Mosaic Chairman, Khawar Mann OBE, was amongst Mosaic representatives thanking mentors and supporters at a special celebratory event to mark the completion of Mosaic’s programmes in schools in the West Midlands for the academic year.

The event was opened by Shabir Nawab, Chairman of the Mosaic West Midlands Regional Leadership Group, and brought together over 150 mentors, mentees and school staff from across the region as well as funders and representatives from organisations that hosted World of Work visits for the students during the year.

Girls and their mothers from Anderton Primary School and students and staff from Aston Manor Academy spoke at the event, held in Birmingham, about what they had achieved in their Mosaic Primary School and Secondary School programmes and their excellent work during the year.

Annalisa Lockett, Mosaic West Midlands and Lead Regional Manager, presented several mentors and supporters with individual awards for their particular contributions over the year:

• Nabila Zulfiqar: three secondary school group mentoring programmes in two years, four World of Work visits, inspirational speaker for primary graduations and secondary school assemblies
• Nasrin Akhtar: four primary school mentoring programmes in two years as Lead Mentor whilst completing her undergraduate degree and a Masters
• Nusrat Sadiq: seven primary school mentoring programmes in three years as Lead Mentor and is the Link Teacher at Washwood Heath Academy
• Sarah Owen: two Enterprise Challenge programmes in two years, recruited over 15 mentors from Jaguar Land Rover this year, persuaded Alan Fennelly of Jaguar Land Rover to act as Judge at the West Midlands Enterprise Challenge Regional Finals and instrumental in securing a Jaguar XJL and Land Rover Discovery to chauffeur the national Enterprise Challenge winning team on their afternoon of prizes.
• Shabir Ahmed: Four secondary school group mentoring programmes in two years and one World of Work visit 

WM Long Service Award – in recognition of those mentors who have supported Mosaic for more than 3 years

• Siddiq Ravat: six secondary school group mentoring and Enterprise Challenge programmes Secondary, Lead Mentor, helped train new Enterprise Challenge mentors, mentor on the International Leadership Programme
• Susan Noori: seven primary school mentoring programmes as Lead Mentor, mentor on the International Leadership Programme and a member of the West Midlands Regional Leadership Group

National Hero of the Month Award – recognised by Mosaic staff, mentors and school staff

• Sheila Ellis: joined Mosaic this academic year as Lead Mentor at Cherry Orchard and City Primary School.

Rachel Jacobs, Mosaic Link Teacher Anderton Primary School, at the school said:

“I felt extremely proud when I saw the girls talking about their experiences. To stand up and be bold enough to share in front of so many people is a testament to how they’ve grown and matured over the weeks. Mosaic gives the girls the opportunity to engage, not only in discussions with their peers but also with their Mum’s. The space to learn and grow has allowed the children and their Mum’s grow in confidence when sharing in their experiences and concerns. The girls are always asking when the next session is (even when it was over) which shows how excited they are to come and learn.”

Commenting on Mosaic’s Secondary School group mentoring programme at Aston Manor Academy, Mosaic Link Teacher Amandip Kang said:

“Aston Manor Academy has worked with Mosaic since they have started working with schools in Birmingham. From Day 1 the quality of the business links and communication has been fantastic and the impact Mosaic mentors have had has been significant and now Mosaic is part of the school culture.  I am proud to be part of this programme and more importantly the students and mentors involved are pleased to say that they are equally proud to be part of the mentoring programme.

“The impact the mentoring has had on pupils is significant and really personalised, pupils have commented how it has made them feel more confident in asking meaningful questions, feel more in control about what they want to do in the future, as well as highlighting their own barriers to learning.”

Two of the students attending the event from Aston Manor Academy talked about what stood out for them during the year.

“During the mentoring sessions we would do a lot of activities. My favourite activity was the tree. This was when you drew a tree, and the tree resembles you.  The tree branches were paths you needed to take in order to reach your career goals. The reason why I liked this activity was because it was a creative way to present my ideas and it also made me think about my future career, and the goals I needed to reach in order to get there.”  – Kumbirai, year 10 student.

“I have learnt a lot of skills such as some of the skills I have learnt are; Teamwork skills which has made me work as a team in activities,  and I have started to speak to people who I never spoke too, which showed me how it would be like in the future career path working with other people.” – Danish, year 10 student.

Read more about the schools we support in the West Midlands area and why not sign up as a mentor for one of our programmes starting in the Autumn.