Testimonials
From nursery, childcare, school and FE settings across the UK, from online webinars, face-to-face sessions and conference workshops, the comments below are a selection from evaluations written by previous training participants.
Emotion Coaching: Supporting Children's Emotion Regulation
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Amazing! Nicky was extremely knowledgeable and easy to listen to. She explains everything concisely using easy to understand language, making everything easier to process and imagine in practice. The course was very insightful and thought-provoking in the ways to support children's emotions. The course has provided me with brilliant strategies. I now implement and use these useful tools within the playroom everyday.
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Nicky is a phenomenal and inspiring trainer! She speaks from the heart with understanding, empathy and compassion. She tailored the training to the needs of our team, first finding out where they were on their journey as educators and then meeting them at that point to ensure that the course was able to meet their needs. The course content was extremely relatable as Nicky used her own professional practice experiences of using Emotion Coaching in an early years setting, providing examples of her past approaches to support understandings of the difference between behaviour management and nurture.
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This course was excellent in every possible way. Nicky was captivating and engaging for all of the team, who thoroughly enjoyed the training. She was knowledgeable and it was clear to see she was passionate about the training session. It was especially great as Nicky had a working knowledge of Emotion Coaching in an early years setting and could therefore provide really beneficial examples of how to implement this in practice.
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I found the course incredibly beneficial. I particularly felt that the training being compared to my current practice enabled me to have a better insight as how to put my new thinking into practice. I found the course to be an instant lightbulb moment where I could correct my current practice to support the emotional resilience of the children I have within my care . I think having the approach of supporting the emotions rather than having any focus on the behaviour to be very purposeful. I feel empowered to implement this new thinking into my practice. Thank you very much for the training it helped me look at it a whole different way and developed my practice.
The Power of Multiple Perspectives: Engaging in High Quality Observations
This was a very thought-provoking training session focusing on observation of children's learning. The course has led me to question our current systems and planning and to take a fresh look at child-led learning, ensuring observations are high quality and purposeful. The whole session was fantastic and my whole team found the training so relevant. It encouraged real reflection and thought on how we observe and plan for our children, and also how we can involve the child's whole community of support to gather a true picture of the child and be able to support their learning and development Thankyou so much Nicky!
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Nicky was absolutely fantastic. She was so friendly and approachable as a person. As a facilitator she was very organised and had so much knowledge that she was happy to share. She was able to speak and share experiences from academic research and from her own practice. Thankyou Nicky! The session has given us so much to think about!
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Nicky was fabulous! She is so experienced and easy to listen to. She shared clear views, reasons and ideas for how play and observation can be improved in practice. It was a great session and everyone really enjoyed the videos and the discussions. Thankyou. This was such an excellent course on observation in practice. I have come away with so many brilliant ideas for practice. It was amazing! I love the idea of involving the child, their friends and their family in the whole observation process. It will be much more holistic now!
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This was a fabulous input to support the development of play throughout our school. Focusing on values-led observation was fascinating, reflecting a holistic picture of the child from multiple perspectives. This was a very well planned and informative course that will improve our practice.
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This course was so interesting. It has really made me reflect on how child-led we actually are. I can see lots of areas where we can improve our practice now using these brilliant ideas Nicky shared with us. I have a much better understanding of how to make observations meaningful for children's learning. Thankyou.
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Nicky delivered an extremely informative and engaging session on quality observations. I particularly value how she reflects openly on her own practice and experiences, linking these meaningfully to current guidance and legislation. Nicky has a strong ability to explore the deeper purpose behind practice, clearly explaining the core reasoning and principles that underpin high-quality observations. Her passion for early years practice truly captivated the audience. The impact of her training is evident within the team spirit, strengthening morale, enhancing reflective practice, and driving continuous improvement for children and families. Thanks again Nicky.
Nurturing a Change-Friendly Team
I love that Nicky comes with the lived experience and shares this. This session gave me lots to consider and think about how to improve my practice. It was very informative and thought provoking, making me think about my own practice and how I can improve the way staff see and think of change. Relationships first. This is how I approach everything with the children, so now I need to put more effort into doing this with my colleagues too. I'm going to find my patience with people again. I think I've lost it a bit as pressures have piled up.
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This course was extremely interesting and informative. I love how Nicky is enthusiastic and passionate about her course subject, the knowledge that she has and the way she delivers it is fantastic. Even after a full day at work this was worth every minute. Thankyou
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I will always now revert to my core values and beliefs when I feel I'm getting swayed off course or when change is happening. I will try better to understand why people have different beliefs from me. I will be more aware of others’ values and life experiences. I am going to focus more on connecting with staff and looking for the positives in their practice.
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Thanks so much Nicky! This session was very thought-provoking, and I will definitely implement some of this into my setting now. I love that Nicky comes with the lived experience and shares this. This session gave me lots to consider and think about how to improve my practice. It was very informative and thought provoking, making me think about my own practice and how I can improve the way staff see and think of change.
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Nicky, I could actually have listened to you talk all night. You have a calm yet interesting voice that kept me engaged after a long day at work. Thank you. I loved the Padlet idea and will use this with my staff. I found the whole presentation so interesting, engaging and informative.
Reflective Practice for Continuing Professional Growth
The Padlet task was excellent and literally 'lift and go', I can use this right away. The interactive parts were so helpful especially hearing others views. It made me stop and think, especially about my own actions and the impact of these on others and my practice. I will now reflect on myself more and not just focus on children and families. Thank you
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I really liked the Padlet video task and think this would be a nice way to boost morale with my staff. Thinking about my reflection in practice, I will take more time for this and be more kind to myself. I am now going to keep a reflective journal. The session was really excellent, thankyou.
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I really liked the practical models, especially thinking about the double loop learning model - sometimes we get so caught up in what we need to do to get over the line that we don't think about a better way to do it.
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I really enjoy this training session and felt it very relevant on how I am feeling about my career right now, and how I can reflect on those feeling to hopefully provide improvement and answers for me. The course gave a great description of the difference between reflection and evaluation. It made me look at how we actually reflect, as I feel we evaluate more. The session was very interesting and I now have great ways to be more reflective.
Neurodiversity: A Different Starting Point
This has been a brilliant course. It has been great to have the chance to try out changes in practice and then to get support on the website and back on the course each week. The case study approach in the final session was so helpful to see how to embed this thinking in my practice.
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This has been a superb course. The sessions were so engaging with lots of great discussions and tasks. I really liked the interactive tasks we did on our phones. Having the weekly reflections was great as it helped us to focus on making changes in practice. Focusing on our case studies in the final session was so helpful and really helped me to see how this can all work in practice. Also, knowing that the website will always be there to revisit and to read over case studies is brilliant for ongoing learning. Thankyou so much Nicky.
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Honestly this was so engaging! The course was so informative and encouraged lots of discussion in my workplace and reflective practice. Loved the fact that we could pause for reflection and discussion throughout. I always feel so inspired to make change when I leave and return to my setting.
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I found the sessions massively interesting and impartial. Will definitely be sharing the information learned with my staff team and in practice. Nicky, you have such an engaging manner. Easily understandable and relatable information. Its honestly been a brilliant learning experience. Very much appreciated.
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Thank you Nicky for the best training I have had in my time as a Glasgow City Council employee. It will definitely stick with me. I thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions and love that the website is open forever more - such a lovely community feeling! Thankyou!
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Nicky, a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart for empowering me to help steer change for the better for all our children.
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I really enjoyed this training session on neurodiversity. It encouraged me to reflect on my own practice and consider positive changes I can make as a lead teacher. In particular, it highlighted the importance of recognising and building on children's individual strengths, using these to support their peers and foster an inclusive learning environment. The session also reinforced how important our language and communication are, ensuring we use neurodiversity-affirming approaches that promote understanding, respect, and belonging for all learners. Overall, the training has given me valuable strategies that I can apply within my role and across the wider school community.
Creative Approaches to Documenting with Children
The course was very motivational and gave us great ideas to think about.
t as most helpful to think about how to document learning with children, in the moment, using technology in creative ways.
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Nicky, this training was absolutely fantastic and we really appreciated the time, effort and enthusiasm you put into today’s session. There were lots of practical aspects and really bringing it to practitioner level. I aim to move towards documentation with children and will now try to incorporate new technology.
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As always Nicky it was fantastic having you deliver our training. Your training is always amazing and I learn new things. I am definitely going to try out the microphones and thermal printers in practice!
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Nicky…excellent as always, I always feel I get time to go back and talk and reflect on the job I love when Nicky’s here 🩷 a million thankyou’s. I have widened my awareness and knowledge of how digital technology can be a real positive learning experience for children to enable children to be at the heart within every step of the learning process.
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Really enjoyed the down to earth way each training course is delivered by Nicky. Felt very relatable and she clearly understands children, staff and early years.
Developing your Team: A Coaching Approach to Early Years Leadership
I particularly enjoyed learning about the different coaching styles and how to use this within reflection and can see how I can use this to provide staff with further guidance and support in their professional development. Thank you Nicky, this was an excellent training course.
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I enjoyed the scenarios, the role play and analysing the experience as a group. Receiving feedback and using true scenarios from work really helped me learning. It was wonderful listening to and learning with you!
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I loved the way that the feedback was individual and the interactive aspect was incredibly helpful, thank you! The training has reinforced my coaching techniques and taught me how to improve them practically. Fab, couldn't have asked for a better coach :)
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The different coaching methods were really interesting and now I feel able to approach staff differently when wanting to support their practice. Thank you for such a lovely presentation.
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Adopting a Relational Approach to Transitions
Nicky’s passion really shone through during the training. She made the session so enjoyable and understandable and she was easy to approach. I feel I’ve really benefited from the training and can’t wait to implement some of the transitions ideas that were raised.
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Thank you I have learnt so much from your course and will be using it to help our school leavers transition to school. It was an excellent session equipped me with so much knowledge and will definitely help to improve my practice going forward! Thank you
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This was an amazing session. Filled with great ideas I will put into practice. Nicky was excellent. Such a wonderful speaker and an engaging course.
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Nicky was incredibly insightful and engaging. She is very good at delivery information. She has lots of amazing ideas and experience.
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