Schools/colleges

A TUITION service, which teaches pupils who are unable to attend school, is celebrating
receiving a 'good' rating in its latest Ofsted inspection.
Brent Educational Tuition Service (BETS), which teaches youngsters not at school because
of medical, social, behavioural or attendance-related issues, was inspected by the
education watchdog in November and was found to be providing 'exemplary care' and 'good
teaching'.
BETS has provided short and long-term education for 116 pupils in all 4 key stages over the last academic year.
An additional 157 youngsters were taught as in-patients at Northwick Park Hospital.
Pupils are each given an individual teaching plan and taught using a mixture of home tuition and classroom-based lessons at the three BETS sites.
The effectiveness of the school's engagement with parents and carers was judged by Ofsted
to be 'outstanding' and the report stated "staff work hard to cultivate supportive relationships and maintain effective communication channels with parents and carers."
The relationship between staff and pupils was described as providing "the bedrock of the
success of the service."
The report goes on to say BETS "is very successful in providing a safe haven for its pupils" who "rightly feel safe in this exceptionally caring environment where the staff give their undivided attention."
John Dowling, headteacher, said: "The report is very gratifying and a reflection of the hard work the staff have put into the last few years. We're very proud of the care and teaching we provide to our pupils."
Rik Boxer, assistant director for achievement and inclusion, said: "For some youngsters BETS is the last chance to get back on track and I'm delighted so many are making such good progress. Staff continually go the extra mile to meet the needs of pupils."

St Nicholas Prep School in Kingsbury took an active part in the World's Biggest Coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. The attendance was excellent and we raised a total of £182.91.

The deadline is fast approaching for people to give their views on Brent Council's draft Children and Young People's Plan for the next two years.
The plan has been developed with the help of NHS Brent and the borough's schools.
People have until April 24 to give their feedback on the plan, which sets out how public agencies will work together over the coming years to provide services for children and young people so they can make the most of life and achieve their full potential.
Members of Brent Youth Parliament were closely involved in its development to ensure that issues important to young people were given a high priority.
Download the Children and Young People's Plan 2009 - 2011 from the council's website by logging on to www.brent.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies where you will also find a simple questionnaire to give feedback.
The final policy document will be published by the middle of May 2009 alongside a plain English version for younger residents.

Long before the world was gripped to the inauguration of President Barack Obama, students at the College of North West London were setting up their first student parliament.

During their first meeting earlier this year student Johann Whittaker, 30, from Willesden, acted as chairman and invited students to discuss issues and put questions to the College principal Vicki Fagg.

The next meeting will be on March 4 when 17-year-old home interiors student David Campbell, from Neasden, will act as chairman. David is this year's Student's Union secretary and is also a member of Brent Youth Parliament.

Mercy Udoh, who helped to set up the parliament and works at the college, said: "It really is a good way of getting a wider number of students to participate in their college learning and have the opportunity to voice feedback on their learning experience and environment.

"Later we hope to expand it to include clubs and societies and other groups representing the three college centres in Willesden, Wembley Park and Kilburn."

Principal Vicki Fagg thinks the parliament is a good chance for students to voice their opinions about the college's services.

She said: "Principal's Question Time is only one item on the agenda. The rest is about them, to help them learn to debate. We hope they focus on what the college is doing well and what we could do better so they generate ideas for further improvement."

A college-owned company that ran computer training programmes has collapsed after "quality and performance concerns" with its Government contract.

The North West London Colleges Consortium (NWLCC) had provided award-winning Learndirect courses since 1999 from Crescent House at The College of North West London (CNWL) and later Dexion House, Empire Way, Wembley, but was put in administration late last year.

Founding colleges Harrow, Stanmore, St Dominic's Sixth Form and The College of North West London took their share of the firm's modest profits, and so the only financial blow to them is believed to be the absence of future income.

In a statement, NWLCC's board of directors said: "It is very regrettable that, after years of successful trading and despite the high quality of the company's training provision, NWLCC encountered recent difficulty in covering the operating costs associated with the delivery of its publicly funded programmes.

"Other similar companies have faced the same challenges. NWLCC staff worked hard to make sure that, wherever possible, students completed their qualifications before the closure of the company."

Stanmore College principal Jacqui Mace, who was chairwoman of the board, said the firm's downfall was in part due to a delay at government body University for Industry (UfI) over whether to renew the company's Learndirect contract.

She declined to go into more detail, saying only: "They held back on the number of centres there were, and changed the system from having a hub which managed a contract for a wide area.

"That caused quite a few problems. There was uncertainty about the future and the biggest issue was cash flow. NWLCC wasn't badly run - it was well run."

But a spokeswoman for the UfI said: "UfI terminated NWLCC's contract to deliver Learndirect in July 2008. NWLCC's contract was up for renewal in July 2008, therefore there was no delay in the timing of the decision.

"The decision was taken by UfI not to renew NWLCC's contract because of concerns about performance and the quality of the learning being delivered by the organisation. All providers are made fully aware of the performance and quality standards required before signing contracts."

A group of five bright teenagers have been elected as the leaders of this year's Brent Youth Parliament.

They will provide a voice for the young people in the borough and oversee 58 other youths, aged between 10 and 19, who were voted in to the parliament by their peers.

Petergaye Palmer, 17, from Wembley High Technology College will be chairing the group and James Thomas, 16, from Claremont High School, will take the role as vice chair.

Usman Mirza, 15, from John Kelly Boys will be secretary and Kishan Parshotam, 16, from Northwick Park Youth Club and Rizwaan Malik, 13, from Kenton will represent Brent on the UK Youth Parliament.

A new children's centre has opened in Wembley offering a wide range of services for families in the area.

The £374,000 facility, which is housed within the recently-opened Wembley Primary School in East Lane, is already proving popular with the community.

Activities include under five stay and play sessions, speech and language therapy classes, diet and nutrition support, a Citizens Advice Bureau and creche.

IT courses, yoga, Jobcentre Plus and English language courses are also being introduced.

The centre's manager, Claire Charles, said: "We are delighted that the centre has already been so well received by parents and children and we are looking forward to welcoming many more new faces.

"The beauty of the centre is the wide range of services that we offer under one roof, it's a great place to come to get help and information on a range of issues and of course to meet other parents and make new friends."

The centre is one of seven being developed as part of a £3.6million council programme.

Two have already opened at the Wembley Centre for Health and Care, in Chaplin Road, and the Willesden Centre for Health and Care, in Robson Avenue.And further children's centres are opening in Queens Park and Alperton community schools and Fryent Primary School.

Councillor Bob Wharton, responsible for children and families, said: "Parents with small children can sometimes face problems and perhaps not know how or where to get advice.

"This new children's centre will allow them to access many support services and help to give children the best possible start."

For more information about childcare, contact Brent Council's children and families information service on 020 8937 3001.

Brent's leading school for Hindus has been described as outstanding by independent school assessors.
The Swaminarayan School, in Brentfield Road, Neasden, was commended in a recent inspection and judged to provide all of its pupils with a " well-rounded educational experience of high quality."
In summing up the school, officers from the Independent Schools Inspectorate, said: "Academic standards are high overall when compared to those found nationally and the quality of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding.
"The leadership of the school is outstanding and its management at each level and in both schools is very effective. It is very well supported by a highly qualified body of teaching staff who in turn are ably assisted by a committed team of administrative and ancillary staff."
The school was founded in 1992 and provides mainstream education while reinforcing Hindu culture and tradition for children aged two and a half to eighteen years. It was the first Hindu-only school in the UK.
The Head teacher Mahendra Savjani said, "Although we know that we are an excellent school with high standards and brilliant examination results, I am delighted to have the endorsement from a team of ten highly experienced inspectors who spent a week in the school.
"The credit for this success goes to our teamwork - committed and dedicated staff supported by governors, hardworking pupils and parents who recognise the value of education."

A group of five bright teenagers have been elected as the leaders of this year's Brent Youth Parliament.

They will provide a voice for the young people in the borough and oversee 58 other youths, aged between 10 and 19, who were voted in to the parliament by their peers.

Children as young as four took to the stage at Wembley Academy's first ever Christmas play yesterday.

There wasn't a dry eye in the packed house as more than 50 pupils performed
Jesus in the Manger at the school in Forty Avenue.