The Young Leaders Award, developed by The Archbishop of York Youth Trust, is a school-based programme which aims to equip young people with leadership skills and provide opportunities for them to engage with their community and serve others.

At Manor CE Academy, all students complete the Key Stage 3 Award through RS and Citizenship, exploring modules in Faith, Hope and Action. In the final module every student has to complete three action projects that have a focus on serving others and we’ve seen some remarkable acts of service so far. From litter picks to sponsored activities, charity presentations to creating new Year 7 guidebooks, the Award has proved a real success and gives every Key Stage 3 student an opportunity to experience voluntary work and the value of serving others.

At Key Stage 4, students can choose the Leadership Award and the numbers continue to increase year on year. With the focus more specifically on leadership, they complete ten modules and have an opportunity to put their skills into practice through a series of challenges. At the heart of every leadership challenge is an opportunity to serve others whilst growing in leadership at the same time. Highlights so far have included: pitching to Nestlé about Fairtrade, running workshops and assemblies in local primary schools, working with a charity in Romania to help the poor and vulnerable, delivering speeches on key issues in society and promoting the work of charities addressing them, and mentoring younger students in school.