TESTIMONIALS
Headteacher at Fairfield House School, an independent school based at a residential care home in Partington.
Leanne Doherty
I have found Ellen's knowledge and support invaluable in myprofessional role. Her guidance has substantially influenced my own knowledge of the Independent School sector and I would highly recommend her expertise in the area of school improvement and development.
Chief Executive Officer at Values Academy, a charity which runs two independent special schools located in Birmingham and Nuneaton.
Estelle Dimelor
"Values Academy retained Marell Consulting in February 2016 and we have had meticulous service and attention to detail provided by Ellen Mukwewa, in the following areas:
-
Coordinating self- evaluation
-
Audit of compliance with the Independent School Standards (2014)
-
Designing a structure for continuous quality improvement
-
Support during an Ofsted inspection
-
Evaluating and amending action plans
Ellen has provided excellent accessible support for the School Leaders, a newly appointed School Principal and is a respected advisor to me and the Board of Governors. We are fortunate to have ongoing school improvement support and I very highly recommend Marell Consulting and Ellen to any school and particularly independent schools such as ours."
Director & Owner of Childhood Matters Limited, a consultancy aimed at offering business support and professional advice to childcareproviders (nurseries and children's homes).
Peter Barron
"I advertised for someone to offer me technical education knowledge and understanding after being commissioned to support a school that had been rated inadequate by Ofsted. I interviewed a number of people, but Ellen gave me the greatest confidence in her understanding of the inspection process and of her knowledge of the Independent School Standards and education more generally. That was almost two years ago and the school has moved from strength to strength with her input and support. I'd particularly highlight four areas:
-
Her on-going professional supervision of myself to give me nudges in the right direction as well as the knowledge she was able to offer on an on-going basis on a whole range of issues as diverse as curriculum development, our medium term plans and establishment/running of a governing body
-
The accuracy of her evaluation of the school’s action plan (after it had been sent to the DfE)
-
Last year’s audit to ensure that previously un-met standards were addressed and the impact if any on the school’s preparedness for the progress monitoring inspection
-
The focus her recent full audit to evaluate overall effectiveness of the school and provide practical recommendations for improvement gave in preparing to demonstrate what we had done as a school for our upcoming full inspection.
The school had it's Ofsted 25-27 September 2018 and once I am in a position to share the outcome of that I will do."
(The outcome was grade 2 for overall effectiveness and all the judgment areas were awarded grade 2 except "personal developent, behaviour & welfare" which received grade 1.)
Proprietor of Fairfield House School, an independent school based at a residential care home in Partington.
Tzaraine Cope
"Having used another educational consultant and found their advice lacking in meeting the standards for independent schools, Ellen from Marell Consulting was recommended to Fairfield House School.
Ellen has consistently kept the management team up to date with new educational legislation and good practice. Marell Consulting has set a regular monitored programme of support for school improvement. Their level and quality of input has been complimented on by Ofsted during inspection. Ellen from Marell Consultancy has supported our school from an inadequate through to a good with outstanding features, using clear guidance and action plans, thorough hands on professional and reliable support. A genuine child focussed caring consultant who I would be happy to recommend."
Proprietor of IMedia School, an independent school based in Birmingham.
Hussein Al-Hassan
"I would like to thank you for the work you put in to creating the second Post Inspection Action Plan for IMedia School. Your work was thorough in identifying areas for development to ensure compliance with the Independent School Standards. The plan you produced is an effective working document that will support the school achieving the best for all pupils moving forward. Also the plan was appreciated by latest Ofsted inspector we had last week."
Below is what the Ofsted inspector said about our work in this inspection report:
“After the school’s action plan was judged to be unacceptable, the school sought and acted upon independent advice from a consultant. A full review of the school’s progress was undertaken, resulting in a revised and detailed action plan with clearly measurable targets, enabling the school to evaluate the effectiveness of its actions in addressing weaknesses. This revised action plan has been instrumental in the school now meeting all the independent school standards.”
Director of Education at Riverside School, an independent school based in Birmingham.
Jodie McCracken
"As a newly established Independent school, having the opportunity to work with and learn from her has played a major role in the successful completion of our first academic school year.
Ellen is the consummate professional in all that she does and her calm and friendly manner puts everyone at ease as soon as she begins to work with the team. Ellen’s flexible approach along with her ability to adapt to changes works amazingly in our challenging setting. She is highly skilled in identifying problems and working with the staff to brainstorm potential solutions. She possesses excellent written and oral communication as well as impeccable presentation skills.
Ellen’s broad experience and comprehensive understanding of the UK education system enables her to gather a variety of objective information about the school she is supporting. She scrutinises all educational systems and procedures to ensure all objectives and targets are being met to a high standard.
Ellen guided us using her strong ability to think analytically using logic to solve any issues that arise. Her natural ability to problem solve supported us with the development and implementation of a robust SEF and SIP. She pushes leaders to raise their game encouraging them to successfully complete tasks within a given time frame and with effective time management.
Ellen’s enthusiasm and passionate for education, emotional well-being and protection of marginalised children and young people is inspiring. We would highly recommend Ellen to any educational setting whose aspiration is to provide an outstanding learning experience to all pupils."