Facts:

• I attended my first IFP conference at Dover
• We were split into 4 groups and rotated through 4 different topics (violence, identity, media, discrimination)
• At each of the topics we did various activities that got us to think and discuss about these issues
• The activities were left by facilitators from last year
• At the end we watched performances at the concert they prepared

Feelings:

• During the initial stages of the conference (such as when we were just starting the day) I was a bit more reserved
• Throughout the day I started to engage more which was very meaningful and everyone started having more thoughtful discussions which was great
• I was impressed by how such seemingly simple activities such as the blindfolded obstacle race in the ‘Violence’ section was actually very thought provoking and interesting
• I felt that the atmosphere from the IFP leaders and the students was very inspiring and made the experience a lot better

Significance:

• I know realise that being engaged and interacting is a lot easier that I thought and it makes the experience that much more meaningful which is something which I can apply to lots of things I do in the future
• Simple activities can be very powerful which is something important to keep in mind
• This experience has helped me become more open minded and thoughtful in the way I view situations
• This activity will help develop skills so that I can later plan activities for a conference that are about important global issues and the role that we can play as peace-builders in the process  (LO4, LO6)
• This activity also relates to learning outcome 5 as in today’s conference I worked with people both from our school and Dover to complete tasks and engage in meaningful discussions