Feedback
Some feedback from our Autumn 2009 Tour:
The Challenge Team blew the dust off... by presenting "Save Sex for Marriage" with aplomb and grace, encouraging also young people to stand against peer pressure and showing them they can say "no". What a neat solution to all the problems we face to day in the way of STD, unmarried mothers, abortion and resulting problems of infertility etc! As a Church of England school we do have a responsibility to bring these facts forth and I thank Challenge Team for their courage to go against the tide with this presentation. - School Governor
Excellent. Well rehearsed. Lots of conviction and a powerful message set at a level that pupils would understand. –
Headteacher
Thank you once again to the team who came to our school yesterday. I have had a lot of very positive comments from staff and pupils. It was a very professional presentation and very well received! -
Teacher
The presentation was very well delivered, entertaining and informative. The pupils were engaged, enthusiastic and felt they could relate to the presenters. Pace and involvement of pupils was very good. Great to have scope for questions and discussion at end. -
Teacher
I would like to thank you on behalf of staff and students for the presentations delivered on Thursday last week. The boys were challenged, amused and provoked into thinking seriously about the choices they make in their relationships. Could we make a booking for next year? -
Headteacher
On a level which students understood. The acting was very good at portraying a modern interpretation of relevant situations. –
Teacher
Informal feedback [from students] was excellent. – Headteacher
From Pupils:
It was interesting to be told how important it is that sex be a special part of a relationship based on trust and honesty
I really liked the way in which they interacted with us as their audience
They definitely got the point across.
Realli good come again
yeah i love when you came to our school it was funny
Good talk at [my school]..:)
Loved you! Hope you carry on, it was a good way to learn!
i would have to agree it was so good i asked to see it again!!
i loved it :)
From Teachers
I was pleased with how positive the pupils were about the presentation and how well-balanced it was.
I wondered how the kids would react for such a long period of time, but the more it went on the calmer the students were…they were brilliant.
The content of the presentations reflected exactly what we should be teaching and it was bravely presented by three people of an age that is likely to work. I don’t know of any teacher what would be comfortable addressing these issues equally well in a lesson.
Really good…worth sacrificing the Maths lesson for!
Bring ‘em back!
Excellent – super pace and confident delivery. Right mixture of fun and
advice. Superb personal witness. Students reported that they really enjoyed
the presentation and felt that it was completely different to what they had
expected when they heard it was about chastity. They felt it was very
informative and offered them another choice/way of life.
I thought the presentation was excellent. Very relevant. One staff member
commented that the personal witness of one of the presenters was
particularly effective. They felt it made it more powerful and showed how
things can change. The presentation related well to youth society.
Very good. Engaging and interesting, and the message was almost astonishing to students – abstention?! Really?! So it was a culture show to our students – but a good and necessary one. Some of the presenters were quite brave to share their lives like this. Excellent.
Well planned, accessible and engaging for all students involved. Perfect timing. The young presenters were excellent, and the presentation made the audience think, and hopefully will guide them in their future choices.
The presentation was great. The presenters were lively and engaging. They held a very captive audience and interacted brilliantly with the young people. The activities and sketches were so well rehearsed and executed and I was really impressed with the professionalism of the team.
The presentation was excellent, entertaining and honest! Students thought it was great and were impressed by the frankness and honesty of the delivery.
Excellent! It challenged the students to think differently. One teacher commented that “in 18 years at this school this is the best presentation from outside speakers I have seen”. Thank you! We really enjoyed it.
From Pupils
It was good - with funny bits in that made me think
I understood it, it was at my level.
I enjoyed it, and it made me think.
For more feedback from teens, please take a look at our Facebook Group (opens in a new window)
Some feedback from previous Tours:A Secondary school in Scotland carried out independent evaluations with their pupils following a presentation in 2007. Their results can be viewed here.
From Teachers
The team was great. The talks were expertly done; they are very skilled and as one teacher who watched said: "It takes great bottle to do that." The L6th were abuzz (we keep them in the dark about it). Their rapport was fabulous. They really liked Becky's charming attitude and wonderful off the cuff remarks. Martin was hilarious and Clare was candid and very clear. Their timing was perfect and the selection of presentations wisely chosen.
I have just had my first follow up lesson and it was brilliant. Pupils who never speak (in General RE) were coming out of their shells to talk about marriage and relationships, linking it to their own families and reflecting on the points made by the Team. The pack you sent us beforehand is really useful.
Outstanding, both in terms of the content and the presentation of that content. The student comments included “Very Good”, “Enjoyable” and “Not Patronising”.
Our experience of the challenge team was superb - it was pitched at the right level and was extremely engaging and thought provoking - the pupils were very complimentary about it in the reviews in class
A lively and fresh presentation, the presenters came across as sincere, will informed and eager to share the message. Our pupils were positive and many enjoyed the opportunity to fire questions at the end.
The presentation was excellent, it held the students attention and was wittily done, highly relevant and totally appropriate for the target audience. Pupils comments included “Important to see and hear from people with differing and definite viewpoints” and “It certainly gave us something to think about”
The presentation was very professionally completed. It covered many areas of interest to the students. It was interactive and engaging for everyone watching, especially when directly engaging pupils in the sketches or playing games
I thought the presentation was very good. It was pitched at the right level and kept the students engaged for the whole session – not easy on a Friday afternoon. A very important message to get across to our youngsters, so much of what they see and hear is the opposite.
The performance was great and staff and pupils enjoyed it. This is the third time we have had a team visit and each time it has been excellent. It is very informative but also visual and imaginative. I thought the dice and the tape particularly memorable and effective. Comments from pupils: Informative; Good activities; Funny, interesting, kept your interest; Not just a boring talk; Wasn’t what they had expected
This morning at the school [the Challenge Team] gave the most marvellous presentation. There was a real chemistry with our Lower Sixth Form. Their timing was perfect; and there was a nice balance of laughs and the serious message. I was impressed how they got the "fear factor" in; but emphasized the "freedom" idea of the message so well (above the fear). Even though the last two groups we have had were excellent, I really think this one was "right on the money" with their delivery and message. There was a very pleasant "buzz" about just how good it had been throughout the day. My new second in charge could not believe how super the whole message had been. It was not what he had expected.
It was superb – the students really enjoyed themselves and found the ideas very thought-provoking. I have heard lots of interesting conversations since!! We will most definitely be making use of the service again.
From Pupils (grammar and spelling un-edited):
I recently had an assembly by the "challenge team" at my school, and i really found it inspriational. I really respect you people for doing what you are doing, how you respect your virginity and seem to cherish it. As a teenager im currently in a world where it is the single goal to "get laid" as it is commonly said. For a while i too was among the crowd of people who sought soley after the prospect of sex. Until i heard what you had to say. It really changed my view on sex, virginity, marriage, and even girls! I really thank you for this, and as much as i doubt that it will be possible for me to keep my virginity until my day of marriage mainly because of the sheer collasal amount of pressure on me to to lose it, i do hope that i can follow in your footsteps as much as teenagely possible.
hay you came to my school and youve made a big impression i can see what your saying and i think im going to try and follow what youve said. thanx guys
You came to my school last week to do a show on sex (save sex). I thought it was really good and interesting, thank you.
You did a presentation in my school just the other day which was very informative and made me think a lot
i really enjoyed your talk today, it was wonderful! :)
Hiya i seen a group on the isle of man at [my school] i thought i was really good, the message got to us really easy.
hiya my names gemma i was in the skwl u dne the lesson in today i though it was really fun and funny i was amazed at how much i didnt no
Hey heard ur tlk [sic] at May camp last sun and it was excellent. … It really hit home with people and made them think more about chastity. Well done u guys, keep up the good work. I am already practicing chastity and it just added to the list of reasons why to.
Thanks for doing the talk at [my school]! It was really really funny and it meant a lot, too!
you lot came to my school on monday and we thought you were wicked =] thanks for coming in
Youve [sic] really inspired me ... i had no idea
You guys Were Soo [sic]Awesome!!
Loved It Much Love And Thanks...Youve [sic] Put Me In Much Perspective!! X
Keep on doing what you're doing, you people are awesome!
hey erm you came to my school a few days ago. I just wanted to say a really big thankyou! I am now practising chastity myself and my friend is as well, she already lost her virginity and really wished she hadn't so she is starting from scratch and says thankyou as well. It was very educational but it was funny as well which is something the stuffy old teachers dont [sic] seem to be able to manage!
You Lot Were AWESOME! I know alot [sic] of people that were touched by your presentation and are practising chastity now
you came to my school today to talk about the importance of sex at a later stage of life, i found your talk so so interesting and it really ment [sic] something to me. i really feel clear now that yes your right, sex can wait and there are other great things in life with relationships which i have seeked [sic] before. but now its even clearer. so thanks you so much.
Really funny opening but so true! It made us think about how we would react. It was good.
True to life and important for us to consider all options. No one tells you “don’t do it”, there’s too much pressure on us to do it.
Gave us good clear advice. Made me think it’s OK not to be pressured into having sex until I’m ready and married.