Ground breaking ceremony for UK’s first Hindu faith-based Voluntary Aided state school
Groundbreaking ceremony, combined with a small religious ceremony that asks forgiveness from the earth before any building commences was performed to mark the beginning of its construction. The Krishna-Avanti Primary School proposes to be UK’s first Hindu faith-based Voluntary Aided state school and as such will not charge fees.
When complete, the building will be state-of-the-art, combining the best of modern school design with traditional elements of faith-based and educational architecture. The building will also reflect a high level of attention to landscape and the extensive implementation of environmental technologies.
The school will open with a Reception Class on a nearby existing school site in September this year, moving across to the new building in summer of 2009.
The new school will become a full and active member of Harrow’s community, involving itself in inter-school activities, outreach and community work with local residents and children of all faiths and cultural background.
The School is working in affiliation with ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) as the official faith advisor.
The name ‘Krishna-Avanti’ carries very special significance to the Hindu community. Literally, the name means ‘Krishna’s Avanti’.
Krishna is the name of God, meaning ‘All Attractive’. Whilst Hindus believe in only one God, we also believe that God can take different forms and incarnations. During His presence on this planet, Lord Krishna also went to school - in a place called Avanti. Hence with the name ‘Krishna-Avanti’, we hope to inspire a simultaneous attachment to both God and education, as taught by the Lord Himself.
The school will deliver the national curriculum. Where appropriate, faith teachings will be woven into various curriculum strands. For languages, the school will teach Sanskrit as a classical language, and either French, Spanish or Mandarin as a modern foreign language (to be confirmed). Swimming and yoga will be incorporated within the physical education curriculum along with other more usual sports. The school’s grounds will have an all-weather playing field and a grass playing field. Music, dance and drama lessons will encompass Indian instruments and styles as well as western. We also anticipate there being parental demand for extra-curricular tuition in this regard. Religious Education will teach the world religions as well as a focus on faith nurture. There will be an emphasis on outdoor teaching, with much work having been done to create fluid and adaptable learning spaces.
The curriculum will be further enriched by visits to places of historic or scientific interest and there will be extracurricular activities on weekday afternoons that will include tuition for musical instruments and sports clubs.
Currently, there are voluntary-aided schools in the UK for each of the six major world religions except Hinduism. This means that, unlike parents of any other religion, Hindu parents do not have the choice to send their children to a Hindu state faith school. It seems only fair that parents of every faith should be given an equal opportunity with respect to the education of their children.
Harrow has the highest Hindu concentration of any borough in the United Kingdom. Harrow is home to over 40,000 Hindus. This represents 19.6% of the Harrow population compared to 47.3% Christian, 6.3% Jewish and 7.2% Muslim. This makes Hindus the second largest religious group in Harrow, and the largest ethnic group.
The School proposes to be established as a one-form entry, mixed primary school with attached nursery. The School will open one year at a time, beginning with a Reception class. It will add 30 pupils per year until year 2016 when it will have the nursery and 210 primary school pupils.
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