Faith visits inspire Lower School pupils
Religion, Philosophy and Ethics pupils learnt about different religions on visits to local places of worship.
Third Years travelled to Kadampa Meditation Centre Manchester in Chorlton to find out more about Buddhism.
Upon entering the centre, they were greeted by a Buddhist nun who spoke to them about the history and practice of Buddhism.
The pupils then had an opportunity to try meditation and examine the Buddhist shrine.
Pupil George Humphrey said: “I learned many fascinating things about Buddhism, such as how it is very much focused around meditation.”
Fellow Third Year Izzy Monks added: “I really enjoyed learning about the traditions of Buddhism – including the religious outfits and the offerings made. Most of all, I liked listening to everybody’s questions because there were some I had not thought about, including about Christmas and Buddhist Monks.”
Second Years headed to Gatley Synagogue to expand their knowledge of the Jewish faith.
During the visit they found out more about the building and the traditions and were shown a number of important items including shawls, kippahs and tefillins.
Pupil Laurence Glazier commented: “The staff involved made it very interesting and informative, so that – although I did not know very much at all about Judaism before the trip – I felt that I had gained plenty of new knowledge about the religion in a short space of time.
“I definitely enjoyed learning about a different culture, especially when given the opportunity to ask questions throughout the talk. In my opinion, the most interesting thing that I learnt on the visit was that Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all quite closely related and are all Abrahamic religions, descended from the same prophet, so I learned new things about other religions as well.”
Hannah Akbar noted: “As soon as we walked into the synagogue I could tell there was a sense of togetherness stemming from its community-based history. Learning about the Torah scrolls was very exciting, as was learning about bat and bar mitzvahs.”
Eva Miller concluded: “It was an educating and immersive experience. I liked how they asked us why we think certain things were there as it made us feel involved. I also liked how we were able to see the objects that they used in worship.”
