Spirituality at St Bartholomew's
‘Looking in, Looking Up, Looking Out’
Why is spirituality important?
The Church of England’s Vision for Education states a core desire of ‘life in all it’s fullness’. As a Church of England school, it is essential that we educate and develop the whole child ensuring Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development. We explore Spirituality by providing our children with opportunities to be still and reflect. At St Bartholomew’s, Spirituality is defined as a personal experience that enables us to wonder at, reflect on and have deeper connections with others and the world. Overall, recognising and connecting with something that is bigger than us. As spiritual learners we are ‘looking in, looking out and looking up’ which awakens us to the energy of life and leaves our body and soul in awe and wonder.
Developing Spirituality in our school
Spiritual development is closely linked to our School Vision and develops a spiritual self in their most beautiful and powerful form. It provides children with opportunities to reflect and think about:
- Themselves (LOOKING IN)
- God and Jesus’s teachings (LOOKING UP)
- Their relationship with others (LOOKING OUT)
‘Through God’s love, (UP)
we are the rich soil (IN)
where roots grow and seeds flourish.’ (OUT)
‘May we (IN)
give them (OUT)
the roots to grow (IN/OUT)
and the wings to fly.’ (IN/OUT)
LOOKING IN (feel) at St Bartholomew’s C of E Primary school means:
- Awareness of their own feelings and being able to reflect.
- Awareness of how unique they are and a happiness of who they are.
- Being THANKFUL for the things they have and the person they are.
- Exploration of personal faith
- Being sparkly eyed, kind hearted and broad minded
- Being resilient, imaginative and creative in their learning
LOOKING UP (guidance) at St Bartholomew’s C of E Primary school means:
- Encountering and experiencing God
- Opportunities for prayer and reflection
- Making sense of the world
- Being open to more
- To be respectful of others spiritual moments
- Looking for spiritual / moral guidance from the teachings of Jesus and/or another faith and reflecting on the awe of creation, feeling something ‘bigger than themselves’
LOOKING OUT (act/courageous advocacy) at St Bartholomew’s C of E Primary school means:
- Acting in line with the Christian Virtues taught
- Showing empathy and understanding in relation to injustice and inequality
- To love and be loved
- To Be More and make a difference
- Thinks beyond themselves and acts as an agent of change
- They wonder about life’s wows and ows (things that are amazing and things that are challenging)
- To be curious and explores life’s big questions and considers possible answers
- To be respectful of others spiritual moments
Our children encounter a wide range of opportunities to develop their spirituality throughout their time with us. These include, but are not limited to:
- A daily act of Collective Worship.
- Reflection tasks linked to Collective Worship.
- Collective worship participants, including leading worship
- Weekly awe and wonder collective worships
- Prayer
- Music
- Moments of silence
- The weekly Class Worships to explore the Christian Virtues and reflect on them
- Singing and a school Choir.
- A weekly act of Celebration Worship.
- Structured mindfulness.
- Providing regular experiences in the natural world.
- Prayer lines and boxes
- Reflection Areas in each classroom throughout school to encourage children to quietly reflect and prayer throughout the day.
- Regular visits to St Bartholomew’s Church to join in with services.
- Through weekly discrete Character Education lessons children are progressively taught a range of Christian virtues
- Christian Value Trophies rewards and recognition.
- Forest School initiative offer opportunities for Awe and Wonder
- Providing a responsive curriculum that meets the needs for every individual in our school family
- A broad, balanced, enriched curriculum
- Time is given for planned and spontaneous spiritual moments
- ELSA offers opportunities for Awe and Wonder
- Children understand that mistakes will be forgiven in line with our School Value of Forgiveness.
A spiritual learner at St. Bartholomew’s is:
- Sparkly eyed
- Reflective
- Thinks beyond themselves and acts as an agent of change
- Has a sense of enjoyment and fasciation in learning about themselves, others and the world around them
- Kind hearted and broad minded
- They wonder about life’s wows and ows (things that are amazing and things that are challenging)
- Resilient
- Imaginative and creative in their learning
- Curious and explores life’s big questions and considers possible answers
- Is beginning to use the shared language of ‘looking in, looking out and looking up’ to verbalise their spiritual experiences
- Respectful of others spiritual moments
Impact of Spirituality
In developing Spirituality our children flourish as respectful and compassionate citizens who seek to positively contribute to our local community and the world beyond. Our children will actively demonstrate our Christian virtues which are rooted in love. These are hope, aspiration, respect, trust, forgiveness, compassion and courage. They are self-aware and show empathy towards others in and out of school. Our children are curious, open-minded and can explore things in appropriate ways. They can express and understand feelings and have a strong moral sense of right and wrong. Although able to enjoy and embrace quiet and stillness, they possess an active imagination.
Spirituality helps our children gain ‘The roots to grow and the wings to fly.’
