Why do we Suffer?
Y9s - Collective entry
John Taylor High, Burton on Trent

This cross-curricular one-day project in RE, history and art looked at issues of suffering and meaning. Examples included the Rwandan genocide, children of the holocaust and conflict closer to home were studied.

Pupils explored ultimate questions about suffering and responses to evil in several historical and religious contexts. Pupils were given the task of working on the emotions and meanings of suffering, in wicker, tissue and masking tape. They used newspaper headlines, and two colours to depict a face of suffering.

Hard-hitting and sensitive work from many students in the class was submitted for the competition.

“We wish these topics were not here to study, but we have got a varies understanding of religion and history from this project.”

“We wanted to portray the tears of sadness in the victim’s eyes and faces, the feelings inside.”

“We have portrayed the emotions of crazy sadness. Why should even tiny children have their lives taken away?”

“The expressions on these faces are the result of moral evil. We got inspiration from a Picasso painting where people are being shot. The bombing of that village was another example of moral evil.”

“We were shocked by these stories. We play with playstations and mobile phones, while children our age are fighting each other is less fortunate places. The emotions we portray are about numbness: these people do not know how to feel.”