Interfaith week is held annually across the UK to strengthen relations between different faith groups in our communities. Interfaith Week 2019 was from 10th to 17th November and the RE Faculty at Brownedge marked the week with a number of activities and workshops.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we welcomed Preston based Muslim women’s group Sister4sisters into school. All pupils from year 8 and year 10 took part in 3 workshops; learning about the 5 pillars, the fundamental duties of Muslims – including prayer, pilgrimage and fasting during Ramadan. They had the opportunity to try foods that the prophet Muhammad enjoyed eating, and wear traditional clothing, headscarves, and veils.
Students had the opportunity to ask any questions they wanted and were fascinated to learn about halal perfume and toothpaste! Pupils asked interesting and thoughtful questions about subjects as diverse as dress rules for Muslim women, halal food, pilgrimages, prayer, and the footballer Mo Salah!
Two of our Muslim students asked if they could share their own experiences of life as a young Muslim and each delivered a PowerPoint , brought in different items related to their faith, and fielded probing and challenging questions from their fascinated classmates for an hour! Well done to these students!
Year 9 reflected on the things different faiths have in common. Students produced some very thought-provoking pieces of work, explaining what their peers would realise about them if they walked in their shoes.
Year 7 enjoyed learning about the Sikh concept of ‘sewa’ – selfless service, and ‘langar’ which is a community kitchen. Students then planned and celebrated their own langar meal. Our chaplain Rachael and Mrs Oddie had a very busy week as they were invited to all the langar meals!
All in all, a successful, exciting and thought-provoking week, enjoyed by students and staff!
Interfaith Week
