New business status for Forest Gate School

Forest Gate Community School has become the first school in Newham to achieve Business and Enterprise Specialist College status.

The school in Forest Street successfully bid for the specialist status under the Government scheme that allows schools to focus on their chosen subject area.

The new status means the school will benefit from innovative approaches to teaching and learning, which will result in improved standards and achievements.

The school will also receive extra funding, including sponsorship totalling £50,000 from the Co-operative Group, the Jack Petchey Foundation and Stratford Development Partnership plus £100,000 from the Government.

The money will enable a new state-of-the-art “World of Work” business suite to be built, which can be used by students and the local community.

Forest Gate school is one of only five Co-op sponsored schools in the country. The Co-op is planning to establish a national network of schools that teach values of social responsibility, care and ethical business, which are an integral part of the organisation’s ethos.

Margaret Wheeler, head teacher of Forest Gate Community School, said: “This is wonderful news. We are looking forward to this exciting new role and being part of the Co-op family of schools. Our partnership with the Co-op is an excellent opportunity to work even more closely with the community to which we belong.”

Councillor Graham Lane, Cabinet member for Education, said: “Congratulations to Margaret and her team for their successful bid.

“Being a Business and Enterprise College will enrich the students’ understanding of the economic and business world and will hopefully encourage more young people to go onto further and higher education after they complete their secondary education.”

Luxury Car Gang Smashed

The Newham Recorder reports:

A Forest Gate man is facing jail for his part in an international crime ring stealing 142 luxury cars worth around £6 million.

Majed Nahim Ghouse, 34, of Strone Road, was a member of the five-strong gang who all admitted conspiracy to handle stolen cars in an organised crime syndicate, at Manchester Crown Court last week.

The gang "employed" burglars from across the UK to steal the cars then duped legitimate container companies and shipping agents to export them abroad.

For more than a year the five ran the operation, giving a 'shopping list' of desired vehicles to their recruited thieves.

The gang, which includes a man from Ilford, were arrested following a 14-month-operation, code-named Barton, led by Greater Manchester Police's vehicle fraud unit. Kent Constabulary, Essex and Merseyside Police assisted.

Officers gathered intelligence through the National Criminal Intelligence Service, leading to the discovery of a pattern of burglaries and exports across the UK which could be linked to the defendants.

They were subsequently charged in connection with the conspiracy to handle 142 stolen cars, 65 of which have been recovered. Fifteen were brought back from Dubai and Singapore.

The top-of-the range vehicles were mostly Mercedes and BMWs, valued from £20,000 to £80,000, including a Maserati Italian Sports Coupé.

It is estimated that the gang's profit margin for the illicit business was around £10,000 per car, resulting in an overall profit of £1.5 million.

Once the gang had received the cars they changed registration plates and produced false documents to export the vehicles to business addresses and PO Box numbers abroad.

Det Sergeant Jim Gray from Greater Manchester Police's vehicle fraud unit said: "As the operation unfolded, we realised we were dealing with a conspiracy on a national scale which had amassed a profit of nearly £1.5 million for those involved."

He added: "In the immediate aftermath of their arrests it was shown that taking these men out of circulation had a dramatic effect on the numbers of hook and cane burglaries in the Greater Manchester Police area."

Ghouse and Mohammed Ilyas, 42, of Ilford, were arrested last August when Kent police attended a freight forwarders in Basildon, Essex.

They were responding to the recovery of four stolen vehicles that had been located at Felixstowe port and were linked to others already at sea en route to Dubai and Singapore.

The officers discovered a stolen Mercedes at the depot and were told the businessmen responsible for the car were due any moment with a Mercedes ML. Minutes later Ghouse arrived in the stolen ML along with Ilyas, who was waiting outside in a Honda Civic.

Police searched the Honda and the home addresses of the two men and recovered paperwork relating to all shipping agents who were duped into exporting the stolen cars.

Ghouse, Naveed Parvez, 28, of Burnley, Lancashire; Mansha Khan, 34, of Longsight, Manchester; and Mohammed Dita, 34, of Moss Side, Manchester, were released on bail. Ilyas was remanded in custody. Sentencing was adjourned until July 21.

The oldest runner in town unveils new school sports hall

The oldest London Marathon runner, Fauja Singh, opened a new sports hall at Elmhurst primary school, Forest Gate.

The 93 year-old from Ilford, who came in at 6 hours 7 minutes in this year’s Marathon, unveiled the new hall yesterday at an event attended by Newham Civic Ambassador, Councillor Pat Holland.

The hall, complete with a meeting room, changing facilities and toilets, is jointly-funded by Sport England’s Space for Sports and Arts Project and Newham Council. The hall is also available for use by the local community.

Guests at the sports hall opening also had the opportunity to see some of the children’s large-scale paintings that are based on the theme of art from around the world, plus the school’s new sensory and mobility rooms.

Sport England has invested £2,150,000 to help improve facilities for arts and sports in four primary schools with Newham Council investing £1,350,000.


The other three projects are: a dance studio at Keir Hardie; a multi-purpose hall with kitchen at Vicarage primary school and improved storage and toilets at St Joachim’s primary school.

Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, said: “This new facility is a great boost to the health and fitness of the children and the local community. We are extremely grateful to Sport England and the Space for Sports and Arts Project for their generous contribution.”