Hi Adam! Just wanted to give you some written comments on the revision holiday.
As you may gather, we are very happy with the outcome of the revision weekend. We'll know the final results in August, but right now, we feel we achieved all of our key objectives. My brief from our Executive Principal was to deliver a residential revision weekend in which our students received Masterclasses in English and Maths, workshops in memory skills, motivation and revision...and Inspire Education delivered that in spades! We received presenters who were knowledgeable, entertaining and exciting, who engaged a difficult group of disaffected students and got their attention- to the point where at least three of the students came to me and said they preferred the revision to the abseiling, archery, quad biking and climbing which were meant to be the real treats to encourage them to attend!

Ed was brilliant- on our last night, I was sitting being regaled by six Y11 boys reciting Pi to 20 decimal places using techniques taught by Ed, which they could then transfer to other areas. He was witty and non-threatening, and held their attention through humour and the interest of his material and ideas. They loved it!

However, I feel Greg was even more effective. Again, he had a superb style of delivery, which kept them interested without falling into teacher-mode. His Goal Setting work, using your Inspire Life passport was thought-provoking, and addressed a key issue with these children, which was their lack of life focus, which leads to lack of academic focus. it was exactly what I wanted, and I think might have the biggest long-term impact on achievement. His mind-mapping work was incredibly well-received ,and could easily have fabulous short-term impact in terms of pupil revision skills.

Having seen Joe Rowntree deliver a similar workshop, I know this is a particular strength of Inspire, and the amount of material students can summarise rapidly via mind mapping (done properly, of course) is remarkable.
Both of these presenters were indeed world-class, and both staff and students were impressed mightily, and learned techniques which would be directly relevant in the coming months.

We also requested specific Masterclasses in English and Maths.
One of the great strengths of Inspire is your ability (and willingness!) to tailor your programme to our needs, and you managed to create a bespoke educational programme targeted at C/D borderline Y11s from two separate school sites to deliver the key skills of English, Maths, Motivation, Goal Mapping and Memory skills, including Mind Mapping, responding to last-minute changes in timing and programme with aplomb. Communication was excellent throughout, including on Saturday and during the programme and presenters were friendly, cooperative and professional. I can't recommend them highly enough. If you need a world-class revision programme, these are the people to go to!

Hi all,

I know that you will all be wondering how it went today – another really great Inspire intervention session is the answer! There were positive responses from the students, our English teacher Sandy Hamill and Ravinder (Inspire presenter), herself. Whenever I popped in there was always a purposeful and open atmosphere with clearly excellent relationships and good learning.

Many thanks again for all the support that is coming in to help our students.

Regards

Louise

Hello Ed,

I don't really know if this is the done thing, but I just wanted to say 'thank you' to you for providing the first ever entertaining, enjoyable and inspiring (I guess it did what it said on the tin! - I think you will get that) training course I have been on in 13 odd years of teaching.

I am a real cynic at heart and yet I found you to be humble, humorous and hugely inspiring. I really wish there were more people like you involved in education, rather than those who bang on about league tables and National Curriculum levels.

It also made me feel better about the way I teach...

Thanks again. I will look forward to receiving the stuff you said you would e-mail.
Though I'm pretty sure you haven't forgotten (doh!), I was the French woman in ward L of a hospital, looking peaky and smoking a Gauloise.

Mary

Thank you for the email that I received at 12 noon; we have indeed been experiencing IT problems today! It is very gratifying to note that the vast majority of the Year 12 students here at Montagu viewed Ed’s presentation and the messages it contained in such a positive way. As you know, I was with Year 13 for the morning and therefore missed Ed’s session, but the staff and student feedback I have subsequently received was most complimentary. Montagu is a comprehensive school in the truest sense and in we have an ‘open door’ policy, allowing some students of lesser ability as well as ‘highfliers’ into our Sixth Form, in effect giving the former an opportunity to (perhaps) ‘right the wrongs’ they did at GCSE. As a consequence, Ed’s audience was a very mixed one in terms of ability and some of these students can, on occasion, be difficult to engage; Ed managed this brilliantly and I am indebted to him for imparting excellent learning techniques and, indirectly, raising their aspirations. Sounds really corny, but I now have students that are inspired to learn! Would you please thank Ed for his time as all objectives for this ‘Skills for Life’ session were met.

On a personal note, it was very nice to meet you, albeit briefly, on the day and I hope that we at Montagu can continue to access your company’s excellent services in future. Thank you very much.

Pat Keller - Head of Sixth