By Niamh teacher in Wembley

My journey with Solutions Not Sides, started when I was a student and I got to experience two in-person talks in my school, where we heard about the speakers’ personal experiences and where we were able to ask them questions to learn more. This was an enriching experience, and it not only introduced me to things happening in the wider world but opened opportunities to start discussions. Having recently completed my PGCE year, I visited my old school, where my former teacher encouraged me to involve my students in the same way. Therefore, I signed up for The Olive Branch Award conference and looked forward to learning more about how to organise and encourage students to get involved in this experience. I think, having attended sessions myself, I see the impact and the advantages this experience can have on students, and giving my students a chance to experience it as well is something I want to be able to share with them.

I felt that I would come away from this conference with more information on how I could introduce The Olive Branch Award to my school, but my expectations were more than exceeded. I got to meet teachers and across the two days we really created a sense of community. We shared ideas and they helped me to understand how I could make the Olive Branch Award work in my school. This was felt not only in the sessions, but at lunch and breakfast, and even the walk to the train station going home where some of us explored the history of Cambridge together. This community that quickly formed was expanded when we got to meet teachers from Israel-Palestine, who taught us about their experiences, and the love for teaching we all shared really shone through. This was an experience I would not have been able to have if I had not gone to this conference, and I now feel connected to the global teaching community. Throughout the two days we also received vital training on how to address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by two speakers, and how being open about topics like this enables greater understanding between the students and the teachers. This was just the training I needed to feel more confident about introducing the Olive Branch Award into my school.

Having taken the other teachers' advice on board, I know I need to start small and aim to grow this culture in my school. In an ideal world I would love for the students to experience an in-person talk, just like I did at their age, and really be able to understand the lives of the people of Israel and Palestine. I think this will give them the opportunity to learn more about the world around them and understand some of the things that appear on the news on a new level. I also want them to understand how we talk about these things and start building up a culture of working on these skill sets with our students. I’m also keen to get involved in the Model UN run by Solutions Not Sides. I think it will be a great outlet to encourage them to become more involved in the world.

I highly recommend the annual conference to other teachers, especially new teachers, as it gives you a chance to meet other teachers from across the country and hear about their ideas on how they utilise the Olive Branch Awards within their schools. I have come away with many ideas on how I can implement this in my new school, and I look forward to the journey to come.

[Note from SNS: We’re looking for 10 new schools to join the Olive Branch Award for the upcoming academic year, to join the 10 schools who benefitted from starting their OBA journey last year. Sign up here.]