Spirituality at St Giles’ CofE Primary School
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
Our working definition of spirituality.
Spirituality is a powerful force that helps us explore who we are, what we believe (as individuals) and how we understand ourselves, our world and others.
Spirituality helps us relate to ourselves and the world:
- Self (being a unique person and understanding self-perception)
- Others (how empathy, concern, compassion and other values and principles affect relationships)
- World and Beauty (perceiving and relating to the physical and creative world through responses to nature and art)
- Beyond (understanding that there are questions and thoughts about something bigger than ourselves - beyond the everyday)
Why is spirituality important?
Spirituality is fundamental to both physical and mental wellbeing. Spirituality is a core component to ‘living life in all its fullness’ and we prioritise nurturing this for all our children regardless of their personal beliefs.
Windows, Mirrors, Doors
We use the ‘Windows, Mirrors, Doors’ (developed by Liz Mills) approach to help us understand and develop spirituality at St Giles.
Windows: what can we learn by looking out and listening to others?
Mirrors: what does this mean for me, my beliefs, my actions, my relationship with God?
Doors: what impact will this have in our lives and the world: what might we think or do differently now?
How do we nurture spirituality at St Giles?
See Collective Worship policy, Spirituality in all Subjects and Progression in Spirituality documents.
The building blocks of spirituality are:
- Self-awareness or self-knowledge
- Forming relationships
- Asking ultimate questions
- Uncertainty, awe and wonder
- Beliefs and Values
- Creativity
- Feelings and Emotions
What does this look like day-to-day?
Our core Bible story is The Good Samaritan. Our vision and values flow from this story and we regularly use this story to inform our collective worship, our restorative conversations, our celebrations (child has been a ‘Good Samaritan’ today because…).
Our daily act of worship is the beating heart of our school; we meet and share worship every day and this is one of the key ways spirituality is developed within the life of St Giles.
In addition to this:
· Our core school values (respect, resilience and responsibility) are taught, practised and celebrated. They support spiritual development.
· We make sure there are times of peace and times for reflection in the day.
· We spend time in special places e.g. St Giles parish church, the Abbey or other places of worship—be still, reflect, listen and just be.
· We share beautiful art, music (we have a musician of the month each month) and literature with our pupils.
· Share moments of awe and wonder—all staff know it is important to stop and study a caterpillar with a child, for example, when their fascination leads them there.
· We make our classrooms ‘safe places for dangerous conversations.’ We foster respectful debate and questioning (using our Thunks).
· We foster a love of creation through our beautiful grounds, forest school area and visits.
· Share different ways of exploring spirituality in worship e.g. different religious art and icons, use of candles, worship outside.
· We practice gratitude—we take time to give thanks and show thanks for those things that bring us joy.
· We learn about our feelings and how to recognise them, name them and live with them.
Inclusivity and Spirituality
We are an inclusive school and we believe that no additional need is a barrier to spiritual development or expression. We will support all our children to develop their spiritual life and recognise that spiritual expression may look different depending on a child’s individual needs.
What are ‘spiritual skills’?
Becoming increasingly aware of the concept of self:
- exploring identity, learning honesty and being happy to be me
- the ability to ask big questions
- the development of personal beliefs
- the ability to be still and focused
- the ability to relax and be calm
- the ability to know and name feelings
- being able to let go of things that are causing hurt
- the ability to know when you need to stop and ‘recharge’
- to recognise when I am stressed and calm myself (or ask for help with this)
Becoming increasingly aware of the concept of others:
- learning to recognise and value the worth of others
- to communicate with empathy
- the ability to consider and care about another person’s feelings
- the capacity for forgiveness
- an attitude of gratitude
- treating others and the world with respect
Becoming increasingly aware of the physical and creative world:
- the ability to wonder and ask questions
- the ability to engage with awe and wonder
- the ability to share our reflections on what we experience
- the ability to share communal experiences of beauty and wonder
- to use my senses to reflect and learn
- to see rather than look, listen rather than hear, feel rather than touch
Becoming increasingly aware of big ideas and experiences beyond the ‘ordinary’:
- the ability to recognise joy and appreciate what is good
- the ability to enjoy quiet and to be peaceful
- being able to find hope when things are difficult
