Testimonials

“Advotalk has been an excellent resource for our school, both pupils and staff alike.  Shaun, Sidnie and Stacy have supported us in every way possible and have met every demand that has been asked of them. The team are positive and natural problem solvers and have the knowledge and confidence to move forward. They equip learners with the tools to manage feelings, emotions and the utmost resilience when faced with the many challenges in everyday life.”

Mrs Claire Lundie, Assistant Head Teacher, Chiltern Primary School, Hull

“I am Yvonne Rooks and I am the Lead Professional in Behaviour and Safeguarding for Stockwell Academy. I also update the PEPs for the CLA children and arrange the interventions purchased through the Virtual School funding.

ADVOTALK is one of the interventions we use and have done since the business was set up by Shaun. We use ADVOTALK twice a week Monday afternoon and Friday afternoon. James is the allocated worker for Stockwell and we find him to be very professional and who is very compassionate towards the children in our school, he has a passion to help change the lives of vulnerable children and works by the ethos of every child does matter. The work he does with the CLA children is much needed as he gives them time to talk through play/art/music. The children all look forward to James coming into school and really enjoy his company, they find him easy to talk to and not intrusive. James has a great personality, friendly and also has a sense of humour, which the children love.

I think the service ADVOTALK offer is excellent and a much needed resource for any child whether they are part of the look after system or not. 

James provides us with verbal feedback and also written reports. James is aware that if any safeguarding issues arise he immediately shares this information with the Safeguarding Team and he always goes above and beyond to support all children. ADVOTALK are not just a service provider to Stockwell Academy they have become part of our team."

Yvonne Rooks, Behaviour/Safeguarding Practitioner, Stockwell Academy

“We have been involved in receiving support from Stacy (Advotalk) for approximately 1 year. Advotalk have provided an invaluable support mechanism for often our most vulnerable students.

The sessions give students an opportunity to discuss their current wishes & feelings in terms of what their life currently looks like. They are given sensible advice & know from direct feedback that this is very much appreciated.

As the member of staff who coordinates the sessions I receive comprehensive feedback about the students which in turn often assists us in dealing with issues which might present during the school day.”

Fiona Routh , Child Protection & Pastoral Manager Co-ordinator, Newland School for Girls

“Advotalk is invaluable for our students. James has a brilliant way with the students and builds positive relationships very quickly. We have seen huge benefits for the students involved in these sessions some of whom are very vulnerable. There has been notable impact upon attendance, self-esteem and behaviour amongst others. 

Communication with the team at Advotalk is excellent which allows for a cohesive approach, feedback we receive is invaluable to the support of our students and in safeguarding their welfare.”

Adele Elliott, Child Protection Coordinator, The Boulevard Academy

“We have been working with Advotalk for around a year now and cannot begin to say how valuable the service has been. The children that have worked with Advotalk have all spoken of how much they enjoy the sessions. 

The service has given some of our most vulnerable children a voice and dedicated time to speak about their lives. The reports provided each week are timely and an extremely valuable piece of evidence in helping support our children.

Katie who works in our school is extremely professional and has built a strong relationship with our children built on respect for each other. The children know she will listen and she always provides a platform that will interest them to do so. She will always speak to us with any concerns brought up in sessions and is invested in our children's wellbeing and wants the best for them. 

Katie is an extremely organised and dedicated person who wants nothing more than the best for our children and is starting to feel like a member of our team! We cannot begin to thank Advotalk enough for the highly professional service they provide.  I would recommend this service to any other school who is struggling with vulnerable children who feel they do not have a voice. Thank you for all your hard work!”

Tom Spink, Assistant Head, The Green Way Academy 

Shaun (Advotalk) has been supporting our students since June 2017. Shaun is brilliant at making quick, significant relationships with all pupils, therefore ensuring trust and pupils feeling comfortable and safe. Shaun is always professional and reliable. He has a constant smile for everybody and this passes on to the pupils...and staff. Shaun will always listen, promote confidence and calm. This in turn increases the pupil’s social and emotional skills enabling increased resilience. All pupils involved have greatly benefitted from this service and really look forward to their next session.

Pupil’s, parents, carers, staff and Social workers comment regularly of how positive Shaun’s work has positively affected the pupils.

As a specialist Support / talking service, Advotalk’ s support of children and young people always has a lasting change on pupils, their families and wider communities. As and when required, Shaun has directed all safeguarding concerns to the DSL/Safeguarding team immediately.

Thanks for all you do.”

Bev Haynes, Safeguarding & Inclusion Officer, Sirius Academy West

“Maybury Primary School started to work with Shaun from Advotalk during the Spring Term 2017; initially Shaun was brought in to work with a Year 6 Looked After Child who was in crisis. We were impressed with the progress that Shaun was able to make with this child and have continued with his services to date, December 2020.

Shaun is highly skilled. He successfully works on a one to one with a number of our identified children. The relationships that he develops with them means that children feel safe to talk openly and honestly and he will often be able to discover things about the young person that we are not able to. This has enabled us to put more effective strategies in place to support the child in their school life.

We cannot praise this service enough. We have seen a positive impact on the behaviour, well-being and attitude to learning for every child that Shaun has worked with. His experience and knowledge in understanding challenging and complex behaviour have supported us to develop our own school approach more successfully. He is also willing to challenge our thinking – we respect and welcome this as a way to ensure that we are doing the very best for the children in our care. We would love to increase the hours that he works with us knowing how many more children this would benefit. 

In summary, we are advocates for Advotalk! We would be willing talk to anyone who wished to find out more detail about Shaun’s work in our school.”

Alison Grantham, Head teacher, Maybury Primary School

“Shaun and his team are always really communicative and do their best to support the students. They are caring and supportive and quickly build a rapport with young people, which gives them the confidence to express themselves openly within a safe and trusting environment. One of our pupils has really enjoyed working with Stacy and using creativity during the sessions. Afterwards, they talk about what they did with enthusiasm and pride.”

Julie Holmes, Support Mentor, Malet Lambert School

“Within our school, we have a range of children with social, emotional and attachment needs which can affect their behaviours and attitude to learning. These behaviours can often lead to disputes and dangerous behaviours, both inside and outside of school. 

Having previously worked with Advotalk (Shaun), we enlisted their services to support these children, as we had seen the huge impact that they can have on children’s emotional understanding and wellbeing. 

This year, they have worked with a range of children, from a quiet withdrawn child to a child with a range of needs which manifest in highly disruptive and unsafe behaviours. The impact on these children has been clear to see, and all of the children have been able to share their emotions, discuss incidents and work through their behaviours in a safe and fun environment. Both Shaun and James build excellent relationships with the children that they work with, promoting honesty and openness, whilst also maintaining clear behavioural boundaries.

Both Shaun and James are happy to support the school with any situation; this year James has carried out home visits, classroom observations and parental meetings alongside the SENCo all with the common aim of supporting the children in attending and engaging with school with a calm and positive mental attitude. 

Advotalk provide weekly reports on their sessions with each individual child. These can be used to support referrals, to feedback to parents and also to gain a better insight into the children’s emotions and frame of mind. Any safeguarding concerns are reported quickly and efficiently also.  We have found Advotalk an invaluable resource to support our most vulnerable children, and feel that the children have been able to build a positive relationship with an impartial adult who has the time and skills to support them with their needs.”

Victoria Chapman , SENCO, Inclusion Lead & Year 6 teacher, Rokeby Park Primary School

“The use of Katie (Advotalk) to support pupils in the school was by far the best decision made. The service is professional and they know what they are doing! Every member of the team we had dealings with was courteous, compassionate and remained professional throughout all sessions with the children. Feedback about the sessions was timely and the feedback to parents was also well received.

All in all, the school, the parents and most importantly, the children got what they required from Advotalk. Thank you!”

Ian Cutts, Head teacher, Burstwick Community Primary school 

“I wanted to say that we have found Advotalk to be incredibly effective in meeting some of the complex needs of the targeted children. 

Communication between Advotalk and school has been prompt and helpful and the quality of the reports has given me a real insight into the excellent work carried out. 

Stacy herself is an absolute credit to your organisation. Her passion for supporting our children has been infectious and she has built an incredible relationship in such a short space of time.  The two children say that Thursday's are the highlight of their week and the fact that they now play, work and enjoy time together is testament to the impact that Advotalk has had. I hope to use the service again in the future. Thank you so much.”

David Wilkinson, Deputy Head teacher, Broadacre Primary School

“Talking with Shaun helped the young person to be themselves; they felt relaxed, that they could say what they wanted to without worrying they would get it wrong. They looked forward to the sessions and felt that he helped them to calm down and feel chilled out. The sessions taught them about consequences-then when they had been thinking of doing something they shouldn't it has stopped them from doing it.  He also taught him how to be better at drawing, something they couldn't do before.”

Jo Machon, Head teacher, Thanet Primary School

“Sidnie, Stacy and the Advotalk team have provided fantastic support to the children. The time, care and energy they put into each child has make an immediate impact on our children. This service provides quality sessions that are targeted to help the children make sense of their world in a calm, non-confrontational way.  They offer safety and time out for the child to feel totally relaxed.  All the children supported by Advotalk look forward to the session and the tailored support has helped them face their trauma at a level appropriate to their journey.” 

Mrs K Merckel, SENDCO, St Mary Queen of Martyrs and St Richards VC Academies

“Advotalk (Sidnie) have been working with my child in care for over 6 months now. From a frightened withdrawn child, with lots of barriers, she has become a more confident, happy and settled teen. She is now able to communicate her feelings, and not feel so scared to voice her opinions, but in a calm way so that we can talk about them and support her during the most difficult time in her life. I would highly recommend this service and hope they can continue to support my child in the future.”

Parent D.

“Two children in my care have been having Advotalk sessions weekly for a while now. They both enjoy it and can't wait to show me things that they have made. 

It's nice they have an outside agency to share their feelings with. One of the boys said "I like Mondays because I get to see the lady (Sidnie) that helps me."

Carer H.

“L looks forward to your calls every week you brighten up her day, she has done amazing since she starting having your support in school and have helped so much in lockdown. You have also helped my other daughter when she needed a little chat over the phone and myself with having a few down moments when I needed to chat so thank you (Stacy) for all your support.” 

Parent A.

“Hi Stacy. This service is really good for the children. They are not put under any pressure they are put at ease and know they have a friend to talk to if needed.

You have been a fantastic support to our C and us too! Thank you x”

E.