"I went through a period of actively avoiding any training or development courses as I’ve been on so many that were just so bad and I couldn’t face sitting in yet another grey conference centre training room being talked at by somebody not terribly interesting, who was obviously going through the motions (often in a pretty patronising way) and at their pace not mine. The along came Magic Outcomes – I couldn’t have been more excited about it if I had tried."

"After 7 months on the Magic Outcomes programme I can honestly say I've got more from it than I ever thought possible. Being involved in - immersed in - an inner city primary school you get to understand the issues facing the community you live and work in extremely quickly and with a real depth of understanding. It becomes very clear from the outset that you have a real opportunity to make a big difference to the lives of the children around you - and how big that difference is, is completely up to you. I can't think of anything much more motivational than that.

Regular workshops allowed us to get to know the teachers and the challenges faced by the school, the children and the parents - and for them to get to know us. I think it's fair to say that initially the teachers were not terribly sure what value our being there would bring to the school (apart from the cash our companies had paid for us to be there). Maybe we weren't sure either. But before long we began to see where we could act to make the big difference and plans began to form and action taken. Recently, the head of the school I've been working with said that every time we came it was like the flapping butterfly wing effect - something would be catalysed that would have far reaching positive implications for the school.

As a result of Magic Outcomes the school has already had free books, IT support and help with accounts; children have participated in reading manuscripts of new school books and feeding back to the publishing team on what they thought of them; children have trialled new approaches to education on healthy eating and healthy cookery; poetry written by the children is being compiled into a professionally produced poetry book for them to take home; the school has a revamped information booklet for new parents; the school is getting help on space planning and improving the environment for children; and the school has some lovely full colour wall charts to use as a basis for healthy eating classes, provided free of charge by the manufacturer.

For the future we're working on getting professional athletes into the school to reinforce the message on the importance of good eating and providing positive role models for schools and we're developing project teams for fundraising and PR and communications that will comprise one person from Pearson (as a training/contribution opportunity), a parent, a teacher and a child.

Over and above all of the school-specific work, we have also formulated a plan to help Magic Breakfast roll out nutritional education nationwide, involving Pearson - a project than will probably take six months or so to come to fruition, but that has huge potential and has our President and management team very excited!

Personally, what have I got out of it? Where to start.... I've undoubtedly had to develop my ability to gather information, formulate a case and deliver it (communicating ideas to clients or your boss is a doddle compared to the search for ways to explain to children why they should eat a healthy balanced diet instead of predominantly sweets and chips). I've also had what amounts to a crash course in building trust from a zero basis, engaging stakeholders and performing a needs diagnostic. I've definitely improved my project management skills and ability to manage colleagues and delegate well on projects - volunteer colleagues who, if they get fed up, can just walk away. That's a different kind of situation from work and one that really stretches you. Pitching skills have been seriously tested and continually stretched, I've drawn on new depths of determination to see things through and I've learned a huge, huge amount about diversity, social exclusion, poverty and about the value of developing a shared vision and making things happen - personally and through influencing others. I could go on! Without any doubt it has been the best learning experience of my life."

Rachel Stock - Publisher Pearson Education

"Magic Outcomes is a very innovative programme - it builds an awareness of social concerns, it demands that practical solutions are produced, and that they are identified and driven by the participant, very empowering!

What it's done for me already is give me an opportunity to dramatically improve my understanding of a how a school works and is funded, and to make a real difference to that school and possibly other schools in a way that benefits our business. For the future I expect to significantly improve my ability to identify business opportunities, to gain support for them, and to drive them forward.

I'm extremely positive about Pearson funding me to go on the programme, I like working for a Company that is both progressive and has a social conscience."

Bruce Norman, Senior Accountant, Pearson Education