With only 42% of children of African Caribbean heritage achieving 5 or more GCSE passes at grade A*- C, we are pleased to see that every year since our first project with Year 10 students at the Green School for Girls (Hounslow) students who have participated in the ACES programme have realised the importance of refocusing and pursuing their dreams.

R, Sylvester told us back in 2009 how the project had helped her in her quest to study International Studies at university.

Despite the figures that there are more black boys in prison than at university, majority of the ‘black boys’ on the 2007 Claremont High School programme have now settled in university. They are determined to improve their life chances and are clearly not phased by tuition fees. Keep up the great work guys! 

ACES Diamond Ball Awards winner, Christian Nnochiri, was one of the students chosen to attend Bank of America’s Career workshop, he found the event useful and shares his experience of the day in his blog.

On the 19^th November I had the opportunity to attend a series of workshops at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, organised by The Knowledge Channel. The aim of the day was to provide the attendees with valuable tips for CV writing and Job Interviews.

During the day I was also privileged to listen to both members of BAML and TKC speak on careers in both Africa and the City of London by Nneka Ochonogor and Merve Cinarli. It was interesting to hear successful professionals share their experience with a crowd of people all eager to learn.

The CV building workshop run by Dr Ian Dodds was of particular value to me as I have never had any previous guidance in this area. I will remember some simple but effective pointers, such as tailoring every CV to make it relevant to different employers.

The highlight of the afternoon for me was listening to guest speaker Tim Campbell. He gave us an insight into how he goes about preparing for interviews along with a few incredibly entertaining anecdotes about some of his past experiences.

Overall the day will be one to remember, not only because of the prestigious location in which it was set, but because of the vast amount of valuable skills I obtained which will help me throughout my future career.

Donia Narh and a university undergraduate spoke to diverse group of 25 young people last Saturday at KEW Tuition Supplementary School in Preston Park Primary. Students engaged in a range of interactive and thought provoking activities.  It was great to see how well they responded even on an early Saturday Morning.

Inspirational speakers such as Donia Narh, Caroline Marsh and Dwain Leriko have joined forces with ACES to Tour London boroughs to inspire young people, especially those of African Caribbean heritage, to ‘dream big dreams’ and make the most of education especially during the current economic climate.

Achievers

Throughout the programme students get to meet a wide range of black achievers and role models from such as lawyers, doctors, administrators, pilots, sixth formers, university students. A key focus of the project is to give students and young people the opportunity to explore and discover ‘a whole new world’. A world of achievement and progression, thus, enabling them to appreciate the contribution that their ancestors have made in modern day Britain and worldwide. Students also recognise the positive contribution that they can also make in their local, national and international communities.