8 August 2008
Dear Bruce,
I know that we all thanked you in person for your fabulous presentations to us on our recent staff conference, but I wanted to put it in writing.
It was the very first time that the staff of this school has had a conference and there was a lot of hesitancy about it. Being the last Sunday of their school holidays meant that they struggled to be enthusiastic – but to their credit they committed to it. I knew that you would win them over very quickly and how true that was!
As you know our staff is very diverse in terms of cultural difference, differences in life experiences, education and values. You managed to engage every one of them and provide them with life-changing information in an entertaining way. The feedback that staff have given is that your sessions were 100% enjoyable and full of new learning that they could immediately apply to their own lives.
One of my major goals for having you work with my staff was to improve the morale and working relationships within our group. You totally exceeded my expectation in this regard. Many, many staff have told me how they have applied what they learnt from you and that their small working groups and the school as a whole are functioning more happily and more successfully. I can see it and I can feel it as I walk around.
Our school also has a new language with which to talk about ourselves and our relationships. We are talking about things like “Fact of Live” , “Ripper”, “blue thinking” etc and it not only gives us a shared laugh but reminds us of what we learnt from you.
For our school there was an added contribution you made. Your personal understanding and experience of children with disabilities was evident and was very valued by our staff. They appreciated your openness and sharing of being a family that included a daughter with Down Syndrome. They appreciated that you personally understand the work that they do in our school – and that you respect it highly.
You were generous in all aspects – again – far above what was in any way expected. I have a personal belief that the more you give the more abundant your life is and I trust this will be the case for you. I can’t thank you enough for the lasting difference you have made in the life of our school and I look forward to working with you again in the future.
Best wishes