A Beacon College
The Sixth Form College Farnborough was one of the first four colleges in the country to be awarded Learning and Skills Beacon status, in recognition of its excellent teaching, learning and management skills.
The then Minister of Education, Margaret Hodge MP, said, “These four trailblazing Colleges are shining examples to other colleges and I look forward to many others following their lead. The Sixth Form College Farnborough has achieved impressive results across the range of its courses and is supported by outstanding teaching and learning and high pass rates”.
As a Beacon College, the College has been able to share good practice, resources and expertise with hundreds of colleagues in many schools and colleges from the United Kingdom and abroad. The work of the College and its reputation for innovation have attracted the interest of many high profile leaders in education including former Chief Inspectors Sir Mike Tomlinson and Maurice Smith; former Chief Inspector, David Bell, now the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Education, was invited to 'top out' the new John Guy Building. Mary Curnock-Cook, former Director of Qualifications and Skills at QCA, now Chief Executive of UCAS and Kathleen Tattershall, Chair of Ofqual, and Peter Lauener, Chief Executive of the YPLA, have presented prizes at the College certificates evenings.
Several former government ministers have visited the College including David Miliband MP and Stephen Timms MP, who studied his A levels at the College. Tim Boswell, now Lord Boswell, was one one of the first visitors to the newly incoporated College, in his capacity as Under Secretary of State for Education. Education Minister Dr Kim Howells MP, opened the Beacon Building describing the College and all he saw as “inspirational”. When Lord Andrew Adonis opened the new Whitehouse Building, he said that the College engendered “loyalty and enthusiasm”. When Sarah McCarthy-Fry MP was appointed Schools Minister in the Autumn 2008, she asked to visit the College within the first few weeks in her new role, meeting students and staff, to inform herself about excellent post-16 provision. Gerald Howarth, MP for Aldershot and Minister for International Security Strategy,is a regular contributor to College events.
We were delighted that the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, opened the new John Guy Building in September 2010.
