Congratulations to our Family Liaison Officer Mr Adam who has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2023 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education, organised by NAPCE.
He has been nominated for his outstanding contribution to pastoral care at Manchester Academy.
Mr Adam is Manchester Academy’s School Family Liaison Officer and provides a direct link between Parents/Carers whose first language is not English. He speaks fluent Somali and Arabic and is available in school on a daily basis to bridge that gap in communication.
There are more than 80% EAL students in school at Manchester Academy, and approximately 70 languages are spoken. The most prominent languages spoken are Somali, Arabic and Urdu.
He has also helped out on numerous occasions with translating documents for our website so they are more accessible to our Parents/Carers, including assisting with translations for our latest prospectus.
During the period of the two national lockdowns, Mohammed Adam's work across our local community was of huge importance in terms of supporting families with food parcels, contact with other agencies and supporting the wider Safeguarding effort to ensure that students working remotely were engaging and remaining safe online.
Mr Adam has also helped to establish a school in his ancestral village in Somalia which caters for approximately 150 pupils per day.
These youngsters had previously gathered under the shade of trees to access learning opportunities, but now, thanks to Mr Adam and others he has worked with to secure the success of this project, students now have a building to attend every day and there is one qualified teacher on site delivering lessons in the company of an additional volunteer.
Mr Adam was completely unaware of being nominated for the award, so it came as a complete surprise.
“The only thing I can do is to express my sincere gratitude to the whole Manchester Academy staff.
“I am so proud looking back on what we have achieved over the past years for our school, parents and our wider community.
“I could not possibly have got this nomination without all the support from our staff, and I want to thank all of them,” he said.
Mr Adam has been invited to the presentation event on Friday 29th September at Worcestershire County Cricket Ground in Worcester, when the winners in each category will be announced and the prizes, plaques and certificates will be presented.