South Thames College
Encyclopedia
South Thames College incorporating Merton College
Merton College (London)
Merton College was a further education college in Morden, a district in the London Borough of Merton in England.It formerly occupied a site on Central Road in the borough, which was sold to Barratt Homes, a housing developer....

 is a further education college situated in the south west of London. The college recently merged with Merton College.

History

An educational establishment, which is now known as South Thames College, has existed at the Wandsworth site in south west London for more than 100 years. The institute was founded in 1895 by a tax on whisky. Students had to pay what was then a substantial fee of £1 a term for day classes. When it began there were around 500 students studying there, a large number at those times.

1910-11 College regulations stated that "...each boy must wear the school cap or straw hat; he must also provide himself with a satchel, gymnasium shoes and a swimming costume." Apparently, the caps came in different colours depending on what "House" the student belonged to and, according to one student in 1930, the colours used to run in the rain, staining the students' faces blue, red, green or yellow.

Today

Today, South Thames College is one of the largest further education colleges in London, having recently merged with Merton College. The centres are based in the south west of London with the main centres in Wandsworth, Merton, Tooting, Roehampton and Balham.

Courses

The college specialises in vocational training in subject areas such as business and computing, hair and beauty, construction, media, music, performing arts, catering and travel and tourism. A Level courses and higher education and access courses are also available, as well as a wide selection of leisure and taster courses ranging from Swedish massage to bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

 maintenance.

There are nearly 2,000 further, higher and adult education full and part-time courses on offer to school leavers and adult learners.

Redevelopment

The college has recently undergone a radical makeover with £70 million re-development of the Wandsworth campus and £40 million investment over the last four years at the Merton campus. Ongoing redevelopment of the Wandsworth Campus will be completed in Summer 2010.

The college’s facilities include:

• A Library spanning three levels
• Industry standard hair and beauty salons
• A Sports England standard sports hall, gym and aerobics area
• Forensic science and biology labs
• Skills for Life and language teaching rooms
• A games development room and specialised IT facilities
• Music and TV recording studios with editing facilities
• Photography studio and dark rooms

Ofsted Rating

The college was inspected by Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

in June 2009 and was awarded a ‘Good’ rating, which was a significant improvement on its previous ‘Satisfactory’ status. The college has a long-term aim to become an ‘Outstanding’ college which it is making positive steps towards. Ofsted praised the college’s rising success rates and the “safe and inclusive environment”.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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