Schools/colleges

Harrow College has taken on Pat Carvalho as vice principal following the retirement of postholder Susan Harrison.

Mrs Carvalho joins the college from Brent's College of North West London (CNWL), where she worked as the head of higher education and professional courses and also led e-learning.

She said: "I think it's a vibrant college and it can truly build on its potential. I'm really pleased to be a part of what's going to be a real success story and I am looking forward to working with local partners to deliver a broad and responsive curriculum to the Harrow community and beyond."

Coincidentally, Harrow College's prinicpal Tony Medhurst - who replaced Dr Barbara Field - also came from CNWL, where he was vice prinicipal.

Teenage girls turned engineers and mechanics to build a unique solar-powered car from scratch by hand.

It took members of The Sacred Heart Language College's engineering club eight months to assemble the environmentally-friendly motor using a kit specially imported from the US.

The challenge was designed to test the skills of some of the school's most gifted pupils.

Fifteen Year 9 girls (13-14 years old) from the single-sex college in High Street, Wealdstone, spent up to three hours a week after lessons putting the golf cart-sized vehicle together in teams.

Each was dedicated to a different function, such as electrics or mechanics.

John Lockwood, head of design and technology, said: "They've done extremely well, doing everything from the mechanical side to cutting out the plastic livery.

"The car just came on a very big pallet in bits so we had to identify all the parts and set it up.

"The actual work and going out and driving it has been great fun."

Sacred Heart's right hand drive two-seater car is a SUNNEV (Sun Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle) - the brainchild of a US-based mechanical engineer - and has pride of place parked up outside the design and technology department workshop, although it is street legal.

Mr Lockwood said: "On a full charge, it will go for about 30 kilometres and has a top speed of between 25 and 30 km/h.

"Quite a lot of staff and several of the students have been driving it on open evenings."