Over 70 pupils from around Yorkshire celebrated at a graduation ceremony held at Leeds Trinity University. Pupils aged between 7 and 11, celebrated the completion of a mentoring programme organised by Mosaic, an initiative founded by HRH The Prince of Wales and Business in the Community.
Horton Grange Primary School, Bradford, Carlton Primary School, Batley and Field Lane Primary School in Batley were three of the schools that were awarded at the ceremonious event.
Mosaic’s fully-funded 8-10 week programme saw female mentors from a number of professional backgrounds volunteer their time to help pupils build their confidence and self-belief. The programme not only aims to equip pupils with the skills and understanding of further education or future career opportunities, but it helps the pupil’s mothers to support their child in reaching their full potential.
During the ceremony the pupil’s spoke about their positive experience in front of influential business leaders, teachers, mentors and the event’s keynote speaker, Editor at Asian Sunday, Fatima Patel.
Mentor, Henna Nazi highlights the impact the programme has on the pupils. “Over the weeks I have seen each child’s personality shine; I have seen at first-hand how the confidence of some of the more shy children grow. The positive comments made by the children at the end of a session shows me as a mentor, that the mosaic mentoring scheme is impacting the children in all the right ways!”
Lynda Salthouse, a Year 2 Teacher and Geography Co-coordinator at Horton Grange Primary School said how, “Each session has promoted different skills and the children have thoroughly enjoyed working as part of a team, alongside their friends. The mentors have played a pivotal role in raising the self esteem of the students taking part and guiding them to think about their place in our school society as well as their aspirations for the future.”
She also added: “Seeing the children in their graduation gowns and the comments made by the students in their speeches summed up to me what a worthwhile and successful experience it has been.”
Sarah Khan-Bashir MBE who is the Chairperson for Mosaic Yorkshire and Humber also attended the ceremony. She said: “I’m so proud to be part of Mosaic and the Yorkshire region is very close to my heart because it was where my involvement with Mosaic began. It’s great to see the huge interest and success that all Mosaic’s programmes achieve, which is reflected in the numbers of young girls and boys who took part in the Primary School Programme.
“Every single person who has participated in the programme deserves the praise and recognition for all the time and effort they have devoted. Thanks to the brilliant schools and their staff who do so much to make our programmes a success in the region.”
Keynote speaker, Fatima Patel, Managing Director of I and E Media and Editor of Asian Sunday Newspaper, said: “Attending this event has been a very uplifting experience for me, hearing the young pupils talk to the large crowd with such confidence and enthusiasm was a wonderful thing to be able to witness. Mosaic should be proud of the positive impact they are having on the next generation”.
Mrs Sally Cooper Teacher at Field Lane School told Asian Sunday: “We decided to take part because we thought it would be an extremely valuable project for the children. The fact that an inspirational speaker would work with us, every week was also exciting. We agreed with the philosophy of Mosaic, in that we wanted to raise aspirations of all pupils and broaden their horizons, as to what’s possible to achieve.
Everyone, pupils, parents and staff have changed because of Mosaic. We have benefited enormously from working with incredible people who have inspired us to achieve our very best.”
