Last month, our Year 8 students visited the Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Sikh Temple in Sheffield, as part of their entitlement curriculum. The Religious Education department believes that experiences such as visits to places of worship, and talks from visiting speakers provide students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and understanding of different beliefs beyond what we learn about in the classroom. During the trip, we heard about the importance of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy book) and how Sikhs worship. We also shared food in the Langar Hall, which is a free kitchen available to all visitors to the Gurdwara!
Here’s what our students had to say:
“It was very fun and interesting to listen and see what happens in a Gurdwara and to know their place of worship is available to anyone even if they are not a Sikh” – Daniel W
“I had so much fun on the Gurdwara trip! It was awesome because we learned a bunch of new stuff that we didn’t cover in our RE classes – it was amazing to see it in real life. I got to learn how to tie a turban, and we found out more about the Guru Granth Sahib. The coolest thing was learning about the Khanda and how important it was in WW2”. – Joe K
“I had a fantastic time on the trip. We learned so many new things. It was amazing to see all the different rooms in the Gurdwara, like the bedroom, the prayer hall, and the langar kitchen. Sharing food with the people there and my classmates in the langar kitchen was great. Sikhs do this to show that everyone is welcome and equal at the Gurdwara. I’m really glad we got the chance to go!” – Samar B
A message from some of our teachers:
“It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to share in another culture and to get to experience the hospitality of Sikhism.” – Mrs Fairhurst, History teacher.
“A fantastic educational trip exploring a different culture and understanding the world sikhism” – Mr Alecock, Business Studies coordinator.
“I had never been to a Gurdwara before so having the chance to visit and speak to the people there was super exciting. My favourite part of the trip was hearing the priest read from the Guru Granth Sahib and seeing the beautiful throne that it is kept on. I’d love to go and visit again”. – Miss Burton, RE teacher.
The RE department would like to extend our thanks to the supporting teachers that helped out on the trip, and to the Gurdwara for allowing us to visit and answering students’ questions. We can’t wait to return with next year’s cohort of Year 8 students!
