The course was highly attuned to the needs of the children and demonstrated the learning capacity, skills and attitudes to learning clearly and in a highly engaging way. Tools were shared which pupils could access regardless of ability, language, skills or age.

These are the comments of one Year 5 teacher who was in the CA2L session – Links were constantly made to areas of the brain and how ‘we’ use our brains in and out of class. Also emphasis was made towards the children making an active choice(s) to be pro-active with their learning eg not to sit with friends in class, taking their coat off before entering the classroom, wearing the school uniform, leaving break times for chatting and working at home without lots of distractions from technical devices.

The usefulness of a course is its application and useability – the morning session staff had, by the afternoon incorporated the ‘map’ in their session and pupils take their coats off ‘ready to learn’ before entering their class. Therefore a highly successful day was had.

Teachers and children were very enthusiastic about the day. Lots of teachers have already started using some of the mind mapping and storytelling techniques that Kim shared. Thank you

Our students thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and there were many positive comments. Natalie was positive, engaging and held the students attention very well.

Our pupils really enjoyed it - lots of quick things that they can do. They enjoyed the high energy and suitable/easily accessible strategies for revision. Natalie had great energy, I thought that she was fab and spoke at the correct levels for our pupils. 10/10

All of the staff and children I spoke to enjoyed the day and had a lot of fun. It was evident form the sessions I was involved in the children learnt lots of new facts they couldn’t recall prior to the strategies used in the sessions. I think the staff and children actually shocked themselves in how many facts they could recall! Some of the comments shared by staff and children ‘A very energetic and enthusiastaic teacher’ ‘Had lots of fun’ ‘I loved it’ ‘I remembered a lot of new things’ ‘I wish she was my teacher’

The first half of the session contained some really helpful revision and study techniques for the students and a lot was gained within the space of time provided. These techniques were delivered in a fun, memorable and engaging manner.

Shenaz is superb and she is the reason we came back to Positively MAD this year. She is a delight and full of energy and enthusiasm. A superb morning thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

It was exactly what the children needed for the day in order to prepare themselves for their return to year six Each child was catered for as they learned more learning approaches to help them with their memory and techniques to increase productivity from the children.

Shenaz was really amazing, she got down to a level with the children right from the start. Her behaviour management was impeccable and the children really understood everything she had to say. They have remembered everything she taught them and I have tested them today.

Very well delivered, plenty of energy and lots of interaction with students which helped them to engage with new (and not so new) ideas in an exciting way Very positive feedback from students. Staff very happy with range of ideas that were introduced and provided consolidation of what we do…

Mark was great and the students responed positively to him. The staff thought he was brilliant.

Hi Shenaz, I have some feedback from the last session for you: The Creative Approaches to Learning session was an enjoyable and educational experience for our year 7 pupils. The event was delivered over two sessions with approximately one hundred pupils in each. Shenaz was energetic and engaging throughout as the pupils got to grips with memory techniques and organisational skills. The staff were very complimentary about the content and pace of the delivery with many looking forward to seeing the benefits of these sessions carried through to the classroom. The behaviour of over 200 pupils was excellent, which shows the level of commitment from Shenaz to engage and earn the respect of the pupils. Cheers, Ryan

Really good course thank you, relevant to all classroom support staff and teachers present. I have already seen some of my teachers using some of the ideas in their classrooms. This was a really good course for our first day back. Very enthusiastically presented which was vital after New Year celebrations!

Dear Kim, Below is a letter written by one of our year 7 students: On behalf of Montsaye Academy, we would like to thank you for showing us new ways of how to learn and making us laugh. The best part of the year 7 workshop was where we had to learn the names of the European countries. The year 8's told me that they loved their workshop too! We look forward to using the new techniques you taught us when learning and revising for our tests. Thank you very much, Kuba Plotek (year 7) Kind regards, Claire Keel

We had an incredibly productive day when 'Positively Mad' spent presented to our Year 7. Shenaz was engaging and professional with the youngsters whilst instilling some key memory techniques and mind-mapping skills. The aim was to settle the new pupils into our way of establishing independent learners whilst showing that education is accessible to all. Shenaz was superb at keeping the pace and content relevant to our school. The parents' session was particularly well attended and it gave us the chance to share the experience the children had with their parents. We pride ourselves on strong parental support and were delighted with the way Shenaz presented to them: they were involved in some activities and fully on board with the key messages of home learning and independence. Thanks to 'Positively Mad' and, in particular, to Shenaz for an excellent day. See you again soon.

Very informative and you were able to hold the students for long periods of time by breaking up the information. Students also enjoyed the tips and methods to help them learn and remember / recall. Parents were pleased and we received emails to say how happy they were that staff we bringing this information to use in the class room to help their children. 9/10

I booked you based on seeing you 14 years ago, I was not let down – it was still as amazing as I remembered. The content was perfect it covered basic ideas but also how they could apply it to their daily life. You took ‘boring’ elements like the order of the planets and made it exciting, fun and achievable. It covered some very high level elements and topics but made it child friendly and accessible to all. The whole day was fantastic. Kim had endless energy that she used to captivate, enthuse and educate the children. Kim’s approach and personality made the children sit up and listen the content of the course made them (hopefully) learn new techniques to become better learners.

"I was amazed to see children putting their new found strategies into place straight away. They have a visibly positive reaction when they grasped something new" Year 5/6 teacher "The children left the workshop absolutely buzzing with positivity! They are now armed with strategies and "catchphrases" to take them through moments of academic doubt and uncertainty. Coming as it did a few weeks before SATs, it couldn't have been better timed or more welcome!" Janet Webster Deputy Head/SENCo/Year 5/6 teacher.

Our staff had a very good training session from Shenaz on Friday February 12 th . She had a very vibrant and engaging presentation style and gave us five learning techniques to enhance memory. She had very good interpersonal skills and made the day fun and very interactive. The communication with Positively Mad was excellent. We are now going to use these techniques to enhance learning in school. We gained a lot from the training. So far we have shared the techniques with our children and parents.

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.