‘Story Trees’ online Interfaith event was organised by Kirklees Faith and Education Project in association with Kirklees Cohesion Team.
Representatives from Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Humanism and Judaism produced short films to introduce and tell a story on a ‘tree’ theme that was important to them. These films were sent to schools in advance of Interfaith Week along with a selection of crafts and other preparatory material. On the Friday of Interfaith Week, the faith representatives participated in a ‘live’ question and answer session with pupils from Key Stages 1 and 2.
A small number of classes chose to participate in an alternative live ‘Community Cohesion’ session in which they met
the faith representatives and also had the opportunity to share their work with each other.
Feedback from Schools:
- Pupils valued the opportunity to listen to a range of stories from other faiths and discuss them. There were opportunities for pupils to share their own stories and beliefs and make links to the stories shared.
- Children enjoyed having the opportunity to learn more about faiths they don’t come across in their everyday lives. They made the connection between seeing a faith rep and understanding the link between them, their faith and their story.
- Children from different faiths within the class participated in discussions with one another and were proud to share their responses to questions from other pupils.
- Following so closely on after COP26, the children really enjoyed talking about the importance of trees in our world and seeing how trees are valued by people of all religions and backgrounds.