College scholarships for trio from murdered Adam's school (From The Argus)

College scholarships for trio from murdered Adam's school

8:53am Tuesday 20th March 2007 in

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Three teenagers from the inner-city school attended by murdered schoolboy Adam Regis have won free boarding places at a leading independent college.

The unique link-up between Kingsford Community School and fee-paying Brighton College will allow gifted pupils to escape the distractions of their high-crime area in Beckton, east London.

The scheme, funded by HSBC and Brighton College, aims to bring fresh opportunities for teenagers being educated in one of the most challenging areas of the capital.

The teenagers awarded scholarships were chosen out of 11 candidates from Kingsford Community School to study A-levels and board at Brighton College following a day of interviews and presentations last week.

It emerged that the three successful teenagers - Horatio Georgestone, 16, Tosin Teriba, 16, and George Weller, 15 - were in the same year group at Kingsford Community School as tragic Adam.

Adam, the 15-year-old nephew of Olympic sprinter John Regis, had been returning home from the cinema in Beckton on Saturday night when he was stabbed. He was taken to Newham General Hospital in east London where he died of his injuries.

Brighton College headmaster Richard Cairns offered "deepest sympathies" to pupils and staff at Kingsford, and prayers will be said in the college's chapel today.

Mr Cairns said he had wanted to offer scholarship places to all 11 candidates.

He said: "They are all very bright, they all want to do well in life and they are all desperate to have a fresh chance, an opportunity to learn away from the distractions of neighbourhood and family.

"They are also lovely, positive human beings. In days gone by, the grammar schools would have rescued these people and nurtured them.

"These same people would, in many cases, return to their local communities to give something back.

"Without more scholarship schemes like this, we face a future in which thousands of bright teenagers are frustrated by lack of opportunities and driven into a way of life that they don't want."

Sixteen pupils from Brighton College secured places at Oxford and Cambridge Universities this year, and every pupil gained at least five A* to C grades in their GCSEs, while the college's A-levels results always place it in the top 20 co-educational schools in England.

Former pupils include historian Lord Skidelsky, author Peter Mayle, actor Sir Michael Hordern, banker Lord Alexander, sculptor David Nash and explorer Sir Vivian Fuchs.

By comparison, 14% of pupils at Kingsford Community School are refugees and 50 languages are spoken in the playground, yet the number of pupils there gaining five A* to C GCSEs improved by 6%.

Its headteacher, Joan Deslandes, said she wanted to provide a chance for academically ambitious pupils to step out of their environment and place them in a college with fewer distractions.

She said: "The thing that struck me most when I visited Brighton College was the positive work ethic there.

"Some of my students share that commitment and academic ambition and I want them to have the chance to work with other young people of their ability with a shared determination to succeed."