Students at Havering College of Further and Higher Education were more than tickled pink when Elmo from Sesame Street’s live touring show dropped in.

The irrepressible Muppet character visited the Ardleigh Green Campus in Hornchurch, Essex, to meet some of the students who will be performing alongside stars from Sesame Street at The London Palladium for one night only on March 26. The Havering College project is part of the Cultural Olympiad having been granted the Inspire Mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme.

The accreditation recognises projects that meet the values of the Olympics and Paralympics in terms of promoting respect, excellence, friendship and equality.

Inspiration will bring together 250 young people from Havering College and schools in Havering, Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham.

Music Practice degree student Lucy Murphy (20), from Hainault, will be performing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in Inspiration.

She said: “It’s very exciting. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had parts in previous college show in the West End.

“Appearing on stage at the London Palladium with Elmo will be a great experience.”

A cricket club is the latest project to benefit from the skills of hard-working construction students at Burton and South Derbyshire College.

Students on a range of construction trade courses have started work on Whittington Cricket Club’s new clubhouse, after impressing the English Cricket Board (ECB) with their work on the Darley Abbey Cricket Pavillion when it was completed earlier this year.

Wood machinist students will start work by constructing the window components, and bench joinery students will complete the frames in order to construct a dry shell of a building with a roof, heat and light before the Christmas break.

Students on plumbing, painting and decorating courses will then work on the internal finish, with the aim of completing the project in April 2012.

The new facility will provide the cricket club and community members with showers and toilets, changing rooms, entertaining space for social events and secure storage for ground and personal equipment.

Programme area manager Ian Vanes-Jones said: “At the college, we believe in giving our full-time construction students as much on-site experience as possible to ensure they are genuinely ready for the challenges and reality of life on a building site.”

Seven campuses, five days, five million steps. That was the aim as students and staff at Cornwall College stepped up to the students’ union’s pedometer challenge. The result saw them smash the target, clocking up almost 6.5 million steps – equivalent to walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats 3.7 times.

Nat Mitchell, student participation officer, said: “This was a novel way of encouraging students and staff to think about their fitness levels by recording just how many steps they were taking each day.”

Cornwall College is part of Healthy FE, a national framework which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of those in the further education (FE) sector.

Warrington Collegiate students took to the stage to perform extracts from Seussical-The Musical in London at her Majesty’s Theatre, for Sunday Night Live.

Based on the books by Dr. Seuss, the children’s favourite musical showcased the rising talents of students studying musical theatre at the collegiate.

Ariane Sallis (17), from Golborne, who played Gertrude McFuzz and is applying for Drama School said: “London was inspiring.

“It gave me a flavour of industry expectations, but the hunger for more. Thank you to the tutors for making this opportunity possible.”

Previously, the Broadway hit Seussical-The Musical had been performed as an interactive and immersive experience for the audience.

In the all singing all dancing, lively production, performing arts and musician students at Warrington Collegiate played to packed houses daily performing 16 shows in a record breaking two week run.

More than 1,200 children and 1,000 adults enjoyed the show and the cast delivered 16 free community workshops in local schools.

Emma Garnett (19), from Winwick, who played the iconic Seuss character, the Cat in the Hat, said: “Performing a show to such a young audience really brought out a different side of my acting. I found the long run tiring but so much fun.”

South Essex College of Further and Higher Education has appointed Angela O’Donoghue as its new principal and chief executive.

Ms O’Donoghue, currently principal of Sunderland College, is expected to begin her new role in August, ready for the start of the next academic year.

South Essex College is the largest college in the eastern region and has campuses across Basildon, Southend and Thurrock and offers everything from entry level courses to degrees and apprenticeships to its 17,000 students.

With nearly 30 years in education, prior to being principal of Sunderland College, a role which she has held for seven years, Ms O’Donoghue was previously the principal of Bsix Sixth Form College Brooke House, in Hackney.

Chair of the college’s corporation Richard Launder said: “The appointment comes at a time of considerable investment in new facilities, development of new courses and planned expansion.

“Angela’s significant experience and skills complement those of the excellent staff, and her appointment will be pivotal to these developments as we move forward as a lifelong learning education provider.”

A Bolton College learner who visited Auschwitz as part of an annual national education trip has been inspired to make a documentary about the Holocaust.

Sophie Baxendale (17) visited Auschwitz last November and has since created a 30 minute film which she will present to her peers over the coming weeks.

The documentary includes images and footage from Auschwitz concentration and extermination camps I and II. Sophie acts as a narrator throughout the film.

She said: “I’ve always been interested in history and was keen to represent Bolton College as part of the national education trip to Auschwitz.

“We received a talk from Auschwitz survivor Kitty Hart Moxon to prepare us for the trip, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw.

“It was a very emotional expedition and while I was there I decided that I wanted to make a documentary to share with my peers.”

Bolton College lecturer Kathryn Terry accompanied Sophie on the trip.

She added: “She has put a lot of time and effort into creating something which will help to raise awareness of the atrocities which took place during the Holocaust.”

A South Cheshire College student was given a birthday treat to remember when he hooked up with the Prime Minister at Downing Street.

AS-Level student Ryan Worth was invited to meet David Cameron at ‘Number 10’ in a special one-off visit organised as a surprise present by his sister Natasha who joined him on the trip.

Ryan and Natasha both travelled down to the capital by train before taking a taxi to Downing Street where they were whisked through the famous black door for the VIP visit.

On arrival, the duo were greeted by Cameron’s Personal Secretary and Press Office Secretary.

Ryan and Natasha were then taken on a tour of some of the rooms including the Terracotta Room, Pillared Room (used when international agreements are being signed) and the state dining room.

Ryan and Natasha were then taken into the Cabinet Room where Ryan was able to have a one-to-one chat with David Cameron himself.

The 18-year-old quizzed the Prime Minister about why he decided to go into politics and also told Cameron that he thought people with disabilities were under-represented in parliament.

Ryan said: “It was a great opportunity to be able to meet such an important world leader, to talk through certain issues and convey my enthusiasm with regards to politics.”