A group of our Year 9 students were chosen to take part in a workshop for BBC Children in Need’s ‘We Move’ Fund.
The creative and interactive workshop was held at the BBC at Media City in Salford, and eight of our students were lucky enough to go along for the day.
The eight students who took part were Joy Njugoh, Queenster Agyekum, Kyara Raymond , Sainabou Nyang, Tehillah Oluwatoki, Wendy Abiola, Deivan Furtado and Gibril Gaye.
The students were chosen to ensure that ‘We Move’ reflects and represents the communities that it is trying to reach.
The students were asked for their input and ideas on how ‘We Move’ could show up in the future through words, imagery and more. They shared thoughts and opinions on impactful marketing, culture, style, and brands that inspire them.
They all thoroughly enjoyed taking part and had lots of positive feedback after attending the worksop.
Wendy Abiola said: “I liked that we got to hear different opinions and how nobody judged anyone. I enjoyed that we got to express ourselves and got to know our generation more.”
Joy Njugoh said: “I enjoyed being able to express myself, I felt like I was actually being listened to and my ideas were going to be used to help support people and I enjoyed the food.”
Sainabou Nyang said: “I liked that I could express myself without fear of judgement. I liked how they really related to our generation and the things we like to say, wear or do. I liked the range of food and the culture references. I also liked how they didn't refuse our ideas just because we were kids. I also liked how they thought about what they could do for us and for black communities in the near future.”
Queenster Agyekum said: “I liked how I was able to share my opinion and feel comfortable, I also like the food and how supportive they are, they were very kind.”
Gibril Gaye said: “I enjoyed the food and the task we were set for example describing what we liked in the Nike ad and the Lioness ad. I also liked how we were able to talk about black communities.”
Deivan Furtado said: “I enjoyed the quiz at the beginning and the new people I met, and I also enjoyed the food. I liked thinking of ways to support young black children live their lives to the fullest, the people were all very nice.”
Our Pastoral Leads Ms Richards and Ms King, who accompanied the students at the workshop, said:
“Watching our students taking part in all the activities and being so engaged was lovely to see. They were all well-mannered and connected with others that attended the event, we were happy they were able to represent the Academy the way they did. They did themselves and Manchester Academy proud. Forever making Manchester Magic!”
Mercy Shibemba MBE, Co-Director of ‘We Move’ Fund, said: “Nurturing the voices, ideas and leadership of young people is central to everything that we do with the ‘We Move’ Fund and that's why it was so important to us to hold this workshop.
All of the young people were brilliant – engaged, thoughtful and insightful. We were so grateful to them for giving up their time.”