Featherstone High School

Featherstone High School is a secondary converted academy based in Ealing, London.  The school has 1533 students and almost all students are of minority ethnic heritage, of which Indian, Black African and Pakistani are the largest groups.

The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is much higher than average.

The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding for students in care and those known to be eligible for free school meals) is nearly double the national average. This group represents over half of the school population, according to Ofsted report 2015.

Featherstone High School celebrates diversity at every opportunity and reinforces the importance of tolerance and understanding through the curriculum by giving students opportunities to meet people of different faiths and beliefs.

Impact of interfaith educational workshops

Featherstone High School has had F&BF workshops delivered in 2017, 2018 and the last one is scheduled for 16 July 2019. By July 2019, F&BF will have delivered a total of approximately 26 workshops to 1040 students between 2017-2019.

When asked what motivated the school to book F&BF’s interfaith workshops, the teacher said “We chose to participate in the Encountering Faith and Beliefs workshop as part of our Year 8 One World Curriculum Day, which aims to explore and celebrate diversity. The Encountering Faith and Beliefs workshop provided an excellent, safe environment for students to openly discuss the beliefs and religions of the workshop facilitators as well as their own religions. All facilitators were friendly, engaging, and were able to question students at an appropriate level. They were also open to answering any questions that students had, and set ground rules before the workshop began that students were keen to adhere to. Students left the workshop with a great sense of identity, as well as a broad understanding of different faiths, beliefs and practices.

The teacher also said “I would most certainly recommend the F&BF workshops as it is of great importance that young people are accepting and tolerant towards beliefs that may differ from their own. The Faith and Belief workshops afforded students with the opportunity to meet new people and reflect on how they ask questions. It also provided students with great insight into different religious practices and places of worship.”

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