South London Colleges' Best Learners' Awards
24th May 2007
These prestigious awards took place at the House of Lords on the 24th May 2007 and were hosted by Lord Tope. The awards are organised by the Committee of South London Principals (COSLP) - one of the strongest groups of its kind in the country. The principals work together to share good practice and to improve what is on offer for post 16 and adult learners across the boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton. COSLP is chaired by Jennifer Sims, principal of John Ruskin College.
Eighteen learners representing each of the colleges received an award. The guest speaker was Alison Lapper, the well known artist and photographer who was born without arms and with shortened legs and whose statue 'Alison Lapper Pregnant' by Marc Quinn was unveiled in Trafalgar Square in 2005. Alison spoke about her own experience of being a student at Sutton College of Learning for Adults and how she achieved her goals despite her disability. Alison felt that attending the college had made a significant difference to her life.
The winner of the award for John Ruskin College was Jamila Mendes. Jamila is studying English Literature, French and Law and has proved to be a conscientious, committed and purposeful student, always trying to reach her full potential. This is particularly commendable because of a long term illness which can make learning challenging for her.
She is pictured here with Alison Lapper, Lord Tope, Teresa Sherry representing the Humanities team from the college, Jennifer Sims, the college principal, Jamila’s mother and father and Janet Smith, a college teacher who also collected an award for completing her CMI qualification.