Workshop FAQs
There is a suggested contribution for our live workshops of £350 which covers our costs for visiting a school as well as logistics and administration, if this session is taking place during one of our advertised tours. All pre-session and extension materials are included in this cost, as well as support in preparing for these pre-sessions from Solutions Not Sides.
If you want a session outside of our advertised tour dates, which we can arrange and hold on a video conferencing platform, there is a mandatory fee of £580 that covers the costs of arranging speakers outside of tour dates, as well as administration costs.
If your school is unable to make the suggested contribution for a workshop during one of our advertised tours, please get in contact with us and we can explore other options so that your students do not miss out.
The workshops are designed for groups of around 30 students. The reason for this limit on numbers is to ensure a safe space for students to engage in an in-depth discussion on a sensitive and difficult topic. Occasionally we can work with larger groups, but it is preferable to split large groups into multiple sessions over the same day or week in order for students to get the most out of the learning experience we are offering them.
Our workshops primarily take place in-person, with live Israeli & Palestinian speakers and a facilitator from Solutions Not Sides. We advertise a set number of tours across the UK throughout the academic year, which can be seen here. Our tours take place regularly through all school terms, so there should be one that works for you and your school.
If you can't find a tour date that works for you, please get in touch to discuss your requirements and we'll do our absolute best to accommodate your needs.
The main Solutions Not Sides workshop, with a live Israeli and Palestinian speaker alongside an SNS facilitator, must be a minimum of 90-minutes long and cannot be shortened.
Teachers must also commit to delivering both Part 1 and 2 with students beforehand. The programme has been carefully designed to deliver three components: diverse narratives, humanising encounters and critical thinking skills. Only delivering part of these components risks leaving gaps in your students’ understanding of the topic and reduces the likelihood that SNS’s learning goals will be achieved for your school.
SNS cannot be held responsible for complaints that the topic has not been properly covered if your school's booked session time-slot is shorter than 90 minutes and/or does not deliver the necessary preparation with students.
No. SNS encourages exploration and discussion about wellknown potential solutions such as one-state, two-state and confederacy, but it does not promote any solution over and above another. We encourage students to think creatively and discuss the pros and cons of any of these solutions and attempt to come up with alternatives based on the needs and interests presented by the Israeli and Palestinian speakers. SNS supports an outcome to the conflict which ends the suffering of peoples on both sides, satisfies their national aspirations, and ensures peace, equality and security for the region. Most importantly, SNS teaches that we should listen to the people who are most affected by the situation, rather than imposing our own views from afar.
SNS speakers come from around 20 different civil society and peace organisations in the region, with whom SNS has a partnership for speaker recruitment. These organisations are often but not exclusively members of ALLMEP and nominate young people from among their alumni who they think would be suitable as speakers for our programme. These nominees then go through an application process including an application form and interview, rather like being recruited for a job. They also have to sign our declaration of principles in order to be selected (see ‘about’ page here). Once selected, speakers undertake a one-year training programme before coming on a tour. You can see a list of some of our partners on the About Us page.
Yes, all our staff have DBS certificates, and our speakers have references from officially registered organisations in the region. SNS also has child and vulnerable adult protection policies in place, and all speakers are briefed on these procedures before coming on a tour and are never left to walk around a school campus unchaperoned. See our Safeguarding Policy for more details.
Yes, you can view our COVID-19 safety policy here. In the case that your school has to close due to a COVID (or other staffing issues), we can explore digital alternatives to our workshop so that we are still able to deliver.
