Spirituality in our school

What is spirituality?

Spirituality is a difficult thing to define! At Burley Gate we believe it is fundamental to our mental and physical well-being (for children and adults too), but is not exactly the same as those things. It is not necessarily tied to a religious belief. People of faith and people of no faith can be deeply spiritual. We have defined spirituality as this:

Spirituality is not something we can see or touch - we feel it inside all of us. It might be a sense of awe and wonder. It might be a sense of empathy and compassion. It might be a sense there are important questions to be asked which might not have obvious answers. It might want us to laugh, cry, sing, be creative or be still. We might have spiritual experiences with others or we might have them on our own. Spirituality is a sense of something bigger than ourselves.

How do we nurture spirituality at Burley Gate Primary?

• Our school Christian values are taught, lived out and celebrated. We focus on exploring each deeply over a half term, sharing stories from both the Bible and other texts that inspire us to live out a version of each value in our lives. 
• We make sure there are times of peace and for reflection in the school day.
• We spend time in special places such as Much Cowarne Church and Bishops Frome Church and other places of worship.
• We share art, music, stories and poems together.
• We share moments of awe and wonder e.g. one of our wonderful Nursery children gazing at the clouds in amazement in their beautiful garden spotting shapes that look like hearts "full of fluffy love". 
• We encourage respectful debate and questioning and make sure children feel secure enough to ask those 'big' questions.
• We foster a love of creation through our school grounds including our Forest School Area, our outdoor areas and through school visits.
• We encourage the spirit of 'courageous advocacy' and standing up for what we believe in, such as our 'school council' and 'worship leaders' making small changes on our school site to help protect our precious planet.
• We share different ways of exploring spirituality in worship e.g. looking at different religious art and icons, using candles, holding worship outside.
• We practice gratitude - we take time to give thanks and show thanks for the things, the actions and the people that bring us joy.
• We learn about our feelings, how to recognise them and live with them.
• We foster reflective thinking through our collective worship, RE and PSHE activities linked to our Christian values and vision, encouraging us to look inward at our own behaviour and thoughts, outward at the wonderful world around us and considering actions of ourselves and others which make a difference moving forward.
• Through our school vision of 'Love your neighbour as yourself', we foster kindness, appreciation and love for others, supporting all children and adults in our school to be 'good neighbours'. The concept of being a good neighbour fosters the development of spirituality in both ourselves and those around us.