Spirituality

We explore spirituality from a Christian understanding that everyone and everything is a valued creation, individually and uniquely made by God. At St Laurence Church Infant School, we seek opportunity to develop our sense and understanding of spirituality through exploration aspects of life, which are beyond tangible creation and provide a sense of awe and wonder.

We believe that spiritual development is a fundamental aspect of children’s personal progress.   Spirituality is not the same as having a religion or faith; a person can be spiritual without having a particular faith. 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 something that you can hold, but something that you experience. There are three stages to the spiritual process: Encounter – Reflection – Transformation, therefore we often use ‘windows, mirrors and doors’ to structure questions which promote children to engage in spiritual thought.   We look out into the world, reflect on ourselves and think about how we can follow Jesus’ instruction in the story of the Good Samaritan to “go and do likewise”:

Windows: Giving children opportunities to become aware of the world in new ways. Learning about life in all its fullness. This includes both the things that amaze them and also challenge them.

Mirrors: Giving pupils opportunities to reflect upon their experiences. To meditate on life’s big questions and to consider some possible answers. Learning from life, by exploring their own insights and perspectives and those of others.

Doors: Giving pupils opportunities to respond, to do something creative in order to express, apply and further develop their thoughts and convictions. Learning to live by putting into action their beliefs and values.

Opportunities for spiritual development present themselves all around us. Our role, as adults is to shine a light on these opportunities in order to engage children in spiritual moments.  At St Laurence Church Infant School, we actively encourage children to pause, be still and reflect carefully about the world around them and  their own role within it.  Within collective worship; planned through our broad, balanced and engaging curriculum; as well as spontaneous ‘pause for thought’ moments, we present examples of inspirational figures, stories and events; reflect on the beauty and joy of the world around us; and learn to empathise and have compassion in moments of disappointment or pain.