When Kevin Hamblin took over as principal of Filton College in Bristol, only 14 students took part in any timetabled sporting activities and just one sports coach was employed on a part-time basis. "Those 14 did football on a Wednesday afternoon and there wasn't even a goalkeeper among them," says Hamblin.

Fear of gun and knife crime stalks communities in our inner cities. Although official statistics show that it is still relatively rare, with knives used in 6 per cent of violent crimes and firearms in just 1 per cent, the headlines talk of a barrage of youth-on-youth knife and firearm attacks amid an increasingly violent and lawless street culture. For those communities devastated by these senseless slayings, it doesn't matter what the headlines and statistics say: they need action to counter the downward spiral of fear and hopelessness that begets only more violence and vengeance on our streets.

It is a common refrain among education professionals that the contribution of colleges to our economic and social welfare is often overlooked, but the first Colleges Week – from 10-16 November – will swing the spotlight in their direction.

All is not well in the world of further education. Dissatisfied learners who exhaust a college's internal complaints system have little option but to turn to the Learning and Skills Council, which is due to disappear by 2010, or their MP – who will probably refer their enquiry to the local LSC.

People often say, "It's not the money, it's the principle", without really meaning it. In fact, they generally mean the opposite. But the further education college where I teach has recently put me in the unusual position of being able to make this claim with absolute sincerity.

This month, the University of London's external programme celebrates its 150th anniversary – just as the distance-learning industry faces a turning point.