The achievements of hundreds of summer school students were celebrated at a virtual event held at Olympic Park.

More than 250 students aged 13 to 16 took part in the three-week online EAST Summer School, taking on courses in dance, coding, fashion, game design, engineering and architecture.

At the event on August 20, awards were given out for categories like Best Contributor, Most Engaged, Most Creative and Most Resilient.

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“It was amazing taking part in Summer school this year, I took part in Design the Future and Move Build Code course, it was so good hearing form professionals and designing something from scratch,” said Hackney 14-year-old Jarrell Coker who won the Most Resilient Category.

“I really enjoyed learning how to programme microbits to movement and felt a huge sense of achievement when I completed it.

He added: “It was great to socialise with other young people coming out of lockdown and I would definitely take part in Summer School again.”

The East Summer School was attended by young people from Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest, with free sessions run by world-leading creative, cultural and education organisations.

Kelis, 16, from Hackney, was nominated for the Most Effort Made Category.

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She said: “It was really hard when school had just ended and being in year 11, I will never go back. So, it was nice to be able to meet new people through zoom,

“I learnt a lot about future careers and the fact that I can have multiple job roles in the future.

“[The summer school] has inspired me to work harder and to do things I am passionate about.”

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Summer School courses were delivered by world-leading organisations, such as the BBC, UAL’s London College of Fashion, University College London who will be moving to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of East Bank.

Other partners included Hackney Wick’s The Yard Theatre and Badu Sports, The Landscape Institute, British Council and Catalyst in Communities, along with Art Clubbers and The People Speak both supported by The Foundation for FutureLondon & City of London.

Layla Conway, Senior Communities Manager, London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “It’s been a brilliant three weeks and this is a great way to celebrate.

“Now I want to bottle all this enthusiasm and inspiration! It would be great to see the young people coming back to the Park in a few years to study here or take up one of the many exciting jobs.”

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For more information on EAST Summer School click here