Four schools in Tower Hamlets have been added to the list of the best performing schools in the country. The newly appointed schools minister Estelle Morris (pictured left) chose the borough to launch the initiative of specialist and beacon schools last Thursday. Hague Primary School in Bethnal Green, Halley Primary in Stepney, Hermitage Primary in Wapping and Cherry Tree special school in Bow were awarded the accolade of beacon schools.

Central Foundation Girl's school also achieved specialist status as a performing arts college. Speaking at St Paul's Way Community School in Bow, Ms Morris praised local schools for taking up new government schools initiatives. "Tower Hamlets is one of the most challenging area in the country. If kids can succeed here, we know they can do it anywhere", she said. The minister joined pupils at St Paul's Way in a sculpture class.

The specialist school for the visual arts, with 80 per cent of the students taking the subject at GCSE and 90 per cent achieving a top A-C grade, achieves 30 percent above the national average. Head teacher Martyn Coles said: "Specialist schools are an excellent idea which works well here. We work with the local community, with adults and artists, so this is not elitist. The arts are a way for the students to build their confidence helping them perform better in other subjects." Beacon schools are those identified as the best performing in the country and represent examples of best practice.

They receive in the region of £35,000 a year extra in funding. Specialist schools have to raise £50,000 in sponsorship and prepare a four-year development plan in the subject in which they want to specialise to achieve the status and consequently the extra funding. The new minister for schools standards Stephen Timms who accompanied Ms Morris, added: "Tower Hamlets are always very welcoming and they get some good results."

It's just been announce that superstar Lauryn Hill will headline MOBOFEST in Victoria Park on August 4. This will mark the soul diva's sole UK performance this year, revealing brand new material.

The international star, who as well as being part of the Fugees is also a huge solo star, will be sharing the bill with home-grown talent including Courtney Pine, The Artful Dodger, The Architects, DJ Luck and MC Neat Mis-Teeq and Wookie. The full line up will be announced in the coming weeks. Lauryn Hill has been hailed as one of the musical innovators of her generation.

The 26 year-old New Jersey genius has achieved phenomenal success around the globe and played an instrumental part in changing the face of rap, R&B, soul and reggae with her unique lyrical style and vocal delivery. Her hits include Killing me Softly, and the Ex-factor and she scored a US number one album with her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

The ten-hour festival is being organised by the people behind the MOBO (Music of Black Origin) awards. MOBO founder Kanya King said: "It's so exciting to have Lauryn Hill, an artist everyone admires and respects, playing at MOBOFEST. It's going to be an incredible day and a true celebration of the best of urban music."

The latest stage of the transformation of Mile End Park is being opened with a special exhibition of sculptures (left:Yatra by Stephen Cox). Mile End Park is being turned into a "radical park for the 21st century" with a £25 million grant from the National Lottery.

Thousands of trees have been planted and a stunning Green Bridge has been constructed over the Mile End Road to carry the park over the carriageway. Now the Art Park and Ecology Park are being opened with state-of-the-art earth shelter buildings, an Art Pavilion and an Ecology Centre.

Sculpture in the Park includes individual works specially selected for the site. Eventually there will be seven different themed "parks within the Park" with leisure, arts, educational and sports facilities. This summer also sees the opening of the Electric Karts attraction and newly created lakes.

A Festival has been planned consisting of six free public events, which celebrate the parks' progress and the thousands of local people who have been involved in its development.

Sculpture in the Park runs from 20th June - 30th September 2001and will be open 24 hours every day. This will be a major exhibition of stunning sculptures set in the Ecology and Arts Parks. Each individual sculpture has been specially selected for the location and is in keeping with the exciting artistic life of East London.

For further information call 01273 674692

Portraits in the Park will be on 21 June. The exhibition represents the diverse local communities through different media: photography, textiles and video.

' Around' by Ambient Exposures, shows photographs of local people, family and friends; 'Stitches in Time' represents the history and portraits of the communities of the East End in tapestries made by local workshops. Babies living on the nearby Ocean Estate are shown in a special video made for Sure Start.

Picnic in the Park will take place on 24 June 1pm Join the Friends of the Park for a celebration picnic.

A colourful procession through the park starts at the Ecology Park at 1pm. The procession arrives at the picnic site at 2pm where the fun continues with musicians, magicians, clowns, jugglers, rickshaw rides and face painters. Friends of Mile End Park can have their palm print and signature preserved in a clay tile, for a People's wall to be installed in the Park. Bring your own picnic for this fun day out for all the family.

Poetry in the Park will be on 7 July between 3 and 6pm. John Hegley leads a star line up of poets and musicians including Adisa, Poiynt Black, Phenzwaan, Crystal, Shamin Azad with tabla player Yusuf Ali Khan, Mohammed Mira and artists from Udichi Shipi Gosthi Bengali Cultural Group.

For further information call: Eastside Arts 0207 247 0216.

Performance in the Park is on 24 June between 3 & 5pm.The performance 'Wherever I lay my hat' has eight people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and ages creating a personal performance involving dance, text and music that reflects themselves and their home.

For further information call: Clare Whistler 01424 892304.

Fireworks in the Park is on 7 July 9 - 10:30pm This is a pyrotechnic performance to celebrate the park, with local history as a theme. For further information call: Greenwich and Docklands Festival 020 8305 1818 or see www.festival.org

Life-saving lesson are to be taught to Tower Hamlets' Bangladeshi community to help reduce the rocketing rate of heart disease. London Mayor Ken Livingstone (pictured above) today launched the £60,000 scheme.

Surveys have revealed that Bangladeshi men are 85 percent more likely to suffer from heart disease than average and for women the chances are 63 per cent more likely than average. Mortality rates from heart disease are 76 per cent higher overall. A community worker, jointly funded by the Greater London Authority and the NHS, has been employed to teach first aid in the borough. Mr Livingstone said: "This is the first in a series of projects to get more Londoners trained so that more lives can be saved.

The survey carried out by Bart's City Life Saver found that while almost 75 per cent of the Bangladeshi community had not had any formal training, all were aware of the increased risk of heart disease and would welcome training Bangladeshi women can be reluctant to take an active role in a medical emergency by, for example, giving the kiss of life to a man who was not their husband. But resuscitation can double the chances of someone surviving a heart attack

A Bethnal Green chip-shop couple have spoken of their shocking ordeal wrestling with a samurai sword-wielding customer. The terrified couple, who were set upon by the maniac because they ran out of chips, managed to prise the terrifying weapon from the attackers hands after fighting for dear life. Plucky Mevluit Oscan, 54, may have suffered slash wound to his arms and legs and a black eye but was back behind the deep-fat fryer the next day at the Seashore Fish Bar on Roman Road.

Wife Ayse was left shaken by the attack late on Tuesday evening. Mrs Oscan was pulling down the shutters when a woman tried to enter the shop demanding chips. When told the chips had run out, the woman left swearing. A few moments later a man in his 30s appeared carrying the sword under his arm. "He broke down the door and started slashing me", said Oscan who has run the shop for 11 years.

After Oscan had managed to free the sword, the lunatic then set about beating the couple with a wooden stick. Shocked onlookers raised the alarm and called the police who apprehended a man in nearby Bonner Street and took him to Homerton hospital. The attacker is currently being hunted after discharging himself from the hospital. Anyone with information on the crime is urged to call the Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555 111.

It's business as usual for City farms across Tower Hamlets as they open their doors following the foot and mouth crisis. Mudchute Park and Farm on the Isle of Dogs will open their gates this weekend following a three month closure imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Farming (MAFF) to shield the animals from the devastating epidemic.

The farms have however suffered financially and have had to rely on donations from the public to stay afloat. Director of community regeneration for the Mudchute, Margaret Tracey said: "It has been such a shame for children to miss out on the new born animals. But, we have been very fortunate that none of them have suffered." Spitalfields City Farm is celebrating it's reopening on June 10 with a barbeque and child friendly activities.

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