Newham’s Hindu Temple welcomes Drew pupils into inner sanctuary for a religious workshop

Stratford’s Hindu Radha Krishna Temple gave pupils from Drew Primary School the chance to see and learn about the Hindu faith as part of SWNEAZ Citizenship Week 2009.

With this year’s theme focusing on ‘Children like me….’, pupils from Drew’s Year 3 class were able to understand the importance of community cohesion by looking different religions within their local community and country.   Around 33 pupils aged from seven to eight were invited by the Centre’s Leader to learn about the different Gods worshipped by the faith, the different religious ceremonies it celebrates, including the Festival of Light and the many symbolisms and stories used in the teaching of Hinduism.

Drew’s Citizenship Week Coordinator, Ade Fatoberu, said the opportunity for pupils to see inside a Hindu Temple and learn about the faith first hand helped bring the religion to life for many of them.

“They really enjoyed the experience,” said Ade. “The Temple organised a number of workshops for the children and they were able to ask lots of questions about the religion.

“They were also very lucky to witness some people worshipping and listen to the priest chanting. Many have never been inside a Temple before so it was a great way for them to learn that different religions celebrate different Gods. It also ties in very well with this year’s theme which is all about looking at children and people from various backgrounds and the similarities and differences we share.”

The information learnt during the visit has been incorporated into a storyboard back at school to be used as part of Citizenship Week and its Religious Education curriculum.

More than six thousand children from the partnership of 15 SWNEAZ primary schools have taken part in a selection of activities to celebrate Citizenship Week 2009.   And the huge portfolio of events will culminate on the eve of World Book Week, 4 March 2009 with an Awards Day for winners, their parents and programme sponsors at East Ham Town Hall, with prizes awarded by the Children’s Poet Laureate, Michael Rosen.

As always, this successful event, now in its eighth year, has been organised by Lyn Senior of Newham Education Business Partnership (NEBP) on behalf of the schools. Each year the schools work to a new theme. This year’s theme has focused on “Children like me….” on the school, the local community, the UK and around the world to give pupils a better understanding of their local and wider community, as well as raising the profile of what is it to be a good citizen.

Schools are now required to promote community cohesion in their locality, school staff wanted to prepare a programme of supporting activities, which can be found at the South West Newham EAZ website and by selecting Citizenship Week 2009.   Two activities worth noting are: ‘Question Time’ which saw pupils putting questions to a panel of key players promoting Peace in our Neighbourhoods, including Youth Council reps, plus a ‘Tate & Lyle Competition’ which saw ALL the pupils writing persuasive poems, with the older children reflecting on ‘What it is to be British’.

New this year for pupils have been visits to the National Army Museum in Chelsea, St Ethelburga’s near Liverpool Street which, in 1992, was the scene of an IRA bombing and is now a centre for conflict resolution and peace; Stratford Library and Hackney Museum, which looked a investigations into matters of immigration, and the Law Courts in Stratford where pupils were treated to a mock trial.