A STOURBRIDGE school brought religions together on St George’s Day as it hosted a faiths and philosophies forum.

Year 10 and 11 students from Old Swinford Hospital were joined at the seminar to address religious issues by leaders from local Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Humanist communities.

The Rev Martin Soar, school chaplain, said the inspiration for the day came from the school’s motto.

“Our school motto ‘Ut Prosim Vince Mallum Bono’, taken from the New Testament letter to the Romans, means ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’.

“This was our vision for setting up our Faiths and Philosophies Forum on April 23, a day which some celebrate as St Georges’ Day – a truly ‘multi-cultural’ saint.”

The faith leaders answered questions on a number of topics including what place, if at all, faith and philosophy has in the lives of young people, what is meant by ‘British Values’, and how can we demonstrate that we have ‘open hands’ towards one another?

Paul Kilbride, headteacher, said: “There is wonderful dignity in difference. Our pupils were able to see this first hand and to discuss, with people from different backgrounds, how religions, faith groups and secular communities make sense of what it means to be a human being.

“There were healthy disagreements, as well as many shared stories and much common ground.

“We all got a lot out of this year’s St George’s Day and look forward to holding a similar event next year.”