Interesting Times!

Monday 30 April 2007

My colleague Jane Haswell sent me this message over the weekend which I wanted to share with you...

Hello Chris
Please find attached pic for your blog. In May I will start working with Valley View, 5 Lanes (who have told me they have 17 parents) Asquith and Westerton. I have felt really honoured by the amount of interest in the course from both schools and parents. Everywhere I have gone the parents have been very enthusiastic and committed with only 3 people dropping out in total.

I have worked for Education Leeds for many years now, in fact I started out as a dinner lady some fourteen years ago and have slowly worked my way up. I would like you to know that to write and deliver this course has been a big personal challenge for me because I have never had much confidence in my abilities, so have never dared take any risks. It has all been made possible by the impact that IiE and STEPS has had complimented by the Degree course I am doing and the confidence that Chris Bennett (my line manager) has in me.

I know you often ask people to tell you what they are passionate about, for me this is it.
Jane

Jane also sent me this photo of the group.

Fantastic people, like Jane, are making such a difference here in Leeds.
Chris

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hi Chris
Where can we find out more about the course that Jane has developed?
Thanks; 3 May 2007 at 17:34
Anonymous said...: Jane is contactable at jane.haswell@educationleeds.co.uk
details of the course were also sent to every school in the envopack - around Feb/March time; 5 May 2007 at 17:44
htsal said...: Well done to Jane Haswell. We sometimes forget or seriously underestimate the value and impact of recognising adult achievement, like the volunteer awards. I know that some of our extra adults find it hard to come forward, to come to the front, to be the centre of attention, - and I know that some have worried about it for days. I also know how proud they are to have succeeded.
When I'm told that some of the actions the school puts in place...'have changed my life' ..
I'm humble and proud in equal amounts. Great volunteers....
By the way - new balloon dance Chris?; 8 May 2007 at 11:18

Brilliant Quotes!

“I must accept life unconditionally. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can only be felt if you don't set any condition.”
Margaret Lee Runbeck

“Happiness is not in our circumstances but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.”
John B. Sheerin

“Most true happiness comes from one's inner life, from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation and self-discipline.”
William L Shirer

“The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase: If you pursue happiness you'll never find it.”
C.P. Snow

“Doubly rich is the man still boyish enough to play, laugh and sing as he carries and emanates sunshine along a friendly road.”
Charles R. Wiers

"Faith is not a shelter against difficulties, but belief in the face of all contradictions."
Paul Tournier

"Convictions are the mainsprings of action, the driving powers of life. What a man lives are his convictions."
Francis C. Kelley

"To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger; but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can."
Sydney Smith

"It is often just as sacred to laugh as it is to pray"
Charles R. Swindoll

"Things never go so well that one should have no fear; and never so ill that one should have no hope"
Turkish proverb

"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself"
Chinese proverb

"Don't bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."
William Faulkner

"In times of change, learners will inherit the earth,while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists"
Eric Hoffer

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
John Lennon

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
Robert F. Kennedy

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."
Mahatma Gandhi

"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."
Abraham Lincoln

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"There is nothing in life so difficult that it cannot be overcome. This faith can move mountains. It can change people. It can change the world."
Norman Vincent Peale

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Albert Einstein

"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away."
Anonymous

"Patience and perseverence have a magical affect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
John Quincy Adams

"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and woman to win them."
Ralph Waldo Emerson