Yesterday our Year 9 students all had the opportunity to encounter members of different faiths and world views during our Interfaith Conference.
We were delighted to host nine speakers in school who provided an insight into their faith and worldviews. Speakers included: Wendy Gray (Buddhist), Mahshid Turner (Muslim), Deanna Van Der Velde (Jew), Kirtida Richardson (Hindu), Jaswinder Singh (Sikh), Sue White (Anglican, Christian), John Kidd (Methodist, Christian) Carol Spencer (Baha’i) and Susan Walker (Humanist).
Students had the opportunity to develop questions, critically think and analyse as well as put these thoughts to a panel discussion to allow faith members and those with other world views to respond.
Mr Welch, our Trust Subject Director for RE said: “This has been a really valuable learning opportunity to encounter faith members and those with other world views to try and gain an insight and understanding of the impact of faith and world views in their lives as well as gain a greater understanding of how this is expressed.
"Part of the fundamental British Values are ‘mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith’. At the Hermitage Academy we seek to prepare our students to be more aware of the community and surroundings in which they live as well as become global citizens accepting and celebrating diversity."
Prior to the conference students had been learning about the importance of religious diversity and learning what it means to have respect and show respect to others and its importance in society.
Thank you to Mr Welch for organising the conference and to all of the interesting speakers for donating their time.