Students from a Bradford secondary school received hands on learning about diversity and discrimination last week, as the country’s largest disability theatre company hosted a day of activities.

Year 7 pupils from Belle Vue Boys’ School worked with the ‘Mind the Gap Studios’ team based in the historic Lister Mills in Manningham, Bradford.

LEARNING: Pupils from Belle Vue Boys’ school worked with the ‘Mind the Gap Studios’ team as part of their PSHCE class
LEARNING: Pupils from Belle Vue Boys’ school worked with the ‘Mind the Gap Studios’ team as part of their PSHCE class

As part of the school’s Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) programme, Ms Asma Khan, the Curriculum Leader at Belle Vue Boys’, has incorporated a module of learning entitled ‘Diversity and Difference’.

The module focus led to the school and ‘Mind the Gap’ collaborating in the workshop ‘Real Lives, Real Voices’ – an interactive theatre workshop that explores disability harassment, including ‘mate crime’, ‘hate crime’ and violence.

The workshop is led by professional actors who suffer from certain disabilities themselves and aims to allow students to engage and experience real life situations where disabled people were victims of hate crime.

Ms Khan explained: “The workshop was fantastic at allowing students to actively empathise and experience hate crimes and its effects.

“It most definitely raised awareness of the discrimination people with a disability may suffer in reality.

“Working with Mind the Gap was an amazing experience for the students as Belle Vue is a community school and feels it is vital to support the sterling work of local organisations such as Mind the Gap.”

Year 7 student, Kamran Serrant, took part in the day long activities and enjoyed the chance to learn about different disabilities. He added: “The workshop made me realise the different types of hate crimes and think about the victims of hate crime. It was helpful and fun.”