OVER 100 students and staff from the schools in the Yorkshire-based Collaborative Learning Trust came together to celebrate the launch of the Trust’s Equality and Diversity Charter with a rousing concert at Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley, last week.

As a massed choir, Collaborative Voices, they ended the concert singing “Together we can change the world” and meant every word.

The Collaborative Learning Trust was born at Prince Henry’s Grammar School out of existing school partnerships in Otley and currently comprises seven schools across communities in Leeds and Bradford.

The launch of the new charter at PHGSThe launch of the new charter at PHGS (Image: Tim Hardy)

CEO, Janet Sheriff, was the first BAME secondary headteacher in Leeds and it is believed the trust may be one of the first in the country to launch such a charter.

CEO Janet Sheriff, OBE, said “This Charter is just the beginning of our commitment to making a real difference in each of our schools and communities. Working together, we can all do our bit to make a difference and make our world a better place. We pride ourselves on the diversity and inclusivity of our Trust – right from the start our aim was to create a diverse Trust, where both Church and non-Church schools in a variety of socio-economic contexts would work together. An innovative approach to creating a multi-academy trust. This inspirational event was extremely moving, as children from across our Trust sang together with such energy and enthusiasm. You could see in their faces, and hear in their voices how much this meant to them. ”
(Image: Tim Hardy)

At the concert, as well as singing together as Collaborative Voices, pupils sang in their schools’ choirs, singing songs which included “Roar”, “Anything Can Happen If You Let It”, “Different Drums”, “Drop in the Ocean” and “This is Me”. Students were asked to say what the event meant to them.

After the event children from the schools provided comments including:

"It's experiences like this that you never forget, and it inspires the musicians of the future." (Prince Henry’s)

"This is an inspirational event bringing all our schools together. It helps us to learn from each other. This event shows how we are all different and special and anyone can do whatever they put their mind to." (Bramhope).

"Music is for everyone. This is a great way to celebrate equality and diversity. We have been excited all morning." (Ashfield).

(Image: Tim Hardy) The schools in the Collaborative Learning Trust are: All Saints All Saints CE Primary School (Bradford); Ashfield Primary School (Otley, Leeds); Bramhope Primary School (Bramhope, Leeds); Micklefield CE Primary Academy (Micklefield, Leeds); Prince Henry’s Grammar School (Otley, Leeds); St Mary’s CE Primary Academy (Hunslet, Leeds); Trinity All Saints CE Primary School (Bingley, Bradford).