25 January 2006

Orient expressed already at school

BLACKHEATH not Brighton is leading the way in teaching pupils the Chinese language, according to a headteacher. Last week bosses at Brighton College in East Sussex claimed it was set to become the first place in the country to make Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject. However, Blackheath High School headteacher Lisa Laws has hit back, saying her school is already well advanced at teaching the language.

Programme gives out warm feeling

A £1.2M initiative is helping thousands of people feel warmer in their homes. The money, provided by British Gas, has helped 2,400 Lewisham households benefit from free energy-efficiency advice and improvements such as loft insulation. An extra £210,000 has also been made available to residents across the borough via benefits which were previously unclaimed.

Joint initiative proposes community centre plan

The Moonshot Centre, Fordham Park, Deptford, will have facilities including IT rooms, dance studio, cafe and creche. It will provide a base for groups, including the Playhouse Nursery and Irie Dance Theatre. The new centre, due to open in the autumn, is being funded by £2.6m from Lewisham Council and £500,000 from SureStart, the Government's childcare initiative.

'Immigrant racket forgery factories uncovered'

It is thought up to 1,000 bogus driving licences and 300 forged passports were among items seized in swoops on suspected forgery factories at addresses in Sydenham and Brixton. Officers are also said to have found computers, printers, fake National Insurance cards and 1,000 blank ID cards. They were printed in five different languages, including French, Spanish and English.

Notice served to allotment users

Around 30 plotholders on St Norbert's Allotments, St Norbert Road, Brockley, have been given eviction notices and told they must be off the land by April. They are now asking the council to intervene and wrest control of the land from its current owner UGS Properties. UGS sent out the eviction notices even though it has not lodged any formal planning application to build on the land.

Defra confirms 22.9% recycling rate with St Edmundsbury top

Recycling in Newham is the lowest in the country - residents there recycle and compost just 6.2% of their rubbish, with Tower Hamlets following closely behind with 7.4%. Lewisham also features in the bottom 10 authorities for recycling and composting, with a 10.2% rate. Recycling rates actually dropped in the Corporation of London (down from 19% in 2003/04 to 14.3%) and in Croydon (down from 14% to 13%).

Bus Crash

Four people, including the driver, suffered minor injuries after a bus ploughed into a shop front, in Lewis Grove, Lewisham. Three fire crews were called to deal with the crash, which happened just after 1am, on Monday.

Duo blaze a trail in village

The pocket-sized Blackheath Village Trail and Guide has just been published by the Blackheath Society. Written by two society members, historian Neil Rhind and architectural journalist Tony Aldous, it points out the buildings of interest. And with the aid of a bird's eye map by artist Peter Kent, it leads people around the village as defined by its 20mph zone. The guide was paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund's Awards for All scheme and is available from the society by calling 020 8297 1937.

Posties rapped over rubber bands

Lewisham Council estimates up to 5,000 elastic bands are dropped in the borough by postal workers every month. Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, said valuable time was being wasted picking them up and urged Royal Mail to take a "collective responsibility". Royal Mail said although the bands were bio-degradable they would urge staff to take extra care in future.

London / Lewisham Secondary School League Tables

Schools in each area are ranked by the percentage of pupils achieving at least five A* to C grades at the GCSE or vocational equivalent, shown in the third column. Ties are broken by the number of pupils taking exams, shown in the second column. The fourth column shows the average points score per candidate taking Level 2 qualifications. The fifth column shows the value added by a school to its pupils' progress between age 11 and GCSE. Full details can be found on the scan.

Lewisham Schools listed (for those of you here via a net search) are Sydenham High School, St Dunstan's College, Prendergast, Forest Hill, Bonus Pastor, Sydenham, Deptford Green, Sedgehill, Addey and Stanhope, Northbrook, Catford Girls, Crofton, St Joseph's Academy, Allenby Tutorial Centre, Haberdashers' Aske's College and Knights Academy, Christ The King 6th Form, Crossways Academy and Lewisham College.

16 January 2006

Backlash against Ken's homes wish

KEN Livingstone wants to increase the number of homes built in a borough by more than 1,000 each year. But Lewisham council is opposing the London Mayor's targets for its area. The borough's's current target is 17,350 extra homes by 2016, meaning 870 each year. The revised figure is for the period between 2007 to 2017. It proposes 10,700 new homes in that timescale, which works out at 1,070 extra a year.

Eviction threat for pigeon feeder

A council tenant who has infuriated her neighbours for 10 years by feeding hundreds of pigeons in her front garden has been warned she faces eviction. Lewisham Council said Norma Hughes had ignored repeated warnings about feeding the birds, which neighbours said posed a health risk and cause a nuisance.

School opens after intruder scare

A secondary school which shut because staff thought an intruder was hiding in the roof is to reopen this week. Despite police searches using infra-red heat detectors at the Crofton School in Lewisham, south-east London, the man has not been found. Associate head teacher Rob Cooper said staff were confident he had gone, but said extra security measures would stay in place "as long as necessary".

Extra bus for busy routes

The 225 route from Bermondsey station, which currently terminates at Lewisham, will now run to Hither Green station and Hither Green Lane. And the 181, which runs from Lewisham to Downham, is being extended to Grove Park station, Baring Road, Grove Park.

More dirt dished onto ‘tired’ town

Last month News Shopper, sister newspaper of This Is Local London, invited residents to share their views on the town, in response to a Canadian visitor who renamed it "Crapford". But instead of leaping to the defence of Catford, a host of residents have contacted us to stick the knife into their home town. Clevon Cottrell, of Thornsdeach Road, wants to see Catford given a major clean-up.

Mr Cottrell, 70, said: "There are a lot of dirty people in Catford."

12 January 2006

School shut while police hunt man

A secondary school has been shut while police hunt for a man believed to be hiding in the ceiling cavities. Lewisham Council said teachers at Crofton School, Lewisham, first became suspicious that somebody was entering the school out of hours in December.

On Monday they caught sight of the man after they heard him moving around. The south-east London school will be shut until next week. Year 11 students will study for their GCSEs in a building the man has not accessed.

Boy in plot to kill his family

A BOY of 14 murdered his younger sister and tried to beat his brother to death as he plotted to kill his whole family so he could be adopted "by a rich couple", a court heard yesterday. The boy, of Brockley, South East London, denies murder, attempted murder and arson. See also.

Call to rid roads of speed humps

A CAMPAIGNER who has got the hump with sleeping policemen is urging others to join his crusade against them. Nick Hill, of Birkhall Road, Catford, thinks speed humps are a waste of money which cause accidents and damage to cars "thudding" over them. To see Mr Hill's website, visit www.roadhumpcampaign.org

Extra pool is splash news

A NEW swimming pool for Deptford is expected to get the nod of approval tonight. The 25m, six-lane pool would be built at Wavelengths Leisure Centre in Giffin Street alongside the existing complex. It would provide extra space for swimming lessons and improve fitness facilities, said a Lewisham council report. More people swim than do any other sport in the borough, according to the council.

Chelsea's Joe Cole puts Grove Park on the news map

Chelsea's Joe Cole Beaten Up Over Page Three Girl
Cole 'thumped in babe row'
Cole in fight over Page 3 girl



England star Joe Cole today protested his innocence after being beaten up by a man in a jealous rage over a Page Three girl. Cole was said to be "getting close" to 19-year-old Keeley Hazell during a late-night party at her home when he was attacked.

The Chelsea midfielder was so badly roughed-up during the assault that he fled the house through a window without his shoes, shirt, mobile phone or wallet. Bloodied and bruised Cole then ran to the nearest minicab office where drivers initially failed to recognise him because of his dishevelled state.

The incident happened on Saturday after the Blues' 2-1 FA Cup Third Round home win over Huddersfield Town. Cole, Chelsea captain John Terry and Bobby Zamora and Anton Ferdinand of West Ham, went to the West End Embassy club. They linked up with Page Three girls, including former hairdresser Miss Hazell, Lauren Pope, Nikkala and Nicola T Cole. Later Cole, Ferdinand and others carried on the party at Miss Hazell's semi-detached home in Grove Park.

At Far and Near Minicabs an employee said: "No one recognised him at first. He looked more like a yobbo."