If you were a

fruit, what
would you be,
and why?

Those job interview

questions from hell

More than half of people in

the West Midlands (52%) have
been left red-faced in an awkward job interview.

PASTURES NEW
FOR
GREENWOOD
Academy unveils designs for purpose-built site

Who will
provide the
money?
Tyburn Mail

The land is owned by Birmingham

Council, who have leased it to AET
(Academies Enterprise Trust) for
125 years.
The money for the new building is
coming from government in a complex
arrangement
via
the
Education Funding Agency and
Amber, an international finance
company that specialises in social
projects.
The building work will be done by
Carillion, a Wolverhampton based
construction company who will
have responsibility for the site for
25 years.
Greenwood is one of eight schoolsites across the Midlands that
Carillion are building. Plantsbrook
in Sutton Coldfield is another. ARK
in Birmingham is another.
The contract for the eight schools
is worth between 100m-150m,
aound 15 million of which will go
to the Greenwood site.

Reasons including having coughing

fits, feeling intimidated, and spilling
drinks over their interviewer, a new
study by AAT (the Association of
Accounting Technicians) has revealed.
Saying something stupid, calling the
company the wrong name, and rude
interviewers are also apparently common nightmare interview experiences
for people in the region according to
answers given to the survey.

Top 11 worst
interview moments

Greenwoods new site: ready for September 2017, if all goes to plan. It is energy efficient, with all major classrooms on
the outside walls, to make use of natural light. Major features include a science garden, performing arts resources,and
centrally based facilities for youngsters with special needs.

I had a coughing fit

I spilt a drink over myself
I spilt a drink over the interviewer
I said something stupid
I felt intimidated
I referred to the company by the
wrong name
The interviewer seemed really rude
The interviewer seemed bored
I kept stuttering
I had no knowledge of the job role
I was late

COMMENT

Greenwood Academy has

unveiled its plans for a
new building on the paddock, just over the road
from its current site.

If it gets the go-ahead from the

Citys Planning Committee, building
should start in May 2016, and the
building will be ready for September
2017.
It will be big enough for 1,100
pupils, and will be three storeys high.
Thats one storey lower than the current buidling.
Colin Way of Seymour Harris
Architects in Birmingham is the man
who has designed Greenwood
Academys new school.
Colin says they it will be environmentally friendly and is designed to
be energy efficient. Every classroom
will be on an outer facing wall to
make maximum use of natural light.
The rooms on the inner part of the
building will be large resources such
as the library and a performing arts
facility.
Colin says that Greenwoods reputa-

Top 10 hardest
interview questions

What are your weaknesses?

Describe yourself in three words
If you were a fruit or vegetable what
would you be and why?
What are your strengths
If you were a flavor of ice cream
what would you be?
Describe a time when you have
failed
Why did you apply for this job?
What has been your greatest
achievement?
Why should we choose you for this
role?
What attracted you to this
company?

tion for performing arts played a big

role in the designs. So, too, did the
provision for youngsters with special
needs. He is pleased that Greenwood
has insisted that special needs care
and an ASD unit is central to the
school, not tucked away in an
obscure corner.

Colin Way, the architect who has

designed Greenwoods proposed
new building (photo: Semour Harris)

The exterior of the building will be

light grey, and the design has made
use of the mature landscape already
on site, to fit in with the nearby fields
and conservation area.

How many people vote at General Elections?

100

100

80

80

90

90

70

70

60

60

50

50

40

40

30

30

20

20
10

1945

50

51 55

59

64

66 70

10
74 Feb 74 Oct 79

83

87

92

97

2001

2005 2010

Percentage of voters in General Election years from 1945 - 2010

The paddock is not part of green

belt land, and therefore has fewer
planning restrictions. The Council
owns the paddock and the land on
which the current site is built.
The response from residents at the
first planning consultation meeting
suggested that the new site will have
plenty of supporters.

The current school building is outdated, shabby

and deteriorating.... It
lacks the sturdy charm of
an old Victorian building,
and lacks the purpose-built
style and pizzaz of the digital age.
When it is bulldozed, few
will mourn its absence.

There is a second public consultation meeting, scheduled for 3pm

6.30pm on Tuesday 24th March, at
The Sanctuary on Tangmere Drive.
There will be objections from people who are concerned about the
reduction in green space.
The gradual and piecemeal deple-

tion of green space locally and

nationally is giving cause for concern,
but is rarely seen as a powerful
enough argument to overturn major
building plans, especially of social
projects such as new schools.
Objectors could argue that the new
school could be built on the present
site.It is designed to fit that space.
But Harry French is adamant that the
two-year building programme will
seriously disrupt pupils academic
progress.
There is little doubt that the school
needs a new building. The current
building is outdated, shabby and
deteriorating.
It lacks the sturdy charm of an old
Victorian building, and lacks the purpose-built style and pizzaz of the digital age. When it is bulldozed, few will
mourn its absence.
The city council is desperate for
space on which to build new houses.
They would not be given permission
to build houses on the paddock but
they could get permission for a
school site, leaving the current site
free for future housing development.
The council is unlikely to reveal that
it has housing plans for the current
site, but that is a likely outcome for
future years.

COMMENT

Around two out of every

three people vote at
General Elections.

It varies over time, but between

60-70% of the population will be
turning up to polling stations on
7th May, or making sure that they
have voted by post before that
date.
The biggest turn-out since the
war was in 1950, when over 80%
of the electorate voted.
The lowest was in 2001 when
the figure slipped below 60%.
Experts will be able to provide
reasons for the fluctuations. The
1945 election, immediately after
World War II, saw a Labour government elected. Troops had
returned home demanding a better deal than they had been given
before they had gone off to serve
their country. They expected, and
demanded more than they had

page 22

previously been given. So a

National Health Service began.
And free education for all became
a right.
1950 was the first election after
these
major constitutional
upheavals.
So why did voting hit an all-time
low in 2001?
That was the election after 1997
when Tony Blair and New Labour
had stormed to a massive victory
to oust John Majors flimsy reign
following the Thatcher years.
Perhaps voters in 2001 felt that
their vote would not count for
much, given that Labour were
bound to get re-elected.
Perhaps some had been turned
off by the modern political trends
of spin and lying.
Since those times of mass
abstension and apathy, voting has
picked up. This election, with a
sharp prod from UKIP, may see a
high turnout.