UEL Honors Lifelong School Champion: Celebrating Dedication and Impact in Education
A champion of east London schools, who has shaped the education of teachers and pupils alike, has been recognised for her life-long dedication to transforming lives and futures.
Jane Barnes, senior school professional tutor at Stepney All Saints, received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of East London (UEL) where she has been a long-standing partner of the University’s Initial Teacher Education programme.
In a ceremony at UEL’s Docklands Campus on 17 January, Mrs Barnes told graduates, including many from the University’s education programmes,
For all the challenges, teaching is still the most rewarding of careers. I still hear from teachers all over the world, many are still serving in this community, and most of them are still in education. That shows the power of transforming lives.”
Her citation read, “Jane’s commitment to her community, to the practice of teaching and to generations of children whose futures she has shaped and galvanised is a lesson to any graduate in this hall who aspires to make a lasting impact through their vocation.”
As lead for teacher education at Stepney All Saints School, Mrs Barnes has trained countless educators.
She said, “Growing our own has always been a feature of Stepney All Saints, along with a fierce commitment to serving east London. So many of my former trainees and current staff want to give something back to the school and community which educated them.”
Mrs Barnes’ teaching career has spanned six schools across London and Essex, where she undertook various roles from history teacher to senior teacher and deputy headteacher.
Reflecting on her 46-year teaching career, Mrs Barnes expressed deep affection for all the schools she worked in, but said Stepney All Saints, where she has worked for 27 years, holds a special place in her heart. The culmination of this bond was marked by her nomination for a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Department For Education in November.
“I still love it,” she said of the Stepney school. “I am continually blessed by encounters with, and visits from, former students, even the ones I had to reprimand! And also with parents, many of whom regarded me as their children’s ‘second mother’.”
Dean of the School of Education and the Communities Mr Richard Harty said, “Jane has been an invaluable partner of the School and she has had an immeasurable impact on the teaching workforce and the children of east London. We are pleased to be able to recognise her contribution and express our gratitude with this honorary doctorate.”
Accepting her doctorate, Mrs Barnes said, “I started teaching my teddy bears when I was four years old, and it is still a great joy and privilege today. I see teaching as a vocation and a calling. I’ve loved every school I’ve taught in but Stepney All Saints and the partnership with the University of East London have always been very special.”