Students seek constructive answers to conflict

Senior students from Chepstow School discussed peaceful and progressive solutions to conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis at a workshop last week.

The workshop was conducted by Solutions Not Sides, a non-partisan organisation which encourages students in the UK and Western Europe to make a positive contribution to debates on Israeli/Palestinian relations.

Students were fully engaged and inspired by the material delivered by staff from Solutions not Sides and after the situation was discussed in depth, they broke into groups to seek constructive solutions to the conflict.

Emma Mellen, assistant headteacher at Chepstow School said: "Feedback from the students was brilliant.  They felt like they had learned so much and were really impressed with the first hand experiences and stories from the organisers.  Equally, organisers were impressed by the knowledge, maturity and engagement of our students.  They commented that this was the best school they had visited and such praise makes us very proud.

"At Chepstow School, we see it as our responsibility to prepare our students for the future and to give them the tools they need to actively make a difference to the world after life at school.  This workshop did just that."

Councillor Sara Jones, Monmouthshire's cabinet member with responsibility for equalities added: "I'm pleased that our students benefitted so much from debates around the workshop and discussed solutions to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict based on respect for the human rights of all."