At Warton, we believe in the spiritual development of all pupils. For us, spirituality is the opening of hearts and minds, through reflection, and the questioning of the world. After discussion with the Christian Ethos Committee, we considered how our children are already incredibly spiritual and that it is our role to support this rather than direct it. Our rector, Reverend Joanne, offered this quote, “our work is not about putting spirituality in, but is about making sure we are not contributing to the reduction of what is already there, already happening.”
We try to approach spirituality with children in a way that they can understand. In Collective Worship, we use the concept of Windows, Mirrors and Doors to structure our worship and allow time for reflection.
We are also link this to Wows and Ows!
Wows! – The Awe and Wonder moments where your heart sings, you feel blessed, you gasp with excitement or feel truly happy!
Ows! – The moments where we are brought up short. We are shocked or saddened or surprised.
In Collective Worship each week, we look to these moments explicitly and through our Hero of the Week links too!
In school, we promote spiritual development in a myriad of ways and try to think of this linked to SELF, OTHERS, WORLD and BEYOND.
Spiritual development may come through the curriculum e.g. through explicit reflection of SELF in PSHE lessons or consideration of OTHERS in our team work during PE. Sometimes though, it is through the wider school life where we encourage Spiritual Development; our Book Challenge actively promotes inclusivity and knowledge of the WORLD around us while our Worship Leaders have an evolving focus on the BEYOND. In fact, it is our Worship Leaders who have come up with many of these ideas… take a look at some of the other ways they think that their spirituality is developed in school…
One of the ways that we promote spiritual development of all pupils is our Vision and Values Days. Click here to read more about our Values Days which are held every half term.
Our vision days are each linked to one of the three aspects of our school vision. This year they are as follows:
Be Courageous: Be inquisitive and challenge yourselves! As part of our vision day for courageous we are having a three visual artists join us in school for a whole school legacy art project! We will have a graffiti artist to support all children brighten our Nursery area, a textiles professional to create a tapestry for our entrance hall and a sculptor to create a mosaic for our reflection area! It is a big challenge for our children but we know they will do a fabulous job!
Be Strong: Be prepared for the wider world! Linked to the Commonwealth Games being held in Birmingham this summer, we are learning all about the country of Bangladesh! On our vision day in April, we will have professionals come to school for Bangladeshi dance, storytelling and song! Being strong is all about developing our independence and ambition- which can only happen when we meet new people and learn new things about the world around us!
Do Everything with Love: Similarly to last year, we will hold our Acts of Kindness Event! Last year’s saw treats for the local NHS workers, cards sent to the elderly community, home made dog’s treats for the local animal shelter and pictures that are still proudly displayed at our local fire station! We can’t wait to see what this year’s ideas will be!
