What can food teach us about belonging, identity and the values we share?
‘Shared Tables, Shared Values: Exploring Food and Belonging’ is a new bilingual resource for schools, created by members of Wrexham Standing Advisory Council (SAC) on Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE).
Food can be a powerful way of exploring community, generosity, culture and shared values. It can connect us with families and communities, religious and non-religious traditions, places and celebrations, while also raising important questions about identity, diversity, equality, responsibility and our relationships with others.
The new resource has been designed to inspire schools to explore these connections through RVE, relating the theme of food and belonging to their own learners and their contexts.
The pack offers a wealth of ideas and practical suggestions, including:
- ways of making food and belonging relevant to a school’s local context and learners;
- example curriculum links and ideas;
- suggested enquiry questions and exemplar activities;
- opportunities to explore food in the Bible and in other religious and non-religious texts;
- connections with other disciplines within the Humanities; and
- links with other Areas of Learning and Experience.
It is hoped that schools will draw inspiration and ideas from this resource to help learners encounter and explore RVE concepts such as belonging, celebration, community, culture, cynefin, diversity, equality, identity, interconnectedness, relationships, responsibility and values.
Alongside its RVE curriculum material, the resource also offers opportunities to support schools in planning for statutory collective worship.
‘Shared Tables, Shared Values’ offers a rich collection of ideas from which schools can select and develop approaches that are most meaningful for their own learners, communities and priorities.
The bilingual resource pack has been emailed to all Wrexham schools. If you have not received a copy, contact clerktosac.rve@wrexham.gov.uk.