Forming friendships and deepening understanding during Inter Faith Week

Year 6 pupils from The Olive School, Blackburn, took part in an event to mark Inter Faith Week (11-18 November) following a successful joint project with Lower Darwen School.

Last academic year, pupils and staff from the two primary schools spent time together forging friendships, building bridges and learning more about one another’s culture to explore their similarities.

The twinning project that looked into themes around citizenship and belonging was led by Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum.

On Wednesday, 14 November, children involved in the project last year visited Blackburn Youth Zone with Assistant Principal Smeena Riaz  to give feedback on the project, as part of Inter Faith Week.

Julie Bradley, Executive Principal at The Olive School, Blackburn, said:

“Our school was one of only four schools in the Borough selected to take part in this interfaith project and during Inter Faith Week it was lovely for the pupils to see some of the friends they made last year.

“The Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum does vital work helping our local communities to understand one another better. Our pupils gained such a lot from taking part in activities with Lower Darwen pupils and many have continued the friendships that were formed.”

Steven Cumbo, Headteacher of Lower Darwen Primary School, said:

“This project was invaluable to both staff and pupils and it has been a pleasure to work with The Olive School. It was brilliant to see the two groups of children in contrasting settings. There was lots of collaborative work and it has deepened our children’s understanding of RE and different faiths. It was wonderful witnessing the children just talking to each other and forming new friendships. The project has really strengthened our interfaith studies.”

Last year pupils met weekly for six weeks, firstly here and then, for the last three sessions, at Lower Darwen Primary School in Milking Lane.

Sessions were aimed at encouraging pupils to share their comm on values and appreciate one another’s differences.

The young pupils took part in a workshop with six people each from a different faith background: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jewish. Exploring the similarities and shared values of the six faiths, the workshop helped pupils to deepen their understanding of major world religions.

Rayyan Khanjra, pupil at The Olive School, Blackburn, said:

“I enjoyed meeting people from different faiths.  The children welcomed us into their school with their kind, caring attitude. It doesn’t matter what religion you have as you can be friends with whoever you want to be.”

Ivy Hollings, a pupil at Lower Darwen Primary School, added:

“Interfaith made me learn that it doesn’t matter what religion you have. You can be friends with whoever you want to be friends with. I had a lot of fun learning about different religions.”

Added By: Star Academies | Date Added: 20th Nov 2018 | Posted In: Latest News