19 November 2012 - SCOLA Principal speaks at Guildford College

SCOLA’s Principal, Saboohi Famili, gave a presentation to the Board of Governors at Guildford College today. She shared with the Board some of the activities that have been undertaken by SCOLA and also events that are currently being planned. Baroness Sharp, one of the Governors, had this to say: “Thank you very much for coming and talking to us. It was very useful indeed for the group to see the range of activities which you are involved in and to sense the degree to which you have been able to enthuse people by your ‘can-do’ mentality. “

03 October 2012 - Community Learning in Society

SCOLA's Principal, Saboohi Famili, is addressing an audience of educators and government representatives on the role of Community Learning in Society. She will be speaking to those present on how the College encourages adults to enrol at SCOLA; What support services are available specifically for adult students; The advantages of returning to studies later in life: How colleges can help students maximise their potential; Providing apprenticeship programmes for adults so that they can prepare for future employment; Helping students fund their journey through education; What FE colleges like SCOLA can do to encourage adult learning. Delegates will be given the opportunity to ask questions. The opening key note address was conducted by Prof Danny Saunders entitled New Challenges & New Chances: Moving forwards with Community Learning.

5 September 2012 - Tom Brake made Deputy Leader of the House of Commons

Congratulations to Tom Brake who, as part of David Cameron’s reshuffle, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington has been made a member of the government. MP Tom Brake was made the deputy leader of the House of Commons yesterday and said: “It is a great honour to have been appointed deputy leader of the House of Commons, in the mother of all Parliaments. “I will strive to do the job to the best of my ability, whilst ensuring that constituents' concerns - such as the need to maintain vital services at St Helier Hospital - are given the priority they deserve.” SCOLA wishes him all the best in his new role.

7 July 2012 - Jubilee Summer Concert

The SCOLA Choir, together with the Singing for Pleasure group and the Tollingbourne Accordion Orchestra, presented their summer concert at St. Paul’s Church, Northey Avenue, Cheam on 7th July at 7.30pm. The event was a great success and enjoyed by those that attended! Well done!

3 July 2012 – Orchard Hill College Award Ceremony

SCOLA’s Principal, Saboohi Famili, attended the Orchard Hill College, Wallington, award ceremony at the Old Town Hall on Tuesday, 3rd July. She said that it was a privilege to be present at the ceremony and to be able to share in the students’ achievements. This is one of the highlights on the Principal’s calendar. It is always a pleasure for her to be part of this exuberant celebration of achievements on the part of the hard working students and their dedicated tutors and support workers. Caroline Allen OBE, Principal of Orchard Hill College, presented the prizes, together with Peter Simpson (Executive Head of Education, Learning & Intervention - London Borough of Sutton), Neil Roberts (Head of Area Relationship Team – Skills Funding Agency) and Orchard Hill College’s Chair of Governors, Mavis Peart.

Congratulations to Caroline Allen and her excellent team for yet another year of successful achievements for their learners.

25 June 2012 - AoC Summer Reception

The Association of Colleges (AoC) Summer reception took place on Monday 25 June 2012 from 4 – 6pm, The Terrace, House of Commons. The event was hosted by Stephen Lloyd MP. At the event, the AoC launched their new publication ‘On the right course’, which celebrates the wide range of courses Colleges offer their communities, often reflecting their region or city’s heritage and industry. The event provided those present with an opportunity to meet their President for the 2012-13 academic year, Maggie Galliers, Principal of Leicester College. In the presence of Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, John Hays, Maggie launched the AoC’s latest publication “On the Right Course” which showcases and highlights the depth and breadth of provision that colleges provide by giving examples from colleges across the UK. Minister John Hays also addressed the attendees outlining the three challenges he saw as prominent and pressing matters for the sector. You can see a short video of the ministers address on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rowgfly4HW0 A great time was had by those who attended.

30 May 2012 - SCOLA's Principal provides advice!

SCOLA’s Principal, Saboohi Famili, is attending the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) RSC (Regional Support Centre) Adult & Community Learning Advisers annual meeting in order to give Provider input in support of future and forward planning of JISC RSC services. Over 10 senior advisors from across the UK will be in attendance who collectively support all the ACL providers in the country. The session is being held at Senate House, University of London today, 30th May 2012. The Principal will be providing some ideas on how JISC can ensure that their service focuses on the needs of the ACL sector in these difficult times. JISC’s remit is to provide advice to providers on effective use of technology for both teaching and learning and in business processes. SCOLA’s Principal was asked to provide advice as a Principal's perspective on the key challenges facing the sector to support JISC in shaping and focussing their services over the next few years. SCOLA, a unique ACL provider of education in South London, has had a degree of success over the past couple of years in remaining focused and positive in dealing with financial austerity and these challenging times and has been successful in securing various bids to support innovation and creativity in design, delivery and support of the curriculum through the use of technology. Saboohi Famili, the Principal of SCOLA said: “SCOLA benefited greatly from the support provided by JISC RSC London both in showcasing our success and from the advice provided to help us plan our eLearning development.” She is delighted to be able to help the group by attending today’s annual meeting.

17 May 2012 - COSLP Best Learner Awards

SCOLA’s COSLP Best Learner, Elspeth Clarke, was accompanied by the Principal and Caroline O’Reilly - Programme Manager, Modern Foreign Languages/Cultural Studies and her sister, Gillian Clarke, to the House of Lords yesterday at Westminster. Elspeth is a superb example of a learner who contributes to the learning of all those around her. She is constantly challenging herself to achieve and has set herself very high standards in studying A level language courses achieving outstanding grades. More importantly Elspeth motivates all around her with infectious drive and energy. She is keen to support fellow students and always generous with her time supporting activities in the College. Elspeth in her eagerness to maintain the opportunities for adults is a great advocate for adult learning, making her voice heard and ensuring all are enthused similarly. She contributes a huge amount to the adult learning community and is able to share her experience with managers impacting on the direction of the college and embodying the College values of PRIDE, which revolve around inspiring others and developing rewarding relationships wherever possible.

10 May 2012 – Thanks for good wishes!

Recently SCOLA’s Principal, Saboohi Famili, wrote to Kate Anderson (Regional Director – Association of Colleges, London Region) on hearing about her retirement. This is what Kate had to say… “Thank you for your kind words in your recent letter to me on hearing about my retirement. I am really touched that you took the time to write; real letters are such rare things these days that they have become quite special. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and to learn more about the innovative work done by SCOLA. My very best wishes for a successful future for you and the College. I’ll ask Cyheme, who manages my and subsequently Caroline’s diary, to find an opportunity for you and Caroline to meet to discuss the ways in which AoC, SCOLA (and COSLP?) can continue working together. As for me, I’ve got so many plans lined up that I’m sure I will soon join the legions of people who claim they can’t now imagine how they ever found time to fit in work – very tedious for you and everyone else who is still working hard to give students a better chance for a better future! Please keep up your good work and thank you again for your good wishes.” We certainly do wish Kate well and we hope that she has a long an happy retirement!

04 May 2012 - Congratulations to Claire Templeman!

Congratulations go SCOLA's watercolour art student Clare Templeman, who has painted "Africa" for 'Black History Month'. Clare is also a member of the Sutton Watercolour Artists AA Group, whose work is currently displayed in the Europa Gallery, Sutton Library. She was awarded the Paula Piers Memorial Trophy for the most original watercolour painting in the exhibition. Fantastic work - Well done Claire!

27 March 2012 – Principal attends Social Return on Investment Development Day

At a time when available resources for revision are highly constrained, providers have increased freedom to define their activities. This makes it more important than ever to demonstrate the full impact of what we do as an organisation, and justify decisions to invest in one area of provision as opposed to another.
LSIS is working with the new economics foundation (nef) to help providers in the sector to measure outcomes which are traditionally difficult to measure – the value as experienced in communities and by learners. By the end of the year, with the involvement of several partners in the sector, LSIS will have developed an adapted Social Return on Investment measurement tool for the FE and Skills sector. Organisations who participate in this workshop will be invited to be part of the pilot cohort that will benefit from calculating the social value of the role they play. SCOLA’s Principal, Saboohi Famili, is attending this event in Coventry today.

25 March 2012 – Praise for SCOLA course held at Seears Park!

Recently SCOLA received glowing feedback from a student who had attended a ‘Gardening for Beginners’ course held at Seears Park. The course facilitator was praised for the way in which he presented the course and the student had this to say – “May I congratulate the facilitator Kevin on an excellent course - it was bursting with information and transformed my confidence in dealing with my garden. His style was exactly what you would expect from a tutor - brimming with enthusiasm for his subject and able to steer a group of different participants through the day. I will be recommending this course to all my contacts at work. Well done on having this option - these courses should be compulsory for everyone with a garden!”
So glad that this course has had such a positive effect!

16 March 2012 - Raising funds for charity!

The SCOLA Line Dancers raised over £900 for the Diamond Riding School at a charity line dance held at SCOLA. More than 100 people enjoyed the evening and supported this worthy cause.
 
The Diamond Riding Centre is a charity providing riding lessons for disabled children and adults, who not only gain confidence physically, but also emotionally in their close contact with the horses.
 
The Riding School receives no government or local authority funding, and depends upon fund-raising events, donations, and a team of volunteers to keep the school going.

14 March 2012 - Mobile Learning Environment (MoLE)

SCOLA's Principal, Saboohi Famili, is attending a two day MoLE Workshop in Windsor. The MoLE project aims to leverage the global cellular network infrastructure and mobile technologies to build a mobile learning (m-Learning) capability. The project has been put together to demonstrate that participants can conduct training through the use of mobile devices. Twenty-two countries around the globe are being represented at this event.

No doubt, an interesting and stimulating time will be had by all!

10 March 2012 - Celebrating Life!

On Sunday 11th March 2012 Japan Cultural Activities, Sutton, is hosting a memorial concert for Utoya(Norway) and Fukushima(Japan) entitled 'Celebrating Life' This concert brings together old and young, professional and non-professional musicians who wish to celebrate their own precious and unique lives through music.

The event is being held at the Sutton Friends Meeting House, 10 Cedar Road, Sutton, SM2 5DA from 13:45 - 16:30 and admission is by donation only. The doors open at 13:30.

If you can, please go along and support this worthy cause as this concert is about the expression of happiness through music, and not just the music skill.

29 February 2012 – AoC Governance Summit 2012

Today the Association of Colleges (AoC) held their 2012 Governance Summit entitled “Strategic Governance for a dynamic FE sector” at Central Hall, Westminster, London.

John Bingham, Chair, AoC, welcomed those present, including an introduction to the live interactive technology being used throughout the event. Susan Pember OBE, Director, Further Education and Skills Investment and Performance, Department for Business Innovation and Skills addressed the delegates on the Government’s position regarding the FE sector. Other topics on the agenda include ‘Leading change in colleges: What the new freedoms might mean’ and ‘The new accountabilities of governing bodies’. There will be opportunity for delegates to have roundtable discussions and Lorna Fitzjohn, Divisional Manager, Learning and Skills Development and Strategy Directorate HMI, Ofsted, will give a view from Ofsted. John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning will address the delegates later in the day and the summit will conclude with a summary and overview of the day’s events and ‘next steps’.

An interesting day for the delegates.

29 November 2011 - Internet & Email 'Getting Started' classes

Recently the Principal, Saboohi Famili, visited Pam Coleman-Smith's Internet & Email 'Getting Started' class at SCOLA's North Cheam Centre. Each student were set up with their own emaill address and the Principal sent them each an email saying that she had enjoyed meeting them and that she hoped that they continued to enjoy their studies at SCOLA. She invited the students to take the time to share their views on how their learning experience at SCOLA could be improved. A good way for sharing views would be to join the Student Focus Group and the students were encouraged to join if they were interested in doing so. One of the students responded to the Principal's email as follows: "Thanks for the interest taken. I have benefited from the course, thanks to the good tutor. I have enrolled on the 'Getting More Involved' course".

The students were wished the best of luck with their studies.

29 November 2011 - SCOLA represented at the BQF Winners Conference

SCOLA’s Principal and Deputy Principal attended the 2011”Winning with Excellence” Award Winners Conference on 29th November at IET Savoy Place London – the conference featured many of the Winners of the BQF National Awards.
This unique event featured speakers from the following 2011 BQF Award Winners:
• Bishop Burton College - winner of the UK Excellence Award
• Co-operative Banking Group - winner of the BQF Achievement Award for Process Improvement
• CooperVision - winner of the Lean Six Sigma Award
• Phoenix Futures - winner of the BQF Achievement Award for Leadership
• The Probation Service - winner of the BQF Gold Medal for Excellence
• Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies - winner of the UK Excellence Award
• Skanska UK - winner of the BQF Achievement Award for Sustainable Future
• St Anne's Primary School - winner of the UK Excellence Award
• Virgin Trains - winner of the BQF Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction
All of these organisations have demonstrated exceptional performance and this event brought them all together to share the secrets of their success for the first and only time.

27 October 2011 - SCOLA Principal attends NIACE AGM

SCOLA’s Principal attended the NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) AGM which was held in London today! The Annual General Meeting provides NIACE members with an opportunity to make their voices heard in shaping the debate on the future of adult learning. NIACE aims to encourage all adults to engage in learning of all kinds.

11 October 2011 - Mental Health Open Day

The centre in Belmont has been open for a number of years, and last year won a bid to refurbish, and have added an extra office/interview space and a larger training room with new computers. SCOLA has had 2 Literacy with computing classes there for the last ¾ years, and also started a progression class at Sutton 2 years ago, for some of the earlier students to move back in to the wider college life. We have been exploring how many of their members would be interested in a maths class and are now ready to actually start a basic class, to help them with managing their money, and everyday life.

The Principal, Saboohi Famili, had the privilege of presenting certificates to various students at the Open Day event.

Chris Jackson
Head SfL English & Maths