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.

Thanks for a great day Really appreciate you being so willing to help us out with such little notice Steve really fab entertaining 137 year 11 pupils for 3 hours!

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.!!

Very good workshops, presenter (Natalie) interacted well with the pupils. The day went very well, thought the pupils took a lot from the day and hopefully remember a lot of the techniques used

The courses were both very beneficial, and Shenaz took the time to adapt these to our requirements. Shenaz was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic presenter who was very well received by the pupils and staff. She adapted the afternoon session to fit in with our requirements and all pupils present enjoyed this session and were all very positive about the benefits reaped from having attended. Everyone who was present have shown confidence in applying the strategies shared. Many thanks. The parents session although with very few attendees was also very thoroughly and purposefully done.

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

Hi Sophie I just wanted to say a huge thankyou for your delivery of Friday’s workshops. I am so sorry that I was tied up in organising The Election in a Day for the majority of the day and so could only pop in for a few minutes. However, what I saw was brilliant; relevant, engaging, dynamic and very worthwhile. I have spoken to a few of the girls and they have said how much they enjoyed the day and how useful it was; now they’ll have no excuses to not get straight As in their GCSEs! The two staff who were in with you have also told me how great the day was. I will most definitely be asking you to come back in again. Thankyou again Sophie, you really are one of the best facilitators I have used. Amanda

The course was really well structured and allowed students to focus in on clear and simple techniques that they can take away and use in their A Level studies. The Goal Mapping session fitted well with the earlier Bridging the Gap session to provide some excellent ideas to students that they can use. The overall feeling from both students and the staff present was very positive. Rachel was excellent – well prepared, knowledgeable, with a relax, yet purposeful style – an excellent presenter. She was also able to hold the students’ attention for the whole session (no mean feat with 100 students for 4 hours!!).

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

I attended a workshop last night at my sons school, run by Vicki. Fabulously inspirational, I am truly inspired. I am a 36 year old mother of three and am just starting a college course myself after last studying 20 years ago, I will take on board everything i saw and learnt and will utilise it throughout my study’s and the rest of my life. Vicki was a breath of fresh air and her energy will stay with me for a very long time. A big Thank you Helen

Seren Hub - Goal mapping 5.12.19 I was truly inspired yesterday by Shenaz at the 'goal mapping' presentation at Ysgol Tryfan. As an educator myself, I was amazed at how Shenaz got all the students engaged throughout the entire afternoon, story-telling, advice giving, discussions and her whole energy and bubbly character was highly infectious - with thanks for sharing highly personal stories that brought a lot of things into perspective. Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed too, and we all chanted some Japanese words on the bus back to school. A well-planned, interesting presentation that was delivered with high energy and clear messages "You can't achieve a goal that isn't there, or hit a target which cannot be seen." Many thanks.

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!

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

Excellent delivery of the courses – presenters were full of energy and engaging to the pupils. Pupils (76%) said it was useful and that they would recommend it to the next year 11 year group. Well-structured and run.

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

I just wanted to send a quick email to thank you again for your help yesterday. I asked the students what they thought of the online sessions and it's very rare that we get such positive feedback, especially for the non-academic stuff like we covered yesterday, so I really did want to share and thank you for your support. Thanks again,

Shenaz delivered a Goal Mapping and Resilience workshop – both were superb and Shenaz was fantastic. She was able to meet the needs of each student, and ensured everyone was engaged and participated in the activities. The way that Shenaz delivered the workshops was both motivating and inspiring, and throughout each session she remained enthusiastic and energetic. The students valued the workshops and felt inspired to progress, having gained a new perspective on ways to learn and how to achieve their goals. The content in both workshops is truly aspirational! Can I take the opportunity to say, that we have had many guest speakers in for motivation etc. However Shenaz was brilliant, she understood the students very well, and was an inspiration to listen to. This was felt by all the students, and every single student in the group, really enjoyed and engaged in the session. The students learn clear strategies on how to focus, be inspired to progress and ways to gain the best out of their education to support goals and achievements.

Excellent presentation and students were engaged throughout. Well organised and good day for students. 10/10

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.

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

Excellent presenter, content engaging and interesting – students were very positive about the session.

I really enjoyed working with Shenaz for the two days. Her presentation and engagement with the students and staff was excellent. The students seemed to really enjoy the workshops and were engaged with the tasks. A few problems occurred (out of our control) during the sessions and Shenaz was great at keeping everyone calm. I really appreciated her ability to adapt the sessions as needed to make sure the students benefited as much as possible in the environments. Despite the problems Shenaz made sure that the students were kept entertained, engaged and focused on the workshop. The workshops seemed to work really well with the students engaging and learning about the importance of goal mapping. Elfed Morris - Of what I hear from the schools staff present everyone was very, very impressed with the nature of the presentation / workshop for yr9. Pupils were engaged and on task and absorbing the information. No mean feat for a two hour session. Comments from other teachers present during the sessions: “Really enjoyed the workshop, very interesting.” “I feel inspired as a teacher.” “Really good session. She seems to understand the students really well.” “She’s doing really well and is keeping the students focused.”

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.

Rachel was brilliant and we know the young people really enjoyed the course and gained a lot from participating