Yesterday morning, I attended the Primary African Caribbean Excellence/Black Children's Achievement Programme Celebration event at the Civic Hall...

I had been invited by my colleague Pauline Rosenthal and it was brilliant to see the impact Pauline and her colleagues are having in targeted schools across the city through these two wonderful programmes. I arrived as St Peter's CE Primary School did their performance and they were stunning. They were followed by Allerton CE Primary School whose performance showed that this is a school where children can sing and dance. As you can see from these pictures all the schools involved released an energy and magic in the Civic Hall that brought the event to life and energised everyone there.

We also listened to Vernon Richardson from Leeds Black Elders who talked about his personal journey and the importance of hard work, commitment and family. We were also entertained by Azaelia Anisko, a Leeds Young Author, who performed one of her amazing poems with an extraordinary passion, energy and power.

It was a great event celebrating the achievements of some talented and wonderful young people and encouraging them to continue to work hard to achieve their potential. Pauline and her colleagues are making a real difference through these programmes and reaching and engaging young people and their families and helping us all understand what is possible.
Chris