Whenever we conduct a workshop for a school board, or help develop a strategic vision, assist with forming a working model of governance, or indeed whenever we support a school board in any way, we seek feedback through structured evaluations.  This reflects our authentic commitment to constant and continuous improvement.

The comments below show a representative selection of the feedback we have received in these evaluations (sometimes corrected for grammar and/or spelling), together with unsolicited feedback we have received through e-mails and social media postings.  The tables quantify all the feedback we have received over the past few years (a total of 570 responses to date) with data for the most recent year shown separately.

• Thoroughly professional; I felt like we were in very good hands, and that Stephen deeply understands schools like ours
• Our people have deep gratitude and admiration of your work. They appreciate how comprehensively you captured their views. They feel included in the future of the College. All thanks to you! We all share the same sentiments.  Thank you.  God bless you with long life to see this College flourish.
• I would like to thank you once again for your generosity towards us; and to promise that we are determined to do everything necessary and beyond, to ensure that your hard work is not in vain. We may not have much in terms of financial resources, but we have within us the will to succeed.  As we speak, we are coming out of a two-day dissemination workshop of the strategic plan and its implementation.
• This is the best board workshop I have ever attended.  I’ve never really enjoyed – or understood – governance before today.
• You have an amazing capacity to explain things clearly and make complex issues simple and easy to easy to understand - unlike every consultant I have ever worked with in the past.
• I say this with utmost sincerity and deep gratitude Dr: thank you for everything.  Words fail me.  I have never met anyone like you. I don’t know anyone who can leave family behind, fly halfway around the world just to do pro bono work. You are more than kind: you are selfless.  We have learnt so much from you.  You have made this path ahead of us so clear. Ours is to get the shovels out and work.
• The staff have loved you from day one. We have loved and cherished you.
• Thank you for the books. I am reading mine and recalling excerpts from the workshop. We shall never be the same again!  You have transformed us.  God bless and keep you for us. 
• You are so good at making complex issues clear, straightforward and understandable.
• The ‘stop-and-rate’ exercises provided good insights.  There was a good balance of input/questions/discussion, plus excellent resources as ‘takeaways’.
• What a truly transformational experience we’ve had with you!
• The workshop was very helpful in getting board members closer to a common understanding of governance, placing everyone on the same page.
• Eye-opening in helping us understand obligations and processes of governance.
• The self-assessment of our performance against best practice helped me to relate my own knowledge of school governance to school culture.
• You are so easy to listen to.  You make complex things so interesting and easy to understand.  I could listen to you all day.
• Content was excellent, and Stephen helped us to ‘personalise’ it to our situation.
• I loved the flexible nature of the discussions.
• You tailored the material to our specific areas of need - really helpful.
• You have opened my eyes to see how many areas we have for ‘growth’.
• The process of generating ideas about the essential elements of a strategic plan was very productive.
• The illustrative examples and hypotheticals helped make the workshop particularly worthwhile.
• I appreciated the opportunities for questions and discussion.
• The focus on what we as a board need to do and monitor was extremely valuable for me as a new board member.
• It can’t be easy to present information about school governance in an interesting way, but you managed it expertly!  It was interesting and fun.
• The workshop presentation was great, with excellent, detailed, understandable information.
• The wisdom and experience of the presenter were outstanding.
• I appreciated the depth and clarity of the information.
• Stephen’s depth of knowledge and experience are breathtaking, and he knows just how to tailor it to meet our individual needs.
• Learning about the process of strategic planning, the barriers to change and the potential for change, were very useful.
• Your work with the board was inclusive and interactive.  Deeply appreciated.  
• The exemplar policies and forms will give us very sound templates to work with.
• Very relational style of presentation.
• Stephen, working with you has been a pleasure.
• We finished on time with far beyond the deliverables we had originally expected.  Fantastic!
• It was very insightful to go through the process to identify and develop the sustainabilities we valued.
• The articulation of how mission and vision statements integrate to provide a basis for strategic planning , and the practical advice to help us along the way, were very, very helpful.
• The workshop was presented in an engaging way at a good pace that allowed discussion time.
• I loved the rating scale to go through the key points.  Really innovative way to keep us engaged.
• Stephen’s experience is very good in the area of school board governance.
• I gained a deep understanding of what makes a board ‘exceptional’ (rather than just ‘responsible’).
• The discussion questions were very well thought out, and this facilitated group discussions.
• Stephen’s excellent presentation style helped maintain a high interest level, as well as directing productive group discussions.
• Great opportunities to discuss issues relevant to us, and I appreciated the openness of the presenter.
• I think the whole workshop was excellent.
• This was wonderful training for our school leaders.
• It was an overflowing joy to connect with this amazing workshop presenter. He is an inspiration to me as a educator.
• Stephen, your teaching and communication skills and years of school leadership offer pure gold.
• Stephen is highly knowledgeable and teaches with great humility and grace!
• To this day, we are all amazed by the wealth of information you have. Your sharing was great and inspirational.
• Fabulous training from a highly resourceful person. You nailed it very well Stephen.
• Stephen, thank you very much for the training, which was full of wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  You benefited us a lot as Board members.  I believe with your teaching/training our school will go from strength to strength. 
• Brilliant!  You are a legend Stephen.
• I would like to personally thank you so much for the board training session on Saturday. I believe it will propel our school board to a new level especially in the area of strategic vision. 
• Stephen, I found your pace and style to be very approachable and effortless to understand.  This made it easy for me to absorb the range of insights you had to offer us.
• Outstanding presentation and workshop!!!
• I have had very positive comments from every board member who attended the workshop session with you,  At last we feel we are on track to achieve a great Strategic Plan.
• Many thanks indeed for delivering your much appreciated and highly beneficial workshop yesterday. It was a real pleasure to meet you; all my fellow participants and I found the workshop stimulating, effective and – above all – very enjoyable: you treated us to a veritable feast of helpful suggestions, ideas and action points which we’ll be going through in further detail in the weeks ahead. You’ve given our school enormous assistance and support through the training we received yesterday, and we’re all most grateful.  You are amazing!
• There are two types of consultants: those very few who are experts in their field and can make their knowledge interesting and accessible to everyone else, and the majority who can’t.  Stephen is one of the first, including for good measure a wonderful dose of humour and plenty of energy and excitement.

Total Feedback Analysis

FEEDBACK RECEIVED BY OPTIMAL SCHOOL GOVERNANCE ON LARGE PROJECTS 2015-2024

(e.g. strategic planning, performance reviews for boards, principals, senior managers, middle managers, policy development etc)