Spirituality at Woodchester Endowed Church of England Primary School
Spiritual growth is like learning to walk. We stand up, fall, stand up, fall, take a step, fall, take a couple of steps, fall, walk a little better, wobble a bit, fall, run and finally, eventually, fly. - Geri Larkin
Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children - Romans 8:14
Interpretations of Spiritual Development in the Classroom (October 2019)
- Windows - encouraging increased awareness of the world, it's wows, ows and nows (a moment of sillness or pause); learning about life in all its fullness
- Mirrors - finding ways in which this can be reflected on with others' support; to mediate on big questions; to learn from life and its experiences
- Doors - exploring a range of creative ways to respond to the above and to learn to live by putting into action what we are coming to believe and value
Defining Spiritual Development
Rebecca Nye defines it as an awareness of our relationship with:
- Self - being an unique person and understanding self-perception
- Others - how empathy, concern, compassion and other values and principles affect relationships
- World and Beauty - perception and relation to the physical and creative world through responses to art and nature
- Beyond - relating to the transcendental and understanding experiences and meaning outside the "everyday"
How Spirituality looks at our school
At Woodchester Endowed Primary School, we see Spirituality as a whole school responsibility. The areas that contribute to the Spiritual Development of pupils are: the general ethos of the school, collective worship and the whole curriculum (including RE).
We use the Wows, Ows and Nows language of Spirituality in the school and encourage the pupils to record these on our Spirituality board. Examples of these include:
WOWS -
- Moments of wonderment in Forest School - that beautiful butterfly or an emerging bud in spring
- Responding to Music or Art and how that makes us feel
- Celebrating successes - school productions, sporting fixtures, school trips
OWS -
- Thinking about Big Questions that make us think of others - the Ukranian crisis, local food bank use
- Sadnesses - losing a pet or a relative. Having a bad day at school.
NOWS -
- Moments of reflection
- Prayer
- Mindfulness
- Times of peace and quiet
Our school curriculum can contribute to our Spiritual Development:
- Literacy - awe and wonder from a Literacy text, answering moral questions
- Literacy - Creating poetry, drama
- History - reflecting on life from the past and understanding differences
- Geography - awe and wonder of the natural world and, equally, some sadnesses about environmental damage
- PSHE - weekly reflections on topics like friendships and difficult issues such as bullying and anger
- Science - finding out and exploring and making observations
- Art and DT - creativity
- Forest School
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Spirituality Policy January 2023 | [pdf 562KB] |
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Spirituality Board
This is our Spirituality Board, which is placed in the main corridor. We encourage all members of the school community - pupils, teachers, staff and governors - to contribute to the board and share their spiritual moments.
WOW!
A bird's nest that we found when clearing out one of our bird boxes.
Everywhere Bear
Everywhere Bear goes home with a member of Ash class every weekend. Children record their experiences with Everywhere Bear in his diary. This year he has climbed a tree and been shopping in all the local supermarkets!
Forest School
Forest School is a great place to experience spiritual moments. In this photo, the children were reflecting on the seasonal beauty of our Forest School area.
Forest School
Children and staff reflections on how Forest School makes them feel.
NOWS
The children find peace, quiet and stillness in Forest School.
NOWS
The children were experiencing the sensory power of Forest School, blindfolded and being led by a friend.
Our Spiritual, Sensory Garden
Our Spiritual Garden
We are developing a Spiritual Garden at school. We have had a parent/staff working party to start clearing the garden. Our plans for the garden are to make it a reflective space for everyone. We have already started planting sensory plants - lavender, mint, lemon balm and rosemary. We also want to make a space for "wind" plants such as grasses, willow and bamboo. The lower part of the garden has now got 4 raised beds and we use this area as part of our ELSA programme, where children can take part in gentle, gardening activities.
Even Peggy Pennington helped out!
Ash Y1 visit to St Mary's, Woodchester June 2022
Prayer Labyrinth - NOW
We completed the prayer labyrinth, which gave us points at which to stop and reflect.
Lavender Garden - OW and NOW
We touched the lavender in the memorial garden, which was planted in memory of those who lost their lives to COVID.