Schools invited to explore belonging and shared understanding for Inter Faith Week
Online events will give teachers and pupils opportunities to explore faith, belief and belonging as part of Inter Faith Week 2026, inspired by this year’s theme, ‘Lighting the Way for a Shared Future’.
The programme brings together practical teacher training, a live primary school assembly and pre-recorded professional development, offering different ways to encourage curiosity, respectful conversations and connections between schools and faith and belief communities.
Building belonging through interfaith encounters
The programme begins on Tuesday 13 October at 4pm, when Jigsaw Education Group hosts Building Belonging Through Interfaith Encounters on Zoom.
The practical session will explore how to facilitate meaningful engagement between young people and local faith and belief communities. Co-hosts Rae Duke, Jigsaw’s Quality and Impact Lead, and Sarah Bareau, South West Regional Advisor, will be joined by guests including Shammi Rahman and Reverend Pippa White to discuss this year’s Inter Faith Week theme.
The event is aimed at those working in education and anyone interested in interfaith understanding.
A live assembly for primary pupils
On Tuesday 10 November, from 9.15–9.45am, Picture News will deliver a live Inter Faith Week assembly on Zoom for children aged 4–11.
Inspired by Lighting the Way for a Shared Future, the assembly will explore how people of different faiths and beliefs can learn from one another, recognise shared values and help build a kinder, more understanding future.
Pupils will also hear from special guest Carrie Alderton, CEO of the Faith & Belief Forum, organisers of Inter Faith Week.
Creating shared spaces in schools
Later that day, the Faith & Belief Forum will host Lighting the Way: Creating shared spaces for Interfaith Understanding in Schools, taking place on Tuesday 10 November, from 4–5.30pm on Zoom.
The training will consider how schools can create spaces where pupils from different faiths and beliefs feel understood, respected and able to learn from one another.
Participants will explore how to embed meaningful interfaith engagement in everyday school life, create opportunities for pupils to encounter different perspectives, and approach conversations about religion and belief with confidence, curiosity and sensitivity.
Exploring light, time and the natural world
A pre-recorded teacher CPD session, Light and time: Teacher CPD for Inter Faith Week 2026, will be hosted by the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, with support from the New Crescent Society.
The session introduces work by Cathy Haynes, author of The Fullness of Time: Marking the Day by Birdsong, Blooms, Shadows and Stars, and University of Cambridge researcher Imad Ahmed, whose research and activism helped bring about the Moonsighters Academy.
Exploring human experiences of time in relation to light and darkness, the session will connect religious and non-religious lives with disciplines including astronomy, botany and agriculture. It also highlights an opportunity to look for a new crescent moon after sunset on Tuesday 10 November.
The session is intended for specialist and non-specialist religious education teachers in both primary and secondary settings.
Full event details and registration links are available on the Inter Faith Week for Schools events page.