Young cadets from the Mossbourne Federation were inspected for the first time at Grocers’ Hall by one of the most senior officers in the military.

In a rare honour, the group, aged 12 to 14, performed their inaugural parade and inspection for the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Carter, GCB,CBE, DSO, ADC, and marched along with the Coldstream Guards band.

The occasion marked the Federation's initiation into the national combined cadet expansion programme, which was launched by the government to deliver new cadet units in state-funded schools.

Mossbourne Community Academy and Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy, both based in Hackney, joined the programme last year thanks to funding from the Honourable Artillery Company, to give pupils the chance to benefit from the residential opportunities and skills the programme teaches like team work and discipline.

Zaid Sabah, 13, from Dalston, said: "I was so nervous about the performance, but now that we've done it I'm so proud."