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News
Performance poet Anthony Anaxagorou leads empowering workshop for students
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Yesterday students were inspired by the passion and encouragement of performance poet and writer, Anthony Anaxagorou.
The workshop centred on using various forms of language to empower, express and create change in society. It taught students the valuable lesson of finding their own voice and speaking about the issues that matter to them.
Anthony performed two poems for the audience, This Is Us and Dialectics. The audience was in awe of the passion and intensity each message conveyed.
When one student asked Anthony what made him pick up a microphone and start spreading his messages through spoken word, he replied: “Frustration.” He spoke of his annoyance of popular music with no substance, asking himself, “What is our art being used for?”
After listening to the humbling words of Anthony and discussing the evolution, simulation and use of language, Tower Hamlets College students experimented by writing their own performance poetry. They each wrote a social commentary on issues that matter to them, and the results were astonishing.
Chelsea Kamin, 17, from Poplar, said: “I’ve never done anything like this before. The workshop has made me become more aware of the world.”
Christopher Aiyeoribe, 18, from Lewisham, found the experience rewarding to be a part of: “This was awesome. I’ve learnt a lot from Anthony. I have realised where I am personally. I definitely want Anthony to come back to College, so I can use everything he has got to offer us.”
Franki Barker-Johnson, 17, from Mile End, said: “It’s so good to hear from people like Anthony, who can speak about things on our level.”
Visit Anthony’s website www.anthonyanaxagorou.com to find out more about the poet or watch clips of his performances.
THC student sees past short term effects of recession and isn't deterred from working in the banking industry.
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Rukshana Alam, 18 from Stepney Green, is currently studying for her final year of A- Levels, already being offered university places at Kings College, Loughborough and Queen Mary to read her Maths degree. Rukshana who has been enjoying Maths since her days at Central Foundation Secondary School, left with Eight A’s in her GCSEs, out of which she received five A*.
She was encouraged to attend Tower Hamlets College by her older brother Jafar Alam who himself is a successful THC Alumni and was one of the first Tower Hamlets College students to receive a place at Cambridge University in 2004.
Upon attending THC, Rukshana knew she enjoyed Maths but was looking at a productive way she could turn Maths into a career. Thanks to her Further Maths class and visits to banks organised by the College, including a one day placement at the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers, she decided she wanted a career in Investment Banking. “Investment banking allows you to use maths in interesting ways and that’s exactly where my interest lies”.
She credits the College in the range of support that were available to her and helping her realise her career prospects, but also credits her parents in their encouragement. She is now hoping for a place at Imperial University to study Maths and is predicted all three A’s for her final results in the summer.
Ian Churchill - Access Success Story
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Before coming to THC: Property photographer
Course: Access to Photography
After: Running own photography business, starting courses in web design and Photoshop
While some might see being signed off work due to ill health as a hindrance, Ian Churchill decided to use the time proactively and retrain in digital photography. “The course was a good distraction from my problems; because I was seeing positive results in my work it made me feel I was moving forward, and started to reflect positively on other aspects of my life.” Having popped in to visit THC with a friend, Ian spied the Access to Photography course, had a look at the facilities and was hooked. “It’s been great to get to know other people with common interests; photography can be quite an isolating experience, so to have encouragement and people to bounce ideas off has been invaluable.” During his time on the course Ian has done studio work and portraits, as well as event photography, and his results have impressed to the extent that he is now the official College Photographer. He’s been inspired to reinvigorate his photography business, as well as explore the world of web design and formal Photoshop qualification. “My real passion is the visual beauty of things, and photography allows me to capture that.”
Portrait by Amanda Herbert
Rukshana a cut above the rest
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Rukshana Alam, a former Central Foundation for Girls pupil, found the links with universities and employers at Tower Hamlets College invaluable when she was thinking about what to do after her A Levels. She chose Tower Hamlets College because, she says, “it has a good reputation and my brother did very well there.”
Rukshana was invited to join the Aim Higher programme when she began studying for her AS levels. This is a programme that involves events, talking to students at universities, the opportunity to take part in the Mentoring Scheme, trips to university open days, debates and practical help and guidance with university application forms and filling in the all important personal statement. Rukshana said “I have been to a few events, including some really inspiring talks from former THC students who are now at university.”
She achieved two As and a B in her A Levels in Maths, Further Maths and Government & Politics and just finished her first year at Bath University studying Computer Science with Mathematics. After that, her ambition is to either continue studying for a masters degree, or enter a career in investment banking. The links at Tower Hamlets College with investment banks could help her further down the track too, especially as our Employment Services team help get people into jobs.
She adds: “The teaching and learning at college is excellent and the maths department is especially helpful. I feel I have got lot out of my studies and the Aim Higher programme.”
Abu has Olympic Aspirations!
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Public service student Abu Taher Siddiki hopes to work as a Steward at the 2012 London Olympics.
He is currently studying for a level two qualification in event stewarding which will definitely put him in good stead to gain a position as an Olympic Steward! Lucky Abu has already been given a special tour of the Olympic site. “The 2012 site looks amazing and I’m very excited about the possibility of working as a steward. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity – I’d to meet Usain Bolt!” said Abu.
THC Students tackle stereotypes and raise awareness as they prepare for "The FE Special Games"
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Carly Steele, 22, is a Transition to work student who has learnt floristry, cooking, childcare and motor vehicles!
She eventually hopes to work in retail but she loves sports and Basketball, in particular, is her favourite. “It’s really fun and enjoyable – it’s a great way to spend time and make new friends.”
Carly has also done a lot of volunteer work; her favourite assignment was when she helped Primary School children play sports. “They played football, athletics and blind basketball because some of the children had special needs. I helped out with the organising and cheered them on – it was really fun!”
Carly had a great time at the Special Olympics GB Unified Sports launch “It was brilliant, I’m glad I met new people and everyone was really kind to us. We now all say hello to each other around College so I made new friends!”
“I like Unified Sports because I have always just played with other special needs people but Unified is a lot more fun. The way they encouraged me made me play at a better level – I can’t wait to do it again!”
Carly will get a chance to ‘do it again’ when she participates in ‘The FE Special Games’ which will be once again held at Tower Hamlets College in May. The athletes will compete in both Unified Basketball and Football against athletes from other Colleges. This event will be officially endorsed by Special Olympics Great Britain.
BTEC Level Two student Seun Fawehinmi lives for Sports. “Sport is a big part of my life, football is my main sport but I’m basically an all-rounder. My plan after College is to gain an apprenticeship coaching Football. It would be amazing if I could work for, my favourite team, Manchester United!”
Despite only being 19, Seun has a lot of coaching experience – he was Head Coach for Bishop Challoner’s Year 9 football team and they finished second in their league.
“I love coaching because while you are helping to improve someone else’s game you are also learning yourself. Coaching teaches you patience and it also improves your communication skills and self-confidence.”
Seun also took part in the Special Olympics GB unified sport launch and he really enjoyed the day.
“It was a great event and it showed that there are people who care and who are committed to involving everyone. It was my first time playing Unified sports and I thought I’d have to take it easy but not so because the disability athletes were just as capable if not more so - we had some really competitive matches!”
As a result of Seun’s tremendous contribution on the day he has now been selected as a Student coach for ‘The FE Special Games.’
“Seun was brilliant at the Unified Sports launch and I was very impressed at the way he effortlessly took on a role of leadership. He genuinely cared about the other athlete’s wellbeing and he was a fantastic Mentor! He even did his own independent research about Special Olympics GB beforehand which shows amazing commitment.” said Mentor Coordinator Tanya Blake.
Tower Hamlets College canteen morphed into Creative Arts extravaganza
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The 2500 staff and students who walk through the Atrium café at Tower Hamlets College every day have been treated to a rather large change of scenery. The Creative Arts Show has filled every nook and cranny with 3D sculptures, textiles, photographs, light installations and animations.
The Private View on Tuesday night attracted hundreds of eager art aficionados who can’t have been disappointed with the vast array of creative energy filling the building.
The installation by Charlotte Hannaway, a BTEC National Diploma student, entitled “This is My Revenge” invited onlookers to crawl inside a seemingly dark box and contemplate their view of love, or indeed obsessive love. The installation was an explosion on the senses and how being encased in a small space heightens these senses.
This couldn’t have been more different from BTEC National Diploma Multimedia student Markas Poliokas’ storyboard of a skater in a luminous green suit which was then photo-shopped out of the image to leave just a pair of trainers skating.
High definition photography, textiles work, short films, animations and fine art were displayed alongside projects that used only sustainable materials, such as vegetable dyed wool, and hand made recycled paper.
“Every year I’m so impressed by the standard of creativity,” beamed Head of Creative Arts, Lisa Coles. “So much work goes in to this from staff and students alike, but as ever I’m immensely proud of what we’ve pulled together.”
Aim Higher students back from outdoor activities in the Lake District over half term
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35 students from Tower Hamlets College headed to Ullswater in the Lake District during half term week at the end of October for five days of outdoor activities designed to improve their team working and leadership skills. The students are part of the college’s Aim Higher programme which uses government funding to encourage and stimulate students with potential towards high academic achievement. The A Level and BTEC students took part in a wide variety of activities, ranging from kayaking to gorge scrambling, and spent two days on an expedition in the hills where they had to carry all of their own kit, cook using a camp fire and pitch a tent for the night. A Level student Rahida Khatun, 16, said “I had done something similar before but I was really keen to do it again. I didn’t know anyone else before I went and I have now made lots of new friends. Some of the activities, such as the expedition, were tough and you had to support each other just to get through it. It really helped us to become more confident with our decision and to be less nervous about meeting new people.” The college’s Aim Higher programme coordinator Kathryn Evans organised the trip and also felt it was a success. “The course really stretched them but taught them to push past what they thought were their physical and mental limitations. Some great friendships have been made and they all seem a lot more confident and ready to put their improved team and leadership skills into practice in the classroom.”
THC students enjoy bone crunching experience at the clinic of world famous London Osteopath
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Students from our Poplar campus were treated to a bone crunching experience recently as they spent a morning with osteopath to the stars Torben Hersborg at his Central London Osteopathy Clinic in Old Street.
The lucky students are all enrolled on the BTEC National Diploma in Sport at the College and had been focussing on devising a rehabilitation programme for an injured sportsman as part of one of their modules prior to the visit. The students were given a talk on the various treatments available and the desired effects before becoming patients and experiencing treatments including acupuncture, physiotherapy and osteopathy for themselves.
The visit was organised by the College’s BTEC Sports Co-ordinator, Dyana Altenor, who had been treated by Torben while preparing between international weightlifting competitions. She felt the morning was a great success.
“It was terrific for everyone to do something practical which not only counted towards their course but gave them an insight into the careers available for students graduating from this course. Torben and his team have treated some of the biggest names in sport so to get advice from people with so much experience was a learning experience for us all!”
Torben has treated numerous sports stars, including Usain Bolt and Christine Ohuruogu, over the years and has also developed a revolutionary treatment to help the throats and voices of singers such as Peter Andre. Kem Chiagorom, 18, attended the day and was impressed by Torben’s methods.
“It was a good experience and helped to broaden my horizons in terms of career options after I finish my education. I run the 100 metres competitively and would also like to do a Masters in Physiotherapy one day, so to experience how professional athletes are treated was really useful.”
Hot off the press! The new Adult Course Guide....
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We are very excited to launch many new courses this autumn, in particular our new Foundation Level Degrees and Higher Education offer. The College is feeling very different, with a vibrant new curriculum in many subjects, clear progression routes and a cohesive support package. We are sure that we can help you reach your dream career path.
Click on the link below to download the pdf version of the guide.
Adult Courses Guide
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NEW! Adult Courses Guide soming soon!
444 students from Tower Hamlets College got places at university in 2010
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444 students from Tower Hamlets College got places at university in 2010. Almost a third of these students are adults, who have successfully completed their Access courses. The universities and subjects are extremely diverse ranging from Andreas Lango who is off to Imperial to study Aeronautical Engineering to Lucky Begum who is studying South Asian Studies at SOAS. The most popular course at university for THC adult students in 2010 is Nursing, followed closely by Business, Accounting and Finance courses. The University of East London was the most popular choice for our adult students.
“We’re so proud of all our students who have gone on to university, especially in view of how hard it has been to gain a place this year, as so heavily documented in the news. It’s fantastic for both our sixth form and our adult students. This year nationally 70% of students who applied to university got offered a place – for our sixth form students we smashed this trend with 77% of students gaining a place. That’s definitely something to be proud of,” commented Sixth Form HE Coordinator, David Grant.
Whilst the most popular choice for sixth from students is Greenwich University, this year students have gone as far afield as Manchester, Leeds, Bedford and even world renowned Cambridge. Aniqa Mortuza got straight As in her A Levels, including one A*, and has just begun her History degree at Cambridge University.
“I couldn’t believe it when I actually got my results,” said Aniqa. “I was in Brazil at the time, on the Prime Minister’s Fellowship Programme, and it was the middle of the night when my results came through, and that I knew I’d got in. I can’t thank my tutor at Tower Hamlets College enough, he helped me with interview practice and to prepare for what was expected of me. I’m really excited about the next step,” she continued.
Media Students Record Crime-busting Film with Police Force
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Ten Tower Hamlets College Media students swapped College for Hendon Police Training College in January in an effort to reduce crime.
The force's' aim is to reduce crime by raising public awareness and so they approached the Media Studies Department at Tower Hamlets College. Visit the Metropolitan Police website for further details »
Peer mentors talk Success!
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Development speaker Chris Browne came in to do a workshop with our THC Peer Mentors.
The workshop focused particularly on fulfilling your potential and setting goals. Chris encouraged our students to dream big and showed them how to set short, medium and long term goals. He showed the students a short video about Farah Gray who became millionaire at the age of fourteen. After which the students worked in groups to come up with strategies on how to be successful.
“Our Peer mentors have done a wonderful job helping other students and so today was a reward for all of their hard work. Chris was brilliant, he not only challenged our students’ perceptions of what it means to be successful but he showed them how to develop their skills and apply them to real life.” said Mentoring coordinator Tanya Blake.
Level 2 Graphics Animation, Motion Graphics, BTEC Foundation in Art & Design and Media Courses- still a few places!
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Come in and enrol now!
Studying a course in Animation or Media at Tower Hamlets College will better your career prospects. And this will help you to get a job in the creative industry!
Studying no more than 4 days a week means that you can balance your studies with part-time work. Here at Tower Hamlets College we have partnerships and links with a range of businesses in the creative industry, to help you move on and get a job after your studies.
Full course details
BTEC Diploma in Animation for Computer Games Design Level 2 ..
BTEC First Diploma in Design for the Games & Animation Industry Level 2 ..
BTEC First Diploma in Media Level 2 ..
Access to Motion Graphics ..
BTEC Foundation Diploma in Art & Design ..
Other Creative Courses ..
For further information call our Advice Team on 020 7510 7777 or email advice@tower.ac.uk
Students ‘Go for Gold’ at THC Olympic Mentoring Event!
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THC’s Olympic Mentoring Event was attended by over 150 students!
To see the photographs of the event visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/towerhamletscollege/sets/72157628427787909/with/6515233291/.
It turned out to be a very popular and fun event. The aim of the event was to raise the profile of the fast approaching 2012 Olympics whilst giving our wonderfully talented students a chance to shine!
“The Olympic motto states that ‘It’s not the winning it’s the taking part that counts’ so today we are going to showcase some talent, talk about achieving goals, we are going to show how we can work together as a team, we have a competitionplanned and more importantly we are going to have some fun!” said Mentor Coordinator Tanya Blake.
Denzel Rooke opened the show with an acoustic version of ‘Hey Delilah’ which wasvery well received by the crowd. Next up on stage, was Student Union President John Akinde who introduced our guest speaker and his Mentor Emeka Ezugwu who is an Assistant Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
A ‘level student Christopher Ayeoribe , who has performed all over London, then recited one of his own poems entitled ‘What is?’ It was a poem all about love which proved to be a big hit with the ladies!
Next was ‘The Olympic Challenge ’for the girls which was led by Sports worker Altabur Rahman who asked our girls several ‘Olympic’ questions. The winner was Umay Zahra Hussain whowas presented with a Gold medal; Enrika Slyziute received the Silver medal and Irina Jahin the Bronze.
The boys‘Olympic Challenge’ was next and this was led by our Football coach Ajibola Olutunbosun. Coach ‘AJ’ put three members of our THC Football Team through their paces in a press- up contest. The winner was Marcin Kmiec who was presented with a Gold medal; William Rocha received the Silver medal and Ahmed Mohamed the Bronze.
All medals were presented by ‘Skills for Work’ students Usman Akhtar and Dennis Oppong who did a wonderful job!
The final act was Media student and Rapper Zubair Hamadi aka ‘Jamal’ who performed his own track ‘Selfish.’ Zubair, who was absolutely brilliant, closed the show on a high note and the audience cheered loudly after his performance.
“Tower Hamlets is an Olympic Host Borough so it’s very important for us to get on board for London 2012 because even if you don’t like Sports there are a lot of valuable lessons to be taken from the Olympics. Today was a really positive event which brought everyone together – we all had fun!” said Altabur Rahman.
The event was organised by Mentor Coordinator Tanya Blake and she was assisted by students who are all part of THC’s wonderful Mentoring project. “Our students did a brilliant job and everyone’s contribution was equally valuable because today was all about working as a team. I’d like to say a big thank you Raymond Osei- Asare, Alexandru Viziri, Gunol Ozmicco, Selma Ermis, Athaur Rahman, Geordy Makieleka, Masuda Khatun, Wesley McCubbin, Mohamed Kasim, John Akinde, Denzel Rooke, Christopher Aiyeoribe, Zubair Hamadi, Dennis Oppong and Usman Akhtar.”
All of the students who helped out or performed were presented with a certificate of recognition.
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