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Happy Paws with Sue

happy paws with sue

My name is Sue Williamson, and I have loved dogs (and many other animals for that matter) as far back as I can remember. One of my first memories is laying under my Grandparents Belfast sink with my Auntie’s German Shepherd – Tara. When I was 4 years old, a relative gave me a little black poodle, called Tina. Tina was one of the reasons I wanted to work with dogs when I grew up. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way that got pushed to one side and I finished up working in administration. Working up from secretarial positions to administration management, I left employment in January 2016 to follow my childhood dream of working with animals, and in particular – dogs. After I lost Tina, I had to wait over 20 years to get another dog, although I interacted with dogs on a regular basis. My next dog was Kelly, a black collie cross. She was the most placid and loving dog. Since Kelly I have been guardian to six dogs two of whom I have had to say goodbye Kira my gorgeous black Labrador who we lost in 2018 due to a lung tumour, and Raffi, Lemon and White working cocker spaniel who was killed in a road accident in 2016. I currently have four dogs, Taz, a male black show cocker spaniel, – who was the reason I got a deeper interest in training and Tellington TTouch Training, Ritzi, a miniature parti Poodle (black and white), Chic, a brown miniature poodle, (pronounced Sheek), and new boy on the block Lemon Roan Working Cocker Spaniel Talis. I have done training with all my dogs, including basic obedience, gundog training, platform training and agility. I have competed at agility with both Taz (grade 5), and Kira (grade 3) and Raffi (Grade 4). Although I no longer participate in Agility, I have taken up Canine Hoopers with Talis and started to compete.

The Complete Works Education Service

the complete works education service

London

From a theatre company, staging plays and creative projects in schools across the capital, to sector-leading, Alternative School: our journey since we began in 1999 has been eventful. Our founder Phil Richards and his partner Neil Powney (pictured above) first formed The Complete Works as a Theatre in Education company, performing plays and workshops in schools throughout London. At the time, Phil led a small team of actors and creatives who were passionate about engaging young people in the performing arts. What became clear in these early years, was the power of creativity to inspire young people, who were otherwise disillusioned by education. One day, Phil answered a newspaper advert, seeking someone to teach a young person to read. This was a teenager who had never enjoyed or engaged with education and had left behind a long succession of unsuccessful teachers, who had branded him “unteachable”. Phil drew on his years in the creative industries to take a fresh approach to the challenge and was able to help this young man discover the joys of learning and subsequently gain entrance to college. This was the beginning of our transformation from theatre company to school. Phil’s success led to more young people being referred to us, each of whom, for their own reasons, had lost interest in education. Through the same creative and compassionate approach, Phil and his team found a way to reignite what had been lost in each of them. After all these years, our core value of individualised, creative learning remains the same. In 2013, we gained our official school status with the Department of Education. We had been doing the work of the school long before this point, so to have it officially recognised was a huge moment for us. We had our first Ofsted inspection a year later, and they confirmed that we were a Good school, an accolade we have maintained ever since. In 2016, Phil took a step away from the day to day running of the school, continuing as a consultant and trainer, and appointing Chrissie Roberts as CEO. Chrissie joined TCW in 2003, spending 12 years as Deputy Chief Executive, developing the vision for the school’s growth alongside Phil. As CEO, Chrissie has overseen a period of rapid development, in which we have greatly broadened our offer, adding new subjects to the curriculum, enriching our pastoral and wellbeing support, developing our teacher training, and exploring new ways to integrate creativity into our work. Every year, hundreds of young people of all ages and backgrounds join our community and every single one of them receives a unique educational package, with therapeutic and creative input at every stage. One afternoon in 1999, Phil and Neil opened a copy of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare,” in the hope of finding the perfect word or phrase to name their new theatre company. Nothing in those hundreds of pages suited quite so well as the words on the front cover. Back then, “The Complete Works” referred to the range of plays and creative workshops that we ran. Today it means “the whole package” - education that has everything, tailored to suit anyone.