Kindness was this year’s overarching theme for Transform Trust’s primary school inter-faith Spring Celebration. Four schools (Bulwell Saint Mary’s, Sneinton St Stephens, Zaytouna and South Wilford C of E Primary School) gathered together at South Wilford C of E Primary School for a wonderful day of learning, performing and celebrating their individual and collective faiths through song, prayer, drama and signing.

A morning of introductions and rehearsals to ensure the children were relaxed and happy was followed by a packed lunch and some fun in the playground where new friendships were made across the four schools. In the afternoon special guests from Transform Trust, governors and staff from all four schools were treated to watch four very different but equally impressive performances conveying theme such as kindness, new beginnings, journeys and hope were explored and confidently performed by the children. Bulwell Saint Mary’s explored the theme of “kindness” throughout their performance and the impact is has on each other. Confident performers from Year 3 delivered inspirational and motivational messages such as “be kind, it makes you beautiful” and “by helping others we help ourselves” that were handwritten on large leaves. One by one they joined together and formed a tree of kindness, . They also gave practical advice such as inviting someone lost or sad to play with them in the playground or to share a book or toy. South Wilford’s theme of “New Beginnings” was performed in flag waving, song and signing and accompanied by their teacher playing acoustic guitar. The children delivered biblical references in a joyful way and were very enthusiastic with their signing!

Sneinton Saint Stephen’s chose “Journeys” as their theme. A boat which was formed using children and props took centre stage whilst others used long strips of blue fabric to make dramatic waves and emulate a storm. As various narrators described the storm, the rest of the cast created a percussive thunderstorm with their hands, clicking, tapping and replicating rain sounds around the room – the finale was a fine rendition of James Bay’s ‘Hold Back The River’, which the children and staff clearly enjoyed! Pupils from Zaytouna enlightened the audience on the similarities and uniqueness of Ramadan and brought colour and tradition to their performance  They decorated lanterns and wore traditional clothing to illustrate the colour and importance of Ramadan and what it means to people of faith during this important time of the year. They shared Islamic prayers and spoke confidently and joyously about the traditions, prayers and routines for observing Ramadan, as well as how they celebrate Eid  in a similar way that Christians celebrate Easter.

The performances were brought to a close by Transform Trust’s CEO Rebecca Meredith, who was left ‘almost’ speechless by the heartfelt performances full of love, kindness and hope.

Rebecca said:

“This celebration of faith is just so special and it shows that we can all come together collectively to celebrate our uniqueness and our similarities in a kind and respectful way. Our children were absolutely brilliant today, so confident and compelling – they are a shining example to us all!  I know the extraordinary effort our staff go to in order to create a multi-school event and I thank each and everyone for their commitment to our amazing children and their extra curricular activities. I always leave these events feeling so proud and inspired and blown away by our talented children. ”