Read our latest testimonials from schools and academic bodies based in the East of England. We have readily-available reviews about our workshops from schools right across the country. Please click here to return to the root testimonial page.
Very well delivered, the students were engaged and have picked up some very useful skills in a practical way.
Kevin Meqralus, Teacher, Hylands School
A brilliant and well thought out workshop was delivered today to aid confident communication with a group of our Year 11 students. Talk About The Future helped students recognise and communicate their experiences at this important time of transition. The trainer was fantastic with the students and the workbooks will be a valuable reference in the future
Katharine Link, Head of Careers, Rickmansworth School
The head popped into a session this afternoon and was incredibly impressed with your trainers and how they had the students so engaged. Please can you say a huge thank you to everyone involved in setting this up today. It was really wonderful. Our students gained so much and you have really helped set them up for the challenges that lie ahead of them. We will certainly book these workshops for our 6th Form in the future.
Director of 6th Form, Hitchin Girls’ School
Fantastic sessions delivered by the trainer to Year 13. He was engaging, welcoming, approachable and funny. He interacted brilliantly with students to make them feel comfortable and boosted confidence. These sessions were outstanding – no improvement is necessary
Ryan McQueen, History & Politics Teacher , Marriotts School
The training engaged a range of students some of whom really pleasantly surprised me with the confidence and eloquence they showed. This was something I hadn’t seen from them before.
S Gregson, Interventions Co-ordinator, Hemel Hempstead School
The trainer was excellent. All students were engaged and grew in confidence. It was excellent to see.
Matt Whittaker, Head of Year 9, Marriotts School
High quality content, encouraging, patient. Lots of pupils have grown in skills and confidence today. The trainer was great - it was a really good day which the pupils enjoyed
Stephanie Quick, Teacher, Oracy Lead, Brooklands Middle School
The students absolutely loved the workshops! All the teachers that helped throughout the day commented on how engaging it was and that they enjoyed being able to take part to.
The Head of Year spoke to me this morning to pass on her thanks and said that our weaker students specifically got so much out of the day. I was astonished that (bar 2) every student in the year group performed their speech at the end of the day. That is an absolute credit to your trainers. And after a time when these students have lost a lot of confidence due to COVID, and being forced to spend a lot of time at home studying alone, this was exactly what they needed.
We will definitely carry this on as oracy is a whole school focus and something we would like to really enhance across the academy.
I look forward to receiving the Impact Report in due course.
Claire Turney, Oracy and Research Co-ordinator, English Teacher, Wixams Academy
The workshop was clearly structured, tasks were broken down into chunked components to support the success of the students involved. The trainer’s presentation was articulated and full of feedback for students and energy. From what I observed I cannot offer any improvement.
Lead Practitioner, Kings Langley School
Good humour and communication with the students. Great tasks and time for feedback and reflection. Confidence and skills were clearly developed with all students
Gareth Todd, Director of English, Ormiston Victory Academy
Clear and informative with a good understanding of the skills and knowledge that the students needed. A good mixture of talk and activity. Super resource workbook.
Assistant Headteacher, St George’s School
Very knowledgeable, clear concise examples, use of 3 V’s and PEEEP. Encouraged student participation. Resource booklets colourful and engaging. Loved the ‘filler’ game.
The trainer engaged the students fully throughout. This allowed all students to participate and contribute and feel confident to do so. The trainer’s skill and experience leading these sessions resulted in a most enjoyable and educational experience for the students.
Very interesting. Generated a good relationship with the students which made for a very positive environment.
Matt Cunningham, Teacher, Kings Langley School
A really good engaging and interactive session which was thoroughly enjoyed by the students and of real benefit to them
Andrew Michalski, Assistant Director, Watford UTC
As a school we had decided that Oracy was a focus and a priority for our students. We wanted to equip them with a narrative and a reference for speaking in front of others and we wanted the staff to have the knowledge and the passion to help them flourish. Then Covid hit!
We could have deferred or cancelled but decided that we would push ahead and Talk the Talk were very supportive and flexible and worked with us to adhere to our COVID risk assessment. The communication before the event was excellent and the paperwork was straightforward yet thorough.
The day was fantastic- the students were fully engaged throughout the whole day and our staff were so impressed with the quality and the stamina of the trainers! They were professional, well prepared, adaptable and our students responded brilliantly to their techniques and training.
Helen Fay, Vice Principal , Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Luton
In P5 I was surprised to see all the students making a speech despite not wanting to. They have grown in confidence compared to this morning
Sarah Parry, Food Teacher, Rickmansworth School
A brilliant and well thought out workshop was delivered today to aid confident communication with a group of our Year 11 students. Talk About The Future helped students recognise and communicate their experiences at this important time of transition. The trainer was fantastic with the students and the workbooks will be a valuable reference in the future.
Katharine Link, Head of Careers, Rickmansworth School, Hertfordshire
I observed P1 and P5 and it was great to see some of the students grow in confidence and deliver a confident speech. Good scaffolding and support from the trainer and good specific feedback given to the students to help them progress,
Elaine Vandergrift, Humanities Teacher , Rickmansworth School
Great range of activities that taught skills that I would have loved at that age. Good control of a challenging group.
James Housego, DT Teacher, Kings Langley School
Extremely well presented. Engaging for all students. Impressive use of students’ names. Got them all involved. Well managed. Excellent content, use of humour and range of activities and information.
C Scanlon, Technology Leader, Kings Langley School
The trainer was very enthusiastic and engaging with the students. Firm and fair, I felt the mixture of using the workbook and practical element worked really well with student engagement
Dan Hawkins, Teacher, Hylands School
The trainer created a great atmosphere. Students felt confident to deliver speeches as a result of the way the sessions were organised
Mrs Stoneman, Arts and Design Teacher, Marriotts School
Really engaging. All pupils were involved. Very good balance of talk with instruction and pupil activities. The pupils were far more engaged than I thought they would be.
Head of History, Ormiston Victory Academy
Clear and positive training that was well-delivered. The activities seemed to work well with the students getting them to talk about their plans. Students found they had different skills and were kept active – not just listening.
Head of Year 9, Hitchin Boys’ School
Our students across all groups had an absolutely wonderful day. Teachers with the groups were constantly reporting how good the sessions were and how engaging the trainers were. When the students went for their break this morning they were all discussing what they were doing when they returned. I have never had such positivity when we have run workshops in the past.
Teacher, Hitchin Girls’ School
The students really enjoyed the session. The advice and acronyms will be very useful to them. The targeted personal feedback for each student was fantastic!
English Teacher, St George’s School
The training was excellent and very interesting. It has equipped me with tools to encourage students to talk and reflect.
Mr Zianne, EAL Coordinator, Challney Boys School
Very well structured and delivered. Practical elements were very useful. I particularly like the PEEEP structure which I can see a definite use for in the classroom.
Mark Mailer, Assistant Headteacher, Challney Boys School
Confident delivery engaging the students. Good selection of activities – especially considering the current restrictions
Caroline Edmunds, Director of Learning – English and Communications, St George’s School
A really good engaging and interactive session which was thoroughly enjoyed by the students and of real benefit to them.
Andrew Michalski, Assistant Director, Watford UTC, Hertfordshire
Very interactive, got all pupils involved.
Josie Taylor, Year 7 Leader, Marriotts School
Great energy, enthusiasm and passion shown. The trainer delivered with a fantastic wealth of knowledge in a positive and supportive environment.
Amy Clarke, Teacher, City of Norwich School
A great mixture of practical activities and written work. The trainer quickly built a great rapport with students with lots of positive messages reinforced.
K Goody, PE Teacher, Wixams Academy
Fantastic. The trainer was confident and kept the students engaged. They learned key skills about presenting and speaking and were keen be involved in the workshop. Clear instructions and structured tasks.
Teacher, Wixams Academy
Thank you so much for the wonderful workshops that your trainers facilitated yesterday at Parmiter's School. The feedback from the staff and the students involved has been incredibly positive and there is a real buzz amongst the Year 10 classes today, with lots of them talking about the work that they completed.
The trainers did an incredible job of maintaining the interest and enthusiasm of the students throughout the day and encouraging those who were quite clearly out of their comfort zone to speak up and get involved. It was lovely to see some of my really shy students standing up and giving a presentation; prior to the workshop, I do not think that they would have been willing to do this.
It is always a pleasure to have you in school. Please do pass on our thanks to all of the team involved.
Sarah Murray, Head of English, Parmiter’s School
Resourceful training using varied topics and teaching methods to encourage students.
English Teacher, St George’s School
The skills were all clearly explained and accessible to all students. It was incredible to watch the confidence of the students grow over the course of the workshop.
Sarah Moss, English Teacher, Watford UTC
Engaging delivery, good content, personable, good at getting to know students quickly. Students grew in confidence quickly.
Teacher, The Priory School
Excellent presentation style. Engaged students well and it was obvious they had developed their interpersonal skills.
Teacher, Hitchin Girls’ School
The progress I saw the students make in less than three hours was amazing. In ‘top set’ they were much more aware of their strengths and what to do to improve further. The trainer gave some really useful hints and tips about tone, use of voice, how to generate interest, position and using threes. Her praise and ability to get the best out of the girls was to be commended. No matter what she herself was feeling she just kept smiling. That made the students feel much more comfortable and confident to take risks. All the feedback from staff and students was very positive.
Janet Davis, Assistant Headteacher, Challney High School for Girls
A really well-structured day. Great delivery and management of the class. The trainer built a great relationship with the students and gave encouraging feedback.
English Teacher, St George’s School
Pupils very responsive and clearly enjoying using their newly acquired skills. Even the shyest pupils made a presentation in front of their peers. What a success!
Mrs N Chauhan, Head of Geography, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Luton
Excellent training – really engaging. The trainer got all students participating enthusiastically. It brought a side to the students that I hadn’t had a chance to see before as there teacher.
R Connelly, Head of MFL, Wixams Academy
The training was excellent and very relevant. For what can often be a threatening activity the
students engaged immediately. It was well paced and graduated and the activities were accessible to
all. Even our most shy and reluctant were able and to take part. There was a lot of helpful and
structured criticism for the students to act upon immediately.
Anna Gilby, Teacher, Rickmansworth School
It was a pleasure to take part in the day. The atmosphere was electric when we spoke about Enrichment the next day in form time!
From a Tutor's perspective it was enlightening to see (through their speeches) the issues that my students genuinely value and show concern for, beyond our day to day interactions.
The experience will help me to personalise our form time, to explore topics that they are most interested in and hopefully encourage them to exercise some of the practical skills that they've learnt too. It was clearly worthwhile to give them this opportunity! Thank you again and hope to see you next year.
Lucy Johns, Year 8 Form Tutor, Rickmansworth School
Really impressed with the speeches given by some of our vulnerable students – especially in front of
others!
Rachel Dawson, SENCO, East Norfolk Sixth Form College
The training was very informative. Max was very clear with instructions and built good relationships with the students. All students were engaged with the activities and mixing physical activities with written activities kept all children focussed.
Maths Teacher, Wixams Academy
The part of the workshop I observed involved breaking down how to show your character in an interview through a story or an example. Students were really engaged in the manner the trainer delivered her example and how to demonstrate learning and experience to a potential employer. This led to students confidently sharing and practising the technique.
Caroline Hone, Teacher, Hitchin Girls’ School
Engaging, well set up and of real value.
Jan Stevens, Deputy Headteacher, Parmiter’s School
Well-delivered and addressed the needs of the students involved. The diverse range of abilities was handled with care.
Teacher, The Priory School
Students were engaged. Clear presentation. Useful resources and clear instructions. Students felt valued, their opinions counted. More workshops throughout the year please.
Simple points with clear structure. The students were well engaged even 4 hours in.
Maths Teacher, Wixams Academy
The feedback from staff and students has been overwhelmingly positive. We will certainly book these workshops for our 6th Form in the future.
Tina Stojko, Director of 6th Form, Hitchin Girls’ School
Engaging. Students attentive. Used humour well. Good activities. Feedback to student was clear with good direction to the areas for improvement. Throughout the morning the students’ confidence in their ability visibly increased
Fiona Turnbull, St George’s School
Very engaging and fun activities. Good relationships formed between trainer and students. Many students were brought out of their comfort zone. Students really enjoyed the interviewing task.
Charlie Carthy, History Teacher, Marriotts School
Engaging trainer – good sense of humour and relationships with students. Good at drawing out more reserved students.
Hanna Shaw, PE Teacher, Marriotts School
The students were really engaged with the activities. They presented with confidence, even students normally less confident with speaking. The trainer worked well with the students helping them with clear examples. A great workshop and a great day for the students.
Teacher, Hitchin Girls’ School
Lively, engaging, useful. All trainers interacted extremely well with the students and staff. Challenging and informative throughout.
Wendy Rowlands, Head of Sixth Form, Parmiter’s School
Excellent encouragement of confidence. Extremely knowledgeable. Great workshop!