South London Colleges’ Best Learners' Awards
9th June 2008
These prestigious awards took place at the House of Lords on the 22nd May 2008 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 Dr Nick Sinnamon, Principal of Kingston College
Eighteen learners representing each of the colleges received an award. The guest speaker was artist Christian Furr, known for being the youngest artist at the age of 28 to have painted a portrait of the Queen. Christian shared his own experiences of education saying that “my foundation courses really set me up for my future career.” Addressing the students he concluded “it is your determination, dedication and motivation that have got you here today. You have every right to be proud of yourselves and I wish you every success in your future careers.”
The winner of the award for John Ruskin College was Ilia Itkin. He is currently studying A level Economics, Geography, Government and Politics and Psychology and is consistently conscientious, enthusiastic and hardworking. He has participated on a number of visits and seminars as an excellent ambassador for the college and has delivered insightful and informative presentations on his return.
He is pictured here with Teresa Sherry and Theresa George representing the A+ team from the college, Jennifer Sims, the college principal, Ilia’s mother and father and Christine Elliott and Jackie Mitchell, two college teachers who also collected an award for completing their CMI qualification.