How Can Schools Support Staff and Students During Ramadan?

Media by Unsplash: Rauf Alvi

Ramadan is a significant and sacred month for Muslims around the world. It is a time of fasting, reflection, community, and spiritual growth. In schools, colleges and universities, Ramadan often overlaps with busy periods, exams, deadlines, and teaching schedules.

Below are a range of proactive steps and tools to support Muslim staff and students help foster an inclusive, respectful, and compassionate environment for everyone.

Understanding Ramadan: The Basics

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide. One of its central practices is fasting (no food or water, from dawn to dusk).

What Fasting Looks Like in Practice

• Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.

• During daylight hours, they do not eat or drink — not even water.

• The fast begins with a pre-dawn meal called sehri (or suhoor).

• The fast is broken at sunset with a meal called iftar.

• In 2026, this typically means sehri is eaten before around 5am, and iftar takes place between approximately 4pm and 6pm, depending on location (these timings are UK based).

Fasting is observed by adults and, in many families, by children and young people who may fast for part or all of the day as they grow into the practice.

Why Do Muslims Fast?

Below are five key points for Staff Newsletters, Assemblies, and Briefings (feel free to copy and paste these!):

1. Spiritual Growth and Reflection

   Muslims fast to strengthen their relationship with Allah (God), practise mindfulness, and reflect on their behaviour, intentions, and values. Many see it as an annual reset.

2. Self-Discipline and Resilience

   Fasting is about more than food and drink. It encourages patience, self-control, and emotional regulation.

3. Empathy and Social Awareness

   Experiencing hunger and thirst helps build empathy and compassion for those facing hardship and reinforces generosity and social responsibility. In many ways, fasting is an act that encourages social justice awareness.

4. Community and Belonging

   Ramadan is deeply communal, with shared meals, prayers, and acts of charity strengthening bonds between families and communities.

5. A Positive and Integral Way of Life

While fasting may be unfamiliar in many cultures or faiths, for Muslims it is a normal, welcomed, and meaningful practice. Much like training for a marathon, intermittent fasting, or preparing for a physical or mental challenge, Ramadan is approached positively and with preparation. It is not a burden, but a valued part of Muslim life.

Media by Unsplash: Mahmoud Sulaiman

Cultural Intelligence (CQ): What Schools, Colleges and Universities Should Know

Although fasting may look physically demanding from the outside, it is important to recognise that Muslims — including Muslim children — often grow up in families and communities where Ramadan is the norm.

• Muslim staff and students are generally very aware of their own needs.

• They are more than capable of telling you what support they do or do not need.

• Avoid making assumptions based on age, appearance, or personal expectations.

There is no single Ramadan experience:

• Some people may feel tired or lethargic at times.

• Others may feel energised, focused, and motivated.

• Some may experience headaches or body aches occasionally; others may not.

While fasting can contribute to these experiences, Muslims do not experience Ramadan negatively. Ramadan is a positive, purposeful, and integral feature of Muslim life that people know how to navigate.

Navigating Biases Around Behaviour

This is a tricky topic to discuss: I have often been told of students fasting who may misuse prayer spaces, rest spaces, or students who are fasting but are also disrespecting schools rules and codes of conduct. This is difficult to navigate and it is important that we continue to challenge our biases and remember that the decisions we make do not impact the entire community that is fasting.

DO:

• Set out clear codes of conduct and respectful ways to be in prayer spaces

• Remind students that formal behaviour policies and school rules will be applied if prayer and rest spaces are disrespected

• Remind students that school is an inclusive space and one built on a culture of trust and belonging, nurtured by staff and students

• Speak to parents and carers when necessary, reinforcing your desire to create respectful and inclusive spaces for Muslim students.

DON'T:

• prevent every student from using prayer and rest spaces

• express negativity about Ramadan or prayer and rest spaces to students and staff

• respond to other or all Muslim students negatively or with scepticism, as a result of poor behaviour

• Say that the school has made 'special arrangements' for Muslim students and therefore they should be 'grateful'

These conversations can be challenging and are much easier when managed with compassion, sensitivity and from a place of mutual respect.

So, What Can Schools, Universities And Colleges Do?

Build Awareness and Understanding

• Share accurate information about Ramadan through newsletters, assemblies, staff briefings, or intranet posts. We know teachers and staff are short on time - Google and ChatGPT (!) can help!

• Include Ramadan literacy within wider equality, diversity, and inclusion work.

• Avoid framing fasting as a problem, risk, or inconvenience.

Positive acknowledgement of Ramadan builds a culture of trust and belonging across the entire organisation and local community.

Offer Flexibility with Timetables, Deadlines, and Ways of Working

Thoughtful flexibility can make all the difference.

• Where possible, allow flexibility with deadlines, attendance, or teaching schedules.

• Be mindful when scheduling exams, presentations, or compulsory activities early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Dr Irfan Khawaja's Ramadan Guidance is an excellent tool that can help schools plan 3-5 and over 10 years in advance!

• If staff have the option to work from home, allow this during Ramadan where feasible.

• Reconsider meetings and the timings of meetings, particularly around Iftar (the time at which the fast breaks).

Ramadan lasts one month, and temporary flexibility is unlikely to impact productivity. In many cases, it improves focus, wellbeing, and morale. Supporting flexibility during Ramadan can also have a positive impact on your reputation as an inclusive employer.

Create Inclusive Spaces for Prayer and Rest

• Ensure access to clean, quiet prayer spaces. if we can 'rejig' classrooms for extra curricular activities and events, we can do the same during Ramadan too.

• Allow reasonable breaks for prayer during lessons, lectures, or meetings.

• Provide rest spaces where possible away from the school canteen and music rooms too (quiet, mindful environments are best).

Cultural intelligence: if a student or member of staff decides they want to participate in sport, an extra curricular activity or exercise, they can. Whilst we may make assumptions about rest and the type of activities people engage with, we must challenge our own biases and remember fasting is an individual experience.

Support Mental Health and Wellbeing

• Ramadan is a month filled with reflection and self learning and therefore signposting wellbeing and counselling services can be useful for staff and students.

• Encourage students and staff to have open, supportive conversations with tutors, lecturers, managers and leaders, particularly if Muslim staff and students are in a minority.

• Respond with empathy and compassion rather than assumptions when navigating conversations about Ramadan and fasting.

What Follows Ramadan? Eid!

Media by Unsplash: Nousnou Iwasaki

Ramadan ends with Eid ul Fitr, one of the most joyful celebrations in the Muslim calendar.

For many Muslims, the build-up to Eid begins during Ramadan and includes:

• Cooking and sharing special recipes

• Planning family and friends’ gatherings

• Buying or preparing gifts

• Making travel and celebration arrangements

Eid is exciting, joyful, and deeply meaningful.

How Schools, Colleges and Universities Can Celebrate Eid

• Arrange an Eid celebration — within teams, tutor groups, departments, or across the whole organisation.

• Start planning with Muslim colleagues or students, or ask relevant staff and student networks to take the lead.

• Some schools and institutions host a community iftar during Ramadan. While this requires planning, it is a powerful way to bring people together.

• If this isn’t possible this year, there is always next year — and even small gestures matter.

A Message from Leadership

As Ramadan comes to an end, leadership messages play an important role in signalling inclusion and belonging. Below is a message that you can copy, edit and share with your school communities:

Eid Mubarak to Our Community

As Ramadan comes to an end, we would like to wish our Muslim staff, students, and their families Eid Mubarak!

Eid ul Fitr marks the completion of a month of reflection, discipline, and community. We recognise the balance and commitment Ramadan requires alongside work and study, and we thank our Muslim colleagues and students for all that they contribute to our organisation.

We are proud to be a community that values belonging, inclusion, and mutual respect. Celebrating Eid reminds us of the richness that different cultures, faiths, and experiences bring to our shared environment.

We hope those celebrating are able to enjoy time with family and friends and mark the occasion in ways that are meaningful to them.

Eid Mubarak!

Supporting staff and students during Ramadan and celebrating Eid is not about special treatment. It is about understanding, equity, and respect. By sharing accurate information, avoiding assumptions, offering flexibility, and recognising Eid, schools, colleges and universities create environments where everyone can thrive.

Approached with cultural intelligence and care, Ramadan and Eid strengthen not only Muslim wellbeing, but the inclusive culture and reputation of the entire institution.

Ramadan and Eid Mubarak to all!