November 2009 Archives

A GOVERNMENT official from the Far East came to learned about further education during a recent visit to Harrow College.
Dr Hoang Thi Lan Phuong, vice director of the Vietnamese department of higher education, toured the Harrow on the Hill campus in Lowlands Road, Harrow, on November 11 and spoke to the college principal Tony Medhurst about opportunities for co-operation including staff development for teachers back in her homeland.
Mr Medhurst said: "These visits are an important part of our international engagement strategy for the college.
"Dr Phuong had only couple of days in England and we are pleased that she chose to come to Harrow College as the only further education College on her visit.
"Our ongoing work with Language Link Vietnam and their general director, Gavan Iacono, made all of this possible and we are certain that there will be ongoing development opportunities for our staff and students as a part of this venture."
On Friday (27/11), the college had a guest closer to home when Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, Sarah Teather, who is her party's spokeswoman on housing, gave a lecture to A-level economics and humanities students.

YOUNG people from Harrow have taken rubbish plucked from the River Thames and turned it into public sculptures seen at one of Britain's most famous galleries.
Over six months, children and teenagers who form part of Harrow Council's Young Voices Group worked with other adolescents from Ealing and Westminster and three artists from the Tate Britain gallery in Pimlico, south London, to produce original works, as well as prints and poem.
Some of the finished pieces have been on display at Harrow Civic Centre, Station Road, Harrow, for the week up to today (Thursday) after having been shown at Tate Britain this summer as part of a display called Seeing Through that focused on 'motion' and 'material'.

TEACHER-turned-crime author Leigh Russell will be signing copies of her detective novel 'Cut Short' at Waterstones in St Ann's Road, Harrow, on Saturday, December 5.

PUDSEY the bear took a tour around Harrow town centre today to help a well-known bakers raise money for Children in Need.
Staff at Greggs, in St Ann's Road, Harrow, took turns to dress up in the bear suit to meet and greet children in the area this morning.
Lisa Burden, manager at the bakers, said: "We all had a go in the suit walking around Harrow, going into shops to collect money and having lots of photos with children.
"Last year was the first year Greggs really started raising money for Children in Need.
"Last year we dressed up and next Friday (20) we are going to dress up in our pyjamas and paint our faces yellow.
"Last year we raised just over £1,000 so we're hoping to raise the same again this year."

HARROW Philharmonic Choir perform on Saturday, November 14, at St George's Church in Pinner View, Harrow, at 7.30pm.
Conducted by John Wyatt, the group will sing Bernstein's 'Chichester Psalms' and Brahms' 'German Requiem'.

ACADEMICS are to strike on Friday at the University of Westminster in Harrow - potentially causing the cancellation of media, business and computing classes.
The one day walkout at all four of the institution's sites was called last week by the University and College Union (UCU) after talks over the introduction of a national pay scale framework - which should have been implemented three years ago - broke down.
UCU branch secretary Peter McLoughlin, who will be leading lecturers at the picket line in the Watford Road, Harrow, campus, said: "We think it's going to be an effective strike. We think we're pretty solid.
"In terms of teaching, we're effectively shutting down the university.
"We're not seeking to be disruptive - we have been forced to do this. Members are very cross."
Mr McLoughlin said the university had defied the national agreement from 2006 by
imposing new salary bands and job descriptions, which dumped more work on junior colleagues, and tabled individual contracts that took employees out of collective bargaining.
He said the university had further undermined the agreement by telling staff it would not honour back pay simply because it could not afford to do so, costing some colleagues hundreds of pounds a year.
A successful ballot in favour of industrial action was held by the union in September and while the result should have lapsed some weeks ago, the UCU and the university agreed to extend its expiry date by four weeks to give negotiations another go, but to no avail.
"We're still prepared to negotiate," Mr McLoughlin said. "We have been trying to get a reasonable deal. It's them who walked away."
He said the UCU had the support of students who will miss out on a day of teaching.
The university's Westminster Business School, School of Electronics and Computer Science and School of Media, Arts and Design are all based at its Harrow campus.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Rikki Morgan-Tamosunas said: "Students will be justifiably outraged by the Westminster UCU's decision to strike over a fair and sustainable deal.
"The Westminster Framework Agreement was one of the more generous in the sector.
"On top of that, our new offer included an increase in London Weighting Allowance of almost £1,000 for all academic staff, higher starting and ending points for most pay grades with automatic increments, and a professional development review by line managers.
"Staff will also have a transparent twice-yearly opportunity for grade review.
"The local UCU branch continues to ask for more at a time when the university needs to drive down costs - they are seeking to play fast and loose with jobs and the education of our students."
He said of the 563 UCU members at the university, only 252 voted in the ballot for industrial action and of those, just 134 were in favour of strike action, representing less than 8 per cent of the university's approximately 1,800 academic staff.

A burglar broke into a house in St Paul's Avenue, Harrow, on Friday (06/11) between 9am and 6pm and stole a laptop, a personal music player and £500 cash belonging to a 36 year old man.
It is thought the thief climbed on to a flat roof and reached in through a small open window to open a larger one.

The international friendly society is establishing a new social branch in Harrow and surrounding area.

WORKERS across the borough wore pink on Friday (30/10) at the culmination of 31 days of fundraising for Breakthrough Breast Cancer's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Patients and clinicians at private hospital The Clementine Churchill Hospital in Sudbury Hill, Harrow on the Hill, generated £360 after participants donned the signature colour and sold pink cupcakes.
Organiser Nicky Bhatt, women's health physiotherapist, said: "It's been a great success and the informal atmosphere has encouraged patients to form friendships and on going support outside the realms of the hospital."
Employees at Preston Bennett estate agents' branch in Church Road, Stanmore, shed their usual suited and booted image in aid of 'Wear It Pink' day.
Press spokesman Jeff Galatin said: "Estate agents sometimes have a reserved image, but the company revealed its fun pink side".
In wearing the fuchsia attire, they have so far raised £250 and are expecting more funds to follow.
Throughout October, staff at Debenhams in Station Road, Harrow, wore pink T-shirts and customers ate pink glittery fairy cakes in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Alongside the fundraising, staff handed out cards promoting breast cancer awareness and store spokesperson Nicola Trucker said it was "a good feeling to see people go the extra mile".
Last year, Breakthrough Breast Cancer raised £3.5million nationwide for 'Wear It Pink' day.

TEENAGERS will be telling police what they think about stop and search policy at an upcoming meeting of the Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group.
Members of the public will have the opportunity to quiz senior officers from Harrow Police on matters of local concern.
It takes place on Monday November 16 at 7.30pm at Harrow Civic Centre.
For further information contact Damian Markland on 0208 424 1785.