At the beginning of the Summer term a few lucky Year 9s went on an Into University trip to Alliance Bernstein, an asset management company.

The whole trip was a really fun and rewarding experience. The student were split into two teams where they were set an Apprentice style challenge where they had to organise a charity concert. It involved them setting themselves company positions such as CEO’s, Marketing executive’s and media relations etc. The kids really stepped up and took on the challenge straight away. During the process they had to pitch to trustees and create the event.

It was really endearing to see Year 9 in such a positive light. Many of them were able to publicly speak and perform with confidence. During the day many of the volunteers from the company came up to me one by one to tell me how amazing our students were and that they were a credit to our school. The compliments were overflowing.

All the students were awarded silver merits for their great work along with the following 3 receiving gold merits.

Maryam Bulhan was CEO for the winning team. She was a force to be reckoned with. She was organised and commanding. Definitely a leader of the future.

Olubasayo Moronfolu won a star contributor award for her understated exceptional talent. Chosen by the volunteers from the company. She wrote 2 poems for the ‘concert’ performance and led the marketing for her team.

Omari Abodoh also won a star contributor award for his calm yet dependable work ethic towards his team. He was also able to pitch the ‘trustees’ successfully why they should pay money towards his team’s event.

Overall, the students showed the best of Ark Academy and were great representatives of our school. It’s was a really proud moment for me to see as their Head of Year.

Mr Asare