As part of the Care for the Wild adoption programme, the College is proud to announce its sponsorship of Burra. Burra is an orphaned baby elephant currently under the care of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust nursery in Nairobi National Park.

Burra is just one of a number of elephants and rhinos that become orphaned every year as a result of illegal poaching and snaring activities in parks and reserves across Kenya and other parts of Africa.

In late 2001, at just eight months old, Burra was caught in a steel cable snare while traveling with his family through an area that joins Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks in southern Kenya. The snare had almost severed three quarters of his ear and had cut the back of his neck and his throat. By the time he was found by rescuers he was emaciated, starving and desperately weak.

With the support of Care for the Wild and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Burra has made an excellent recovery and is now a boisterous young bull elephant. Not all orphaned elephants are as fortunate as Burra - with many too weak, injured or traumatised without their family to continue. The College will continue to support Burra and his carers in his successful re-introduction into the wild.

For more information on Burra please visit the websites of Care for the Wild and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Students can also read about Burra on the student notice board and watch a documentary featuring Burra and the other orphans on the College Intranet.

The College has enlisted the services of Google to provide students with comprehensive email, calendar and chat services. New and existing students will be given a unique CTL email address that they can use for life. Director of Studies, Nigel Hall, says

"These tools will provide an effective way for the College to communicate with its growing student base and keep alumni up-to-date with issues and events of interest to them."

Google's platform is extensible, so new tools will be rolled out to students if the students and the College staff feel they will be beneficial to the overall learning process.

The College is pleased to announce the launch of a new website. The site has been developed by CTL IT staff and serves to both strengthen the brand image of the College and present a consistent image of the College both online and in written publications. Director of Studies, Nigel Hall says,

"The new site is a wonderful asset to the College and just part of our exciting expansion plans. It provides more information to prospective students about the College, how other students are finding the experience of studying at CTL and living in London. Our Vocational Learning Centre (VLC) has also benefited with a new website."

Both sites provide custom tools for managing content dynamic content such as news and events, course and faculty listings. Addititional online services for the benefit of prospective and current students will be released in early 2007.

The project is funded by the European Social Fund and brings together specialist training providers and institutional partners to develop and promote the use of ICT as a way of up-skilling the care sector workforce.

?Knowledge of ICT is crucial to workforce development, particularly when CSCI and Skills for Care will require online returns and communication by newsletter and email. You need to know how to drive a car and use a cash-point machine in order to function as part of the modern economy. Now, in the 21st century you also now need to know how to use a computer, the Internet and email in order to function at work and to communicate effectively?, says Nigel Hall, Director of Studies.

Successful candidates from Shaftesbury Homes and Lifecare Consulting were presented their ECDL certificates by Nigel Hall and Anne-Marie Bond, ECDL Training Manager.

Dr. Audsin Dhas, the Dean of CTL, officially opened the new wing.

"We are very proud of this new section. There is a new computer lab, a new recreational Student Centre where students can play a game of pool or relax in front of the TV. The are also some new classrooms, an additional reading room and new admissions offices. With our teaching faculty and student base growing it is important that we extend and improve College facilities to meet this growth".