Aliya Jafri Azam

Spiritual Moral Social and Cultural Education Infused in Day-to-Day Running of the School

This paper will focus primarily on the Spiritual but also the Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) elements of development which have become part of the national inspection process for schools. After analysing the concept of spirituality it will focus on and highlight features of one case study, that is of a Shia Muslim school namely Al Sadiq and Al Zahra Schools. Insights will be offered as to the care and attention to spiritual development at Al Sadiq and Al Zahra Schools which promote the teachings of the Prophet and his family the Ahlul Bayt, which is hoped will be of practical use to other secondary schools. A special focus will be looking at the impact of intra and interfaith dialogue of Al Sadiq and Al Zahra Schools and the contribution it has made to SMSC curriculum. Examples and case studies include the successful work which has been undertaken at national and strategic levels by senior teaching staff, and at local and community levels by pupils themselves. This has included the beliefs of Shi’a Islam being placed on the GCSE syllabus for RE in the UK, the individual contributions of senior staff being nationally recognised at the highest levels and work undertaken by pupils on joint projects to foster mutual understanding across other faith schools from Christian and Jewish traditions, as well as between Shi’a and Sunni denominations. This work has used the diverse contexts of sports, arts, community cohesion events, poetry and choir performance to nurture tolerance and commemorate religious events.