As explained by the children in the School Council

In our school family, everyone is given the opportunity to flourish in God’s love; to grow with dignity, hope and kindness.

We accept, value and celebrate our achievements.

We are inspired to be the very best that God trusts us to be and to treasure all that He created.

Faith in God, ourselves and each other

Good Samaritan (Luke 10 v 25-37)

 

What is Spirituality?

Spirituality is different for everyone and is a very personal experience.  It is difficult to explain what it is. Spirituality is a person’s relationship with themselves, with others, with God (or the world), and with nature and the environment. Spirituality is not necessarily the same as believing in God or Gods or being religious; a person can be spiritual without having particular beliefs.  Everyone has a spiritual aspect to their existence.

Our Spiritual Pathway

At Temple Ewell Church of England Primary school we use our spiritual pathway to help us to understand what spirituality is.

To help us understand our Spiritual Pathway, we have created this model to help us…

At our school we have 3 key areas we focus on when we are thinking about our spirituality.  These link to our school tagline and vision.

 

Faith in God

'I delight, reflect on and am inspired by the world around me'

Transcendence (Beyond what we can see or ourselves)

• Ability to ask and talk about ‘Big Questions’ (eg. about the purpose of life, what type of person we want to be)
• Looking for and experiencing God
• Having a sense that we are a small part of a big place
• Opportunities for prayer, meditation and reflection
• Making sense of our world

 Awe and Wonder – the wow moments of life

• Developing a sense of awe and wonder
• Enjoying the miracles of everyday life
• Taking time for what really matters
• Appreciating beauty in art, music, nature

Faith in Myself

'I believe in my uniqueness and know where I am going'

• Being aware of our feelings
• Grow my ability to reflect and express our thoughts
• Being Aware of our uniqueness
• Being happy with who we are
• Feeling gratitude for the things we have
• Being able to explore our personal beliefs
• Develop our imagination and creativity

Faith in Each Other

'I help and am helped by others and contribute to the world'

• We develop empathy – try to feel what others are feeling
• We try to understand other people
• We love our neighbour
• We respect each other's differences.
• We look for the best ways to help each other
• We try to make the world a better place.
• We know we can make a difference to the world

How Temple Ewell aims to nurture spirituality

At our school we nurture spiritual development to try to make everyone the best they can be.  We want everyone to have a rich, rewarding and fulfilled life. 

Spiritual development is a part of everything we do at school.   This is a list of some of the things we might do:

• We have opportunities to reflect and be quiet.
• Listening to a story,
• Lighting the candles in worship,
• Listen to music,
• Use of the reflection areas
• Have time to pray and reflect
• Be creative
• Use our imagination.
• Sing
• Explore, express, share feelings
• Think about relationships
• Look for moments of awe and wonder.
• Appreciate beauty in all its forms
• Find connections
• Admit mistakes and to say sorry
• Owning up to mistakes and knowing this is part of growing
• Show kindness
• Being caring and compassionate
• Help charities
• Thinking of ways to make things better
• Explore the ‘Big Questions’
• Read
• Discuss and reflect
• Develop our own individual system of beliefs
• Reflect on how others feel
• Use role-play or stories to think about situations

This model helps to show how these activities link to our Spiritual Pathway:

The Impact of Spirituality

Spiritually helps people to love and accept themselves and to enjoy good relationships with each other.  Spiritual people take an interest and delight in the world around them. They look for moments of magic in the everyday world.  They are able to express and understand feelings, as well as respect those of others.  They enjoy quiet and stillness, have an active imagination, and show joy in creativity and discovering new skills.  Spirituality helps people to have a love of what is good and a strong desire to do what they believe is right.