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Spirituality

Spirituality at Bishop Bronescombe

At BB, we are passionate about developing the spirituality of the children in the school. It is part of the vision for education, that Church of England schools will ensure the spiritual development of all children. But what is spirituality? It’s a very difficult thing to define because it means different things to different people. You don’t have to have a faith to develop your spirituality, it’s more about having an awareness of the outside world and the recognition that there is ‘something bigger’ than ourselves.

Our school definition for spirituality is this: 

 

"Spirituality is about seeking a meaningful connection with something bigger than oneself, which can result in positive emotions such as awe and wonder, and peace."

 

This year we have been exploring the concepts of making meaningful connections and of what 'awe and wonder' means through collective worships and explicit teaching of what 'Spirituality' is. 

Here are some quotes from some of our children as to what this all means: 

 

"Awe and wonder is when you look at something and you think "Wow, we live in a wonderful world."

"You can make meaningful connections by having empathy, by putting yourself in someone else's shoes."

"We can make a connection with God, or with nature."

"By making connections with something bigger than ourselves, we can make a change and we can make the world a better place."

"Awe and wonder is when something makes your jaw drop!"

"I practised awe and wonder this morning when I looked at of the window at the sunrise and I wondered whether the sunrise is the same in other countries."

'CAW' Time!
 
Every Thursday afternoon we have a session of 'CAW' time. This is when the children focus on something within creation that makes them go 'CAW'! 
During these sessions we deepen our spirituality by trying to make a 'meaningful connection' by asking 'big questions' about God's world.
We have looked at the 7 natural wonders of the world and other awe-inspiring places in our world, such as, the Amazon Rainforest, Niagara Falls, The glow worm caves in New Zealand and many more. 
The children in school have said that they would now like to look at some of the animals that God has created, so we will be looking at these over the next term.

One of the ways that we develop spirituality at BB, is through the use of ‘Windows, Mirrors and Doors’

Windows: giving children opportunities to become aware of the world in new ways; to wonder about life’s ‘WOWs’ (things that are amazing) and ‘OWs’ (things that bring us up short). In this children are learning about life in all its fullness.

Mirrors: giving children opportunities to reflect on their experiences; to meditate on life’s big questions and to consider some possible answers. In this they are learning from life by exploring their own insights and perspectives and those of others.

Doors: giving children opportunities to respond to all of this; to do something creative as a means of expressing, applying and further developing their thoughts and convictions. In this they are learning to live by putting into action what they are coming to believe and value.

We often use these symbols to get the children to reflect and respond to their learning. Within our R.E. lessons, children are given challenges in which they need to respond to a question that is either a ‘Window’ ‘Mirror’ or ‘Door’ question. We feel that this deepens their understanding of the content of the lesson, and also enhances their spiritual development. Examples of these deepening challenges are shown below:
There are loads of things day-in, day-out that deepen our spirituality in school. So that we can celebrate and remind ourselves of these things, each class has a 'Deepening spirituality' floor book. These include photographs and quotes that the children have given in response to things that we have done.