Year 10 took part in a discussion about the complex issue of forced marriage when they were visited by Sufiya Ahmed, author of Secrets of the Henna Girl.
Students heard about Sufiya’s childhood dream to become a writer, her previous career in the Houses of Parliament and her journey to becoming a full time author.
Speaking about the importance of resilience, she advised the students; “Never give up on your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t.”
Learning the difference between forced and arranged marriages affecting girls around the world, the students took part in a discussion and listened to Sufiya read a scene from her novel.
Four volunteers from the audience took part in a musical dress-up role-play to demonstrate an Asian bride’s henna ceremony before Sufiya took questions from the floor and closed with a book-signing session.
During the afternoon, CHS politics students found out more about life in the Houses of Parliament and the democratic process in a personal Q&A with the author, whilst CHS’s Sixth Form and Year 8 students had chance to get creative in Sufiya’s English writing workshops.
