BOYBAND The Wanted visited Oasis Academy in Shirley Park to encourage students to fundraise for Red Nose Day.

International stars Max, Siva, Jay, Tom and Nathan treated the pupils to a lively Q&A and were reminded of the difference they can make to people living incredibly tough lives in the UK and Africa by raising money for Comic Relief.

Max George from The Wanted said: "We're so excited about being here today to help the Shirley Park Academy kick start their Red Nose Day fundraising.

"Schools are some of the best fundraisers for Red Nose Day and it was great to see so many of the students getting involved in such a brilliant cause.  They are all raring to go and will no doubt do the school proud by raising lots of cash for vulnerable people in London as well as across the UK and Africa."

Mr Glenn Lillo, Associate Head of Primary Phase at Oasis Academy said: "We're delighted to be involved in this year's Red Nose Day and we're looking forward to getting as many of the students on board as possible.  It's not only for a good cause, but a great way to engage the pupils and get them doing something funny for money."

For further information and fundraising tips visit www.rednoseday.com

• If my boss is reading this, I'd like to plaice it on recordd that I'mm a sticker for detail and actualli veri gud at spulling.

A FORMER council-run care home for the elderly is set to be demolished and the site redeveloped with housing.

A planning application is "imminent" for the disused Homefield House to be replaced with a "10-unit residential scheme" by CCURV, the council's partnership with developer John Laing to redevelop key sites in the borough.

Councillor Steve O'Connell, the council's cabinet member for finance and performance management, revealed the plans in written answers presented at last week's full council meeting.

The home, in Homefield Road, Old Coulsdon, was closed by the council in 2010 in order to save the authority around £600,000 a year, and has been boarded up ever since.

It is not clear what sort of residential "units" would take its place and a council spokesman could provide no further details.

Ward councillor Chris Wright said he hoped some funding for the elderly in the area would be secured out of any planning deal.

He said: "What I am very interested in is making sure that the elderly people benefit from any development along those lines.

"What that will be and whether it will work out, we do not know yet. The main thing is to secure some sort of contribution from the developers, which will be of benefit for elderly people.

"We will have to wait and find out what the amount will be, and then we can have talks locally with associations and residents to see if that sort of money would be useful for them."

He added that he did not foresee the number of new homes posing problems, and that the building was looking "extremely tired".

He added: "It has been relatively clear of graffiti which I think says volumes for the local residents – the last thing we wanted was lots of graffiti."

Brian Udell, chairman of the Old Coulsdon Residents' Association, said he would welcome the land being brought back into use.

The home's closure in 2010 met with fierce opposition from its 15 permanent residents, who were moved out, and their relatives.

The Advertiser reported at the time it would have cost £1.8million to bring the 38-year-old home up to modern standards, and that only 15 of the 35 rooms were occupied permanently.

The paper also reported how the council said it would be prepared to sell the premises to a private operator for continued use as a facility for the elderly.

CROYDON is set to lose another 2,000 jobs over the next ten years, according to employment projections in the council's new Economic Development Plan.

The plan, which outlines a vision of making Croydon the most enterprising borough in London by 2040, makes grim reading for the borough's jobseekers in the wake of the recent loss of Allders and Nestlé

However, Tory councillor Vidhi Mohan, cabinet member for communities and economic development, says the five-year plan from 2013-2018 will combat this.

He said: "We want to encourage young people to be entrepreneurial and start their own businesses.

"The statistics may not read well, but we need to be clear this is a time for opportunity."

A five-year skills and employment plan was also unveiled, which aims to raise skill levels in communities and improve employment opportunities.

"If companies see the borough as a place of serious enterprise and with a workforce who have the right skills, they will be more willing to come here," Cllr Mohan added.

"Croydon can be a major economic hub by 2018."

The council hopes to establish why businesses left Croydon and to improve residents' employability.

Croydon's economy has been hit hard after big businesses such as Nestlé decided to leave the area.

But Cllr Mohan pointed to the unfortunate timing of the previous economic development plan.

He added: "Whenever we have had plans in place, we always seem to be at the wrong end of the economic cycle.

"This time, however, we have the plans in place for when the economy does begin to improve in the next two or three years.

"The time is right for this plan."

Labour councillor Tony Newman reacted angrily to the plans, suggesting they were too negative.

He said: "Bearing in mind the positive news we had about Hammerson and Westfield a couple of months ago, this is ridiculous.

"To concede that many jobs in their projections shows the complete lack of ambition in this administration."

Cllr Newman also expressed frustration at the lack of focus on areas outside the town centre.

WHEN Douglas Fennell started a charity bookshop, he thought it would be a "nine-day wonder".

But five years and 30,000 books later, the stall at Sanderstead railway station is still steaming ahead and has raised an incredible £20,000 for Diabetes UK.

Mr Fennell, 67, who has type 2 diabetes, started the shop while working at the station in 2008. But what started as a way to raise a bit of cash has become a serious source of income for the charity.

Mr Fennell, of Meadway, Coulsdon, said: "You have to give credit to everyone involved. The employees and customers at the station have turned the stall into a big success.

"The best thing is, once people are done with their books, they bring them back and they can be sold again."

The books, which start at just 20p, range from Jackie Collins novels to genuine antiques. Mr Fennell gave a cautious estimate of the stall having sold over 30,000 books since it started.

He also said some rare books have been sold for up to £40 but that bestsellers are the titles that fly off the shelves.

Mr Fennell added: "A few years ago, The Da Vinci Code was particularly popular, but now it's probably Fifty Shades Of Grey – although I haven't read it!"

The bookworm, along with his colleague Pauline Giles, came up with the idea as a practical way of helping interaction with rail users.

He said: "I know a lot of people are always moaning about clutter, so we thought this was a good way of getting rid of some and raising a bit of cash at the same time."

Formerly in the motor trade, Mr Fennell retired in 2011 after seven years at the station and now enjoys his retirement at home with his wife Jenny.

He added: "When I retired I was given a card by a regular customer, thanking me for running Sanderstead Library as well as selling train tickets."

Station employees have continued Mr Fennell's good work and the stall is making more money than ever.

Diabetes UK president Richard Lane visited the station to collect the sizeable cheque and to present Douglas with a certificate.

Mr Lane said: "It is a fantastic achievement to have raised over £20,000 so far."

If the 30,000 books sold were laid out flat, they would extend all the way from Sanderstead Station to Selhurst Park.

The end of the war brought with it advancement in aviation technology. New radar systems were being introduced to commercial airports and newer, more developed hubs, were appearing in London.

Although once the capital's biggest, the airbase never truly returned to its 1920s and 30s heyday, failing to keep up with the likes of Heathrow.

And as commercial flights returned, it was starting to struggle to house the influx of bigger and newer planes to its airfields.

Jet planes were bigger than the propeller powered planes of the pre-war years, which the airport was initially built for and so pushed the airport's hangers to capacity.

It was estimated at the time that the airport was working at 90 per cent of its pre-war intensity; however, it was still struggling to provide an adequate service. Damage from bombing to some of the hangars also made it harder for the airport to accommodate bigger planes.

Structural damage was not the only thing preventing Croydon Airport from progressing in the post-war years.

Residents, who had returned to their homes after they were being used by military personnel, were now struggling to get used to the noise of planes coming to and from the airport. Councillors were inundated with complaints about the airport.

The following decade witnessed the modernisation of nearby airports. Gatwick underwent redevelopment at a cost of £7 million while Croydon Airport's airfield was still grass rather than tarmac. Croydon was still in high demand among smaller airline companies, but the decrease in commercial fights was the beginning of the end.

The complaints of residents and demand for more housing hastened the eventual closure of the airport. The last international commercial service was to Rotterdam on September 30, 1959.

Do you have memories of Croydon past you'd like to share? E-mail newsdesk@croydonadvertiser.co.uk or call us on 01737 783822.

• Please send your snow or wintry pictures to newsdesk@croydonadvertiser.co.uk

The 16-year-old Croydon College student started a BTEC in the subject this year after getting a taste of it at home.

"They had the course and I used to work a bit with my stepfather and I enjoyed it, so I wanted to take it up," Ashley said.

"The teacher we had before was not great but the one we have now is good and actually gets the work done. I like doing the work and the college helps us get apprenticeships."

He is among the thousands of students who choose to study at the borough's colleges each year, taking advantage of huge course choices to get the skills that will set them on course for a job.

But the borough's two biggest colleges, Croydon and Coulsdon, have had their performance criticised by the education inspector in recent months, raising questions over how well those jobs' needs are served at a time of high youth unemployment.

Vidhi Mohan, the council's cabinet member for economic regeneration, said the borough's colleges on balance do well in helping students into work experience or jobs, but there was room for more.

"I think overall they do a good job for Croydon; Croydon College, for example, has an apprenticeship training scheme up in New Addington," he said.

"The colleges do a lot, although there is always scope to do more and to work with the local authority. For example, there is going to be a lot of construction with the regeneration work that will take place [around the town centre].

"It would be really good if the right kind of skills are provided to young people, and the training has to be done through the colleges. If retail is going to be a big employer, are the young people aligned with that? Do they have the skills that would be useful?"

The borough's other college scores highly in terms of what students do after and focuses on far fewer courses.

John Ruskin College dropped A levels from its curriculum in September 2009 and now offers relatively few courses, including BTECS in hair and beauty, and business, legal and financial services.

Explaining his decision, principal Tim Eyton-Jones said: "There were a couple of reasons really. What struck me was there was a real lack of high-quality, post-16 education in Croydon, and I mean really high-quality vocational education.

"So it was our market research of local providers which said to us there is this big gap in what we have got at the moment."

The college also has its own Careers Academy, one of many across the country to help students open doors with businesses.

Mr Eyton-Jones said: "It is about setting learner aspirations and pupil aspirations and getting them to realise that just because they have grown up and lived in Croydon, there is no reason they cannot look at big companies.

"Every student matters and we are being paid with public money and it is our duty to ensure that every student succeeds."

The college plans to introduce an A-levels Pathway in medical science and engineering from September this year, responding to vacancies for those jobs in the local area, the principal said.

Some such jobs might come from local engineering giant Mott Macdonald, which offers roughly four apprentice placements a year in Croydon.

A spokeswoman said: "They need to be driven and able to work using their own initiative. The scheme includes four days in an office, one day at college and work to be carried out in their own time.

"It is important at Mott MacDonald that people are passionate about the industry and comfortable communicating."

A spokesman for Croydon-based insurance company Allianz Global Assistance said it worked closely with local organisations "to help give students an insight into different job roles, the application process and employer's expectations to better equip them for the world of work".

A GROUP of parents and teachers is putting in a final push for a free school in West Croydon.

The Paxton Academy bid is being put forward by parents, teachers and community leaders, including members of the BME forum, Charlotte Davies - a qualified secondary school head - businesspeople from the West Croydon Community Forum, and the chairman of governors, Carlison Morris.

The primary school aims to focus on sports and science to enable pupils to develop talents from an early age. The school would offer core curriculum subjects during the morning sessions, including English, maths and science, and then provide a host of foundation subjects such as geography, history, art, music, ICT, and languages during the afternoon sessions.

Mrs Davies told the Advertiser: "We went to a mock interview a couple of weeks back and we were commended on the quality of the educational plan.

"Our objectives are very ambitious. They reflect the aspirations of the communities in the area – no child will fail or get excluded.

"This is our best hope of showing how other schools in Croydon can aspire to overcome every barrier to a child's success.

"We want as many people as possible to help us and boost the community's confidence in the bid. This could be a great community school and a chance for our children to really excel.

"This group have failed twice before, this is the last chance. We have filled this group with heavyweight support from organisations such as PJ Services and Foundation 4 Life with outstanding records of saving youths who have been excluded from schools and understand how children fail in schools and how to avoid problems.

"We have recruited an outstanding head teacher from the community who is trained in both educational psychology and qualified as a head teacher.

"We have the support of several university educational researchers, and I have spent many years researching and identifying how to overcome barriers to learning so that every child can be a confident and happy learner."

The school would eventually take 450 pupils which would help ease the chronic lack of primary places in the north of the borough.

It also plans to operate a longer school year, with extra support for students who need help with numeracy and literacy, plus many clubs to extend children's interests.

Carlison Morris, chairman of governors, said: "We believe an all-through school is the way forward, it will be a microcosm of society, where children do well, and become good citizens in a family atmosphere."

If the group's bid is successful, it plans to open the school in September 2014.

For more information on the group's plan, visit the website; www.paxtonacademy.org.uk

WOODCOTE High has been criticised by the education watchdog which claims its sixth form is inadequate and there is not enough good teaching.

In its first inspection since becoming an academy last year, the school in Meadow Rise, Coulsdon, was rated as "requiring improvement" overall.

The new Ofsted ranking, replacing "satisfactory", is one lower than the "good" the school received in its previous inspection in 2008.

Inspectors highlighted maths and sixth-form teaching as areas needed improving, praising progress made by disabled and SEN students, among other matters including above average attendance.

Head teacher Mark Southworth said: "There are now some aspects that were highlighted by the new, much more rigorous, inspection framework which we now need to address and we are happy to do this.

"There is much positive in the report and it is good to have confirmation that our students behave well, feel safe, enjoy their learning and are well supported in lessons."

Lead inspector Robert Ridout said students' progress in the school's relatively new sixth form, which published its first results in 2011, was "well below expected," especially in A-level courses compared to BTECs.

Sixty-eight per cent of the school's Key Stage 5 students achieved three or more A-levels or equivalents at A*-E last year, 55 per cent without equivalents.

Mr Southworth rejected the inspector's assessment that sixth-form standards had slipped, saying "curriculum issues" were being resolved.

He said: "Of the 13 sixth-form lessons observed by Ofsted during the inspection, 10 were rated good or better. We very much believe that this is a curriculum issue which can easily be put right."

A new curriculum aiming for the "correct balance" between vocational and academic was showing results, he said, and more vocational courses will be offered from next year.

Mr Redout added that more challenging targets, among other things, were needed in maths teaching, which had slipped behind English.

Last year, 70 per cent of students in Key Stage 4 gained a grade A*-C in maths, compared to 91 per cent in English.

Mr Southworth said the school had responded to the gap after identifying it last August.

He said: "We responded last year by recruiting additional mathematics teachers to provide smaller classes and give targeted help to students.

"Ofsted accepted this but were unable to give us credit for these actions until the next results come out in the summer."

The inspector also criticised the school's now-ended policy of entering students early for maths and English GCSE exams, saying it "limits the attainment of the more-able students".

Mr Southworth said there would be no early entries in 2014, prompted by Ofsted's saying in September 2012 that it disapproved of the policy.

The percentage of the school's students getting good GCSEs remains well above national average.

Sixty-nine per cent achieved the benchmark of five good grades including maths and English, or equivalents, last year, compared to 59 per cent nationally.

WHITGIFT School and rugby prowess have gone hand in hand down the years but, after making last year's Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens final, director of rugby Chris Wilkins is hoping to go one step further this time round.

Twelve months ago it was Coleg Sir Gar that claimed the boys' U18 open title but, having made the showpiece for the first time in almost 50 years, Whitgift were by no means dejected.

Whitgift, who can boast England fly-half Danny Cipriani among their alumni, will be looking to strut their stuff again at this month's Rosslyn Park Sevens, the world's largest schools tournament of its kind.

They have won five titles at the tournament in total and 41-year-old Wilkins is determined to build the same momentum that carried them to their second successive final last year.

"The lads are really looking forward to the Sevens, it's that time of year when we move into the Sevens and this tournament is one we all look too," he said.

"It's been a tough season with the U15s, we were knocked out of the Daily Mail Cup in the last 16 by Hampton, but I was pleased with how we were going up until Christmas.

"Then injuries started to take their toll, we were struggling to name the same side for more than two games.

"The good thing about the Rosslyn Park Sevens though is it gets the boys back into that pressure situation, and that's key to developing as a player."

The Rosslyn Park Sevens has had a history of starting the careers of rugby legends – Gareth Edwards, Will Carling, Lawrence Dallaglio, Neil Back, Rob Andrew and Rory Underwood having all competed in the tournament.

And with rugby sevens now included in the Olympic programme from the Rio 2016 Games onwards, Wilkins believes that number is only going to increase and is eager for Whitgift to continue the tradition.

"Sevens is important, a huge amount is put into the 15s over two terms but it's vital to make the transition. All the boys like the change, it's very different," he added.

"The aim is to always play the best we can and get the basics right like set-pieces, ball handling and making tackles. If you do that you'll make your way through."

NEWS International has returned the valuable antique sign it "mistakenly" took from above a Surrey Street newsagents.

The valuable News Of The World sign above Tulletts was taken without permission in September by Positive Group, contracted by News International.

Shopkeeper Daxit Patel had rebuffed offers of up to £80,000 for the famous sign, even before the newspaper was closed down by News International.

The media giant has now replaced it and sent Mr Patel a letter of apology, claiming it made a genuine mistake.

Mr Patel said: "I am happy my sign is back - but I do not believe it was a mistake."

The sign was removed in mysterious circumstances, with several men reportedly hanging around in the street asking passers-by at what time the shop normally closed.

Mr Patel contacted the police after it was taken, and the incident was being treated as theft.

He said "Police looked at the CCTV and saw a grey van pull up. They were there for an hour and a half after dark removing the sign."

He then entered into long discussions with News International and became frustrated at the lack of progress.

"It took months to sort out. I kept phoning them and they kept ignoring my requests," he said.

"Eventually, they put the sign back in early January and replaced the shop canopy they destroyed."

Mr Patel now plans to remove the sign, which an expert has told him will continue to increase in value with time.

"I am going to have a duplicate made professionally and put the sign into storage because too many people want to take it from me now," he said.

"But I am very happy and my customers are also very happy the sign is back. It's what they know my shop for."

News International did not want to comment when approached by the Advertiser this week.

THE offshore owner of an unfinished skyscraper has refused to answer questions about the building's future.

This week the Advertiser traced the ownership of the IYLO building in West Croydon to the Minerva Trust, an asset management company in Jersey.

But when we asked why the tower has sat unfinished for nearly two years, the trust said it was "not policy to enter into any communication with the media".

Jersey-based Rosefair bought the IYLO for £10 million in October 2011, four months after St James's Croydon, a subsidiary of developers Phoenix Logistics, went into administration.

Records from the Jersey Financial Services Commission reveal that Rosefair is owned by Minerva Nominees and Minerva Services Limited, known collectively as the Minerva Trust.

The company has offices in Jersey, London, Geneva, Mauritius and Dubai and administers over $15 billion (£9.9 billion) of assets for its clients.

The Advertiser contacted the trust's headquarters in St Helier, Jersey, and was given an e-mail address for a man called Don Dos Santos.

He refused to reveal when, or if, work would restart on the tower, which comprises 182 mainly one and two-bedroom apartments. Last month the Advertiser visited the site and found it unsecured and covered in graffiti.

We asked the council what it is doing to resolve the situation. All a spokesperson would say was: "We are in contact with the new owners and we're working on bringing the scheme forward."

Jason Perry, cabinet member for planning, regeneration and transport, said he was unable to give further details.

When asked how it contacts Rosefair, the council said it "liased" with Thomas Mudd, at the company's appointed agent Jones Lang LaSalle.

When we contacted Mr Mudd, he said: "It's a total misunderstanding. We are not and never have been Rosefair's appointed agent. I have phoned Rory Macleod (the council's head of planning) and told him in no uncertain terms that we are not retained by Rosefair."

Jones Lang LaSalle had "done some work" for Rosefair concerning the IYLO building, Mr Mudd said, though he did not say what.

"I don't know their agenda," he added. "I guess they will let us know at some point."

Mr Mudd said that he had passed on the Advertiser's requests to speak to Rosefair and that the developer would be in contact "at some point".

The council rejected his claim and insisted that Jones Lang LaSalle is Rosefair's appointed agent but Mr Mudd was unavailable for further comment.

Labour leader Tony Newman said: "It can't be right that an offshore fund that clearly has no interest in Croydon's long-term future can be allowed to let this situation continue. Something has to change. If not the council then the Mayor of London should intervene. It's no good having ambitious plans for the town centre when one of the gateways into Croydon is blighted by an unfinished skyscraper."

The company was one of 17 parties interested in buying the IYLO building. They paid a £100,000 exclusivity fee to secure the deal.

The Minerva Trust is not connected to the developer of the same name which owns 6.1 acres of land in the town centre, including Park Place and the former Allders department store.