On August 17th, Grade 7 students and Pre-Unit children at Arise School came together to celebrate their respective journeys to the next stage of their education. Their fellow students, staff, parents, neighbours and supporters of the school all joined them to honour their achievements.

Preparations for their national exams almost complete, it is the custom across Tanzania, for individual schools to hold a graduation ceremony for their Grade 7 students. For Arise School, this was the fifth graduation ceremony. Following their forthcoming exams, students will move onto secondary school at the start of the new school year in January. This year, they celebrated together with Pre-Unit children who will be moving into Grade 1 at Arise in January.

As always, the occasion was a true and very colourful celebration with singing and dancing, presentations by the older students and a creative fashion show by the younger ones. On behalf of their fellow students, the head boy and girl gave a heartfelt speech about their time at Arise.

The Guest of Honour, Mr.Wilbroad Prosper, a teacher and family counsellor, then addressed the students – a powerful blend of wisdom, encouragement and inspiration urging them to embrace the challenges ahead and to always strive for excellence – before issuing leaving certificates to all the Grade 7 students. Certificates of academic excellence were also presented to students who had demonstrated outstanding achievement in their studies adding to the sense of pride and accomplishment felt by the whole school community.

The occasion finished with everyone enjoying a celebratory meal together. It
was a day filled with joy, pride and a little bit of sadness, too, as students move to the next chapter of their academic journey. On behalf of ACE, we wish them all good luck and every success in the future.