Profile: An Interview with Salma Piperdy, Muslim Liaison Officer for the Race Equality and Diversity Service
Salma Piperdy was recently appointed to the new post of 'Muslim Liaison Officer' for the Race Equality and Diversity Service. Salma sees her role as essentially: breaking down barriers, accessing information, enabling communication and addressing Islamaphobia.
Salma provides a range of services, in relation to ISLAM, and meeting the needs of Muslim pupils in school, across all Key Stages:
Advice for RE co-ordinators
Training for all staff
Advice for parents
Liaison between parents and staff
Lead and support school assemblies
Support class work on Islam
Leading session for children about Islam
Advise teachers re displays around schools & teaching about Islam in the curriculum
Advice on including Islam within the multicultural life of the school eg:
dressing-up box (KS1/2 & Foundation Stage)
citizenship (KS3/4)
good practice (all key stages)
In her new role, Salma has been in great demand - and has already travelled widely round the County. Just two recent examples of her work include:
Primary - an INSET day at Gloucester Road where Salma addressed issues ref Muslim diet, dress code, prayer, holidays/festivals, funerals.
Secondary - Winchcombe - two assemblies to KS4 - 'Gifts from the Muslim World' where pupils were asked if they knew any Arabic words? They were surprised to find a lot of common English words are actually Arabic in origin - eg: coffee, sugar, lemon, alkaline - and also amazed that much of modern algebra, astronomy & other areas relate back to early work by Islamic Scholars.
Salma is passionate about her new role - which she sees as a unique opportunity to work with schools and community to: break down barriers, encourage dialogue and disseminate knowledge about Islam.
"The first word in the Qu'ran is 'Iqra' which means 'Read:- to learn and acquire knowledge'. My hope is that I can in some small way influence people - so that they become more tolerant of one another - become more aware of each other's differences. Key to this is knowledge - or - iqra. I hope that whenever I talk to pupils and teachers - that I leave a seed of knowledge in every place. I will feel justified in what I do, if even just one person - child or adult - takes that seed into his or her heart - and though it may lay dormant for many years - it will be triggered by some occurrence, chance meeting, or event, later on and they might be prompted to explore their knowledge and experience further."
Salma has worked in both secondary and primary schools for the last 13 years. She is actively involved in the local Muslim community. For example, she leads the Gloucester Women's Muslim Voice - a group who represent Muslim women community views on issues they see of relevance to them - and Salma is pro-active in representing their views to County Council.
If you would like to talk to Salma about making a visit to your school, please contact her at READS.
