Hideously diverse Britain: the college where histories collide

Taken from The Guardian, Friday 29 January 2010.
By Hugh Muir.



1940 RAF Cadets on the steps



2010 WFC Students on the steps


It was 1940 and the 200 students of South West Essex Technical College posed ramrod straight on the sharply inclined steps; ties stiff, uniforms crisp. They were RAF ­cadets learning science and ­engineering at the place that was dubbed the People's University. Unsurprisingly, those pictured were all white.

The place is called Waltham Forest College nowadays and the grand steps remain imposing. The porticos, by sculptor Eric Gill, have been lovingly preserved.

But last week, when the east London college recreated that recently discovered archive photograph, everything else was different. The formation was identical to that created with military precision all those years ago, but lining the steps were 200 students from ­another generation, another century. White Britons, black Britons, teenagers of Asian and African and Mediterranean and Eastern European descent. A student body with links to every continent on the planet. Speakers of 76 different ­languages. Each standing out in the cold to make a statement. "I told them it was their job to represent their era, just as the cadets in 1940 were symbolic of that time," said lecturer Gaverne Bennett. "They bought into it."

At the front stood a young Muslim woman, her dark blue coat tightly ­buttoned, her headscarf electric green. In the third row of four there were black girls shivering in their blue ­beauticians' uniforms. In the next, boys from Asia and the Middle East, easily visible in white catering garb with conical hats to match.

The English as a second language students (ESOL) were the hardest to ­organise into place, but once the camera shutter had clicked, they were as ­exuberant as the others. "One day my family will see it and know that I was part of something," Glori Mutshipayi, 19, from Congo, told me; flanked by his associates, two Poles and a Pakistani.

It's not Nirvana. It's a 21st-century ­college where cultures meet, histories collide. But it works. They live, they learn. Stella Fleming, head of ESOL, recalls worrying about a class containing Bosnians and Croatians, but says she quickly realised it wasn't going to be a problem. "Being away from that situation, their view was that 'we've all lost'. They just wanted to learn the ­language more than anything else."

Students at Waltham Forest College help support World Aids Day

01/12/09

On Tuesday 1 December 2009, the School of Vocational Care at Walthamstow Forest College hosted their first fund-raising event in support of World Aids Day. World Aids Day has helped raise awareness and support the 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS today.

Students studying Childcare, Hospitality & Catering and Hair & Beauty hosted this event in the student common room. Their enthusiasm for this cause was demonstrated by the highly organised display of products available for purchase on their stalls.

Russell Joseph – Head of School for Vocational Care said, “The event has worked well for both students and staff who have helped put together today. The students raised a fantastic £277!”

Each department showed a high-level of creativity in designing, preparing and selling Christmas gifts which included Clarins beauty products, handmade satin Christmas socks, hand-crafted candles and donations of clothes all in the colour red, the official World Aids Day colour. Other stalls included nail art and hair styling.

Ruma Aktar, Entry Level Student, Certificate for Preparation for Working with Children, organised one of the stalls, selling small chocolate gift sets. Ruma said, “I feel great about the event because it is for charity and a good cause. It is exciting to be taking part and I have found the whole experience really interesting. I am grateful to be given the chance to take part.”

Members of staff from the Terence Higgins Trust (THT) were present at the event to help support the students throughout the day. Seminars were hosted to build awareness about sexually transmitted diseases and the reality of AIDS today. This was a great opportunity for the students at Waltham Forest College to access information about sexually transmitted diseases, which they may not otherwise be aware of.

Michelle Harewood, a representative from the Terence Higgins Trust, said, ‘As someone who works closely with people living with HIV, it is refreshing to see so many young people coming together to help a worthy cause”.

Waltham Forest College student Ayrton Shaka Sukul reaches regional final of Future Chef competition

02/12/09

A schoolboy is making his mark as a budding chef after reaching the regional finals of a competition.

Fourteen-year-old Ayrton Shaka Sukul served up pan fried pollock and tarte tatin in the local finals of the Future Chef 2010 competition, and his dishes came out top in the taste test.

He now goes onto the regional finals of the cooking contest in which thousands of pupils from more than 700 schools throughout the UK are taking part.

The teenager attends Frederick Bremer School in Siddeley Road, Walthamstow, and spends a day and a half a week at Waltham Forest College in Forest Road, Walthamstow, where he is studying for a diploma in hospitality.

He said: “I am a big fan of Gino D’Acampo and I love watching him cooking on television. He is my inspiration and I want to go all the way in this competition so I can follow in his footsteps.

“I would like to own my own restaurant. I love cooking and always cook at home with my family.”

Mary Jo Hoyne, head of school for hospitality, travel and tourism at Waltham Forest College, said: “His success in this competition will allow him to explore many other aspects of the hospitality industry.”

The local finals were the second stage of the four stage competition organised by the national youth charity Springboard.

The four finalists had to prepare a hot main course and hot or cold dessert for two people, with a budget of £6.

Ayrton is one of nine pupils from four secondary schools studying for a higher level diploma in hospitality, which is the equivalent of seven GCSEs.

Pupils from Tom Hood, Kelmscott, and Rushcroft schools in Waltham Forest, as well as Frederick Bremer School, are studying for the diploma at the college.

In addition to cooking, the course covers business, kitchen design, and front of house operations.

Axed pool could re-open

The borough's axed premiere training pool may re-open in January, it has been confirmed.

The pool, at Waltham Forest College, in Forest Road, Walthamstow, was closed in September as operator Greenwich Leisure Ltd was not prepared to fund it any longer and the college is unable to divert cash needed for teaching.

But another company, Active Leisure Management (ALM), is now in talks with the college and the Friends of the Pool (FOTP) about re-opening the facility in January.

ALM believes it can keep costs down by opening the pool for six to eight hours and charging groups including FOTP and Walthamstow Tritons to use it.

John Allan, ALM director, says it would be too costly to open it to the general public, but swimmers could join the groups to use the pool.

He said: “ I had a look at it and it is a quality building, the pool is fit for use, everything is ready to go. It is such shame it is not being used. We are trying our best to come up with a plan, we don't need to make a lot of money from it because we don't have shareholders.”

FOTP, which has been paying £300 a month for the maintenance of the chemicals in the pool, says the facility is unique in Waltham Forest in offering unrestricted lane swimming.

Nick Wadham-Smith, FOTP member, said, “The college has been supportive and we are delighted that the hard work of a community group and a college may have a fantastic result for the community.”

Peter Glasgow, Waltham Forest College vice-principal, said he was “pretty confident” the pool will re-open soon. He said, “We see it as a community resource. We were not happy about it closing and if we can bring other people in to work with them to get the pool used that is great.”

The college intended to close the pool two years ago but a council-brokered, part-subsidised deal with Greenwich Leisure Ltd, which expired in June, gave it a reprieve.

An expected redevelopment of the college, which would have seen the pool demolished, did not happen for financial reasons.

Council leader Chris Robbins has ruled out any further subsidy from the taxpayer.

Waltham Forest College supports Colleges' Week

09/11/09

Waltham Forest College offers free pamper sessions to Support Colleges Week

Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy students from Waltham Forest College provided free pamper sessions during Colleges Week. Approximately 30 employees at the Haven House Children's Hospice had the opportunity to enjoy facials, manicures and pedicures over the course of the week.

Staff and volunteers at the Hospice, located in East London, care for children and young people between the ages of 0 to 19 who have life-limiting conditions and who are unlikely to reach adulthood.

Alex Le-Vey, Assistant to the Chief Excutive at the Hospice, said: 'The College is doing a really good thing, I don’t know of anything like this taking place since I've worked here. It's good that our staff and volunteers are being given a chance to relax when you think of all the good work they do day in day out.'

Roohi Mirza, Salon Operations Manager at the College said: 'We often provide this kind of service to the local community and our students really find it rewarding.'

Jane Waller, a student on the Fast Track Beauty Therapy Programme said, 'I am really pleased that our group was chosen to offer these treatments because we will be able to do something worthwhile as well as gain experience at the same time.'


Waltham Forest College Hosts Diploma Exhibition

Waltham Forest College hosted an exhibition to showcase the New Diplomas, on Monday 9 November from 2.00 pm - 5.30pm. The event was organised in conjunction with the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

The Borough’s Year 9 pupils and their parents had the opportunity to obtain information about the teaching and learning involved in these innovative new programmes. They were able to speak to teaching staff and watch practical demonstrations.

Young Nate joins students to celebrate Black History Month

Left to Right: Marya Sheik, Fatima Abas, Maryam Hajinoor, Fadumo Ali, Danielle and Franklin Dos Santos

Energy, vibrant costumes, dance, and song were in abundance when the Students' Union at Waltham Forest College staged a culture and music show in celebration of Black History Month.

A fashion parade of students wearing the national costumes of Somalia, Nigeria, Ghana, Congo and Brazil set the tone for the performances.

Fatima Abas, a health and social care student, wore Somalian costume and also sang a duet with Joselyn Meade, who is studying on the same course.

A highlight of the show was an energetic display of Brazilian dance by Franklin and Danielle Dos Santos, a brother and sister act who perform together professionally. They danced the samba and the capoeira.

Franklin, a former catering student at the college, explained that both dances have their roots in Africa and were brought to Brazil by the slave trade.

There were no Mixed Messages when emerging urban music star Young Nate topped the bill. The teenager from North London has a new single called Be the One which is due to be released next month.

Students danced and screamed as he performed some of the songs that have had listeners to Kiss FM and MTV Base compare him to R&B superstar Usher, including I Wonder and Mixed Messages.

The show, held in the Student Common Room at the college’s main campus in Forest Road, Walthamstow, is one of a series of events held throughout October to celebrate Black History Month.

Young Nate turned up with chart artist and producer Sound Bwoy, now his manager, and they performed some songs together.

He said he likes to support events in colleges that are putting out positive messages to young people, like anti-gun and knife crime campaigns and Black History Month promotions.

“It is very important for me to be here showing love to the people that have shown love to us,” he added.

“It means a lot to me as a young black person to do something positive with the talents that I have and to show that discipline and hard work can take you to where you want to be in life.”

Sound Bwoy, who went to school in Walthamstow, explained that his protégé had got up from his sick bed to perform at the event. He told the students: “Even if you are sick, go to college. It is important.”

Sisters Marvi and Naylor Moshwe and their cousin Nzambi Mossanka, who are all studying health and social care at the College, performed a traditional Congolese dance called Techno Malewi.

Deji Odenunmi, studying business, wrote lyrics called Dear Mum about a difficult time in his life which he performed as a mixture of rap and song with his friend Kenan Nderede, who is studying sport.

Kenan said: “I was born in Uganda and Deji is from Nigeria. There are a lot of mixed backgrounds at this College and it is important we understand each other’s cultures.”

Black history goes back a long way in Walthamstow

Students who took part in a black history walk around Walthamstow learnt that black people have been living in the area for hundreds of years.

Records kept at the Vestry House Museum and St Mary’s Church in Walthamstow show that black people were buried in the churchyard as long ago as 1693.

Peter Ashan, the museum’s learning and outreach officer who conducted the tour, said that 17th and 18th century burial records show that several people were buried with the name Blackman and Blackmore.

“This was a common surname given to black people who lived in the workhouses of Walthamstow at that time,” he added.

He explained that Walthamstow was then home to the very rich, including bankers, merchants and even slave traders, some who would have had black people as servants.

“Baptism records from the 1730s also show there was a family, Hugh Blackmore and his wife Annie, who lived in Chingford as free people,” he said.

The walk was one of a series of cultural events organised by Waltham Forest College in October to celebrate Black History Month.

When Nana Mensah, studying IT and life skills, was asked when he thought black people first settled in Walthamstow his answer was 1947.

“It has given me an understanding that there have been people of different cultures living here for a lot longer than I thought,” he said.

Seven students with a range of learning difficulties and disabilities were among those who took part in the tour.

Their teacher Rosita Matyniowna said: “This walk has enabled us to develop links for students within the community that are going to help to enrich their college programme.”

Students turn plastic into something fantastic

Plastic shopping bags are recognised worldwide as an environmental hazard, but fashion students at Waltham Forest College have found a fascinating way to recycle them.

They have turned the throwaway items into fantastic dresses and gowns in a design project based on recyclable materials.

The bags were ironed, steamed, knitted, stapled, pinned, sewn and crunched into shape to make a collection of stunning creations, some outrageous and others the brave might dare to wear.

“I laughed when we were given this project,” student Sahra Moalim said. “I first thought, making dresses out of plastic bags, no way. But I was wrong.

“I learned that you can make anything glamorous and different. It works if you try hard to think of the design and forget about the material you are working with.”

Sahra, 20, is in her second year of a two year course leading to a BTEC National Diploma in fashion, a qualification equivalent to three A Levels, and plans to study design at university.

Her team used a variety of techniques, including adding sequins, to create a yellow and black gown from Morrisons bags.

Fashion tutor Melanie Boraster said students were split into teams of three, each consisting of a first year, a second year, and a fashion pathway student, to produce a garment.

“We visited the Fashion and Textile Museum and the Tate Modern to get ideas and inspiration for their designs,” she said.

Annie Sophocleous, 18, said: “I was inspired by the exhibition of corsets at the Fashion and Textiles Museum. I chose to knit a waist band with Morrisons plastic bags to get a tight waist effect with a puffy, girly-look skirt.”

Grace Crathern, 17, said it was her uncle who is a window dresser in Paris who inspired her to choose a career in fashion. She said: “My group really loved the bright yellow colour of the Budgens plastic bags. It was seeing a picture of a bra in a museum's leaflet that gave me the idea for the design of this dress.”

Mature student Femida Mahmood said her team’s design made from Waitrose bags was inspired by a 19th century “umbrella dress” seen at the fashion museum. The 53-year-old said: “I have five children aged between 10 and 19 and have a workshop at home where I make clothes for all the family and our friends.”

Radna Jassin admitted that she regarded her team’s design made from Asda bags more as “a piece of art” rather than a wearable outfit. “It’s punky and funky and you might get away with it around Camden Town,” she added.

However Niya Mignott said his team had deliberately set out to produce a wearable creation using Sainsbury’s bags. “We had a discussion and decided we wanted to design something that somebody might want to wear to a club.

“This project has taught me how to be creative, work as a team, how to use different ideas, and also how to compromise.”

Sarah Yombo said her team drew on the 1970s for inspiration for her beachwear outfit of knitted bra and matching skirt. “I had just been taught how to knit so I thought of incorporating knitting into the design,” she explained.

The conical bra worn by Madonna was the inspiration behind the outfit which featured a multi-coned bra designed by Luqman Ali’s team. He said: “You can do a lot of things with plastic that you can’t do with other fabrics, like burning it to make it tighter and crunchier.”

Shumaila Aslam said her team’s red, white and blue creation made from Tesco bags was designed to resemble a 19th century promenade dress with elaborate hat that elegant ladies might wear on their walks in the park. “We ironed and cut and steamed the bags and painted some of them to create the effect,” she added.

Saidah Kitimbo wants to continue her studies at the London School of Fashion when she completes her BTEC course and believes the skills she learned on the project will help her get there. “It was a fun to experiment and it proved that you can make anything out of plastic bags by using different techniques.”

The College runs a range of fashion courses to suit people at all levels. The majority of students progress to university or straight into employment, following the successful completion of their courses. For information about courses available at Waltham Forest College please phone 020 8501 8501, email info@waltham.ac.uk

Free training scheme helps the jobless get back to work

Jobless people who have been out of work for six months or more are queuing up to take advantage of free training on offer at Waltham Forest College. The scheme being launched this month provides skills training to help people find work in business administration, caring, hospitality and catering.

Units are offered in subjects including: computer skills, developing customer handling and general administration skills, working in the early learning sector, food preparation and cooking, and food and drinks service.

The Challenge Unemployment programme provides courses to improve the employability skills of the long term unemployed.

Waltham Forest College is one of eight colleges in London to benefit from a £100 million funding boost, the cash coming from the government and the European Social Fund. Iain Elliott, the college’s director of business, said: “Our experienced staff aim to build the self confidence of people who are out of work and to help them cope with the challenges they face.

“We want to help them identify their personal goals and improve their personal presentation skills so they can move from the benefit system into paid employment. Our specifically trained staff will identify an individual’s skills gaps and enable them to obtain nationally recognised qualifications.”

Programmes can be tailor made to each person’s needs and can either be college or home based learning as appropriate.

The Flexible Employability Training Framework offers support to people from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances including lone parents, those not fluent in English, individuals with no or few qualifications, and mature learners. It also provides support for people with health conditions and those with additional learning needs.

Within the framework, help with literacy and numeracy is provided and the courses aim to improve communication skills by providing courses in How to Write Effectively, interview skills and workplace numeracy skills. If you would like to obtain further information about this free training programme or other College courses please call 020 8501 8501, or email info@waltham.ac.uk

Learning to take the fast track to success

WFC students achieve their Uni dream

Daniel Tran wants to be a Formula One engineer, fine tuning racing cars in the pit lanes of the world’s Grand Prix circuits. Now the 18-year-old has the chequered flag in his sights after earning a distinction in the engineering diploma he studied at Waltham Forest College.

Daniel has won a place at City University in London where he will study for a degree in Automotive and Motor Sports Engineering, a four year course in which he will spend one year working in the motor industry. The ambitious teenager is one of more than 1,000 students from Waltham Forest College who are taking the vocational route rather than the academic route to achieving their goals.

Rather than stay on at school to study A Levels, Daniel chose to go to Waltham Forest College to study for a BTEC National Diploma in Engineering. The qualification is worth three A Levels. Daniel obtained a distinction and two merits in his diploma which earned him 280 UCAS points, the equivalent of two grade B passes and one grade C pass at A Level.

“I am really excited that I have a confirmed place at university,” he said. “It has been really hard work but it has paid off in the end. “The course has been fantastic and will help me achieve my ambitions in Formula One. The teachers have helped me a lot. They give up so much of their own time to give us extra support.”

More than 300 students will be heading off to university in the coming weeks after celebrating their success in vocational courses they have taken at the college. Many more have secured jobs in their chosen fields, and will continue their learning while they are earning.

Victoria pursues her passion for fashion

Fashion student Victoria Akinte is celebrating after securing a place at university where she will learn how best to design her own collection and market her own label.

Her success in the BTEC National Diploma in Fashion Design she took at Waltham Forest College has won her a place at Birmingham City University to study Fashion Promotion. She heard of the college’s outstanding reputation for teaching fashion design and decided to travel 30 miles a day from her home in Kent to study at the college’s campus in Forest Road, Walthamstow.

“I would recommend anyone with an interest in fashion as a career to study at Waltham Forest College,” the 22-year-old said. “I have gained an insight into aspects of fashion that I didn’t even know about before.” As the daughter of a dress designer, it was perhaps inevitable that she would develop a passion for fashion. She already has a diploma in media which should also help her in university course.

“I was working in a bride and groom salon when I decided I wanted a career in fashion,” she added. “I gained experience and confidence in design but decided I needed formal qualifications to progress. A friend in the business who has his own label told me how good the course is at Waltham Forest College, which is why I decided it was worth making the long journey every day.

“The course I did at college taught us not only design and garment making skills, but it also taught us the business skills we will need and I found I was quite good at that. As I want to have my own collection it is important to have marketing, promotion and business skills, which is why I chose to study fashion promotion at university.

“I would definitely recommend anyone who wants to study fashion to do so at Waltham Forest College. The staff are very patient and very positive. It was a beautiful and wonderful experience.”