Spirituality

As a church school and 'a place where everyone can flourish', we aim to create an environment that will nurture people’s minds, body and soul. We believe that spirituality should influence all areas of education and life. Therefore, we ensure that throughout the curriculum there are rich deep thinking opportunities which contribute to pupils’ spiritual development. 

As a school we believe we believe spirituality is unique to every person and is a very personal experience. We believe by exploring Spirituality by educating the whole child and providing experiences supports our
school vision to allow everyone to flourish. We define Spirituality as a personal journey to nurture the soul. It is something that allows us to explore and question things that are bigger than us and help understand relationships with themselves and others, with nature, the environment and the world and with God. We recognise being Spiritual is not the same as having a faith a person can be spiritual without having a faith. 

Spiritual development relates to fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of life which affect everyone, and is not dependent on a religious affiliation.

As a church school we are guided by the Christian faith and Christian values which Christians hold dear. However, we truly welcome all and we openly encourage children to reflect in the way that suits them best, enabling them to participate in an ongoing process of spiritual realisation and to flourish in a way that will help them find peace, comfort and strength throughout life's ever changing journey. 

These are some of the areas that contribute to our spiritual learning in school: - 

Forest School

RE Teaching and Learning 

OPAL 

Collective Worship 

PSHE/ RSE Curriculum 

Trips and Workshops

Zones of Regulation

Nurture UK Project

Across the curriculum, children are encouraged to ask, contemplate and answer Big Questions about life, religion, nature, science and anything about the world that fascinates them. Children become aware of the world in new ways: to wonder about life’s ‘WOWs’ (things that are amazing and breath-taking), ‘NOWs’ (times of stillness) and ‘OWs’ (challenging events).The children are encouraged to learn and respond to these experiences whilst exploring their relationships with:

•  Self- The inner person and the way that shapes us as individuals; perception of themselves as a unique human being.
• Others- Spiritual Learners become increasingly aware of the concept of others, a growing empathy, concern, and compassion for how we treat others.
• World and Beauty- Spiritual Learners become increasingly aware of the concept of a physical and creative world- growing relationship with beauty through the ability to respond emotionally to experiences of the wonder of the natural world and results of human creativity.
• Beyond- Spiritual learners become increasingly aware of the concept of beyond- a growing relationship with the transcendental and the ability to explore beyond the everyday.

The above can be explored through:

 Support for developing Spirituality at home

Spirituality in Collective Worship

Collective Worship is the beating heart of The John Wesley CEM Primary School. It provides the opportunity for our school community to share experiences, ideas and understanding. It is the context in which the language of spirituality, which we use as a school, is regularly shared. Collective Worship provides the opportunity for pupils to become aware of the importance of reflection and how our positive and negative experiences can be formative. It also provides a real sense of being present (now moments) which are often linked to invitations to pray. Through daily Collective Worship, pupils are offered a space and a place for hearing the Christian story. They are offered an understanding of worship by being invited to participate in, or observe, Christian spiritual practices such as: prayer, reading and reflection on the Bible and liturgy and are introduced to different musical traditions. Opportunities to reflect on the wows of life such as beauty and joy of the world are given, as well as time to reflect and empathise with the ow moments of disappointment or pain. Pupils are given time to consider their responsibilities to others and to grow in love and service. Time is given for celebration, both for the accomplishments of school members and to mark seasonal Christian festivals and celebrations in the calendars of other faiths. In this way pupils are offered time to be able to contemplate and develop spiritually. 

 Spirituality in RE

RE can contribute dynamically to children and young people’s education by provoking challenging questions about meaning and purpose in life, beliefs about God, ultimate reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human. It can support their own discovery of their personal spiritual journeys of meaning, purpose and value. RE allows children to reflect upon and share their own knowledge and lived experiences, plus find out about the experiences, beliefs and traditions of other people. Through this process, children expand their knowledge, begin to shape their own beliefs, form opinions and add breadth to their world view. High quality RE lessons at The John Wesley Primary offer children opportunities that challenge their thinking through Big Questions. They critically reflect on their own religious, spiritual and/or philosophical convictions and are equipped with the skills to confidently discuss religious, spiritual and philosophical ideas.

Spirituality Policy