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Working with schools
Inter faith issues are now very much part of Religious
Education in many schools. For some local inter faith bodies, an
important part of their outreach is sending speakers from different
faiths to talk to pupils in local schools. A few, such as the Building
Bridges Project in Pendle, Lancashire, have staff specifically
employed to carry out this area of work or, like Suffolk Inter-Faith
Resource, employ tutors of different faiths to work with schools. Most
rely on volunteers of different faiths.
| Tower Hamlets Inter Faith Forum
has been working in partnership with secondary schools and the
Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) to
develop a model to support religious education and community
cohesion by encouraging faith leaders to visit schools. Three
schools are piloting the project. A workshop took place led by the
Head of RE at Mulberry School to look at how visits would be
structured and to encourage faith leaders to be volunteers for the
pilot. The idea is that volunteers will visit the classroom in
pairs, as part of a lesson planned by the class teacher. They will
be able to give faith perspectives and would also be role models
showing respect and understanding across religions. |
Some local inter faith bodies help with arranging visits of school
pupils to places of worship or arranging special educational events.
Large numbers of students and
pupils and their teachers have participated in the visits to
places of worship organised by the Wolverhampton Inter Faith Group
in partnership with local faith communities. The visitors not only
gain first-hand experience of another faith, albeit very briefly,
but also receive explanations from someone from that particular
community. In order to make their experience meaningful, we have
produced
Faith Lives, resource material for schools and other agencies.
This education pack tries to encapsulate the essential beliefs and
practices of different faiths in the local context.
Wolverhampton Inter Faith Group |
In England and Wales, the local Standing Advisory
Council for Religious Education (SACRE) helps shape the Local Agreed
Syllabus which determines the pattern of RE in local schools. It also
carries out some other activities to assist with the development of RE
in schools and these are likely to include liaison with local faith
communities. Recently the
National
Association of SACREs (NASACRE) has initiated a programme to
encourage local SACREs to be involved in holding young
people's inter faith forums.
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In this section
Find a local inter faith
body
Getting started
Checklist
Aims and names
Venues for meetings
Practical matters
Membership patterns
Groundrules
Constitutions
Calendar matters
Catering for events
Times for meetings
Media
Statements
Web sites
Financial issues
Charitable status
Volunteers and staff
Premises
Local Authorities
Local Strategic Partnerships
Activities
Awareness raising
Charity fundraising
Discussion meetings
Diversity training
Environmental
projects
Health and emergency services
Joint events
Special events
Multi faith civic ceremonies
Pilgrimages
Prayer and worship
Responding to tensions
Social gatherings
Trips and exchanges
Visiting places of worship
Women
Working with schools
Young people
Local Inter Faith Survey
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