The final Mosaic Primary School Programme graduation ceremonies of the 2016/17 academic year took place at the London offices of global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright recently.

Accompanied by their proud mentors, teachers and families, pupils from St Barnabas Primary School, Arnhem Wharf Primary School, Bygrove Woodlands Academy and Queen’s Park Primary School shared their experiences of participating in the programme.

The keynote speaker at the ceremony was Soraya Abbasi, AML Programme Manager at HSBC.

Ms Abbasi said: “It was such a pleasure to speak to the children about the importance of dreams, hard work, high expectations and resilience.

“Their presentations were such good fun. They were positive, engaged and articulate. It was clear to me that they had gained a lot from their mentoring sessions and I am encouraged that my decision to become a mentor will have a positive impact.”

Mosaic’s primary school mentoring programme aims to raise aspirations of young people, and to help empower their parents so that they are better able to support their children fulfil their potential. Volunteer mentors from professional backgrounds act as role models to the pupils and encourage them to aspire to careers in a range of different sectors.

Mentor Sandra Henriques who works for Sky was delighted to be able to attend the graduation alongside her mentees. She said: ‘It was an absolute honour being asked to speak to the children on their graduation day, the class of July 2017!

“The fact that the Prince’s Trust provides this wonderful opportunity, to both the mentors and children from all walks of life, giving us the mentors the opportunity to give back and working with the schools to open the young minds to achieve and to be the best that they can be has given me the hope for our youngsters and their futures.”

Robyn Brown, Education Manager responsible for Mosaic in the South, said: “The ceremony was a wonderful way to close the academic year.

“I think I speak on behalf of the rest of my team when I say that we never tire of seeing these talented young individuals grow and develop in confidence through mentoring. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!”

The Primary School mentoring programme is made possible in London thanks to the generous support of Human Appeal.