24 May 2010- Election of the Mayor of London Borough of Sutton

Thanks to Dr Ian Birnbaum- Strategic Director - Children, Young People and Learning Services at the London Borough of Sutton who organised a last minute ticket so that I could attend the London Borough of Sutton's Annual Council meeting. I enjoyed the proceedings and found them very interesting, particularly as the SCOLA choir entertained the audience with pieces from My Fair Lady. The after dinner refreshments allowed me to meet with some council members, as well as a few officers in the council. It was very flattering to hear that Paul Martin- Chief Executive of London Borough of Sutton - had heard about my arrival at SCOLA and that he was impressed that in such a short time a positive impact has been made. There is so much that SCOLA can build upon and I am very pleased with the excellent relationship we have with the Council that no doubt will assist me in my quest to drive forward SCOLA to be a powerful local service to support the education and economic development in the Borough. It was very pleasant to hear from the Worshipful The Mayor, Councillor Margaret Court, of how supportive she is of SCOLA and that she would be willing to support us in our events and activities. I came away from the event feeling a buzz. So much to do ... so much to learn... Saboohi Famili- Principal

20 May 2010- The House of Lords Comittee of South London Principals ALW Event

It was a great pleasure to receive an invitation to afternoon tea from Lord Tope CBE in order to join in the celebration of the South London Best Learner Awards at the House of Lords.

How appropriate! As SCOLA had the winner of the Outstanding Individual learner award in London ,we were so proud to be there. SCOLA was also proud to have two staff members namely, Jacqui McElwee - Snr. Lecturer, Performance, Health, Fitness & Hospitality and Laurie Nicholls - Head of Centre, Wallington, presented with their awards for achieving the CMI qualification on the Advance Management Training Programme.

It was great to meet colleagues from Carshalton College, and Croydon College, as well as Clare Arnold that I used to know from Thames Valley University at the event. It sure is a small world!

It was a very inspiring and elegant event and winners were deservedly acknowledged, commended and their achievements celebrated.

I came away once more thinking about all the dedication and determination, as well as all the hard work that both learners and staff put in to make such success stories possible. So proud to be a teacher, so priviledged to be leading SCOLA!

Saboohi Famili- Principal

18 May 2010- London Regional Adult Learners' Week Award Ceremony - Waltham Forest College

What a wonderful do! A lavish lunch prepared by Level 1 School Link learners. Their tutor had a gleeful look in his eye when he told me how he runs his kitchen and keeps the learners under control! Afer lunch we were ushered to the hall for the award ceremony proceedings - a large room full of proud learners, their nominators, learning providers and supporters.

I felt so proud to be sitting next to Bob Wells- a student from SCOLA who won the Outstanding Individual Learner in London Award, and his tutor who nominated him for the award, Sarah Freeman. Sarah is an exceptional Dyslexia specialist and literacy tutor from SCOLA and was so proud to see Bob's joy.

Reading Bob's story that was printed in the Metro that I picked up before getting on the train earlier that afternoon had me fighting back the tears. What an inspirational tale!

Being present at the UK's largest festival of celebration of adult learning as the new Principal of the College that produced the outstanding winner is not something that happens everyday. The afternoon flew by. Story after story brought a sense of delight amongst the audience and made those of us in the field of education remember why we came to the sector in the first place.

During the break we were entertained by the Art and Dance Students X7eaven. A lively and entertaining performance that went down very well.

I left Sarah and Bob to enjoy the afternoon tea and to make the decision as to which photographs to bring back. Walking to the station I thought to myself that in these challenging times, the importance of taking on a new challenge like Bob did is no mean feat. In my heart I applauded those whose stories I had heard today and wished them well for a very bright future. I am so proud to be leading a College like SCOLA and hope to be able to build on the successes to date and take the College forward even further.

12 May 2010- First College Management Team

Having read the minutes of the previous Supervisors and Managers meeting it was clear to me that I needed to engage this group in shaping the future of SCOLA.

I enjoyed planning the session in the short period of time I had to plan it. It felt wonderful looking for resources in order to conduct the College Management Team meeting in a different way and I am glad that colleagues were so receptive of the creative leadership I am beginning to introduce at SCOLA.

There is such talent, dedication and a great deal of energy at the College and my challenge is to allow it to flourish and to find a way to tap into this great resource.

I received excellent feedback from the team and glad to sense that there is a feeling of positive energy and hope amongst them. We need all the positivity we can get in order to be ready to face the challenges ahead of us! So glad my lesson planning skills have not left me completely. I guess once a teacher always a teacher?!

4 May Start of a new journey

I am delighted join Sutton College of Learning for Adult (SCOLA) on 4th of May 2010. I look forward to working with my dedicated colleagues to building on the successes achieved to date and with their help leading the college to achieving even greater success for the Sutton community and beyond.
I started my working life as an Electronic Engineer and an assistant Professor at Tehran Toosi University. As an entrepreneur I started my Training and Development Business back in Iran in 1994 and since moving to England in 1999 I have held various positions in FE Colleges and HE Institutions. These range from a Lecturer and Team Leader post in Engineering and IT at Merton College to more recently, a member of the senior management team at Thames Valley University leading on the Future Skills project and the Strategic Business Development Unit.
I have over 8 years experience of developing and delivering creative, flexible, business and educational solutions in the regional, national and global marketplace. I have more than 13 years experience of teaching on and managing a wide range of training and learning support provision at a variety of large and complex institutions in Further and Higher education.
I have an MA in Educational Leadership and Management; I am an Electronic Engineer with a BSc Degree in Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications and have extensive skills working in Engineering, IT, and Education. I am a qualified teacher with a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the Institute of Education.

I have strong leadership and management skills including the ability to motivate and achieve maximum buy-in from all stakeholders, building successful new teams or improving the performance of existing ones. I am a good listener and take pride in creating fun, inclusive, non discriminatory and rewarding working environments.
My recent work at Thames Valley University enabled me to start from scratch the Strategic Business Development unit leading on the Future Skills project. The project was backed by an £8m Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) grant. To date it has achieved great success and met all its targets. During my time at TVU I have been very successful in bidding for additional funding to create new provision to address the recession, unemployment and organising targeted support for Business Start-ups. Colleagues often comments on my ability to inspire confidence in people and my infectious energy, drive and determination to achieve excellence and meet ambitious targets.
In my spare time I enjoy walking and hiking, photography, playing the piano and various sports from yoga to squash.
I would be updating this blog with my thoughts and hope you find the reads intersting and of value. I welcome your feedback and support. Thanks for reading my blog.