CRICKLADE College's newly-appointed principal June Jarrett has a clear view of how she would like to see the Andover college develop over the coming years to become the hub of community education for all age groups.

While accepting that the college has had its problems in the past she says it has a bright future in the community and will play a central role in improving the skill levels of the local workforce as well as providing more in the way of education for pleasure.

In addition to building on the improved examination results of recent years her future vision includes a wider range of courses and improvements to the buildings at the college. "We are looking to the future possibility of having some major redevelopment of the college site with the Learning and Skills Council so that the town will have a college which has buildings which are state of the art," she said.

"If feel that this college has an important role to play in the town.

"We need to work with employers and find how we can provide a service for them in upskilling and training their workforce - we are very responsive to the needs of stakeholders and employers.

"We must keep what we have got and build on it so that we can become a community college that serves the community. "We are open to groups coming to us with suggestions for courses. Education has never been a one-way street so we would welcome people asking 'how about this?' or 'can you do this?'.

For the full story see Friday's Andover Advertiser.