The Vedruna schools of Spain celebrate the school day of Peace and Nonviolence

Every January 30, the date chosen to commemorate the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s death, is celebrated as a school day for Peace and Nonviolence. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established it in 1993.

Within the Vedruna Family, education, peace and non-violence are very important values that we always want to promote. Therefore, we take this opportunity to share the initiatives with which our two educational foundations bring this day to the schools of Spain.


Vedruna Education Foundation

For us, working on and celebrating the School Day of Peace and Nonviolence is very important.

We consider it a great opportunity to develop a vertical project that involves all levels of the school and the entire educational community; in addition to the importance of the values of respect, equality, justice, peace and non-violence.

In schools, various awareness and reflection activities are developed, leading to a joint activity that day, either inside or outside the school. Here are some examples:

Colegio Nuestra Señora del Carmen, of León

In 2024, at the Vedruna School in León, the celebration consisted of a collective embrace of the Cathedral. This year we will repeat the celebration: on Thursday, January 30, the whole school will go out to embrace the Cathedral of Leon. Members of the non-teaching staff and the Parents’ Association are also invited. The objective is to raise awareness and make the whole city aware of our desire for peace. We will read a brief manifesto at the door of the Cathedral and return to the school. In this video you can see the size of our gesture:

Vedruna School of Valencia

On this day, the whole school goes in procession to the Plaza de la Virgen, where a small dynamic is performed and a manifesto prepared by students of the 4th year of Secondary School of the volunteer group of the center is read.

Carmelite School of the Sacred Heart of Vitoria

We celebrated this date by uniting the entire educational community. We got together in groups in the sports center and shared what we had learned in the previous tutorials. We danced, sang and made a gesture that refers to the theme we worked on.

In this case, the cloud was sad because it could not join the sun, and after crying and not repressing its feelings, the rainbow united them. It taught us not to hide what we feel and to share it with those who love us, because it is something that unites us.

Vedruna School of Toledo

From the classrooms, we work on peace through various activities proposed by a work team made up of teachers from different stages of the school. In a vertical way, common to all courses, we will reflect on some works of the urban art artist Banksy. We will join together to decorate our corridors with works of art by this author, completing them with our commitments reflected in hearts, flowers, doves of peace…

Colegio Vedruna Sagrada Familia, of Seville

Every year, for this Peace Day we do a vertical activity that involves the whole school, and since 2024 we also have the participation of the Vedruna San Cayetano School.

This year we will create a Hospital of Care (Vedrunitas). Each class will be responsible for a consultation related to care (of the interior, emotions, healthy habits, nature…). The students will be the patients who will visit the different consultations and will receive a treatment for each care. The doctors, nurses… will be the students themselves. We will end the day singing a song together.

Colegio Niño Jesús Ikastetxea, of Vitoria, Spain

All the primary and second cycle infant classes gather in the assembly hall for the celebration of the act for peace, and by then, all the classes will have already done some activity on the subject in tutoring. Inter-cycle activities are also carried out, that is to say, uniting students from different stages, such as Infant and Secondary.

In addition, we participate in public acts for peace together with other schools and parishes of the diocese. The event is held in a central square of Vitoria (or, in case of rain, in the cathedral) and is organized by the Diocesan Delegation of Youth Ministry.

Vedruna School of Villaverde, Madrid

On this day, we try to make our activity visible by involving the whole neighborhood. For this reason, we always carry out the activities in the Plaza de la Tortuga, which is located in the center of Villaverde Alto.

We make our way from the school to the square carrying our posters and our loudspeaker, while we sing songs chosen according to this year’s motto for peace, which we have already worked on previously in prayer and tutorials.


Vedruna Foundation Catalonia Education

“Music can change the world because it can change people.”

Pau Casals

With the slogan “Dona la teva nota per la Pau” (Give your mark for peace), on January 30 the Vedruna schools of Catalonia celebrated the school day of non-violence and peace.

Our educational objective invites us to care. Peace is an endangered value in our environment and in the world; therefore, we must take care of it.

Music is a universal language that all peoples and cultures share. All over the world, musical groups bear witness to their work for peace. So this year, music unites us. What is your note? Donation, Respect, Mercy, Family, Solidarity, Bonds, Silence… Each classroom composes in its staff the attitudes and values that make peace possible, each student represents theirs with a musical note. In addition, in all the schools, the educational communities participate in an act, in which a manifesto is read and a pentagram is composed with the note contributed by each group.


We invite you to visit the websites of both foundations to learn more about their respective educational projects: