were very anxious, nervous and unsettled. Shenaz was an absolute breath of fresh air. From the onset, the students were engaged, reassured, challenged and most importantly, settled and at ease. Throughout their 2-day Conference, Year 12 attended 3 sessions with Shenaz. During the first half of the first sessions, Shenaz learnt the names of all our students, and from student feedback, this meant a lot as it showed she was interested in each and everyone of them, not just as a group collectively. Each session transitioned smoothly into the next, and what the students covered in the previous workshops was picked back up and built upon. During our tutor programme, over this the remainder of this half term, we hope to build on the work Year 12 covered over the 2-day conference, as we believe it will further develop their characters, aid them with ideas to support their academic and independent study and overall support them across their Level 3 journey.

The workshop was fantastic and gave students practical tips on how to revise and tackle the increased workload expected at A-Level. Shenaz delivered the workshop in her usual engaging way. Great – we wouldn’t change a thing!

Steve is a lively and engaging presenter, who is prepared to make fun of himself to grab students’ interest. I should like to thank him for taking the time and trouble to add Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to his powerpoint for his session at Littleover. He showed students that using chunks and gimmicks do actually help them to remember a lot more facts and I think several of them amazed themselves about how much they could remember about Muhammed Ali Very helpful. We are following up on it by doing more mind maps in registration times to keep the technique fresh in their minds

The workshops were fantastic. Steve is a brilliant presenter and worked really well with the learners. College learners can be a tough crowd and he managed them wonderfully keeping them engaged and feeling part of the event. Everything ran smoothly and was even better than expected; very professional and worth every penny. 10/10

Excellent really engaging. 10/10

Shenaz is always well prepared ahead of the sessions and incredibly flexible. She gets to know the students very quickly in a short space of time and they engage well. The workshops were about the students needs and demands and this was more than catered for throughout the week. When the workshop were not flowing as expected Shenaz was able to change direction and cater to the needs of the student whilst motivating the learner about their future and expectations Always a pleasure to work with PosMad and Shenaz. Professional, friendly flexible and dedicated to the demands of the brief and the needs of the student and staff requests. I just wanted to let you know about the absolutely brilliant feedback we have received today from both staff and students who attended the sessions today. I have been approached by other members of staff asking when Shenaz will be returning to Kirkley so that their students can attend the sessions. lovely to meet you the other day. Thanks for coming - the students told me afterwards that they really enjoyed the session! I can't tell you how rarely this happens with a guest speaker; usually, although they are really nice kids, they are quite shy and often don't really respond or get involved and afterwards they say the session was pointless and a waste of time. The fact that they were engaging with you and talking to me about it afterwards speaks volumes...

Perfectly pitched and offered some valuable tips for developing independent learning skills. The interactive element helped keep the students engaged. 10/10

Matt was excellent!

As always, the workshops catered perfectly to the needs of our students. The resilience strategies were accessible by all students and will be re-inforced during the tutor group sessions throughout the year. Our students were engaged throughout and the skill of the presenter meant that the sessions were very subtly adapted depending on differences in the audience participation – ie. If students indicated they were on a Uni progression pathway, the guidance was ever so slightly different to those on an apprenticeship or employment pathway. The information shared was backed up with research which enabled our students to ‘believe’ in the guidance and this was a key point for us, the strategies were not only ‘common sense’ they also had a robust grounding in Neuro-science and Psychology research. Our students are a tough audience and they responded to the academic insight which our trainer provided. As this was the 2nd time we have used Positively Mad, we believe it was really beneficial to have Shenaz once again, as she was familiar with the setting and the academic ‘context’ of the college. She knew the structure of the pastoral team and this enabled her to connect with the students as someone who ‘got’ where they were coming from. Also, as she has a spookily good memory, she even recognised students from the sessions last year who were not even in her workshops and this was a really positive experience for them. The equipment and room set-up was not overly disruptive and the whole 3 days went without a hitch. 10/10

We booked Positively Mad this year for the second year running after a brilliant session in the previous academic year. Once again we were lucky enough to have Shenaz. The students were so engaged. Shenaz is incredibly astute and was able to tailor the session to the students she had in front of her; she understood their fear of failure and was able to explain it to them in a way that validated their experience as A Level students. Shenaz worked to make each student feel that they could achieve what they put their mind to. As the students came away from the session they had renewed focus and a more positive mental attitude about tackling difficult subject matter. Shenaz is an inspirational speaker and her positivity is infectious, I cannot recommend these sessions highly enough.

Excellent, very engaging and relatable for the students who were in the room at the time. Very well organised, well structured and kept the students engaged throughout 10/10

The workshop was very interesting and gave the students some helpful ideas about goalsetting. All of the students were engaged throughout the workshop and I received positive feedback from the students. Shenaz was very personable and engaging. The students really enjoyed the workshop and they were very impressed that she could remember all of their names after only just meeting her. 10/10

Very engaging and students were able to participate and reflect at the same time. You could see on students’ faces the recognition they had with some of the things that were being said. Being able to recognise this to their personal experiences led to further engagement. Fantastic and very, very personable to students 10/10

The students thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and have given very positive feedback in the following days. They enjoyed the way Shenaz delivered the workshop and have taken away many valuable strategies as a result. Staff and students really enjoyed the session and it was well organised/delivered. 10/10

As always it is a real treat and pleasure to have Shenaz working with our students. Always organized and well prepared and full of knowledge. Students interact really well with Shenaz and the PosMAd works shops. Staff can see a real benefit too. Shenaz has a real understanding of what we would like to happen in the workshop and is always very insightful with the students. Adapting the sessions if necessary. Shenaz understands the needs of the students and can easily adjust the workshop to meet the needs of the learners. It’s really interesting to see how she engages and speaks with the learners and how they respond in a positive way. Several comment from staff and students last week include. Can we have some staff CPD on the same topic? I’m pleased I’ve stayed, I’ve really learnt from the presenter. I’ll be taking this technique back to my classroom. Please please please come back !! I’ve recommended Pos Mad and Shenaz to my colleagues for various projects. My hope is that they will be in touch soon. Looking forward to working with you all again.!!

Road to Resilience Package: In terms of the staff CPD staff felt that the sessions were informative and expertly delivered, one staff member said that it was the best CPD that they have had in 25 years of teaching. Staff did feel that the CPD could have been condensed from 4 hours to 3. In terms of the parental twilight, the session was very useful for parents and really helped parents to think about how to support their child with their level 3 studies. The student sessions helped us to embed our ethos of growth mindset and resilience to all our students and also taught them specific skills that will help them to cope throughout their time at college, but these students will also now have these skills for life. Shenaz was so enthusiastic and this was infectious, she was fantastic with staff, students and parents and we would recommend this session unreservedly to others.

Virtual Recall: It was an absolute joy watching Shenaz working with a range of students- some of which can be difficult to engage. A range of activities were evident depending on student level and needs. Shenaz was engaged with the students within minutes of them entering the classroom and quickly addressed them and got to know them. I witnessed on several occasions ‘lightbulb ‘ moments with different students when they really understood what Shenaz was communicating. I cannot recommend Shenaz highly enough and look forward to working with Positively Mad and hopefully Shenaz in the future. Shenaz is an asset to your company.

We recently had Shenaz from Positively MAD come in to deliver a session called 'Goal Mapping' to our Year 12 students. We were delighted with the session and the students excitedly described it as "the best tutorial we've ever had". Shenaz did an amazing job at inspiring the students, engaging everyone in the room and making the session personal and relatable. The students learned techniques that will support them through their A-Level study and encourage them to aim high. We would recommend this workshop without reservation.

I just wanted to say that the Bridging the Gap workshop was fab! Thank you for arranging it! Not only did it benefit students but the staff supporting were enthralled. We have been able to take away revision/recall techniques to benefit all learners. The students who attended both workshops felt that they have been given support to effectively transition from KS4 to KS5 and all students felt the tips given yesterday would be useful to track their own learning and improve their grades.

The workshop was beneficial as a means of focusing the learners on their longer term goals. In general, the learners attending were those studying practical subjects, and typical comments are ‘It’s too early to think about what I might be doing in a few years’ time, I just want to be trained and get a job’. The workshop was therefore very useful to help them think a bit more about what they want to achieve and, importantly, their motivations. This kind of workshop therefore helps to raise aspirations and can improve an individual’s resilience and determination to achieve goals. Shenaz was a brilliant presenter. She engaged so well with the students and staff present, and worked very hard to enthuse and inspire. It was a challenging audience, and she managed them well, getting learners involved and engaged. The planning discussion we had before the session really helped too, we changed the layout and allocated staff to tables to be facilitators of activities – this worked really well. The first workshop delivered by the previous presenter (not Shenaz) suffered from not having this discussion beforehand, meaning that we weren’t as well prepared and weren’t able to best meet out learners’ needs.

Very engaging and practically informative. Students were fully involved and enjoyed the session immensely. 10/10

This was the first time we had done the Mastering Motivation course with our year 10 cohort. We felt it was well suited to them at this point in time. We have gained some valuable insights into how to motivate some students based on their completed info sheets. Tutors have fund this useful. Shenaz blended the content well with some more interactive activities in order to maintain engagement. Shenaz knows us and the school well and always tailors her presentation to the nature of the students on the day. The parents meeting in the evening was well pitched and we have had some very appreciative feedback. Excellent as ever.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you and Positively MAD for being part of ur SPACE Day (Social, Personal and Citizenship Education) on Friday. Your presentation was thought provoking, inspirational and I know will be impactful in assisting the students in our Year 11, 12 and 13 with overcoming the hurdles they will face during their exam series. The manner in which you presented your message and the strategies you gave them (and also the staff who were in the audience) were practical, underpinned by scientific research, but more importantly....fun. This will be a truly memorable moment in their education. I believe the biggest accolade we can give is that we want you and Positively MAD back to work with our students again this term. I am also exceptionally pleased that you could be the keynote presented for our inaugural Engage Evening. The parents of Year 10-13 who attended were exceptionally impressed with your presentation, and the strategies you shared with them in supporting their child with revision, memorisation and exam stress. I have included their feedback below: "Great useful information-great presentation" "Very informative and well thought out evening. It was very informative and provided useful information" "Fantastic" "Very useful and informative" "Well presented" "Well done LWA. Helping both parents and students in getting ready for the upcoming exams" "Thank you LWA for putting on this event. Looking forward to the next Engage Evening".

Appropriate mixture of revision strategies plus endorsement of learning behaviours and student welfare. Can be pitched to meet the type of students and their responses. Shenaz very quickly establishes positive relationships, engages students and puts them at ease. Shenaz uses what she has learned about our school to make her presentation match our style, values and students. Staff respond well and are included in the sessions memorable for students.

Shenaz is engaging, has a good understanding of our students and pitches the content and pace well. We like that the course touches on a wide range of aspects for our students – eg revision skills, but more holistic things such as their welfare and how to prepare psychologically for the exams. Shenaz is now a popular figure within school with both students and teachers. Such a positive figure with students.

Absolutely brilliant! Students have learned a lot and will hopefully start now to put all the strategies into use. Shenaz is fantastic - she had a long day yesterday and was still captivating our small band of parents at 6.30 last night. She is such as asset to your organization.

Thoroughly enjoyed by all students. They saw it as enjoyable, but very relevent Steve the presenter was excellent in both delivery and energy! Resource sheet used by students was great – they did just about the right amount of written work to back up what was being said. Set the scene well for the year for both groups of students. Provided students with some excellent tools for revision/ independent learning. Students were WOW’d by how much they could remember – proof that it worked!

Unfortunately I didn’t get to attend the course but feedback from colleagues was all very positive – they thought Shenaz was brilliant and she had as much impact on them as she did on the kids. They thought her behavior management was outstanding! Excellent from start to finish – not just Shenaz (who impressed everyone) but the whole origination was efficient and like clockwork. I’ve been really impressed.

The children and staff thoroughly enjoyed both the Creative Approaches to Learning and the Mindwise workshops. We were particularly pleased with how popular Natalie’s twilight session for parents was. Staff have already started practising using some of the learning techniques to support their classes. Great! Natalie was so full of positivity and energy right the way through every single session that the children, staff and parents couldn’t help but learn. Thank you very much.

A powerful and dynamic lead from Shenaz was key to success of the day; it really brought home the need to revise but actually made it clear what revision actually is. Students were motivated by the presentation.

As last year – students enjoyed the course and nearly all were positive about their two hour session. The session delivered to staff was great – I think they would have been happy for a longer session – our decision to keep it to 45 minutes.