Spirituality

Spirituality at Downham C of E Primary School

Spiritual development is a fundamental aspect of children's personal progress that exists beyond faith or religious affiliation.  We work to enable children to develop holistically in order that they become happy, fulfilled, spiritually aware, and socially and emotionally engaged.

     

Spirituality is not possible to teach. It is like the wind ‐ it makes a difference but is uncontrollable for each person. It might change someone’s understanding and beliefs but ultimately is an innate sense of awe and wonder. It is about understanding that there is something more than just ‘me’. Promoting spirituality should not be confused with developing faith. Faith is a set of beliefs by which you live your life by and could be a response to a belief in God. Faith is something you choose whereas spirituality is an aspect of human development ‐ it is not separate but integral to who we are and what makes us whole. Spirituality is for everybody regardless of faith.

Opportunities for spirituality development come when:

• children are given space to stop, look, listen, think and reflect;

• children feel safe to share opinions and think differently from others;

• children use their imagination.

Children need:

• time to be listened to;

• adults that are respectful;

• space to explore, think and discuss;

• opportunities that encourage wonder and surprise;

• to know that there is not always a product or end result;

• to know there is another way.

• time to ‘just be’ and to experience peace and stillness.

How do we promote spirituality?

Our school aims to support children in making sense of themselves and the world around them. We aim to help them observe their own responses to different experiences. Our school believes that experiences, both in and out of school, are important to the development of all pupils. We will create frameworks that help them to consider big, sometimes overwhelming, concepts such as life, death, identity, war, environmental factors etc. but without necessarily offering answers. These opportunities come through the teaching and learning of our whole school curriculum particularly our values, Collective Worship, RE, PSHE/RSE, Science, Art, Music and English. Children will have exposure to spiritual experiences and conversations to know that it exists for everyone, including adults.