NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM, THE GREAT HIDDEN LEADERSHIP

Today, The Grandma has been reading about a family's friend, Neville Longbottom, who is a great example of loyalty, friendship and leadership. Remember: the real leader is always in the shadow.

Professor Neville Longbottom is a British pure-blood wizard, the only child and son of Frank and Alice Longbottom.

Neville's parents were well-respected Aurors and members of the original Order of the Phoenix, until they were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and three other Death Eaters with the Cruciatus Curse when he was about sixteen months old. They were placed in the Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, leaving Neville to be raised by his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom.

Neville began school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Gryffindor House, along with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley. Throughout his school years, he was mostly a shy, clumsy, introverted boy who was constantly being told by his grandmother that he was not good enough or living up to his parents' accomplishments.

However, in his later years, he showed that he possessed great courage andperseverance: he became an important member of Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter with the goal of helping other students learn spells to attack and defend themselves.

Neville would later fight in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries (1996), the Battle of the Astronomy Tower (1997), and the Battle of Hogwarts (1998). During the Battle of Hogwarts, having refused Lord Voldemort's invitation to join the Death Eaters, he destroyed the seventh and final Horcrux when he beheaded the snake Nagini. He also co-led the D.A. during his final year in opposition to the Death Eater professors.

Neville Longbottom was born to Frank and Alice Longbottom, a pair of Aurors. Moments after his birth, Neville was able to adjust his blankets so that he was swaddled more snugly, but no one witnessed this unusually precocious display of underage magic. The midwife who attended the birth assumed that his father had tucked him in more tightly. Neville was born several hours before his classmate, Harry. 

As a pure-blood wizard, he was likely related to other wizarding families such as the Weasleys, Crouches, Potters, and the Blacks. Neville's parents were members of The Order of the Phoenix and in these roles, they defied Lord Voldemort at least three times.

Neville was one of two infants referred to in a prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney about the person with the power to defeat the Dark Lord. The other was Harry Potter, and it was Harry whom Lord Voldemort targeted making Harry his equal and leading to his first defeat.

Shortly after, a handful of Lord Voldemort's most loyal followers attacked The Longbottoms. Frank and Alice were tortured into insanity with the Cruciatus Curse by Death Eaters Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rodolphus Lestrange, her brother-in-law Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

The four Death Eaters were all sentenced to Azkaban for their crimes, while Frank and Alice were sent to St Mungo's Hospital, where they would live the rest of their lives, not being able to recognise their own son. Neville was subsequently raised by his paternal grandmother, Augusta Longbottom. At some point early in his life, he also witnessed the death of his grandfather.

Neville's grandmother was a stern and formidable woman who was concerned when her grandson did not exhibit early signs of magic.

Neville did, however, show faint signs of magic in him throughout his early years, something which his family persistently missed  -the first such sign took place moments after birth, when Neville managed to magically shift his blankets more snugly over himself, something which went unnoticed by midwife who attended his mother. She often chided Neville for not living up to his family's honour and was partly the reason for Neville's lack of self-confidence early in his school years.
 

His relatives feared that Neville might be a Squib, though this wasdisproved when his great-uncle Algie was holding him out of awindowby his feet when he was offered some lemon meringue and let go.

Neville bounced. Previous to this, there were various attempts to make him show signs of magic, including dropping him off Blackpool pier, where, according to Neville, he nearly drowned. Neville inherited his father's wand at the age of eleven when he started to attend Hogwarts. This wand was later broken during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

Neville began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While with his grandmother at platform 9¾, he lost his toad Trevor. Once on the train, he met Hermione Granger, who agreed to help him find his lost toad, and then Harry Potter and Ron Weasley when he entered their compartment tearfully looking for Trevor. After arriving at Hogsmeade Station, Neville managed to retrieve his toad from Rubeus Hagrid. 

Neville felt intimidated by Gryffindor's reputation for bravery. During the Sorting ceremony, he silently argued for a long time to be placed in Hufflepuff, but the Sorting Hat won in the end, and Sorted him into Gryffindor. 

Neville was so nervous that when the Sorting Hat shouted out his house, he ran across the Great Hall with the Hat still on his head; he had to return to the stool to hand the Hat to the next student. On the way to Gryffindor Tower after the Welcoming Feast, Neville had a bundle of walking sticks dropped on his head by Peeves the Poltergeist.

More information: Wizarding World I, II & III

During Christmas break, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny learned that Neville's parents were not dead, but patients in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, having gone insane after being tortured by a group of Death Eaters at the end of the First Wizarding War. Harry was the only one who already knew this, having found out in the Pensieve, but he had told no one, keeping Neville's secret safe.

Before Neville left, his mother handed him an empty Droobles Blowing Gum wrapper; while his grandmother wanted him to throw it away, Neville instead pocketed it.

When it was learned that ten Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban, including three of the ones responsible for the torture of Neville's parents, Neville did not speak of it, but it wrought a strange and even slightly alarming change in him, according to Harry. He worked harder than anyone in D.A. meetings, and was the fastest to pick up new spells aside from Hermione.

Neville participated in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower. Along with Luna Lovegood, he was the only member of Dumbledore's Army to reply to the summons via the coins. 

Neville stood guard outside the Room of Requirement with Ron and Ginny, waiting for Draco Malfoy, who evaded them by using Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.

Neville suffered an injury that kept him in the hospital wing for some time, though he was able to attend the funeral of Albus Dumbledore shortly afterwards, where Luna helped him into his seat.

Lord Voldemort took over the Ministry of Magic. While Muggle-borns were rounded up and Harry, Ron, and Hermione went on the run to search for Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, Neville returned to Hogwarts, and, along with Ginny and Luna, restarted Dumbledore's Army.

The D.A. opposed the new headmaster, Severus Snape, and the two new Death Eater professors, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, who taught anti-Muggle propaganda and the Dark Arts.

Neville got in trouble with the Carrows for refusing to practise the Cruciatus Curse on other students as a method of punishment, as well as for standing up against their bigotry and cruelty.

The revived D.A. helped protect fellow students from being bullied by the Death Eater teachers, and generally rebelled against authority, such as writing Dumbledore’s Army, still recruiting on the Hogwarts walls and freeing students from detention.

Neville, Luna and Ginny also attempted to steal Godric Gryffindor's sword from Snape's office, but were caught on the way out. In his own way to subvert the Carrows' manner of discipline, Snape only gave them a detention, sending them into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid.

More information: Wizarding World I, II & III

Neville eventually decided to cease their open rebellion after Michael Corner was caught and brutally tortured for freeing a chained-up first year.

Neville was eventually left alone to lead the rebellion efforts, as Luna was dragged off the Hogwarts Express by Death Eaters around Christmas to coerce her father into ceasing his political dissidence in The Quibbler, and Ginny did not return to Hogwarts following the Easter holidays, as her family went into hiding following Harry, Ron, and Hermione's escape from Malfoy Manor. By this time, the Carrows were aware of Neville's role in the rebellion, and he suffered beatings and torture. The Ministry also targeted Neville's grandmother to try to intimidate him, but she evaded capture and went on the run.

Neville enthusiastically greeted Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and led them from the Hog's Head into the Room of Requirement. While in the tunnel he explained to the trio the nature of his injuries and the reign of the Carrows at Hogwarts. He also informed the trio that the D.A. had been reinstated and was currently resisting the new regime.

Believing that their return meant the overthrow of the Death Eater professors, Neville signalled the rest of the D.A. to return to Hogwarts. As students returned, along with The Order of the Phoenix, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eater army approached, laying siege to the school in the hopes of capturing Harry Potter.

During the first round of battle, Neville used various plants to attack Death Eaters, and helped transport the injured and dead when a temporary cease-fire was called. He briefly spoke to Harry, who told him that it was top priority to kill Lord Voldemort's snake and Horcrux, Nagini.

When the Death Eaters approached with a dead Harry, Neville stood up in defiance of Lord Voldemort. He was subsequently forced to wear the Sorting Hat as it burned because he refused to join Lord Voldemort. Fortunately, due to Harry's sacrifice, Neville was able to shrug off the Full Body-Bind Curse with relative ease.

Because of his tremendous bravery shown on the battlefield, Neville was able to pull Godric Gryffindor's sword from the burning hat, in the process proving himself a true Gryffindor, something that was doubted constantly throughout due to his apparently weak-willed, shy, and bumbling nature. In a single stroke, he carried out Harry's final order, slaying Nagini, destroying Lord Voldemort's last remaining Horcrux.

Neville subsequently teamed up with Ron Weasley as the defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters were forced into the Great Hall and defeated Fenrir Greyback. Also during the Battle Neville duelled Scabior on the Covered Bridge. Scabior fell to his death when the bridge fell down.

Neville witnessed Harry Potter's final defeat of Lord Voldemort and survived the Second Wizarding War.

Neville is an English name originally derived from Norman French for new town. It was the surname of a noble and a powerful warrior lineage family prominent in England in the medieval period, as well as the given name of a Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain, whose role in history is controversial.

Neville Chamberlain is infamous for his policy of appeasing dictator Adolf Hitler just prior to World War II, which is ironic, considering that Neville Longbottom never faltered in his defiance of Lord Voldemort.

Longbottom is the name of one of the Hobbits' villages at the Shire, known for its best pipe-weed.

Longbottom is a family name around Bristol, where J.K. Rowling spent part of her childhood.

More information: Screen Rant

Trevor is Neville Longbottom's pet toad, whom he frequently lost during his first year at Hogwarts.

Trevor was a gift from Neville's Great Uncle Algie in recognition of the first time Neville showed magical ability and thus gaining admission to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Eventually, Trevor wandered off and joined the other amphibians in and around the Black Lake.

Neville's great uncle Algie used to own Trevor until he gave him to Neville as a gift from him for receiving permission to go to Hogwarts.

Neville lost Trevor many times. For example, the first time he came to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express, Neville lost Trevor but was soon helped by Hermione Granger who met Harry Potter and Ron Weasley during her search.

Neville eventually found Trevor once reaching Hogwarts in one of the boats after Rubeus Hagrid asked Neville about Trevor.

Professor Filius Flitwick once made Trevor fly around his Charms classroom to skilfully demonstrate the Levitation Charm.

During the night Harry, Ron and Hermione went to penetrate the Underground Chambers, the trio left the common room but was confronted by Neville and a croaking Trevor until Hermione froze Neville using the Full Body-Bind Curse.

In Neville's third year, Trevor was part of the Frog Choir when they performed Double Trouble.

Later on the school year, Professor Severus Snape made Neville test his Shrinking Solution on the toad with the warning that if made incorrectly, it would likely be poisonous. After Trevor drank the potion, he successfully transformed into a tadpole, much to Neville's delight. However, Professor Snape was displeased and spitefully deducted five points from Gryffindor because Hermione had helped Neville create the potion.

Harry used Trevor to practise the Summoning Charm in his and Neville's fourth year.

When Harry encountered Neville in the last carriage of the Hogwarts Express in their fifth year, Neville had a one-handed grip on a struggling Trevor. Later, Neville dumped the toad into Harry's lap so that he could demonstrate the defensive mechanism of his Mimbulus Mimbletonia. This was to Harry's regret when Cho Chang then visited the compartment, as he would not have chosen to be sitting with Neville and Luna Lovegood, clutching a toad and dripping in Stinksap.

Trevor made a bid for freedom on the Hogwarts Express, but Neville caught him again.

At some point, Trevor escaped into the Lake. Both the pet and the owner felt a sense of relief.

More information: Screen Rant

 

 The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...

Born to those who have thrice defied him,

born as the seventh month dies...

and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,

but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...

and either must die at the hand of the other

for neither can live while the other survives...

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord

will be born as the seventh month dies.

Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy

THE REAL LEADERSHIP, EVERY TIME R2-D2 SAVES THE DAY

Today, The Grandma has been reading about R2D2, another a great example of loyalty, friendship and leadership. Remember again: the real leader is always in the shadow.

R2-D2 or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas.

He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical Star Wars films to date. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, an astromech droid, is a friend to C-3PO, Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

R2-D2 and his companion C-3PO are the only characters to appear in every theatrical Star Wars film, with the exception of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).

English actor Kenny Baker played R2-D2 in all three original Star Wars films and received billing credit for the character in the prequel trilogy, where Baker's role was reduced as R2-D2 was portrayed mainly by radio controlled props and CGI models. In the sequel trilogy, Baker was credited as consultant for The Force Awakens; however, Jimmy Vee also co-performed the character in some scenes. Vee later took over the role beginning in The Last Jedi.

In The Rise of Skywalker, puppeteers Hassan Taj and Lee Towersey perform the role of R2-D2, replacing Jimmy Vee, who had played the role in the previous two films. His sounds and vocal effects were created by sound designer Ben Burtt.

R2-D2 was designed in artwork by Ralph McQuarrie, co-developed by John Stears and built by Peteric Engineering. The revised Empire Strikes Back droids had fibreglass shells built by Tony Dyson and his White Horse Toy Company.

George Lucas's creation of R2-D2 was influenced by the peasant Matashichi from Akira Kurosawa's 1958 feature film The Hidden Fortress (released in the United States in 1962), although his personality is completely the opposite. Lucas and artist Ralph McQuarrie also drew inspiration from the robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Douglas Trumbull's 1972 film Silent Running.

Around the same time that A New Hope was being shot, Ray Harryhausen had already created Bubo for the 1981 film Clash of the Titans. In the film, Bubo is a mechanical metal owl that flies heavily and communicates through whistles and tweets. Harryhausen denied a relation.

The name derives from when Lucas was making one of his earlier films, American Graffiti. Sound editor Walter Murch states that he is responsible for the utterance which sparked the name for the droid. Murch asked for Reel 2, Dialog Track 2, in the abbreviated form R-2-D-2. Lucas, who was in the room and had dozed off while working on the script for Star Wars, momentarily woke when he heard the request and, after asking for clarification, stated that it was a great name before going back to writing his script.

R2-D2 stands for Second Generation Robotic Droid Series-2, according to a Star Wars encyclopedia published after the release of the film Star Wars. Tony Dyson, owner of the special effects studio The White Horse Toy Company, was commissioned by special effects supervisor Brian Johnson to fabricate the revised mechanical design for The Empire Strikes Back, making several units operated by remote control. A number were used by Baker, and two were stunt double models made for the scene where the droid was shot from the swamp onto the shore on Dagobah.

More information: Screen Rant

Beep Beep Be Deep Boop!

R2D2

THE FOSTERS, TALKING ABOUT LABOUR INSERTION (II)

Today, The Fosters and The Grandma have talked about how to create a modern CV using Canva, one of the most popular software to create and design all kind of brochures, CV and other. They have also talked about the importance of communication skills in an interview.

Canva is a graphic design platform that allows users to create social media graphics, presentations, posters and other visual content.

More information: Canva

More information: How to Use Canva

On average, recruiters spend just 8.8 seconds reading your CV. This means you have less than a sixth of a minute to sell yourself and your strengths to the reader. This is easier said than done: three quarters of CVs are rejected due to bad grammar, spelling and poor visual layout.

More information: The Balance (I)

So what makes a successful job application? We asked career experts for their tips. Here is a step-by-step Guardian Jobs guide on how to create the perfect CV.

It's vital your CV is as tailored and concise as possible. One of the simplest mistakes job hunters make is not matching their experience to the new job role. It's essential to look down the list of requirements and show against each points how you can do each one, says Jon Gregory, a job search, application and interview coach.

It's also important to drop the clichés. Words like passionate and phrases like 'I'm excellent at' are overused, says Gregory. Show your passion rather than say it. Don't use subjective statements like 'I can hit the ground running' instead use objective proof that you have demonstrated those skills – such as a list of numbers and achievements.

Lis McGuire, founder of Giraffe CVS, agrees you should avoid clichés: The most important thing to leave off a CV is white noise – essentially anything that isn't directly relevant to the job role you're applying. For non-relevant work simply give the bare bones and instead focus on explaining relevant experience that will win you the role.

In summary, your writing style should be professional, concise and specific to the job you're applying to. Make it as easy as possible for them to scan your CV and tick boxes, advice the experts.

More information: The Balance (II)

The personal profile is often tricky. How can you strike the perfect professional yet enthusiastic voice? Without a profile your CV is just a list without context, points out McGuire. Use it to show the reader who you are and the value you can bring.

But how exactly can this be done? Your CV profile should strive to provide abalanced complement of skills, achievements, and softer attributes that will engage the reader, advises Debra Wheatman, founder and owner of Careers Done Write. I generally recommend that the summary comprises 4-5 lines with a relevant example to quickly engage the reader.

Your profile should sum up exactly who you are and whether you're a good fit for the role, says Gregory. Likewise, Sarah Archer, career coach and co-founder of CareerTree, says: Make it specific, interesting and relevant to the job. Highlight the key skills and experiences you have and the kinds of environments you have worked in.

Finally, the family has assisted to the Labour Conference Talk English organized by the International Labour Organization.

They are worried about the real situation of working after the global economic crisis which has affected lives of millions of people severely. 

They have taken information to help other people to find a work. This is the reason because of they have to find the best, and not the best thing, about all of them.

 

More information: CVMRK

 

Job-interviewing is just a skill. 

Like any skill, 

some people have more of a predisposition 

for it than others.

Dale Dauten

LEADERSHIP, COMMITMENT & COOPERATIVE WORKING

Today, The Fosters & The Grandma have been reading about leadership, commitment and cooperative working.

Leadership encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to lead, influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word leadership often gets viewed as a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the concept, sometimes contrasting Eastern and Western approaches to leadership, and also (within the West) North American versus European approaches.

U.S. academic environments define leadership as a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common and ethical task.

Basically, leadership can be defined as an influential power-relationship in which the power of one party (the leader) promotes movement/change in others (the followers).

Some have challenged the more traditional managerial views of leadership, which portray leadership as something possessed or owned by one individual due to their role or authority, and instead advocate the complex nature of leadership which is found at all levels of institutions, both within formal and informal roles.

Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others.

 More information: Mind Tools

The search for the characteristics or traits of leaders has continued for centuries. 

Philosophical writings from Plato's Republic[ to Plutarch's Lives have explored the question What qualities distinguish an individual as a leader? Underlying this search was the early recognition of the importance of leadership and the assumption that leadership is rooted in the characteristics that certain individuals possess. This idea that leadership is based on individual attributes is known as the trait theory of leadership.

Many personality characteristics were found to be reliably associated with leadership emergence. The list includes assertiveness, authenticity, Big Five personality factors, birth order, character strengths, dominance, emotional intelligence, gender identity, intelligence, narcissism, self-efficacy for leadership, self-monitoring and social motivation.

Other areas of study in relation to how and why leaders emerge include narcissistic traits, absentee leaders, and participation. While there are many personality traits that be considered in determining why a leader emerges it is important to not look at these in isolation. Today's sophisticated research methods look at personality characteristics in combination to determine patterns of leadership emergence.

More information: The Balance Money

These Group Leaderships or Leadership Teams have specific characteristics:

-There must be an awareness of unity on the part of all its members.

-There must be interpersonal relationship. Members must have a chance to contribute, and learn from and work with others.

-The members must have the ability to act together toward a common goal.

Ten characteristics of well-functioning teams:

-Purpose. Members proudly share a sense of why the team exists and are invested in accomplishing its mission and goals.

-Priorities. Members know what needs to be done next, by whom, and by when to achieve team goals.

-Roles. Members know their roles in getting tasks done and when to allow a more skillful member to do a certain task.

-Decisions. Authority and decision-making lines are clearly understood.

-Conflict. Conflict is dealt with openly and is considered important to decision-making and personal growth.

-Personal traits. Members feel their unique personalities are appreciated and well utilized.

-Norms. Group norms for working together are set and seen as standards for every one in the groups.

-Effectiveness. Members find team meetings efficient and productive and look forward to this time together.

-Success. Members know clearly when the team has met with success and share in this equally and proudly.

-Training. Opportunities for feedback and updating skills are provided and taken advantage of by team members.

More information: Emeritus

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep;
I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

Alexander the Great

THE FOSTERS, TALKING ABOUT LABOUR INSERTION (I)

Today, The Fosters and The Grandma have talked about labour insertion. They have said goodbye to Hogwarts to return to London, and study during some days some important things about labour insertion.

Unemployment is one of the worst aspects of a community.

Unemployment, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is persons above a specified age not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the reference period.

Unemployment can have many sources, such as the following:

-New technologies and inventions

-The status of the economy, which can be influenced by a recession

-Competition caused by globalization and international trade

-Policies of the government

-Regulation and market

The family has been creating personal SWOTs to try to understand themselves better.

More information: Grandma's Reading, Japanese Work Environment

SWOT analysis or SWOT matrix is a strategic planning technique used to help a person or organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or project planning.

This technique, which operates by peeling back layers of the company is designed for use in the preliminary stages of decision-making processes and can be used as a tool for evaluation of the strategic position of a city or organization. It is intended to specify the objectives of the business venture or project and identify the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving those objectives.

Users of a SWOT analysis often ask and answer questions to generate meaningful information for each category to make the tool useful and identify their competitive advantage.

SWOT has been described as the tried-and-true tool of strategic analysis, but has also been criticized for its limitations.

SWOT assumes that strengths and weaknesses are frequently internally-related, while opportunities and threats commonly focus are due to the external environment.

The name is an acronym for the four parameters the technique examines:

-Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others.

-Weaknesses: characteristics of the business that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others.

-Opportunities: elements in the environment that the business or project could exploit to its advantage.

-Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project.

More information: Improving to Find New Chances

The degree to which the internal environment of the firm matches with the external environment is expressed by the concept of strategic fit. Identification of SWOTs is important because they can inform later steps in planning to achieve the objective.

First, decision-makers should consider whether the objective is attainable, given the SWOTs. If the objective is not attainable, they must select a different objective and repeat the process.

Some authors credit SWOT to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at the Stanford Research Institute, now SRI International, in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies. However, Humphrey himself did not claim the creation of SWOT, and the origins remain obscure.

Internal factors are viewed as strengths or weaknesses depending upon their effect on the organization's objectives.

SWOT

What may represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weaknesses (distractions, competition) for another objective. The factors may include personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and all of the marketing mix's 4Ps.

External factors include macroeconomics, technological change, legislation, and sociocultural changes, as well as changes in the marketplace. Results are often presented in the form of a matrix.

SWOT analysis is a method of categorization for which lists are compiled, uncritically and without prioritization, rather than seeking important factors to achieving objectives; weak opportunities may appear to balance strong threats.

The SWOT analysis has been used in community work as a tool to identify positive and negative factors within organizations, communities, and the broader society that promote or inhibit successful implementation of social services and social change efforts.

It is used as a preliminary resource, assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a community served by a nonprofit or community organization.

Although SWOT analysis is a part of the planning, it will not provide a strategic plan if used by itself, but a SWOT list can becomes a series of recommendations.

More information: Bigg Success (Part I)

Strengths and Weaknesses (internal factors within an organization):

-Human resources-staff, volunteers, board members, target population

-Physical resources-your location, building, equipment

-Financial-grants, funding agencies, other sources of income

-Activities and processes-programs you run, systems you employ

-Past experiences-building blocks for learning and success, your reputation in the community

More information: Bigg Success (Part II)

 

Opportunities and Threats, external factors stemming from community or societal forces:

-Future trends in your field or the culture

-The economy—local, national, or international

-Funding sources—foundations, donors, legislatures

-Demographics—changes in the age, race, gender, culture of those you serve or in your area

-The physical environment —is your building in a growing part of town? Is the bus company cutting routes?

-Legislation—do new federal requirements make your job harder...or easier?

-Local, national, or international events

Although the SWOT analysis was originally designed as an organizational method for business and industries, it has been replicated in various community work as a tool for identifying external and internal support to combat internal and external opposition.

The SWOT analysis is necessary to provide direction to the next stages of the change process. It has been used by community organizers and community members to further social justice in the context of Social Work practice.

 

Download SWOT I & II (Catalan Version)

 

 A SWOT analysis involves asking,

What are our strengths and weaknesses?

What are our opportunities? What are the threats?

Amanda Lang

POPPY POMPREY, THE MATRON IN THE HOSPITAL WING

Today, The Fosters have received the wonderful visit of F, their Occupational Hazards' teacher who has been talking about labour risks in medicine. They are in first line protecting us and exposing them to the most critical situations a human person can live.

It is always a good moment to recognize their incredible job and their tireleess work. We must always do it but, sadly, people in our society only reactionate when are in danger and appreciate the real important things when they realize they are going to lose them.

The Fosters and The Grandma want to homage the sanitarian workers talking with Madam Poppy Pomfrey, the matron and nurse in the Hospital Wing, a part of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Madam Poppy Pomfrey represents this sanitarian sector so important in our society but remember that there are a lot of people who are working day-by-day to protect us and take care of us: drivers, supermarket's workers, farmers, firemen, civil volunteers, cleaning operators, factory workers, postmen, messengers... lots of people who deserve a great recognition not only today and because of this crisis, but always.

Download Occupational Health & Safety Risks in the Healthcare Sector

Madam Poppy Pomfrey is a British witch and the matron at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was a very competent healer, having been in the position for, at least, the last quarter of the 20th century.

Madam Pomfrey is very possessive of the patients in her care while in the Hospital Wing, and their visitors upset her somewhat, as she frequently insisted they must rest and demanded the visitors leave. She was proficient in her area of expertise, healing magic,  and able to take care of some ailments in a heartbeat.

She fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, the final battle of the Second Wizarding War, during which she personally dispatched at least one Death Eater in a duel, and was seen after the battle treating the wounded and attending to the dead.

Not much is known about Madam Pomfrey's life after the final battle. She had retired or was thinking of retiring, since Hannah Abbott reportedly applied for the position of Matron at Hogwarts. Regardless, either because she did not retire or because she was pulled out of retirement, Madam Pomfrey was working at Hogwarts in 2020.

Madam Pomfrey began her career at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry being trusted in that year by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore to escort new Gryffindor student Remus Lupin, who was infected with lycanthropy due to a bite from Fenrir Greyback, to the Whomping Willow every full moon.

At some point before 1 November, 1981, Madam Pomfrey complimented Dumbledore on a set of earmuffs he had recently acquired. The compliment made him blush in such a manner that would only be rivalled when Professor Minerva McGonagall compared his magical prowess favourably against those of Voldemort.

Madam Pomfrey administered Skele-Gro on Harry to regrow the bones in his arm after Gilderoy Lockhart's attempt to fix a Quidditch-caused broken bone failed disastrously. Pomfrey was annoyed that Harry had not been brought straight to her in the first place, as re-growing bones is a much more difficult task than mending bones, which she claims she can do in a heartbeat.

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In the same year, Hermione Granger ended up in the hospital wing for a month after an accident in an unauthorised high-level Potion-making, Polyjuice Potion, left her half-feline; apparently the group felt comfortable letting Madam Pomfrey to treat her since she would not ask too many questions and just get on with the job in hand. Hermione was allowed visitors, but it bothered Madam Pomfrey somewhat.

Madam Pomfrey had retired or was thinking of retiring, since Hannah Abbott reportedly applied for the position of Matron at Hogwarts. She assisted prospective members of the then recently established Statute of Secrecy Task Force seeking a career as Magizoologists, whom she taught a rudimentary variation of the Mending Charm, hoping it would help them in the field.

Eventually, she would later teach the same members some advanced concepts relating to this spell, allowing them to improve its effectiveness. She also instructed them how to refine the Reviving Charm they learned from Rosmerta and upon being helped in tending to a student with a painful Quidditch injury, gave them practical advice over pain management to be applied to increase resilience. Regardless, either because she decided not to leave, or because she ended her retirement, she was working at Hogwarts in 2020.

Madam Pomfrey was described by her students as being exceptionally kind, but even more so strict. She was very obsessive, lining up her patients' sweet boxes in neat rows, and was intensely worried about all of the students under her care, believing even feasts to be risky.

Working in a school where magical accidents were almost an undeniable certainty, she appeared to have resigned herself to treating whoever came her way. Indeed, she never asked questions about how her patients received their ailments or questioning the sometimes ludicrous stories they told her, but instead immediately set to fixing them up.

She had a tendency to burst into tears at moments where great sorrow was appropriate, but she was capable of controlling herself if need be. She also has her standards and loyalty, as she would have resigned in protest when Minerva McGonagall was shot down by four Stunning Spells from a cowardly Ministry attack, were she not worried for the students.

Poppy juice, better known as opium, is one of the oldest known medicines; it has been used as a painkiller and soporific for, at the very least, thousands of years. King Tutankhamun's tomb contained jars of poppy juice, presumably to relieve the pain he suffered from a head injury. Although it is mostly known today as an addictive drug, opium's derivatives, such as morphine and codeine, are vital to modern medicine for their anaesthetic properties.

Pomfrey sounds like comfrey, a plant in the borage family which can be made into a soothing salve. Meanings of her names are, therefore, both in some way medically related. Pomfrey or Pomfret cakes, named after mediaeval names for the Yorkshire town of Pontefract, once a centre of liquorice cultivation, are small, sweet lozenges made from the roots of the licorice plant. Liquorice also has been a medicinal ingredient for hundreds of years.

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The Hospital Wing is a part of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is run by Madam Poppy Pomfrey, the school's matron.

The students and staff who suffer mishaps and injuries during the school year, are sent or brought to the hospital wing for treatment. Poppy would prefer there be six visitors at one time for one person. There is a room adjacent belonging to the matron.

The hospital wing is well equipped to deal with all kinds of magical and mundane injuries, from broken limbs to regrowing lost bones. Only in the most severe cases are the patients sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for further treatment, such as when Katie Bell touched a cursed Opal Necklace.

Located on the first floor, and later one or two floors up, the hospital wing is where Hogwarts residents go to have their medical needs met. Within the hospital wing are lots and lots of beds with white sheets, privacy screens, and bedpans. The entrance has double doors. Madam Pomfrey’s office is part of the hospital wing complex.

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You should have come straight to me!...

I can mend bones in a second but growing them back.

Madam Poppy Pomprey

QUIDDITCH, FLYING BETWEEN BROOMSTICKS AND BALLS

Today The Fosters & The Grandma have been invited to watch a quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. They have enjoyed a lot discovering this interesting game and learning its rules. Harry Potter (Gryffindor) is one of the best seekers and Draco Malfoy is his great rival (Slytherin).

 

Before this, they have been reading a new chapter of Oscar Wilde's The Ghost of Canterville.

Quidditch is a fictional sport invented by author J. K. Rowling for her fantasy book series Harry Potter. It is a dangerous but popular sport played by witches and wizards riding flying broomsticks. Matches are played on a large oval pitch with three ring-shaped goals of different heights on each side, between two opposing teams of seven players each: three Chasers, two Beaters, the Keeper, and the Seeker. There are three different balls: the Quaffle, the two Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch.

The Chasers and the Keeper respectively score with and defend the goals against the Quaffle; the two Beaters bat the Bludgers away from their teammates and towards their opponents; and the Seeker locates and catches the Golden Snitch, whose capture simultaneously wins the Seeker's team 150 points and ends the game. The team with the most points at the end wins.

Harry Potter plays as Seeker for his house team at Hogwarts. Regional and international Quidditch competitions are mentioned throughout the series. Aspects of the sport's history are revealed in Quidditch Through the Ages, published by J. K. Rowling in 2001 to benefit Comic Relief.

A real-life version of the game has been created, in which the players use brooms, but run instead of flying.

Rowling came up with the sport in a Manchester hotel room after a row with her then-boyfriend. She explained: I had been pondering the things that hold a society together, cause it to congregate and signify its particular character and knew I needed a sport.

Rowling claims that the word Quidditch is not derived from any particular etymological root, but was the result of filling five pages of a notebook with different words beginning with Q.

The final Quidditch scene in the books appears in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Rowling experienced fiendish glee writing this scene, which features memorable commentary by Luna Lovegood.

 

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In 2014 Rowling started publishing a series of match reports from the Quidditch World Cup on Pottermore, culminating in a short story about the final featuring the return of Harry, Ron, Hermione and their friends as adults. This generated interest from several media outlets, as it was the first new writing about the Harry Potter characters since the end of the series in 2007.

Quidditch is introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and is a regularly recurring feature throughout the first six books. It is depicted as being played by both professionals as in tournaments like the Quidditch World Cup and amateurs.

A major motif of five of the Harry Potter books is the competition among the four Hogwarts houses for the Quidditch Cup each school year; in particular, the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Quidditch matches are played over an oval-shaped pitch, with a scoring area at each end consisting of three hooped goal posts, each at a different height. Each team is made up of seven players, consisting of three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and one Seeker. The job of the Chasers is to keep possession of the scarlet Quaffle, a leather ball passed between players.

They must attempt to score goals worth 10 points by throwing it through one of the opponents' three hoops. These hoops are defended by the opposing team's Keeper, who ideally tries to block their goals. Meanwhile, players of both teams are attacked indiscriminately by the two Bludgers. These are round, jet-black balls made of iron that fly around violently trying to knock players off their brooms. It is the Beaters' job to defend their teammates from the Bludgers; they carry short wooden clubs, which they use to knock the Bludgers away from their teammates and/or toward the opposing team.

Finally, the role of the Seeker is to catch the Golden Snitch. This is a small golden ball the approximate size of a walnut. The winged Snitch is enchanted to hover, dart, and fly around the pitch, avoiding capture while remaining within the boundaries of the playing area.

Catching the Snitch ends the game and scores the successful Seeker's team 150 points. As the team with the most points wins, this often guarantees victory for the successful Seeker's team. A notable exception is when Bulgaria Seeker Viktor Krum catches the Snitch for Bulgaria during the World Cup Final in Goblet of Fire, while his team are still 160 points behind Ireland their opponents, thus making his own team lose by only 10 points.

Magical flying broomsticks are one of the forms of transportation for wizards and witches, as well as being used for playing Quidditch.

The three most prominent broomsticks in the books are the Nimbus 2000, Nimbus 2001, and the Firebolt, both of which have been produced as merchandise by Warner Bros.
 

The Nimbus is introduced as one of the best broomsticks in the wizarding world. Harry receives a Nimbus 2000 in Philosopher's Stone so that he can play for Gryffindor house.

Lucius Malfoy buys a full set of the more advanced Nimbus 2001s for the Slytherin team as a bribe, so they would choose his son Draco as Seeker the following year.

The Firebolt later supersedes the Nimbus as the fastest and one of the most expensive racing brooms in existence. Harry receives a Firebolt model from his godfather, Sirius Black, after his Nimbus 2000 is destroyed during a Quidditch match in Prisoner of Azkaban.

 

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In Goblet of Fire, Harry uses his Firebolt to escape the Hungarian Horntail, a dragon, during the Triwizard Tournament.

In the real world, the word Quidditch, long predating Harry Potter, occurs in some English placenames, and seems to come from Anglo-Saxon cwǣð-dīc = mud-ditch.

A street in Lower Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, England is named Quidditch Lane, supposedly after a type of nearby dry ditch called a Quidditch. Fans have been known to visit the area.

In November 2014, a plaque appeared outside the entrance of Bristol Children's Hospital attesting that the famous hooped sculptures which stand in front of the paediatric institution are, in fact, not a 15 m interactive installation inaugurated in 2001, but instead the goalposts used in the 1998 Quidditch World Cup.

In 2017, Quidditch was defined by Oxford Dictionaries, following the inclusion of Muggle in the Third (2003) Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford Dictionaries associate editor Charlotte Buxton explained that Quidditch had gained recognition beyond the books, pointing to its existence as a real-life sport.

In 2007 the United States Quidditch Association, back then named the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association or (I.Q.A), was founded to regulate quidditch in the United States and abroad, a very popular sport amongst college students.

Since 2005, many American schools, such as UC Berkeley, have added Quidditch to their list of team sports. The sport has since then spread across more than 25 countries and includes multiple international tournaments, including a World Cup.

In 2012, the International Quidditch Association held the IQA World Cup, then named the IQA Summer Games, as the torch was passing through Oxford, UK for the Summer Olympics.

Gameplay is based on the description in the books, films, and game adaptations, though the sport has been adapted to suit real-world constraints. Quidditch is still evolving to suit safe play for the members of the teams, male and female. Apart from joining teams registered with their national governing body, individuals are also able to become an official certified referee to officiate tournaments and games throughout the year as teams compete to take part in various national and international tournaments. As the oldest national governing body, USQ has hosted a grand total of ten US Quidditch Cups as of 2017.

In the United Kingdom, the Quidditch Premier League is played between 10 teams, split between the North and South divisions. In 2017, West Midlands Revolution won the QPL.

 

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 He missed Hogwarts so much

it was like having a constant stomachache.

He missed the castle, with its secret passageways

and ghosts, his classes… 

 

 

 ...the mail arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall,

sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, visiting the gamekeeper, Hagrid, in his cabin next to the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and especially, Quidditch,

the most popular sport in the wizarding world.
 

J. K. Rowling