Kennet School sixth form pupils 'consumed' by 'passionate' talk from faith representatives
Five faith representatives discussed religion, mental health and Covid this week with an audience of sixth form students.
Kennet School in Thatcham held its faith forum on January 12 to allow students to explore the different religions of the world.
The event is a part of a wider extension to academic studies at the school to prepare the young people for adult life.
The Preparation for Adult Life programme gives them the opportunity to learn about the wider world and life after school.
The panel of speakers comprised of five members from the Reading Buddhist Priory, the Berkshire Humanists, the Newbury Muslims, the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and was chaired by Rev David Taylor from Thatcham Baptist Church.
As around 200 year 12s filled the room, the speakers introduced themselves as both students and teachers sat silently listening.
The discussion then kicked off with the question of how the different religious speakers' faiths impacts mental health in relation to Covid.
Academic lead at Kennet School, Dr Adrian Garcia-Sierra, said the event was really important for the students who don’t have compulsory religious studies in sixth form.
He commented on the importance of giving pupils the “opportunity” to speak directly to the “experts” rather than the teaching staff, as it provided them with a more authentic experience.
The panellists each began by providing a brief explanation of their individual faiths before hearing the pupils pre-written questions.
They each had a few minutes designated to answering the questions from their own perspective - a process that Mr Garcia-Sierra called “respectful” and “authentic”.
He said “the students were really consumed” by the explanations that they were given.
The teacher commented that the students heard “different perspectives” like the panel's different “views on how their religion deals with perspective of mental health”.
He said: “It was very positive and it was well received.
“At the end, speakers stayed for students to have a chat, all speakers were inundated and had queues waiting to speak to them.
“We are all about community, about tolerance and teaching others’ views.”
Head of Kennet Sixth Form Mrs Odenwalder added: “We feel it’s our civic duty to allow questions to be asked and explored, and to enable our students to engage in order to assist developing their own opinions, especially through listening to others.
“At the end of the event, there were informal discussions on various stances which continued amongst students for the rest of the school day.”
Mr Garcia-Sierra noted that the success of the event means that they will continue to repeat it.
He added: “We’ve been very mindful of Covid. It’s an ongoing challenge for us, to get everyone in the room.
“We will take feedback from students, if they think it went well and whether they would like a repeat of it.
“We would always encourage this and other subject areas which help that scheme.”