Training and competition Special Olympics Great Britain is the country’s largest provider of year-round sports training and competition programmes for children and adults with learning disabilities. www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk New exhibition An exhibition of paintings by Jewish philanthropist Rose L Henriques reflects life in the old borough of Stepney. see below News Mike Punjabi and Hamza Dergoul with Brooklyn Nets star Tyshawn Taylor Hoop dreams come true TWENTY students from Tower Hamlets College had the thrill of a lifetime when they trained with US basketball teams the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks. They were invited to the O2 arena in Greenwich on January 15 by Special Olympics Great Britain as part of the NBA Carers programme, during the teams’ visit to London this month. The college basketball team and 15 students from the Foundation Learning department were put into groups to work on their fitness, dribbling, free throws and passing, each group supervised by professional basketball players. And they all had the chance to meet NBA All Star Jason Kidd, who coaches the Brooklyn Nets. Foundation to Pathways student Luke Davidge from Poplar said: “I had so much fun today! I loved meeting the players and I liked the way it brought everyone together.” Four students also attended a match the following evening, where they were introduced to the crowd at half-time along with NBA legends John Amaechi and Dikembe Mutombo. Tanya Blake, enrichment and mentoring coordinator at the college, said: “All of our students have had a fantastic time and I’d like to say a big thank you to both the NBA and Special Olympics Great Britain.” Ofsted praise for improving college BY LARAINE CLAY OFSTED inspectors praised Tower Hamlets College for raising standards and rated it as good. And they went on to grade the college’s business course provision as outstanding, noting the strong focus on developing students’ employment skills through initiatives including partnerships with companies at Canary Wharf. The inspectors said the college offered courses linked to the needs of the community and had dramatically improved exam success rates. College principal Gerry Mc- Donald said: “This is important recognition of the changes that have taken place at the college over the past four years. “Tower Hamlets College is now among the best in London and, as Ofsted found, has improved rapidly and significantly.” He said he welcomed Ofsted’s recognition of the quality of the teaching and innovative approaches to helping young people and adults progress into work or further education. Inspectors commented favourably on the college’s enthusiastic and skilled teachers and their imaginative lessons, while noting students’ enjoyment of studying and their high levels of motivation. But they said the college needed to improve further to achieve an outstanding rating. They said A level students needed to be stretched so more of them could achieve higher grades and employers needed to be involved more effectively in reviewing and developing learners’ skills. News in brief Meet the curator THE curator of an exhibition at the Local History Library entitled Stepney in Peace and War, which features the paintings of Jewish philanthropist Rose L Henriques, will give a free talk on the works on Thursday, January 30 from 6.30pm. To book a place call 7364 1290. The talk is at the library at 277 Bancroft Road, Mile End. Pharmacy feedback RESIDENTS are invited to a meeting about the role of pharmacies and local healthcare, organised by North East London Public Pharmacy Partnership The meeting is on Thursday, January 30 from 10.30am-3pm at Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial Street E1. To confirm attendance email cta@nelppp.org.uk or call 0560 125 2940 (local rate). Be passionate, students told POTENTI A L l awye r s applying for a postgraduate degree at an east London university were advised by a leading human rights solicitor to have passion and determination to succeed in their studies. Imran Khan, a former student of the University of East London and new patron of the university’s law clinic, studied at UEL more than 20 years ago. He was only 18 months into his job when he took on the Stephen Lawrence case, which propelled him on to a national and international stage. He said he believed his time at UEL helped him approach his work with confidence and a fearless attitude: “Part of what I remember from my education at UEL was to be fearless. “That comes with being young. What I also got from my education was reading between the lines and not accepting anything at face value. I absorbed this willingly and it put me in good stead for the Lawrence case.” Mr Khan also spoke about his personal experience and pursuing a career in law. “My example of coming from a non-red brick university and being able to succeed shows it is possible. Whatever university you come from, employers want to see passion and determination – and that it is what you need to succeed.” 27 JANUARY – 2 FEBRUARY 2014 NEWS FROM TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL AND YOUR COMMUNITY 5
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