3 August 2010- Meeting Tony Ward

Today I met with Tony Ward from Home Instead Senior Care. A proud manager of a leading domiciliary care franchise company. They provide a range of award winning services which allow older people to remain in their own home for as long as possible.

We discussed various options to find out how SCOLA can help Tony and his staff in developing their skills in providing more comprehensive care for older people with dimentia. We also explored SCOLA working with Tony's team on providing innovative use of technology for the elderly. Exciting times for the newly established company and SCOLA wishes Tony and his colleagues the very best of luck for the future.

Saboohi Famili - Principal

2 August 2010- Meeting Anna Burke from Eco-Actif

Meeting Anna Burke - Director of Training - Eco-Actif was very positive.

Eco-Actif Services is a Community Interest Company (CIC) offering practical help and support for economically inactive people including ex-offenders, people recovering from substance and alcoholic misuse and lone parents. They run a number of successful and innovative programmes tackling the problems connected with long term unemployment and social exclusion. They work with their partners to improve lives and help reduce crime in society.

Anna and I discussed various ways for SCOLA and Eco-Actif to become partners with the aim of providing complementary services to the communities we serve.

I look forward to working with Anna and her colleagues at Eco-Actif.

Saboohi Famili - Principal

29 July 2010 - Laughing Cow Comedy Night in Lodnon

On a tip off from a good friend I went to see Shazia Mirza in London this evening. She was trialling her act for the Edinburgh Festival and a select few had tickets to see her live. Shazia Mirza, an award winning British Asian Muslim Stand up Comedian from Birmingham England, is renowned for her one-liners. I found her controversial act extremely funny. If you haven't seen her in action, a search on You Tube will give you some examples of her genius work. I wish her the very best at the festival and look forward to welcoming her to SCOLA for one of the comedy series we are planning for next year. Watch this space....



Saboohi Famili - Principal

29 July 2010 - A visit from Sandra Pennewiss from TVU

This week seems to be the week of meeting with colleagues from the past. Sandra Pennewiss one of the Skills and Enterprise advisers at TVU visited SCOLA today to explore if there are any opportunities for SCOLA to initiate a Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme.

In her true perfect fashion, whilst discussing possibilities around the partnership, she managed to resolve a few IT glitches on my laptop and show me a few tricks on how to edit movies and create bespoke firefox panels.

I wish her the very best for her future and look forward to exploring working with TVU on a potential KTP.

Saboohi Famili - Principal

27 July 2010 - Kasumi Witty is on the case...

The lecture series at SCOLA is starting to take shape for next year. Well done to Kasumi Witty - Learner & Client Services Manager, for organising experts, volunteers and enthusiasts to come and discuss their ideas for "Lecture Series at SCOLA" with me this week. She has been an absolute trooper in the way that she has gone about taking so many of the new marketing initiatives on board and getting on with organising them for next year. Our lecture series will be very interesting and I am personally very excited to see the calendar shaping up for the new term. So far we have a variety of programmes from Business Management seminars to ADHD to appreciation of classical music on the programme. Watch this space for further details.

Saboohi Famili - Principal

26 July 2010- Meeting Meg Irving from Carshalton College

It was a great joy to see Meg at lunch time. I had the pleasure of working with Meg at Carshalton College for many years and always found her willing to help and in fact she went out of her way to make things happen, at times to the point of being obsessed with perfection...

I was very amused to hear that she now has a wild hedgehog in her garden! As a true animal lover it must have been a treat for her when Herbert (the hedgehog) joined Meg's cat for dinner one night!

Meg didn't need much prompting when I asked her to send me her signature mark website lists and further information about how to deal with students with Tourette syndrome the moment I mentioned I needed some help. It was great to see her and I wish her the very best of luck. Meg if you are reading this I hope you don't find any spelling mistakes!

The lunch at Brasserie Vacherin in Sutton has an award winning chef and was fabulous - highly recommended!

Saboohi Famili - Principal

5 August 2010 - Visiting Phillip Butler at UCL

I had a very worthwhile visit to the University of London today. Phil Butler - Snr e-Learning Advisor - greeted me outside Russell Square after my delayed journey. After a tasty meal we headed off to Senate House to discuss how UCL could support SCOLA in our quest to become a pioneer ACL College in the use of technology.
Phil gave me and a few other visitors a whistle stop tour of the inspiring Senate House building. There are fascinating stories behind each room, which are designed to perfection and are truly beautiful.

Phil, in his usual helpful manner, took me around the office, introduced me to colleagues and has already arranged for Bernard Agdebo and Martin Sepion from RSC- London to visit SCOLA so that we can discuss a way forward. He also showcased and demonstrated various features from moodle and showed me exemplar websites from other colleges. It was great to see him enjoy doing what he does best - helping people use technology empowered tools and systems to grow, improve and progress. A very worthwhile day with great promise for the future.

Saboohi Famili - Principal