In the summer of 2022, we built the Olive Branch Award for British schools and this blog explains why. Here at SNS, we’re all about breadth of knowledge and perspectives, diving into complexity and exploring different experiences in a safe space. We want to empower young people and teachers to use critical-thinking skills to make decisions about political issues without shutting out those who make different decisions to ourselves. We want to promote and encourage empathy and make sure that all students have the chance to talk about tough issues.

With the upcoming elections in Israel, and the recent vote at the UK Labour Party conference by members to support Proportional Representation, we thought it would be a good time for Politics students to understand different types of governmental structure. In a rapidly changing political field, this is a short guide exploring Proportional Representation (PR) and Alternative Voting (AV) models, comparing to the UK first-past-the-post model (FPTP).

Dialogue on Israel-Palestine can be challenging, sensitive and requires empathy in order to remain solutions-focused, foster good relations and reduce tensions. Whilst having dialogue it is common for phrases and terms to cause an emotional discomfort or trigger.

Osaid, a long-time speaker and Fellow with SNS, is a Palestinian Citizen of Israel from Arara. He works as a songwriter, musician and music producer. We're publishing his story to coincide with International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, as at SNS one of our core principles is the importance of putting Palestinian and Israeli voices back at the heart of education and activism on this issue.

London, 28th October 2021

For immediate release