Services

We offer the following services:

We are very lucky in Derby to have a wide range of religions and beliefs in our local community and this is reflected in the Religious Education syllabus for local schools and organisations. Please see the links below for the latest Agreed Syllabuses;

As well as our Faith Trails relating to the Agreed Syllabuses, they also support in ‘Promoting British Values as a part of SMSC provisions’ in schools. From our discussions with different schools, this is something that Ofsted are often looking for and will often ask, how the school is supporting these initiatives.

Religion and belief are controversial subjects and our visits are designed to help visiting groups to understand the beliefs of others. We are about breaking down barriers and encouraging tolerance and understanding. The Open Centre’s motto is ‘Promoting understanding through personal experience’ – and there is no better way to do this than to encourage visits to the different places of worship in our community.

Places of Worship

Our Faith Trails usually start at the Open Centre and can include:

  • Mosque – Muslim place of worship
  • Mandir – Hindu place of worship
  • Gurdwara – Sikh place of worship
  • Synagogue – Jewish place of worship – No Synagogue available but we offer a Synagogue Experience instead
  • Church (Baptist church)

Each Place of Worship is a short walk away from the Open Centre. Each talk/visit usually lasts between 45 minutes and an hour, with plenty of opportunities to explore and ask questions on a range of topics. Most of these visits take place in the morning so we do not disrupt prayer schedules at the Places of Worship. If you would like an afternoon visit, please contact us to discuss the possibilities (Church and Sikh Gurdwara). All visits are led by Open Centre staff, who are DBS checked and trained, many of whom are also from a particular faith community. However as our services are often in high demand, we cannot always guarantee a person from a particular faith community for each specific Place of Worship but we do have a range of staff members, who are experienced and knowledgeable enough to lead visits to a variety of Places of Worship.  See our staff page for more details.

Please note that occasionally unexpected events can occur during visits to places of worship, which are out of our control such as funerals, religious festivals or events. If this happens we will do our best to fulfil the criteria required back at the Open Centre premises. For more detailed information on our faith trails, please visit our faith trails page.

We can organise a Diversity visit for adults/commercial organisations to the following places.

Places of Worship

Our Faith Trails usually start at the Open Centre and can include:

  • Mosque – Muslim place of worship
  • Mandir – Hindu place of worship
  • Gurdwara – Sikh place of worship
  • Synagogue – Jewish place of worship – No Synagogue available but we offer a Synagogue Experience instead
  • Church (Baptist church)

Each Place of Worship is a short walk away from the Open Centre. Each talk/visit usually lasts between 45 minutes and an hour, with plenty of opportunities to explore and ask questions on a range of topics. Most of these visits take place in the morning so we do not disrupt prayer schedules at the Places of Worship. If you would like an afternoon visit, please contact us to discuss the possibilities (Church and Sikh Gurdwara). All visits are led by Open Centre staff, who are DBS checked and trained, many of whom are also from a particular faith community. However as our services are often in high demand, we cannot always guarantee a person from a particular faith community for each specific Place of Worship but we do have a range of staff members, who are experienced and knowledgeable enough to lead visits to a variety of Places of Worship.  See our staff page for more details.

Please note that occasionally unexpected events can occur during visits to places of worship, which are out of our control such as funerals, religious festivals or events. If this happens we will do our best to fulfil the criteria required back at the Open Centre premises. For more detailed information on our faith trails, please visit our diversity visits page for more information.

Diversity Training

Our workshops and diversity training help companies achieve their equal opportunities and diversity objectives in a very effective way. We take your staff on a journey of discovery through our faith trails and informative workshops. In a fun and interactive environment, delegates will be taken out of their comfort zone and challenged to see life from the perspective of a different culture. Please see our Diversity Training page for more information.

We are very fortunate to be able to offer a range of interactive activities through our workshops. All workshops are ‘hands on’, involve lots of artefacts or cultural items and provide participants with a range of learning opportunities and the chance to ask questions. Each workshop is around one hour long and will involve at least three different activities. Many also include something the participants can take away with them including art work, photo opportunities, henna tattoos amongst many other things. Below is a list of our most popular workshops but if you would like something specific please don’t hesitate to contact our manager, Sam, on manager@derbyopencentre.org

Islamic Based Workshops

  • Islamic Prayer (KS2)
  • Haj (KS2)
  • Islamic Festivals
  • Ramadan
  • Arabic Badge Making/Calligraphy

Judaism Based Workshops

  • Jewish Festivals
  • Synagogue Experience
  • Tu B’shvat
  • Jewish Marriage
  • Hebrew Badge Making
  • Jewish Story Telling
  • Jewish Music
  • Jewish Food Tasting
  • Passover/Pesach
  • Shabbat
  • Exploration of the Torah
  • Sikhi Based Workshops
  • Vaisakhi
  • Sikh Experience

Hinduism Based Workshops

  • Hindu Clay Divas
  • Hindu Pilgrimage (KS2)

Buddhism Based Workshops

  • Tibetan Prayer Flags
  • Wesak Lanterns
  • Meditation

Cultural Based Workshops

  • Asian Marriage
  • Asian Cookery
  • Asian Food Tasting
  • Cultural Dress
  • African Block Printing

Other Workshops

  • Life After Death
  • Tour of Normanton

We can create tailored events for your school based on a theme or a specific criteria. This could be facilitated either at the Open Centre or at your preferred location.

Examples of this could be;

  1. Visits to Places of Worship combined with workshops
  2. A series of workshops exploring a particular theme or religion over the course of a day (working with one or multiple classes/age groups)
  3. Whole faith weeks, facilitating multiple activities across different days with multiple classes
  4. Activities involving parents and children

Please contact us so we can discuss a tailored package that is appropriate for you and your school.

We can provide DBS-checked speakers on a wide variety of topics for lessons, talks/assemblies, debates or panel sessions. For example:

  • Islam
  • Judaism
  • Hinduism
  • Sikhism
  • Christianity

Each faith talk will consist of an expert guest speaker, who will have an in depth knowledge of that faith. Discussions can be tailored to a particular topic or aspect of that faith to meet the audiences requirements. For KS3 + age groups, we may be able to provide more than one speaker from the same faith to demonstrate the diversity within a religious tradition. If this is something you are interested in, please don’t hesitate to contact Sam, our manager on, manager@c58ov.hosts.cx.

Talks will usually last between 30 minutes to an hour which will include a section for question and answers. Some topics may include artefacts for the audience to look at more closely.

If you are a school and would like this as an act of collective worship/assembly – please notify our staff so we can add in a opportunity for reflection  at the end.

For more information please see our talks, assemblies and debates page.

Want a ‘hands on’ activity to enhance the children’s learning?

Why not hire one of our resource boxes, which are not only packed with artefacts – many of which schools wouldn’t have in their RE cupboards but also lots of fun and exciting activities! All of our boxes have also been designed so they are able to mitigate the risks of transmission of Covid-19, providing additional peace of mind for everyone. Please contact the office on contact@derbyopencentre.org or call 01332 360737 for more information, as risk mitigation can change depending on government guidance.

About the Boxes

We currently have one for each of the major world religions; Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhi and festivals box that covers a variety of different festivals from each of the world religions. Each box contains a variety of artefacts made from a range of different materials – most boxes contents are worth in access of £100. The types are artefacts included are based on the agreed syllabus and recommendations from our faith representatives from each of the different faith communities. Please see our resource boxes page for more information.

Want access to a unique and personalised video just for your school/organisation?

Types of video

The Open Centre has two types of video you can choose from;

  1. ‘Spotlight on’ – These are informative videos on a specific part of a religion or community e.g. beliefs, dress
  2. ‘Question time’ where you can ask a few questions and our staff will respond back in the form of a video, giving their perspective as someone who follows that religion. In some cases we may be able to provide multiple opinions from different staff who are all part of the same faith.

These videos are unique, as they would provide faith perspectives of people who are part of that community and as a result the person talks about their own experiences and not just factual information you may get in text books.

Our videos are around 10 minutes maximum in length to keep them informative but specific. The beauty of having recordings as apposed to ‘live’ videos is you can pause them, rewind them, go back to them another time or share them with other classes. All making it much more flexible for teaching in today’s climate.

Interested in finding out more…? Please see our Online Video Service page for more information.

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